Sixty years ago 

Hyejoo shook her head. “Nothing.” She looked at dull hands. Her skin was pale, but that didn’t mean much here. Without the light, it meant close to nothing. 

“Not true,” Chaewon said. She took her hands. “I can see it. Here.” She squeezed her hands before running her fingers up Hyejoo’s arms. Each touch made her skin tingle with warmth. “And here too.” She tapped her chest and then her head. “It’s just about finding where it’s focused.” 

“Maybe,” she fought a sigh, “but there’s not enough there anyway.” Eline had said as much. aNuala worried for each injury she had for that reason too. There wasn't enough light to heal her anywhere near as quickly as the rest. 

“There’s enough.” Light green eyes met hers. “Remember where mine is?” 

“Heart.” And there couldn't have been a better fit. 

Chaewon smiled. “Have you tried there?” 

Hyejoo nodded. "It's not there.” Some people had theories for why the light focused on certain people. Jinsoul was one of the more thoughtful of the elves and her light focused, naturally, in the centre of her head. 

“And your stomach?” Her smile grew. “I’m both serious and joking.” 

She hadn’t thought of that. She closed her eyes and focused her attention there. Where her heart didn’t seem to have much light at all, there was a bit more there. Nothing like the others had. Either it was actually focused there and Hyejoo just didn’t have enough, or she hadn’t found the right spot. She wondered if she even had one. 

Again, she shook her head. "We don’t have to continue.” She knew Chaewon was patient and she appreciated that to no end. But everyone had limits. Hyejoo was quickly reaching her own. 

Even though she'd long given up, Chaewon had tried to convince her again and again to agree to try again with the light. She'd created staffs, blocks, and daggers, all for Hyejoo to try and control. It never worked. So now she'd decided to try from the absolute basics—all the tests Hyejoo had failed the first time as a child.

Chaewon held her hands again. “Not yet. You have it.”

“Have you seen it?” Hyejoo didn’t want to be pessimistic, but getting false hope was as bad as not having it at all. 

“No,” she admitted. “But it’s like with Yeojin. No one saw it until she’d found it herself.” She raised a hand to Hyejoo’s cheek then. “It’s buried.” 

She fought the urge to look away. Sometimes practice was more nerve wracking instead of frustrating. 

So she held Chaewon’s gaze, but didn’t focus on it. Instead she concentrated on her hands. Hyunjin’s light lay there. She found nothing in her own. 

She looked up her arms, finding nothing either. She even focused on her legs. Also nothing. 

“Don’t get annoyed,” Chaewon murmured. “It’ll just make it harder to find it.” Her thumb brushed across her skin. 

Hyejoo fought a sigh. Instead she took a long breath and let it out through her nose. Chaewon was so close that she’d smell her breath. Not quite what she wanted from this. 

She looked at her neck. There were flickers of something. She went to her ears, some had it there, but tended not to talk about it. Also something. 

When she got to her eyes, there was warmth. Not a lot, but it was there. She tried to pull on it. Her grip slipped. So she tried focusing in on it more. Her head started to hurt with the effort. 

A breathy laugh left the person in front of her. “You found it!” 

Hyejoo found herself being tugged forward. Her nose brushed Chaewon’s and green eyes were all she could see. They were even brighter than normal. 

She also found that she couldn’t breath right. 

“Your eyes,” Chaewon said, her breath gently brushing Hyejoo’s lips. It smelled more like fruit than anything else. “They’re like that dark stone. The one that sea elf used when Sooyoung had that back injury.” 

“Obsidian,” Hyejoo finished quietly. 

“Yeah,” she looked between her eyes, “do you feel any different?” Curiosity had filled Chaewon's light green eyes. 

Nervous, she thought. “Not really. Warmer?” And she had a headache now. 

Chaewon pulled away suddenly, dropping her hands. “Sorry,” she glanced at her, “it was really cool to see them change.” 

“Is there that big a difference?” 

She nodded. “They weren’t dull before, but they,” she trailed off. And then ducked her head slightly. 

“They what?” Was there something Chaewon had been making light of? And now she was letting things slip? 

Chaewon bit her lip. 

Hyejoo chuckled. “Now I’m just more curious.” 

“That’s a fairy thing,” she shot back. Then she sighed. “Your eyes only shine when you‘re happy, but there was always something.” She suddenly sounded more sure of herself. “Which’s also why they never thought you had it in you.“

“And you always knew?” Hyejoo tried not to sound like she didn’t believe her. She just suspected that Chaewon had been imagining it. Mortal eyes could shine, as could water. 

