Crescent Moon Mystery

Job Details:

Job Sign-Up: Page 35, Post Number 868

-Magnolia Town, Simon Wright's House, 5:15 P.M.-

Wearing her usual casual outfit of purple short-sleeved t-shirt, black skirt with pockets, white thigh-high stockings, and white tennis shoes, Diana had Saint Sinner Valentine slung across her body with the safety flipped on so that she did not hurt herself or someone else if an accident occurred. She stood in the living room of Simon Wright as he faced her with a cup of coffee in hand. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the living room.

"Hello, Diana. How's it going?" Simon asked her as she stood facing him.

"I am all right, thank you." Diana replied to the question. It had been a while since her successful defense of the village in the Western Grasslands of her home country Bellum. Diana had defeated a Viking raiding party with the help of Ami, who had served as an eye in the sky and as close air support on demand. Diana had taken more than a few hits and cuts from the Vikings, but thanks to the work of skilled doctors in Sakuramori she had been healed without any scars.

Well, any scars from the weapons of the Vikings.

The scars her mother had inflicted on her back were permanent.

"Great. Listen, I'll cut to the chase and tell you why I called you here." Simon said to her before taking a sip of coffee. Diana waited patiently for him to finish taking a sip of his drink without saying a word. Sixteen seconds and another sip of coffee later later Simon finally lowered his mug and began to tell Diana why she had been called here.

"Sorry about that, Diana. Anyway, I went to Silent Cemetery last night and saw something really weird." Simon told her. Diana looked at him with a neutral face. Strange events were nothing new to Silent Cemetery.

"I mean something really weird. Even weirder than corpses walking around or undead dogs patrolling the place." Simon quickly added. That news made Diana show some interest.

"Oh?" Diana inquired with genuine interest. Simon nodded.

"Yeah. I saw a weird crescent moon thing floating in the back of the cemetery. The right part of Silent Cemetery, to be more precise. But there's no telling where it might have gone by now." Simon told Diana. That was news to her.

"OK, "weird crescent moon thing" isn't the most technical term for what I saw, but what I saw looks like a small floating crescent moon. I'm serious." Simon added. Diana had analyzed his body language and learned that he was being completely truthful when he had made his claim.

"All right then, Simon. I take it that you want me to find this small crescent moon and try to capture it?" Diana asked him. He nodded.

"Yes, please. If you can even catch it, that is. If you can't catch it, I'm willing to settle for photographic evidence of its existence. Either one works for me." Simon said to the blonde. He then pulled a small black digital camera out of his pocket with his left hand and held it out to her.

"Here, take this digital camera. I keep it for paranormal investigations. I saw the object but wasn't able to get a picture of it because of the zombies. I got out of there because I'm not a mage and I'm not a fighter, but you're both of those things. You have a much better chance of getting the proof I need." Simon said. Diana walked over and took the digital camera from Simon, then put it in her right pocket.

"I will set out for Silent Cemetery as quickly as I can go." Diana informed the client.

"Before you go, there's one last detail that I have to tell you." Simon said to her. Diana made eye contact with him and waited.

"I came in contact with the small crescent moon some time after midnight. I don't know if it'll be out before then, so I'd suggest waiting until at least midnight to enter the cemetery." Simon informed her that the best time to see the strange object would be some time after midnight.

"Very well then. I will keep that in mind." Diana said to her client. She turned to leave for Silent Cemetery and began to walk towards the door.

"Good luck, Diana! And be careful out there!" Simon bade Diana. Diana turned around and spoke.

"Thanks." Diana said to him. She then turned around and walked to the door, then opened it. She exited the house and gently shut the door behind her. She then began the long walk to Silent Cemetery.

