Chapter 2: The Tale of Falling Stars

Memories. They shine through the darkness, bringing sorrow, pain, and regret along with them. Memories of how she had lost her innocence at the tender age of 10 because her father believed that she was a “burden” to her family and should contribute financially. The scene where she met the General when she was lying half-dead on the streets, covered in wounds, both physical and psychological, flashed briefly. The feeling of fear that radiated from EVERY SINGLE moment of her life, washing over her in tsunami-like waves. However, it had all come to a gruesome end after she had blown herself up, for she desired to die on her own terms.

Darkness then engulfed everything, leaving nothing behind. Suddenly a flicker of light dimly shone, revealing a happy memory Luna had had with her mother, Sienna LaBelle, a few months before she passed away, leaving Luna motherless at the age of 6. Her mother’s golden brown hair was flowing through the wind as her familiar deep pine green eyes looked up at the starry sky, a little Luna sitting on her lap within a vast meadow of wildflowers. A shooting star appeared in the sky and Luna’s mother told her a tale.

“Luna, do you know why people are always making wishes on shooting stars?”

“No. Why do they mommy?” Luna responded, curious as to what her mother would say.

“Well, it’s because shooting stars are stars who fall from heaven, their magic believed to contain the ability to grant one person a wish.” Sienna stated with a light smile.

“But mommy, how do the stars know who to help?” Little Luna had inquired.

“The stars can only fall if heaven allows them to, so it is based on the will of the world and the heavens themselves that will determine whether your wish comes true.” Sienna answers with a light chuckle.

And just like that, the mother-and-daughter pair enjoyed watching the starry sky with their deep pine green eyes, in a comfortable silence filled with the light sounds of the flowing breeze and chirping crickets. The memory faded out.

‘Is this what they call “your life flashing before your eyes” when you toe the line between life and death?’ Luna thought, the happy memory bringing back the bitter feeling of losing her mother, the only source of light in her bleak world.

She could feel her consciousness drifting, meaning her soul was probably on its way to meet the King of Hell. But just then, a stream of golden light shines though the never-ending darkness, zipping towards the curled up figure of Luna, her very soul, at breakneck speed. The ray of light wraps itself around Luna like a snake, and with a strong pull and excruciating pain, Luna was once again thrown into turbulent darkness.

This time, however, the darkness was different. It wasn’t peaceful, rather it was dreadful. Miserable. Unbearable. It was like a cage that consumed Luna. A cage that she so desperately tried to break, but felt as thought it would keep her captive for all eternity. It was exactly like when people are sleeping and struggle to regain consciousness, but were unable to. It was a throbbing sensation as she thrashed like a fish flopping on land, trying to desperately return to water.

She could’ve just stopped struggling and succumb to the aura of death, but her intuition and instincts both told her that something was wrong. That this wasn’t supposed to be how it ended. She was at peace, so what was happening? She struggled and fought for life. Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light that penetrated the infinite depths of the surrounding darkness.

With a throbbing head and weak limbs, Luna opens her breathtaking deep pine green eyes, “Tsss, ouch.” She said while grabbing her head with her hand. A warm liquid substance flows onto her hand, so she she pulls it back to examine it, only to find her delicate fingers dripping with scarlet fluid. Blood. “Where am I? I thought I died...” As she shakily looks around her, the sight of a breathtakingly beautiful night sky with trees surrounding her, fills her vision.

‘A forest?’ Luna thinks, confused. ‘What the heck happened? Nevermind, what’s important right now is that I bandage up my wounds.’

With this thought, Luna looks at her clothes and realizes that she’s wearing a set of rags. ‘What the?’ That’s when she notices that her chest is completely flat, as though she had never hit puberty. “Huh? What the heck! Don’t tell me that the explosion did this?” She yelled weakly, completely dumbfounded.

Just then, her a stinging sensation fills her head, as though it’s being injected with something. Memories. Once again a variety of memories flash through her head, filling her with emotion, pain, and information. However, this time, the memories weren’t hers. Luna grabs her head with her hands and brings her knees up to her elbows, curling into a little ball on the forest floor.

“Ugh. . .” Luna groans weakly, sweat dripping from her forehead. Blood and sweat drip down her face, pooling on the ground beneath it. Her head felt as though it was going to explode and she could feel the exhaustion on her body. All she wanted to do at this moment was to pass out and be relieved of this pain, but she knew that once she falls unconscious, she won’t wake up again due to blood loss. So she endured through the pain as the memories washed over her.

Gritting her teeth, she kept herself conscious through the head-splitting pain. It felt like hours, but it was only mere minutes before she felt the pain go away and her body relax. “So the owner of this body was only 7 when she died. Emma Winchester was her name. How unfortunate that after her mother died, her father despised her and threw her out of the family, erasing her name from their genealogy book.” Luna paused, lightly chuckling before continuing. “. . . and it’s all due to one of his concubines whose daughter and son are the ‘epitome of perfection’, whereas she was a just some disfigured trash that was a shame to the family.” Luna finished with a sarcastic tone of voice.

‘This sounds like one of those cliche transmigration stories.’ Luna thought whilst slightly shaking her head. ‘However that concubine sent people to kill her after she was thrown out, to ensure that Emma would never interfere with her plans again. The owner of this body never desired for revenge, but since I might as well get her justice in return for having her body.’ Luna thought with a wicked grin, determination filling her eyes as she tenderly tended to the various wounds on her body.

Her back was covered in sword slashes, one of them going almost straight down her delicate spine. ‘I’m lucky my back isn’t broken; however, these wounds are very deep and might scar.’ Luna thought with a sad sigh. She wasn’t one who placed her focus on materialistic things, such as looks, but in this world, women’s looks were just as important as a man’s strength. ‘This world practices polygamy.’ Luna thought with disgust. ‘If I were to ever find a man, he must be loyal to me & me alone.’ Luna bitterly thought. Her psychological trauma from her past life ran so deep that she doubted that she’d ever be able to get over it and find herself a partner.

After some time, Luna finished bandaging her wounds, making do with what she had on and around her because she was unable to walk. One of her legs had been broken, so Luna had used some twigs and torn cloth to make a stint to set her bones. She had found a thick branch that would suffice as a walking crutch. Using her arms, Luna scooted over to a nearby tree, the crutch sitting in her lap. Cautiously, she used the tree to stand up onto her good leg, placing the branch under her right armpit. Slowly but surely, she started moving away from the forest clearing, knowing the smell of blood would attract predators her way.

Although it felt as though it had been hours since she had first arrived, it had merely been 15 minutes or so. The night was filled with a breeze that chilled Luna down to her bones, for her tattered clothes had become shredded as she had used the cloth for bandaging up her wounds. After some time, a shivering Luna found some foliage under a large pine tree that lead to a small abandoned burrow, it was just big enough to fit her petite body.

Carefully settling herself into the burrow, Luna placed the walking crutch in a diagonal position along the enterance, in order to further protect herself. The hole and the foliage protected her from the breeze, allowing Luna to enter a deep sleep since her body and mind were completely exhausted.

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*Author’s Note* : Please tell me what you think of this chapter length! I’d really appreciate your feedback! Anyways, I’m always open to constructive criticism regarding my writing. I’m always looking for ways to improve! ;D By the way, my updates will most likely be irregular because I do this in between schoolwork, and I’d rather prioritize quality over quantity. I hope you understand! 😄

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