The Goddess and her Little Prince

New Moon

Starry's Pov:

I finally jolted awake after what felt like an eternity. The same scenes played: going to the train, meeting Selene, dancing across the moon, the moon kingdom, and being a soldier—well, more importantly, her being a moon goddess.

Then, that dark coldness. Everything started to slow down as I gave in to it. Until that warm presence took me up, that heartbeat was comforting and saved me from the darkness. I almost died.

Who was it? Was I dreaming this whole time? I'm in my bed, so that could explain it. Yeah, I was just dreaming, and I got cold.

As I'm lost in my thoughts, my eyes wander down to my street clothes and my body resting on the duvet. But I'm still in my street clothes, too. Rolling around on the bed, I looked at the alarm clock, which gleamed a soft blue and showed 3:05 a.m. I should take a shower.

I yawn, dragging my sleepy body to the bathroom and turning on the shower until it is warm. Thoughts swirled as I rubbed my eyes, wanting to return to my bed's comfort. Just as I get ready to shower with all my clothes sitting in the corner of the bathroom, my feet brush across an object on the floor. I took a closer look and saw a butterfly; a transparent butterfly probably left Mia when she used my shower. I place it on the bathroom ledge by the sink. Better keep this safe for her.

The time came as I took my step into the shower. Steam from the hot water fogged the glass panes; I sigh as the weight of my memories melts with the running warm water on my skin. I hummed a song to myself, wiping away the steam from the glass to look at the darkened cityscape from the few residents still awake late into the night. From here, the few lights still on glisten like stars, like the stars I saw looking down from the moon.

As I exited the shower and reached for my clothes, my hands ran back over the same butterfly clip. It glows purple inside at my touch and shocks my hand, causing me to flinch back. Not paying much attention to the sudden shock, I reach for it again, putting it in my short, shaggy hair. I ran my hair through my hair, making sure the clip was safe until I could give it back to Mia later.

Now finishing my bathroom routine, the time was nearly 3:40 am, causing a wave of exhaustion to hit my eyes as I stumbled back into the bedroom. I closed the bedroom door without even bothering to turn on the lights. As I treaded through the darkness of my bedroom, I felt my way around the familiar objects, trying to avoid any obstacles that may come my way or, worse, stubbing my tone on something. I made it safely into my bed, hugged my pillow, and hid underneath my sheets' warmth. Who knew that my winter break would start like that... then my thoughts shifted back to Selene.

"I hope to see you again, Selene, if you are real." I hold my pillow close but keep my eyes open, thinking of her again—or even a girl I just imagined.

Selene's Pov:

The couch was comfortable, and I quickly fell asleep watching the winter storm. I'll stay like this for a few more hours~

In my dreams, I see the same castle from the moon. But this time, it looked full of life. Flowers of all different kinds fall from the sky, falling to an aisle that runs straight towards an altar where candles outline the path as I walk. The similar hand-woven wedding dress dragged along as I walked while the audience clapped, all dressed in fancy suits and dresses, watching and cheering me on. Bells were tolling as I held flowers, and someone was waiting for me there, but I couldn't make out their face. My calm stroll down the aisle turned into a run as I walked, getting closer, holding my boutique. Just as I reach from them. BAM

I had fallen off the couch and slammed my head on the coffee table, jolting awake. Letting out a pained groan, I rub my forehead, disoriented from the abrupt jump in my sleep– like those dreams where you feel like you are falling and then wake up. Gathering my senses again, It's a glass table, and there's a reflection from under it. I look into it and see myself as usual. Wow, I need to fix my hair. I had begun to untangle my messy bedhead, positioning myself so I was lying on my back with my legs in the air. As I tried to fix my hair, I suddenly noticed my appearance within the glass reflection with striking purple eyes and deep red hair.

I gasped in surprise, slamming my head again, foolishly trying to get up quickly. I covered my mouth, biting on it, trying to hold in my yelp of pain, hoping that no one else had heard me. In the process, my phone fell on my stomach, and I opened the camera app. I used the selfie camera and saw the same results: the same red hair and purple eyes.

In that commotion, someone walked down the stairs. I tried to play, returning to the couch, smirking while holding my forehead to hide the bruise from hitting my head twice on the coffee table.

Mia makes her way down to the living room, her footsteps echoing in the silent house. As she enters the room, her eyes scan every corner, trying to decipher the source of the noise she has heard. She looks at me, puzzled, when she spots me sitting on the couch. "Selene, are you okay? I heard something fall," she asks, concern etched on her face.

I try to keep a straight face and meet her gaze head-on. "Yeah, I'm okay," I say, trying to sound convincing. "I just had a bad dream and fell out of bed," I reassured her, hoping she'd believe my lie and not probe further. "But can I ask you a silly question?"

"What would that be?" Mia observes the scene around her before her eyes travel to meet mine again.

"I-Is my hair red?" I laughed again, trying to lighten the mood.

"No, your hair is a normal color. Are you still sleeping? Something sounded pretty loud down here." I quickly downplay her as my eyes travel to the window, noticing the snow stopped only momentarily.

It's time to leave as the snow picks up outside. I got up from the couch and started gathering my clothes. I struggled to put my used clothes back on while fixing my hoodie and wriggling into my puffy winter coat. After finally getting dressed, I felt Mia's warm embrace. "Thanks for everything, Selene, bringing home Starry and all." My arms wrapped back around her. "Don't mention it. It was my pleasure, and I guess Starry is extraordinary."

I smile slickly as I have yet to tell Mia what happened last night. She lets me go and peeks at the living room window. "But you should get going now before it gets any worse."

As I was about to leave, a sudden thought struck me, and I turned back to my friend. "Do you mind if I write a letter to Starry before I go?" I asked her politely, holding the door slightly ajar. With utmost care, I picked up a pen and began to write, carefully choosing my words so that Starry would never forget my message. "Your goddess is always with you, my little prince."