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-Inside Silent Cemetery, 12:05 A.M.-

Remembering the client's advice to delay entering Silent Cemetery until some time past midnight, Diana had traveled to Silent Cemetery by walking there at a leisurely pace, something she rarely did since she usually teleported to her destination if it was one she had visited at least once before. Diana had visited Silent Cemetery many, many times in the past, so she could teleport to it whenever she wanted. Once she reached her destination about twenty minutes before midnight Diana purposely delayed entering the cemetery until almost thirty minutes later. When Diana finally stepped through the right gate to the cemetery she closed it behind her, then paused and looked up at the sky.

The full moon was overhead and it provided more than enough light for her to see everything in front of her without having to use a special vision mode. Diana looked down and looked around her, spotting seven zombies shambling about among the tombstones in front of her. They were oblivious to her presence and that lack of awareness gave Diana time to plan. Since they were spread out and unaware of her standing at the entrance Diana decided to defeat them quickly with her Spirit Drain Seekers spell since it was a good crowd control spell that could home in on her targets. One casting of that spell was also a lot more economical in terms of magic power than casting seven individual Spirit Drain Beam spells aimed at each zombie.

She immediately prepared to use Spirit Drain Seekers and once the pale blue aura formed around her body the spell was ready. She jabbing her right index finger at her targets and fired seven pale blue projectiles at them, hitting each target with ease because the undead had made no effort to dodge the incoming projectiles. Moments later all of the zombies were lying motionless on the ground.

With the path in front of her clear Diana calmly walked forward until she reached the branch in the path and faced left. In front of her was a large group of at least thirty zombies barring the path about twenty meters from her current position, but she was not worried about them at all. She stood where she was, raised both hands in front of her and prepared her In Nomine Luna spell. Once it was ready she pushed her hands outward, saying the name of the spell aloud and firing a wide silver beam of magic that disintegrated twenty-five of the zombies in one shot, leaving five of them shambling towards her.

Diana stood her ground and waited for the zombies to bunch close together before preparing and casting a Soul Wave spell at the approaching enemies. The wave of shimmering pale blue magic hit the targets and knocked them down like bowling balls, leaving the way clear for Diana to proceed deeper into Silent Cemetery in search of her quarry. Diana walked by above-ground burial vaults and small crypts, passing by the bodies of the dead zombies as she moved towards the area where the "small floating crescent moon thing" had been spotted by the client.

-The next section of Silent Cemetery-

Diana passed through the area of above-ground burial vaults and small crypts to find herself in a section of cemetery with a wide path that stretched for 200 meters flanked by tombstones on both sides. In front of her loomed a fairly large horde of zombies that numbered forty strong... half of them were directly on the path and the other half were shambling about the rows of tombstones. Diana chose to dispose of the zombies in front of her with an In Nomine Luna spell, then dispose of the rest with a Spirit Drain Seekers spell.

Diana prepared the In Nomine Luna spell and once it was ready cast it at the enemies in her path.

"IN NOMINE LUNA!" Diana called out. The silver beam hit its targets and disintegrated them, leaving the path clear and drawing the attention of the other twenty zombies. Diana immediately prepared a Spirit Drain Seekers spell and fired it at the other zombies, dispatching with with ease when the homing projectiles hit their targets and brought them down with the same effort it took Diana to breathe.

Now that the path was clear she took a leisurely stroll down the path while listening out for any more zombies that might have been alerted to her presence by her shouting when she cast the In Nomine Luna spell. She walked down the path while noting the absence of Lacrima lanterns on the tombstones. There used to be some here stationed at fifty-meter intervals, but they had vanished for whatever reason. Diana did not really care since she could see just fine without them, so she kept walking until she reached the next portion of the cemetery.

-The next section of Silent Cemetery-

Diana entered the next area and found herself standing in an area with several mausoleums flanking a stone path that led to a gate flanked by two granite statues of angels with their wings outstretched and their arms held out towards the viewer. Diana recalled seeing those same statues on the right side of the cemetery the time she had rescued Amanda Smith and looked at them for a few seconds before beginning to walk down the path towards the open gate.

