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Pearl and her friends often joke about her semi-bad memory. She’d often forget where she had put something or why she entered a room. But her long-term memory was also bad. She could remember places but besides that, the things she remembered were either very significant, or purely random. That one time she and Grian ate seaweed in the cubby under the stairs, when she crashed her bike and broke her arm, a plant she saw at the store once, a pretty flower near the graveyard, and other things like that.
When she did remember something, Martyn always threw his hands up and jokingly said, “That amount of memory would’ve been helpful when you had to pick me up from the airport!” (Pearl forgot to pick him up once and made plans with some coworkers. He had to get a taxi that ended up being very expensive.)
Grian was rather the opposite. Seeming to remember everything that ever happened to him. He also seems to know much more than he both lets on and should know (college dropout and all that). Pearl called it ‘older brother magic’ while Grian called it a curse.
And sometimes he was the weirdest person you’ll ever meet. Every few minutes, he’d be caught intensely making eye contact with someone or something. A cat on the street would stare at him then blink before running away. A bird would sit on a powerline and tweet before flying away. A person would blankly stare at him before confusion filled them and they wandered away. He was also super judgmental. Pearl would introduce him to a coworker or someone she met on the street and he’d take one look before either giving Pearl a death glare or shaking the other person’s hand. Most pass the test but others disappear after a day or two when he doesn’t. (Pearl’s fairly sure he doesn’t kill them.)
When she asks why he does this, he always says without fail, “Everything has eyes.”
Recently, Pearl scoffed and responded with, “You sound like Mom.” They were sitting in a park together on one of the few occasions Grian would leave a two-block radius of the house. It was hot and the tree they were near wasn’t doing much to help.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you know. She’d always say, ‘You two are my sun and stars!’ and we’d ask who her moon was. Then she’d say something weird that was along the lines of, ‘The moon is my moon, dears. She demands my attention. Because even though she has so many eyes, she can only watch over half the Earth at once.’ Yada, yada, yada, something something religion. She was a strange bird, like you.” Pearl kicked at the pavement. “You’re the one who remembers things, G.”
“Oh, no, I do remember that.” He hesitated and looked at the trees. “Mom was just a lot of things, so was Dad.” Then he grabbed Pearl’s arm and declared the trees had too many eyes and dragged her away. Birch trees looked like they had eyes, of course, but Pearl was certain they weren’t real. Grian still refused to see a doctor about this. And they never went back to that park.
Months later, at the northern hemisphere's winter equinox, Pearl placed a small bouquet of flowers at the dining table. Poppies, lilies of the valley, and snake's head fritillary. Mom and Dad loved these flowers and kept them in their garden for as long as they could each year.
“I miss England,” Pearl says as she recognizes Grian’s footsteps approaching.
He stops walking. “Your voice doesn’t agree.”
“We’ve lived here for more than a decade, I’m more surprised yours hasn’t changed. But you can’t say you don’t miss our little town, the people. Mom and Dad.” She turned and looked at him. He was leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
“I only miss the smallness of it all,” he grumbled. “I hated the flowers they grew.”
Pearl frowned, “Well, Jimmy and Martyn like them. So, they stay.”
“I could just get rid of them.”
“You won’t. You know how devastated the other two would be. And you love them so much.” She sighed and started to walk away, “They’ll be home soon. You can talk to them about the flowers then.” Then she left the room and went to her room. She carefully shut the door behind her and sat on her bed. Putting some nice music and her headphones on, she picked up a book.
An hour later she got a message from Grain, ‘Had to get rid of the flowers, sorry. Had a disease.’
She sent back a simple ‘Okay.’ Pearl trusted him when it came to seeing those small things. She had the bad memory, Grian had the good eyes and memory, Jimmy and Martyn had the good hearing. That’s why they had the best workplace gossip.
