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StLQ Chapter 20 - Nervous
🕑 Added 2025-08-15 11:08:52 +0000 UTCLuna and Kai reached the world tree. The wind pushed against the doors; Luna had to use her full weight to force the door shut.
Safe, Luna thought through heavy breaths. She still couldn’t feel her fingers, and her body felt frozen to the core, shivering wildly, but the warm air inside the World Tree slowly heated her up.
Beside her, Kai collapsed with his back pressed against the wall. His sweater was covered in snow. His skin was losing its color; not yet purple, thank the gods, but still a scarily pale white. His fingers weren’t moving. He shivered, trembling, while gasping for air.
“Kai!” Luna yelled. She took off his jacket and wrapped it back around him. In a panic, she grabbed his hands and squeezed his fingers, trying to push warmth into them, but her fingers were just as cold. His face was blurry through Luna’s teary eyes.
“I’m fine,” Kai said with a light laugh, which was interrupted by more shivering. “You’ll be late to class.”
“Your voice is trembling!” Luna said. The pressure in her throat was coming back. She realized she was crying again—and it wasn’t just little whimpers. She wrapped her arms around Kai’s cold body and pressed tight. Tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks, onto his shoulders.
What am I doing? He doesn’t remember me!
Mother would have never allowed this. If Mother or the headmaster learned of this, she’d probably die. Just crying was enough to deserve punishment. Hugging a boy would probably get her killed.
She held him tighter. “Please remember, Kai…” she said in a whisper.
“Luna?” he asked. “Has… something happened?”
“Yes,” Luna managed to say through her tears. She let out a weak laugh. “A lot has happened. Please remember, Kai. Remember!”
People were looking at her. Students whispered behind her. Mr Frederick glanced at her as he walked up the stairs.
Luna released the hug. She took off her summer jacket, left it at the hangers, and walked past the gawking students, up the stairs. Her face was a mess. No, her entire body was a mess. Grime and dirt stuck to her hair from lying down on the bathroom floor. She was covered in cold sweat, and it was obvious she’d been crying.
But at least her uniform was clean. It still smelled of wash soap.
I can’t live like this anymore, Luna thought. She couldn’t keep living with her mother. She just couldn’t. Even though she’d survived Mother for all her life, after seeing Kai’s home… Luna just couldn’t return to her normal life.
She had to do something. But what? Kai was the only person who could help. He had forgotten everything. Other students were too weak to help even if they weren’t so shallow. The teachers were betrayers; the headmaster himself was corrupt.
As Luna stepped up the spiraling stairs, she realized she didn’t actually know what class she was going to. That was concerning. The schedule was the very first thing any decent student was supposed to memorize.
It’s the first day, Luna thought, having to deduce with logic what class was next. It’s warding and incantations.
She headed up to Mrs. Camila’s class. She couldn’t imagine learning anything in the state she was in now, but she couldn’t just not go to class.
The classroom was almost full already. Her classmates glanced at her, spending a little more time than usual studying her arrival. They noted her disheveled appearance, and her teary face.
Luna didn’t care. She sat down on her seat and ignored everyone, as she always did. Quickly enough, her classmates forgot about her, and chatter continued.
Kai arrived in the classroom moments before Mrs. Camila. He hastily took a seat. Mrs. Camila would have probably scolded him, had she not arrived in a hurry herself. She placed a stack of papers down on her desk, wished everyone good morning, and the lecture began.
Luna’s heart was racing. She couldn’t pay attention to anything the teacher was saying. Her head was a mess of utter dread. Kai’s memories were gone.
She kept glancing at Kai. He looked distracted, nervously so. He wasn’t tapping his finger on his desk, lost in thought, like he usually did. He sat in place with a difficult expression, eyes staring intently at his desk, as if trying to solve some serious puzzle.
“Kai Willswort,” Mrs. Camila said, bringing Luna’s attention back to the teacher’s words. “Would today be a day of ingenuity, or is it another day of sulking through my lectures?”
Stop bothering him; he’s trying to remember! Luna cried in her thoughts.
Kai barely even noticed the teacher. His expression got more and more concentrated. He responded with, “Shut up for a minute, I’m trying to think.”