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-Silent Cemetery, the next section-

After passing through the gate flanked by angel statues Diana had entered a large section of cemetery that was exactly like the one on the right side where she had found Amanda Smith several months ago. It had everything the right section did down to the large angel statue with its eyes looking upwards and its arms raised in supplication. It even had a large number of zombies for Diana to eliminate.

Diana saw that she was facing thirty zombies with the bulk of them spread out in the area in front of her and the remaining five scattered way off to the side, so it was time to cast a Spirit Drain Seekers spell. She prepared the spell and cast it, watching as all twenty-five of the projectiles she fired homed in on their targets and hit the zombies before they knew what was happening. They went down with a single unified moan and the remaining five zombies finally realized that they were under attack, but by that time it was too late to do anything about it. Diana began firing on them with Spirit Drain Beam spells and hit all five without any trouble.

Once all the zombies were down Diana recalled Simon's advice to search this area for the crescent moon that he had reported seeing. Diana walked around and searched behind every tombstone, behind every above-ground burial vault, and behind every statue. In the end she had come up with nothing, not even a clue that the mystery object had ever been here. Maybe Simon had just been seeing things.

Having exhausted all of her options in this area, Diana turned around and began the trip back to the branching path at the entrance to the cemetery. Perhaps she would have better luck searching the right side of the cemetery.

-Back at the entrance, on the branching path, fifteen minutes later-

Diana had proceeded back to the entrance at a slow and careful pace to keep from being surprised by zombies or zombie dogs, but she had made it back to the entrance without encountering any opposition. Now she stood at the branching path and faced right. There were a lot of zombies littering the right path, but they were not anything her magic could not take care of. Diana prepared an In Nomine Luna spell to clear the path and cast it when it was ready.

"IN NOMINE LUNA!" Diana called out. The wide silver beam hit twenty-five of the zombies in her path and disintegrated them all, leaving another twenty or so to take care of. Diana took Saint Sinner Valentine off of her body, flipped the safety off, and aimed at the head of the first zombie to notice her. She fired a single shot aimed at the head and it hit the target right between the eyes. It fell to the earth with a moan and the remaining zombies were galvanized into action.

They raised their arms and began shambling towards Diana, who remained calm and stood her ground. She waited until she had a clean shot on each of them before firing a single shot to the head. Thanks to her aim and her experience she did not miss a single shot and downed all of her attackers, who numbered twenty-three when she did a count after the fighting was over. She then proceeded down the path and looked for stragglers to pick off. By the time she had traveled down the 200-meter path she had picked off three additional zombies who were late to the initial fighting.

Diana faced the next section of cemetery and saw a lot of zombies there too. She counted another twenty zombies in front of her at fifteen meters away plus at least twenty more at fifty meters behind the first group. Diana tapped the reload button on Saint Sinner Valentine and set it down, then while she was waiting for the reload prepared and cast a Soul Wave spell at the undead shambling towards her. The pale blue wave of magic hit eight of the zombies and killed them instantly.

Once Saint Sinner Valentine was reloaded Diana picked it up and prepared to take down the rest of the zombies standing in front of her. Since they were not all in one big group she would have an easy time of it even if she had to reload her weapon again. Diana stood her ground and began picking them off one by one.

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-Five minutes later-

Diana had picked off every last zombie in the area plus five who had wandered in from the section of cemetery beyond this one and had the misfortune of being spotted by the blonde mage. Now the way was clear for her to proceed. Diana tapped the reload button on Saint Sinner Valentine and walked down the path that was littered with dead zombies, carefully stepping above them and shooting the corpses in the head whenever she had doubts as to whether they were really dead.

-In the next section, five minutes later-

After walking down the path without incident Diana found herself in another section that had a path flanked by small mausoleums and a gated area with angel statues flanking the entrance. There were no zombies roaming the area... yet. The mausoleum doors looked like they could open at any second, so Diana did not waste time moving on. She began walking down the path towards the open gate and tapped the reload button on her weapon to have a full magazine of normal rounds ready to go when she walked into the next section of cemetery.

