Standing outside, Kesi felt like she hadn't seen the full moon in a long time. It loomed unfamiliarly in the night sky, a bit too small to be unnoticeable but also not too large so that it immediately caught passerbys' attention.
If someone had been just walking in the night, the dim cold glow would be sure to illuminate their steps, but it was far from the definition of bright.
Simply, it seemed as if the moon was just there. And if she hadn't been waiting for the full moon, she wouldn't have given it a second thought.
After all, the object in the sky held no warmth of it own, merely a reflection of the radiant rays of sunlight, a reminder of the differences between night and day. Perhaps, if it wasn't there, people wouldn't be reminded of how bright it was actually before the sun set.
And for that reason, from what she could remember to be a long time, Kesi disliked the moonlight. Whenever the cool light fell onto the ground, it always felt so lonely, so terribly lonely.
Even if the truth should be told, it shouldn't have to be under the guise of night, she thought as she stood in the courtyard.
"So, is something supposed to happen?" Mu Luming broke her train of philosophical thoughts.
He shifted around uncomfortably, hugging his arms close to his body and rubbing the sides of his shoulders, cold.
"We've been standing here for a while now," he kicked a rock to the side of the garden to the pile of debris gathering in the corner. "Is today even the day of the full moon?"
Kesi ignored him, staring intently at the scroll, hoping that something would appear. She scanned the surroundings, looking for that familiar black shadow and a glimpse of Death.
"Maybe the suggestion was just a reminder for you to help pay the debts before the full moon, so now the the debts have already been paid."
With her other hand, she tilted the bronze mirror so that the moon was in the center of it. The little spot of white light seemed to want to tell her something, but each time, the full meaning escaped her mind.
An idea suddenly struck her. Perhaps the truth would only be revealed to her when she was fully alone. No matter who Mu Luming really was, and no matter his association with Death, she was the one who had signed the contract in the first place.
And even if Death had previously appeared to Mu Luming somehow, perhaps he was waiting for the boy to leave in order to reveal his true form and speak with her.
"Hey—"
Before Kesi could even suggest for him to go sleep, Mu Luming dragged a heavy hand across his face, squinting together his eyes as he tried to stifle a yawn.
"This is boring," his words slurred together. "I'm sleeping."
Kesi could barely process these words. Within her mind, she had prepared a million different messages for Mu Luming, whether it be a bribe or a threat or an excuse.
But he had somehow already agreed.
Nodding, she hurried him off to bed, worried that he would suddenly change his mind.
"You should sleep too," he mumbled, latching onto her hand and using it as a makeshift pillow.
Half-dragging him across the courtyard, Kesi finally managed to tuck him into bed.
"Are you sure you… don't… want to…"
Mu Luming's voice faded, and the moment his head hit the pillow on his bed, he drifted off to a deep slumber.
Above him, the sword still dangled dangerously. Kesi had asked him whether he wanted to remove it, but he had only proudly announced that it was a bragging right and that he could be later written into some sort of proverb to be passed on for the centuries to come.
Mu Luming turned in his sleep, whispering something inaudible and incomprehensible and kicking aside his blankets.
With a sigh, almost per habit now, Kesi lifted the blanket back up to cover his body. Her movements were slow, and she worked carefully as to not accidentally touch the hanging sword.
The shiny blade of the sword reflected the light seeping in from outside, but Kesi could only watch as the light grew dimmer by the passing moment.
She hurried back outside.
Outside, a black shadow was slowly devouring the round disk of light. A quarter of the moon had already disappeared, and even more was being eaten as Kesi shook and rattled the phamplet and mirror.
Before she knew it, the moon was already half gone.
Frantically, she aimed the mirror back at the moon, only to see that the black shadow had passed the halfway line.
Kesi didn't know what debts she had to pay on that given night, but there was a growing suspicion that she wouldn't be able to pay them off with the rate the condition of the full moon was disappearing.
There was only a quarter left of the familiar moon.
Only then could Kesi appreciate some of the moon's beauty. Standing next to the dark shadow, the remaining parts of the moon were apparent. No, they did not shine more brightly than before. But with the comparison against the total darkness, the slight raws of light suddenly seemed like they could illuminate the entire world.
The shadow crawled across the last bits of the moon before engulfing it entirely.
All Kesi could think was that it was over.
Within her mirror, all that was reflected back at her was the darkness.
Not even her reflection could be seen from its surface.
She ran her fingers across it with a sigh, wondering when she could somehow take back her ages and years.
A ripple ran though the surface of the mirror, the previous solid suddenly taking the form of a pebble kissing the surface of a deep well.
In it, despite not having light to reflect, a face appeared.
And it was her very own. What's more, there was the outline of another face right behind hers, one that was completely alien.