Going Dark...
Narrative
Weeks after defeating Dr. Noah by taking his memories in an act of desperation, Luna finds that his memories have now mixed with her own. There have been instances of destruction in the name of environmentalism: oil headquarters looted, threats to CEOs, and Amazon trucks disrupted. Luna has found there to be more and more instances where she has been waking up without remembering what she did after dinner or how she suddenly has burns on her hands.
Wrestling with the Doctor’s memories in her mind has made her isolate herself and disregard her duties as La Espia. She is slipping into a dark place full of rage and desperation and isn’t exactly sure how her wardrobe has suddenly become so dark. She only leaves her room to feed Daisy, who is making hourly attempts to snap Luna out of her funk. Luna knows that about the new patterns of destruction happening in the city, yet she cannot seem to make herself care enough to stop it. She knows that these acts are very similar to Dr. Noah, but she honestly doesn’t really disagree with the message. She simply just wants to sleep or cry or both.
On her daily venture into the living room, Luna turns on the TV to find that an oil rig has been set on fire in an act of, what the news is calling, environmental terrorism. There are no casualties, but three people are in the ICU with severe burns. Daisy is the one that notices. She yips and Luna hears her think/say “Uh, look in the right corner. That’s your jacket.” Daisy is right, she usually is, and Luna is suddenly spiraling into a dark realization. She is the new Dr. Noah. She’s the one who has been committing these acts. She’s the reason three innocent workers are now laying in a hospital room. All those times she hasn’t known what she has been doing or where she had been line up to the pattern of events. After a couple of hours of a comatose-like shut down on the couch, a few trips to the bathroom to vomit, and a lot of pacing, she talks to Daisy. There really isn’t anyone else to talk to at this point.
For a dog, Daisy is surprisingly a lot better under pressure than Luna, but that could also be the traumatic realization Luna had just experienced. They come to the conclusion about a couple of things. The first being that the memories of Dr. Noah have somehow been able to put Luna into a trance-like state causing her to commit acts of destruction without being conscious of it. The second conclusion was that Luna’s powers are even more powerful than they previously thought and the power of taking memories should never be used again. The third conclusion is quite obvious; they need to find a way to stop Luna from causing any more harm and somehow get rid of Dr. Noah’s memories.
While alone, Dr. Noah starts speaking to Luna in her mind. He attempts to convince her to do more harm. Now realizing the full extent of what is happening to her, Luna can now barely hold him off instead of succumbing to his orders. Feeling lost and hopeless, she decides she must talk to her parents to see if they can help. Though she wants to be tough and independent, she is finding herself wanting parental wisdom even if they are in custody for serious criminal acts. So, that’s how she finds herself on the way to her parents after a year of trying to forget about their existence.
The visit with her parents is productive but filled to the brim with tension. There’s slight evidence of forgiveness in her parents’ faces, but Luna can’t help but notice that anger is more present. Despite this anger, they agree to help Luna with her problem after she explains her Dr. Noah predicament. Her mother tells her about a woman from her hometown in Mexico. The people went to her for remedies concerning issues of possession or other problems of the mind. She can’t recall the name of the woman because everyone just called her “La Bruja.” Luna can’t decide if she believes what her mother is telling her, but she’s desperate for a solution. She heads to Mexico the next day. Daisy insists on coming along.
She arrives in the town her mother grew up and is once again hit with conflicting feelings about her parents. Luna asks a kind-looking woman about La Bruja, and the woman knows exactly where to find her. Intimidated but also comforted by how well known this woman is, she enters the home of La Bruja. Expecting a cartoonish witch-like woman, Luna is taken aback by finding the home occupied by a motherly older woman who offers her a meal, tea, and many kind smiles. She also makes sure that Daisy is well fed. Turns out, her name isn’t just La Bruja; her name is Rosa. Luna explains her entire story from getting her powers to her newest problems. Tears start to form out of frustration and desperation by the end of her lengthy monologue. When she finishes, Rosa immediately hugs her and promises that she will do what she can to help. Thus begins their journey into getting Noah out of Luna’s mind.
Luna expects there to be potions and spells, instead, they start with what feels like a therapy session. Rosa asks lots of very specific questions about what Dr. Noah says in her head, how Luna feels about taking his memories, and personal emotions towards herself and her parents. She starts to hypothesize that the reason Dr. Noah’s memories were able to affect Luna so dramatically is that Luna herself was vulnerable. Luna hasn’t allowed herself to deal with the guilt of her parents, the pressure of her role as La Espia, or mourn the normal life she has lost. Because of all this internal suppression, her mind was in a vulnerable state and Dr. Noah’s memories were able to take complete control. Then came the expected potions and spells.
Rosa spends a whole day locked in a backroom away from Luna concocting a potion and performing different rituals. When she emerges, she makes Luna sit with her eyes closed, choke down a monstrous tasting potion, and fully commit herself to the task at hand. After some moments of doubt and many hours of focus, a black fog emerges from Luna’s body. As Rosa expected, but Luna did not, the fog begins to attack Luna. Rosa informs her that she needs to fight this fog alone as it is her own battle. Because this fog is the physical embodiment of memories and thoughts, she is able to use telekinesis and telepathy to form it into a small marble-like sphere. This happens after quite a bit of torment from the fog and struggle from Luna.
Luna is free from Dr. Noah’s influence, but Rosa informs her that she is still in a vulnerable place and mustn’t keep putting others’ needs before her own. Luna leaves Mexico exhausted, but ready to fight her own battle and maybe find a therapist.
Genre Sample: