It stood front and center, like an end to all things.
And there, lying on the floor in front of it, was a female—twiddling her thumbs as she looked up at absolutely nothing. She wore a plain white shift that blended with the landscape so completely it gave the impression she was naught more than a head, arms, and legs. Her feet were bare, crossed over each other and rocking back and forth with seeming impatience.
“Hello?”
The female froze, her only movement a smile stretching across her face before she bounded up in a blur and rushed for Lunara. “You’re here!”
Shitting stars. You know that voice.
She didn’t bother to mask her shock. Couldn’t have even if she’d wanted to. “It’s… you. The Voice.”
For the first time, those familiar giggles reached her ears, instead of banging around inside her skull. “It’s me!” She swept Lunara into a crushing hug. “Though, I wish people would stop calling me that.”
The female released her, stepping back with an exuberant look. She was tall and lithe. Ethereal.Beautiful.Her violet eyes were wide and excited as they danced over Lunara, as if she’d never seen another person before and had been waiting ages for her first glimpse.
“Where are we?”
“The actual explanation is incredibly complicated, but—very simply and for lack of a better description—this is a pocket of your mind.”
Would have thought there was a bit more to it, honestly.
The female laughed, as if she’d heard her thoughts. Then again…
Lunara swallowed. “You don’t… live here, do you?”
You might be even crazier than you ever thought.
It was strange to see the sad look that flitted across her face, like it didn’t belong. “Sometimes, yes. Sort of. When I wish to feel safe or see the light.” She snapped out of her melancholy so fast that Lunara recoiled in surprise. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she said, “So this is it—the moment we’ve all been waiting for. What do you think? How are you feeling?”
“Um…”
Lunara didn’t knowwhatshe was feeling. Sort of nothing. The last she remembered, she’d been brushing Illamiata’s glassy surface with no idea what to expect.
Certainly not this.
Are you dead?
The female threw her head back and laughed, a wild sound that had Lunara’s lips curling in response. “No, little moth. You aren’t dead. Well, you might be soon. It depends on you.”
Comforting.
“It really isn’t,” the female said matter-of-factly.
So many pressing matters, but only one thought was able to solidify in her mind. A mystery that had been burning within her for decades. “What’s your name? Who are you really?”
Her smile morphed into a thoughtful frown. “One moment, please.” Her eyes went to the middle distance and began to glow, swirling with the very fabric of the Unknown before she blinked and it disappeared, muttering, “How interesting.” She shook herself and smiled again. “I remember now. I can answer one ofthose questions without consequence, but not both, and only if you choose the right one. Which is it to be?”
Oh, sure. Zero pressure.
“It’s really not. It’s actually quite a lot of pressure and now youhaveto decide on one because, if you choose neither, it will… bring…” She grimaced and gripped her head. “Um, never mind that last bit.”
“O-kay…” Lunara picked up an errant curl and twisted it in her fingers.
“Lots of choices today, I know, but you’re doing wonderfully so far.” She leaned in and narrowed her eyes, her brows raising as she pinched her lips between her teeth, as if she could urge Lunara in the right direction with the bizarre look.
She searched her face. This creature had always given her the answers, even if Lunara had been too dense to understand them. She was clever. Cared and helped, for whatever reasons, and Lunara was almost certain she already knew most of the answer to one of them. It made her hesitant to waste the chance on a confirmation, and?—
Ah ha!‘I wish people would stop calling me that…’