The next morning, Pearl came down the stairs in her slightly-formal summer dress and greeted Grian as usual. There was no response. She looked around the house and found no sign of him. And she suddenly couldn’t track his phone. She sent a text to Jimmy and Martyn asking if they had heard from him before leaving the house. And for the entire day, she showed houses with an added layer of paranoia.
Being alone was never her strong suit. The hours she spent alone in her small childhood house were terrible ones. When the wind blew, the windows seemed to pop and the floorboards creaked with their own weight. She’d run home from school and lock herself in her room until someone came home. But she wasn’t alone now. People walked in and out of the show house, leaving the floorboards creaking and her talking about its wonders.
Still, her hairs prickled at the back of her neck and sometimes even someone walking into the room startled her. Pearl brushed it off as worry because Grian wasn’t there that morning. Martyn saw him last night, he was probably doing something weird. Like he always does. Because he’s a strange bird.
She came home at five to her two roommates looking distressed. Martyn said they had filed a missing persons report while he wringed out his hands.
Pearl called in sick the next day, staying home and staring at the ceiling.
Then she went back to work to keep her mind off things. It didn’t work. With the feeling of people looking at her when they weren’t, the stretches of nothing in between showings, and the nagging worry of where her last family member was, her mind was always on it.
The other two didn’t seem to be fairing well either, they seemed to be doing worse. One would be staring off into the distance before sharply inhaling before shaking his head. Jimmy started wearing his headphones more often and Martyn flinched at sounds more often. None of them talked about any of it.
One evening while Pearl continued to sleeplessly stare at the ceiling, her phone lit up. Three people could contact her when she was on ‘do not disturb’. Two were in the house. She bolted up and snatched her phone, not caring how the light hurt her eyes.
It was an email from Grian.
‘Sorry for not saying anything. But I can’t explain now. I got you a ticket to London, a bus can get you there. -Grain.’ Then a link to a confirmation page, certifying a ticket had been bought. It was for a fight five hours away.
Pearl flicked on her lights and silently searched for her passport and a purse before creeping down the stairs. As she hastily began to scrawl a note onto a life of paper, the creeping feeling of being watched rose back up. She pushed it down, finished the note, and slipped on her shoes before slipping out the door herself.
In another minute, the car she was looking for pulled up and she sat in the backseat. The pricking feeling stayed but she ignored it by as the drive was made to the airport. Pearl paid for the ride and went through the airport process. An hour later (for there was a strange amount of people at the airport), she was sitting at the gate. She’d turn her head to look at the people around her, they seemed to turn away just as she looked at them. No store was open so she stared out the large windows.
Planes touched down and lifted off under the light of the full moon. Pearl looked at the moon with a curious expression. Normally, she saw the normal face of a man staring down at her, but how she saw many faces. When she was a child, she saw the exact same faces. They’d keep her safe by peering through her window, following her movements, and keeping a watch over the streets of her little country town.
Pearl chuckled to herself, now she was sounding like Mom.
A shadow flickered in her periphery. As usual, she ignored it.
Her neck hairs prickled back up as more eyes seemed to settle on her. She ignored them.
Time ticked on and soon someone started calling groups to board the plane. Pearl gets on when the line thins out and shuffles into her window seat. As the engine powers on and it’s sound drowns out any thought she currently had. She liked seeing the wing of the plane, but sitting right here with the engine was not worth it.
More eyes prickled. And with the entire roaring and the strange feeling of the plane lifting off, the only thing she could focus on was the eyes. As the plane climbed and climbed, the eyes grew and grew. An uneasiness grew. She was used to eyes, they have been there since she was a child. There was always some fear in her because of this but she knew how to push it away. Goosebumps appeared on her skin though there was no skin open to the elements and her vent fan was turned off. The faces reflecting in the dark window seemed to be looking at her. There was nothing to see outside, so they must be looking at her. Right?
It’s almost a 24-hour flight from Australia to London. They got their meals, people walked the aisles to get blood flowing. Eyes died down after take-off but still present.
As they chase the moon, the day shifts back home but not on the plane. Pearl rests her head on the vibrating plane wall and ignores the eyes as she falls asleep.
