The Daughter of the Moon

Seventeen years had passed. Luna can be seen running after her pet, Apophis. Her long, black hair shines under the light of the sun, thanks to her silver streaks.

"Got you! Please don't run away every bath time, Apo." she hugged the being in her chest and went to the back of their house for the bath. Apophis is a mutation between a pig and a dog. After what people call the "Omega" or the end of the world, governments tried to save living things on land. This includes mutations in animals and plants to try to repopulate the world. Apophis is one of them.

"Luna, you should rest for tomorrow." Luna's mother, Serene, said as she cut flowers to fit the vases for table decorations.

"I will. After this little furball had taken his bath." she answered as Apophis shrugged the water out of its fur. "Stop!"

Tomorrow is the day that Luna will be offered to the Moon Goddess, Mayari. Her ancestors came from a long line of servers for the temple of the Goddess, and seventeen years ago, Luna was born on the day of the Lunar Eclipse. For them, it means Luna is the fateful one, the one to save the world by meeting the son of the Sun. Which, by the way, they have no idea who.

Luna had been preparing for this all her life. Ever since birth, she had been treated in a special way, very different from a normal child growing up in a modernized city. Their compound is located in the center of their city, Bulan. They are the most prominent family in the city, causing Luna to be called the Moon Princess and people treat her in such a way.

But she is not special, as to her. She is just a normal seventeen-year-old girl with silver streaks on her long ebony hair, dark skin, and full round brown eyes. Nothing is out of the ordinary except for her hair. Also, she doesn't feel special. She doesn't have powers or whatever and she is basically not good at anything.

To her, she is just a symbol. A symbol of what her people had long believed, is that when the son of the Sun and daughter of the Moon meet and collide, the world will once again be reborn.

Although she doesn't understand what 'collide' means in the prophecy. Will they bump into each other? Shake hands? Do they need to consummate? But do they need to be married to do that? Maybe they only need to be married? But what if they do need to be intimate to collide?

"Nah." Luna rolled on her belly. She is now in her room, inside a tower made for her. Her king-sized bed makes her small body frame look like a bolster pillow.

She also wonders what will happen tomorrow. The ceremony will start at dusk when the sun bids goodbye and the moon reaches the top of the temple hole when its light floods all over her. The prophecy did not include what would happen in the inauguration, just that she would be offered to the moon goddess, and the goddess would give her the blessing. But what blessing? Will she die and be reborn again? Will she transform?

Luna screams in frustration, Apo raises his ears and looks at her worriedly. She was rolling back and forth and stopped facing the ceiling, spreading her arms to the side and her legs spread apart. She sighed.

"I'm alright, Apo. I guess I better sleep."

In the night, dreams haunted Luna. These dreams started after her seventeenth birthday.

She dreams of a man as pale as white, with hair as yellow as a sunflower. He is taller than her and she looks up at him just to see his face. The man smiles at her, but other features are not apparent. He is just reaching out to her, and her to him.

"DIE." A loud voice echoed all around her. It's not coming from the man, but it's like someone else is in her head.

Luna bolted up from sleep. That is the dream. Seeing a man, reaching him, and a voice shouting die at the end.

She looks outside, through her open window. There is no moon, which is odd because tomorrow there should be a full moon. Apo is also not in her room when he is always sleeping in her bed. The surroundings are very quiet. As if all the people of her city are in a deep sleep.

"What is happening?" she whispered to herself.

"Apo?" She called out, but no one answered. She went outside her room to call her parents. She looked at the hallway, it was moving.

"Holy owl." The movements made her dizzy. She tried to rest her arm on the wall but she couldn't reach it. She tried to stand on her ground.

As she was staring at the hallway, an arm pulled her inside. The arm closed the door and pushed her back against the door. She hit her head, closing her eyes because of the pain. It sent a ringing sound in her ears. She opened her eyes and tried to see who pulled and slammed her.

It is a man. A tall, white man with bright yellow hair. She still can't see any other features. She tried to focus her eyes but she was still dizzy. He leans his head to her ear so that she can't see his face even though they are up close.

"Don't drink," he whispered in her ear.

His voice sent shivers to her skin. She pushed him away with all her might. Then an explosion happened that sent her flying from the door to the far end of the room, breaking the wall they used to lean on. Debris hit her body and she could totally feel the pain. Her heart was pounding and she could hear screams from the distance. When she opens her eyes, a red spear is coming toward her.

She wakes up again.