Legend of Diana: Part One

Part One – Lunar Wars

“On a mission, another setting sun
There is no time to waste
One obsession, keeping me on the run
The vision won't fade away...”

The events I shall describe take place long before you were born, and long before your mother's mother was born. All this happened at a time when the surface of the Moon was covered in green rather than silvery gray, when you could hear the sounds of water, of animals, of laughter, and of music resounding from every corner of that now quiet world.

A long, long time ago, there were lively little cities on the Moon, much like the ones on Earth. These cities were separated from each other both geographically and culturally, though trade routes were occasionally created between them. They were like little countries, with their own governments, their own rulers whose names changed faster than one could keep track of them. There was no common sovereign, no common ruler, nobody to unite the cities. There was also no need for such a person or a common government, until the cities became envious of each other's prosperity and started going to war against each other. Many people died in those wars, many homes were burnt down and plundered, and the fragile economy of the little cities simply shattered under the burden of war expenses.

The Moon was saddened by the sight of this. It was painful to see its children leading wars against each other. And yes, as you might already suspect, the Moon was – and still is – not just a big piece of rock. The Moon is an intelligent being, who can feel, think and make decisions. And so it decided to put an end to the war and suffering, and to help unite the cities into one Kingdom, with one common ruler, one who would make sure that the people are happy and that there is no need for killing and plundering any more.

This was not an easy task to fulfill. This would have to be an extraordinary person; to bring order into this chaos laced with envy and greed. So the Moon began to search for this one individual, one who was wise and pure enough to be a good ruler to its people. It had to be someone who would be capable of making tough decisions, but who would also be loyal to the wish of the Moon – to maintain peace among the people.

“Can't you see, nothing else
matters to me
Can't you see, you're all that I need
All day and into the night
I'll be searching for you
No way I'll give up the fight
And I've got to come through...”

For a while it seemed like the Moon's search would be in vain. So many good people had already died because they refused to fight back, and all that seemed left were those who cared not about the fates of others; those who either started the wars in the first place, or their blind followers. There were a few people left who had pure hearts, but who lacked the strength and wisdom to lead the new Kingdom that Moon was seeking to build. Since it was very powerful, but not omnipotent and all-knowing, it was merely by chance that it found the one it was looking for.

The Moon had heard some of the soldiers talking about what they would do when the war was over. Some planned to lead luxurious lives with the fortunes they gained during the war, some planned to have many mistresses and to party all day long, while others planned to start a business, take wives and have many, many children. At the mention of wives, one of the soldiers bragged about how he already had a certain young lady in mind, and that he wanted to ask for her hand once the war is over. He said her name was Diana, from the City of Imbrium. Her father was a very strong, wise man; a librarian and the main advisor in Imbrium. The soldier has known Diana since they were kids, and spoke of her as both beautiful and wise. She had just become old enough to marry, and he wouldn't want to miss the chance to make her his wife. The other soldiers found this amusing, and began to talk about their dream-wives, but the Moon didn't listen any further. The soldier mentioned that the girl's father was a very strong and wise man, and it wanted to see whether this man would be the one to help the Moon build a new Kingdom of peace.

The Moon now focused its spiritual energy to the City of Imbrium, and was pleased to find the city still more or less intact. The poverty of the people was obvious, but at least their homes weren't burned to the ground as in some other parts of the Moon's surface. Thankfully, the Moon didn't feel pain when its surface was scarred like this. It had separated its consciousness from its body long time ago, almost as soon as the first people had arrived. Agriculture was useful to them, but it was painful to the Moon. The Moon liked the people,  so it chose to separate its spirit from its body, so as to enable them to perform the actions they needed to survive. Thanks to this, the Moon did not feel any pain which one might describe as physical during this war, but its heart ached terribly. This is why it hoped to find Diana's father soon, and that he would help it stop the wars.

The Moon decided to change its strategy a bit, in the hopes of making his search more effective, so it used its powers to create itself a human-like body, in order to be able to communicate with the people in Imbrium. The Moon took the form of a young man, just over six feet tall, very slim and slightly pale, with a very light silvery-golden hair. The exact color of his hair is difficult to describe, as it indeed did sway from being slightly golden to very light silver in the matter of seconds. He wore pristine white clothing, which made him stand out in the dirty city full of poverty and sadness.

