Epilogue: Luna

　　"Do you remember?" Luna asked, sitting across from Caden in one of the barracks` mess halls. Sunlight streamed through the open window, casting a warm glow across the room. She gently released his cheeks as they exited the shared memory of their conversation in her bedroom.

　　"I do," he said. "I remember. . . that moment."

　　Luna wiped the blood from her nose, her chest heavy with the immense pressure of conjuring memories from the past; it drained so much Moonlight, and she greatly missed her infinity. "Write that in your book, okay? I`m going to get you something to eat."

　　Caden nodded multiple times. He opened his journal and jotted down a few notes.

　　Luna got up from her seat and left the room. His sacrifice was nearly too much for her to bear. Her Caden. . . the boy she had fallen for - was nothing more than an empty shell. Lost, with no memories. She held back tears as she walked into the kitchen to grab him some food. The worst mistake was looking back and seeing his eyes; they were so full of light, and despite the fact he held no memories. . . a big smile was still on his face.

　　But that was three days ago.

　　Now, she sat with her legs dangling off the edge of a short cliff that overlooked the ocean. In front of her was a beach she could easily descend to, and beyond, the sea stretched outward, colored a vibrant shade of blue, disappearing into the distant horizon. Far out, however, she could see it, the place beyond the edge of the world.

　　I guess it really does exist, Luna thought. What could be out there? She recalled the time Ferris had spoken about the world beyond. . . it caused a question to linger in her mind. Luckily, she had called a meeting with him today.

　　As if on cue, Ferris settled down beside her. His approach was not sudden; she had heard his footsteps from quite a distance. He wore his usual attire and silly hat, yet she noticed he also wore a red sash tied around his wrist. Her eyes narrowed, wondering what it could be for.

　　"It`s for mourning," Ferris said, gesturing to the sash. "For a friend lost."

　　"The one across the sea? He passed away?"

　　Ferris shook his head. "No, this is for Elena."

　　Luna frowned. Despite her death happening a few days ago, she had almost no time to grieve. It was overshadowed by her focus on Caden`s condition. Even now, it made her feel empty, like a part of her soul was torn out.

　　Caden`s sacrifice was heart-wrenching. Every day so far, she would wake up, show him memories, replenish Moonlight by eating or sleeping, and repeat the cycle. The worst part was when she was forced to repeat it the next day. At first, she thought she could just show him all their memories, and he would inevitably recover, but each morning, he woke up and knew nothing. Although he wrote everything in his journal, it couldn`t replace those living memories.

　　She was lucky that the Crusaders finally agreed to let her live. Even though she had defeated their ruler, everything changed when Caden broke the curse. They treated him with the utmost respect and gave him and his father two rooms in the palace. They assigned Luna to watch over him, a duty she willingly embraced, and even Solaris had been given a purpose to look after him, too. However, he moved into one of the barracks.

　　Stupidly, Luna had told them everything. She explained Elena`s plot, why they broke into the palace, what Darian had done, and why the Crown had a showdown against her.

　　They believed her.

　　Bloom, of course, took everything she said to heart, and Zelik had swiftly come around, thanks to the tangible evidence of the curse being broken. Thane, however, well, Luna did not like him one bit.

　　She sighed and turned her attention back to Ferris. "What am I going to do now?" she asked.

　　"Is that why you called me here? To brood over the beautiful ocean sunset?"

　　Luna grunted. "You give good advice. I asked for your help."

　　"Very well," he said. "So, what`s next? You have countless possibilities ahead of you. You can learn how to cook, master your newfound magic, and perhaps even establish your own kingdom."

　　Luna opened her hand and channeled Moonlight into herself. She pulled on her own essence, and a small cube of light appeared. She could think of something, and that light construct would reflect her thoughts. It transformed into a triangle, a sphere, and a ball with tons of spikes before finally vanishing. It relieved her stress.

　　"That`s not what I mean, and you know it."

　　"Ah," Ferris`s expression dropped. "Well, Caden was afflicted by a Shard of Sin. If your Virtue can`t cure him, perhaps another Virtue can."

　　"You mean one of the Tigress`s siblings?"

　　Ferris sighed, "They are more like. . . parts of the same creature. Each shard takes a vessel because, on its own, it lacks the strength to conjure magic. Although if you put all the shards together in one place, you`d reform Virtue - which should be able to cure Caden`s ailment."

