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The sun sinks down below the horizon beyond the monolith and just like that, there is only one more night standing between Lune and the continent. Every single part of her life has been in preparation for this moment and yet, there’s an excited nervousness buzzing within her. What will they find when they cross the sea? Will they actually be the first expedition to defeat the Paintress or will they be just another team to lay the trail for the next?
Her mind is alight with all the questions she hopes she’ll gain answers to; whether the Gestrals and Esquie are real or not, whether the other expeditions left more for them to find that will give them an advantage over the others. Maybe, just maybe, she can find out what happened to her parents on their expedition.
Lune heaves a sigh and rolls her neck and shoulders, loosening up. Sitting here at the edge of the harbor, looking out over the expanse of gentle waves rolling it’s almost peaceful — if not for the giant looming monolith and the count down along with it, anyway. Left over red and white flower petals speckle the cobblestones around her; the last echo of those who gommaged not even hours earlier. A reminder of all she’s about to fight for on the continent.
Perhaps a morose way to spend what might be her last night in Lumière, but Lune felt at peace out there in the twilight listening to the crashing waves and strumming her guitar. The last rays of sunlight make the gold ink tattoos on her arm glow. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before falling into the music and committing all her memories of the life she lived in Lumière to her heart.
Her desk is scattered with notes and to the unknowing eye, it may look chaotic but Lune knows just where everything is. There are strings running along pages connecting thing to another with hastily scribbled notes in margins and drawings of gestrals with even more notes followed by a truly impressive amount of question marks.
“Are you solving a case now, Detective?” Tristan asks, gingerly thumbing through a stack of notes on Lune’s desk. She scoffs and bumps him out of the way with her shoulder.
“Don’t touch those! You’ll get them all out of order and your hands are dirty.”
“My hands are pristinely clean, thank you very much!” Tristan crosses his arms and furrows his brow at the slight. They’d worked together since they were children and sometimes, Lune felt closer to him than her own siblings. Not that she would ever tell him that, of course; it would go to his head much too easily.
Tristan looks over her drawings and smirks, “Ahhh, you’re on about the gestrals again, I see.” Lune’s cheeks flush. She knows they’re not pertinent to the expedition per se, but somehow she can’t help but be completely fascinated with everything about the continent and the ever present whys and hows that always keep her looking deeper and deeper until she’s completely lost herself.
“You know they probably don’t exist,” he chides.
“We don’t know that. Same with Esquie. Even if they’re some made up tale, there has to be a reason the story stays the same every time. I just don’t know what connection they have to the paintress, or if they came before her and are some ancient beings.” Lune always had a tendency to get caught up in her work and with that came nearly endless chatter about the things she was excited about. Thankfully for her, Tristan and Gustave both seemed to let her go on and on without stopping her.
When she still apprenticed as her parent’s research assistant, she had little time for her own interests so all of her reading came in stolen moments in her bed, awake long after the rest of Lumière had turned off their lights and gone to sleep. In a lot of ways, her sense of childlike wonder always remained just under the surface, begging to be let out in these small ways.
Later, when Tristan and the rest of the day had gone, Lune leaned into the windowsill and took in the dark sky. Under the dome shield the stars were still visible, shining brightly like gems in a sea of blues and blacks, although slightly obscured by the glowing of the dome. Out on the continent, with nothing but open skies, Lune wonders what it might be like to see the stars unimpeded by anything. The wonder outweighs the dread in her stomach. She’ll know soon enough exactly what that sky will look like.
With how little time they have in Lumière, holidays are always celebrated in above and beyond ways. Birthdays are always an especially large affair. One Lune doesn’t usually care for. It’s always just another day to her. Another day to distract and pull away from her research. There is already so little time before her expedition sets sail and she has to make the most of it. However, her cohorts won’t hear of it. Despite her many (frankly desperate) attempts to convince them she doesn’t need all this, her crew gathers around with food, drink, music and what was possibly the last truly happy celebration they would get before the gommage and their send off ‘party’
Gustave sits huddled in a corner with Lucien in what looks like heated debate. Sciel dances around with Margot while trying to coax Alan to join them without much success. Lune nurses a glass of wine and cracks a begrudging grin. Quietly, she admits to herself that this is…pretty nice. With the day of the gommage drawing closer and closer, everyone’s been dour and reserved. Sure, the wine and snacks are doing a lot of the heavy lifting, but even so, it at least gives the team a chance to forget just what awaits them on the horizon.
Sciel separates from Margot with one last twist and moves in Lune’s direction. Her wide smile and generally cheerful nature exist in such a contrast to Lune’s quiet introspective affect. Sciel is the sun — bright, vibrant and full of life despite the sadness that still clings to her after loss. And Lune is the moon — tranquil, pensive and solemn. Before her parent’s expedition, she might have even considered Sciel a friend, but friends became distractions she simply did not have time for.
“Lune!” Sciel unexpectedly throws her arm around Lune’s shoulder, making her nearly drop her glass. “It’s your birthday, here. How can you sit over here all by yourself and let everyone else have all the fun?”
“I told everyone I didn’t want or need a party.”
Sciel levels her with that knowing look of hers, “I think we all needed this party. Too many unknowns bogging us all down. Sometimes you just need an excuse to celebrate. So even if you didn’t want it, thanks for letting the rest of us have it.”
Lune mutters something that sounds like ‘You’re welcome’ into her drink and takes another swig. She can’t remember when the last time she felt someone’s touch on her and the heat radiating from Sciel’s arm is making her incredibly aware. Sciel sits with her for a long while, in comfortable silence. It’s something she appreciates about the other woman. She never pushes Lune to talk just to fill the silence; never expects Lune to be anyone other than who she is.
Maybe she’ll blame it on the wine later, but she leans her head on Sciel’s shoulder and watches the rest of their team laugh and drink and be happy. Maybe she’s right and this party isn’t for her as much as it is for them. Sciel wraps her other arm around Lune and pulls her close. A warmth spreads through her from her gut and in a gesture so unlike her, she returns the affection.
Sciel presses a kiss to Lune’s cheek, sending a tiny shock of surprise through her, “Happy birthday, Lune.”
“Another test down, same results as last time,” Gustave rubs a hand over his beard and sighs, “But, we still don’t know if it will work out there the same way it does here.”
“Every single test we have done so far has yielded the same result. With that conclusion, I would say the chances of it not working are slim to none. Even if it’s not as potent as it is here, the Lumina Converter will definitely be a boon to our expedition,” Lune reassures him with a smile. She and Gustave have been working day and night trying to put any last touches on his invention. But as the days pass, time is running out and their voyage draws ever closer.
“I hope you’re right.” Gustave turns the tiny contraption over in his hands. “Are you ready for this, Lune?”
“Are you?”
“I don’t think I have a choice but, yeah, I suppose I am. At least out there I have a chance of making a difference for Lumière, instead of just sitting here and tinkering until my gommage.”
It’s a dark thought but Gustave is right. They have a real opportunity to take down the Paintress this time and although the numbers for those going on the expeditions have been slowly dwindling, Lune still feels hope for 33.
The room grows quiet between them. It’s not something abnormal for her and Gustave as they both have a tendency to get lost in their work but there’s something different about the silence now. Lune has never been someone that’s good with handling emotions or reading people. Friends have never really been a part of her life, especially so after her parents were gone. Even so, it’s clear to her by the frown that tugs at Gustave’s mouth that there’s something on his mind.
In a gesture that’s so normally unlike her, Lune reaches out — although somewhat hesitantly — and touches Gustave’s shoulder, “I’m really glad you’re coming on this expedition with me, Gustave. You’re definitely going to make a difference out there.”
Gustave looks up to her, surprise replacing the melancholy on his face, “Thanks, Lune. I can only hope it will all be worth it at the end. Even if we don’t succeed… I hope we will at least get just a little further with the help of this little guy.” A smiles creeps in and Lune breathes a small sigh of relief.
“At the very least, the journals we’ve been able to recover will tell us what not to do.” Lune gives a small chuckle and Gustave chuffs his own in reply.
“Very true, very true.”
“Go get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow.”
Lune strums the last notes out on her guitar and breathes in a lungful of salty sea air before opening her eyes once more.
Night has fully fallen over Lumière now, leaving her shrouded in moonlight. She stands from her spot on the harbor and turns to face the city she’s known for her entire life. She thinks about all the things she will miss when she leaves. All the sweet pastries she may never get to eat again, the endless cups of coffee that have fueled hours and hours of research as she hunched over her desk. Even the crooked tower where she spent some of the worst and darkest moments of her all too short life. But, Lune has a bigger purpose now. One she will fulfill for this city and all the lives in it.
With the sun gone and set, there is only one truth that remains — Tomorrow comes.