Princess of the Moon

Princess of the Moon

“NO! You don’t have to do this!” he screamed.

“I’m sorry, Matt. I do. I’ll always remember you. Goodbye.”

“No!” Matt yelled one last time as he woke up. When he realized it was just a dream, he let himself fall back onto his pillow. That was the third time that week Matt had that dream. He didn’t know what it meant, if anything at all.

Just then his alarm went off, signalling that it was time to get up for school. Matt groaned and threw off his warm blankets. As he went about his usual morning routine, he heard his phone buzz.

It was a text from his friend Roy. “Have you heard the news?” it read.

“What news?” Matt’s fingers clicked out.

Roy’s reply was almost instant. “We’re getting some new kid from like checkloslovania or something.”

“You mean Czechoslovakia?” Matt corrected.

“Bless you,” was Roy’s witty response.

Matt just rolled his eyes and finished getting ready. A new kid, huh? That might make school a bit more exciting.

When Matt got to school, he kept an eye out for any unfamiliar faces. He didn’t see anyone before school, so he just decided to head to his first hour class. History first thing in the morning? Who schedules this stuff? It’s like they don’t even want the students to stay awake in class.

When the final bell rang, signalling class had started, the teacher stood up and said, “Class, I have some exciting news. We have a new student in class today. He’s an exchange student from the Czech Republic.” He then exited the room and came back with a timid looking boy. He had golden brown hair and chocolate colored eyes.

Matt stared at the guy for what felt like an eternity. He was… enthralled by this boy. Matt couldn’t quite put his finger on why, though.

Matt was pulled out of his daze by the teacher’s voice. “Would you like to introduce yourself?”

The boy cleared his throat. His face seemed resigned for a moment, but perhaps it was just nervousness. “Hello, my name is... Dominik.” His voice had a throaty, rough accent that sounded wonderful to Matt’s ears.

As class went on, Matt couldn’t focus on the lecture. He kept glancing over toward Dominik, who was sitting near the window a few seats to his left. He took in every detail of the boy, the way his hair fell over one eye, the way he twirled his pencil between his fingers, the way he slouched ever so slightly in his seat, the way the sun shone through the window, highlighting the gold in his hair.

About halfway through the class, Dominik looked up and met Matt’s eyes. He blushed and smiled a bit at Matt. Matt was embarrassed but he couldn’t make himself look away. Suddenly, images of his dream from that morning flashed through his head. That snapped him out of his trance and he whipped his head around to look at his notebook. Why did he think of that dream when he was looking at Dominik? That girl in his dream did sort of look like him… But that couldn’t mean anything, he had never met Dominik before! And Dominik was very clearly a boy!

When the bell rang, Matt grabbed his books and walked over to where Dominik was collecting his things.

“Hey, I’m Matt. I’m sorry about staring at you earlier, I didn’t mean anything by it,” Matt said.

Dominik gave him a small smile, “It is okay. I can understand. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Hey, what class do you have next?” Matt asked, “I could show you the way there if you want.”

Dominik pulled out his schedule and Matt found that they had a lot of classes in common. They decided to stick together for most of the day.

Matt and Dominik became close friends after that. They ate lunch together every day, and sat near each other in most of their classes. They hung out on the weekends and after school, too.

One night when Dominik was staying over at Matt’s house, Dominik seemed tense.

Matt picked up on it immediately. “Is something wrong, Dom?” he asked.

“What? N-no, everything’s fine,” Dominik lied.

Matt gave him a look. “Dominik, come on. You can tell me anything.”

Dominik took a deep breath. “Okay, I-I have something to tell you. I’m sorry, just, please promise me you won’t be mad? Or hate me for it?”

Matt’s eyes softened. What could be so bad that Matt would hate him for it? “I promise, Dom. Whatever it is, I won’t think any less of you for it.”

Dominik closed his eyes and put his face in his hands. “‘m not a ...” he mumbled into his hands.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Matt asked. He put his hand on Dominik’s shoulder, causing him to look up at Matt. “You can tell me.”

Dominik took another deep breath and carefully said, “I’m not… a boy.”

Matt gave him a blank stare. “What?”

“I’m not a boy,” Dominik pressed on, “I’m a girl. Everyone thinks I’m a boy and they call me a boy but I’m not a boy. I know I’m not. Everything about being called a boy just feels so wrong.”

Matt felt like he needed a minute to process this. Sure, he had heard of trans people before but he didn’t know any. He didn’t know what to do in this situation.