“Don’t say it like that, Hye,” Chaewon frowned, “I saw what I saw.” 

“Was this on a sunny day? A full moon?” Everyone glowed on those. And the sun was always the bringer of light in some shape or form. 

“Both. And then when there was a new moon, a half moon, and a crescent moon.” A pause. “Whenever you were happy, I saw that,” she said. “Not like water in the sunlight or a blade in the moonlight, but like obsidian.” 

Hyejoo only nodded. And now that she’d found the light, what was to come next? There wasn’t enough to grasp at. 

If it was in her eyes, what was that supposed to mean? 

Hyejoo would’ve rather it be in her hands.

_____

“Up you get,” someone was shaking her, lightly, “lots to do today.” A harder shake. 

Vivi fought a sigh. “It was hard enough to fall asleep during the day.” At the very beginning of the day. She'd been lying awake for hours, thinking over all that had happened. A lot of it wasn't ideal. And she knew it would take a long time to grow accustomed to the new sleep schedule. For the Astra, if it was morning, it was time for bed. And sunset was basically early morning. Vivi wished she'd realised that sooner. Then she could've better prepared herself. 

Haseul smiled. “Once you're out there, under the sky, you'll feel better." 

"I hope so." She sat up and stretched. “So you’re not only teaching me, but you’re the one to wake me up?” 

“I could’ve sent Yeojin. She does a really good job at that.” 

“Alright,” Vivi nodded, “good it was you.” She’d barely known the orange-eyed elf a day, but the girl seemed to allow no compromise, even for someone a century or two her senior. 

“Did you want new clothes or are you good with that?” Haseul held a pile of white linen in her hands. Very similar to the material that the other elves wore. Vivi had noted that some had taken to embellishing their clothes with patches or tears, as well as dirt. Choerry belonged to that. As did Yeojin. 

Vivi looked down at what she wore. The cloth was so smooth it felt like silk, but didn’t attract dirt due to the enchantment on it. It was both airy and insulating. It was very clearly the work of a fae. If she kept it on, that'd probably be interpreted as a statement. 

“I’ll keep these for now,” Vivi said. 

Haseul nodded, a hint of a smile on her face as she put pile down. “It’s a relaxed morning today, so I’ll show you the outskirts of camp.” 

“Outskirts?” Just how large was this place? It seemed well populated, but had they spread out a lot? 

The elf held out a hand. “First the place to clean up and then the area you’ll end up spending most of your time.”

“So the perimeter?” Vivi took her hand. It was warm. 

Haseul pulled her up with surprising ease. The effects of whatever training she’d had? 

Vivi noted they were the same height. Then she wondered why that stuck out to her. 

"There's a basin there for you to clean your teeth. I wasn't sure if you had anything, so there's," Haseul chuckled, "that." She slipped out of the tent then. 

The paste for teeth cleaning was almost sweet. Vivi wondered if that was supposed to be healthy. She did have some things with her, but she'd not unpacked them yet. 

She shared a tent with Haseul and Yeojin. As she brushed her teeth, Vivi realised that Yeojin wasn't there. Either she was an early (late) riser, or Haseul had let Vivi sleep in. 

When she got out of the tent, it was far from dark. Even more than yesterday, many fires were lit around the camp. The light from them flickered across the tents, made from a material similar to the one of the clothes. The tents were tall constructs with flowing sides. Nothing that looked like it could withstand rough weather. But if it was true that the Astra worked with the elves who lived primarily in the north or on different mountain ranges, then they’d have the magic to hadnle that. Vivi was pretty sure that was the case, as she’d rarely felt so comfortable and warm in the autumn. 

As the two of them walked through the camp, some elves looked over with questioning gazes. Thankfully, there were only a few glares. All glowed softly, be it from their skin, their eyes, or even the trails of blood that marked a person beneath their skin. That didn’t seem to expend their moonlight. She had the suspicion that holding the light was more difficult than expelling it. 

What it all cemented for her was that the elves feared the dark. Sleeping during the day meant they felt safe even when so many others were awake. So the night, while as comfortable for them as the day was to Vivi, still held its own threats. That was probably most prominent when the moon wasn't showing itself in the sky. DId it have to do with the spirits or did the elves just really not like darkness?

