First Contact
–=–=–=–Usagi–=–=–=–
Blackness, a void, darkness surrounding all sides. I stood in front of a mirror, and saw a woman in royal clothing look back at me. She put her hands in the glass pane. Pressing against it. I stared at her.
At myself.
But she wasn’t me.
She spoke, I couldn’t understand her. She seemed desperate, all I could do was look on in concern, in fear.
Pleas gave way to pounding on the glass, the mirror bending and creaking as she did, her voice more and more frantic, I breathed in something deep, and sunk further into the inky black ichor all around me.
–=–=–=–Usagi–=–=–=–
I gasped to life, and found myself awake in that same alleyway.
I slowly got up, my head was pounding, I… must’ve fainted or something. Oh man, I hope I wasn’t like, drugged or something!
But who would’ve even done that? I don’t remember any guy, I just saw that cat and-
A-and.
…
Right, that weird dream I had that
“It wasn’t a dream”
I blinked. My eyes bugged out of my head, looking left and right for the source of the voice.
“You won’t find me like that, you know.”
I scooted up frantically against the stone wall behind me, rusting some nearby garbage bags. My heart was racing. Auughhh why me! What’s all this freaky stuff! I know I like aliens and wanna see an alien and seeing an alien is soooo coooooool but that doesn’t mean I should have to be involved! It just means that it’d be cool to be involved!
“You’re kind of a mess of contradictions, you know that right?”
My brows furrowed, a nervous grin wormed up my face, “Hehe, I’m hallucinating now.”
I felt something slink out of my ear, like someone removing a q-tip made of the stretchiest cheese imaginable. I shuddered at the feeling, before a black tendril, one with a
little
kitty
mouth
popped up.
Stretching and contorting out from the end of the tendril, its head formed, as if blowing air into a balloon, it swelled up, eyes, a button-like nose, and ears all puffed out to greet me. This time, she had eyes, they were… more like pearls than eyes. Oh that’s neat! My birthstone is a pearl!
The metallic crescent gleam on its forehead seemed as if it was somehow there the whole time. It spoke, this time, it was something I could understand. “Thank you so, so much for saving me! My name is Luna!”
I nodded, “Oh! Of course! You’re welcome Luna!”
…
“NOW CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN WHAT’S GOING ONNN!?”
She furrowed her brow for a second, and I watched as a yellow swirl went through her eyes, she looked like she was processing information, kind of like one of those computer thingies downloading something.
She nodded, “Right, you have no knowledge of what I am, how I work, or what I’m doing.”
“YES. CORRECT. THANK YOU. ALSO. ARE YOU AN ALIENOHMIGOSHIMETAREEEALLALIENAHAHAHAHANDILIVEDTOTELLTHETALEOHHHHHNARU’SGONNAEATHERFRIGGINWORDSABOUTTHISTHAT’SFORSUREI’LLTELLYOUTHATMUCH-”
I felt her sigh before I even heard it, a strange feeling that caused an involuntary shudder in response. She muttered at first, “I dunno if I should tell you this-” before she was back at a standard inside-voice level. “-yes, I am a form of extra-terrestrial life. Pri-” She collected herself, I raised an eyebrow, “Usagi-” she corrected. “I am…”
It seemed to pause-
“I’m not an it.”
I sheepishly looked at the asphalt “S-sorry”
She seemed sad. I-I’ve never been too good at reading people, let alone alien cat-things- girls- cat-like-... extra-terrestrial that so happens to look sort of like a cat. She nodded, “Yes, I do need to perhaps work on my disguise.”
I pursed my lips, trying not to laugh at that comment.
“It’s not funny.”
“S-sorry it’s just” I snorted, holding a hand over my mouth, “I didn’t think you were trying to hide it is all, it’s not really fooling anybody.”
She sighed, and once again, that swirl went through her eyes.
She got fluffier, and I immediately hated the texture I felt throughout my whole body. I was ready to throw up, claw out my own skin, to scream and rip out my nervous system, before it suddenly vanished.
“Ah, yes, I could see how the internal parts keeping that could be… problematic.” She winced, seeming to be genuinely apologetic. I shook out all the gross feeling from that out of my arms, shoulder blades, and hands.
She processed this, and there was a small, fond smile. “Well, … Usagi-” she stumbled over my name like a 4 year old in a hurdle-race, “I am Luna, I am in fact an alien-”
“Not even a cute one.” I muttered.
She simply let her mouth flatten out, unamused.
“Sorry, continue.”
“I am in fact an alien, and I’ll proceed to work on my ‘cuteness’ or lack-thereof in the future, perhaps I’ll study your Earth cats some more-”
“That’d be for the best-”
“SERENITY.” I felt my eyes tear up from the tone of her voice, stern, and something about that word shook and paused me at my very being. It made me feel- feel too much. Too much at once. I just started bawling. “You’re ss-s-s-so meee-he-eeheeeaaannnn! AUUUGWAHHHEHEAHHH” and the waterworks flooded out.
She once again seemed apologetic, but even moreso. She was genuinely sad. Like she’d hurt herself just as much as me.
“Usagi I’m sorry I-... I lost my temper, and I lost my patience. We’ve both been through a large sum in the lives we’ve lived. I just… forgot how some things are going to be for a while. For now, at least.”
I didn’t understand any of what she just said, but… she’s sorry, and she means it. I wiped my eyes with the bottom of my palm, my hoodie-sleeve catching most of the leftover residue.
