Keeper of Sun and Moon: A more paranormal-romance YA take

[Vamp-kun]

You know this beloved YA supernatural book with crazy amount of potential that had a bit of a clunky start and little in the way of exposure, despite the fans doing their best.
It's called the Keeper of Sun and Moon.
Soooo, I've been wondering, what if I showed you one of my, old modding texts (in humanely simplified text form, of course) where I spin the introduction of the game in a paranormal romance take, where after the game asks about the player's orientation, he/she will be rescued by Leon if he/she preffered boys, and by Astrid if he/she preffered girls.
This is one such article, with an Astrid rescue and a missing supernatural mother plot, enjoy.




















SUN AND MOON​

They said, that you never know when will you die, and that all will be fine should the moment comes to pass. Well, you never saw that one coming, and you sure did not have any nice assurances about things being fine. And so, with your death slithering its way upon you, all that your mind told you was to run.

You would, wouldn't you? Wouldn't everybody?

But no, no, no, no! Not your ideals on never abandoning someone, not your foolish curiosity of finding out about her. The mysterious girl that had fended off the monster, slashing at it with a blade seemingly made out of luminescent starlight. Her blonde hair danced eloquently with each dodge and every slash as if she had been raised to run into mythological monstrosities after her breakfast.

Why was she here? How?

The eerily pretty good-looking girl shouted your name once, barely having a few good seconds to glance back at you before reengaging the monster, and then you have just a second to see that her pupils are pitch black...

How could she know your name?

The monster doesn't give you time to think anymore. Her eyes glint in the fading sunlight, a predator sizing up her prey. It lashes out as you clumsily try to move out of the way and manages to quickly outflank the girl and come straight to you.

Its screaming rips into your entire soul, but you cannot shout. You stumble, and know that you won't be getting back up again.

The snake-woman lunges at you, and for just a moment your vision fades away.

The pale girl has a contorted snarl on her unblemished face as she reaches out for the monster, hair flying about with a gust of silver wind dancing in her hands. You are pretty sure that the monster exploded in agony, but you cannot find the strength to remain conscious.

The girl runs to your side and without a word, she embraces your body in her arms. As if for the first time in decades, you feel that all will be better. You don't have to be afraid.

She caresses your face seemingly to thinking you may not stay with her in this world. The gir; then tries to keep you awake by blubbering about her schedule. Anything so you can stay with her and not abandon her.

It was supposed to be a normal night out for some lonely drinking. Instead you are realizing that this is how you may die. But it's not all for nothing.

Her warm hands in your skin, her dark eyes looking at you with attentive worry, they would be more than enough to soothe your heart for all the loneliness.

Your vision blurs, but the stars don't seem to die in the sky.

Thinking is too hard, there's no way to focus, and suddenly the effort to keep your eyes open is far, far too much.

You pass out, right in the arms of the girl who'd saved you.

"No! don't you go away," the girl said in a hparse voice.

You can't see what has become of you. Your mind feels like a crown of thorns.

A gentle motion starts shaking your body, and you belatedly realize that your movement causes excruciating pain in your body and mind.

"Hey... pretty guy... wake up... please..." the girl says.

It sounds like a girl speaking. Is it the same one from earlier?

"Are you all right? I would have healed you more, but... Healing is not really my specialty, and I did not want to do anything that could hurt you further. It is a good thing that I had a magic first aid kit with me, or you probably would have turned to stone. I am not exactly sure how gorgon venom works."

Healing? Magic? Gorgons? What is she going on about?

You think you remember dying, only to wake up again, and then so much screaming... The whole sequence of events is foggy in your mind, more dreamlike than anything else. But whatever it was that had begun the day, it had ended with you being attacked by some snake-woman-monster-thing. And then... her...

"I know you can hear me! Agh, you're so ungrateful..." She keeps talking on about something but your mental state remains set in a flurry of pain, denial, and apprehension.

It takes a minute for your eyes to adjust to the darkness, and another before you can take in the scene around you. It's twilight. You're lying in a stunningly beautiful girl's arms in the middle of the woods, limbs a bruised mess. And... you are alive?

"Goodness you're awake! You had me so worried... I am Astrid Adtaz. Do you want to tell me who are you? Do you remember?"

"Lukas," you give out a low growl.

"It's nice to meet you, Lukas, although I'm sure you'll agree our first night out could have been better..." She tries to smile, but it comes out more like a grimace. "So... what are you?"