-In the next section, three minutes later-

After passing through the gate Diana found herself standing in the large area of Silent Cemetery where she had found Amanda Smith perched on top of a mausoleum several months ago. As she had expected there were a lot of zombies in the area, but there was something curious about their behavior. They were all facing a mausoleum behind and to the left of the giant angel statue and were clamoring to reach something on top of it. Diana looked closer and saw what looked like a crescent moon decoration on top of the mausoleum.

That was not there the last time she was here.

Diana counted thirty-five zombies besieging the structure, so she set Saint Sinner Valentine on the ground and prepared an In Nomine Luna spell to wipe a large group of them out in a single spell. She looked around her to make sure that she was not going to be attacked from the sides, then cast the spell.

"IN NOMINE LUNA!" Diana called out. The wide silver beam hit twenty-five of the zombies and disintegrated them, leaving only ten to deal with. Diana quickly picked up Saint Sinner Valentine and walked a bit closer to the mausoleum so that she could be certain of hitting her targets. Once she drew to within twenty meters of it she picked a target and fired a single shot at its head, waiting for the target to drop before moving onto the next one. One by one the undead fell and by the time they could begin to turn around and face the mage who was picking them off they were all dead.

"Is it over? Is it safe to come down now?" A male voice asked aloud. Diana blinked. The voice sounded a lot like Professor Fauntleroy of Crocus Magicka University.

"It is safe to come down now. All of the zombies are dead." Diana answered the voice. Suddenly the crescent moon decoration moved and it gently floated down from the top of the mausoleum. It looked towards her and began floating in her direction. Diana tapped the reload button on her weapon and slung it on her right shoulder.

"I am SO glad that those awful creatures are dead! I have been stuck on top of that mausoleum for at least an hour now! I thought they would leave me alone and go wander off somewhere, but those dreadful walking corpses are positively relentless!" The crescent moon said to her before stopping a meter away.

"Those foul creatures have no sense of personal space! They constantly grabbed for me! One time they managed to grab me and they tried to bite me!" The odd crescent moon continued to rant in a voice that sounded like a stereotypical butler or a university professor. Diana listened to it rant without saying a word.

"THEY TRIED TO BITE ME! I AM MADE OF ROCK! NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I TOLD THEM THEY KEPT TRYING TO BITE INTO ME WITH THOSE AWFUL TEETH!" It ranted further.

"Zombies are far from the smartest creatures to ever walk the face of Earthland." Diana said to the crescent moon. It bobbed up and down as if nodding in agreement.

"EXACTLY!" It bellowed in agreement. A few moments passed before it spoke again.

"Forgive me for being rude... I did not intend to monopolize the conversation. I was at my wit's end with those rotting simpletons. I am glad that you came here when you did." It apologized to her and thanked her for saving it from the zombies.

"Do you have a name?" Diana asked it.

"I am afraid not. I have no name." It replied calmly. It then floated towards her and Diana got a good look at its profile. It looked like a crescent moon with red eyes and a beak in the center.

"If you would kindly take me out of this dreadful place I would be most grateful. Anywhere will do." It said to her.

"Certainly." Diana said. She would take it to Magnolia Town and show it to Simon Wright.

The Small Crescent Moon:

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-Magnolia Town, Simon Wright's House, eight hours later-

The small crescent moon did not need much convincing to leave Silent Cemetery and follow Diana to Magnolia Town. After a lengthy but uneventful eight-hour walk the unlikely pair had arrived back at the client's house and were now inside. Simon Wright was looking at the crescent moon as it looked around his house.

"I see that you found the small crescent moon thing I told you about." Simon said to Diana. Diana nodded.

"I found it on the right side of the cemetery some time after midnight. I found it perched on top of a mausoleum trying to keep away from zombies who were trying to grab it and bite it." Diana told her client. The moon suddenly spun to face Diana.

