A shiver.
A gasp.
A feeling of stillness all around me as my body aches to be unstill.
And then, a light that dispels the stillness.
"What have you done?" she asks.
A flood of memories washes over behind the back of my eyelids of love, betrayal, fear and hope. At the centre of it all, stands the searing light that approaches.
"Sister," she utters, the body which I peer through, the Moon Goddess.
The woman of light gently floats by, her hair the color of the sun.
"I have come to set you free," the Sun Goddess says, her voice twinkling in my ears.
"No," my head shakes.
I prod at the mind I possess, curious at her response. But she's shut me out, caged me in a little space enough to have me witness the scene before me. Though my muscles and limbs ache at the chains wrapped tightly around me, the mental fortitude that lies behind this body is still very much active.
"Do not be so stubborn," replies the Sun Goddess.
"I can't."
"The mark has been set."
"You shouldn't have interfered."
"I did no such thing as would upset Father Time. This was meant to happen, now stop your whining, sister."
I curiously prod again at the Moon Goddess's words, but she inches the walls closer of the mental cage she has put me in. I have no choice but to sit and await patiently, though my mind races on the possibilities of her cryptic words. In a far corner, however, where one's line of perception in one's head gets lost, embeds a kink in my neck, a sort of itch that makes me want to look back, that the Goddess herself struggles to control.
But as I push hard to discover what's not being said, the Sun Goddess touches the face I inhabit. The pain is white hot and I feel it spread and travel all the way down my neck, to my hands and feet. And it makes me feel alive. It jolts my body with power, enough to let the twinkling shine of the Moon Goddess's starry skin alight once more. Like a supernova building up inside me, the heat slowly melts the chains around me.
"You need to let it go," the Sun Goddess urges. "Stop controlling your power. Your children need you."
It is then that I notice how hard all the muscles in body are flexing as if to contain the supernova heat, when I know one tap at the dam protecting it inside could easily snap these chains and set me free. I question the Moon Goddess for her resistance, a little disappointed at her lack of urgency and the need of the hour.
Why?
To protect you, my child.
From what?
And there, a small pocket presents itself between the inner struggle for control—over her body and her mind—where I am able to look over my shoulder at the far corner in the back of her head. The dam has no choice but to burst open, distracting me and shaking me to my core, for our bodies are one at this very moment.
The surge of energy makes me gasp and shudder in the most delectable way. The Moon Goddess's skin glows like stars in deep space, her midnight blue hair glowing alight, floating around me like a galaxy swirl. I am in awe of the ethereal being who I inhabit.
And she lets it known that it is I who inhabits her when she pushes against me in her head and shoves me out.
I drift halfway through consciousness when I feel something grip me. Not a hand or something tangible, but a weight lorded over me, anchoring me to this ethereal reality, neither here nor there. Neither in her body nor my own. In all this, I wonder if Astrid is stuck in her deity's head, caged in her mind like I was.
"Let him go," the Moon Goddess commands stiffly.
I feel as though I'm floating. A third-person viewer, watching the two goddesses aglow, sparkles of sunlight or starlight or moonlight emanating from these colossal beings. What else did I expect to see before me, but two powerful giant goddesses? It brings to scale how much smaller I am and an inkling thought occurs of how less important I am, too.
"Sister," the Sun Goddess's lighter voice resounds, "the truth will not hurt them. What will, however, is the denial of love and unity. Do not forget that you came to me before as I now come to you."
"And then you broke my trust by abusing my gift of destiny," the Moon snaps back. "You connived behind my back to bind a wolf and a Lycan to tigresses of their own as my son has so done now."
"Give these young ones a chance. Perhaps the connection between our creations is something that neither of us should dry, and you certainly cannot deny the connection between our champions."
"Of course, I cannot!" the Moon's voice booms, along with a shockwave of faint light. "I have no control once the gift of destiny is bound. And I was a fool to let it happen to me twice. Well, that shall be no more."
"Sister, don't!"
