Volume 4—Chapter 97: Moon Landing
I am currently flying.
It’s a strange feeling… no, not strange, more like… liberating. The wind glides across my skin, and the world below looks so small, like a painting someone left unfinished. I feel light, unbound, free like a bird that has just realised the sky has no walls.
This isn’t bad at all. Actually, it’s kind of fun.
I tilt forward a little and start moving faster, the air rushing past me. My heart beats faster too, not from fear, but excitement.
“Aria! Stop what you’re doing now!” Elizabeth-sensei’s voice reaches me from somewhere far below.
Oh, she’s still here? Why would I stop when it feels this amazing?
I grin. “Let’s see… how about the moon?”
Without another thought, I propel myself upward. The clouds part around me, the sky darkens, and soon I’m breaking through the edge of the atmosphere. Breathing starts to feel weird for a second, so I snap my fingers… and just like that, I can breathe again. Easy fix.
The Earth grows smaller beneath me, glowing faintly in the void. Ahead, the moon gleams like a quiet invitation.
“Alright then,” I whisper to myself, smiling. “Let’s see what secrets you’re hiding.”
As I get closer to the moon, I start to prepare for my grand, elegant landing. You know, something cool, like a superhero pose with one knee on the ground and a dramatic crater under me. Perfect plan.
Except… I forgot one tiny little detail.
“Uh… how do I break?”
My body keeps speeding up instead of slowing down. The moon’s surface grows bigger and bigger in my vision. Wait. Nope. That’s not good. That’s very not good.
“Okay, okay, okay… slow down, slow down!” I wave my arms around like that’s going to help somehow. Spoiler: it doesn’t. Gravity doesn’t care about panic.
At this rate, I’m going to crash straight into the moon like a cosmic baseball.
“Not like this! My majestic landing!”
The surface rushes up to meet me, and I brace myself.
BOOM!
A massive dust cloud erupts around me. For a second, everything’s white and blurry. Then the dust settles, and I find myself lying in a crater shaped suspiciously like… me.
I groan. “Well… at least I landed on the moon.”
I raise a finger weakly. “Gracefully, even.”
Okay… woah… gravity here is weird. Every step feels like I’m bouncing on a giant marshmallow. One small hop and suddenly I’m floating for a few seconds before awkwardly landing again. I have to move carefully or I’ll end up flipping through space like a lost balloon.
“Right, steady… one step at a time.”
I start walking, or more like hopping, across the dusty surface. The ground sparkles faintly, which is kind of pretty. Still, there’s nothing much around. Just endless grey and craters stretching as far as I can see.
“So far, nothing too interesting…” I mutter.
Then I pause and look around again, just to be sure. “No aliens? No secret base? No ancient ruins or magical monoliths waiting for me to touch them and unlock hidden powers?”
Silence. Just me and the void.
“Huh. The moon’s kind of boring.”
I kick a rock. It floats away in slow motion, wobbling through the weak gravity. “Okay, maybe a little fun.”
I sigh dramatically and put my hands on my hips. “Come on, moon. I flew all the way here. Give me something.”
Wait… if nothing is interesting, why not make something interesting here? Right… what am I even doing just standing around? Why am I so slow?
I snap my fingers.
A faint hum ripples through the air, then…boom…a purple crack tears open in front of me, glowing like someone split reality with a neon sword. I grin. “Now we’re talking.”
The rift flickers, and out hops… a rabbit.
I blink. “Wait. Seriously? Out of all the things in existence, I get a rabbit?”
It’s small, white, fluffy, and weirdly majestic under the moonlight, wait… I am on the moon, so earthlight? Or is it just the sun? Definitely a moon rabbit thou. I mean, points for thematic consistency, I guess.
The little thing tilts its head and hops toward me, its red eyes glimmering like tiny gems. I crouch down and smile. “Hey there, little one. You’re kinda cute. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.”
I reach out to pet it. My hand barely brushes its fur when… chomp.
“Ow…!” I pull back, blinking. “Did you just bite me?”
I stare at my hand. There’s a mark… even blood, slowly forming into a bead that floats in the low gravity. But the strange thing is, I don’t feel anything. Not pain. Not even a tingle. Just… nothing. Well… is just a dream after all.
The rabbit stares up at me, twitching its nose like it’s proud of itself.
I sigh and stand up, brushing off my clothes. “Well, that’s rude. I create life, and the first thing it does is bite me. Typical.”
The rabbit hops away a few steps, then stops to stare again, unbothered.
“Alright, you win, moon rabbit. Enjoy your lonely kingdom of rocks and dust.” I glance back toward Earth, glowing faintly in the distance. “I’m done here anyway.”
I then leap back to Earth.
The moment my feet leave the moon’s surface, I feel the strange lightness fade away. The stars stretch and blur around me as I plummet through the endless dark, Earth growing larger with every passing second. The blue glow of the atmosphere welcomes me like a soft blanket, but, well… I might be coming in a bit too fast again.
“Okay, okay, easy landing this time,” I mutter, streamlining my body like I’ve seen superheroes do in movies.
The air grows hotter as I reenter the atmosphere. Flames lick at my body, streaking across the sky like a shooting star. From the ground, I probably look like a meteor. Somewhere down there, someone’s making a wish, completely unaware that the ‘star’ they’re wishing on is actually me, trying not to crash.
“Alright, maybe I should slow down a bit.” I snap my fingers and form a trail of ice beneath me, the friction cooling the heat and slowing my fall. The world below sharpens into view. But… huh… wait, that’s not the academy. My eyes widen. The sprawling campus, the familiar rooftops, the dorm buildings, they’re nowhere in sight. Instead, all I can see is a dense forest stretching endlessly in every direction, the treetops swaying gently in the wind as if the Earth itself is breathing.
“Wait… what?” I mutter, twisting midair to get a better look
I slow myself, trying to hover and make sense of the sudden shift. “Did I… miscalculate? Or did I really just land somewhere else entirely?”
I adjust my landing, aiming for a small clearing I can spot through the canopy. My feet hit the soft earth with a muted thump, the scent of damp soil and pine filling my nose.
“Okay… this is new,” I say aloud, brushing off leaves clinging to my clothes. “Not exactly what I planned, but hey… adventure!”
Suddenly…
“Fancy seeing you here.” A smooth, confident voice cut through the forest air.
I whipped my head toward the sound and saw a silver-haired woman in witch-like attire standing atop a small rise. Beside her, a petite blonde girl with shoulder-length hair watched me curiously.
“Caroline?” I called, surprised my voice even carried.
The woman beside Carolline, the silver-haired woman lips curl into a faint smile.
“Oh… hey.”
I blinked. This dream kept getting weirder by the second.
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