The Luna Sage

Chapter Three: Friendship

My Soul-Self had appeared to me on what I knew to be my 18th birthday. It would have been my Celebration Day.
The day I was granted a Wiccan Name of my choosing and the void I felt inside would be finally unlocked.
The day came while I was alone in my prison.
I had been fussing over a new sleeping elixir, comparing the notes in my pile of scrap papers that was my Shadow Book to the ingredients in front of me. My Shadow Book, the book every Wiccan created to hold her spells, potions and secrets, wasn't much to look at, but I'd gathered quite a bit of information and traced pictures well enough that I didn't need to ask the Groundskeepers to take me to the library so much anymore. They always got handsy in the back corners where all the magic books were kept.
So, I always made my trips quickly and did my best to memorise what I read, always taking a piece of paper from one of the stacks at the front desk and a pencil that was so small, I could have written easier with my nails, to jot down anything I knew I'd forget.
In my room, I muttered so angrily, knowing I was seeing something wrong with the ingredients laid out in front of me compared to my notes.
Then I felt it.
My chest flooded with warmth so unexpectedly, I gasped.
The void I could feel inside but was never able to touch expanded, encasing my entire being, it swirled and darted through my veins, my heart, and every limb. Settling in a wash of calm and knowing through my frontal lobe and another void bursting in the centre of my body, this one filled with a hollowness I couldn't understand, an ache that burned so badly, I cried.
I knew the penalty for not having a Naming ceremony but I knew being able to use my magic would help ease the pain. I'd seen the Witches who were denied both for torture, drugged to keep them docile and unable to perform the most basic spells, until the headaches became too much and the headaches started to rip through your soul, demanding some outlet until it was granted or your skull physically split in two, or you removed your frontal lobe. I knew I wouldn't let that happen to me.
I stifled a yell of joy, realising what was happening, understanding why they'd moved me.
Suddenly, a voice whispered to me.
"You need cloves, not star anise."
The hollowness and headache lessened when I listened, swapping the star-shaped herb for the cloves, feeling the annoyance drain, I smiled, closed my eyes and fell into myself, seeing her for the first time.
My Soul-Self.
A replica of me, but in my truest form, glowing and bright, hair of starlight swayed in an invisible wave. Large blue eyes sparkled at me and plump lips pulled into a lovely smile.
"My Witch." She whispered to me, holding her arms out to embrace me.
I ran to her, my mind creating a replica of my physical form, allowing me to hug her.
I felt the power and warmth she gave me, letting it seep into me. I felt so much stronger, my mind sharp and my body filled with the confidence that came with being a true Wiccan.
Finally, she was here. My connection to Mother was finally granted, unleashing an almost endless possibility for my powers and life. She was the guardian of my soul and void, the thing that kept my balance in check.
She would ensure I was never alone again.
The hollowness filled as we worked together for the next day, brewing a selection of sleeping elixirs that was on an order sheet I was given by Harren, and even a calming one I'd never made before but my Soul-Self guided me through it, whispering trickles of ancient knowledge that was born into my DNA, waiting to be completely unlocked and learned when my Celebration was complete and access was granted.
Though I was not Named for no other was here to hear and call it back, I didn't care. I would be the Nameless Sage.
I only cared about how I felt suddenly filled with a desire to escape and find my people to give myself a name and complete my void.

______________________________________________________________

I'd never seen my Soul-Self so scared.
She had finally settled in the void, having rolled for what felt like days.
She had cried out, first for me but I couldn't call back to her, I couldn't make another copy to join her as she looked around the pitch darkness, her glow dim and scared.
I could only try to make my mind quiet enough to let her know we were still linked when it worked; she then called for Adam, I joined her, but we knew he couldn't hear us, no matter how loud we tried.
Then, after she finally calmed down and sunk to hug herself, Witch came forth.
I couldn't make out her face, it was swallowed by a blinding silver light that pooled around her, seeming to emanate from her very being.
Soul-Miranda stood suddenly. Staring bewildered at the light.
My mind became clear and strong and my physical copy came to stand beside my Soul-Self.
We both bowed deep and were gifted with an ethereal laughter caught between a breeze in the trees and a waterfall.
"My Children." She said so sweetly.