"I am eternally grateful to you for rescuing me from those rotting dimwits. Perhaps I should be grateful that they were so stupid lest they grab me and start slamming me against a wall or the ground and try to break me open like a coconut." The moon said to Diana. Simon looked at it with an expression of curiosity.

"It... it can talk?" Simon asked Diana. The moon spun to face him, causing the man to take a step back.

"Yes, my good man! I am fully capable of speech!" It said to him. Simon's surprise and apprehension turned into a smile.

"I saw you the other night but couldn't get to you because of all those zombies. Now you're standing... er, floating in my living room. This is amazing." Simon said to the moon.

"Ah yes, I remember you... sort of. You were that fellow who tried to get my picture but were driven back by those rotting oafs who wander around the cemetery and moan incessantly whether anything is around or not." The moon said to Simon before doing a rather accurate impersonation of a zombie's moan. Simon's smile continued to grow.

"Diana, do you happen to have that digital camera I gave you?" Simon asked Diana. Diana felt her right pocket and fished it out.

"Yes, Mr. Wright. Here it is." Diana said and walked over to the client, handing him his camera back. Simon took the digital camera, powered it on, and walked over to the left side of the crescent moon. He aimed at side, backed up a bit, and took a picture. He then stepped back further and examined the picture on his camera.

"This shot is perfect. Thanks... um, do you have a name?" Simon asked the sentient crescent moon. It shook itself from side to side.

"I am afraid not, my good man." It replied politely. Simon made a "hmm" noise.

"OK then... if you don't mind, I'd like you to tell me a little bit about yourself like where you came from." Simon requested of the creature... being... whatever it was.

"I am afraid that there is not much I can tell you, my good man. I suddenly showed up in that cemetery a couple of nights ago after floating gently down from the sky. And that is all I can tell you." It told the paranormal expert. Simon crossed his arms over his chest.

"So you floated down from the sky. You floated down from the sky and didn't fall from the sky like a meteorite." Simon repeated back to it. The sentient crescent moon bobbed up and down.

"Exactly. I have no memory of what I was prior to my arrival." It added. Simon made another "hmm" noise.

"That's odd. I'm not sure whether you can be categorized as an extraterrestrial lifeform, a paranormal creature, or something else entirely." Simon said to it.

"I wish I could help you, but I have no idea about anything that went on before my arrival to this place." The crescent moon repeated.

"Well, if you don't remember, you don't remember. There's no use asking the same question over and over if you can't answer it." Simon commented.

"I wish I had some information to offer to help you solve the mystery surrounding me, but there is nothing I can offer." The moon asserted. Simon then looked at Diana.

"Thanks for helping me out with this, Diana. I got a good picture of him... er, it, and I got proof that I wasn't hallucinating when I saw it in Silent Cemetery." Simon expressed his gratitude to the blonde mage for her help.

"It is no problem." Diana said to him. Simon looked at the crescent moon, then looked at Diana.

"I don't want to hold the crescent moon here against his... its will, so do you think you can take it with you and let it decide what it wants to do?" Simon asked Diana. The moon looked at him.

"I would like very much to go with Diana... should she permit such an arrangement, of course." It stated its preference concerning where it wanted to go in no uncertain terms. Simon turned to Diana.

"Well, uh... there you have it." Simon stated. Diana looked at the crescent moon for a moment.

"Very well then. You can travel with me." Diana consented to the arrangement. The crescent moon levitated up in what could pass for excitement.

"Excellent! Had I any bags to pack I would pack them, but seeing as I do not have any, let us leave at once!" The moon exclaimed.

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-Magnolia Town, Simon Wright's house-

Seeing that the job had been completed and that things were starting to wind down, Diana turned to face Simon, who was looking at the sentient crescent moon with interest. Simon looked away from the crescent moon to look at Diana. After a few more glances towards the curious creature he spoke to her.

