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Checking the stars in the mortal realm was a part of Luna's job. He had to make sure the stars were where they belonged and shining brightly. He didn’t know if they could even move, but he knew he had to make sure. Sometimes he changed them a bit, turned them into pictures for mortals to see. He wanted to let them know the stories he always got to tell Delphia.
He was doing that when he thought he heard mortals. He went closer to see them. He wanted to try talking to more than the little star, he wanted to know about them. One mortal walked off, but the other stayed behind. They seemed to be pouting.
“I’m not scared of the dark,” they murmured. “I’ll prove it. I-I’ll be fine out here… alone in the dark.”
“The dark isn’t scary, I can help you see that,” Luna whispered. He showed himself, but the mortal started running as soon as he was visible.
“Monster!” He watched as the mortal ran off, the scream echoed in his ears. He hid himself again before anyone else could see him.
“...monster…” He looked down at his hands. “Am I scary…?”
She wasn’t scared. The dark wasn’t scary and that last time was just her imagination. She could stay the night in the woods without running off. There wouldn’t be monsters in the shadows, she’d be fine. She would go once her parents were asleep. She would prove she’s brave.
She was careful as she slipped out of the house. Her parents were asleep finally, they seemed to be up later. It was almost like they knew what she was planning. She ran straight to the woods, slowing to a walk as the trees loomed overhead. She couldn’t stop looking around, the faces in the dark were staring at her.
She stepped on a twig that cracked. It made her jump. She stumbled away, falling into a clearing. She looked around, her voice stuck in her throat when she saw a giant form hovering over her. She couldn’t see its eyes. It started moving, a huge thing that looked like a hand coming towards her. She couldn’t make the scream building in her throat come out. She was going to be taken by a god.
Delphia sat up with a start. She had to force away the fear that vision had just forced on her. Thoughts like that usually meant a young person. She couldn’t imagine why a god would reach for someone, but that child was terrified. She grabbed her bag, dagger, and cloak before starting to make her way out. That was tonight, she just knew based on the child’s thoughts. She called up the door to the area, as close as she could.
She wandered the forest for most of the day. She was trying to get a feel for the place. She found a clearing that looked like the one from her vision. She was still improving at picking up details from the few moments she witnessed. She made her way to the center of the clearing, settling down to enjoy the calm. One of the gods would show up eventually, the vision didn’t give her enough details to know who would arrive. She closed her eyes, smiling to herself as the sun finally started to set.
“Little star?” Luna’s voice echoed around her. She opened her eyes and stared at the spot she thought was the source. He sounded almost scared. “What are you doing here?”
“Luna,” she murmured. It was a bit surprising that he’d be the one that made that child so scared. “I just wanted to watch the stars.”
“Oh…” She blinked and he was visible. He was crouching down, looking at her with his head tilted to the side. His eyes seemed dim, less like the bright glow of the stars in the sky. He stared at his hand for a minute before looking at her again. “We can do that in the garden.”
She couldn’t hold back her smile. Luna was always happy when she watched the stars with him. He started to reach for her, he wasn’t improving as quickly as Ryder and Felix about grabbing her. She waited for his hand to be close enough she could touch the tips of his fingers. She put her hand out and rested it on his, he froze.
“Let’s watch the real sky tonight Luna. You work hard to make sure it’s perfect. Stay with me here to watch them,” she smiled.
His hand stayed just about to grab her. He could ignore her, grab her to go back to the garden. She knew he wouldn’t and her smile grew as his hand finally started to move. He nodded after they stared at each other for a few minutes. When he sat down it made her bounce, he hadn’t gotten much better at hiding his presence while visible. He slowly moved to lie down next to her. She climbed to her feet and walked up to where his head finally met the ground.
A comfortable silence fell over them. Time with Luna was always nice. The soft spoken, curious, and kind god had a way of making her feel calm. She felt foolish for how scared she’d been of him, even after they first met. Ever since she returned to her home with them she tried to figure out what the gods meant to her.
“Delphia,” Luna whispered. She jumped, pulled from her thoughts. Luna never used her name. She turned to face him, shocked to see his eyes locked on her. His eyes were wet with unshed tears. “Do you like it here better?”
“What do you mean?” She asked. He sounded young, sometimes she forgot that he sort of was. Sola too. There was an innocence with the two that made them seem like children despite living almost as long as she has.
“Do you like being here, where the sky’s real?” He took in a deep shuddering breath. “Where you fit in more? Everything isn’t so big for you here…”
“Luna…” She climbed to her feet. Staring into his eyes as they started to shimmer. A tear slipped out. The liquid seemed filled with stars, sparkling as it rolled down his face. “The mortal realm is nice. Sometimes things my size, people my size, are nice to be around. It’s not my home though.”
Luna had more sparkling tears fall from his eyes. She moved closer, it hurt to see him like this. One of the few times she wished she was as big as the gods, big enough to console him. She stepped closer again, a tear landed in front of her. The ground glittered with the shine of his tears as it turned to mud. She started to reach out, but the way his eyes filled with worry made her stop.
