Luna POV

My friends and I laugh as Marciline, or Marc, tells another one of her jokes. Moonria, or Moona, sits in the corner, quietly giggling. I doubt if she's actually listening to us, as she has her headphones on her. They're dark blue and black with cat ears. She honestly loves those headphones. She has her long, dark brown hair down, her teal bangs slightly covering her dark brown eyes. Her pink heart Arocrat glimmer in the sunlight that is flowing from the open window. Moona seems very comfy in her black and cyan hoodie and ripped jeans.

As Marc keeps telling jokes, her long black flying around her. Her cat tail and wings are twirling and flapping around excitedly. I laugh at one of her jokes, my red hair falling in front of my face. I suddenly hear knocking at my front door. Weird... Izza, Moona's little sister, and Lumy, my adoptive little sister, aren't supposed to be home from their art afterschool class for around another hour. Alyissa, or Alz, meets my gaze. Her pure white eyes shimmer a bit. I stand up from where I'm sitting, playing around with a baseball. I walk over to the front door and open it up. "Why are you-" I start, but I'm cut off by a small figure running past me, her black hair flying behind her. I stumble back, "Wha..." I gasp. Another person races after. She stops in the middle of the room. It's Izza. Moona stands up. "Iz, what just happened?" She asks in the soft voice she reserves only for her sister. Izza whimpers a bit, then runs past her, over to where Lumy had gone.

Izza POV

I run over to Lumy's room and knock on her door. "Lumy! Lumy, come on! Please open up!" I beg. I try the door. It isn't locked so I open it up and walk in. She is sitting on the floor in a corner, clinging to a pillow. Tears are streaming down her face. I can't believe what Mrs. Pratts had said to her! I sit down next to her and look at her sympathetically. I take her hand, which seems to catch her off guard. She looks over at me, still crying. I smile a little at her. "It's okay, it'll be better if you just talk about it." I suggest. She smiles a bit back at me. "O-okay..."

Moonria POV

The two kids have come back to the front room. Lumy is crying and Izza is hugging her, trying to keep her from bursting out in tears again. "So, what happened?" Luna, or Storm as we called her, asks what had happened. Lumy takes a deep breath and explains everything. "We were working on our art project together, and when we finished, Mrs. Pratts came over and graded us, saying that we both did an equally amazing job. When we got our grades, Izza got 100 and I got 70!" Storm stiffens a bit. "What?" She whispers. "When I asked her why, she just said that she would've given me the same grade if I wasn't such a freak..." She whimpers, looking down. I start to feel my heart in my throat. The word 'freak' repeats in my head as I feel a cold rush of darkness fill my body. I feel bad for Lumy. Being new to Earth must be hard. She is an extraterrestrial, after all.

A Solaritain I believe.

Almost everyone in town knows. Sadly, residents in the town aren't always the most accepting. Not the majority. No, not by a long shot, but only one would be too many.

Storm immediately runs over to her sister and hugs her. "It's alright. You're not a freak. I promise you that." She assures her, wiping the tears off her little sister's cheeks. Even if they aren't blood sisters, they sure act like they are.

After a bit, things calm down. One of Storm's moms, Jenna, comes into the front room. She smiles softly, "Luna dear, I think it's time our guests go home." She says. Storm nods and her mom left. "Mind if we come with?" She asks. Alz smiles, "Not at all." She responds. We leave the house and start walking to Alz's house, where Izza and I have been staying for about a year. We don't exactly know where Marc went, so she just lets us drop her off at a cave in the nearby woods. We aren't too concerned. After all, she is a ghost. Not like she can get herself killed.

We go over to an alleyway and start walking through. Izza stops walking. I turn around and look at her. "I-I don't like this alley..." She whimpers. I smile. "Hey, the sooner we're home, the sooner you can get back to ice cream." I laugh. Izza smiles and runs over to catch up to Lumy. "Race ya!" She squeals. I watch as they run away. I start to sprint to keep up with them.

