Sora of the Moon

NATHAN~9

I couldn’t stop thinking about what happened earlier on the stairs. Her naked body was a strip away from brushing mine. I almost felt my eyes glowing at my lustful imagination. She really looked like Sora. I felt it, something drawing me to her. I couldn’t possibly be right. This was me adoring Sora one last time. Eighteen years I was tortured by this feeling. The sensation of her lips was the only thing that kept me sane. The thought of seeing her again, even by accident, gave me strength. And now once again I was praying for Claire not to be Sora. If she was, I wouldn’t be able to refrain myself.  All I wanted was to fall in love with a different person. A woman that I would be able to love without making her suffer. It seemed impossible. Tonight I could find out whether Claire was Sora or not. I feared the outcome. If it turned out I am right, I won’t approach her. Not even a little bit.

“Is something bothering you Nathan?” I heard Ian’s voice behind me and I realized I held my white shirt for quite some time.

I turned to him to see that he was already dressed.

“No, I’m fine. I was just thinking, you said you have an older sister?” I lied.

Something like my supernatural life I couldn’t reveal to Ian. He would freak out.

“Yes, Claire. Eighteen years old. You interested?”

I froze at the name. Claire? The universe is spitting at me.

“Not at all. Just curious”.

“Even if you were, I wouldn’t suggest you so. She’s so hopeless and an i***t and not even that appealing”, he laughed.

I couldn’t help but think about my sister. I hated her and so did she. If I was him, I’d cherish our relationship.

“You love her though? Don’t you?” I asked unconsciously. He immediately smiled.

“Of course I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be calling her names. Although she always relies to me if she comes across a problem”.

I stared at him, envious of their relationship. He was so much younger than me but he indeed seemed reliable.

“What about you? Do you have siblings?”

I stiffened at his question.

“I have. Wish I didn’t”.

I answered fixing my white tie.

“Why is that?”

“I’d prefer not to talk about it. Thanks though”, I smiled.

“Sure. But geez Nathan, you are so mysterious aren’t you?”

I looked at him slyly pointing at his half unbuttoned shirt.

“And you look like you’re about to have some cheeks luring at you”.

“I really am not interested in such things. The only girl for me is boxing but I won’t say no to one night stands”.

I laughed at his comment.

“Too bad those things are prohibited here, right?” I teased him and his eyes widened.

“You can’t be serious…”

“Oh I am. You’d be lucky if they don’t catch you on the act. But punishments here are nowhere near those at Broswil, so you should be thankful. I know a few places for you not to be busted”.

“Broswil you said? That’s like my dream Academy”.

I lifted my shoulders.

“Everyone’s. In your department you’ll meet guys that aimed for Broswil too but I assure you Solas na Ghel is just as good”.

“If you say so I trust you. What did you say you were studying here?”

“Art”.

I answered. In fact, I wasn’t actually studying art but the Academy for beings like myself was sharing the same building as Solas na Ghel. The good thing was that we, the Three Tribes, were allowed to attend lessons humans did to divert attention. As for me, I chose to attend lessons of the Fine Arts.

“You know that’s funny ‘cause Claire too is studying art”.

 “Then I suppose I’ll be meeting her soon”, I responded wanting to end the conversation.

He didn’t know that we had already met and I couldn’t keep my distance from her if her brother found out about us knowing each other.

“You go first. I’ll catch up to you”.

He looked at me confused.

“We could just go together”.

“No, Phillip must be waiting for you downstairs and I have some business to take care of. I’ll see you there”.

He left the room with an uncertain “Okay…”. Truth was that I wanted to reach the open theatre jumping from roof to roof. Whenever I had the chance, I did that. It actually reminded me of flying which was something I really missed.

Without any more thoughts, I jumped out of the window. It was such a beautiful yet sad night for me. Whenever we had a full moon, my thoughts ran back to Sora and how many times I’ve killed her under this marvelous sight, while kissing her. The moon knew better than anyone from how much pain have I gone through. I couldn’t bear the thought of doing it again.

To reach the open theatre was a matter of seconds for me and my speed. Every time, I had so much fun jumping from the medieval roofs. I stood at the highest seat as always waiting for the show to start. I looked at the moon, the place where my mom was from, the place where Sora was raised and the place where half of me was descended from. I owed my eye color to these genes along with the ability to control the water. I really loved the Moon Tribe, even more than my own so I always looked forward to the Moon’s ceremony here every year. For a second I averted my gaze from the sky to look down. There was she who was gazing at me as if I was some kind of god.

