by Heather Wood
◆◆◆
Raymond and Rhiannon had met at the Griffith Observatory many years prior. A conscientious astrophysicist, Ray spent hours gazing at the constellations, trying to unlock the secrets held therein. Rhi had visited there one sultry summer night to stargaze, and their paths had crossed. They spent a pleasant evening sharing their mutual appreciation of the heavens. A whirlwind romance ensued, and Rae was born less than a year later. However, the happy family was not to be long-lived; six years into the marriage, Rhi disappeared, leaving Ray to mourn and wonder.
A tear fell from Rae's cheek, as she caressed the stone and thought of her father, alone in the asylum where his doctors had placed him, rambling on and on about his lost lunar wife who had fallen from the moon. So many years had passed, and yet he still looked to the skies, waiting for her return. Over the years, he’d been a loving father, kind and gentle when she’d visited, but a largely absent one, as his attention had been focused on regaining the love he’d lost. Wiping her face, Rae placed the stone on her pillow and nestled her head down next to it.
“Good night, Daddy,” she whispered. “Good night, Mama.”
◆◆◆
Rae awoke to a loud crash.
She blinked her eyes. It was still dark. The stone was warm from her hand.
She heard the zing of metal and a voice shout “Never!”
She jumped to her feet.
Finch stood in all his glory at the foot of her bed with his broad back to her. He was shirtless. In the moonlight, it looked like two boa constrictors were writhing beneath his skin as his muscles rippled in fury. His sword was drawn, and he faced Gno, who stood in the doorway, his body outlined by the light behind him.
“What the hell?!” Rae shouted.
Gno held a rolled up sleeping bag under one arm. Even in her shock, Rae was able to notice that Gno also sported neither shirt nor sweater.
The men tried to stab each other with their glares.
Finch, who apparently was already camping out on the floor, kicked the remaining bit of his sleeping bag off of his foot and readjusted his stance with his huge sword. The sword was very long, and it was similar to the neon-outlined weapon he had used against Ember. Finch held out a hand gallantly.
“Ember has been subdued. He must leave. I need to resume my mission to protect you.” he stated.
“I’m here to protect her, too, Florentine...We need to work together now.” said Gno calmly, but each muscle of his body proclaimed he was tensed for a fight.
The two underwear models were about to battle royale by Rae's vanity mirror. At three in the morning.
“I'll never trust a Noir soldier,” spat Finch.
During this exchange, Rae surreptitiously slid the black and white stone into her pocket. She drew herself to her full height, marched to stand between the two men and delivered her decree calmly.
“OK. Enough is enough. You need to tell me who you are and what exactly is going on.” She placed her hands on her hips for good measure.
Gno and Finch exchanged looks.
“Where did you COME from?” Rae pressed.
“That’s a long story,” said Gno.
“Indeed, it is. You first, Knuffin” added Finch.
The men were silent.
Rae folded her arms.
“Okay, here is how it’s going to go: Both of you are going to step outside my bedroom door. Now. If you do not, I will sick Pookie on you.”
“Evil,” muttered Finch.
“Don’t think I can’t do it,” Rae warned.
Gno and Finch looked tense.
“Well?”
Slowly, the two men backed out of the room, standing in her doorway. Now they were both silhouetted by the warmth of the kitchen nightlight. They looked like figures in an artsy Equinox gym ad.
“Now, you guys each must tell me at least one thing that is actually true.”
The men hesitated.
Rae started to sing, “Crocodile rockin' was something shockin'-“
Both men held up their hands. Finch sheathed his sword.
“Alright, alright….” said Gno.
Finch examined the floor. Gno studied the ceiling like he was going to have a midterm on it the next day. The men shifted around uncomfortably.
Finally, Finch gritted his teeth. “We’re from the moon!” he burst out.
Gno let out his breath. “...And you’re from the moon, too,” he murmured.
Finch snapped his head up.
Rae closed her eyes, “One.”
“You’ve confirmed this, Knuffin?” Finch asked.
“Two. Three. Four.” Rae kept her eyes closed, taking deep breaths.
“We each said something true,” Gno said.
“Seven. Eight.”
“Then the rumors of the prophecy could be true.” Finch stroked his lavender five o’clock shadow.
“Nine.”
“This is bigger than the both of us,” said Gno.
“TEN!”
Rae slammed the door in their faces.
She reveled in the utter silence.
There was a tentative tap on the door.
“Can I have my sleeping bag back?” Finch asked hopefully.
15.
In the living room, Gno and Finch stared at the slammed door, chagrined.
"You're subtle, Finch."
Gno shook his head and began pacing the shag carpet.
"Well, what was I supposed to do? She insisted on intel!"
"She said 'one thing that's true'. You could have said, "Oh, I like bananas" or some other banal piece of Finch trivia. But dropping 'moon man' on her right away may have been TMI."
Finch cocked his head to the side like a cocker spaniel.
"TMI? I have no definition for that in my Earther dictionary...? And what is this 'dropping'...I hold everything with a firm grip!" He tossed his head in the air haughtily.