They touch down at midnight London time. It would be time to go to work back home. When Pearl turns her phone on, texts and missed phone calls from Martyn and Jimmy flood in.
‘I’m sorry.’ She writes to them before departing the plane. With her one bag, she goes through customs then wanders her way to the buses. She pulls up multiple websites and tries to find out what bus to take. After finding the right station, she makes sure to stop and rapidly pull on her coat. It’s colder than she expected.
An empty bus pulls up ten minutes later and she gets on, fumbling with her phone for a moment before paying. Sitting in the far back, Pearl stares out the window as the bus pulls away. The city lights are bright and sky cloudy as they speed along fairly empty roads. Soon enough, they get out of the city and onto the highway. Still, there is no one else on the bus.
The bus starts to slow a few hours later. The speaker system dings to start an announcement but it fizzles out and becomes static. From the front, the driver seems startled before slamming a button, turning the static off.
He clears his throat, “This is your stop, kid.”
“Oh, uh, thank you.” She puts the book away and goes to stand by the door. The bus slows to a stop and the doors open as Pearl hops out.
The only real light around is the light from the bus. Street lights never existed here. Pearl remembers nights running around with Grian. She could barely see by the moonlight and always skimmed something while Grian led the way without any injuries. She supposes it was age as when the bus pulls away, because she can still see quite well now. Not a single light is on, makes sense. But Pearl recalls this fork in the road and takes the right path and wanders over to her old house.
The cobble streets look the same as they did thirteen years ago, old and worn. Everything seems the same to her. Some outdoor landscaping looks different but it’s the same houses, same streets, same…odd feeling. Of being alone but surrounded by people at the same time. Scared but safe.
Her home looked the exact same. Whoever owns the house must’ve felt obliged to keep things the same. Flowers sat in the garden, hedges sat neatly trimmed, grass was long but smelled of pesticides. Pearl feels bad about having to wake the owners up, but she has nowhere else to go and supposes Grian should be here.
A plaque she doesn’t recognize sits next to the number plate. She pauses to read it.
‘TO THE SAINTS WHO LIVED HERE. DENISE AND ALFRED MAVROS MAY NOT HAVE STAYED WITH US BUT ARE HONORARY MOONS.
TO THE CHILDREN THEY LOVED. PEARLESCENT MAVROS MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TRAIN BUT SHOWED EXCEPTIONAL PROMISE. GRIAN MAVROS WAS A COWARD BUT SHALL JOIN THE MOONS WHEN HIS SISTER DOES.’
She remembers seeing something like this on the houses of those who moved away or died. For those who moved, there were much less nice things to say. But Pearl does not like the sign. Mainly because she doesn’t know what it means. She knows that her parents were devout to the religion of the town, but doesn’t know what the rest was. Maybe the townspeople saw how she and Grian acted at services and thought they’d follow in their parents’ footsteps. They certainly didn’t like the two of them skipping town without a word. Which, honestly, is a bit rude. Grian had so much going through his head when their parents died, and his natural reaction was running. Pearl went with him because he asked and she didn't want to be alone.
The door flew open before Pearl even got the chance to knock at it. On the other side, Grian stood with a rather angry expression. His hair looked matted and his red sweater was rather dirty. “Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here.”
“What?” She blinked. “What do you mean? You said for me to come, so I came.”
“No I—What?” He stopped then yanked Pearl into the house, slamming the door behind him. He flicked on the lights and started pacing.
Along with the town, the house looked the exact same. Nothing had moved but things had a thin layer of dust on them. Pearl started to wander, looking into rooms and cabinets. The cubby under the stairs still had all the same pillows and blankets in the exact same places. Her shared childhood room still had the same books on the shelf. Her own bed was neatly made while Grian’s was in a state of disarray.
Pearl sat down on her bed calmly and waited as Grian came up the stairs, sat down on his own bed, and stared at her. After some time he stood once more, “You need to leave. Go back.”
