A Crown Made of Air

Part 1, Chapter 5

Moonlight

It didn't matter how many times Moonlight or Sky had tried to stop their father from going. The Great God had prepared for the trip and left without delay.

"But father, The Great Void is a maze of glacial currents of winds. It is not safe!" Moonlight had begged her father to meet reason but was only met with deaf ears.

"And you are going all alone. It makes no sense!" Sky had rushed to the king, tugging at his sleeve so he would come to a halt.

"My sister says it is. She will tell me how to get to Spindly Pinnacle. I will see you both in a gust of wind." He had dismissed them, settling in the royal carriage that had been prepared for the trip. "Besides, Acantha will stay here until I return. She will help you with anything you need and I count on you girls to make her feel welcome and help her with her adaptation. It has been a while since she has been in the castle but since she was raised here, there should be no problem." He cupped their faces, kissing their cheeks one at the time. "Our family will flourish again, I promise."

Now, Moonlight was dizzy, overflowing with disconcerting thoughts. Should she have told him about the bad feeling that enfolded her every time she was near Acantha? Or would he deem her fears as the ones of a petulant girl whose safe world was crashing down? Earnestly, Moonlight didn't know what to think of Acantha anymore. The more she mulled about it, the more her aunt's arrival to the castle seemed suspicious. And besides, when Moonlight had met Acantha for the first time, a dizzying sensation had seized her, as if she was standing on the edge on a cliff. It wasn't necessarily a bad sensation like her last visions of Crystal Island, something more like climbing a steep mountain to finally peek beyond its high peak. But still, a gnawing feeling clung to Moonlight as a second skin. For the higher you climb, the farther you fall.

This was the catch about her magic: none of it was clear. They were more like impressions, images she saw in her mind that would manifest in her body, whenever near someone. It was like the smell of a flower, more intoxicating the first time you tried it but growing fainter when the flower became familiar to you, upon seeing it multiple times. Just like her visions, If she he couldn't control these feelings, at least her mother had taught her how to listen. How to dig deeper, to search beyond the obvious view. Maybe it was why Moonlight always preferred the most difficult path, the one that would lead to more answers. After years of training, she could even coax her magic to become as softer as a whisper she could dismiss, and had never used her power on any family member before. Before Acantha, of course. Moonlight had broken her unspoken rule because Acantha was still a stranger to her. And Moonlight refused to welcome someone who expected the world in a silver platter with open arms.   

"Moon? Are you ready?" Sky's coarse tone startled her. It was easy to dwell on other thoughts, any thoughts that allowed her to skip this dreadful present. But it hadn't lasted long enough, unfortunately. Her sister bore empty eyes, an indication her mind wasn't set on this day. Moonlight couldn't blame her. She didn't want to be here, either. gotten any sleep last night. Even with no mirror, she could tell Sky's dark circles matched the ones placed under her eyes. They hadn't gotten any sleep for so many days, Moonlight couldn't recall what it was like anymore.

She placed her hand on Sky's shoulder. Sometimes, gestures meant a thousand words. They stood together as droplets fell from the sky, dampening the blue seashells that wound the beachy shore. Sideline Coast, the eastward shoreline before Cloudiness Highlands, the great mountains that divided the kingdom of clouds from the earth below where humans lived. Moonlight's black slippers touched shimmering shallow shells as she heard the crashing sounds of dozens of feet smashing pearls and conchs of all types of blue. Moonlight sighed heavily. She wasn't the only one feeling blue.