Gno sighed. "It's vernacular. I've been studying common Earther slang to attempt assimilation. I mean, look at us. We don't exactly blend."
Finch looked across the living room at the mirror on the far wall. He studied his reflection, then smirked.
"I think I cut a rather dashing figure."
"You're lovely. But this is not pertinent. We now have our mark suspicious, resistant, and possibly frightened. If she's the Seer...she doesn't know it."
Finch frowned. "How do we prove it to ourselves, and then, if we are correct, explain it to her?"
Gno pulled a powerful hand through his dark mane.
"We?" He eyed his enemy, then nodded. "Good. If we're going to work together, we'd better be transparent with each other. Who are you reporting to? What's your mission objective? What do you already know?"
Finch narrowed his eyes. "You first."
Knuffin rolled his eyes. "I daresay you know everything about me."
Finch raised his eyebrows, impassive.
Gno sighed, exasperated. "OK! My immediate superior is HC Lunalet of the Lunar Noir Faction. My job is to find the blue-haired woman and bring her in. It's been reported that she has unusual auras that are radiating all the way to HQ, and anytime we get readings above 237 AAPM from an Earther, we investigate. "
He resumed his pacing, deep in thought.
"I thought at first that this was just a normal procedural mission. That I'd get here and discover that the readings were being inflated by some outside coincidence, or that I'd find a rogue agent too long on holiday. I never thought I'd find....the Seer."
Finch's head snapped up. "WE'D find the Seer."
"Right. So that's what I've got."
Cracking his knuckles, Finch glared at Gno. “Well, you’ve also got no right to the Seer. The Lunar Blanc Faction is trying to SAVE our civilization, while your Commander simply wants the Seer to be a pawn in her megalomaniacal pursuit of dominance.”
Gno sighed.
Flipping open a small device, Finch flopped airily onto the couch.
"On my end, I report DIRECTLY to Presid
ent Manentha. The mission of the Lunar Blanc Faction is to investigate these readings; we have much more precise technology than your outlaw outfit, and the AAPM coming from THAT one"- he jabbed a finger towards Rae's door- "is 451. Once I have a full profile, my next assignment is to (depending upon the findings) either neutralize the mark or transport her back to the home star."
Gno snorted. "So basically, you have no more than I do."
Finch ignored the jab. Also, Heather, let’s go over this conversation between Finch and Gno, as we need to update it with our …. Updated… information about who the dark and light sides are and what they want. I.e., the “dark” side wants the seer so so they can conquer worlds, etc. The “light” side wants to go home… etc. etc., it’s fun to write “etc.”[3][4]
"I also managed to purloin a sample of fur, and I was alarmed to discover that the creature IN THERE is Pook Premier."
Knuffin stopped pacing.
"What!? Well, that makes sense. If Ember was here; Pook Premier was her subordinate."
With a short, dry laugh, Finch rose from the couch.
"Pook Premier is NO ONE'S subordinate. He's dangerous and completely unpredictable. Just like you and your entire- gang- I will not call the Lunar Noir Faction an 'organization', because you lack it completely!" As he grew louder, Gno frantically put a finger to his lips to quiet him.
"Engineering and breeding these monsters is possibly the most irresponsible action that has ever taken place in the galaxy, and now it's going to cost the home star her Seer!" His voice began to tremble. “How can you be loyal to such a short-sighted purpose? Why can’t your people see that they will perish, too?”
Finch hissed these last words, and then crumpled to the floor. Knuffin knelt beside him.
"Look. For better or worse, we are stuck with each other now. We don't have to be friends, but we can be comrades. Yes, much of what you say is true. But I can't change it...my reasons are- complicated.” He paused. “Come on- there has to be something or someone about the Faction that YOU’RE not proud of."
Pausing, Finch remembered Ansler. He and his juvenile companions gave Finch many a moment of consternation.
"All right. Comrades. We will work together to subdue and capture Pook Premier, delve into the nature of the mark-"
"Rae. If we're going to earn her trust, we need to use her name. Not 'the mark'. Rae."
"Very well. We will establish who and what 'Rae' exactly is, then determine what course of action to take. Agreed?"
"Agreed. Now let's get some rest. I'll take first watch."
Finch was too tired to dispute. He poured himself into Gno's abandoned sleeping bag and was almost immediately snoring.
Gno scanned the living room with his dark brown eyes; on a bookshelf, a photo album caught his attention. He took it down, and, walking to Rae's door, sat down on the floor with his back leaning against it. He figured he might as well do some recon, since he'd be awake for awhile….
Rae was freezing. She opened her eyes. It was night. Flakes of snow fell and stuck to her eyelashes, melted on her cheeks. She could see her breath.
She couldn’t move.
Her body was pressed into a bank of snow. She tried to move her arms. She could feel the cold creeping in, but she couldn’t budge an inch.
“Stars.”
Her voice sounded strange to her: warm, calm.
She couldn’t see the stars.
Just gray, gray….
Silent, tall trees surrounded her.
She closed her eyes. Lay there for hours.
A tremor.
The ground beneath her rumbled, shaking loose some of the banked snow by her face.
