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Marley's POV
Surprisingly, I actually fell asleep that night. . . even though I told myself that I wouldn't.
I wasn't sure if I was too tired, or just plain dumb.
After a night of terrible Cursed wolf related nightmares, I finally woke up, cursing myself for losing to fatigue. I slowly observed my surroundings, watching how bright the tent now was. I slowly, shook off my drowsiness, before sitting up. I looked around, and slowly realized that things had literally changed overnight. Most of the medical tents that were joined to this one were taken down. Places that were rooms for other patients were now removed, and were now exits and entrances. More patients were placed in my area, and most of them now only had minor injuries. They would most likely be gone by the end of the day.
I looked to the right, and realized that Deimos was no longer there. They probably got up earlier this morning, I thought to myself. "And she promised me that she would be here when I woke up", I muttered out loud. I turned to Gray, who was still unconscious. It was beginning to worry me even more now. I reached out towards him-
Then I remembered what had happened yesterday. . . The vibrations that felt almost like sparks.
I pulled my hand back slightly, and bit my lip. That was real, wasn't it?
I tentatively reached forward, before pulling back.
I stretched out towards him, then pulled back my arm.
I reached forward. . .
Pulled back. . .
Again.
And again.
Then I scowled.
"Stop being a wuss, Marley."
Angrily, I touched his cheek, and braced myself for last nights sparks to reoccur.
It didn't.
Nothing happened.
I placed my finger on his other cheek, then on his nose, then on his arm. . . but nothing happened. I frowned deeply, wondering why I didn't do this sooner. "I guess it didn't actually happen", I sighed, frowning to myself.
Then I paused.
Wait.
Why am I disappointed?
"Oh, you're up."
I couldn't ponder on that question as Elliot's voice came from beside me. I quickly turned to look at her, then sent her a smile. "Oh, morning Elly."
She looked at me strangely, and for a second, I could of sworn that I saw a bit of disappointment in her eyes.
Whatever it was, it quickly disappeared, and was replaced by a deep frown.
I frowned as well, slightly confused by her new expression. She now looked slightly irritated, and she narrowed her eyes, before speaking. "Can you stand?" She asked flatly. Surprised by her tone, I stayed still for a moment, before nodding my head. "Then get up. After a bath, we're heading downhill."
And just like that, she walked out, leaving me sitting there in confusion.
Once I finally made it out of the medical tent, I found Elliot, who was now sitting beside the tent, looking at the white wolves that were currently busy collecting their armor and weapons. "Um, Elliot?"
Her ear twitched in my direction, but that was the only part of her body that moved. Her eyes stared straight ahead, and her hands remained folded. "Elliot-"
"Could you not call me that?"
Her blazing red eyes locked on to mines, and I immediately took a step back.
What was going on?
What was wrong with her? I thought. She was fine last night. Didn't Elliot and Deimos make up? I mean, if they didn't, Elliot wouldn't have been snuggled up against him last night. Did something happen this morning?
'Marley.'
My wolf sent her thoughts to me from deep within our mind. She had been silent because of all that happened, but because of Elliot's return, and the positive emotions that experienced, she started becoming less and less dormant.
She finally spoke today.
"What? Why are you staring?" Elliot's words snapped me out of my thoughts, and I quickly apologized and looked away. 'What's wrong?' I called out to my wolf, and she revealed her presence to me.
'That's not Elliot.'
I frowned in confusion, not sure about what she meant.
Then it hit me.
"Alright, I guess we can go freshen up now. Follow me-"
"Octavia?"
At the sound of the name, she froze. She slowly turned around, and she once again locked gazes with me.
She clenched her jaw, and I swallowed, wondering if I was incorrect.
I wasn't.
Her face reddened, and she folded her hands. . . and puffed her cheeks.
"O-Oh, so now you noticed. I'm disappointed, Marley of Moonshine", She tilted her head upwards, pretending to be angry at me.
But I immediately saw through it.
'She was disheartened when she realized that we didn't recognize her. So she became angry and lashed out a bit. Humph! What a troublesome child', my wolf commented.
I smiled at her comment, before walking up to Octavia. "Sorry for not noticing sooner! Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?" I asked with a smile. She hesitantly opened her lips to speak, then she closed her lips, then turned her back to me. "Come on Octavia! Please? Please?" I walked in front of her, and she turned around again.
"Please? Pleasee? Please?!"
"Okay! Okay! Don't destroy my eardrums!" She yelled. I giggled, then engulfed her in a hug. She squirmed uncomfortably, and I quickly let go, giving her space.
Too much affection wasn't really her thing.
"How are you? You okay? How was the journey? Tell me what happened."
Octavia sent me a strange look.
"Didn't you already ask Elliot all of this?" She asked. I nodded, then replied. "I know, but now I'm asking you."
