Chương 56: The Sun and the Moon

Vaelith happily chewed on the small cup of custard. She'd booted three of us away, back to back, and rather easily at that. It made me question whether she'd been holding back earlier during our slap duel.

"Dis ish surriosly gud," Vaelith said, refusing to stop eating and sending a light spray of custard into the air.

"Stop talking while your mouth is full," Sable complained.

"Demon Princess my ass." Vaelith laughed, and I found myself laughing as well. I was comfortable with my party. With my friends. I almost chose the Life of the Party passive, but when I brought up my System, I was instead shown: System Level up! Congratulations.

Name: Rook Class: Glutton Grade: Special Level: 11 EXP: 555/1100 HP: 215/215 MP: 75/75 Skills Basic Cooking: Level 9 — 650/900 EXP Basic Butchery: Level 9 — 125/900 EXP Monster Butchery: Level 8 — 675/800 EXP Basic Herbalism: Level 5 — 100/500 EXP Knife Handling: Level 12 — 55/1200 EXP The recipe Glowmoth Wing Custard has given you these one-time permanent bonuses.

STR: 12 DEX: 13 VIT: 22 INT: 21 (+1) WIS: 21 (+2) CHA: 15 (+7) LCK: 16 (+2) New Skill Unlocked: Mothlight Mothlight: Create a single magical Glowmoth that illuminates 20 meters around itself. This makes minor illusions stutter. Cost: 5 MP — 1 MP/m maintain New Effects Added: Low-Light Vision Illusion Resistance: +30% Enhanced Dodge: +25% Duration: 1 Hour Degrades: 6 Hours Drawback— Vaelith snapped her fingers in front of my face.

"Hello! You there?" The system screen disappeared as I came back.

"Oh… what did I miss?"

"Not much… but you were staring an awfully long time at the system. What's up?" I thought about telling them about my passive choice… but I hesitated for some reason.

"Nothing," I replied.

"Just reading a new skill is all."

"New skill?" Vaelith smiled.

"Do tell."

"Better if I show you." I stood and used Mothlight. A small Glowmoth burst into existence above my hand, its translucent wings beating silently. Silver light spread across the campsite, pushing back the shadows around the fire and making the damp leaves along the roadside glisten. Vaelith clapped.

"Oh! Very pretty." Darwin tried to tongue-lash the thing and eat it. His tongue passed straight through. Grumbling, he said, "Master trick Darwin. Master mean—" He cut off as he passed out, falling onto his side.

"And there he goes," I said. I dismissed the Glowmoth and sat back down. Vaelith and Sable stared at me wide-eyed. Stolen story; please report.

"What?" I asked.

"You're… You're…" Vaelith stuttered.

"You're glowing," Sable said flatly.

"Silver. And you have silver eyes. I need to find new friends. At this rate, nothing will surprise me. And life is only worth living if it is full of surprises." I glanced down. A faint silver sheen covered my skin, bright enough to catch along my fingers and the backs of my hands. Just then, both Sable and Vaelith adopted the same glow, their eyes taking on the same silvery light. I pointed at them. Then they pointed at each other. We shared a laugh beneath the moon, glowing as brightly as the stars above.

I was having a pleasant dream. In it, I was back on Earth. Back in LA. And there, standing before me in all its glory, was the one true hamburger to rule them all… an In-N-Out animal-style Double-Double. I picked it up. It was warm; the toasted bun soft beneath my fingers, and a bit of melted cheese drooped over the edge. I slowly brought it toward my lips— Slap! Something hit me on the side of the head. No matter. Back to the burger. I reached out to take a bite and— Slap! Another hit. I swatted at the annoying…

thing. How dare it get in the way of my prize. Slap! Again. And again. And again. I opened my eyes, and a bright light blinded me. I squinted and blinked black spots from my vision. As my sight cleared, I saw something strange. It was Darwin… but he was eye to eye with me. Not sitting on my shoulder, but hovering directly in front of my face. And on his back were two silvery wings. Wings! I jumped up.

"Darwin, you can fly!"

"Master!" Darwin said excitedly.

"I can fly, I can fly!" Darwin twirled around me, his new wings buzzing rapidly in the still night air, and then shot straight upward, yelling something I couldn't understand. His voice grew quieter and quieter until it was little more than a buzzing noise at the edge of my hearing. I waited… and waited… and waited some more. Eventually, the buzzing grew louder. And louder. Until I saw Darwin spinning out of control and plummeting toward the ground.