The ground rumbled again, causing the trees to creak.
It was getting closer.
Suddenly, the snowflakes spun, then sheared sharply sideways as a bitter wind took Rae’s breath away.
The wind was cruel, froze Rae to the core.
It shrieked. It screamed like a mother who has lost her child.
“Raaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeee!”
Rae jolted. The movement shocked her muscles with blinding pain.
Another voice rose from the dark, screaming. Rae shivered, causing the sensation of needle-sharp icicles pushing into her nerve-endings.
That voice.
“Comet.”
No.
Other voices rose to join the chorus. Finch, Mrs. D., Gno…. And Rae felt she was falling. She couldn’t find them she wanted to help if only she could find them nothing was working she was just falling, falling, if only she could see the-
“Stars.” Rae’s throat felt raw, as if she had been screaming for hours.
Get up.
She had to get up. Move.
She tried.
Pain.
Every muscle she moved shot hot, searing pain straight to her dull brain.
She gasped.
But she could move.
She opened her eyes. The wind had stopped.
A break in the monotonous gray clouds. Tiny, bright points of light twinkled and teased, then were covered again.
Get. UP.
Rae clenched her fists. Her body shuddered as she braced herself up onto her elbows.
A sheen of sweat coated her face.
As she found her feet, the whole world tilted and she slipped, banging her knee hard on the rocky ground.
She looked up:
Stars.
They warmed her, pulled her, softened the pain.
The snow was gone.
The sky was dusty, dirty with stars.
So many stars.
And then she was falling.
Rae woke with a gasp.
She was in her room. Quiet. She could hear the gentle hum of her Lucky Cat clock. She looked at her closed door. The house was completely dark. She was covered in sweat. Her Camp Good Times T-shirt was soaked.
Her palm hurt.
She looked down dumbly in the pitch blackness. Her left hand was clenched. Her nails were digging into her palm so hard that she had to use her other hand to open the fingers.
The stone, hot and sweaty, burned her palm.
Rae spun to throw open her curtains over her bed, grateful that her body worked normally and didn’t scream in pain. Moonlight streamed in.
This was LA. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
But she saw only the few, valiant, brightest stars. The only few that could overpower the city lights.
Her heart flipped then thudded in double-time.
She knew what she had to do.
*****
She tripped on the sprinkler spigot after she slipped out her window. Damn thing was hidden in the oleander bush.
Rae swallowed the swear word and studied the new hole in her jeans. Ah, well.
She carried a backpack with her, that carried the few necessities she would need.
Was she really leaving? She was sneaking off like a high schooler hell-bent on joining her friends at Coachella.
Couldn’t she just tell Comet?
“Hey girl. Yeah, there is some thing calling to me. I have to find it. I had a dream you were screaming. No, I’m not on drugs at the moment.”
That wouldn’t work.
There were also the crazy moon men to worry about. Gno and Finch would try to stick to her like gum to the sidewalk.
Rae’s car keys jingled in her hand. She palmed her small, chibi Kylo Ren keychain as she studied her Vega.
Real talk: the car was LOUD.
There was no way she could slip away quietly if she fired up that engine.
She ran her fingers along the fender wistfully.
Then she ran down the street.
She made it to Sunset before rationality took over.
Seriously, where the hell are you going?
“To see the stars,” Rae said out loud, startling an underaged drinker napping it off in a storefront.
I can see the stars here, but it’s not the right place.
Then Rae knew what to do.
She did what any self-respecting Angelino would do.
She requested a Lyft.
◆◆◆
Rashad dropped Rae off without incident at Griffith Observatory.
Rae tipped him well and ignored his worried look as she trudged through the parking lot.
There wasn’t a soul around.
She dropped her backpack in the brush as she edged her way to the sheer side of the hill.
The sky was breathtaking. She could feel the weight lift from her chest as she took in the big sky over the sparkling city.
An inexplicable relief washed over her. Waves of warmth buoyed her mood.
She closed her eyes.
“You really are quite beautiful.”
The voice was low, deep, like a caress.
Rae twitched like she’d had an electric shock. She scraped her hands as she hit her tailbone hard on the ground.
She blinked her confusion away and was greeted by the sight of Gno, tall and dark and with his mouth in a shocked “o.”
“Shit. Rae. Are you alright?”
He kneeled down next to her, pulling her up in one smooth motion.
Rae was tall, had always been tall. Not many people were taller than she was, so it was disconcerting to be eye-level with Gno’s expressive upper lip.
“Just dizzy,” Rae lied.
She took a decisive step backward from the tall moon-man, careful not to slide down the rocky hill.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Her voice sounded too rough to her own ears.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Gno quipped. He put his hands in his pockets. The full moon cast sharp shadows over his features, emphasizing the man’s eerie beauty.
Her heart flipped and jumped back to double-time.
“You followed me.” Rae picked up her backpack from the dusty ground and slung the tattered thing over her shoulder. She flitted her eyes over his shoulder. It was just the two of them.
Gno studied the ground carefully, making a lock of hair fall into his face.
