Night Sky, the Moon Before

An odd, uncharacteristic silence permeated through the mess hall of the Legrassi I. Haruki entered its doors alone, expecting nobody but the early evening moonlight flooding through its windows. But he was wrong.

Ten dwarven pirates sat around a square table, murmuring mysteries Haruki couldn’t quite make out. When the floorboards creaked at his footsteps, one of them turned.

Warren left his seat and approached Haruki. Patting his back twice, he softly shoved Haruki in the direction of this impromptu council. Haruki obliged and sat among the dwarves.

“Did you put the princess—I mean, Flare up to this?” said Warren, his breath shockingly void of the stench of sour Hollanroe.

The dwarves started at him expectantly, with hints of killing intent. Haruki gulped, but answered with resolute tone.

“I tried to convince her it was a bad idea,” he said. “But she’d already made up her mind. She never asked you about any of this?”

Warren shook his head. “She’s changed ever since you came aboard. It’s easy to attribute you to this sudden turn of events.”

“I know it is. In your place, I would’ve. But fact is, I didn’t. She only changed because she saw me—and my machine as a means to an end. Otherwise, she’s as stubborn as you all said she was.”

The dwarf watched Haruki with half-lidded eyes. It was clear he was watching Haruki for any sign he was lying. He wasn’t, but who knew Warren’s metrics were for lying?

“Lads.” Warren glanced at the nine other dwarves. “Whaddya’ think?”

“I don’t think he lyin’,” said one dwarf, his face unflushed from lack of liquor.

“But at the same time, if he isn’t, then this is still his fault. He do be bringin’ that accursed machine to the Legrassi,” said another.

Haruki crossed his arms, annoyed. “And whose fault was that, exactly? I didn’t ask to be stranded on some island in god-knows-where, and I sure as hell didn’t ask to get kidnapped.”

“True,” Warren said. “Mind control?”

“Is there such a thing?”

“I dunno. Sapia magic is scary.”

“If I had this thing called mind control on me, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Warren slammed the table with an open palm, his eyes drooping with worry.

“I’m just trying to find something ‘ta blame! The princess has abandoned us, forsaken the riches promised to us. She ‘gon send us back to the mines, and we’ve worked so hard to escape from them.”

“Okay, but don’t blame me.” Haruki sighed. “I don’t want this for you any more than you do. But I think your princess is solely to blame. You’re the only ones who can convince her outta the decision.”

Warren leaned on his chair’s backrest. “It’s as you said. She’s stubborn as hell. She won’t budge.”

Frustrated, Haruki stood from the chair.

“Either way, the decision doesn’t affect me. I’m just as boned tomorrow as I was yesterday. Nothing’s changed from my side. Princess Anemone’s still getting traded in, and I’m still gonna be someone’s lab rat.”

“Help us. ‘Yer one of us. The cleaning, the hazing, the—”

“If I was one of you, you wouldn’t have doubted me like this.”

He rose from his chair and left the mess hall, making no wasted movements. His footsteps echoed in the silence once again.

He noted the frigidness of the mess hall’s door handle.

Had it always been this cold at night, or were his hands frozen over?

****

The moon loomed in the night sky, its size dwarfing even the largest moons Haruki had ever seen back on earth. Sitting on a chair at the top of the observation deck, he held up his hand and tried to squeeze the visage of the moon. He couldn’t close his hands, instead cupping the moon in a claw, as if he were holding it like a small mug.

Only the sounds of waves accompanied his racing thoughts. He could finally think.

I really am in another world.

It’s like I’m in another dimension. We don’t even share the same moon.

In Flare’s place—I would’ve probably done the same, really.

Musings the soft crash of waves cradled like a crying toddler. Thoughts he had harbored for so long but never quieted, never humored. And now those same thoughts wracked his mind, dizzied him for a moment.

“Sir Haruki.”

Anemone stepped into the moonlight, inching close to Haruki. She smiled gently, absent of any guile.

“Oh… Anemone. I thought you were in our room,” he said, not sparing her a glance.

“I was, but now I’m not. Clearly.”

“Clearly.”

They paused for a beat. Anemone looked softly at Haruki, expecting an invitation to sit—one that did not come. And so, she invited herself and sat beside him, keeping a hand’s distance apart.

“Have you thought of our getaway plan yet?”

Haruki exhaled. “I thought we both wanted to be in the Federacy. They’re taking you there tomorrow.”

“You’ve seen the Commander of the Western Navies, right? Do you seriously think that man has the best intentions for me?”

