August Moon

Chapter 2: Off The Ground

The next night passed with no August in it.

Regarding her repeated question about his whereabouts, the clingy of a flower origami she named Chirpy insisted with similar answers—or chirps—before it decided to dash toward the balcony.

"You love that new wing I gave you?" she earned a distant chirp as a reply. She chuckled. Poor one had a tear on one of its two large leaves it used to fly. It was an unbearable sight that she had to tape it with a cut-out watercolor paper. Almost one hour of fitting was worth seeing it fly around.

Lexis sighed. The weight of waiting had her body sunk deep in the mattress of her bed, not an ounce of energy to think of following suit.

After the incident at the wedding event, August Moon did not reappear since. It didn't make sense that it would be the last time she'd see him, not when the summoning was for him to retrieve something she had in exchange for a gift.

The thought of it was dreading for Lexis, as she had no idea what the ghost came for; if it weren't for her grandmother, she would care less.

An enthusiastic whistle from the balcony broke her train of thought. Continuous chirp came as Chirpy fanned her face with its wings before it dashed back to the balcony. Was it just her, or did Chirpy smelt sweeter than yesterday?

The bed creaked in protest when Lexis rose to her feet and she almost stumbled toward the sliding door. As she stepped from the threshold, overly-excited Chirpy almost hit her face, chirping around before it settled on her shoulder.

She froze not too far from the threshold. There was no August Moon but there was another something.

There were two of them. A blue whale and a smaller creature swimming in the air. "So, we finally meet, Lexis Lewis," emerged from the shadow was a white axolotl; the gravelly voice didn't seem to fit its body.

The whale made a sound close to a whispered whine. "What? I'm not scaring her."

Lexis could not help but picture the axolotl's voice belonging to a single nobleman from the late 1800s, around his thirties or forties, having a regularly-groomed mustache and looking intimidating but actually a try-hard humorous, who would fail at his antics of impressing women.

"Who...who are you?"

The axolotl turned to Lexis. Its red external gills flicked backward. "I see you have never heard of me. I am the great, Marcius."

"Nice to meet you, Marcius and...?" she paused to look carefully at the whale and then at the talking axolotl.

"This is Starl. We are August's only familiars—no, that's for the witches. Not that witches are bad; some are—I mean, we are his..." Marcius hummed as he put his tiny hand under his chin. It was amusing how he could animatedly show his expression close to how humans do.

She smiled. No one could resist a cute axolotl, no matter how they sounded. "Associates?" she supplied.

"Yeah, you got it!" He rolled around. "We're his loyal associates."

"I did not know he comes with plus two," she walked close to the railing to stretch her hand toward the blue whale. There was just an urge to touch. "May I?"

The whale swam closer until Lexis felt her skin. She expected it to be slippery, but her fingers combed through its thin fuzz; it reminded her of fuzzy cotton towels. "You are beautiful. I've never seen a whale this close, not even in an aquarium."

"But some aquariums are cruel," Marcius argued.

Lexis leaned her head on her hand that touched Starl. "They sure are."

Chirpy dashed toward Starl and then flew with the giant familiar. The exchange of whines and chirps sounded the atmosphere not too close to the clouds. Lexis just hoped the old maiden across would not be disturbed.

"I do recognize that. Did August give that to you?" Marcius asked.

She looked up, Starl was almost zooming after a moving dot, which Lexis assumed was Chirpy. "Yes, he did," she turned. "Where is he, anyway?"

Marcius swam close, peeked over her shoulder, and then swam away. Lexis looked behind her and turned when he spoke. "He should be here in a few."

As if on cue, a soft rhythmic laugh rang in the sky. It was disembodied and she wondered if everyone in the city or the village could hear the same.

A shooting star crossed the sky. It made Lexis notice the stars that glint there, in the absence of clouds. When was the last time she had seen plenty of them?

She took her thought back when she saw the shooting star's light shape into form. It was just August's grand arrival. She blinked a few times. Just before his face could come clear, he disappeared.

"I hope I'm not too late," Lexis gasped to the familiar voice beside her, reaching her hand to her chest. He was towering her with him a foot or two in the air. He crossed his arms and only stared. He smiled. "I hope you do not mind my companions."

She shook her head.

He nodded, his hair bouncing slowly at his movement. "I'm glad," he disappeared and reappeared on the railing.

Starl returned with Chirpy pasted on its forehead. "I ought to ask. My Gramma said you need to take something back that you owned. What is it?"

August grinned and lay in the air with his head on his palm. "Veronica was a good friend, so I let her borrow something she was in dire need of."

"What was it?"

"There is something I need to show you," he said and stood on the railing. "But is it alright you come with us—will you see them with me?"

Chirpy rounded about the two of them before it stopped just beside August's head. It was fluttering its wings rather too excitedly, like a runner ready to run, waiting for the starting pistol.

"Will I be safe with you?" There, she saw a mysterious spark in the depth of his warm eyes; it was a look in his eyes she did not know if she could decipher.

"You need not question that, Lexis," he extended his hand.

She looked at it for a moment. It was inviting enough for her to reach.

"It's alright if you don't want to go. Even if it takes me a long time to persuade you, I will wait."

Lexis took his hand in a beat before he could take his hand back. His hand felt like the clouds, except that his hand was warm and instead, her hand would melt in his.

He stared at her, eyebrows raised. "Are you sure?"

"I'll go."

It took her three seconds of August's smile to find her feet don't touch the ground. Her other hand looked for anything else to grab onto—the hem of the sleeve of August's silk shirt. His free hand held her wrist ever so gently she barely felt his touch. It was absurd but in contrast to the gentle of his hold, it felt like he held more of her than she did to him.

As her mind came to a messy tangle, she took in a sharp breath and broke into a shriek. Realizing this, she worriedly glanced at the balcony across her house.

She looked at August, who stared at her with amusement drawn on his face.

"Let the wind lead you," his hands held each of hers. She nodded.

In no time, her bare feet touched the ground. When this came to mind, Augusts's hands were nowhere in hers.

The ground moved. A panicked shriek slipped her lips again; it was comparably quieter than the first. She lost her balance and expected her bottom to meet the ground, but she landed rather gently, like a child put in a crib by her mother.

The ground was no ground. It was Starl who sounded at her touch.

Lexis rolled to her stomach, crawled to the edge of Starl, and peeked below, only to see the roof of houses, now tens of feet below.