"—Help —Me —Ma —Ster!" I lunged forward and caught my companion before he went splat against the ground. Good thing he didn't weigh much. Darwin tried to speak, but his words were a garbled mess, his eyes pointing in completely different directions.

"What's with the racket?" Vaelith asked.

"Can't a Demon Princess get some beauty sleep around here?" She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. The faint silver illumination still lingered within them.

"Are those… wings?" Darwin, standing in my hands, recovered and stood tall, nodding proudly.

"Butterfly wings?" she asked.

"Actually, they're moth wings."

"Uh-huh… I'm going back to bed," she replied, clearly unimpressed.

"Demon Princess mean. Demon Princess nasty."

"Yeah… yeah…" she muttered. Soon, she was snoring loudly again beneath her blankets. I glanced over and noticed Sable was no longer in her makeshift sleeping cot. Worry gripped me for a moment before I spotted her nearby, lightly petting Moolisa, who had awakened for a midnight snack. The cow tore steadily at the grass, her chewing and Vaelith's snoring competing with the quiet crackle of the dying campfire. Ever since Moolisa had drunk that potion and become younger, she was absolutely insatiable.

"Are you okay?" I asked Sable.

"If you're hungry, like Moolisa here, I can make something for you to eat."

"Food?" Vaelith called from her cot.

"Not for you. Go to sleep, 'Princess.'" She mumbled a curse before quickly returning to her snoring. Sable laughed, but there was no humor in it.

"This… This was all I ever wanted. To travel the world with good company and sing my songs." She continued slowly petting Moolisa beneath the moonlight.

"You know, I've known Ysra since we were little girls. From before our classes had awakened. She was always shy, and I was always rambunctious. People used to say that we were like the sun and the moon—one bright and full of life, the other waning and mysterious." The night had grown quiet around us. Beyond the circle of the dying fire, the road disappeared between dark trees, while insects chirped softly in the grass.

"My father gifted me a carved wooden flute on my birthday one year, and when I blew my first note, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Luckily, the system agreed. But Ysra… she was always trying new things. She took to magic. She took to studying. To art. Anything she tried, she excelled at—except music. That was mine and mine alone." Sable's fingers slowed against Moolisa's fur.

"I was supposed to leave and train properly once my system activated, yet Ysra's hadn't awakened yet. She wanted… me to stay. She said that she had loved me since the moment she'd first heard me play. That she wanted to put me on a pedestal so she and she alone could appreciate and love me. But… but the sun is for everyone! I knew in my heart that I needed to share my gifts with the world. And so I left."

"But Ysra and you were children," I said.

"She couldn't have cursed you then… could she?" Sable shook her head.

"No. That would come later. Much later." She went quiet for a moment.

"But, uh… it's getting late. And honestly, I've never told anyone what I just told you. Not in all my long life."

"Why now?" Sable stared upward, the moon reflected in her eyes.

"As you can imagine, being human with such an extended life, nobody I've ever loved is still alive, save Ysra. My father, my mother, my siblings… nieces and nephews—gone!" She held back tears.

"The sun and the moon… some say they are opposites of one another, but I don't think that's true."

"I know it's not," I replied.

"The moon's glow is from the sun. Without it, the moon would not shine at all." Sable stared at me blankly.

"I do wonder sometimes how you have so much knowledge… if it is true, of course." I shrugged.

"Even if it isn't, wouldn't it be a beautiful lie?"

"A beautiful lie, eh?" The corner of her mouth lifted faintly.

"You know, you're much more than you let on… and that's dangerous. Ysra will peel back the fabric of your mind and delve into everything that you are. Are you prepared for that?"

"Does it matter?" I asked.

"You need help, right?"

"And what can I offer you? In fact, why are you here? Why do you choose to help me?" I sighed. I'd wrestled with that same question myself before, but the answer had been obvious.

"I had a friend who recently died. He once took a chance on a nobody out of the goodness of his heart. I was someone who used to judge others, and now, in his honor, I'm trying to do better. Besides, I have some things I want to ask this witch."

"But she won't—" I held up a hand.

"—That will be between me and her. I won't jeopardize you, don't worry." Sable stared at the ground.

"I'm not worried about you jeopardizing me." She looked back toward the moon.

"The light of the moon is just a reflection, eh? Without the sun, it would be nothing at all." She gave a quiet laugh.

"Heh… What a beautiful lie."