Here's the next update! :D Once again, I am really sorry about the delay in the update; I got sick as well, so it was a really bad time... Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter and please vote and comment for it to identify yourselves to me! :D The picture on the side is of Raven. :D
Chapter 33
Luna stepped out from behind the curtain at the makeshift stage, trying to still her shaking hands. Sweat beaded her palms and she tried not to show how nervous she was; she was not used to speaking in front of so many people: magicians and Moon Children alike. Her vision, which she had painstakingly revealed to Raven and Sapphire, had left them all in shock; both of them had promised not to reveal her secret.
Taking a deep breath, Luna glanced out at all the rebels, most of them whispering behind their hands and muttering to one another. A quick look near the front of the row confirmed that Kayla, Troy and Dahlia were there, supporting her in her cause. All of them looked grim and determined, albeit anxious.
Behind Luna, her entourage of bodyguards followed her, staying close enough to protect her in half-a-second, but far enough away that they didn’t gather any attention from her. Both Io and Europa stood there, not because they were instructed to, but because they genuinely cared about her wellbeing.
Throat dry, Luna cleared her throat, gaining a few curious glances from her audience. She inhaled a nervous, shaky breath, determined not to show them how worried she was, and began.
“This is the time that I’m supposed to give a gentle, heart-warming speech about how we must be allies,” Luna said loudly, cutting through everyone else’s conversations and gaining their attention. “But I’m not.”
A stunned silence fell over the group; Troy and Dahlia exchanged anxious looks and Kayla dug her teeth into her bottom lip. Closing her eyes briefly, Luna willed herself not to be sick. There was no going back now.
Luna met eyes with several Moon Children and then made eye contact with some magicians, determined to show that although she was the candidate for queen with the Moon Children, she was equally a magician as well as a Moon Child. Some of them glared at her, others returned her gaze with curious interest.
“Our alliance is shaky,” Luna continued. “All of us here know that, because an attempt was made on my life. Despite all our magic, all our abilities, we were unable to discover who the assassin was and if he is still on the island. That has made many of us doubt one another, but we should not let this spy, this good-for-nothing creature, break us apart from our core! Granted, we have no idea who he is, but that does not mean that we let down our guard and let him divide us. We should unite against him, to show one body, one spirit, that he cannot defeat.”
Low murmurs sounded from the crowd; Luna gripped her skirts with her hands, hidden under the folds of the fabric. She continued, determined that they should hear her out.
“I know that neither party wants to break out alliance,” she said. “Even though you may not trust one another or you believe that this truce can overcome millennia of animosity, we have our first chance of peace ever. Despite this, we cannot truly have peace while the Fire Immortal reigns over us. The Moon Children have never had any war with him, but he has never done anything to gain our respect. He has continually downtrodden us and treated us like garbage.”
The voices in the crowd grew louder, adding to Luna’s nerves. Several of them were openly talking to their neighbours now; she could tell that they were uncertain about where she was heading with her speech.
“This chance at peace is something that the magicians have propagated,” Luna said. “We believe that together, we can overcome the Fire Immortal. The choice resides in you, each and every Moon Child, whether or not we keep this alliance. I know that not all of you believe that my choices are just or reasonable; I am elected queen solely because I am a Meteorite, not because I am the most experienced or knowledgeable Moon Child in our world. But queen or no queen, I am still your liaison with the magicians; I am as much one of them as I am one of you.”
Luna pressed on, determined not to let the voices in the crowd prevent her from getting her entire speech out. “But I want all of you to know that together, we have saved each other’s lives countless times. Sapphire, our healer who is a magician, has been working day and night to save the lives of magicians and Moon Children who were injured in the Battle for Avalon. And the Moon Children have taken a tremendously generous step in coming to our aid in our time of need. Despite all the tension, everything bad, we have already put aside our selfish thoughts for the greater good. For our future and for the future of our generations to come.”
Although Luna had predicted the outcome of her speech, she knew perfectly well that the result was uncertain. The alliance was so tentatively balanced on the tip of a knife that the slightest misspeak would tip the scales in the wrong direction. So as she spoke, she kept her mind open for the result that she needed; she hated manipulating them but she had convinced herself that it was better this way.
“I want all of you to know that we are people who can change the world,” she said firmly, gaining attention from the crowd once more. “We can change it for the better. And not by controlling people with our powers the way Varmer is, but accepting ourselves and other people the way we all are and living in harmony. Our alliance has started that. Varmer’s reign has to end. He is a tyrant. He is controlling our friends, our family, our people. If no one takes the first step, nothing will change.”
A voice shouted from the crowd, “You said so yourself that Varmer has never harmed us! Why should we fight against him? We’ll only gain his distaste and make him kill us!”
A roar of approval sounded at the shout; Luna felt sweat breaking out on her forehead, but she persevered, determined not to be defeated by that Moon Child.
“Because if we don’t do this, we will go extinct,” Luna said flatly. “Or at least be controlled by the Fire Immortal under complete paralysis. I wanted to show this to you anyway; it’s what is going to happen in the future if Varmer continues to reign. All of you know that I’m a diviner; I can predict the future. With your permission, I will have my magician ally to project the image into all of your minds so that you can see the future that will come to pass if we do not defeat the Fire Immortal.”