You stare at her incredulously as your head hurts with every muscle moving. "What... am... I?"

"What are you?" Astrid repeats more slowly as she caresses your cheek. "You know... werewolf... warlock... elemental?"

"Human..."

Now it's her turn to stare at you in disbelief. "You're... you are human?"

"Yes..."

She frowns. "Well, that's bad. So, so bad..."

"I've never met someone who was not human before."

She smiles faintly. "Well, I'm glad to be your first supernatural ambassador then," she says in a soothing voice. "I'm the most charming one they could have selected..."

"I'm sure." You manage to laugh quietly. "Have you never... met a human... before?"

"Of course I've... met humans before," Astrid says, smiling softly.

"It's... weird that you're not human."

She grimaces. "As if.... This weirdness saved your life. And took it away..."

"Took it away?" You whisper.

She sighs. "Because now... I have to be a good little girl and get you to the authorities."

"W... what?"

"To keep you safe... to protect you... I've broken almost every secrecy law ever written."

You give her a crooked smile. "Maybe you could have saved me from a distance then..."

"Ugh," she groans. "I've broken practically every secrecy law ever written for an ungratefully attractive human."

"I'm sorry that... I did something bad to you...." She sighs. "None of this is your fault. I... I couldn't bring myself to let you get hurt, even if the laws suggest... keeping the supernatural a secret from humans–But the gorgon ***** had broken those laws anyway, didn't she?"

That thing had been a rather dead giveaway, you think. In that you should probably be dead because of it.

"She's over there, but you don't have to look." Astrid rubs your sore arm, as she sucks air behind her teeth. " You're going to have to come with me. After what you've seen, they will want to track us down to mess with our memories... but I'm not going to let them hurt you. I promise..."

"Mess... my memories?"

"Compel you to forget about this... about me...." She grunts uncomfortably. "I must... not know about you... I'm sorry about this.. Lukas... I wish that... I wish that there was some way that you would not... forget..."

"No... I want to go... I am going to... my normal, mundane, non-magic life..."

She laughs bitterly. "Sadly yes..."

You scowl at her, barely being able to open your eyes. "Forgive my curiosity... that will get your mind wiped as well..."

"It's totally all right. I'm used to separations," Astrid says bitterly. "Sorry about everything."

"Since you are sorry... it's all better... isn't it?"

She smiles darkly. "But of course..."

"You can't... make me do anything... you know." You begin to struggle to your feet, only to find that your body refuses to leave Astrid's embrace. You ghasp, and decide that her arms are actually pretty nice to hold on to.

She rolls her eyes. "I forgot how naive fragile humans in distress can be."

"What if... this all never happened... can't we just pretend?"

She laughs darkly. "If only. I wish it as well... it's too late now. I promise I'll get you a souvenir from the city... after everything is done. Something for the pain."

"A T-shirt for near death experience..." You try to laugh, but the pain in your lungs sets out a wave of pain in your chest.

Astrid's magnificent eyes become half-lidded. "They have sweatshirts too. But my gift would be pointless, considering you won't remember me."

"I guess I would not..."

She sighs. "Yeah, you would not... Don't worry, I will be with you until you forget... "

Astrid takes you all the way out of the forrest and guides to her car, a stylish silver Lamborghini Diablo. She places you gently on the passenger's seat and just before you can grasp on what is happening, your senses abandon you once again with world going pitch black.

The car speeds up, yet still, a steady, worried breath is by your side.

 

[Vamp-kun]

*********************************************************************

When you wake up again, you're no longer in the woods.

Instead, you're lying in a hospital bed.

You try to sit up, the motion causing you to take note of the IV attached to your arm.

The beeping of various machines is your only company aside from the blonde girl asleep right next to you–Astrid!

So she wasn't just a dream... she is real.

There are two people talking outside your door, though, loud enough for you to overhear them.

"Did they bring in Agent Conti already? What is this mess!? how in the world does she keep finding those attractive youngsters and expect us to keep them safe?" the female voice said.

"He'll be here in a few minutes to compel him to forget, right before Astrid has to. Did you hear the talk? I heard the Chief wants to speak with him about the gorgon attack..." the male baritone responded.

"I heard lady President Castella and mister Secretary Patil were in a meeting with the hospital director him when he got here."

"Is the patient awake yet?"

"No, no. I just checked on a few minutes ago, I even slapped his face a few times just to make sure."

"It worries me that they did not check on the Adtaz girl..."

