34 Blood Moon

The hour was well into the night. The classroom went from orange-lit to complete darkness, Midas' face illuminated solely by the screen on the wall. Mr. C had been teaching various Education concepts to Midas since the commence of twilight. All of it was fascinating to him, and he was gladly taking in all of Mr. C's enlightenments.

Midas looked to his left, towards a wall of glass windows. Outside he saw the streets that branched out from the Heart of Pactolus. The usual daytime-busy cars were less at the moment. Blue light street lamps brightened the sidewalks ever so slightly. The sky was a dark black void that overshadowed the highest towers of the district. Midas subconsciously found himself gazing at the complete sight. He usually only saw the district in the heat of the day, but now was an unfound night in which he could only admire.

By this time of night, Midas usually already found himself asleep. But right now, he felt like he was existing in a time he shouldn't. This reminded him of the question he had thought of earlier in the day.

"Mr. C, I have a question."

"What is it Midas?"

"If only Nexi wake up to the high-toned sound for the white sun, how come a Dexus like you is awake to teach us at the same time? Shouldn't you Dexus be waking up later to the mid-toned sound for the yellow sun?"

Mr. C paused for a moment. "That's a good observation Midas. I don't think anyone's ever cared enough to question that." He moved closer towards the student. "Some Dexus are eligible to surpassing certain constructs, in this case, that being able to wake up during Nexi hours."

Midas furrowed his eyebrows. "How?"

"In certain occasions, Dexus are able to make contracts with partners from the Cardinal Nexus. These contracts can allow a Dexus to surpass certain laws."

This quickly rooted interest in Midas. "You're partnered with someone from the Cardinal Nexus?"

Mr. C scoffed. "Midas, as a teacher, it is necessary for us to receive bypasses to certain laws so we can teach you young Nexi! If it weren't for that permit, you Nexi wouldn't have any teachers to teach Education in the morning."

Midas nodded in understanding. But the answer only gave birth to a new question.

"Are Education teachers the only ones granted those privileges?"

"There's a number of Dexus careers that give certain privileges, and teachers aren't the only ones," Mr. C's face then took on a serious tone; "But there are cases when some Dexus receive permits they shouldn't have."

Midas didn't understand, "What do you mean?"

"I mean to be careful Midas. Not every Dexus that is awake in the morning was granted the privilege the same way I was. There is corruption in our government. Bribes can happen anytime in the Cardinal Nexus."

This reminded Midas of what his grandfather had told him: "You Nexi are young bait. Some corrupt Dexus out there are always looking for young'uns like you." Was Mr. C referring to something along those lines? Midas wondered. He then looked off towards the windows, off towards what seemed to be north.

"The Cardinal Nexus…"

But in the wake of his thought, a new sight caught his attention. As if panning across the sky like the sun would, a sight made its appearance; a large glowing circle of blood red, framed between two silhoutted highrise towers, as the blackened sky void of any stars overtook the night.

Midas watched in awe.

"You've never pulled an all-nighter before?" Mr. C broke the silence.

"No," Midas said, keeping his gaze on the bright dark red light.

"That's good, that means you get enough sleep. But that also means you've never been able to see this, right?"

Midas shook his head, "No."

Mr. C walked up to the windows to join Midas on his sky gazing. "There are four phases to the sun. White at 6:00 am, yellow at 9:00 am, orange at 12:00 pm, and…" Mr. C pointed towards the red circle, "Red at 12:00 am."

"12:00 am…" Midas repeated the words. "It's 12:00 am?"

Mr. C laughed faintly. "Yes Midas, we've been up for quite some time, past your usual bedtime I'm assuming."

Midas thought on it. The most saturated he'd ever seen the sun was a dark orange near 9:00 pm, his usual bedtime. He realized he'd never thought of what happened past this time. He also realized he'd never even seen the sky as a full black before, and especially the sun as a deep red.

Mr. C spoke up, "This may not be your forte, but I'll give you a little history lesson." Midas turned towards him. "Long ago, there once existed another sphere that panned the sky, but it wasn't the sun."

"Another sphere?" Midas asked.

"It was called the Moon."

Midas took in this new word. "The Moon…"

"Like the sun, the Moon emitted a bright circular light. But unlike the sun, the Moon only appeared at night."

Midas then pointed towards the red sun. "But doesn't the sun also come out at night?"

"Back then, the sun was stuck in day, and the Moon, in night. One came in the light, and one came in the dark," Mr. C paused. He put his hand against the glass of the window, his palm aligned with the red sun from his point of view. "This midnight red sun is influenced by the historic Moon that once was. A bright circular light, now stained red by the remains of its existence; a bleeding Moon, the Blood Moon."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Sir, you were wrong about one thing." Midas looked towards Mr. C.

Mr. C's eyes watched him with suspicion. "And what might that be?"

"You assumed history may not be my forte, but I've spent a lot of my spare time doing my own historical research on past events in all the districts, and not once have I ever come across this history of the Moon."

"Midas, no matter how hard you look, historical data from our society of districts would not show any of the Moon. The Moon is from a time before the Cardinal Nexus took control. Ever since then, its existence has been wiped from the books. By now the Moon is forgotten, completely embedded in the shreds of its remains that once was in that starry night sky." Mr. C watched the red sun, drowning in its nostalgic sight. "The Moon's old existence is unjustified. It was not left with a myth to visualize its glory. There aren't even rumors of its past existence; once again, that information has been wiped, permanently."

Midas watched his teacher seemingly reminisce with the sight. His mind had been flooding with questions since the start of his unintentional monologue.

"Mr. C."

"Yes Midas?"

"If there is no historical evidence behind the Moon's existence, and no myth to recount, how do you know of its existence from so long ago?"

Mr. C sighed, pausing for a second. "Midas, you ask too many questions."

Midas furrowed his eyebrows.

"The red sun signifies the sleep time for all ages; Nexi, Dexus, and Oxul." He looked at Midas. "You will fall asleep soon," and following that, a low-toned sound descended the ears of anyone that listened. It reverberated across the night district.

Suddenly, Midas felt a sway of drowsiness wash over him. His mind hazed away its curious thoughts. His sight blurred. His body relieved itself of any tension present. His eyes shuttered.

Mr. C now stood in front of Midas at his desk, looking down at him. The man seemed no different in energy.

"Good night Midas."

He fell into a slumber.