　　Luna glanced over at him and raised an eyebrow.

　　"What?"

　　"How the hell do you know all this?" she asked, getting in his face.

　　"Well, I`ve met all sorts of people, I`m a traveler -"

　　"No, no," she poked him in the chest. "Tell the truth. How do you know all this?"

　　Ferris looked quite nervous, and sweat beat down his face.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

　　"You`re one of them, aren`t you? One of the Virtues. You`re a vessel!" Luna gasped.

　　Ferris glanced away. "Something of the sort. . ."

　　"I knew it," she snapped. "You`re way too odd to be a normal person."

　　"I`m just a traveler. If you think I`m anything more - well, sometimes it`s better not to know the truth."

　　Elena had said the same thing when she was alive, and Luna finally understood that lies can be used to protect someone from the truth. She. . . was quite curious about who Ferris truly was, but if that question was asked, she would not like the answer.

　　"I`ll find out someday, won`t I?"

　　"Indeed, you will, child of Virtue."

　　Luna smiled at that nickname.

　　"What is my Virtue if the Tigress is a shard of one?"

　　Creation.

　　"Creation," Ferris said.

　　Luna found that she already knew that answer, but it felt great to have it confirmed by Ferris.

　　"Let me guess, and yours is knowledge?"

　　Ferris chuckled. "So, to answer your original question, an expedition would be next."

　　Luna paused, gazing out at the land beyond the now-destroyed edge of the world. "An expedition. . . to find the other vessels."

　　Seven of them, including us, said the Tigress.

　　"Now then, where shall we go first?" Ferris put a hand to his chin.

　　"We? You`re coming with me?" Luna asked.

　　"Of course. In fact, I`m bringing two familiar faces along with us. Felisha begged to come with you, but her court needs her desperately, so instead, I`ve gone ahead and invited Kieran and Mia to assist you."

　　Luna stood up. "What? Caden`s squad members? To assist me? Why the hell would they do that?"

　　Ferris chuckled. "They want the same things as you, a way to save Caden, and if you sail past the edge of the world, you`ll need a crew. I assume you`ll be ready to leave in a few months, or do you need more time?"

　　"I. . . I`ll make arrangements. The sooner we do this, the sooner Caden will be saved."

　　Ferris nodded, then rose and put a hand on her shoulder. "The journey will be long and demanding, yet . . . I`d like to say that right now I`m satisfied with the end, Luna."

　　She smiled.

　　"I am sorry," he said, "that Caden is inflicted as he is, but we will find a way to fix that. Perhaps just one Virtue would be enough."

　　The Tigress said the Dragon could heal. . . Luna thought, recalling her words.

　　"This was not my very first try here. . ." Ferris continued. "But it was my very first success. Thank you."

　　Luna felt a bit lost in his words but nodded anyway. The wayfarer of Elena`s crew - someone she may never understand - waved before turning around and vanishing into dust.

　　* * *

　　Luna was watching. She stood on one of the palace rooftops and peered down at Caden in his quarters. He sat behind a lovely wooden desk with his father`s journal out. He was writing, always writing. Every memory must be stored. Otherwise, it would be forgotten. Even day-to-day things. Even if he woke up today and learned something new, he would forget that tomorrow.

　　I will save him. Luna thought. Although, he did take on this burden to break the curse. What if there was no way to fix him? What if this was permanent, and no magic from any of the Virtues would work?

　　Then I will create a new path to victory, Luna thought.

　　With style, said Kellin.

　　With honor, said Renna.

　　With serenity, said Yelzar.

　　With kindness, said Isabel.

　　And with creation, said the Tigress.

　　She smiled broadly at her predecessors and at her Virtue. A new path would be born, and no matter what - she would make sure the Caden she fell in love with would return to her. Everything must work out in the end.

　　He dropped his pen, and half of her wanted to go and help him. In a duel of desire, she inevitably decided it was okay to be selfish for one night. She leaped, dashing with Moonlight, and landed on the balcony. She poked the glass window, which startled him for a moment.

　　Yet, when Caden saw her, he smiled broadly. Oh, by the Crown, how that smile made her heart flutter. He rushed to the door, unlatched it, and welcomed her in.

