Chapter 8: Into the Moon

(Art by Holiday605)

Thundering sounds of crashing waves interrupt my focus. The black water of a vast ocean ahead of me swarms over the marble-white sand of this endless beach. All of this is under a brilliant golden sky, the brightness so overwhelming I can only see the shadows of a Pokemon and their blackboard in front of me.

The oncoming tide tickles my ankles. I lift my feet out of the water.

“Lucario!” the stranger says.

“Yes, sorry!” I look back to the notes on my desk. He continues his lecture in a low and distant voice and I write down notes for the class, even though I don’t understand my own alien writing.

I’m not processing what’s being taught to me though. Instead, words repeat in my head like a chant. “We must know. We will know.”

The professor’s speech gradually picks up speed. I cram down what he says in every line of my notebook, even filling out the margins before I turn the page. 

Black waters crash down the angelic beach once more, seeping up to my hips. It nudges my chair, but I do not let myself get distracted. I need this credit to graduate.

The ocean tries to take me again and again. My chair budges farther from where it stood each time. To help my focus, I mutter my thoughts out loud. “I must know. I will know. I must know. I will know.” I reach a zen state matching my pencil to every rushed, stuttery word my professor announces. 

It’s not until it splashes my neck that my concentration breaks. The sea has taken everything. There is no more beach. No more professor. The words I’m hearing comes from nowhere.

I tread and look up in a panic. A fierce ring of fire scorches the sky.

“We must know. We will know,” I mutter. Yet another dream I had with those words drifting through me.

I’m staring out the window. The black corruption festering on the moon makes it impossible to distinguish its shape or form against the void behind it save for oceans of shimmer whirling on its surface. All wonder and holiness have long forsaken this celestial body.

Wedged within its bitter darkness, a sheet of rainbows wavers. Its glow is ethereal, in defiance to the moon’s corpse. I lean my head forward, pressing my snout against the pane and getting what little closer look I can. Those dancing colours taunt me.

Smacks of a large dragon crawling to this room are behind me. “Hey love,” he says with a muted tone. “Have you decided yet?”

The whole day we had to think about it has passed. During that time we inventoried our supplies, performed maintenance on the station inside and out, and sorted out the plan for the rest of our lives with Vuplix. There will be one habitat on Mars growing oran and apple trees. We’d be nearly starving to death while working 14-hour work days every day for the rest of our lives, but we’ll survive. Numbers don’t lie.

Do I risk that? My head knows I should go to Mars. It’s even angry that I’m considering the other option. But my heart…

“We must know what’s going on,” I say. My paw squeezes the edge of the window. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life in ignorance, not without at least trying. I wouldn’t be happy living with a regret like that.”

He rubs my sides. “Are you sure? You can back out of this.”

“We’re scientists.” I turn around. I can feel my conviction through my tense, stoic expression. “Let’s die knowing the secrets of our universe.”

He gives a single, deep nod and brushes his nose against mine. “We’ll get out of there. As long as I’m there, I promise you, we will live.”

I’m not convinced but I smile anyway. I really want to convince him he doesn’t have to come, but I’m not courageous enough. I need him.

“I’ll go tell Vulpix about this,” he continues. “That we might be a little late to arrive on Mars or not be there at all. You go get the lander ready, ok?”

I nod. “Yes.”

The pink-splotched suit presses into me as I pull down my glove and look out to the lander in the cargo bay. It’s all tuned up, with data already stored in it by Kommo-o. It won’t be coming back. At least we have other landers for Mars. 

There’s only putting on our helmets left.

It’s funny. My mind has accepted it will go into the moon and has even convinced itself this is the right decision – but my heart is getting second thoughts. It’s beating hard. I’m scared. 

Kommo-o reaches out and rubs my shoulder. He’s only got his helmet left to put on too. “Hey, you ready?”

I take a deep breath through my nostrils. “Yes.”

There’s still a sense of worry in his glistening eyes, but his soft smile still holds strong. He reaches out and grabs my other shoulder to turn me to him. Our eyes lock. His eyes are so sweet like beautiful red cherries. We both lean in and press our lips together. He grabs the back of my head to pull me in closer. Our heads tilt. We make this last many long minutes, for it could be our last.

I don’t want this to end, but he parts his maw from mine. He grabs the helmet drifting next to him and holds it above his head. “Let’s kick ass together.”

“Yeah.” I grab and hold my own helm above me. We slide them onto our heads together without breaking our stare. We press a button on our chests and a hissing sound rings out as our suits pressurize. The air around my head is even more tense. Once it’s silent again, he holds a claw out for me and I hold it.

He guides me into the airlock. Every surface inside including our spacecraft is still vandalized in swirling violet hues. Kommo-o heads up the ladder fixed to its leg and pulls the hatch open. I forgot how small the cockpit is: when he slips inside and sits, he needs to slouch. There are only inches between his head and the ceiling. I crawl in after and get snug on his lap. My legs are crammed between him and the console in front.

One of his arms holds me across my waist. The other pulls the hatch down, sealing us in with a clunk before he drags our restraints across each other. I huddle back, getting comfortable against his big form.

He flicks a few switches in front of me and taps virtual ones on the screen. Creaking metal noises joins the sound of depressurizing air. Waiting for this invasive noise to pass is agonizing but we’re eventually left in silence inside a vacuum.

The outer lock makes heavy rattling sounds as it folds away. A few more minutes later and the outside arm picks us up with a jerk and we’re brought out with a smooth pull. Through the window, the white light of our safe station gives way to the desolate coldness of space. No, not space – the moon: a rushing river comes in view as we turn parallel to its surface.

Kommo-o holds me tighter in his arm. The other worms between us so it can push his comms button. “I love you.”

I squeeze my comms button in. “I love you too.”

The tiniest lurch signals that we’re set free. Our lander’s small thrusters push against our orbit and gravity starts pulling us in. Rivers and oceans sweep by the view of our hatch until the mystic glow of the dungeon comes in view. The lander rights itself as it approaches.

We plummet into the rainbow veil. A white glow envelops our bodies as they become immaterial. We’re transported elsewhere, outside of space. I feel nothing, hear nothing, see nothing, and I feel my soul part way with my being to be planted back in elsewhere. 

I’m brought back with a plunging noise. A flood of pink and purple is outside: we’re sinking into a sea of shimmer. Pillars of bubbles fly as our craft tilts and turns with its uneven currents.

Something is wrong. My restraint is too loose. I can’t see his arms or legs past my own. I twist my body the best I can – there’s only an empty seat beneath me.

I press my comms button. “Kommo-o?”

I wait a minute. No response.

“Kommo-o?”

The whole lander shudders with a heavy clang, almost throwing me off. It has hit the bottom of this sea.

I jam my mitt into the comm button. Radios still work in mystery dungeons. He should be hearing me! “Kommo-o? The lander just hit the first floor. I’m still inside. Are you okay? Where are you?”

A few seconds pass. There’s a transmission beep. Crackling static along with distorted mumblings and clanging metal noises streams through the radio. Soon I hear whining Pokemon, not from the radio but directly in my ear. There’s the aura of a soft breeze nearby.