“I just got here!”
“You shouldn’t be here! You’ll get hurt.”
“How? This is one of the safest towns in the country. And how are you allowed to be here but not me?”
Grian paused and thought over his next words. “You’re here because I had to write an email to you. I had to get you a ticket here. Didn’t you notice the typo?”
“What?”
“On the sign-off. It’s subtle but I spelled my name wrong. I never do that.” He stared at Pearl, a slight look of horror on his face. “Of course you didn’t notice. With all the mistakes in your own writing, how could I expect you to see a simple letter swap?” He threw his hands up.
Pearl stared back at him, more confused than on the day he left. “Okay…? But what do you mean by you were ‘forced’ to send that? Why can’t I be here?”
“You saw the sign on the door.”
“Yeah. I don’t understand it.”
“No way this is happening…” he said, putting his head in his face and groaning. “This town isn’t Christian, Jewish, Islamic, or any other major religion. Us and…a lot of other places around the world have our religion.”
“Templum Lunae.” Pearl nodded, pronunciation the same as it was years ago. Trained to perfection. “The Temple of The Moon.”
“Yes. Technically it’s a religion but I couldn’t call it that. I don’t even know what it's classified as. And what do we worship? What are our holy texts?”
“The moon…? I never paid much attention at the temple. But aren’t our texts from some, like, island nation? Didn’t they think the End was space or something?”
“Close enough. The main thing is that the whole belief is based on seeing things, watching over things. They say the moon watches over the Earth, so she is our protector. But she can only see half the Earth at once, so it is our job to watch when it is day. We watch over our own areas with our own eyes.”
“And places faraway?”
“We look through other things’ eyes. A person, an animal. Sometimes trees, those that have eyes on them.”
“Like birch trees?”
“Yes. Any tree’s burl is counted, but birch trees are the easiest. That’s why I stare at things sometimes, it drives away the Watchers. Who are the main group of people who look through others’ eyes. It’s a whole hierarchy.”
“That was the least creative name I’ve ever heard.”
Grian shrugged, “They said translating the documents was difficult so maybe the old guys had a better name.”
“Alright. Recap. The moon supposedly watches. And…we watch with her. By looking through other eyes. And there’s more levels?”
“Just two. Watchers, anyone who can peer through another’s eyes. Only look, no other senses. And Moons. They can see everything. Like an x-ray vision of sorts. They can take over a person, see through things. Not all at once, it can be…activated when needed. It’s a big step up, and a deadly one.”
“Deadly?”
“Once a decade they do a ritual on the peak of night during the winter solstice to ‘elevate’ a Watcher to a Moon. Roughly 30% die in the process. Mom and Dad died in the last one.”
“So that’s why we left. Why’d you never tell me this? And, how do you know about this?”
“Our bloodline, the Mavros, is a notorious one. We have a history of many becoming Moon’s. So it was a surprise to see our parents die. Dad a little less as he married in. Anyway, the temple expected us to be Moons. At fourteen they introduce you to the whole ‘seeing’ thing and fully teach the history. Especially those who have a connection to the Mavros bloodline. I was just shy of being good enough to do the ritual that year. Because of their deaths, people were pushing me to have you indoctrinated early. Give you a head start, even if it was only half a year.”
“But you didn’t want me to. So we left.”
“So we left,” he confirmed.
“But they still wanted me. Followed through others’ eyes. And now I’m here.”
Grian sighed and nodded his head. Leaving them in silence for some time. “They peered in more often this year. Going so far to have a Moon find a way to look through the flowers you put up.”
“That makes no sense.” She said, like the rest of it made sense. Which it didn’t.
“I know.”
They sat there for some time. Silence was everywhere. And no eyes. Either these walls were super fortified or no one was trying to look at them right now. After the days and months and years of having them, Pearl started to feel uneasy from their nonexistence.
“Is there anything else you need to tell me?” She asked to mainly fill the silence in her mind.