We looked up, her eyes were soft and I watched as my Soul-Self walked closer to the light, arms out wanting to embrace Witch.
I called out, stopping her.
I looked at Witch now, determination set as my chest blazed with familiar warmth.
"Why have you awoken?" I called, my voice seeming to echo in the black void that now danced with the light of Witch and my Soul-Self who blazed once more.
Witch regarded me, swaying her head almost musically.
She smiled again and turned to my soul-self.
"You found him." Her last word was an erotic hiss, her head tilting back so far and a bright smoke spilled from her lips.
"Do you mean Adam? What do you want with him!?" I felt my fists clench, knowing my physical body had responded to my scream.
I felt a rage grow inside of me at the thought of Witch touching him. I wasn't a match for her, not by a long shot. She was a God, but I knew if she had come to harm Adam.
I would die right here dragging her back into the void.
Witch laughed again, softer this time, almost playful.
Her piercing stars of eyes came to bore into mine and she moved so quickly, I couldn't exhale before she was before me.
"Little Witch already loves her Wolf." She teased, eliciting a snarl from me.
I felt inhuman for a second, but my soul-self echoed me encouragingly.
Suddenly Witch put her palms up and titled her head in acceptance.
"I'm not here to take him." She now looked at me and lowered her hands when I relaxed.
"You're meant to be dead," I whispered.
Another laugh. "When the world needs saving, Mother sends her best."
My breath hitched and I stared at her in disbelief.
"What?"
Realising she had my attention she glanced around the void that was my mind and made a face before turning back to me.
"Little drafty in here, don't you think?" She shivered dramatically, but in doing so, my void changed.
Suddenly drenched in the warm glow of a lit fire, the interior became that of an old sitting room I knew from the Coven. The walls were stacked with books, and high rectangular windows peaked above them, letting in some sunlight that made the dust visible.
The floor was hardwood but strew across it was a large plush black rug that spanned the room, large couches of red and browns dotted the open floor in groups, side desks and lamps for reading near each other and coffee tables with stacks of forgotten books and notes laid everywhere.
I stared in awe at my memory before me, filling my void now with warmth and a sense of homeliness.
"Your void is only a void in essence that it's a clean slate." Witch explained simply, waving her hand and rounding a large love seat before throwing herself into it and stretching out. The light around her dimmed enough that I could make out the beauty she was.
Loveheart face, long black hair, full lips and a body that curved like an hourglass.
Her eyes were a mix of swirling colours I almost couldn't identify.
She was so beautiful.
She'd conjured a large tea set on the table in front of her, filling the two cups with a steaming liquid from the pot and delicately stirring in milk and sugar, she held out a cup to me and then patted the seat next to her.
I sat down slowly, never looking away from her.
She sipped the tea, fluttering her lashes at me. I followed suit to find the tea was scolding liquid.
I pulled back, yelping and looking at her with surprise.
"The void is as real as you will it to be. No one can touch or deny a Witch in her sanctuary." A plate of cookies filled with a red jam suddenly appeared in her open palm, when she looked at me, willing me to obey.
I did.
I took a cookie from the plate and took a bite from it, feeling the crumbs break and the sweet strawberry flavour fill my mouth.
It was real!
All those nights, I spent starving and cold. Could I have made my safety?
I looked at my Soul-Self who was humming softly and tracing fingers across the bookshelves near the fire across from us.
She seemed dazed and lost, but also just as surprised as me.
I guess she didn't know either.
"Time moves slowly in here compared to out there. So be warned."
I looked back at Witch, she delicately ate a cookie herself, having placed her cup and the plate onto the table and stretching back into the couch to watch me before she opened her mouth to speak, commanding my attention with her tone.
"I was awakened by Mother. She has felt an unnatural storm brewing in the East of the world, just beyond this country's borders." The tone was serious and bleak, almost straining. "We can't tell what it is, but it was enough concern that Mother pulled myself and two other Ethereals from our slumber."
The word rang a bell in my memory.
There were Ethereals here, in Northlands! Adam had told me they were secretive and hid deep in the mountains, but he communed with them from time to time, bringing them supplies and information when requested.
I didn't know anything else about them until now.
Witch was one of them, and there was more.
Sensing my thoughts, Witch looked at me.