A blade of iridescent light swiftly flashes through the air as tufts of midnight blue fall gently down. The galaxy that enwrapped the Moon Goddess slowly dissipates, leaving only a short raggedy bit of it on her head.
That is when I realize the truth that has been staring me in the face since I last gazed through my black Alpha eye. The Moon Goddess never sent Astrid to me. The wisps of magical dark hair that scatter around represent the magical ties of the Moon Goddess's gifts. My destiny was bound by the First Son in that very same vision that I saw him tying the destiny of the descendants of Fen and Luc. That was what he did to me and to Astrid.
Why didn't you tell me?
She looks up at me, her eyes complete black voids like my right one.
"I showed you the moment it happened and you should have known better than to mark the girl anyway," she says, disappointment dripping in her tone.
"Do not blame the boy," the Sun chimes in.
"Then I shall blame you for encouraging this unnatural union."
I flinch at her words. Even despite the truth, I can't shake the strong sense of possession and protection I have over Astrid. I feel the same disappointment of the Moon Goddess, who created me. But I know better than to be disappointed at something I had no control over. It is she who has disappointed me in her reaction in spite of the circumstances.
In a moment, my life's worth flashes before me. All the traditions my family, my bloodline and I have upheld for years. I would have been content continuing in that ignorant bubble of arrogance which we built around ourselves being 'the chosen ones'. Whatever does that mean now?
I have seen the other side of the coin. The Sun and the tigers. My beloved tiger mate, who showed me the error of my ways. And I realize unity does a lot more good than sitting alone in an ivory tower.
The Moon Goddess scoffs in response when I realize she has read every thought that crossed my mind just now.
"How dare you," her voice booms and another wave of light passes through her. "How dare all of you come into my realm and disrespect me so. How dare you think you have any say in the order of things which I created."
"Yes, an order that is crumbling a second time because of your arrogance, sister," the Sun Goddess responds, her ethereal golden light emanating around her, too. "Without me, you would still be bound. And without your help, your children will not survive this fight."
"And maybe they shouldn't," she shoots her black eyes towards me. "Maybe I ought to let Er destroy them all so that I may start anew."
A wild glint flashes across her face, tugging at the corners of her lips, enlarging her black void eyes.
"That is madness!" the Sun exclaims, the light emanating from her being warmly extending its reach.
The Moon Goddess catches sight of this and brightens her cool blue light.
"I must thank you for leading my son straight to the Lycans," the Moon Goddess almost purrs as she utters the words. "It will make the reset much faster."
The Moon Goddess flicks her wrist at the Sun Goddess in an act of dismissal.
"Thank you for releasing me, sister," she says. "I may be too weak to do anything substantially terrible to the children of Luc and Fen, but I am not too weak to send you away as you do not belong to my western realm."
"It will not be so easy," the Sun replies defiantly. "I am anchored to my champion."
The Moon hums to herself and sighs.
"Then it's too bad the sun is about to set in the far, far east."
The Sun gazes up at me, worry upon her brow. I can make out the faint aura of Astrid behind her eyes, a little darker on her right. She raises a hand and waves it across at me, banishing me from the realm.
I gasp awake, my heart palpitating to infinity. A painful and sudden heat sears my neck. I move a hand over it to feel Astrid's mark burning red hot to the touch. I shudder at the thought of the two gargantuan goddesses fighting it out in the heavens. That's when a flash of lightning strikes outside my window and the thunder that follows causes my ears to pop. The shower that follows wafts in the smell of dirt and dust.
I look across to Astrid on my bed, still unconscious and I decide whether I should nudge her awake or not, wondering if there are consequences to severing the connection forcefully.
A faint creak startles my hand away, inches from Astrid's shoulder. Alex peeps through the gap of the door.
"Thank Goddess you're up," he says. "Valentina has been awake for the past hour."
Hour? It barely felt like 10 minutes in the ethereal realm. That's when I wonder how much longer Astrid will be under for.
"Good," I reply. "At least it means we've still got the First Son under our control."
"No, Rio, that's the thing. Valentina herself is awake. The First Son never showed up."