“Yeah. But I’ll try to make it short,” Grian gave her a small and weary smile. “The holy texts also mention a ‘rival’. They’re from the same island but take on a whole different point of view. Templum Maris, The Temple of the Sea. Templum Lunae was based in the middle of the island, the higher areas surrounded by more earth. Templum Maris was based on the coast, low lands. They still see the moon as a supreme ruler, but follow the sea. Their texts say that the ocean is loud for a reason and why conch shells sound like the sea. Because the sea and all of nature listens. All living organisms in the ocean let it hear, and all animals listen too. They all report to the water and the water tells the world’s secrets to the moon.”
“How similar are they to us?”
“They’re less harsh, taking a gentle route to incorporating people than Templum Lunae. But there still are the two ranks. Listeners, those who hear all. A wider range of hearing in frequency and general range. They can listen through others’ ears. And Oceans. Moons except swap out seeing for listening. But, an Ocean cannot take over a Moon and vice-versa. All can scare off the other easily.”
“And how did you learn all of that?”
“Martyn and Jimmy. There’s a reason I like them so much.” He smiled, a happier one. “I told them to keep track of you while I was gone but that clearly didn’t work too well.”
“Sorry?”
“Apology semi-accepted.” Grian laughed. He opened up his mouth to say something but stopped. He turned to the window behind him. The similar sense of being watched creeped back up on Pearl. “They’re here.”
And within a few seconds they were. A group of ten entered the house and climbed the stairs to stand in the doorway. The two in the front wore religious garb. Long robes that covered their entire body along with a longer purple cloak with its hood up. The rest had formal white clothing.
Grian stood up and moved in front of Pearl. A silent ‘no’. A laugh echoed through the ten standing before them. Pushing through the robed figures, a tall woman in a suit grabbed Grian with a neutral face. He tried to resist but the woman only held her closer.
The two robed people jumped forward and each took one of Pearl’s arms. The seven others surrounded her and started walking. Down the stairs, out of the house, joining a bigger group of people on the street, walking to the temple. Everyone in town looked to be there. Even the young children. Seats were full and those who were previously on the street or surrounding Pearl filled into the rest of the seats. Dead silence but many eyes filled the room.
At the front, standing with their hands clasped in front of them, was a tall priest in white robes. Moon patterns embroidered in purple decorated the edges of the robes, and they seemed to twinkle slightly. They were wearing a white mask/blindfold/thing that looked like wings wrapped around their face. Probably a Moon. As she continued to near, the priest moved slowly and held their arms pointed in front of them.
From near behind, there were the first sounds. “No! You can’t do this!” Grian squawked. “Stop!”
Pearl turned to see but couldn’t see beyond the robes. Either way, she started to drag her feet in a vain attempt to stop moving. After almost tripping, she stopped resisting. Too tired. Too weak.
Grian kept screaming behind her.
In front of the priest, she was forced to her knees. The two who had dragged her moved to the side. Grian and the suit woman moved to the other side, with him being also forced to kneel. Hesitantly and with drooping eyelids, Pearl looked up at the priest.
They didn’t glance at her. “Thank you for being here on such short notice, lovely people. We are gathered here today to see if our Pearlescent Marvos is ready to be a Moon. Her brother will join us later at the Moon ceremony. Some of you lovely people may be wondering why this young woman can become a Moon without being initiated, but please remember, we’ve been watching her for years! If we unlock her potential, she’ll soar faster than any other child we’ve known!”
A cheer ran through the crowd.
“Yes, yes! But now, please be silent for the Watcher ceremony.”
Pearl glanced at Grian. His face was of terror but he made eye contact and simply shook his head.
The priest turned around to grab something from the nearby altar. There were two large moth wings on their back. Black with white flecks. Pearl hoped that the wings were just their genetics and not part of becoming a Moon.
