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“You begged for your Momo,” Sun said, his eyes shifting, gaze colder than the flecks of snow raining down into the pit, shimmering like diamonds.
“Huh?” Sweating, uninterested in anything other than re-establishing our bond.
I wouldn’t let Sun break it! He couldn’t leave us! I wouldn’t let him leave me!
But it was no use; none of my fevered incantations drew our fate lines back together. I crumbled to my knees, sobbing, confused and angry as I still clung to him. Sun snatched my face into his palms and forced me to stare at him, face neutral now, unreadable.
“You see, when I was little, I didn’t know how to pronounce the name of a powerful demoness, one connected to the moon goddess herself,” Sun whispered as something scratched at the edge of my consciousness.
“My mother would put on puppet shows with the character, and so I began associating Momo with Mother. Many mothers in my village, and I’m sure elsewhere, were called the same, as our parents placed a warning in a fairy tale for us kids.”
His face hardened, nails digging into my chin, “...But then I remembered what you told me, Clem. Nocs don’t have families, not like ours anyway. So why would you cry for her now in that name? Why cry for your mother, while leading us into a trap?”
Why was Sun angry with me? I couldn’t understand anything anymore, and I shook from head to toe, desperate to please him, wanting his smile and not that venom radiating from his sneering expression. How could I make it right? I had to or he would leave us!
“We worshiped her, and she betrayed us. But not you, right? Tsukimono-jia, the queen of the demons, who could possess mortal bodies and usher in prophecies. That’s what we began calling Tsuki, the goddess of the moon, when her nocs started possessing these lands and feasting on our bodies. Did she come to you, Clem? Your Momo? Now is not the time to lie to me again!”
“No… No!” I said, as it finally clicked.
Sun finally led me into a fatal trap with his words, by turning my word against me.
Was that who I saw in the stone crying for me? I didn’t know and didn’t give a damn! She was unimportant. The only one who mattered was him. I had to get Sun to realize that.
“No, Sun, no please understand. I was dreaming of you! I don’t… I just wanted to wake up and get back to you, to feel you in my arms again. I don’t know why you’re mad but I’m sorry. I’ll do anything to make it up to you!”
Gritting my teeth, I shut my eyes like the coward I was, sobbing, “…I love you Sun. More than the moon and stars and life itself. I love you. Don’t leave me. Don’t vanish and become a dream. I’d rather live a nightmare beside you than be apart from you again.”
Silence. My heartfelt pleas for mercy were met with silence. I sniffled, looking up, lips trembling, hopeful as Sun glowed bright pink and then a deep shade of red I hadn’t seen.
“I– Clem! I’m scolding you, damn it! Do you know no shame? This is not the time… For a… Confession. Gods above I just want the truth and he’s rambling like some lunatic again.”
He covered his face, and I reached for him, but we were both seized before our hands connected. We floated, weightless, until master dropped us gently onto the ground by the pit.
I crawled on hands and knees to Sun’s feet, begging for forgiveness, but he wouldn’t look at me, stepping away.
“What’s this misfortunate mood? Rejoice, we’re not dead. Not yet anyway,” Bracken tried to joke, as Kiar lifted an eyebrow.
Damn it! Didn’t they get it? Didn’t they feel the gravity of this predicament? The spell was wearing off by itself. We had to convince Sun to stay with us!
I grabbed his legs, closing the gap between us, refusing to allow Sun to run away by force. But that only seemed to set Sun off more, stormy eyes shifting to the trees, cheeks inflamed, an invisible source pulling him away.
He wanted to run, blushing to the tips of his ears now. But he was no longer pretty in pink, sucking on his teeth, pushing me away, madness in his eyes, a wicked energy permeating the air.
Turn your gaze to me! Look at me! Love me! Don’t run away!
His lips were moving, probably to ask that stupid question again. No! No, no, no, damn it, I couldn’t, and even if I could, I wouldn’t–
“What did you just say?”
He smacked my hands away, livid. I cleared my throat and spoke more clearly so no one could deny the truth of my words anymore—least of all me. Sun wanted the truth, and I would give it to him.
“I dreamed only of you, with no ulterior motive. I saw you, but you were small, seeing a noc for the first time. A crawler–”
He shuddered and took another step back.
“You saw me as a child?” he asked.
Was that what a child was?