“Aren’t we scary? Like monsters?” he whispered. His voice was painfully quiet. “I heard other mortals talking. I know they think we’re scary… like the dark. Don’t we scare you?”
“I’m not scared of any of you anymore Luna,” she murmured. She wasn’t proud to lie, of course there were still times she felt scared. They were huge and she wasn’t… it didn’t make her afraid to be near them. She closed the distance doing her best to hug the face in front of her. His tears were still falling, but she didn’t care. “I just had to learn who you were first.”
“But before when you-” She lightly tapped his cheek to make him stop talking. A habit that formed from the nights he told her stories of the stars, a warning to keep going or to stop. She bit her lip, she didn’t like discussing the old gods. It seemed like Luna needed to know about them a bit at least.
“Before either of us existed there were other gods. They were cruel and scared mortals like me. Those stories aren’t gone, but they’re fading. It’ll take time, Luna, but I’m confident no one would be scared of you.”
“I don’t want to be scary… I like mortals…”
“The stories are changing Luna. More will know you and the others aren’t cruel soon.” She glanced up at the sky. She’d almost forgotten about the child who would be arriving until a cloud she’d seen in her vision floated overhead. “Luna… can you do the thing where I can’t see you? I’ll tell you when to let me see you again.”
He nodded and it made her stumble back. It took seconds for him to be gone, a faint image of the moon appeared where he’d been. She stepped away from where his tears had fallen and sat down again. She stared out over the forest, waiting for the child she saw. They’d likely seen Luna, they may have been the one Luna overheard. The gods in the stories were terrifying, but the real ones were completely different. She was still learning it too.
She heard the crack of a broken twig followed by a yelp. A young boy stumbled into the clearing, falling to his knees. She watched him look around, his nerves were obvious. He jumped up as soon as he saw her, stumbling a bit away. Delphia felt the air shift behind her, Luna was moving. She waved at the boy from where she was sitting.
“W-why are you here?” he asked. She swore she could feel his nerves rolling off him. She offered the boy a warm smile.
“I’m just watching the stars,” she said. The boy inched closer, she could tell he didn’t want to be alone. She climbed to her feet. “Would you like to join me?”
“A-aren’t you worried about the dar- I mean the god that was seen here recently?” She shook her head and walked up to the boy. She could feel how lonely he was, she started to get an idea. She crouched in front of him, meeting his eyes.
“I’m not scared because a god was seen here recently. I bet it was the god of the night sky so I feel extra safe.” The boy stiffened and gave her a strange look. She laughed a bit. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“...ok.” The boy shuffled on his feet. She leaned a little closer to him, holding her hand up by her mouth.
“I know the sky god. He’s kind of like my younger brother. I was scared of the dark before I met him, but he makes me feel safe.” She saw the fear in the boy’s eyes. She wasn’t worried he’d run away, there were some things everyone knew about the gods. Most importantly, they couldn’t make themselves look human. At least the old gods couldn’t.
“D-does that mean you’re a-” She shook her head before he could say it.
“I’m a human, just like you.” He visibly relaxed hearing that. She stood up straight and offered the boy her hand. He fidgeted for a bit before grabbing her hand tightly. She walked back to where she’d been sitting with Luna. “Sometimes, he tells me stories about the stars. Do you want to hear some with me?”
“Does…” He squeezed her hand a bit. “Does he look scary?” She shook her head. “I’ll hear some stories.”
She couldn’t hide her smile if she tried. “Luna, can you come out?”
“Are you sure?” he asked. His voice was faint enough she could almost blame it on the wind. The child squeezed her hand again, but she squeezed back.
“Positive.”
The child held her hand as tight as he could as Luna came into sight. The god was crouching next to them. His head blocked out the stars, but his eyes were shining in their place. The child stepped out from behind her and stared at the face above them. Luna raised a hand up and waved at them. The shimmer in his eyes felt a bit like when he’d been crying, she only hoped this didn’t backfire.
“You look like you’re my age,” the child whispered. She held in a laugh as Luna’s face filled with shock. “You don’t look like a monster.”
The boy covered his mouth after he spoke. He hid behind her before Luna could even react. She saw the way the shimmer in his eyes dimmed. Luna put his hand down, she had a feeling he wanted to hold them. He always felt better holding her when they talked.
“I don’t like monsters either,” Luna mumbled.
“Really?” the child stepped out again, his eyes were shining now. The awe clearly reached Luna as a smile found a way to his face. “So, you don’t put monsters in the dark or other bad things?”
“No, I try to keep the dark safe. It’s why I make sure the stars stay bright enough that mortals can see with them.” Delphia’s eyes widened, she had no idea that was what he did. She thought he was just passing time when he checked the sky. She’d never seen the stars when Luna wasn’t the god of his domains, but she could only imagine they were brighter now.
“M-Mr. God?” Luna tilted his head to the side.
“My name’s Luna.” The way the child brightened when he heard that was mimicked on Luna’s face. She knew it could help to meet others, ones who could show you that you aren’t just what you’ve been told. The gods and Vincent did that, showing her that she was more than just a curse.