They turned, a purple blindfold in their hands. Gracefully, they crouched down and tied it around Pearl’s head. A pair of hands took her own and walked her forward, then they stopped. Pearl started to wonder what was going on, she had no context clues on what was happening. She didn’t remember any of this happening, maybe she forgot. or maybe—
A rough hand grabbed the back of her head and pushed it forward. Directly into water. Her scream barely had time to ring out in the temple. It bubbled the water before she was pulled out.
“Keep your mouth shut, eyes open, and head clear. Let the water guide your vision.” The priest whispered into her ear before dunking her head back in.
Pearl did as asked, mainly because it would keep her alive. She held her breath the best she could and kept her eyes open. It was strangely easy to look out into the pure black void. But her mind raced. Nothing made sense to her and it seemed that it ever would. The history barely made sense to her.
Gently, hands collected her loose hair and carefully pulled at it. Pearl found the edges of the basin she dunked into and pushed herself out of the water. No sound greeted her. The world was still black as a warm fabric was put over her shoulders before her hair was gently set into her back. Hands turned her around.
“Now, see ,” the words were whispered into her ears before the sound of footsteps drew away.
Pearl stood there for a moment, in the black. Then small details of purple blossomed around her vision. Forms similar to humans, benches, beams. Big details. Then the eyes. In a bright white, shapes where everyone’s eyes appeared. The blindfold was removed and everything else flooded her vision. People in the benches smiled and started to clap.
The priest moved in front of Pearl and raised their arms for silence. “Yes, this is very beautiful! But we have our second ceremony, Moons, please rise and follow us out to the lake. Everyone, please wait silently for our arrival with a new Moon!” There were some more cheers before a group of people stood and shuffled out into the aisle. Some seemed to have black moth wings on their back. All wore the winged masks. All wore robes and cloaks.
“Pearl, stay strong!” Grian’s call rang out as he was lifted to his feet once more. “During the ritual, listen to my voice .”
“I’ll try!” She called back as the priest took one of her hands and started to walk forward.
The congregation moved forward and out of the temple. They walked through the streets she knew and along some she didn’t remember. Thorough a path that had clearly been walked to dirt. They came to a small lake, but it didn’t seem that deep. Through gestures, Pearl supposed she was to enter the water and did so. In the middle, the water went to her hips. A bouquet of flowers was handed to her.
Grian was held tightly as he stood at the edge of the lake, face full of worry. Crowns of the same flowers that were handed to Pearl were passed around to the Moons. They placed them on their heads and entered the water in multiple circles around Pearl. All but Grian and his…escort…were in the water.
The Moons started to slowly circle in the same direction, gently sloshing the water. A low song started to pass through them, gentle like the ocean waves. A low buzz started in Pearl’s mind as some things became more clear in her eyes. The dirt in the water, the texture of the robes, each blade of grass, the sparkle of the water.
“Pearl.” Grian’s stern voice had her head looking away from the water. She could barely see him through the people in front of her. “Pearl I can’t pull you out of this. But I can help you live. They won’t talk or move in fear or interrupting their part of the ritual. But I don’t care. My ‘spiritual power’ won’t interfere. Okay?”
“Okay?” Barely a whisper.
“Keep your breathing strong and steady.”
She took a deep breath.
“Focus on something simple. Look at the stars, aren’t they pretty?”
She looked up and, oh, yes. The stars were pretty. And there were so many of them.
“I’m just going to tell a story now, listen to the story.”
She nodded.
He started to weave a story about a group of people who were in a game. A game about survival. A game about friendship but also enemies. But also love. He started to tell the stories of these people.
And as the Moons’ song continued, the water made Pearl start to shiver. Grian’s words started to become fainter, lost to the growing whispers deep in her head. Like the Moons, they spoke in a language she did not know.
“Grian?” She asked in a voice barely anything but a cough. “Grian will I be okay?”
He said something that was unheard. Realizing this, he gave a shaking nod.
The flowers in Pearl’s hand wilted and died. Every Moon stopped spinning and singing in an instant, parting so a path to the priest at the top was clear. The priest moved forward and into the water. Her vision blurred when they stood in front of her, also shivering in her wet clothes and cold air. They produced a mask just like theirs out of nowhere and placed it on Pearl's head. The vision of big shapes and white eyes came back to her.