So many things to consider. These elves had lived their eternal lives with this lunar connection. Vivi had spent hers living with rock, learning what she could wield with ease or with difficulty and finding what could be moulded the best. In some cases, she could even find minerals. It took a headache-inducing effort, but she could control them. Would it be just as bad when she started trying to control light? Probably. 

“You have the face,” Haseul said. They were at the edge of the forest now. Another place Vivi would have to learn the layout of. They were surrounded by it. Vivi could barely tell where she'd come in from. 

“What face?” When Vivi looked over, she nearly returned the smile Haseul sent her. She stopped it before it could form. 

The elf’s skin had grown brighter. “The one where you’re deep in thought. I’ve seen many fae with that look, as well as some rare exceptions among the elves.” She waved a hand across her face. “I for one’ve never had it on me.” 

“We—the fae always thought your elders were responsible for that. The deepening of your knowledge, be it for any magic you have.” While the rest lived on, their focus on the other elements life had to offer. Things Vivi knew she would have to grasp as well. Learning about what made the light powerful wouldn't be on her list of priorities. 

“A few are,” Haseul shrugged, “but a couple breakthroughs are made from the uncommon elf.” Her eyes twinkled. Her entire being gave off light in an otherwise dark forest. It made the gnarled roots and black trunks much less threatening. 

“But don't you wonder at who first found out how to wield moonlight?” Vivi asked. When it came to the elements, much of it tended to be serendipitous. They encouraged that too. 

Haseul smiled, but there was something else to her gaze. Embarrassment? “You’re going to think I’m terrible, but no.” She directed them to a more well-trodden path. “I think you found it out for yourself, or? That using the light can be instinctive. It’s not like learning how to make a sigil.” 

“I suppose,” Vivi frowned, “but to know what you call upon and how you really do it, that can broaden your understanding even more.” Many times she’d broken rocks apart by hand and examined their layers. To her surprise, she’d learned that the layers had come along at different times. She could differentiate between that, sometimes drawing out one layer completely. Sometimes the oldest one was the strongest, other times it was one in the centre. 

“Do you learn to walk by studying how the bones and muscles work?” Haseul flexed her arm. “Do you strengthen them by knowing exactly how the process works?” 

“You can find more effective ways of training them. Or healing them. An good healer'll pinpoint what’s wrong and know which treatment to apply.” 

“When I teach you how to use the moonlight, it'll mostly go off of feeling and actions similar to taking a breath.” Haseul tilted her head. “Once you get that, you can nail down how we do what we do.” A small smile. “And teach me.” 

Vivi looked at her, trying to see if she was making a jest. There was no sign of humour in Haseul's eyes, only something softer. 

There was a glow to their left. It was pale pink. 

Vivi stopped them. "Is that normal?" she asked as the deer spirit approached them. It was looking at her. Although they weren't supposed to be sentient, Vivi could've sworn the spirit had a kind gaze. 

"They feel safe enough to approach. There's also just two of us."

"Not what I meant," Vivi said. "On my way here, I gave this spirit light. It was one of the ones hunting me." She tentatively reached out. The deer nudged her hand with its nose. 

Haseul knelt down beside her, her brow furrowed. "This exact one?"

Vivi nodded. "Unless pink deer are so very common." And a part of her felt she knew this spirit. Was she recognising the light within it? She had no idea. 

"They're not." She looked between them. "Should we keep going? It'll follow." 

At that, Vivi wondered if the spirit had a gender. She dismissed the thought. She'd known of them before coming here, but only vaguely. Haseul would explain more about it later. 

They kept walking. The spirit did indeed follow them. It wasn't looking expectantly at her. If anything, it seemed content to stroll through the woods. Vivi found that stranger than much of what she'd been seeing lately. That was saying something. 

Soon, the line of trees receded and they came to a river. Vivi hadn’t been listening for the rushing water. Now the sound filled her ears. 

Someone was already there. 

“Good Night,” Haseul nodded to Jinsoul downriver. 

She held five spheres of water aloft. The water flowed slowly within whatever power held them in that shape. Around the elf were several waterskins. 

“Hey,” Jinsoul grinned, “how’s the early rising going?” 

Right, Jinsoul would've also had this phase. 

“Difficult,” Vivi replied. “What is,” she trailed off, gesturing to the water. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the deer plod off back into the forest. Was three too many? Did it not like the water?

Said water began to glow, streams of white appearing and then spreading throughout the spheres. 

“We drink it and use it for healing,” Jinsoul said. 

“It can be consumed?” Light becoming physical was difficult to grasp already, but drinking it? 