“How bad could it be?”

“I didn’t come with you because I wanted to be in the Federacy,” Anemone said, shooting him a glance. “I came with you because you wanted to fly, and so did I. Contrary to anything Minister Marina may have told you.”

Anemone fidgeted and her face flushed a tinge of red. “So that’s why… I’m sorry.”

Haruki looked aside. “Sorry? For what?”

“About earlier.” She curled a lock of hair around her finger nervously. “I got angry at you earlier. About you deciding things for me.”

“Why should you be sorry? I was an asshole. You shouldn’t go so easy on people who make choices for you.”

“Because I would have made the same decision anyway,” she said. “It’s not fair to you.”

Inhaling the freshwater sea breeze, Haruki let its chill cool his chest. “I just really wanted to go home. Marina said you’d find a better life in the Federacy. So the plan was to leave you there, find out if there’s a better way to fly to the Inverted City—then leave. That’s all there was.”

“Hmm.”

Anemone wiggled closer to Haruki, closing half the remaining distance. “What if I told you I wanted to come with?”

Haruki blinked. “What?”

“I wish to see your world.”

He stifled a laugh. “No way. My world’s pretty crap. Your world’s not perfect, but it’s a utopia compared to where I come from.”

“That can’t be true.” Anemone giggled. “Because you came from there.”

Haruki’s face flushed red. “W-What do you mean?”

“You’re brave. Smart. Quick on your feet too, seeing how well you fly your plane. The best thing about you isn’t your machine, but the person inside it. You.”

“Uhm… thanks…?” Haruki stammered out.

Anemone’s fingers fidgeted, and her face sank. “Me? I’m… I’m just an irresponsible little girl. A curious little lady who had just forsaken her kingdom and ran away with the same hero who saved said land.”

“And I’m the hero who also decided to forsake that land, when I maybe had the power to keep saving it.” Haruki watched the waves, letting his thoughts loose. “I’m no different from Flare.”

“What do you think of her?”

“She just made a big, dumb decision that could change the lives of her crew for the worse. She never even asked them. She just went—and did it. She’s a dreamer, that’s for sure. But what of the people she runs over in the process?”

“Pretty irresponsible, huh?”

“She is,” Haruki said with a weak smile. “Like I am. Running away like this, wanting to go home. I didn’t have a solid plan to begin with. I was just gonna cross the sea on limited fuel. If it weren’t for Flare, we might’ve never gotten this far.”

Anemone laughed daintily. “Then that makes us three of us.”

“Three of us what?”

“Irresponsible. Childish. Maybe dreamers, too.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing.” Haruki waved a hand.

She averted her gaze, then looked back just as quickly as if to tease. “It’s probably not. But I think you can find some solace in that.”

“You really think so, huh.”

“Sir Haruki, I want to see your home. I want to see the kind of world that bore you. I want to see the kind of people that raised you to be the man you are. I want to see the imperfect world you come from.”

“What if you can’t? What if I fail—or don’t go home?”

Anemone closed the gap, the side of her leg touching and crossing his. “Then at least let me make good with my decision.”

“And that would be?”

“My decision to be irresponsible with you.”

Haruki paused, then laughed the tension out of his body. “Right. Then I hope we can both grow up.”

“Yes.”

Stretching his hands, he let out a groan. “Anyway. This is cool and all, but this doesn’t change the situa—”

Anemone placed her finger over Haruki’s mouth, shushing him.

“Shh. No more talk of that, alright? We are not thinking right now. What comes tomorrow will come tomorrow.”

Shoulders slumping, Haruki relaxed his posture. With a reddening face, he shot glances at Anemone, unable to keep eye contact for more than a second.

“Sorry. I’m just at a loss for what to do now. I still don't have a plan.”

“It’s alright,” she replied. “Won’t you stay with me, just a little more tonight?”

Anemone closed her eyes and rested her head on Haruki’s shoulder. Her breathing calmed. Haruki’s heart pounded, though he felt at ease. Peaceful after such a long time.

“I don’t mind.”

Just his heartbeat and the waves. Her soft breathing, and the gleam of her golden hair in the moon’s azure glow.

“How dangerous,” she said with a quiet giggle. “Sir Haruki, your shoulder happens to be more comfortable than our beds’ pillows.”

“Haruki,” he said. “No need for the Sir.”

“Hmm. Haruki,” Anemone uttered with a genial smile. “Tomorrow will be a good day, alright?”