They put a hand where her heart was and two fingers in the middle of her forehead. Leaning in, they whispered, “ ᓭᒷᒷ .”
White light blinded her and she fell to her knees as a pain on her back started. Her thoughts were the same screams as the one she was producing from her mouth. It seemed like people were grabbing at her, whispering to her. She didn’t know what was real or not at that moment.
Her bones, muscles, and organs seemed to shift around in her body as something ripped open. Something changed in her as the screaming continued.
Everything stopped for a moment.
Then she opened her eyes to see she was underwater and pushed herself up, coughing and gasping for air. Goosebumps were all over her skin and Pearl could see each little clump of dirt she had stirred up. She coughed and stood up, wavering on her feet.
The Moons around her and the priest gave wide smiles. Grian was horrified. There was hair covering part of her vision so Pearl moved her hand to move it away,
It hit a porcelain-like surface first. The mask. She was wearing the mask. Yet seeing perfectly. Better, even.
The priest took no care in Pearl’s sudden distress and took her hand once more. They walked out of the lake before the priest gently touched her cheek before stepping away. The weight of her clothes and body was so much. Whatever adrenaline she had from waking up in the water was gone. Adrenaline left fatigue behind and she was already fatigued.
They turned to Grian. He tried to back away but the Moon next to him stopped him. The priests gave a small chuckle before turning back to Pearl. They carefully took the robe off, peeling like a second skin. There was a hole ripped in the back. A hole. Where her upper back was.
A breeze rolled through and Pearl felt a chill on her back. Slowly twisting around, she felt around her back. She soon came into contact with the base of something. Something connected to her, nerves firing as she touched it.
“Do I have wings?” She asked as Grian was forcefully being shoved into the robe.
He stopped and looked at her. So many emotions in one face. Even Pearl's enchanted eyesight, she can’t see them all. “Yes.” He lets them fasten the robe.
The priest takes off Pearl’s mask and her vision gets worse immediately. They hold it in their hand and motion for Grian to get into the water. He does so solemnly. New flowers are passed around. It starts again.
She sees as Grian’s focus starts to wander and eyes go unfocused. Pearl calls out and starts to do the same thing he did for her. But she tells all the memories of the two of them. He is already too far gone. The same thing happens.
Grian falls and claws at his eyes and back. His scream is louder than a school cafeteria. The inner circle of Moons tears open his shirt and sweater. Pearl watches as two wings burst out of his skin covered in blood. The wounds healed on his back quickly, like he had the wings all his life. Then he faints, sinking into the water.
And wakes up three minutes later. It is all the same except that he recovered faster and has more energy. They all walk back to the temple after the robe and mask were taken off Grian. He pushes away from the escort and stands next to Pearl. She grabs his hand, he pulls away.
The congregation smiles and gasps when they pass by. The priest has the two of them stand in front, facing the people. Grian stares straight ahead while Pearl looks at each and every face. A new robe and mask is put on both of them.
“Today we have two new Moons!” The priest smiles. “In this holy space, Grian and Pearlescent Mavros will now be known as Grian and Pearlescent Moon! If they wish, they can go to the local court and become Mavros-Moon!” The crowd cheers. “Of course, of course, they both have to survive the night.”
Survive? She could’ve died at the ritual but could also die an hour later while she sleeps?
“But let’s see how likely they are to live!” The priest leans forward and whispers to them, “ᓭ!¡∷ᒷᔑ↸ ||𝙹⚍∷ ∴╎リ⊣ᓭ.” Spread your wings , her mind translates.
Grian raises his starry wings with only a slight wince. Pearl follows, hissing as her skin and muscles protest. It is second nature to her, which she does not like. Her vision starts to blur and waver on her feet.
“Pearl?” Grian slips off his mask. He is looking at her, wings halfway lowered and face worried.