After a moment of silence passed, Dominik said, “I’m sorry, just forget I said anything, don’t worry about it, I’m sorry. Gah, I’m so stupid, I’m so sorry Matt.”

“No, Dom, shh,” Matt said, “Don’t be sorry. Thank you for telling me. I’m not mad at you, I don’t hate you, it’s okay. Come here,” he added and held out his arms for a hug.

After Dominik hugged Matt, he said, “Thank you. And, um, could you call me Diana? Just when it’s the two of us? And call me she? I-I know it’s a lot to ask…”

“Diana…” Matt repeated, testing out how the name felt on his tongue, “Yeah, I can do that. And it’s not too much to ask. Anything to make my best friend happy,” Matt smiled.

Later that night, Matt awoke to a bright light shining in his eyes through the window. It was the middle of the night, so it couldn’t have possibly been the sun. When Matt decided to get up and inspect it, a strange figure phased through his wall and came to stand in front of him. The figure was vaguely humanoid. It was featureless, and its whole body seemed to shift between many different colors at once. It was hazy around the edges, almost like it was struggling to remain corporeal.

While Matt was trying to assess the situation, the being spoke. Its voice sounded as though it was very far away. “We have come to find our princess. Our people are struggling. There is a prophecy. Our princess is here, she was sent here to learn the power of her true self. It is time for her to take her place at the head of our people. She shall be known throughout the galaxy as Diana, Princess of the Moon.”

“D-Diana?” Matt’s eyes flitted toward where the person in question was sleeping, apparently unaware of the events unfolding in the room around her.

The being caught this movement, and turned to Diana’s sleeping figure. It raised it’s hand to her and she sat up, startled awake.

She started to speak with a sleepy voice, “Matt? What’s-” She cut off as her eyes widened and a strange power seemed to overtake her body. She was surrounded by an ethereal glow, and her body began to float into the air. Her entire body became consumed with the blinding light as she began to transform. Her clothes glowed brighter for a moment and were replaced with a long, flowing white dress. Her hair was next, becoming long and beautifully curled, still in that golden brown color. Her features became softer, more feminine. Finally a silver circlet formed on her head, with a moonstone in the center of her forehead and crescent moons on either side.

The glow faded and Diana gently returned to the ground. She came back to herself and took a moment to inspect her new self.

“Dom- er, Diana?” Matt asked.

“I’m a princess, Matt, can you believe it?” She excitedly asked. Her voice was higher than it had been previously, but it was still distinctly hers.

“Uh… what’s going on?” Matt was having a hard time wrapping his head around all of this.

“I’m a princess, Matt. I didn’t know before, but now I don’t know how I couldn’t. Suddenly all of this information is in my head and it all makes so much sense,” She explained.

“Princess, we must go. Your people are in need,” the third being in the room made itself known once more.

“What? No, you can’t go!” Matt gasped. “I don’t know who or what you are, and I don’t know what’s going on here but you can’t take my best friend away!”

“Matt, it’s okay,” Diana cut in, “They need me. It’s my duty.”

“Diana, no, you don’t have to do this!” Matt protested.

“I’m sorry Matt, I do. I’ll always remember you. Good-”

“No!” Matt cut her off. “I’ve seen how this is supposed to play out and I won’t accept it! I won’t let you leave me!” Tears started to drip down Matt’s face. “You’re my best friend…”

Diana embraced Matt fiercely. “It’s okay Matt. It’s okay. I won’t leave you forever. I’ll always be watching over you. Whenever you need me, just look at the moon and think of me. I’ll always be here for you. I love you Matt.”

Matt wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He never wanted to let go, he didn’t want to lose her. “I love you too, Diana. Please promise you’ll never forget me.”

“I will remember you for as long as there are stars in the sky.”

“Princess, we must be going,” the figure said again, even more hazy at the edges than before.

“Yes, I know,” she said as she eased herself out of Matt’s embrace. “I must go now, Matt. Remember, whenever you need me, just look at the moon and think of me.”

“I understand. Well, no, actually, I don’t,” Matt clarified, “but I can tell that this is really important. Goodbye for now, Diana. Promise me I’ll see you again?”

“I promise, Matt. I could never go on if I never saw you again. Goodbye, for now,” Diana smiled.

Diana and the being, which seemed to be little more than a cloud of mist at that point, phased through the wall and began their ascent to the cosmos. Before she was out of sight, however, Diana turned and waved to Matt, and she sent out a silent promise that she would return to see him. Then she turned around and disappeared, going to take her throne as the Princess of the Moon.