No one had any specific plans, regarding the Order or otherwise, for their first Saturday at the Academy. Though, without plans or spoken agreement, the five of them and Maple split up into three groups: Myrkr and Shimmer were gone in the morning, seemingly vanished off the face of the Isles while Sanguine was gone almost as fast, saying something about finding Myrkr's new friends. That left Cedric, Maple, and Luna to find a spot where they wouldn't be eavesdropped on. The library.

     "Are you sure no one will be here, Luna? I can think of plenty of Mythics who'd —"

     "Of course," Luna said softly, interrupting Cedric but still managing to not be rude. "There are skills to be learned here, not memorizing history or any such science unless it is one's wish to do so. This room is small for a library, too. It is mostly for those who came here to learn something specific than to help with the classes."

     "I'd have to agree with your Drómdí friend," Maple's feline voice said from behind Luna. It was all she could do to keep from jumping. Maple was silent until that moment, and Luna had forgotten the odd Cí'mehia was even there. "I've come in here many times in the last week, and seldom was there even a single Mythic here for more than a few minutes."

     "If you say so," Cedric said, still unconvinced.

     They sat down at one of the tables toward the back between two bookshelves. The books themselves would prevent any echo the three made during their conversation.

     Knowing the truth, Luna saw Maple differently. Cedric never named who his troubled past was with, but she had a good feeling it was Maple, especially the way he acted to her on the Cloudy Skies. Even now she could sense the tension crackling like a storm waiting to start in their hearts.

     "Tell me that things weren't rough between you two. Maple, even though you don't look like one, I suspect you are a Cí'mehia, yes? And Cedric, this is who you wouldn't name. And don't bother lying, I will know."

     Cedric hissed, and for a moment his emerald eyes turned just the slightest bit from feline to canine. Maple's heartbeat picked up slightly, but otherwise she retained the half-innocent, half-curious look any feline creature possessed. "That is true," she said without emotion. "What of it?"

     "Luna —"

     "Cedric, I'm not going to turn her in to whoever I even could," Luna assured quickly. "I want to help."

     Cedric blinked a few times, and confusion was written clearly on his face before he, too, hid it behind a perfect pokerface of neutrality. "I see."

     Maple, however, was confused, and Luna could tell it was genuine. She looked at Cedric with suspicion. "What does she mean, 'help?'"

     Cedric throughly looked very uncomfortable, and met neither Luna's nor Maple's eyes but stared very intently at the table. "You know what I told Luna that night. The way you obey Tahl'drí."

     Maple's ears went back and her eyes narrowed as she hissed, the feline pokerface gone beneath a mask of anger. Her tail twitched in quick motions, from what Luna could glance, and the odd Cí'mehia's pale  green glare couldn't figure out which target to be mad at first. "There is nothing wrong with obeying the Queen."

     That was when something strange happened. Cedric looked like he was going to respond, but instead did various combinations of blinking, head tilting, facial expressions, and for the first time Luna saw his ears as they appeared — a pale gold — and they flipped up and down. Maple was doing similar things, a communication only the two of them knew.

     It was a few minutes that Luna left to the silence before the trading of the silent language ceased. "I didn't want to insult you, Maple. But I just wanted —"

     "I understand, Luna," Maple interrupted in a soft voice, the words sounding odd with her feline accent. Luna noticed her eyes were closed. "That was... her talking."

     "The other part of her," Cedric explained, his eyes on Maple.

     "Alright," Luna said. "Maple, you are at odds with this alternate self, right?"

     She hesitated. Maple opened her eyes and looked at Cedric, and she answered confidently. "I am."

     "I have an idea." The Drómdí removed the iridescent egg pendant from her neck and handed it over to Maple. The moment it lost contact with her she shut her eyes, shivered, and turned her thoughts inward. This wasn't going to be very pleasant.

✦ ❦ ✦ ❦ ✦

     Cedric noticed the difference in Luna's posture first, and when she reopened her eyes, they were different colors and then changed. One would be blue and another pink, then the first would shift to yellow and the other green. "Luna?"

     It took her a moment to hear him. Even Maple seemed somewhat concerned. Then Luna focused on Cedric and her eyes took on a subdued shade of the colors crossing her irises. "Yes," she said, her soft voice sounding difficult to use. It looked like she was having a hard time focusing, and the vibrancy of the colors continued to vary.

     "Are you okay?" He'd never seen this before. Maybe that was because he'd never seen her without the pendant in the first place.

     "Yes." Luna's answer was almost normal, and she closed her eyes again. "I am fine."

     Cedric looked to Maple, and her eyes were unsettlingly gray like Luna's had been, but her expression spoke volumes of surprise and wonder. "What does the pendant do?"

     Eyes still closed, Luna replied, "Creates harmony for the wearer, calms the non-dominant side. The moonstone is special --" Visibly, she winced. "It is able to hold an enchantment."

     "That is it," Maple said. "I felt wonderful. Now I know it's because I am free."

     "No," Luna said. "Only more space. You are not free yet. If that were true..." She opened her eyes and indicated the colors, and then told Maple her eye color was now gray. "I would be free too. But I have —" Luna made a low growling noise. "I have others in my heart."

     That was a strange way of putting it, Cedric thought, understanding her past lives were not dead. "Don't you mean in your mind?"

     "No, I do not. They are in my heart, trying to influence my mind. I need to make a second so you can have it and I can have mine back."

     He noticed Luna was gaining more control over the past Song of the Moons. For a moment he thought it odd that her real name was Song of the Moon and not Luna, but he didn't dwell on it.

Maple had started fingering the black-gold chain, then she took it off and handed it back to Luna. Cedric didn't realize how on-edge those colorless eyes that had been on Maple made him. It did, however, leave her gaze clearer while colorless.

     Again, once Luna came back in contact with the chain, her eyes stopped changing colors and went back to the gray. She let out a small sigh. "That's better."

     A comfortable silence descended upon the trio.

     After a few moments, Maple was the one to shatter it. "Luna?"

     "Yes, Maple?" Luna's voice was back to it's soft tone. That, too, was a relief to Cedric.

     "Would you be able to make the pendant into a ring?"

     Luna was silent for a moment. "I have been taught how to make a new one," she began. "I, however, was never instructed in how to make such a small pendant out of it." She smiled. "It would be a welcome trial, wouldn't you say?"

     Maple smiled back. He missed that smile. "Thank you, Luna. I am in your debt."

     "There's one drawback, though," Luna said slowly, her smile fading. "It requires me to have more magic than normal, which I only get during the full or new moon. The next new moon isn't for another two weeks."

     Maple had her serious pokerface in place once again. "I understand. Thank you, Song of the Moon."

Luna smiled, but couldn't keep the sudden tension from it, and it turned into a slight grimace. "You Cí'mehia are far too clever for your own good, you know."

✿ ✎ ✿ ✎ ✿
So I ended up having a rather simple idea, and I will have likewise perspectives of Myrkr and Sanguine soon. Especially with this Christmas break, I probably have at last half if not a whole chapter written already. This was before break, so I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and had fun with your friends and family!