"There are six of us. We take turns, two of us will stay awake, overseeing a few centuries before we awaken the next in line and return to our void with Mother. Two have been awake for three centuries, their slumber isn't for another two."
"Who is awake now?" I asked without control.
She smiled at me softly and I felt safe, knowing my questions weren't a burden.
"Azmiar and Heigel oversee the realm for now. The Father of Vampires and Mother of Faes, both are as old as me, but not as pretty." She tossed her starlight hair across her shoulder, sighing dramatically making me laugh.
"We Ethereals are Mothers Eldest. We are her eyes, hands and heart. We carry out her will and keep the balance between all her newer children, even the humans. I am here because that balance is under threat of being tipped and I need your help to find out what it is and fix it. Adam is the key." She waved a circle in the air in front of us and a small pool of water appeared, showing me Partos, the land we lived on, I could see the peakings of Latos and Everand to the East and West.
We moved across Partos to the south and she showed me the fires that blazed during the volcanic eruption that brought all beings to the brink during the War of Beasts, or so the Coven called it. It was a time when none of Mother's creations were safe, every race was at war with each other and themselves, chaos rained and blood soaked the delicate soil every night.
My birth mother had been alive during the War. She had been a young Sage, just on her first year after her Celebration, calling herself Mariana, when the War broke out, she and my father Kalen had met at a camp in a small outskirt town, it was set up as mostly a hospital, but some families had taken refuge there as their new home. They took in anyone who had needed help, human or beast.
I wasn't born yet, I came years after the Peace was brokered and Covens were reformed. But I remember the shoebox my mother hid in her closet of our room at the Coven, stuffed with momentos of those she had tried to help, bracelets and necklaces from women, dog tags from soldiers and small dolls from children. The box was full of that stuff.
I was pulled back to the water portal as I saw Ethereals, tall beings clad in dark robes that seemed to glisten with starlight and curl at the bottom as if made from smoke. They step into the blackened lands from a swirling vibrant portal that opened behind them.
They began waving their hands across the grounds, across charred remains of animals, beings and humans.
Some turned to stardust and fell back to the earth.
Others became alive again.
My jaw fell open as I watched groups of dead, charred and destroyed bodies of werewolves, vampires and others alike, stand and scream into the air.
The soot fell from them as if it had suddenly become heavy and unable to hold on.
The Moon Beasts Shifted and the Vampire faces softened.
A small dark-haired woman I didn't recognise regarded her body with wonder. Crying out in a high-pitched wail of victory and throwing her arms out with joy when she finally stopped to stare at the Ethereals before her.
Two men came to stand beside her, their eyes furious but softened at the beings.
The largest man, burly and built like a bear, stepped forward and fell to one knee before the Ethereals, he bowed his head and began whispering something at them I couldn't hear.
The other just folded his arms across his chest and frowned. He was thin but muscular, with shiny blonde hair and a boyish charm.
Another person came to stand beside the woman, towering over her tiny frame.
It was another man, I couldn't see his face as it was turned to face the Vampire woman and then the powerful beings that even I could feel the magic swell from.
They all stood in battle armour. The thinner man and the small woman still clutched swords stained with blood.
"You are given a chance. Cease this pathetic war. Call a truce amongst your clans or we will not be back the next time." One of the Ethereals warned. I wasn't expecting a woman's voice, but it boomed and echoed with such authority and power, even I felt compelled to obey. They stepped back through the swirling portal which disappeared into itself as soon as they left.
I watched the man I couldn't see, turn to the small woman.
He held out a hand to her and faced her enough that I could make out his features as the Vampire dropped her weapon and smiled as she took his hand, shaking it.
It was Adam.
I realised I was staring at the head of each Clan that spanned our land. The surviving Royals.
The water portal disappeared instantly and I found myself staring at the fabric of the couch. I looked up at Witch whose face was set in a determined frown.
"We're out of time. But do not lose him, young Witch. I will guide you all I can, you will hear me and I will teach your soul the way. But whatever you do, you must not let yourself slip. Hold the Alpha-King close. You were destined for each other to stop this great imbalance." She smiled finally.
Suddenly I was falling again, the warmth of the room and all its wonderful memories stripped by a tearing darkness I plunged into, I called for Witch but she didn't reply.
My Soul-Self just flew with me, accepting the fall with a smile.
