Theta Mists Part Three

 

Read Part One

Read Part Two

Part Three

 

       

            

      The colony had stood on the moon’s surface for nearly two centuries, a testament to human resilience and insatiable greed. Built during the height of the Resource Rush, it had been established to strip the moon of its rich mineral veins. Over time, the settlement had expanded into a sprawling maze of interconnected domes and tunnels, each section a patchwork of steel and polymer that bore the scars of decades of wear. Life here was harsh, governed by the relentless hum of machines and the unyielding schedule of mining shifts. Yet people endured, driven by the promise of wealth and the hope of a better future for their families back on Earth.

Rumors had always swirled about the moon, whispered in dimly lit bunkrooms and over cups of recycled coffee. Tales of alien creatures prowling the mists, ghost colonies hidden in the shadows, and, most intriguingly, of people surviving outside the dome—all dismissed as miner’s folklore. But beneath the surface of these stories lay a persistent undercurrent of unease, a sense that not everything about the colony’s existence was as it seemed.

Aiden followed Kael through the labyrinthine underbelly of the settlement, his heart pounding with every step. The corridors narrowed as they descended, the walls closing in like the ribcage of some ancient, mechanical beast. Overhead, conduits hissed softly, leaking plumes of vapor that curled into the stale air. The path was dimly lit, the flickering lights casting jittery shadows that seemed to dance along the walls.

Kael moved with purpose, her footsteps silent against the grated floor. Aiden struggled to keep up, his mind racing with questions he was too afraid to voice. Finally, she stopped in a small alcove, turning to face him.

“You’ve heard the stories about the ones who live outside the dome, haven’t you?” she asked, her voice low but steady.

Aiden nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, but they’re just stories. Nobody could survive out there. The atmosphere—”

Kael cut him off with a sharp look. “That’s what they want you to believe.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

She leaned closer, her gaze intense. “The air out there isn’t toxic. It’s stable enough for life. You don’t even need a suit to survive.”

Aiden stared at her, his disbelief plain on his face. “That’s impossible. If that were true, why would they keep us in here?”

“Control,” Kael said simply. “If people knew they could survive out there, the corporations would lose everything. Settlements would spring up, and they’d no longer have a monopoly on the resources here. Think about it. Have you ever heard of anyone dying from a suit malfunction? Not once. And this colony’s safety record isn’t spotless.”

Aiden opened his mouth to protest but stopped short. She was right. In all his years on the moon, he’d never heard of a fatal suit failure. It was a detail so mundane he’d never questioned it, but now it loomed large in his mind, casting doubt on everything he thought he knew.

Kael turned and started walking again, her voice trailing back to him. “I’ll show you proof.”

They emerged into a cavernous chamber at the base of the dome, its curved walls rising high above them. In the center of the room, a jagged crack ran along the translucent surface, a sliver of light streaming through. Aiden’s breath caught as he stared at it, the implications crashing down on him.

“This shouldn’t be possible,” he murmured. “If the air out there was toxic, we’d be dead already.”

Kael approached the crack, running her fingers along its edge. “Exactly. This is what they don’t want you to see. The mists out there? They’re not just harmless; they’re alive. People have lived outside the dome for years, maybe longer. And now, so will we.”

Aiden’s pulse quickened as Kael turned to him, her expression resolute. “Are you ready?” she asked.

He hesitated, the weight of her words pressing down on him. But the evidence was undeniable, and the truth she offered was a lifeline in the chaos of his unraveling reality.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice steady despite the storm within.

Kael nodded and pushed open a small hatch beside the crack, revealing a narrow passage that led into the swirling mists. Together, they stepped through, leaving the confines of the dome behind.

 

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The first steps into the moon’s mists were disorienting, a plunge into an alien world that seemed to swallow sound and light alike. Aiden followed Kael closely, the crunch of his boots muffled by the dense, vaporous air. The terrain stretched endlessly, barren and featureless at first—a wasteland of cracked soil and jagged rocks under a sky dimly lit by the pale gleam of the gas giant that loomed overhead.

Hours passed in silence, the monotony broken only by the rhythm of their steps and the occasional hiss of Kael’s breath. Aiden’s mind churned with questions, but he struggled to organize them into something coherent. The vastness of this newfound truth pressed on him, making every thought feel simultaneously urgent and trivial. Finally, Kael spoke.

“We call ourselves the Keepers,” she said, her voice cutting through the stillness like a blade. “We’ve been out here for decades, watching, waiting. The corporations think they own this moon, but they don’t. Not entirely.”

“The Keepers?” Aiden repeated, the name feeling strange in his mouth. “And what exactly are you keeping?”

Kael glanced back at him, her expression shadowed by the mists. “The truth. The creatures out here… they’re real. Sentient. And they’ve been here far longer than us.”

Aiden’s steps faltered. “You mean the… the aliens? The ones people tell stories about?”