With that Raven stepped out from behind the curtain, but she did not look like herself. She had donned Helen’s form. Luna’s eyes met Troy’s in the crowd when he gasped a sharp intake of breath. She gave her head the tiniest, almost imperceptible shake, answering his silent question. He sagged slightly in disappointment and Luna felt a wave of guilt at accidently getting his hopes up.
“How do we know that you or your magician friend didn’t tamper with the vision?” shouted the same Moon Child as before.
Luna locked eyes with him, keeping her face impassive. “Because Moon Children can detect when lies are being told,” she replied. “Quite a few of you, Saturn especially, can vouch for us to say that this vision is exactly what I have predicted.”
A few more grumbles came through the crowd, but those were hushed when Saturn announced loudly, “She speaks the truth.”
Luna exhaled in relief as several other Moon Children who could detect lies spoke up in her defence. She hadn’t been at all certain whether they would tell the truth, but it was obvious that the rest of the community believed them, more so than they trusted her.
When everyone in the crowd had, willingly or grudgingly, nodded in agreement, Raven closed her eyes. Luna pulled up the vision into her mind’s eye; Raven gathered the images and dragged it into her own head before projecting the premonition into everyone’s heads.
It was the biggest thing Luna had ever asked Raven to attempt before and judging from Raven’s condition, she wasn’t surprised to see how pale the shape-shifter was. But she could not concentrate on that, she had to focus on her premonition.
Images of the guard flashed into everyone’s heads. Varmer issued a single command: kill. The five members of the guard, with a few other enemy magicians, lunged through the ranks of rebel magicians and Moon Children, slaughtering them without a second thought.
The next vision was of humans in handcuffs, thin and pale with diseases; it was obvious that they were slaves under Varmer’s control. At a single word from the Fire Immortal, they collapsed where they stood, the life drained out of them like juice from a battery.
Next was the capture of the Moon Children. Without mercy, babies and toddlers were wrenched out of their mothers’ hands, screaming for help at the top of their lungs. But no help ever came.
Varmer had no hesitation in torturing anyone until they died. A young girl stood beside him in most of the visions, casually killing people and resurrecting them with snaps of her fingers. She was stunningly pretty, but in a cold, almost detached kind of way. She had very pale blond hair, a stark contrast with her piercing blue eyes that were almost black. Although Luna was not very certain who this magician was, it was glaringly obvious that she was a force to be reckoned with.
While the images ran through everyone’s heads, Luna continued with her running commentary. “All of this will inevitably happen if we don’t work together to fight him,” she said, not bothering to hide the trembling of her voice. “We will die, our friends will die, our families will die and those who live will be subjected to a life of torment and misery. But together, we have the power to stop this from happening. Only if we work together.
“I know that many of you have doubts about all of our loyalties. Let me assure the Moon Children that the magicians are not going to let us die. Many of you may be wondering how I survived my assassination attempt. It wasn’t on my own. I lived, thanks to Raven here,”- she gestured to Raven who was still in Helen’s form-, “She saved my life by acting as my decoy. She was the one who was almost killed during the attempt on my life.
“The Moon Children have also saved the lives of many magicians with their determination to come to our aid during the Battle for Avalon,” she continued. We would not have won that fight without the Moon Children. We are in your debt. All of this proves just how powerful we are when we work together. We shouldn’t fight one another. The real enemy is out there, not in here. When we die, let it not be at each other’s hand, but if we do pass on, let it be because we fought Varmer, the real enemy, the murderer who has forced us into hiding for so many years.”
Luna stopped predicting her vision, her throat dry and her eyes stinging with tears. She shot a grateful look at Raven who staggered behind the curtain; Sapphire was already wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, trying to calm her ragged nerves. As Raven threw up as silently as possible, Luna felt a fresh wave of guilt at her current condition.
All the rebels, magicians and Moon Children alike, were blinking and shaking off the aftereffects of the visions. Some of them were crying, while others looked angry and determined. But Luna knew that she had succeeded; the alliance had been temporarily mended.
She stepped behind the curtain, shooting Sapphire a grateful look; Raven was eating a bar of chocolate and was sitting in a chair.
“How come you’re conscious?” Luna asked; her head was aching from the effort it had taken to predict those visions and still look for possible outcomes of the future at the same time; Raven’s contribution would most likely have taken even more out of her than others.
Sapphire shot her a guilty look. “I doped her up on the power drug that Jared made,” she admitted. “The one that gives you a burst of energy and extra strength but is addictive. She wanted to do it; she’s not recovering that well.”
Luna grimaced. “You should have told me,” she said to Raven. “I wouldn’t have asked you if I’d known how bad it is.”
Raven rolled her eyes, smearing chocolate around her mouth. “It wouldn’t have made a difference,” she told her. “I’m the only one who could have done what I just did. And I would do it again if I had to. We all have to make sacrifices. Besides, it’s not as if I’m going to get high all the time.”
Raven’s words had a ring of truth in them, but Luna felt sick nonetheless. It was true; they all had to make sacrifices. But it didn’t mean that she had to like them.