She lowered her gaze, and her ears drooped a little. "That's stupid. I'll just be saying the same things Elliot said", she spoke, and I smiled. "I know, but it will be in your point of view. Who knows? Maybe Elliot forgot about something, or maybe she didn't emphasize on an event as much as she should have."
Octavia's eyes lit up.
"I know right! She downplayed so many events that happened a couple of days ago. She even forgot about some things we saw in that city she told you about. Geez! I got so angry listening to her! She can't relay events correctly at all! First of all. . ."
She took my hand, and retold the events that happened while we went over to her tent. Once we obtained a change of clothing, towels, soap and washes, we proceeded to head over to the nearby river to bath. Even there she spoke animatedly about the events that had occurred, and even told me a few things that Elliot forgot, or chose to leave out due to embarrassment.
"Ha ha! She drew. . . hearts on his. . ." I held on to a nearby rock as I laughed at what Octavia just told me. "Yeah! drew all over his face, then licked it off. It was crazy."
"Crazy is an understatement."
I composed myself, and watched as she attempted to shake herself dry. "Hey, stop that. Dry yourself off like a normal person", she growled at my statement, before flicking a few of her wet locks behind her head. She started walking and I quickly followed her, grabbing her hand. "Hey! Wrap the towel around you! And dry your hair young lady."
"It'll dry soon enough."
I gave her a deadpanned look, then dropped a towel on her head. I then took the last available towel and held it out towards her.
"Dry. Wrap."
She huffed, then hesitantly grabbed the towel from me.
"F-fine, since you begged so much."
I raised an eyebrow, and she quickly wrapped the towel around her and started drying off her hair.
I smirked, proud that she was still a bit fearful of me.
When I first started raising her, it wasn't very easy. While I had to be very gentle with Elliot, I, or more specifically my wolf, actually had to be quite rough with Octavia. In the rare moments that she surfaced, I would have to use my authority to get her to do as I say. Without it, she wouldn't listen. Thankfully, she wasn't as strong back then as she was now, or else I would have been killed a long time ago. I turned to Octavia, who was no longer drying her hair. The moment she saw me however, she quickly resumed, moving the towel much faster than before. I walked over to her, and placed my arm around her shoulders. "I'm freezing!" let's go change!" I exclaimed, and she growled. "Could you not lean so close to me?"
"Why not? I love you, you know."
"I don't really care, you know. You know I don't like it when people touch me. Are you listening to me? Stop-Hey! Stop grabbing me!"
"What? I'm just giving you my love."
"The father of my future pups is the only person I want love from. Stop being so icky. Marley!"
"What? It's just a little nuzzle."
"Leave me alone! Stop touching- Hey-I mean it-Ouch! Marley!"
"Fine, fine, I'm done. I'm done!"
After apologizing to her once again, she finally forgave me and we proceeded to head back to her tent, where we dried off and changed. I sat down near her bedding area, then absentmindedly looked around the room. I then glanced at Octavia, who was now sitting next to me, combing through her hair. I watched as she pulled the comb roughly through hair, causing a few tendrils to remain trapped between the comb.
I frowned in disapproval. "Hey. . . stop combing it like that. Look, give me the comb."
She made a face (something she did a lot) and I quickly narrowed my eyes at her. "Octavia. . . The comb."
"I'm already doing it! Just let me comb my hair-"
"I'll brush it afterwards for you."
She quickly spun around, and gave me the comb.
Octavia and Elliot both loved the feeling of her hair being brushed, but it wasn't something she did frequently. Of course, it was mostly because she didn't like being touched a lot. Elliot just wasn't as outspoken about it as Octavia was, and was much more tolerant about it as well. She would have loved having it combed as well, but when her hair became curly after baths, it was extremely hard and quite painful to comb out.
She turned around, and I proceeded to attack (comb) her unruly locks. After couple of grueling minutes combing and listening to Octavia's whines, I finally finished, and then proceeded to brush her hair using the massage brush that I found and gave her so many years ago. Even though a few bristles were now missing, Octavia still enjoyed at as if it was brand new. She made a few drawled out sounds of contentment, which sounded similar to that of purring feline.
Octavia's usual blank expression disappeared, and a wide grin appeared on her face. She closed her eyes, and I quietly continued, smiling whilst doing so.
"Elliot's thankful that you're brushing our hair. It's relaxing", she suddenly drawled out, and I hummed in acknowledgement.
Then a strange question came to mind.
"What's Elliot doing right now?"
Octavia turned her head, and I quickly continued. "I mean, I'm glad that you're in control now, since I never get to see you often, but I just wanted to know what was up with Elliot. . ." I explained, and she nodded.
"Elliot. . . she's preparing herself."
Preparing herself?
"Remember what I told you earlier on? About how we were heading downhill?"
