Lucilius left Ophiuchus with Mavis trailing behind. Maids and butlers bowed as he passed and flinched whenever Mavis hissed, which was done on purpose by the animal. It was furious and frustrated at its owner’s weird mien.

‘I know you’re mad about it,’ Lucilius said as they exited Ophiuchus, heading towards Orion. ‘But you can’t blame her for being attacked and losing her memories.’

Mavis hissed louder.

‘I didn’t want to believe that she really lost her memories either,’ he added. ‘I was almost invincible with her around.’

Lucilius crossed his arms against his chest, deep in thought. Two years back while his team went hunting, Luna disappeared for a long time and showed up at midnight with a small cobra wrapped around her arm. Knights accompanying him tried to help her remove it but she got on her knees in front of him and requested to have the animal as her pet.

He had never seen Luna that assertive before so he allowed it, despite knowing that it came from the Sealed Island, which indicated how dangerous the cobra was. But the thing grew up with Luna and was recently fond of him. He didn’t mind the company and the creature proved to be useful during battles to intimidate opponents.

Luna was always seen taking a walk with Mavis or watching the sunset with it in her little garden provided. Lucilius understood how precious the animal was to her but the event earlier caused him great confusion.

‘Your Majesty.’ A butler’s voice brought Lucilius back. He then realised he was already back at his palace, about to enter his room. ‘Your bath is ready.’

He nodded and dismissed the butler.

***

She looked like a distressed, overworked office worker who never got the time to rest; always pleasing the higher-ups and accepting jobs out of her scope. Her face was pale and thin, cheeks as though had been sucked out of all its flesh. Luna had stunning green eyes, like a witch’s black cat’s eyes. She praised the original Luna’s trendy sense of hairstyles; having light blonde hair with highlight streaks of pastel pink and purple. 

Her shoulders dropped as she relaxed and let out a sigh. The vanity was clean off any cosmetics—not even a tub of lip rouge. With her pale complexion, she definitely needed at least a colour on her lips. Luna made a mental note to request that from Helena. 

Sighing, she turned away from her vanity and crawled into bed. But something like a snot suddenly streaked down and out of her nose, dropping to her pillow. 

Luna frowned at the colour. ‘Blood?’ she mumbled and touched her philtrum. Wet. Her suspicion turned out right; seeing blood as she looked at her hand. 

Was the weather too hot?

After cleaning the blood off in the bathroom and throwing the stained pillow to the other side of her bed, she laid and began gathering her thoughts.

Getting attacked by bandits in this universe surely wasn’t anything out of ordinary, but earlier Elias had said that not a single shadow could pass Luna without being noticed—so how was she attacked?

Bandits… or were they assassins? Could they have found something that could weaken her? 

There was another alien detail. Elias. He was never mentioned in the novel. There was only one magician in Sirius and that was Luna. So why did he appear? Who was he?

Second strange phenomenon: healing. She guessed that Luna couldn’t exhibit her healing power to Lucilius because she didn’t have Elias to defend her during execution. Thus, Elias was a prominent character in the twist of the novel.

What was her purpose being transported into Luna’s body?

***

Luna scratched her head in confusion with a slight tilt. The pathway was supposed to lead her to Elias’ room but when she opened the door, it was a completely different setting. Did I get the wrong door?

She resumed her tracks, thinking her mind was playing tricks on her. She had always been weak at navigation, and back in her world, they had technology to aid her with that weakness—but here was a different story. It didn’t help that the palace was huge.

Just then, a maid passed by her with a deeply bowed head. The maid clearly was avoiding her but Luna strode to her and grabbed her arm. ‘Hi, I’m sorry but I got lost, could you tell me where this is?’ Luna asked politely.

The maid glanced at her with an ashen countenance then quickly bowed her head. ‘Miss Magician, you’re currently in Orion,’ she said with a shaky voice. Luna noticed the maid gripping her dress with a strength such that her knuckles had turned white.

Was she scared?

‘How do I get out of here?’ Luna quickly asked, remembering that Lucilius once mentioned that Mavis would be residing in Orion.

The maid immediately pointed to the path behind her. ‘That’s the closest exit,’ she replied.

Luna gazed at the direction she showed. ‘Is that the quickest route?’ she asked. The maid nodded once and Luna thanked her with a bow before running off.

***

Leia didn’t move from her spot even when the fearsome magician left her sight. She was utterly dumbfounded by the exchanged communication she had with Luna Eir Seraphinus, the official Magician of the country.

What more, the magician was acting weird. Leia had always been on the night shift and she had never seen Luna going in but had always seen her going out. She knew teleportation was as easy as breathing for the formidable sorceress but the Luna she saw just now was like a completely different person.

Got lost? Was that a joke or a test that the magician put on?

Seeing Luna walking in front of her asking for directions just didn’t sit right with her. She immediately knew something was wrong. Perhaps the magician was possessed by an evil spirit from the Sealed Island.

Leia shivered and rubbed her arms. What a crazy night she had.

***

Luna let out a whine. Where the hell was she? She had randomly arrived at a garden. The maid showed her the exit, but which way would lead to her residence? There was no one else in sight so she couldn’t ask.

She knelt down by a bed of primroses, ruffling the flowers with an exhausted sigh. For a moment, she became lost in her thoughts, fingers playing with the petals in a daze.

Until she suddenly heard a rustle. 

Luna immediately looked around. It could be her saviour to lead her back to her residence!

But then she saw it.

Head raised, split tongue slipping in and out, sharp slit-shaped eyes.

Shit.

‘M-Mavis,’ Luna stammered, anxiety beginning to set in.

‘Don’t run…’

Huh? What was that voice in her head?

‘Don’t run, please…’

Was it the cobra? The original Luna could understand snakes? 

Mavis slithered forward, towards her.

‘A-Ahh, stop!’ Luna yelled, putting up her two hands, trying to avoid eye contact. ‘Don’t move, please!’

Mavis dropped its snout a little and halted in its tracks, as if it understood her.

Luna’s mind frantically searched for excuses. ‘I’m not fully… uhh…’ she trailed off. Her brain wasn’t cooperating. ‘I’m not yet recovered! So you can’t get close!’

Mavis tilted its head.

She wanted to throw up. ‘Please stay with Lucilius in the meantime, I can’t go to you right now,’ she said.

‘No…’

It sounded faint and whimpery. 

‘You said you would never abandon me.’

‘I-If we get close, I will die!’ Luna added it as a measure of desperation. ‘I really can’t!’

‘Luna… are you leaving me?’

She didn’t reply. There was a long moment of silence until Mavis lowered its head completely and slithered away from her, disappearing in the flowers. Blood had drained its colour off Luna’s face as she stood there disconcerted. Her head pounded, demanding for sufficient oxygen supply. 

Somewhere in the garden was a white wooden roofed teahouse slash gazebo. Luna found her way to one of the seats and buried her head in her arms that rested atop the table. The night dragged and the breeze turned cold, but Luna was too fatigued to continue her journey finding her path back to her residence. 

She just let her heavy eyelids drop and her breathing turned steady as she slowly drifted to sleep.