She nodded. “Legends always start somewhere. The creatures… they’re enigmatic. We don’t fully understand them, but we know they’re not just animals. They have purpose, patterns, intelligence. And they’re connected to this moon in ways we can’t comprehend.”

The words settled heavily on Aiden’s shoulders, adding to the weight of disbelief he’d been carrying since stepping outside the dome. “Why are you telling me all this?” he asked. “Why now?”

Kael’s pace slowed, and she turned to face him fully. “Because word got around the colony about you. What happened in your domicile. What you saw. You’re the first person I’ve met who’s actually encountered one of them.”

Aiden shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. “I barely saw anything. Just a silhouette. A shape.”

Kael’s gaze sharpened. “And that’s more than anyone else has.”

He didn’t respond, the weight of her conviction rooting him in place. For all his skepticism, he couldn’t ignore the truth of his surroundings. He was breathing the moon’s air, unfiltered and unassisted, after years of being told it was impossible. If that was a lie, what else might be?

As they pressed on, the barren landscape began to shift. The ground grew softer, covered in patches of a moss-like substance that glowed faintly under the muted light. Strange formations—spires of crystalline material—jutted from the earth, their surfaces refracting light in iridescent hues. The air grew warmer, tinged with an earthy, unfamiliar scent.

Then, without warning, the mists parted, and Aiden stopped in his tracks.

Before them stretched an alien forest, a sprawling expanse of bioluminescent flora that pulsed with life. Towering trees with translucent trunks reached skyward, their canopies shimmering with colors that shifted like oil on water. Vines coiled around the trunks, their surfaces dotted with luminescent pods that blinked like watchful eyes. The ground was a carpet of soft, glowing vegetation, and the air was alive with the hum of unseen creatures.

Kael stepped forward, her expression unreadable as she took in the sight. “This is what we’re fighting to protect,” she said softly.

Aiden could only stare, his breath catching in his throat. The world he thought he knew was gone, replaced by something vast, ancient, and incomprehensible.

“Come on,” Kael said, her voice breaking through his awe. “We’re not there yet.”

With a deep breath, Aiden followed her into the forest, the alien light casting their shadows long and strange against the otherworldly terrain.

 

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The forest felt alive in ways Aiden couldn’t describe. Beneath the glow of an ever-drifting aurora, immense trees stretched skyward, their trunks shimmering like polished obsidian. Leaves the size of sails refracted light, creating a kaleidoscope effect with every gentle breeze. The air buzzed with an undercurrent of energy, a faint hum that resonated in his chest like the lingering echo of a distant storm.

The ground underfoot was soft but firm, a spongy surface speckled with bioluminescent moss that pulsed faintly beneath each step. Strange tendrils hung from the canopy above, swaying like lazy serpents, while phosphorescent insects flitted about, leaving trails of light like tiny comets.

Aiden couldn’t stop staring. “This can’t be real,” he muttered, his voice almost swallowed by the living silence of the place.

Kael glanced back at him, her expression unreadable. “It’s real. More real than the lies they fed us back in the dome.”

For a while, they walked in silence. The deeper they ventured, the more vibrant and surreal the forest became. Vines coiled around each other like lovers frozen in an eternal embrace, and blossoms as large as his torso opened and closed rhythmically, as if breathing. Somewhere in the distance, a mournful cry echoed—a low, resonant sound that sent shivers down Aiden’s spine.

“What was that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kael shrugged. “Could be anything. This moon has its share of mysteries.”

“Mysteries?” Aiden scoffed. “That’s one way to put it.”

They pressed on, and Aiden found himself questioning everything he thought he knew. The moon he had worked on for years—the barren, lifeless expanse he had seen from the mining sites—was nothing like this. How had something so vibrant, so alive, been hidden for so long?

“Kael,” he began, breaking the silence, “why are you helping me?”

She stopped and turned to face him, her eyes gleaming in the ambient light. “Because you’re proof.”

“Proof of what?”

“That they exist. The creatures you saw—they’re real, and the corporations and governments running the colonies don’t want anyone to know.”

Aiden felt his stomach knot. “Like I said... I barely saw anything. Just a shadow.”

“That’s more than anyone else has,” Kael said sharply. “People talk, but no one’s seen them. Not really. And now you have.”  

He didn’t respond. Instead, he looked around, taking in the alien beauty of the forest. It was hard to reconcile this place with the cold, metallic world of the colony. The stark contrast made him feel small, insignificant, like a cog in a machine too vast to comprehend.

For the first time since fleeing, Aiden allowed himself to think about his predicament. He was a fugitive, wanted for a murder he didn’t commit. Even if he could prove his innocence, his life on Earth—the quiet evenings with his wife, the bedtime stories he told his son—felt impossibly distant. What would happen to them? Would the corporation retaliate against his family for his defiance?

His thoughts spiraled, each one darker than the last, until Kael’s voice pulled him back. “We’re close.”