"Oh, when you got really rude to your guardian?"
"Yeah. . . that."
I raised an eyebrow, and she muttered an apology, before continuing. "We're going down to where everyone else is."
Oh.
"All the white wolves were stationed up here, and some of the people we saved along the way, as well as your group, were stationed below."
"So what is Elliot preparing for?"
Octavia's eyes narrowed.
"Well. . . there's a lot of unrest happening down there. Some people think that we shouldn't be trusted. Other people think we should be worshiped. Two extreme views are quickly nipping at the order that we barely have. We're going to have a talk with the head Alphas and Lunas about the issue, because it sounded like it may start getting out of hand. Of course, some of the White wolves are currently patrolling the area down there, and some of them are also trying keeping the peace. We're currently stretched thin. . . so we've been using other means", she said as she slowly stretched.
Other means?
I still nodded nonetheless. I knew that there were people who still worshiped the Cursed wolves, and after seeing that Elliot was similar to Deimos in her other form, they probably created rumors that made Elliot sound like a Cursed Wolf herself. This immediately made her one of their beings to be worshiped. Then there were the people who considered Cursed wolves to be fallen Gods, or the Dark Gods. With all that had happened, they definitely wouldn't cozy up to Elliot, who looked exactly like one of the very things they loathed.
Two extreme views indeed.
"So Elliot's preparing to talk to them?" I asked, and she gave me a slow nod. "She's just fine tuning her emotions, so she could be a bit more authoritative and less. . . childish. I think she'll undo the personality change when she's finished", Octavia turned back around, and I continued slowly brushing her hair. We fell into silence, with only the sound of the rustling tent providing the noise in the background.
I passed my hands through her long red hair, and thought about what Octavia told me. I continued to brush her hair, humming as I did so. I passed my hands through her hair one more time, then started playing with the ends. Her body relaxed, little by little, until she completely sagged against my form. The back of her head was a little above my chest, and her hands stayed on her sides. It actually caught me by surprise.
After all, Octavia didn't like people touching her.
Only in these rare moments would she seek affection from me, but only for a little while, however. For example, she would probably hug me, but then move away after a couple of seconds. She was very picky about it, a lot like a feline would. She looked up at me expectantly, and I shook my head, before wrapping my arms around her stomach. She made another sound similar to a purr, and I scoffed at her animal like nature.
Then my wolf reminded me that she was mentally an animal.
We actually stayed like that for quite some time, much longer than we ever did.
It actually made me worried.
"What's wrong?" I asked, brushing a few tendrils of hair away from her face. She looked away from me for a second, before looking up at me. It took a long time before she actually responded.
"I. . . I gave you a really hard time all those years ago. Every time you tried to help Elliot, I got mad, and did things to try to make you resent her. I didn't really like her, you know? So I sometimes sent her those fake, traumatic memories to give her panic attacks. Every time you took a step forward, I pulled her ten steps back. I was also mean to you whenever I surfaced. In the end, my anger towards her drastically affected our relationship. I. . . I. . ."
"Are you trying to apologize or something?"
She stiffened, and I shook my head.
"You're just like Elliot. Just get to the point already."
Her lips wobbled a little, and she clenched her jaw to stop. "I-I'm sorry okay? For everything. . . and stuff."
A gave her an unimpressed look.
"Wow. . . thanks. . . I guess."
"What? That's the best I could do for now! You're lucky I even apologized you know", she huffed, and I chuckled at her.
"So you're sorry?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Fine. I accept your apology. Just don't do it again. You and Elliot should get along, you're one being, you know. Okay?"
She grunted, and I gave her a little squeeze in return. Her ear twitched, and she looked towards the tent, staring at it intently. Her gaze then lowered, and I became a bit worried again. "Elliot?" I called out to her, but she didn't turn to me. Her shoulders shook slightly, and her ears drooped.
"I'm sorry. . . for everything. . . For acting out. For not revealing who we really were. For not stopping. . . for not stopping Blaez when. . ."
I squeezed her tightly, stopping her from saying anymore. I already knew what she was referring to.
Blaez killing my mate.
If she had revealed her power, and managed to defeat Blaez, my mate wouldn't have died. I understood what she meant.
But.
"Not another word."
"I-"
"I was just a stranger back then, Octavia. Why would you risk so much for someone you didn't know? Of course you wouldn't act."
She clenched her jaw, and I knew that she wanted to say more. . . but I didn't let her. "Don't blame yourself for his death. I don't blame you. . . no one blames you. Okay?"
Her eyes glistened a little, and she wiped her eyes. "Okay?" I said a little softer, and she looked up at me.
She quietly nodded.
Then her nose twitched.
Then she spun around, and squirmed in my arms.