I hit something solid and my physical self finally took control.
I was in the hospital room again. The machines and blue curtains were unmoved.
I felt okay though.
Better than okay.
I flexed my leg gently, surprised when I didn't feel a shoot of pain, just the soft feel of the blanket that lay over it.
I rotated my shoulder gingerly, then swung it wide when I felt nothing but some minor stiffness from not being used. I pulled back the gown to see there was only the faint marking of a scar left.
I laughed only to be stopped by the door banging open and the tiny black-haired Vampire from the water portal stood at the end of my bed.
She was pale but still had a glow about her, her midnight black hair was long and thick, cut across the front to border her plump but beautiful face.
Big dark eyes stared at me, a full set of lips spread into a smile revealing the sharp venomous teeth.
"Amelia plea-" Adam who had been jogging after the small woman, Amelia, stood behind her, a look of exhaustion on his face.
He was stopped by her holding out a small hand to his face, black marked the end of her manicured purple talons, she had risen to her tiptoes to reach.
"I think I can introduce myself to my best friend, thank you." She said in a sweet voice that soothed something inside me.
Vampires were brutal creatures, strong as a Werewolf and just as fast. Sunlight was their only weakness, not that it killed them. Just petrified them to stone until someone fed them blood during the full moon phases, awakening them from what could be an eternal slumber.
Some human museums even had them displayed with incorrect history retellings of some would-be hero they had made to shield their minds from the truth.
Vampires were the children of an Ethereal, along with Shapeshifters, Werewolves, Witches and Fae. We were each born from one strand of Mother's first six children. Humans were counted among us, but their creator didn't give them the same connection to Mother as the rest of us. They believed humans would be the balance we needed to keep the beasts controlled.
Vampires were usually tall and foreboding in a regal way, many gathered in Hoards, groupings of them that created structured societies that favoured the old way and took pleasure in hunting humans to fill their bloodlust. They could feed from any being, but humans seemed to be a favourite amongst them, I'd even heard Aborus brag about something called a blood bank he controlled. I didn't know what the second word was, but it couldn't be good mixed with the first.
This Vampire was tiny and delicate looking, but the swirl of darkness I saw around her made me weary.
Before I could react or Adam could protest, she bound over the bed and shoved me solidly, but gently, to the side of the bed and settled in beside me.
She wore a long black dress that hugged her small but curvy frame with lacey black details of cobwebs on her hips and forming around her modest chest. The open neckline spread out to two long bell-armed sleeves, also adorned with cobweb lace. She wore big looking mid-calf-boots, they were much thicker soled than I'd seen from anyone before, giving her at least half my height worth of extra view distance, bright glossy pink with shiny black buckles strapping across the ankles, little bats hung from the straps.
Amelia took the remote with arrows on it that hung from the roll bar on our left.
I had wondered what that was for.
The bed started to move and I squealed trying to scramble off.
Amelia grabbed my arm gently and pulled me back, laughing with a high-pitched soothing noise, I found myself relaxing a little and sat back next to her.
She waved the remote she held at me.
"I was just making the bed comfier for us. I brought presents!" She exclaimed happily and clapped her hands together in a solo applause. Looking closer when she held her hand out to me, I saw the black wasn't random marks but the drawing of bats that spread out across her nail tips.
They were so cute.
Noticing my staring, her hand moved a little to let me get a better look.
"I. Love. Bats." She emphasised each word. "Like, adore them. Best creatures Mother ever made, second to me." She reminded me of Witch.
I relaxed, a warmth pooled from her and it made me like her.
I settled against her, the bed was small and we were pressed between the roll bars so we sat shoulder to shoulder. She smiled and I returned it.
Adam sighed, pulling my attention to him.
My heart sang and warmed at the sight of him and I found myself reaching out for him.
His eyes softened to butter and he came towards me, moving blindly fast but wrapping me ever so gently in an embrace like he thought I'd break.
"I'm glad you're okay, little Mira." He whispered, leaning down to press his lips into the top of my head and breathing in my scent.
Witch whispered to me the need a Moon Beast -Werewolf I corrected her- had when they found their mate. Like Witches denying their magic or remaining unnamed, the pull of a mate call was a death sentence if it was ignored.
