Moon.

 

Murr.

 

Both four letter words, both catalysts for something beyond imagination, both an ethereal presence that had sprinkled a myriad of tragedies and blessings on the quaint world that Akira had stumbled across. It was almost impossible to truly comprehend how four letters could drastically flip someone’s life upside down, but then again, it wasn’t like anything had been particularly logical ever since Akira had the fortune of stepping into the elevator.

 

“Master Sage! Yoohoo!”

 

Akira paused, glancing up from their stroll through the courtyard. The glittering light of the stars, as plentiful and as tragic as everything that had fluttered by like distant memories of a time once long lost, were the only things to greet the lone figure within the manor. An aurora of obsidian black, royal purple, and ocean blue spilled across the night sky like an incantation hanging off of a wizard’s lips: watching, potent, dreaming.

 

And of course, there was the moon. Akira had learned to return the tempting sneers of the moonlight with a steeled resolution of their own within their very first days at the manor, and no matter how darkly their own shadow stalked behind them, holding onto the belief that a happy ending was within their grasp proved to be the greatest guidance that they could turn to.

 

“Master Saaaaaage! Up here! Up heeeeeeeeere!”

 

Akira could recognize that voice in their sleep. Teetering between amusement and wisdom, filled with a sort of jubilee of life and secrets that no one else could dream to match, a tune unlike that of a man who had his soul shattered beyond salvation, no one else called to them in the same way that Murr did.

 

Akira craned their neck, tearing their eyes away from the voluminous moon and to a distant corner on the rooftop. There without fail, Murr sat cross-legged on the tiles of the roof. The shadow from the moon covered a good portion of his body, but despite that, the Sage still made out the wizard’s Cheshire Cat-like grin. Smiling from ear-to-ear with his turquoise eyes sparkling with a childlike glee, Murr beckoned to Akira.

 

“Took you long enough to notice me! If I hadn’t called out to you, I bet you wouldn’t have even seen me!” He sang tauntingly, waving his arms wildly. Once upon a time, Akira might have yelled “Be careful!” back to the coy mage, but instead, they smiled sweetly and waved back.

 

“No, I probably wouldn’t have.” Akira shifted their gaze. “What are you doing up there? It’s late, and you wouldn’t want to make Shylock worry.”

 

“To hell with Shylock! I’m staring at the moon! Not even Shylock can keep me from doing this!” Murr cried out, scrunching his face up exaggeratedly. “Come up here, Master Sage! I’ll show you how pretty the moon is if you sit next to me.”

 

“If you’ll give me a moment,” they replied. They cupped a hand to their mouth, trying to amplify their voice without waking everyone in the mansion. “I’ll take the stairs and head up! Wait for me!”

 

Murr waggled his fingers. “No need for that. Stay right where you are, m’kay?”

 

‘Right where I am…?’ Akira froze, their eyes widening.

 

“Eanul Rambul!”

 

The gemstones and metal bands around his knuckles lit up, each one revving up as if raring to go. Sparks shot out of the wizard’s fingertips, as if each ray of light were fireworks spewing forth from his soul. A shower of dazzling gold, deep indigo, and crimson red came flying down from the sky, and Akira couldn’t help but gasp at the sight of what appeared like stardust whizzing through the air at dizzying speeds, all the way from where Murr was happily swinging his legs atop the roof to where Akira was dumbfoundedly watching on the ground.

 

“M-Murr, what are you-!?”

 

The sparks of light began encasing the bewildered sage, dancing around Akira’s body as if they were playful fireflies inviting them out to waltz. A soundless scream bubbled to the top of their throat when they felt the weight of their body disappear, each spark of light dragging Akira up into the sky. They couldn’t even bring themself to flail in the air, rather, slowly beginning to float up into the dark night. 

 

The purple-haired mage giggled sheepishly. “Relax, Master Sage! It’s no fun if you scream and cry so much! You’ll make me seem like the bad guy.”

 

“I’m g-going to fall!” Akira cried out, clawing futilely at the empty air. Murr sat back and hummed, watching with intrigue as the sage tumbled through the sky, the golden glow of magic around their body giving Akira an almost angelic appearance. 

 

Murr flicked his fingers like the maestro of an orchestra, and Akira felt a tug at their waist. They felt themself being brought closer to Murr, until they were perpendicular with his face. The sage held their breath when they drifted close to him—a lone ship set sail in the ocean of Murr’s eyes—enough so that a single exhale would be enough for their noses to touch.

 

“I won’t let anything harm you, not even myself,” he murmured, clearly enjoying Akira’s reactions. “Don’t you trust me, Master Sage? I bet I could make you float in my sleep, so there’s nothing to be scared of!”

 

He flicked his wrist again, and Akira let out a small shriek when gravity reclaimed its hold on them. With an ungraceful THUMP, the sage landed right next to Murr on top of the roof. Murr grasped their waist firmly, as if on cue, stabilizing the trembling figure with his grasp and anchoring them to his own chest.

 

“See? No harm done!” 

 

Akira exhaled deeply, blinking astoundedly and curled their fingers around the white fabric of Murr’s shirt. “I thought my heart was going to fall out of my chest! Next time, just let me climb the stairs!”

 

The mage simply replied with a small snicker of his own, patting Akira good-naturedly on the back. The tiny nagging feeling inside of Akira’s stomach let the sage know that Murr probably wouldn’t take their scolding to heart, but they let it slide. As harrowing as it was to literally float through the sky uncontrolled like a loose balloon, tonight wasn’t the proper occasion to pick a fight with the mercurial wizard.