　　"Luna!" he chirped. Of course, he sounded happy. She had given him a memory this morning. "You`re here this late? Are you sure that`s okay?"

　　"I don`t think anybody in the palace could really stop me, huh?" she said with a playful grin.

　　Caden laughed and gestured for her to enter, which she did without hesitation.

　　"How are you feeling?" she asked, sitting on his bed. He jumped back into his chair and pulled out his father`s journal.

　　"I`m doing okay. I`m just writing down some new things today. Kaelea and Elwin were telling me all about how we used to be best friends," he put a finger to his chin. "Although I don`t trust Elwin too much, he kept saying that he was like super strong, but Kaelea would correct him and said that we used to be on not-so-good terms. . ."

　　Luna giggled at his energy. "Yes, that seems about right. And did you speak with Mia or Kieran yet?"

　　"Oh," his expression dropped. "Yes, I did. Mia said I was very rude to her, and she lost her status, but I tried to make up for it. I cried when I learned that, so I don`t know how I can make it up to her yet. . . but I will." He made a fist with his left hand. He now had such a juvenile demeanor, and Luna wondered what was happening inside his head.

　　"Good, I know you`ll make it up to her."

　　"Hey," he said quickly. "Uhm. . . how long have we been in love?"

　　Luna blushed furiously and glanced away. "What do you mean?"

　　"Well, a lot of the memories you`ve shown me have been quite romantic, and my book says we were in love. . . and well, you`re so pretty. Even when I saw you for the first time this morning, that`s the first thing I thought."

　　Luna blushed further.

　　"Uhm, does your book have anything about the festival?"

　　Caden picked it up and flipped through many pages, scanning them quickly. "Oh," he pointed. "It says that you and I went to the festival and lists a few things we did."

　　Luna composed herself, "Probably then, at least. . . for me. For you? I`m not really sure. . . maybe the dance?"

　　Caden flipped a few pages. "I see the dance written here, yes."

　　Luna took a deep breath. "I`m going to be going away in a few months."

　　He looked up at her with sorrow in his eyes. "What? Why?"

　　"I`m going to explore the world you uncovered for us and find a way to fix you." Luna placed a hand on his shoulder.

　　"Well. . . when are you coming back?" he asked, voice so full of worry that it made Luna`s heart ache.

　　"I`m not sure, but I want to give you something. . ." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small silver medallion strung on a necklace. "This was your sister. Her name was Isabel, and she used a spell I don`t quite comprehend yet. I`m able to track the location of it whenever I focus. So, I`ll always know where you are, and I`ll always know that you`re safe. I want you to take it, okay? And. . ." Luna paused and drained so much Moonlight into it that it caused her nose to bleed.

　　"When you touch it once per day," she said, wiping her nose. "It will drain a little of my magic to show you the memory of us when we walked all around town after the dance and talked for hours."

　　She didn`t even realize she was crying. The spell she`d placed onto the object had been one she created by channeling Isabel and herself. It was something new. . . because she was the Virtue of Creation.

　　Caden took the necklace and placed it around his neck. He threw his arms around her. The hug was so different. It was tiny as if Caden even forgot how to hug properly.

　　"I`ll wait for you," he said. "I`ll wait for you to return as long as it takes. For forever. Even past forever."

　　After a long while, Luna pulled away from him. She rose to her feet and approached the balcony door.

　　"Leaving already?" he asked.

　　She turned back, saddened by how wide his eyes were and how badly he must want her to stay. She could just tell by the way he looked at her.

　　"Oh, Caden," she said. "It`s getting late, and you need to rest."

　　He frowned but nodded and went to adjust his lantern.

　　She opened the door to the balcony.

　　"Goodnight," she said.

　　She closed the door behind her and leaped into the air, soaring gracefully. Above her, brilliant white stars filled the night sky, and at the center of it all was the Moon. A glowing orb of pure Moonlight. Not only had Caden brought back the Sun, but also the Moon. He truly was a kind man, and he gave up everything for them. Despite the pain of it all, Luna kept smiling. Finally, her choices were her own. She gazed at the Moon and accepted herself as the reincarnation of the Tigress. Right now, she couldn`t help but be happy, because this moment was good.

　　The End.