A pit in my heart became heavy and I squeezed Adam tightly, sliding a hand under his sweater to have contact with his burning skin.
He sighed at my touch and I felt him relax.
He pulled away and cupped my face in his hands.
"You've been asleep for a few days again." He whispered, kissing my forehead. "Bev won't clear you until I do."
"Oh blaaaargh!" Amelia suddenly exclaimed, sounding like she was going to lose the food she'd consumed.
Adam stared at her, his eyes black and blazing with rage, a snarl ripped through his clenched lips.
The Vampire seemed unphased. Crossing her arms across her chest causing her large sleeves to double over.
"She. Is. Fine." She put venom into each word, her face not changing from its uncaring demeanour but I could see the black around her swirl with her essence.
Another. Witch whispered with glee.
Amelia launched at me and before I could react in any way, she was tickling me.
I spasmed and writhed under her tiny hands as they found every ticklish spot I didn't know I had and it made me laugh so hard and panicked I thought my lungs would pop.
"Amelia!" Adam yelled, so loud we both stopped our fight. I was breathless and holding both of Amelias' wrists and she had her talons poised to strike the moment I let my guard down.
My knee had risen to sit against her chest as we'd twisted in the bed, our feet tangled in the blankets as I had tried to push her away.
She wasn't even going easy on me! Or puffed!
Adam's chest raised and lowered, his fists forced themselves to unclench and he suddenly raked a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh of exhaustion.
"Look, Mother, obviously, had some business she needed her prettiest Witch for, so she called Miranda," Amelia said, easily removing herself from my hold and falling back onto the bed, inspecting her nails for damage in our tussle.
"Adam, you worry too much." We were joined by a third voice, one I didn't recognise.
Adam had pulled the curtain that gave patients privacy from the hospital wing windows when he and Amelia had arrived.
Another woman now pulled them back and stepped out smiling.
She was beautiful as well but in a calming Mother way.
Her short hair was a dusky blonde with streaks of pink through it. She had a round heart-shaped face, soft green eyes and a smile that matched it.
The woman seemed to release a sense of care and calm in the room, even Adam seemed to relax in her presence.
She was wearing all beige and tan. A long woollen dress that draped to her ankles, a cardigan with large pockets that seemed full and simple tan flats covered her feet.
When she turned her head to look at Adam, I saw a silvery scar trace around the base of her throat.
Mated. Witch whispered.
Another female who had found her mate in a Werewolf. Bev had mentioned there weren't many, but it was nice to see another who could help me understand. But the swirl of pinks I saw around her essence made me think there was more.
The woman glided to the bed.
It wasn't a walk, it was much more graceful and soft, like her feet barely touched the ground.
Another. Witch whispered again.
I stared at Adam, feeling the fear and confusion fill my eyes and he looked back with understanding and care.
"After you passed -"
"Nope! You were left on call waiting!" Amelia interjected quickly then started discussing something with the new woman, so low I couldn't hear it.
Adam rolled his eyes and grabbed my chin softly.
"These women are friends. After your....episode," he shot a glare at Amelia, "I thought it best to call some Clan members who were more familiar with Witch-related things." His face morphed slightly, into a hurt expression.
I leaned up and pressed my lips to his quickly, trying to remove the look.
He kissed me back with an urgency and his hands tangled in my hair for a second before he pulled back.
A dark gaze met my light-eyed one.
I knew not to be afraid of it anymore.
This was his beast, coming forward to stake claim.
I would deal with him soon. I'm not sure which part of me promised.
I watched the battle between man and beast play out in his eyes before man took hold. Gold swirled in his eyes and a smile pulled at the corner of his lips.
"Okay, enough of that. Stop overwhelming the poor girl." Suddenly the woman was grabbing Adam by the back of his shirt and dragging him out the door, closing it and the curtain before we could protest.
She came to stand beside Amelia and put her hands on her hips, a large smile across her lovely face.
"We are your Battle Sisters." She announced proudly.
I stared at them both in confusion.
They exchanged a look of knowing and Amelia jumped off the bed in such a fluid motion, that I thought she had just passed through it to come to a stand.
She stared at me with a mischievous smile and clapped her hands together, holding them in front of her.
The room filled with a wave of air and I felt magic swirl.
