The Trinity - Luna, Sol, and Terra

Prologue:

I was dreaming that night, I remember it so well. It felt real though, that I was actually sinking and falling. I wasn't myself in that dream though, no, I was different. I was able to see myself in the dream, I looked alive, I looked healthy. So different yet, so natural to be in that form. Normally, I didn't look like that. Not at all.

In my dream, I remember that I was standing on ice. A frozen wasteland that felt like my world. I looked up to the moonless, night sky. Darkness, this world was filled with darkness. This world suited me quite well. I stared at the sky for a while but then I heard the ice beneath me cracking. I panicked, I saw the cracks forming around me. I tried to run away, but I couldn't escape. I fell into the freezing water below. I couldn't even try to swim back up to the surface. Head first, I was sinking rapidly. I couldn't stop. I kept falling deeper into the watery darkness. I don't understand but, I didn't feel like I was drowning. I didn't feel like I was in danger once I closed my eyes. I let myself go on.

"I'm going to be okay, right?"

"Why am I not dying?"

"It's so dark, yet so peaceful."

"The water is getting warmer, more tolerable."

"I'm feeling more relaxed with each passing second."

"How long have I been here?"

"It feels like I've been here forever."

"Please, don't let this stop. This ever-growing warmth is making the ice in my heart melt."

"Melting, it's melting into water. The same water surrounding me."

I opened my eyes, the darkness around me was starting to become lighter. At that time, I was beginning to surface into a new world.

"Is that light? But how?"

"I'm going towards it. This gentle glow."

I broke through the surface of the water, somehow. I was upside down, my vision facing a night sky, lit by the full moon. Suddenly, the world flipped itself upright. I was standing on the water I broke free from. I looked down at my reflection, my face and entire form was different yet recognizable. I looked more fleshy, not boney like I usually looked. My hair wasn't long and ebony like it was supposed to. It was shorter, and in its original color. I regularly dye my hair from brown to black, you see. My clothes were different too. More plain, and greyish from what I could make out in the shadowy mirror. The clothes lacked style, but were comfortable. Unlike my usual attire of casual gothic wear, and lots of black and burgundy. Some red and maroon thrown in as well. My eyes were the same, amber eyes that glowed back at me from reflection..

"Amber... that name is so familiar."

"But, who does that name belong to?"

At the time, I forgot who Amber was. I don't know how, but, her name slipped my mind.

"Kalen."

I turned myself around to look behind me, there was a girl, a girl with hair as long and black as mine was supposed to be. She called out to me.

"That name is familiar too..."

Along with Amber, I forgot my own name as well in that moment.

I stared at the girl, she was very young. She wore a light blue dress.

"Kalen?"

She spoke to me again, that time, the name finally sank in. It was my name, yet, I felt like I abandoned it for another. But, what was it? It didn't feel right to be called by that name in my dream.

"Kalen?"

"Y-yes?"

"Are you comfortable?"

I noticed that my clothes weren't dripping wet, as if I was never in the water. They hugged me, keeping heat in. I usually wore many layers to keep myself from freezing.

"I, I am. But, who are you and how do you know my name?"

"You'll know eventually. For now, enjoy yourself before you wake up."

"Wake up?"

"Yes, you are dreaming after all."

I felt my feet sink into the water I was standing on. I gasped, it was so instant.

"Oops, looks like you're waking up already. It was nice seeing you Kalen. You'll see me again soon, I promise."

"But your name!"

I shouted at her just before I was consumed by the water. I tried to swim back up but I kept falling deep into the darkness again. As I tried to grab at the water, I saw that my hand was changing. The bones that made up my arm were becoming more pronounced, like they were supposed to be. My nails became sharp, black claws.

"I'm changing back, right?"

"Why did I have to leave?"

"I felt so warm."

"But now I'm starting to freeze in the inside."

"I'll be frozen once more."

"I'm so cold, it's so dark."

"I don't want this to be."

"Please, let me go back."

