The Sleeping Citadel: Gray Magic

Blood Moon Harvest Festival

The Blood Moon Harvest Festival was in full swing, and the scent of moon and harvest-themed delicacies filled the air. Sonorhc, Reaper, and Nevermore wandered through the heart of their rundown, little, suburban town, the Sleeping Citadel. Or rather, Reaper led the way, dragging an irritated Sonorhc and a distracted Nevermore after her, who kept stopping to read every sign and display about the festival.

"Come on, Nevermore!" Sonorhc sighed impatiently, tone deadpan, even though she was being dragged along just as much as Nevermore.

"Oh, right, sorry!" Nevermore failed to notice this hypocrisy from Sonorhc and was quick to pick up her pace, even though Sonorhc did not.

"Eclipse Empanadas, Celestial Crescent Rolls, cookies with icing and sprinkles to make the phases of the moon, Blood Moon Soda, Pizza Moon Pie, Moon Rock candies, solar subway sandwich selections...! This is paradise!" Reaper's eyes were glued to the menu as she licked her lips.

The Sleeping Citadel had a strong connection to the celestial, owing its past to the stars above. Although no one understood fully how or why it happened, three generations prior, meteors showered on the old, tiny town. It was as if the stars themselves were falling, planting themselves like seeds. And just like seeds, the results took time to bloom and grow, but eventually, all the citizens of town realized that they now had the ability to control and master the elements. It still took time to practice, but from then on, magic was embedded in the very fabric of the Sleeping Citadel.

Now, anyone born of the original bloodlines blessed by the stars, so long as they were born within the town borders, would also have elemental control, though it would weaken the farther away from town they got. Sonorhc, Reaper, and Nevermore were the third generation of mages, and the town's worship of the astronomical was still going strong.

"The Blood Moon in particular reminds us of the delicate but omnipresent nature of balance in the universe," Nevermore whispered as they took a ride in a cart of hay bales through some of the farms just beyond the edge of town. Even though there was already a tour guide giving the history of the Blood Moon Harvest Festival, Nevermore sprinkled in her own commentary as well.

She just can't help herself! Reaper snickered, biting her tongue. She hadn't come on this ride to learn, but to have fun! Sure, it wasn't as fast as some of the other mini rollercoasters of the fair, but it was still a ride! Sonorhc also said nothing, face completely flat as Nevermore continued to ramble excitedly. Then, once the hayride was over, the trio moved onto the next festival attraction.

There were a few more rides, though even the fastest among them was fairly tame. It was a homecoming event, after all, not an actual amusement park designed to thrill adrenaline junkies. This was supposed to be a day, evening, and night of family fun.

"But don't worry! This'll make up for it!" Reaper cocked her head towards a corn maze back near the farmlands. "The Lunar Labyrinth!" It was a magical obstacle course that required intelligence and mage-craft to pass, and of course, it was set to the theme of eclipses.

"Let's get this over with." Sonorhc crossed her arms as the Dark Triad stared up at the large, painted, white sign above the maze.

"Sonorhc..." said Nevermore timidly. "If you really hate it so much, why participate?" Magical balls of light floated around the sign like tiny moons.

"Cuz she ain't gonna let me win without workin' for it!" Reaper crowed. Sonorhc shot her a disgusted look, arms still crossed, but she said nothing.

Five minutes later, Sonorhc, Reaper, and Nevermore were split up. Every girl for herself! Magic flew through the air, glowing blasts of charged energy flashing like stars through the night as a hoard of countless mage students raced through the fields. Some fought with brawn, struggling to sprint and spring through the obstacles, even willing to get into a few scuffles along the way. Reaper was one such person. Others were more like Sonorhc and Nevermore, focused on magical cunning, and sheer evasion in a blind panic.

"HAHAHAHA! HECK YEAH!" They heard Reaper bellow somewhere off in the dark, her destructive Death magic out in full force. She wasn't killing anyone, but it sure was handy on some of the trickier or more aggressive obstacles, for example, the hoard of moon-shaped boulders rolling at her and other contestants as they raced through the cornfields.

"Eeep!" Nevermore's body melted away into pure shadow as she tried to flee through the maze as fast as she could, panicking all the while.

Sonorhc was just as expressionless as ever, though her black eyes darted wildly all around, indicating that she was completely in the zone as dark blue, black, white, and silver-gray orbs of energy swirled around her hands.

Eventually, all three made it to the finish line. Sonorhc's hand shot out of the darkness first. Reaper sprinted out a couple minutes later, held up at the last second by a puzzle that demanded she know about light, and the phases of the moon, in order to answer the question. Nevermore was dead last, literally flying out of the Lunar Labyrinth and a dark mass of shadow, coming to a crash-landing in the dirt, face-down.

"I got so lost in there... I lost my gender!" they gasped as the shadows melted away, revealing a pale, plump body once more. Reaper and Sonorhc stood over Nevermore, Reaper chuckling as they both helped Nevermore to their feet.

The aro-ace queerplatonic polycule made its way back to the heart of town. Just outside City Hall, live music played on a stage. The trio took a seat near the back to rest and recuperate.

"Man, what a rush!" Even though Reaper was seated, her leg bounced.

"Adrenaline junkie," Sonorhc snickered, voice soft and low and she muttered under her breath. She wasn't necessarily tired, but she was certainly in no mood for any more intense thrills for at least another half-hour.

Poor Nevermore, meanwhile, could only sit on Sonorhc's other side with a shellshocked expression, hand resting over their heart.

"Jeez, Nev!" Reaper snickered. Slowly but surely, though, Nevermore came around. Sonorhc and Reaper were first alerted to their friend's recovery when they began to ramble about eclipses, slowly at first, then faster and faster as they kept going and going.

"A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and sun, blocking out all or part of the sun's light. This happens only in a New Moon phase. There are three types of solar eclipse: total, partial, and annular. Total and partial are self-explanatory, when all or part of the sun is blocked. In annular—which means "ring"—the moon is too far away from Earth to completely cover the Sun, so the edges of the sun are visible around the edges of the moon. It's like putting a penny on a quarter. You can still see the edges of the quarter because of the size difference.

"A lunar eclipse, by contrast, occurs when the Earth passes between the moon and sun, blocking all or part of the sun's light from the moon. This happens only in a Full Moon phase. There are three types of lunar eclipse: total, partial, and penumbral. The first two are the same as in solar while, in penumbral, the moon passes through the outer part of Earth's shadow, which is much fainter and harder to see. You can tell we're in a total lunar eclipse because of our Blood Moon." Nevermore gestured to the sky. "It's red because of how light is refracted through Earth's atmosphere!"

Sonorhc and Reaper caught each other's eyes over Nevermore's curly black locks, made possible only because Reaper was tall enough to look down over Nevermore's head and meet shortie Sonorhc's dark gaze. They smiled knowingly at one another as Nevermore chattered and chirped away, a Blood Moon glowing softly red above them.

AN: I know that the eclipse on 4/8/24 is Solar, but to balance my Stormris story in my Lastland Oneshots, this story is about a Lunar one.