I gasped as the tiny Vampire familiarly moved her hands before she pulled her hands apart, struggling slightly as a swirling gold portal opened between her two palms.
A Witches Portal.
A door to our realm in which a skilled Witch could store her most valued secrets.
I'd not seen one in years, not since before the fall of my Coven.
The blonde she-wolf, I think, reached into it with ease, her hand surrounded by a mystical swirl as she started to pull things from the hole.
A plush toy, then another, a colourful box, packets of something and vials, bottles and creams that smelled heavenly.
When she was satisfied, Amelia clamped her hands closed, straining to have kept them open for so long.
She smiled a wide toothy grin when she completed the spell, sealing the portal closed again.
"I was a Witch before I was turned and moved here as there are no Hoards in Latos. My link to my void isn't as strong as it once was, but I still have some tricks." She pulled down the roll bar and sat beside me, starting to sort through the pile.
The woman was less extravagant in her display of magic. Her eyes glossed over with the dance of the stars, swirling and dancing in a neverending cosmos.
A Seer.
She came back from wherever she was and smiled at me.
"I was a travelling Seer from Everand before I met Byron at a fair in his town. I was turned shortly after my Marking to him, by a rogue Shifter Pack who had kidnapped me, hoping it would sever our link and my powers." Her eyes darkened at her own words before quickly settling back to their soft lovely green.
"I still hold my link and my Marking made it so I wasn't killed in the shifting, but Mother doesn't call like she used to." She grazed a hand across the bed and grabbed one of the plush toys, Amelia quickly threw the other one at me without looking.
It hit me in the face and I ate some fluff.
The woman laughed charmingly and Amelia stifled a giggle while she started to open some of the vials and rub them into the skin near her thumb.
I looked at the toys I had been handed, and thrown, and was confused for a second.
One was a fuzzy white bear with a big goofy grin and a love heart between its paws. The woman had handed me this one.
The other that Amelia had tossed at me was a chubby lavender bat with an adorable face, rosy cheeks and big lashes around its shiny eyes.
"Can't forget your best friends if we sleep with you every night!" Amelia said knowingly, she turned to the woman and nudged her, making the woman falter in her stance, glare at Amelia and recompose herself.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying not to sound rude, I was relieved to be staring at two people who would probably understand me the most, but I hadn't had a chance to ask who they were.
"I'm Helena Monroe and this is Amelia Carter. We are both Witches, so we understand the call." The woman's tone took on an authority I couldn't deny.
"I oversee the Western Tribes and am Luna to the Shapeshifters." Her large chest stood out proudly.
I looked at the polar bear toy.
"You're a Moon Bear!" I squealed in delight. They were said to be most beautiful bears, with coats as white and glistening as snow, Mothers defenders of the icy realms.
Helena laughed, almost embarrassed. She tucked a pink strand behind her ear and just nodded.
"Um, excuse me, clearly the best one here is me," Amelia interjected suddenly waving a wet piece of paper between Helena and me.
I leaned back not sure what it was until Helena took it and plastered it to her face.
There were eyeholes cut out and a V-shaped nostril slit where her nose poked out.
It smelled like lavender and cucumber.
"It's a face mask, a human invention for skin care." She explained through the open-mouth hole that was also cut into it.
I was forced to wear one but found it soothing and I was only meant to keep it on for a few minutes.
"So, yes, I'm Amelia Carter. I was a warrior in the War for the Southland before we fell and I took over as the Queen Vamp." She smiled widely under her mask, making it slip a little and she gagged on the taste.
"Together, Amelia and I will stay with you for a few weeks and teach you how to be a Luna-"
"More importantly we're going to have a Celebration and teach her Wicca!" Amelia scolded.
I looked between the two, confused but the thought of a Celebration was exciting.
"I get the Wicca part, hands down." I started slowly, peaking at them through lashes. "But, what's a Luna?"
Their laughter mingled in the air, almost like a spark of electricity.
"Oh sweet Miranda." Helena sighed, she reminded me so much of my birth mother. But the darkness in her eyes said otherwise. "You have a whole bunch of kids you're about to inherit and the boy didn't even tell you before sticking it to you." The women shook their heads, laughing playfully, they removed the sheet mask and assaulted me with a thick white cream they also put on their faces before they explained and answered all my questions.