Jinsoul smiled. “Weird, I know, but this way we get the strength a little differently. A little stronger, actually.” The first sphere flowed neatly into a waterskin. The elf put on the cap and moved on to the next. There were at least thirty waterskins. She was the only one doing the filling. For a moment, Vivi wondered if it was because she wasn’t born into the clan. Then she dismissed that. She probably was the only one who could control water. 

“Did you learn how to do that?” 

“A couple of us figured it out. Not like the one-man investigations done by the fae.” She filled another. “But no one can do this. At least not neatly." 

“How do you have enough for that today?” Vivi asked. She'd have many questions for these people. They'd have to accept that. Was this 'water duty' the reason Jinsoul couldn’t be on the patrol duty? Jungeun had mentioned something about not having enough light in her for it. Either that, or Jungeun was avoiding her. Or both. 

Jinsoul shrugged. “We always have some light. There's some to be gotten during the day and being out now.” After a small pause, she winked. “Probably not what you wanna hear.”

It probably made her fit the stereotype of the fae, but it was true. “No,” Vivi admitted.

“We set you off, didn’t we?” Haseul chuckled.

“Maybe,” she said. 

“You already have options for it, right?” Jinsoul sat up. The balls of water flowed faster. Was she actually interested? 

Vivi looked between them. Haseul nodded, her green eyes bright—well, there hadn't been a moment when they weren't bright.

“It could be from the stars,” Vivi said. “But I think it’s more likely that more forms of nature store moonlight naturally. And you absorb that without knowing it.” 

“So water, foods, and trees?” Haseul looked around then, squinting. "It's been absorbing it this whole time then?" 

“The ground as well.” Vivi knelt and pressed a hand to it. “If I had the focus you have, perhaps I could find it.” 

“You can feel the traces of it,” Jinsoul was looking at the water, “not enough to have any big effect, but still cool.” Her smile grew. “Jungeun’ll get a kick out of that.” Her smile faltered in that moment. She continued to fill the waterskins. “I also haven’t used much since we found each other.”

Vivi nodded and pulled at the stones in the stream, making a tiny basin. She lifted it to drink. 

“I have a feeling you’ll end up answering many of your own questions,” Haseul said. She sighed. “You probably think we never think for ourselves.”

Vivi had the strong sense this wasn't just about moonlight. She wouldn't press that. 

“It’s how I grew up,” Vivi replied. “The questioning that we do can be overwhelming.” She'd come to love that part of her life, but it'd been difficult to learn how to learn. Neither the humans nor the elves were bound to do such a thing. Some witches seemed to be an exception, but Vivi had despised most of the ones she'd met. 

“But you ask things we probably should’ve figured out ourselves.” Haseul let out a dry laugh. Bitter. "A long time ago."

Vivi shook her head. "As you said, not knowing it didn't affect how you learned. Does what I told you, what you just found, really help with anything?” 

Jinsoul's brow rose. “You don't think so?” 

She shrugged. “We just found out that light's all around us. It doesn’t say much else.” There might have been something there. Vivi might've been interested on another day, in another circumstance, but she found she didn't quite care. 

"But for you, and I don't just mean the fae," Haseul was frowning, "isn't curiosity on its own valuable?"

Vivi nodded. Her answer would be seen as very 'un-fae'. She knew that. And it would be alright.

“It should be.” 

"But not for you?" Haseul looked almost concerned now. What was bothering her?

She just shook her head. It felt like a sudden change. She had been wondering about the moonlight and how it worked. When had that become a reflex rather than an urge to simply know? Had something been drained from her overnight? Or had it been building? 

Vivi didn't know, all she was certain about was that moonlight wasn't like stone, where she'd wanted to know all she could. Moonlight was something completely different. And she was quickly finding that didn't want to repeat the process of learning how to use it. 

"Not anymore."

______

Author's Note

So that first part will have been one of the first flashbacks you'll be having. In the context of their ages, the time I put at the top doesn't quite matter. With respect to how their lives progressed (and how long ago Olivia's banishment was), it does. A bit like how you might be a very different person to last year, but you haven't (there are exceptions, of course) changed much in how you look, like your height or other features. 

Regardless, I wanted to show a bit more of a lighthearted piece of the past before we get to the crucial moments. As for the present, there's the gradual introduction to things. I apologise if there's a lot of information. If it's too much, do let me know. And if you have questions, be sure to ask them below and I'll answer as best I can. 

Hope you're all healthy and well! See you in the next chapter.