"I know, right? Everyone else is always drooling over the hunks she rescues."

You still can't believe everything that's happened today. So, they're planning to erase your memories and Astrid's... You like knowing about this, though–You don't want those memories taken away.

After a few minutes, one of the nurses chitchatting outside your door sees fit to come in and wake up Astrid. With a shove...

A uniformed police officer trails in after her. The patch on the officer's shirt sleeve proclaims him a member of the New Magi City Police Department. Paranormal Activity Division Next Generation. P.A.DI.N.G. hugh?

"Can you tell me your full name chap?" He asks you.

You eye him warily, but decide there's no real harm in it. "Lukas... Lunar."

He nods, scratching something onto his notepad while murmuring about meddling mudbloods. "Astrid, lass, you said to the commissioner that he was attacked by a gorgon slut, uhhh?"

Astrid smiles darkly. "I saw him... or rather felt him... on the outskirts of Solanaceae Forest."

"Why were you in that area lass?"

"I was coming back to New Magi City after visiting a nearby human town. Not for anything nefarious though, I swear."

The officer nods. "And how did Lukas get to be in your arms, murmuring to the staff as he held your hand about not letting him go?"

"The, ugh, gorgon *****-slut-hoe was trying to make him its dinner," she says gruffly.

You remember the car being attacked by a monster going down the street–too fast–and then a flash of light and the world turning to madness when you swerved to the side. There was no one else aroubd, as it was a simple night in a Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! night.

There was the beautiful hoarse voice of a girl shouting, but the sound faded out like you were falling asleep. Were you dying? Had the crash killed you?

No. Not yet.

You realized vaguely that you should try to escape, only up was down and left was right and you were twisted every way. There was more screaming, and then something wanting to rip into your flesh–claws? You felt yourself being dragged off somewhere, before you lost consciousness again.

And then Astrid was carrying you through the woods. There was blood everywhere.

"...That thing kept chasing after me," you huff. "Astrid fought it off."

"You mean the gorgon s-sluthuuuuuh?"

At the deputy's urging, you continue, "Yeah the *****-slut-hoe. It started attacking me, and–I don't know what happened after that, but when I woke up, it was ripped to pieces."

The officer nods. "Blimey, it must have been struck by a demonic surge blast. Wicked."

You can't believe this really happened. You definitely never expected any of this.

Astrid's words come out rushed.

"So, as I was saying, I was coming back to the city from a nearby town, when I came across Lukas. He had been in a car wreck, and the gorgon *****-slut-hoe was going through the wreckage–looking for its next meal."

The officer hurries to catch up, pen flying across his notepad. "Holly jolly guv! Go on about the gorgon-hoo-ughhh–harumpf."

"It dragged Lukas out of the wreckage, and I managed to stun the *****-slut-hoe for long enough for him to get away. She hurt him and that's when I lost it... and used magic to attack the *****-slut-hoe."

"Concealable magical abilities or something else?"

"Darkness manipulation." She pauses, eyes closed, thinking. "Eventually the *****-slut-hoe was toast, and I was left all alone in a forrest with him, dying in my hands."

The officer nods. "Thank you for your time little fellas," says the officer. He turns to the doctor. "You can tell Agent Conti to come in. I have to go get my tea."

The doctor nods and leaves. She takes only a minute to come back with another man, dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. He certainly doesn't look like some special agent planning to mind control you.

The new man pulls up a chair to sit beside your bed. "Hi, Lukas," he says amiably. "I'm Agent Conti. I'm your friend! Have they told you what I'm about to do?"

"I was told you were going to 'mess with my memories'."

 

[Vamp-kun]

Astrid breathes out in the background, but your eyes stay on Conti.

"It's nothing that extreme," he says soothingly. "I'm just going to remove your memories of the past few hours. You'll wake up in your bed tomorrow morning and know nothing about any of this. You won't have to remember about monsters."

"But I want to remember Astrid!"

"This will only take a minute," Conti assures you. "You won't have to worry about anything, Lukas."

Astrid grits her teeth and quickly averts her gaze from the two of you.

"Lukas," Conti says, his tone getting a bit more imperious, deadlier.. "I need you to forget some things..." He frowns.

You frown at him.

Agent Conti leans against the wall. "I don't know what to do with him," he tells the police officer. "He has deflected my compulsion attempts."

"Can we bring the another agent?" asks the officer, befuddled.

Conti shrugs. "You can. It's not going to work. He obviously has control ability over nine thousand."