I started to fall backwards until I was falling head first, like before. Chilly darkness surrounded me, freezing my heart. I began to accept this sensation. I was returning to my normal self.

"I'll be fine."

"I don't need light and warmth."

"I've always been in the ice cold shadows."

I fell out of the arctic water and into the dark air of the moonless night. I returned to my world, but I kept falling.

"No, stop, please!"

Just before I hit the ice, I screamed and shut my eyes tightly.

That was when I woke up, the night of the full moon was over. It was morning, a pink sunrise bled through my bedroom window.

"Was that just a dream?"

I was shaking, still panicking from the fall.

I felt my arms, my legs, and face. I was me again. I fell asleep on my bed without even putting on pajamas. There I was, still in my jeans and jacket. I got up and walked toward my dresser mirror.

I was me, and as dead looking as ever.

"Perfect, I didn't smash against the ice."

p neat. gotta love the descriptive language

Chapter 1:

Slowly I walked out of my bedroom and into the hall, I headed into the bathroom. I wanted to take a warm bath, strangely, I still felt cold from my dream. I closed the bathroom door behind me, making sure to flip on the light first. The bathroom was horribly outdated; I'd say it was modeled in the 70s. I took off my clothes, some garments were left to hang on the hook that was conveniently nailed to the door and others were left on the vanity counter. I turned on the water, letting the tub begin to fill. The tub was horrible, it was glazed in olive green. At least it was clean and functional. This entire room was stained with that hideous color. I hated it, I wish Amber would fucking put effort into getting the walls painted white or something like that at the absolute minimum.

Amber, I moved in with her out of desperation just two weeks ago. She had only just become a legal adult and right away she was kicked out of her parents' house. Well, it was her fault really. Her family caught her smoking pot and didn't want anything to do with her afterwards. Luckily she was able to get a job and find a cheap place to live. I moved in with her right after that because I couldn't stand living with my parents anymore. They mistreated me terribly, and I didn't want to keep having to deal with it. I was fifteen at the time, too young to really work anywhere and no resources at all. Amber let me move in with her when I begged her to. As long as I helped her keep the house neat, she would continue to allow my stay.

I was grateful for that, really. To be honest though, I did hate Amber despite that. I met Amber at school, she was one of those fucked up seniors that you would be so sure that wouldn't graduate with the rest of the class. She was always talking to the wrong kinds of people. Those that were involved with drugs, and other shit you could easily get arrested for. She became fascinated with me when she first saw me on my first day of freshman year. Amber was very interested in those that appeared as strange, and I definitely was one freaky looking freshman. My hair was ridiculously long back then as it is now, the only difference being it was in my natural color. She kept staring at me, and eventually she would start sitting next to me at lunch and during study hall. She would talk about the most pointless of things with me, and I would listen. No one else wanted to bother with me because of how I looked. I liked it like that, but Amber broke through that barrier. I didn't call her Amber back then, she was called Amanda, that was her actual name after all. She insisted I would call her Amber because of how much she hated her birth name. It annoyed me, but eventually I grew into the habit of calling her that.

During my short time in high school, I met another person that invaded my barrier. His name was William, or Liam for short. He was respectable, his grades were high like mine. He seemed controlled and intelligent. Amber, being very much the opposite. Most of my classes were centered around the computer lab, much like how his schedule was. We ended up making small talk, and then it grew into more. He liked to design little videogames, a hobby that I had as well. He admired me for working with digitally composed music; and I admired him for working hard at improving his artwork. Amber tried to be an artist too but I didn't care much for her work at all. Once in a while to make her feel better I would award her with a small smirk. Sometimes I would hang out with Liam after school, a nice way to get away from my parents for a few hours. He lived in one of the nicer areas of the city, while I lived in a borderline shit hole. I felt relaxed for a little while before I had to go. It was nice how he was able to drive and give me a ride. Other times I hung out with Amber too, and eventually she came to know Liam as well.

I'm off on a tangent, sorry, as I was saying...