She let the rest of herself slink out of my ear, waltzing back and forth as she talked, I convulsed for a moment as it happened. “I’m someone who is here to help awaken something in you, to help you, all of you really, save this planet. To help you become a guardian. It’s your destiny, Usagi Tsukino.”
My eyes widened as I let her words sink in. “Y-you mean… I’m part of an alien prophecy??!!” I couldn’t keep in the squee at that, balling my hands into fists that shook in front of my chin. “That’s so cool~!”
Luna got a nostalgic smile on her face, “Yes, Usagi, you’re a part of an alien prophecy. Now, this is gonna come with a lot of responsibilities, but I’m going to be here to help you. It’ll be easier to explain things as we go because there’s… a lot and I don’t wanna overwhelm you.”
I chirped back, “Okay!”
“Before we get to it, do you have any questions?”
I nodded, “Yes! Two!” I put my hand out in front of me, holding up a finger “One! Am I supposed to forsake my life and go on the road doing cool alien stuff and-” I added a second “Two! Can I pet you?”
“Well-” The second question caught up to her, and she let out a small snicker, “You are not going to have to uproot everything, in fact, it helps if you try and blend in and live a normal life. For everyone’s safety. As for your other question, yes, you may. I quite like chin scritches.”
“Yay!” I complied with her request, and a cavernous, gurgling bubbling purr rang out from her, “Woahg!” It was freakyyy!! Creepy! But cool! But scary! Yet so fascinating!
She sighed, and after a little more petting, scritching, and patting, she eventually cleared her throat. “Now, you have a class to attend if your memories serve us right?”
I pouted at her, “But- but- do I have to?” I whined, I really didn’t wanna, especially after all this super cool super scary alien stuff happened. But I also gotta tell Umino! He’s gonna be soooo jealous that I-
She got really serious for a moment, “Please don’t tell anyone. It’s for their safety and your own.”
My shoulders slumped. “Oh…”
There was a beat of silence, she seemed sympathetic, but not any less compromising, she sighed, and I felt what I can only describe as a small string yank her back into me, as the goop- as Luna, coursed back into my system, much less violently than the first time.
“That’s because our bodies have been synched.”
I nodded, smacking my tongue against the roof of my mouth and huffing air out of my nose, it felt like when someone shoves a camera down there for a medical procedure, like it felt wrong.
“I don’t think I’m ever gonna get used to that.”
–=–=–=–Usagi–=–=–=–
I had taken off in a dead sprint towards my campus, today had already been so crazy, and on top of it I’m running behind! I let out a whine as I continued my who knows how long meter dash. But something had caught my eye. Ooooooooh! The jewelry store Naru’s folks run is having a sale! I hadn’t stopped my stride, staring at the posters, craning my head as they got further away. They never do that! I wonder what compelled them to-
My train of thought was interrupted as I made fierce contact with something
“Oof!”
Or someone.
The girl had short black hair, and was wearing a green jacket, with a black turtleneck underneath. She groused at me, a scowl lining her face as she turned. “Watch where you’re going bunhead.”
I balked, “Hey! These are odango! Oh-dan-go! They’re not just buns!”
She rolled her eyes, “Oh good, you’re annoying too. That’s just what I needed.”
What the fuck is her deal!? “What the fuck is your deal?!”
“Gee, some cargo train full of dumplings rammed into me at mach five. It’s a real mystery.”
I huffed, tears forming up in my eyes that I tried to shake away. “Wh-whatever! I don’t have time for stupid, dumb, idiot jerkfaces like you! Not even cute anyways!”
She gawked her stupid face in surprise as I walked away, incredulity rushing through her features. Yelling at me as I charged off towards campus, “Oh! BullSHIT. No wonder you got glasses girlie!” I could tell she put her hands around her mouth as if they were a megaphone, “YOU NEED TO GET YOUR FUCKIN’ EYES CHECKED!”
–=–=–=–Usagi–=–=–=–
I walked through the door to my class, the professor had a slight lull of silence at my entrance. I looked up at the board and was already lost. I was late. Again. This time it wasn’t even my fault!
“It sounds like it usually is.”
My nose crinkled, and I let out a small ‘hmph’ and walked to my seat as the professor marked me for attendance, taking my spot between my best friend Naru, and the only other person who’s even close to getting me.
Umino wiped his glasses down with a cloth, a small smile on his face as he whispered to me, “Late again Usagi?”
I sighed, and looked over at my bud. He was a little much sometimes, but us alien-lovers gotta stick together. He had ruffled brown hair, big circle glasses just like mine, though his were even thicker to the point where it looked like they had spirals (it’s how we met!). He wore a generic white button-up and slacks, over it was a zip-up hoodie in the school’s colors. I’ve tried to take him out shopping for new stuff before, but he’d rather sit around and read manga or play on his gameboy. Boys.
“Listen Umino, this time it really wasn’t my fault! You gotta believe me!” I got a piece of chalk thrown at my head, rubbing it as Professor Sakurada stared me down. “Miss Tsukino, if you could please keep your interruptions to a minimum.”
I tried not to cry, simply nodding with a sniffle as she rolled her eyes and continued babbling on about biology. I leaned over to Umino and whispered as quietly and composed as I could, “I-I can’t tell y-ouhouu… b-but… I promise.”
He simply held out his pinky, wiggling it, I practically heard the wobbling sounds of a sheet of metal in my head as he did.
I smiled an equally wobbly smile, and we wound our pinkies together