"Maybe you're just having an off day?"

"Give me a few hours to blast his mind, and I will get somewhere." Conti rolls his eyes. "Memory removal is much harder than most forms of compulsion, but no human should even be able deflect my kind of compulsion the way Lukas does."

"... So you're saying he is supernatural."

"No, I'm saying he threw back my most powerful mind blast without his head exploding," deadpans Conti. "So, of course he is supernatural."

You're human. How could you not be human? Is he sure he's not just bad at mind control?

There's nothing special about you, let alone the ability to resist mind control. It's not as if anyone ever expects to be told they're not human. Maybe you always knew you were different...

"Anyway," continues Conti, "you need to do something with him. With his control magic ability, you're gonna need to get him some training."

The officer frowns and looks to Astrid. "What college did you say you were at, my Lady Adtaz?"

"New World Magi Academy," she breaths out.

"Lovely," says someone from the doorway. "One of my students almost killed and the semester hasn't even started yet." The woman in the doorway has chin-length dark hair, and despite her short stature, she puts off an aura of being the tallest person in the world.

Beside her is a man her junior, middle-aged, with neatly trimmed hair and a sharp black suit. His eyes sweep over the scene. "Lady President Castella and I just heard there was a fuss involving a cambion student at Magi, and simply decided to stop by."

"That was kind of you, mister Secretary Patil," says the officer uncertainly.

"A gorgon attack?" confirms the woman, Castella. "Those are almost extinct in the Northeast." She focuses in on you. "Astrid Adtaz is a transfer from Solanaceae University, who are you pretty one?"

After a lengthy pause, the officer responds for you. "This is Lukas Lunar"

Castella's lips part, her expression turning into one of utter shock for a fraction of a second. She closes her eyes, taking a few deep breaths before asking. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Lukas apparently has control magic abilities." Astrid says with a gruff voice.

The officer clears his throat awkwardly as Castella stares blankly at Astrid. "It's good you're here then, President Castella. If mister Lunar really does have control magic abilities, and no training, an education in magic is obviously necessary. Right? Or should I go get the whip and leash?"

You recoil. "... What?"

"Because of his apparent abilities, Lunar will need to remain under supervision in case we have a possible perp in our midst, and inside the city," the officer continues. "Having magical abilities without having had any training in them can be incredibly dangerous, and a secrecy problem. And I don't like security problems in my city."

Mister Patil nods and turns to you. "If you did anything with your powers to survive against that gorgon, Lukas, it was an accident. It was all an innocent, terrible accident. The next time you have an accident with your powers, it can kill your potential... victims."

"So, regarding Lunar's education..." the officer continues.

"What?" Castella snaps. "Do you want me to send him off to the local elementary school?"

The officer responds with a shrug. "I'm sure he could be taught Sufficiently Advanced Magic there."

"And how would that do to integrate him into New Magi City society?" Secretary Patil laughs loudly. "Just think of the possibilities, Deirdre. Think of the glamorous talks he'll get us! Lunar has already survived a gorgon–Imagine what he can do to our academy's enemies with training at Magi.... The power!"

"Well..." She doesn't seem convinced in the slightest. "We would have to confirm Lukas really does have control magic abilities before even considering enrollment."

"Agreed...But would you rather Celestial get him?" Patil whispers as he, the doctor, and the officer begin exiting the room.

At his remark, Castella has the faintest of smiles that's more unnerving than her frown. "Fine. If you're done then, I'll take it from here and bring the two of them to Magi." She then turns on her heel and begins walking away from the rom as well. Although, you can hear her pained whisper, "Sorry, my little Roxanna..."



Ps:
1 I know that Astrid flies with the protagonist, but the paranormal romance rule suggests that the co-protagonist who represents stability be able to have a means of easy transportation for the protagonist's comfort.

2 I've inserted a Roxanna Castella reference because she is the missing supernatural mother if the player selects this.

3 The length of the chapter is short and manageable, not at all in line with how a paranormal romance is written, but I thought that a shorter chapter was more convenient.

4 I've also inserted a face-Chris Jericho reference from 2002. You all get a free peasant for consumption if you spotted it immediately.

5 Yes, the over nine thousand is a Dragonball Z 90's era reference.

6 I should say that the Leon rescue scene is a bit different, for he would be a bit condescending to the protagonist, and there would be more descriptions of the protagonist checking him out.

7 Oh, and please do invite others who loved the game. I'd really like to hear how this take on the game could have been better or worse.