She takes her own mask off and looks at him, confused and scared, “Grian?”
She falls.
Pearl’s head swam as she slowly woke up. Various colors and pieces of furniture formed from blurry shapes. She found herself on a baby blue couch wrapped in two blankets. One was a child-sized purple blanket that had Frozen characters on it and the other was a gray, weighted blanket. A fluffy red pillow cradled her head, wanting to bring her back to sleep. But she pushed that aside and pushed herself up. Late afternoon light shone through a kitchen window behind her but no one else was in the room.
There was a ruffled sleeping bag on the other side of a brown coffee table, suggesting at least one other person was supposed to be here. Probably along with whoever lived in this place. Pearl was still in the same clothes as before and was starting to feel terrible. In the hygiene sense. She stood up and wandered over to a full-length mirror hung on a wall nearby. Her hair wasn’t actually too ruffled but had an imprint on her cheek from the pillow. She twisted around and looked at her wings, which she had forgotten existed. Easily, she could move them around while they weighed nothing at all.
A small photo was tucked in the upper left corner of the mirror. There were two people, happy and standing together. One was Jimmy! He looked a little younger, maybe in college. The other had blue hair similar to that of the couch, probably the same age. Small hearts were drawn in a thin sharpie around the edges.
There was a click and jingle of keys before the door opened. Three stood on the other side. The guy in the photo, a woman with pink hair, and Grian! She stood still and stared at them for a moment.
The woman nodded, agreeing with something another said before looking in. She gasped and smiled, “You’re awake!” The other two turned.
Grian gasped and ran forward, tackling Pearl with a bear hug. She yelped but hugged him back. “I was really worried about you.”
She laughed a little, “Really? Why?”
“Pearl,” he pulled away and looked her straight in the eyes. “You were close to death at times. Moon magic takes a toll and you were barely ready for it.”
“I do feel drained.” She shrugged and gave him a soft smile.
Grian smiled back then turned to the others, who had walked in and shut the door. “Oh, these two are Scott and Lizzie. Friends of Jimmy and Scott’s been letting us stay here, in his apartment.”
Pearl looked over at the two and smiled, “Well! That’s nice! Thank you.”
Scott dipped his head, “You’re welcome. A friend of Jimmy is a friend of mine.”
“There’s also some moral obligation,” Lizzie teased. “Since we saved both your lives.”
“What?”
Lizzie shifted, ready to say a lot of things at once, “Jimmy called Scott, who called me. We sped out to your little country town and all your guys were still at the ritual. Some gasoline was spread about and I had to climb through some sewer tunnels with the stuff. Jimmy and Martyn used their special magic or whatever to gather some birds and Scott supplied them with lights and mirrors. It was chaos from the outside, like a big disco party. We got you and Grian out before exploding the place! Big mistake to have the gas pipes be easily accessible from the also easily accessible sewers.” She nodded to herself and Scott did the same after a moment.
“That must’ve been…exhilarating…”
“Didn’t help that I had to drive,” Scott muttered, knowing everyone could hear.
Lizzie scoffed, “It was fine . But it was great meeting you, Pearl. I hope you get home safe and sound. Grian told us on the walk home that you’re eyes-free for the most part. The explosion did its job.” She waved and walked out the door.
Two days later they were back home, safe in the Southern hemisphere warmth. Jimmy and Martyn didn’t let them go for at least ten minutes when they got back in. After that, Grian started going outside of the house more. Pearl’s new vision understood why, she looked in all the places where eyes would be but saw none. No one was trying to look at them. Together, they learned they could fly using their new moth wings. Not very well, more useful to glide to safety than real flight.
Life settled on like normal. Jobs continued normally. Social life continued to be fruitful. There was always the small nagging worry of Templum Lunae trying to find them, but things hadn’t happened yet.
Some things changed, others didn’t. Pearl forgot to pick up Martyn from something a second time. So, clearly, everything was fundamentally the same with her.