“I’m Austin.” The boy held his hand out. There was a moment she worried what would happen, but Luna started moving quickly. He brought two fingers together to hold Austin’s hand, the awe they shared was heartwarming. “Luna… can you tell me the stories she said you knew?”
Luna’s eyes started to shine, as bright as the stars themselves. He shifted to lay down, on his side first. He reached forward, she knew he planned to grab them. She tried to think of what to say, how best to stop him, but she didn’t have to. He set his hand down in front of them. She was proud of the god… the god she called a younger brother. Those words only just registered in her own mind.
She walked onto his hand a bit relieved she’d be able to deal with her thoughts on her own. Austin didn’t follow right away. She looked back at him, hints of fear were wafting off him. He shuffled on his feet instead of coming closer. She held out a hand to try and encourage him.
“It’s easier to know which star he’s talking about on his chest, he’ll point them out and make them shine,” she said. “Right, Luna?”
“I-is that really ok?” Austin asked. She didn’t have to look to know Luna nodded for both questions. Slowly he came closer until he placed a hand in hers. She hadn’t realized how small he’d be in Luna’s hand. She wasn’t much shorter than most of the sky god’s fingers, but Austin was. “Th-that sounds kind of fun.”
Luna smiled as soon as the human climbed on his hand. He rolled onto his back, moving his hand slowly like his little star taught him. She warned him that mortals can get sick from him moving too fast. He brought his hand up over his heart once he was comfortable. He tilted it slowly to let the two humans slide off.
It felt strange, two of them on him. He hadn’t done this with Delphia much either. He didn’t want to make her upset when he told the stories. He waited until they stopped moving then placed his hand over them. He half expected Austin to scream, but he thought he felt hands run over his fingers. Ones that couldn’t be Delphia’s, she’d already placed them on the edge of his finger to tell him to keep going or stop.
He smiled as he raised his other arm. He pointed at a star with a story he thought sounded interesting. It sparkled brightly as he started to tell it. He kept this up, going from story to story. At the end of each one he waited for the tap on his finger telling him to keep going. He couldn’t believe how many he got through before the taps finally stopped. He sat silently for a few seconds.
“...younger brother…” he mumbled. He didn’t know what that meant. He knew in theory, Delphia told him about families. Rhys did too, back when he asked why he called her little sister. He just didn’t know what that made him to Delphia. He’d have to ask Rhys about it again, he didn’t want to make the little star think he didn’t like it.
Luna used his door to check other parts of the sky while the mortals on his chest slept. He didn’t want to wake them, but doing nothing felt wrong too. He’d almost forgotten they were there when one of them started moving. He lifted his hand a bit, Austin had started moving around. He climbed up to his feet once Luna’s hand was gone.
“Um… Luna?” Austin called. He lifted his head a bit to look down at him. “Is your sister nice like you?”
“Do you mean li-Delphia?” he asked. He tried to show he meant the little star. He couldn’t remember her mentioning her own name. Austin started shaking his head.
“No, I meant the other one like you. That’s in charge of day.”
“You mean Sola? She’s like me, I think. She’s… brighter.” The human nodded before moving to the edge of Luna’s chest and looking down. Luna brought his other hand close and wrapped his fingers around him. “Be careful, you could fall and get hurt.”
Austin was shaking in his hand, he wasn’t sure why. He carefully lifted his hand up and set the human on the ground. He turned to look at him as he let him go. Austin was still shaking as he took his hand away. A small face staring up at him, that seemed scared and not scared at the same time.
“You… put me down…” Austin murmured. Luna wasn’t sure why he sounded so amazed. He just nodded. “I have to go home. My parents will worry if they find out I’m gone. My older brother isn’t going to believe I met you… Thanks Luna.”
“Oh… I almost forgot about that,” Luna said. Mortals have people worry when they’re gone… just like him and everyone else when Delphia leaves. When she left… “Can I ask something before you leave?”
“Um… sure?” Austin’s voice was strange, but Luna just hoped he could answer. He wasn’t sure how to ask the question. He wanted to know what a younger brother was, but he was curious about Sola being called his sister too. He didn’t want to keep Austin too long either. He felt Delphia moving before he could ask anything.
“Did I do anything wrong? I don’t spend a lot of time with mortals.” Austin stumbled back when he asked his question. He felt Delphia tapping his fingers. He curled them around her.
“Uh… It was kind of scary when you grabbed me before.” Luna nodded, he had to get better about that. Delphia said it too, he shouldn’t just grab them. Austin took a few more steps away.
“I’ll try to remember that for the next time I meet a mortal.” Luna smiled and Austin seemed a lot more relaxed. The human waved before running off. He felt Delphia tapping his fingers again. Slowly he sat up, looking down at her in his palm. He couldn’t imagine doing anything cruel to someone so small…
“We should head home Luna, I’m sure Sola’s started to worry. You don’t stay out of the god realm for this long very often,” Delphia said. He smiled, she wanted to go back too. He held her to his chest as he rose to his feet. He’d ask Rhys about the family stuff later. Right now, he would just take the little star home and maybe try to come visit Austin again with her help.