After a few minutes, I shut off the water and eased myself into the tub. I rested my head back, I thought about what my duties were going to be for the day. I also kept thinking of my dream. That girl, and that person that I was. I continued to soak in the tub, gently cleansing myself and allowing the heat to penetrate my very thin flesh. Rarely did I ever have the slightest hint of an appetite, and sometimes it bothered me. I knew I was very underweight and that it could prove to be a problem sometime in my life.

I finally got out of the tub, a towel was already waiting for me at my side. I dried my hair for a bit before slowly making my way downwards. I wrapped the towel around my waist and unplugged the tub drain. I took my clothes and put them in the laundry basket at the end of the hallway before I went back into my bedroom. I shut the door behind me and discarded my towel, I got clothes that were for lounging around. I would only be laying around the house for the day, it was Saturday.

Dressed in all black comfort wear, I went downstairs, making sure not to disturb Amber who was probably trying to fall asleep right about then. She had a really bad habit of never sleeping at night. Maybe that's part of the reason why she wasn't too right in the head. I opened the fridge, hoping to start off the day with milk and cereal. Not surprising, yet still infuriated me, Amber didn't buy milk like she was supposed to after work the day before.

"What a useless sack of shit."

Chapter 2:

I was disgusted, but I sat at the kitchen table anyway. The kitchen was lit by the sunrise, bright enough for me to see without turning on a light. This kitchen was hideous too, much like the bathroom. The only difference being it was pumpkin orange instead of olive green. I started to go into a trance, only to be disrupted by Amber coming in there. I thought it was well passed her "bedtime".

"You're up early."

"You're up late."

She wasn't much for morning greetings.

"Hey umm, wasn't there something you were supposed to do before you got home yesterday?"

"Uhh, there was?"

"Yes."

"What was it?"

"Does milk remind you of anything?"

"Fuck, sorry, yeah, I completely forgot."

"Hmph, fucking figures."

"Jeeze, it's not even 8 yet and already you're being pissy with me."

She looked like a mess. Her hair was bleached white with a horrible fade-in to turquoise towards her ends. She had a long-haired bed head, a complete disaster. She looked terrible in her pajamas; horribly mismatched. A huge, bright red t-shirt with aqua blue shorts. She could also stand to lose a little weight, she wasn't too bad but, she didn't look the best. She had scars covering her pale legs and some littered her face and arms from skin irritations and blemishes. Her ankles and wrists were also covered in those stupid "make a wish" ties made of twine and colorful beads. The only thing that was really going for her was her greyish-blue eyes when they weren't bloodshot or tired looking. Amber, she could have been pretty if she tried.

"Ugh, sorry."

I was kind of a dick to her.

"Anyways, I came down for a drink and then I'm going to bed. If you need milk so badly I'll run down to the store around noonish for it."

"Ugh, no, no, I can deal with it until tomorrow morning. I'll have toast or something."

Noon was early for her to be waking up, she tended to be unbearable whenever she was the least bit tired. I let her sleep, I didn't want to put up with her sleepy wrath.

"Alright, night night."

"Goodnight."

Despite how it was morning for me, it was night for her. She went over to the fridge and took out a large bottle of cola. She took a few gulps of it right out of the container before closing the fridge. Another bad habit of hers, she didn't use glasses or cups as often as she should. She was considerate enough to put sticky note labels on the cartons and bottles she would only do that to. The milk, whenever we had it, the juice of the week, and a soda of my choosing were safe zones. She left for her room, leaving me alone in the kitchen.