 

“Was it that spooky? There, there, Master Sage,” Murr purred soothingly. Akira breathed into the crook of his neck, the familiar scent of myrrh, faded wine, and old book pages wafting through their nose and filling the roof of their mouth. The fickle mage rubbed his fingertips into Akira’s back, holding them close almost as if they were romantically intertwined, hidden in the shadow of the moon while the rest of the manor slumbered peacefully underneath their feet. 

 

“Here, you can calm down by listening to my heartbeat!” He continued, pressing Akira’s head closer to his chest. Sure enough, if the sage focused, they could make out the steady rhythm of every inhale and exhale Murr took. The sound of his veins hard at work to keep him alive, the sound of every inch of his life force weaving together reality and magic and fantasy and wisdom together in one big amalgamation, the sound that Akira had grown to love and hate and crave just as everyone else who knew Murr came to know him.

 

Akira glanced up, and their eyes met Murr’s. “Where’d you learn to say that? How romantic.”

 

The wizard cocked his head, the devilish grin on his face never wavering. It was difficult if that grin meant fondness or trust or even the exact opposite, but these were statements Akira most likely would never see the conclusion to. “Shylock taught it to me! Why? Did I make your heart flutter? Did I make your heart skip a beat? Did you fall for me?”

 

“Would anything change if I did?” Returned the weary sage, smacking Murr’s chest gently. Murr giggled, letting his arms fall loose and away from Akira’s body.

 

“Nope! Cuz I’m already in love with the moon! Whether you love me or not doesn’t change anything at all!”

 

Right. The moon. Who could forget the unconventional object of Murr’s undying affections? Akira turned their face even more upwards, tearing their eyes away from the deliriously delightful gleam in Murr’s turquoise eyes and to the ominous moon hanging above them. Akira imagined the centuries that Murr must have spent in wasting away in his own fantasy, pining for something that couldn’t return those feelings nor even make an attempt to love him, but at the same time, the tragic revelation was that no one—not even Murr himself—could imagine what he would be like had he not loved the moon.

 

“You wanted to show me the moon, didn’t you? Now that I’m somehow up here in one piece, let’s do as you say and gaze at the moon together,” Akira murmured, settling down on their place on the rooftop. “The moon’s certainly brighter and closer here. Reminds me that the calamity probably isn’t too far off…”

 

“Yay! That means I can see my beautiful beloved again!”

 

The dark-haired sage chuckled wryly, “You’re probably the only person in the world who would say that.”

 

“Don’t say it like it’s a bad thing! Look, Master Sage, can’t you see how beautiful the moon is?” Murr pouted, nudging them gently with his shoulder. Akira hummed, biting down on the inside of their cheek as they stared at the moon more intently. 

 

Sure, there was no denying of its presence. If their stay in the world was a story, there was no doubt that the moon was the grand antagonist watching them fight for their beliefs and watching their own maxims be challenged at every corner. The moon was impossible to ignore and continuous in its looming threats, but to Akira, the lonesome terror of the moon faded away easily when they thought of the love in their heart for all the wizards they had met.

 

“It’s the same as always for me.” Akira fiddled with their fingers. Murr clicked his tongue and scooted closer to the sage. In a swift movement, Murr pressed his fingers together into two circles, and he placed his hands in front of Akira’s eyes, as if they were make believe binoculars.

 

“That’s no good, Master Sage! Try looking reeeeeeeal close. Maybe this’ll help!” Murr proceeded to make a series of exaggerated noises, echoing that of whirring machinery, and Akira bit back a loud laugh.

 

“Promise that you’re not casting any love spells? The manor will fall into shambles if I fall for the moon as well.”

 

Murr frowned, pursing his lips together as if tasting a sour lemon. “Naughty Master Sage! I’ll bite you! You know I can’t make promises just like that.”

 

Akira placed a hand over Murr’s hands. “I know. Take it as my way of getting back at your antics. Besides, I doubt that the most powerful of your magic spells could ever make me fall in love with the moon. I already have people I love so much more than whatever love I could hold for the moon.”

 

“Oh?”

 

The sage pushed down on Murr’s skin, lowering his hands until his fingertips were in their own. “Yeah. I don’t want to love the moon if it means losing what I have now. This world used to be super scary at first, but I think… I think by getting to know everyone better and learning how to love everyone slowly, there’s nothing I could cherish more.”

 

Murr fell silent, tilting his head to the side again. His fingers twitched like he had been shocked, like he had remembered something way back in his murky past that he couldn’t quite bring back, like Akira’s words had been a spell that they had casted on their own to bring an emotional jolt to his chest.

 

But just as quickly as it came, Murr snapped back to life. Shrugging, he snatched his hands away, simply snuggling up to Akira’s side and focusing his attention wholeheartedly back on the moon once more.

 

“You’re so weird, Master Sage. I love the moon. More than anything else,” he whispered. Whether the strain in his voice came from Akira’s confession or Murr’s hesitation, the sage didn’t care. Much like Murr himself, his words always carried another side, another meaning, to them. They had learned long ago that not everything was as it seemed, and surely, that was probably one out of the infinite reasons why they had grown so fond of him to begin with.

 

How serendipitous.

 

All four letters, resting right at their fingertips.

 

Moon. 

 

Murr.

 

Love.