"Thanks for helping me find this creature, Diana. I thought that I was seeing things when I saw it, but now I've got two forms of proof that I wasn't hallucinating. I've got a good digital picture and I've seen it up close and personal." Simon thanked Diana for her help with this matter.

"I am glad that I could help, Simon." Diana replied calmly.

"Believe me Diana, you've been a big help. I was considering going to Silent Cemetery myself to see if I could find it again, but since I'm not a mage and I can't fight very well I probably would have only put myself in a lot of danger for something that might not have even been there." Simon told her. Diana was glad that he had chosen the sensible solution to his problem and hired someone who was a mage and a fighter to do the dangerous work for him. That choice meant that she was going to get paid a fairly good sum of money for work that had not been all that difficult.

"Well, I'll let you two get going now. Thanks again, Diana!" Simon said to Diana and the sentient crescent moon. Diana waved goodbye and turned towards the door with the crescent moon floating right behind her. She opened the door to let it through first, then followed behind it and gently shut the door behind her.

-Capital Crocus, Diana's townhouse, six hours later-

After the long and uneventful walk from Magnolia Town to Capital Crocus Diana had been let into her house by Ami. She was standing in her living room with Ami and the crescent moon. Ami was wary of the new arrival and looked at Diana.

"Hey Diana, what's that crescent moon thing doing here?" Ami asked Diana and pointed at it with the index finger of her left hand. The moon faced the winged android and spoke to her.

"I am here to stay with Diana. I am new here and I have nowhere else to go." He told Ami. Ami jumped back when she heard it talk to her.

"IT CAN TALK!" Ami exclaimed in a fearful voice.

"Yes, I can talk. It is amazing, I know." The crescent moon said dryly. Ami looked at Diana, then at the crescent moon.

"It can talk!" Ami exclaimed again, this time with excitement.

"Man, a talking crescent moon's so cool!" Ami exclaimed in excitement, her apprehension now forgotten. The moon turned to face Diana.

"And who might that excitable young woman be, Diana?" The moon asked Diana.

"She is Ami, a good friend of mine. We met a couple of years ago and have been friends ever since." Diana told it. It turned back to face Ami.

"Hello, Ami. I wish I had a name that I could give you, but I am afraid that I do not have one." The moon spoke to the excited android and apologized for his not having a name. That did not matter to Ami.

"Maybe we could give you a name!" Ami offered a solution to its problem. The moon levitated and shook itself from side to side.

"Perhaps later, Ami." The moon replied. It then faced Diana.

"At some point I will need a name, but I would like to deal with that matter later. There is something else I would like to talk to you about." The moon said to Diana.

"And what might that be?" Diana asked her new guest.

"I am afraid that I do not have much to offer you in exchange for being permitted to stay here. I would offer to watch over your home while you are asleep, but with Ami here I am not sure that there is much need for that service." The moon told her.

"Don't worry, Crescent Moon Guy! I don't mind sharing the job with you!" Ami said to it. The moon turned to face the winged android.

"I would not mind sharing that task with you, but in the end the choice is up to Diana." It replied to the offer. It then turned to Diana for her decision.

"I do not mind if you two share the job." Diana replied. It was not like the moon took up a lot of space. After all, Ami probably wanted the company. Before the crescent moon's arrival the winged android was alone for hours at a time with little to do but stare at a television and wait for Diana to get home.

"Excellent!" The moon exclaimed. Ami too seemed pleased with that decision.

"Yay! I get to hang around with Crescent Moon Guy!" Ami voiced her approval. Diana was glad that the winged android and the sentient crescent moon approved of her decision. Now she would have two guardians to watch over her townhouse while she slept. Now that the matter had been settled Diana was going to go upstairs and sleep for awhile before waking up to look for her next job.

"I am going to go upstairs to sleep for awhile. I will see you two later." Diana informed her companions. She then turned and walked upstairs while Ami and the sentient crescent moon bade her goodbye for the time being. She was sure that with two guardians her home would be protected while she slept.

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