The man walked to the place which used to be the local library, which was now used as a refuge for the homeless. There were almost no books inside anymore, only sad faces which were obviously surprised to see the well-dressed stranger. The Moon asked around, inquiring about the librarian. He was told that the librarian, if still alive, could probably be found in his home only a few blocks away, but that it made little sense to look for him, as the once wise advisor had apparently lost his mind in this war. The Moon was yet again saddened to hear such bad news, but decided to look for the man anyway.

“Through the heartache,
another dead end street
With my back to the wall
One survivor,
getting back on my feet
And let the cards begin to fall...”

The librarian and his family lived in a big house on the shores of the Sea of Rain. Their once beautiful garden was now neglected and covered in half-dry weed, and the stone fountain in its middle had half of the decorations missing. It was a depressing sight. The Moon walked to the door and knocked, gently at first, then with some more determination. The one who opened the door was a middle-aged woman, who had obviously seen better days. War was written all over her face, and it seemed like she stopped wiping the tears from her face long ago. She didn't hide her surprise when she saw the handsome young stranger on her doorstep, so the Moon rushed to introduce himself.

“Good afternoon, my lady. My name is... Lun, and I wish to speak to your husband.”

The young man bit his lip, realizing that he should have thought about a proper name earlier. He could only hope that the woman would not become suspicious.

“If you wish to ask for my daughter's hand, young man, this is not the best of times. As you can see, we are in the middle of a war, and my poor husband has lost his sanity when his library was plundered.”

“I am not here because of your daughter, my lady,” the Moon replied, “I wanted to speak to your husband and ask him for a favor.”

“For what favor would you ask a crazy man?” the woman laughed sarcastically, but apologized immediately: “Forgive me, young man, the war has obviously harmed my own sanity, as well. Please, do come in, and see for yourself whether my husband can be of any use to you. Though I sincerely doubt it.”

The Moon felt slightly discouraged by the woman's reaction, but followed her inside. It seemed like even this attempt would fail, and it was beginning to become less and less likely that he would find someone appropriate to fulfill the plan. The woman led him into their living room and asked him to sit down. She promised to bring him something to drink and to ask her husband to join him.

The Moon listened to her footsteps on the stone stairs that led to the upper floor of the house, and soon heard yelling and crying coming from above. So it was true – the librarian had gone insane. Maybe there was no hope for the people of the Moon. He dug his face in his new human hands and sighed. This is when he heard her voice for the first time:

“Oh, forgive me, I did not know we had guests.”

The Moon raised his head to look at the person who spoke to him, and he saw a very beautiful young woman with eyes as blue and deep like the Sea of Rain.

“My name is Diana, and I am the daughter of the advisor,” she said softly. “Are you here to talk to my father?”

“Um... actually, yes, I am,” the Moon replied, completely forgetting to introduce himself.

“If you wish to ask for my hand, like many who have been here before you, I advise you to come back after the war. My father is not doing well right now,” she said calmly, as if it wasn't her future she was talking about.

“Oh, I did not come to ask for your hand,” the Moon said. “Though now that I see you before me, I can understand why you have so many suitors even at the time of war.”

Diana blushed slightly, but tried not to show that she was flattered.

“Well, if you came to discuss business with my father, he won't be able to help you much, either. Sadly, he could not stand the burden of the war, just like many others around here. There is too much pain in the world now, and nobody seems to want to stop it. Apparently, some people enjoy it, it brings them profit. It is sad.”

The Moon was surprised by the sincerity and seriousness in her voice, and also the calmness that never seemed to leave her.

“You seem to be just as wise as your father,” the Moon stood up. “Perhaps it is you who can help me.”

“In what possible way could I help you, my lord? I am just a young girl who hopes that the war will end and that her father will choose a good husband for her,” Diana smiled and brushed away a few strands of her long, wavy, creamy-golden hair that had fallen over her face.

“Well, we shall see,” the Moon replied, “Perhaps you are capable of more than you think.”

He turned around and walked towards the door.

“Please tell your mother that I am sorry to have bothered her, and that she was, sadly, right when she said her husband would be of no use to me. I just hope I didn't cause her too much trouble.”

“Worry not, if it is the yelling that you mean. We hear that every day, “ Diana sighed. “Oh, but my lord, I still do not know your name, and I have told you mine.”

The Moon turned around, and wanted to lie to her at first, but then chose not to. Instead, he just smiled: “You shall learn my name tonight.”

“Can't you see, nothing else
matters to me
Don't you know, you're all that I need
All day and into the night
I'll be searching for you

No way I'll give up the fight
And I've got to come through
All day and into the night
There is no time to waste...”

– Impellitteri - “I'll Be Searching”


… to be continued...