As I continued to sit by myself in silence, I thought about seeing Liam later in the day. After some time, I left the kitchen for the neighboring living room. It wasn't as bad as the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, still highly dated though. I think it was around 9:30 at that time, I spent too much of my life just day dreaming about nothing at the table. I turned on the small, obviously 90s television that sat on a barely standing end table in the corner of the cramped space. Amber was able to afford basic cable, just enough to expect something decent to be airing on Saturday mornings. I got the remote next to it and sat down on the brown-patterned couch. Hideous, just like rest of the furniture in the house. I flipped around the channels, stopping at a channel that was showing some oldschool black and white movie. I didn't care what was on, I changed my mind. I decided to play a game instead. Setting the TV to what was needed to get a game running, I turned on the console that just didn't seem to ever want to die. I played for a few hours, pretty much waiting until I thought Liam would be up and about. I kept the volume low, not wanting to disturb Amber.

The time passed quickly; before I knew it, Amber was downstairs again. It was around three in the afternoon, right on schedule. She came into the living room with me, watching what I was doing on the television.

"You okay?"

I glanced at her face for a second as she kept staring at the screen. Something didn't seem right.

"Umm, I guess. Liam called my cell just a few minutes ago, he said that we should meet up at his place as soon as we can."

"Oh, cool. I was hoping he would call first."

"So, um, go without me. There's something I need to tend to alone."

"Oh god, are you gonna do that?"

"No! Jesus, no. I swear I'm not."

I knew Amber wasn't the type to deny herself of self pleasure.

"Mhmm, sure. I'm going to get dressed and go."

"Alright, I'll see you later. I'll probably buy pizza and leave it out for you."

"Kay, sounds good."

And with that, she left the room, I assumed she went back into her lair. I saved my progress on the game I was playing and shut everything off. I went back into my room and undressed myself, putting on my usual outwear. First my burgundy jeans, and a black studded belt. These pair of pants were kinda loose on me. Then a grey t-shirt, and finally black socks and my maroon and black sneakers I left near the door downstairs. I didn't need a jacket, well, the only jacket I had I already put in the laundry basket for washing just that morning. I quickly left for Liam's house, leaving Amber behind.

"Fuck, I forgot to eat."

\o/ more!

Chapter 3:

I was a little concerned about Amber. Not really concerned about her, but what she had to do instead of coming with me to Liam's. I continued my walk through the city, it would usually take around twenty minutes to get to his place. It wasn't that far. I really should have had eaten that morning though, half way to his house I started to feel my stomach collapse in on itself from intense hunger. Liam wasn't shy about being a generous host when it came to snacks and such which was fortunate for me.

I lived in a broken down part of the city with Amber. It wasn't the absolute worst section, I'd say it came in third place for the worst. When I lived with my parents, it ranked second. Firstly was the notorious ghetto; a place that looked like it survived a nuclear apocalypse. It was awful, horrible; I don't know how anyone tolerated living there.

I arrived at Liam's, a nice little house that had been freshly painted a light grey with sky blue shutters and railing. Liam was already sitting out on the porch, waiting for me. He was dressed in his usual outfit. Slightly faded jeans that weren't really snug, but not overly baggy either. Kind of worn out grey sneakers. A red, short-sleeved polo. Finally, his frizzy, dark brown hair was tied back while leaving his bangs free to cover some of his face and rounded glasses. He was tanner skinned than me, and his puberty showed a lot more despite being a little shorter than  me. He had significant facial hair but none of it was long, and his arms were very masculine looking from his fur.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting only to see you. Where's Amber?"

I came up to him and sat beside him on the stairs.

"She's at home. She said that she had to take care of something. I don't know what though."

"Huh, weird. Anyways, I have something to show you in my room. I think you'll like it."

"Cool, mind if I have a sandwich or something when we get in?"

"Uh, sure. Unless you want to wait a little bit later. You're welcomed to join my family for dinner if Amber doesn't mind you staying here a little later than usual."

"Thanks but, I should go home for dinner instead. Amber was going to buy pizza and I think she would be pissed if I didn't eat it"

"That wouldn't be surprising."

It didn't take much at all to piss Amber off.

"So, what is it that you're going to show me?"

"Oh, you'll see."

We both stood up and went into his house. It was really nice inside. The style was a little old but still had class. Very neat, very clean. I could only dream of Amber making our "home" like his. So welcoming, but too bad this house wasn't large enough for me to move in when I needed to get out of my parents'.

