Lunar Ascension

Chapter 2.

CHAPTER TWO

A Glimpse of the Unknown

“Ari, are you ready?” Only two people, my dad and my bestfriend that are overly comfortable with me, call me Ari for short but this morning it’s my dad.

My father’s voice echoed softly from the hallway. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. November 17th”MOM’S MEMORIAL DAY”always left a hollow ache in my chest.Every November 17th, the world seemed heavier, more muted because the annual memorial for my mother always felt like a ritual of silence and shadows. Every year, I’d stand next to Dad at the old oak tree in the city cemetery, listening to him whisper her name like a prayer “Isabelle”.

I slipped on my silver necklace, the small pendant feeling colder than usual against my skin. In the mirror, my reflection stared back at me, but my mind was far away.

“Coming, Dad,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.All dressed Ari?I heard my dad ask while walking towards the door downstairs,Yh I replied. We both got into the car and zoomed off. Unlike all our road rides, this one was pretty quiet and it was very much understandable.

At the graveyard, it was just the two of us, as always. My father placed a bouquet of pale blue lilies on her grave, the same flowers he brought every year on the polished marble headstone, his face stoic but his eyes betraying a depth of emotion. I stood silently, my hands clutching the pedant I’d worn for as long as I could remember. It was simple, silver, and heart-shaped, with no inscription, just an emptiness inside, like the hole her absence left in our lives.

I knelt beside him, tracing the engraved name with trembling fingers. ISABELLE STONE, it read. The woman I never got to know but loved so deeply it hurt.

“Mom,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “I hope you know how much I love you. How much I wish you were here.”

My father gently placed a hand on my shoulder, his touch warm but his words silent.I turned to him, tears streaming down my face. “Why does it still hurt so much, Dad? It’s been so long, and I still feel like… like I lost something I never even had.”She would’ve loved you, Ari,” Dad said softly, his voice breaking through the stillness.

I looked up at him. His face was solemn, his usual warmth dimmed by the weight of the day.

“You always say that,” I murmured, blinking back tears.“Because it’s true,” he said, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder. “She would’ve been proud of the woman you’re becoming. I know I am.”The compliment hit harder than I expected, and I turned away, my eyes falling to the grave.

“I just… I wish I could remember her. Or even know what her voice sounded like,” I whispered.

Dad knelt beside me, his strong hands brushing dirt away from the edge of the gravestone. “She’s here, Ari. In you. In the way you smile, in how fiercely you care about the people around you.”I shook my head, the tears spilling over. “But it’s not the same.

He sighed deeply and sat back on his heels. “You know,” he began, his voice quieter now, “I didn’t have parents either. I grew up without a family.So when your mother came into my life, she was… everything. My family. My home.”

I turned to him, surprised. Dad rarely talked about his own past.

“She taught me what it meant to love,” even from someone that also grew up without any family, we were all she knew he continued. “And when we lost her, I thought I’d lose myself, too. But then there was you.” He looked at me, his eyes shimmering. “You gave me a reason to keep going. A reason to love again.”

For a moment, the weight on my chest lifted, replaced by an ache of gratitude.

“I miss her,” I whispered.

“I do, too,” he said, his voice cracking. “Every day.”

He knelt beside me, pulling me into a hug. “It’s because you loved her, Ari,” he said softly, his voice thick with emotion. “Even if you never met her, she’s a part of you. And that kind of love… it never fades.”

I clung to him, the dam breaking as sobs wracked my body. “I just wish I could see her, even just once. To know what she looked like, to hear her voice.”He pulled back slightly, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “Am sure if she had a choice she would've been here with us, Ari. You’re everything she ever dreamed of and more.”Even though I know my dad fought so hard not to cry, from his eyes I knew he loved her even way more than I did and felt her dismissal more. I still know he visits his therapist more often because of her, his first and only love, it all still probably makes more sense why ALEXANDER STONE never remarried.

We stayed there a while longer, the cold November air wrapping around us.The nightmare came that night, my usual endangered dreams that I thought I suppressed but this time it came intense

The next day at school, the ache lingered like a shadow.Lila and I walked through the hallway, her arm looped through mine as she talked about the latest drama in her history class. But I wasn’t really listening. My thoughts were elsewhere, swirling with memories of yesterday.

She stopped mid-sentence, turning to me with a concerned look. “You okay, Ari?”

I bit my lip, trying to hold back the tears threatening to spill over. But the moment I met her eyes, I broke.“I miss her so much,” I said, my voice cracking. “No one should ever grow without a mother’s love, Lila. I love her so much, and it just… it hurts.”

Lila pulled me into a tight hug right there in the hallway, ignoring the stares of passing students. “I know, Ari. I know.”

I buried my face in her shoulder, the tears coming fast and hot. “Dad tries so hard, and I love him for it, but it’s not the same. I just… I wish she was here to complete our family.”You know sometimes it is not easy growing up without a mom?

Lila pulled back slightly, her hands gripping my shoulders. “Your mom would always be with you, Ari. And it’s okay to miss her. It’s okay to feel like this.”

I nodded, wiping at my face. “Thanks, Lila. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She smiled softly, linking her arm through mine again. “You’ll always have me, Ari. Always.” I didn’t tell her about my dreams. I felt better talking to her.

That evening, as I lay in bed, my mother’s face haunted my thoughts. Or at least, the face I imagined she had. I reached for the necklace around my neck, holding the pendant tightly in my hand.

“I hope you can hear me, Mom,” I whispered into the darkness. “I love you. So, so much. I hope someday… somehow… I’ll get to see you.”

As sleep claimed me, I started having nightmares. I mean I do have them but over time they became more prominent as the years passed by especially on the day of my mom’s memorial each year.That night, the nightmare grew into visions, they were sharper, more vivid. I saw glimpses of her glowing eyes, her outstretched hand, and a voice that echoed through the stormy skies.

“Arinaya,” it said. “Your time is coming.”