Luna’s heart skipped a beat, while Mrs. Camila’s brows furrowed. “And what would be so important as to skip yet another lecture?”
She waited five seconds for a response, to which Kai said nothing. Watching him, a nervous hope replaced the dread in Luna’s head. Maybe Mother’s spell hadn’t been flawless? Maybe Kai still remembered some of the time they spent together?
Suddenly, Kai stood. Mrs. Camila paused her lecture, and everyone looked at Kai. He turned to Luna, and walked to her seat.
“Come with me for a bit,” Kai said, holding out a hand.
What, what, what!? Luna thought. A million emotions ran through her. Sensations she couldn't even begin to describe.
She grabbed his hand, and Kai pulled her up.
“Sorry, I think we’re suffering from frostbite,” Kai told the teacher. “Luna came to school with a summer jacket. We should see the nurse just to be safe.”
Then he simply walked out of the classroom, taking Luna with him. He closed the door.
The hallways were quiet, but for the ongoing lectures around them. Kai moved deeper into the branch, toward the very end, where the branch grew narrow and thin. The ceiling was so low he had to lower his head. A seat had been built into the floor at the end.
There, he faced Luna, and with a fully serious expression, asked, “This might be a weird question, but… Your mom can control minds, can’t she?”
“Yes!” Luna blurted out. She felt like she was about to explode. “Yes, she can!”
“Ah, good, that makes sense,” Kai said. “I knew something was off the moment I saw you still in your summer jacket.”
Luna could barely speak past all the overwhelming sensations. “Have you recovered your memories?”
“My head is a complete mess,” Kai said. “Things don’t make logical sense. I regained consciousness after entering your home yesterday. My memories remember having a very pleasant conversation with your Mother. There’s proof placed deep in my head that you’re being treated well. Even now, there’s a voice in my head telling me that your mother is a very nice person. But logically thinking, it all feels like bullshit.”
Her voice was frail. “Do you… still remember yesterday? The pancakes? The lollipops?”
“It’s vague,” Kai said. “A lot of it is gone. But I remember you reading a book to my sister. This morning, she asked me when she’d meet Princess Luna again.” He smirked. “And I do remember your face when you snuggled up under a blanket for the first time.”
Luna sniffled. She couldn’t help it; the pressure in her throat came back on its own. “Help me. Kai, please help me…”
Kai’s face was fully serious. “I will. But I’ll need your help as well. We will need to work as a team.”
Luna wiped her eyes, trying to control herself. She nodded.
“I need you to answer a few questions,” Kai said. “First… is your mom actually a powerful mage?”
Luna lifted her head. “What do you mean?”
“She knows how to control minds,” Kai said. “But beyond that, how proficient is she at basic spells? The deadly kind?”
“I… I think she’s not very good,” Luna said. “She doesn’t know how to channel mana well. I’m better than she is.” And that fact makes her mad.
Kai nodded. He thought for a bit, then asked, “This might be another weird question, but has she kept any suspicious items around lately? Sacks that you’re forbidden from touching?”
Luna recalled through her memory. She couldn’t believe she was actually saying all this out loud. If this went wrong, she was seriously dead. “There is a… lot of items in her storage room.”
“Does she have a big cauldron?” Kai asked.
Luna blinked. “Yes. A witch’s cauldron.”
Kai’s eyes turned sharp. “I see. Where is this storage room?”
Luna described its location in the basement of their house.
Kai bit his lip, looking troubled. Eventually, he turned to Luna and asked, “Could I have your house keys for a minute?”
“What?” Luna asked.
“I won’t do anything crazy,” Kai said. “Your mom is probably sleeping right now. I just need to check on a few things.”
Luna hesitated for a moment. What on earth was Kai trying to do this time? Somehow, however, Luna had the urge to trust him. Even if Kai told her to climb to the top of the World Tree and jump off as a stunt, she would have trusted him to save her. She handed over her keys.
“What will you do?” Luna asked.
A vague smile crept on his face. “A little bit of alchemy with a healthy dose of dumbfuckery, and a few letters to the right people. Return to class for me, and I promise to kidnap you once more.”