We entered the kitchen, Liam's mother was already making some early dinner preparations.

"Hi boys, are you looking for something?"

She was always so friendly. I wished she was my mom.

"Do you mind making a sandwich for Kalen? He's hungry."

I was fucking starving. That god-damned, forgotten milk from earlier.

"Hahaha, not at all. You always look hungry, dear."

"Thanks, Mrs. Autumns."

She paused from what she was doing and made a ham and cheese sandwich in no time at all. She handed it to me on a fine china plate.

"Thank you, thank you."

I smiled at her, I was very thankful.

"No problem, dear. There's soda in the fridge if you're thirsty too."

Liam reacted and got out two cans of root beer for us.

"See you later, Mom."

"Thanks again."

She smiled at us, and then we went upstairs to Liam's bedroom. His room was a little messy, but it was tolerable. It wasn't like Amber's room where clothes were hanging from the ceiling fan. Yes, it was that ridiculously dirty of a bedroom. I always wondered how she even managed to lock herself in it all day.

"So, I finally got the model working right."

We both liked to modify or make videogames to suit our bizarre humor.

"Oh god, is that what you wanted to show me?"

"Yes, it's absolutely amazing."

He sat at his desk, and placed the cans of soda down next to the computer tower. I kneeled down next to him with the plate in my lap. I looked up at his monitor, and my eyes lit up instantly. I began to laugh, he did a great job. It was just a stupid 3D model of our favorite distorted lizard working correctly in a sandbox game.

"Amazing, huh?"

He was giggling a bit, his grin was comical.

"Oh god, I don't think I was ready for it."

We continued to laugh about it and screw around on his computer for the rest of the time that I was there. I ate my sandwich within minutes and guzzled down the fizzy drink before Liam went back downstairs to get more food and soda. That's what we did on most days, fuck around and consumed garbage while doing so. It was great, it really was.

When I decided to go home, it was a little before the Autumns Family dinner. Liam offered to drive me home and I accepted it, of course. He drove a used vehicle, but it was decent at the least. A simple looking white sedan that looked like it was from the early 2000s. We got in the car and chatted on the way to Amber's.

"Too bad you have to get home."

"I know, I would have liked to stay the night. Fucking Amber, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, say no more."

In no time at all we arrived at the front of the house. Liam decided to park to come in with me.

"I want to see Amber for a bit, do you mind?"

"Not at all. I think she would like a visit anyway."

We both got out and entered through the front door. It was oddly dark inside with only the kitchen light on in the back. We went towards the yellowish glow and I saw that a pizza box was left on the table. I opened it up and noticed that not a single slice was absent.

"I guess she wasn't hungry at all?"

"Huh?"

"Amber didn't touch this at all."

"Oh, that's really weird."

Amber normally had a large appetite, it would be strange for her not to eat at least two slices if not three or four. At the moment I realized that something bigger than I originally thought must have been up. I actually felt genuine worry for her then, I closed the pizza box and looked over to Liam.

"We need to check on her."

"Agreed, she should be in her room right?"

"I hope she is."

We went up stairs together, stopping at Amber's door. I knocked three times.

"Amber, you okay?"

There was no answer, Liam then took a shot at it. He knocked three times as well, although louder.

"Amber, are you in there?"

No answer again, we looked at each other, puzzled.

"What do we do now, Kalen?"

"I don't know, I guess we try again?"

Liam silently agreed, going through the same procedure with even more noise.

"Amber, please, open up."

Nothing.

"Kalen, what if something happened to her?"

"Hold on, let's try to get in there our selves before we start thinking of that."

I tried to open up her door, it was locked. Perfect.

"Kalen."

"Ugh, let's check everywhere else."

"But, Kalen-"

"No, stop. We're going to check every room first."