I suddenly hear screams.

Shit.

I start running and find myself in a dark corner. There is a dark portal that looks like cracks in the ground. They must've fallen down. I realize who had created it.

The Shadow Demon.

My Darklin.

The others catch up with me and quickly realize what has happened. "Well, what do we do?" Alz says, starting to panic. Storm looks over at me. "We gotta save our sisters." She says. I nod, "You can wait for me at home, Alz." And, without a second thought, I jump into the portal.

I land in a thicket of wood and look around. Storm is right behind me. We see a shadowy figure approach us. When he comes into view, I see his face. He is completely made of shadows, and his bony wings flap behind him.

My Darklin. The Shadow Demon.

A shiver goes down my spine. "Hello there, girls." He laughs. He holds up three fingers. "Three riddles and I'll give you your sisters back." I start shaking out of rage, but calm myself. The demon is unpredictable. Who knows what he could do? Storm stands up and tries to launch at The demon, her lightning bolt Arocrat glistening in the moonlight.  I use my telekinesis to keep her from attacking. The cyan magic swirls around her and pulls her back. Storm shoots me an angry and confused glare, but my knowing eyes say everything. She quickly settles down as well looks back at the demon. He starts, "First riddle: on the first day of school, a young girl was found murdered. Police suspect four male teachers and question them. They were asked what they were doing at 8:00 am.

Mr. Walter: I was driving to school and I was late.

Mr. Thomas: I was checking English exam papers.

Mr. Benjamin: I was reading the newspaper.

Mr. Calvin: I was with my wife in my office.

The police arrested the killer. How did the police find the murderer?"

I laugh. "That's easy! It's the first day of the year! How the hell would they have any papers to grade? Mr. Thomas, obviously!" He nods, "Good job. Next one: when you have me more, you can see only less. What am I?" Storm rolls her eyes. "Darkness, idiot." She says. The demon grits his teeth into a smile. "Last one: a young woman is attending her mother's funeral. While there, she meets a man she has never seen before and falls in love immediately. After the funeral, she tries to find him but cannot. Several days later she kills her sister. Why does she kill her sister?" Storm stiffens and stands back. My mind goes completely blank.

"Sh-she went insane?" I try to answer. He smiles. "Oops. Wrong." He growls. He raises his hand, an orb of shadows forming in it. I brace for pain.

Suddenly, a light grey vine made of light shoots up from the ground and wraps around him. It pulls him down as he struggles to get out. Izza and Lumy are standing behind him. Lumy is using her magic to form the vine. She smiles as Izza skipped in front of the demon. She bends down to meet him eye-to-eye." She killed her sister hoping to see this man at her sister's funeral~!" She says in her sweet, singsong voice. I smile and reach out to her for a hug. She smiles and hugs me tightly. I couldn't be prouder.

I stand and pick her up. I create a portal and step into it and am faced with Alz's house. This power is useful. I wish I could use it all the time, but it drains too much energy. I feel my legs getting weak already. Even my insomnia struggles to fight the weariness. Storm and Lumy come from behind us. "Well, see you tomorrow." Storm says, walking off with Lumy. We're always so casual with magic. We almost feel normal with it. Yet, we know that the rest of the world outside our nation would be terrified.

I smile and walk to the front porch. The white paint is starting to chip. One more rainstorm and it might come all off. The blue trim is pale and faded. I sight in adoration and take out the key I have to open the door. I go over to Alz and I's room where the former is sitting on the top bunk. She smiles at me and lies down. She must've been up for a while, waiting for us. I bring Izza over to her room, "Get your PJs on and go to sleep, alright?" She nods. I leave her room and go into Alz and I's closet. I get into my PJs and go to bed after staring at the wall for fifteen minutes.

...

...

Are you awake?

Yea...

Long day?

Not really... I wish I could see you soon...

I wish as well. Yet, you know that cannot be. Is it cracking?

Yes...

It's alright... I'm right here... I'll fix it soon.