 I’m sorry that I’m not what you expect me to be. I’m fallen. I’m evil. I was born this way so please don’t misunderstand. I don’t even have my wings. I’m no one so please don’t look at me as if I’m something special. If you actually are Sora, don’t fall for me again. You’ll get hurt. I will put you in danger once again and I’ll lose you for good this time. I avoided her gaze feeling my chest heavy. I spotted Laylath farther away talking to some guys along with that girl, Maddie. Those two really completed one another with the difference that Laylath hated me while Maddie wanted me hers. I found it so funny. Even though I had rejected her a thousand times, she hasn’t given up on me yet. She was so determined to win me over. Too bad my heart belongs to only one woman. I was actually feeling sorry for her. The one-sided love is difficult for everyone, even for the likes of Maddie. An annoyingly familiar voice distracted me from my thoughts.

“Hey guys, are you looking for good p********e? Check out this one. I can confirm she’s the best!”      

I clicked my tongue. That Aaron, always giving a hard time to women who reject him. What a terrible habit. Who was it this time? I looked over to him to see Claire hardly holding her tears back. I immediately stiffened. I know I said I’d be keeping my distance from her but that’s was just irritating. When did she reject him anyway? She’s completely new here, doesn’t even know Aaron. I sighed. I was going to ignore it, Hayley was with her anyway but then he started touching her without her will. I flinched and found myself running towards them. Those things, I couldn’t bear.                   

“That’s enough Aaron”, I said coldly.

He smirked.

“Nathan, but of course. Feeling so lonely without Sora that you decided to go after Claire?”

I grabbed his collar.

“Don’t speak Sora’s name with that filthy mouth of yours ever again!”

“Oh, won’t you look at that? Someone got pissed. You sure are lonely”.

I looked over at Claire who was absolutely terrified.

“The lonely one here is you. Forcing a freshman to be touched by the likes of you and exposing her to the entire Academy just because she didn’t sleep with you. How unmanly!” I spat the words out of my mouth, disgusted by him.

“Oh but did you know Nathan? Claire brought this upon herself. She’s a striper after all”.

My eyes opened wide and I turned to Claire who was looking down.

“Is that true?” I asked hesitantly.

She was so plain looking and so covered up to be as striper. I just couldn’t picture her like that.

“He’s right. I was a striper indeed but I never slept with other men. I’m still a virgin”, she said desperately. I spotted Aaron smiling arrogantly.

“And that’s exactly what makes you so special. So different from the other stripers. You almost make me demand your attention”.

“And what if she was a striper? She probably had her reasons. You can’t be calling her out like this neither demanding her attention!”  Hayley reacted angrily and I couldn’t agree more.  

“Whatever. Just because ‘Prince’ Nathan came to your rescue this time, it doesn’t mean that it’s over between us. Consider yourself lucky”, Aaron said and waved goodbye before standing next to Brandon and Ilay.

That trio was the worst from the Sun Tribe. All three going after Sora’s heart as if this was some kind of game, good thing she was in love with me then. Good thing she didn’t devote herself to any of them for the Realms’ sake. It was like this. No matter how I wanted her to escape this hunt between the Realms, I couldn’t do much. The males of the Eclipse and the Sun realms would be chasing after her for the anarchy to stop and sadly my father was one of them. No real feelings, just the lust of wealth. Claire’s voice echoed cutting through my thoughts.

“Thank you Nathan…”

“Yeah don’t get used to it. I just did what it needed to be done”, I said harshly.

I couldn’t afford to get close to her. I was betting way too much on this. It was better for her to dislike me. She looked down once again making my heart flatter. For the love of Moon, she was so beautiful.  With her hair down and that dress… She just looked so Sora… I slapped my cheeks. No, I shouldn’t be thinking such things.

“Hey Nathan, how did you find my lyrics?” Hayley asked excited. I smiled at her.

“Perfect Hayley. They match so well. Thanks a lot”.

“Don’t mention it Nathan. If you need inspiration you know you can always come to me! I always have something ready”.

“I’ll make sure to do so then”. 

The lights suddenly went off and all heads turned to the stage. I already knew the Headmistress speech was about to start. I stood there and discreetly looked at Claire’s bare shoulders. My heart stopped. I knew it… 

The moonlight was gently brushing her skin causing it to sparkle like silver dust, characteristic that only moon children had. That was enough for me to understand.

That girl… really was Sora.