I could tell that Liam wasn't feeling any confidence in finding her on our own. He went on with me anyway, we searched the upstairs, my room and the bathroom. Nothing. Then the downstairs, nothing again. There was one place left, the basement. I opened the door and called into the darkness.

"Amber?"

The darkness answered back, Amber's voice echoed to us.

"Come down here, Kalen."

I was shocked, and Liam even more so. Down the creaking stairs we went, venturing into the darkness. Around the corner we saw Amber, standing in a circle of lit candles.

"What the fuck are you doing down here?"

I was always blunt with her. She turned around to see us, she was wearing a black robe and her hair was combed, straightened. A large pentacle hung from her neck.

"I knew I heard a second pair of footsteps. Hi, Liam. And of course, Lenny."

"Just what kind of unholy ceremony did we walk in on?"

distorted lizard
hm

I've never seen your writing before, Miss Mana. I know I'm about a month late, but I was following this--I've been lurking a couple months. I'm impressed with how direct your diction is; I've read few wasted words. Your pacing is nice. Hope to see you resume some day.

I should've actually responded to this thread some time ago. Reading this aloud in voice chat was really fun. uvu I'm definitely willing to read any new entries.

woo!

Chapter 4:

My brother looked different than what I remembered him to be like. The difference wasn't dramatic but, it was significant to me. I remembered his hair being shorter compared to how it was at the dream border. Before, he looked more fit and toned. His clothes were different too; closer to how my father dressed despite how much they clashed. Denim, leather, and flannel. A masculine uniform that came off as intimidating half the time, but just as soft the rest of the time. His eyes were the same as I remembered them; that I'm grateful for. Brown with gold flakes.

My brother and father fought often, day in and day out, till my father moved out. My father didn't leave because of my brother though, when he wasn't fighting with him, he fought with my mother instead. My mother kicked him out when she had enough. It would make sense for peace to come to our household afterwards, but the rage still continued. My mother didn't completely work out her built up anger against my father and took it out my brother. They ended up fighting every day. They cooled down for a while a few months after my father came back one night and 'made up' with my mother. She became pregnant, making my brother decide to tolerate her rather than argue to try to keep a tranquil home. My mother wasn't young anymore, and stressing her out with constant fights could have easily complicated the pregnancy. That didn't stop her from constantly screaming at us though, much to our aggravation. I was glad that I got the short end of her anger, but it was painful at times to watch my brother get the worst of it.

A sister we were expecting, I became excited that I would be an older sibling; to have someone to watch over. I wonder if that's how my brother felt when he knew that I was on the way. We were around five years apart, so, maybe he would have been too young to remember if I asked him in our previous life. I wish I got to hold my baby sister, I wish I knew what it would have been like.

It's been roughly fifteen years since we lived in that life if my guess is correct. My brother and his two friends died in a spontaneous car accident. I couldn't stand living after that day, and to make matters worse, my mother went into labor after being told by the police that my brother had died. She was was barely six and a half months into her pregnancy, my baby sister died later that evening in the same hospital where my brother was pronounced as deceased. It was just too much for me to take. A week later, I ended it at all with Tierah and Sampson, loved ones of theirs were my brother's friends in the accident. Tierah's little brother, and Sampson's wife and their unborn daughter. Sampson's daughter didn't even make it out of the womb before her death; while my sister was granted to have at least one breath in the outside world.

The three of us made a deal with Emptiness, to have the void in our shattered hearts filled with the eventual happiness of the promised reunion we would have with our beloveds some day. I now wait here in the Domain of the Moon, standing as the world's goddess. I'm waiting for my brother to enter the smaller land of Ice, and such a day will come soon. I know it will, meeting him at the dream border confirms that the time is near.

Oh brother, oh Kalen. We'll be together again, but beyond that, I hope you'll remember me in time. My name's Serena, and I am your sister. I have not aged physically since that day, but instead have become much wiser. Brother, I've been through so much, and I want nothing more than to be a family again. I'll settle for you not ever remembering the past, as long as you'll be with me forever once you're here.

"I love you."