He looked up and saw it: a human settlement nestled within the forest. The structures were a mix of repurposed mining equipment and natural materials, seamlessly integrated into the environment. Lanterns hung from tree branches, casting a warm glow over the scene, and people moved about with a quiet efficiency.

“This is your home?” Aiden asked, his voice tinged with awe.

Kael nodded. “For now. But we can’t stay here long. Not with you.”

He wanted to ask what she meant, but the words caught in his throat. Instead, he followed her into the settlement, his mind racing with questions and doubts. The forest seemed to close in around them, its mysteries deepening with every step.

 

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The settlement seemed to grow organically from the forest itself. Houses constructed from thick, sinewy vines and polished moonstone glimmered faintly in the ambient light filtering through the alien canopy. Some structures perched high in the massive, obsidian-like trees, their spiral staircases twisting upward like tendrils of ivy. Others were rooted in the ground, their walls adorned with luminous moss that pulsed in time with the strange hum of the forest. The air was thick with a cocktail of earthy scents—sweet blossoms, damp soil, and a faint metallic tang.

Kael moved through the village with purpose, her stride unbroken despite the curious stares of the inhabitants. Aiden followed close behind, his unease mounting with each step. The people—if they could still be called that—were unlike anyone he had ever seen. Their skin shimmered faintly, reflecting the bioluminescence of their surroundings, and their hair, often braided with glowing threads of organic material, cascaded down their backs like liquid light. Their eyes were large, almost too large, as if adapted to the perpetual twilight under the forest’s dense canopy. Some wore garments crafted from woven bark and flexible, iridescent fibers, while others opted for minimal coverings, their bodies seemingly hardened and shaped by the forest itself.

Children darted between the structures, their laughter high-pitched and musical. One boy stopped and stared at Aiden, his head tilted in a gesture of open curiosity. Kael paused briefly to speak to him in a lilting, rhythmic language Aiden couldn’t hope to understand. The boy’s expression turned solemn, and he bolted off into the shadows of the village.

“They’re curious,” Kael said without looking back at Aiden. “You’re the first outsider they’ve seen in years.”

“I can tell,” Aiden muttered, trying to ignore the way every pair of eyes seemed to pierce through him. He stumbled slightly as they climbed a winding path to a central structure, larger and more intricate than the others. Its walls were etched with glowing symbols that seemed to shift and writhe when he looked directly at them.

Inside, the air grew cooler, and the faint hum of the forest seemed to intensify. Kael led him into a chamber where a man sat cross-legged on a raised platform. His presence commanded attention; he radiated a quiet authority that made Aiden feel small and unworthy. The man’s name, as Kael introduced him, was Ryu.

Ryu’s hair fell past his shoulders in braided cords adorned with small, carved ornaments that caught the light. His skin was the same faintly shimmering hue as the others, but his eyes held an ageless depth, as if he had seen and endured more than any human should. He rose fluidly, his movements graceful and deliberate.

“So, this is the one,” Ryu said, his voice rich and sonorous. He studied Aiden for a moment, his gaze uncomfortably intense. “The forest whispered of you before you arrived. You saw them.”

Aiden’s throat tightened. “Saw what?”

“The Seraphim,” Ryu replied, the word rolling off his tongue like a hymn. “The beings who dwell in the veil of this moon. They revealed themselves to you, something they have not done for centuries.”

Aiden shook his head, frustration bubbling up. “I didn’t see anything. Just a shadow, a shape. And it killed Lewis. That’s all I know.”

“Even a glimpse is significant,” Ryu said, undeterred. “The Seraphim do not show themselves lightly. If they chose to reveal even a fraction of their presence to you, there is a reason.”

Kael stepped forward, her voice calm but firm. “Ryu, he doesn’t understand. He’s not one of us. He’s from the colony.”

“It does not matter where he is from,” Ryu said, his eyes never leaving Aiden. “What matters is what he represents. The Seraphim’s actions are deliberate. If they showed themselves to him, perhaps they will again.”

“And what if they don’t?” Aiden said, his voice rising. “What if this is all just a mistake? I don’t want any part of this. I just want to clear my name, finish my contract, and go home to my family. I didn’t ask for any of this.”

Ryu’s expression softened, but his tone remained resolute. “It is too late for that. The moment you saw them, everything changed. The colony will not welcome you back, and even if they did, the Seraphim will not let you leave. Things are in motion now that cannot be undone.”

Aiden’s shoulders sagged, the weight of Ryu’s words pressing down on him like the oppressive gravity of the moon. He thought of his wife’s smile, his son’s laughter. Would he ever see them again? Or had he already lost everything?

Kael placed a hand on his arm, grounding him. “Come,” she said gently. “You need rest.”

As they left the chamber, Aiden couldn’t shake the feeling that he had crossed an invisible line, one that separated the life he knew from something far stranger and more dangerous. The Seraphim—the creatures of legend—were real. And somehow, they had chosen him.