"Okay, okay. I get it. Affection time's over. I'll let you go-"
"I smell Deimos."
I sent her a unimpressed look as she quickly squirmed out of my arms, and crawled to the door, completely forgetting our fairly emotional conversation. 'She's a young wolf', my wolf said. 'She'll act mostly on impulse, especially when her mate is around. The fact that she held such a long conversation with you was actually quite impressive.'
I rolled my eyes.
"Mate. . . Mate. . . where did you go?" She poked her head out the door, and whined at no one in particular. "The wind probably brought his scent this way. Come on, let me finish brushing your hair."
"But mate. . ."
"Come", I said a bit louder, and she let out another whine, before crawling back over to me.
She turned her back to me, then I resumed my duty of brushing her hair. After a while, I felt as if was forgetting something.
Something important.
Smelling her Mate's scent. . . Scent. . . Changes in scent?
I looked up at the tent, trying to remember what I had forgotten.
Then it hit me.
"Your preheat!" I yelled, and a yelp escaped Octavia's lips. She covered her ears and growled at me.
I apologized.
"What did you say? Something about my preheat?" I quickly nodded at her, and she removed her hands from her ear. "It's gone now. Haven't felt it since last night", she said before frowning.
"It wore off so quickly. If it had only stayed a little longer, Deimos would of probably given in to temptation and blessed me with pup. So unfortunate."
I rolled my eyes at her. I tapped her back, then handed her the brush. "You're done?" She asked incredulously. I nodded, and she frowned.
"But. . . my hair."
"You hair is nice and smooth now. I don't need to brush it anymore. And didn't you run off earlier to catch a glimpse of your mate?"
"Marley. . . my hair. . ."
"Stop whining. I'm tired. Just brush it yourself now."
"Marley. . ."
She looked at me with wide, innocent eyes, and small pouted lips.
And I gave in.
Octavia grinned in victory as I continued to brush her hair. "You know, when you act like that, people can't help but treat you like a child. You know that right?" I asked, and she grinned at me. "I don't really care about that age thing. That's Elliot's problem not mine", she sang.
Another question came to mind, and I stopped brushing her hair.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Didn't you say that we were going downhill? When are we going to do that?"
Octavia paused, then her eyes widened.
She quickly got up, and pulled me to my feet. "Shoot. We gotta hurry!" She said as she pulled me out of the tent. She threw the brush unto her pile of folded clothes, and headed out of the tent. "Maybe we're not late or anything, right?"
"Wrong."
She both stopped, and turned to the source of the familiar voice.
Deimos.
He stood there with his hands folded, and his usual stoic expression. Octavia and Deimos stared each other down, with neither of them moving.
Deimos then reached out his hand, and Octavia covered her forehead.
She already knew that he was going to poke her, huh?
He lowered his hand, then spoke.
"Everyone's waiting for you. Let's go."
With that, he turned and walked away. "Aren't you coming?" he asked, and we both stiffened, before quickly following after him.
"Sorry Deimos", Octavia said, gauging his reaction. He sighed, before shaking his head. "You're too distracted. What kept you back this time?" he asked, as if it was a normal occurrence. "I was just having my hair brushed. . . and I guess lost track of time", she said softly, poking his hand. He looked down at her carefully, before sighing.
"Whatever."
She grinned up at him, then started leaning against his shoulders. "What was that sigh for? Did you miss little old me?"
"No. You were late, so they considered looking for you. They ended up asking me, since I was your mate, and could easily track you down by your scent. . ." While he spoke, he slowly turned to me.
Then he tilted his head.
"Oh, Marley. You're here too?"
I wasn't sure if he was being serious or not. It still irritated me nonetheless.
I opened my mouth to reply (in a slightly disrespectful manner) but he quickly continued. "So she's going too?" Deimos asked. "That's what Elliot said", was Octavia's reply, as we slowly trudged along the white woods. The snow up here was whiter than any snow I've ever seen, and I found myself almost hypnotized by it. Even the trees were blotched in white, almost as white as the snow covered ground. I looked up, and watched the clouds that were much thinner here than anywhere else. That was a sign that we were almost there.
Almost to Spring Haven.
"Hey, Marley, have you ever been to Spring Haven?" Octavia suddenly asked. I brushed a few locks of hair away from my face as I replied. "I have. My mate did not inherit his parent's territory, so we had to go the King to request for land. We even had to go through a lengthily examination process in order to ensure that we were up to standard and worthy enough to even lead a pack much less own land."
She made an 'O' with here mouth, then her eyes lit up. "Is it true that on some days you could actually see the blurred form of the sun through the clouds?" she asked, But Deimos was quick to interject. "You still don't really see it. The clouds are thin, but not thin enough. Sometimes you may see a little glow that resembles it, but nothing significant."
She made another 'O' with her mouth, before gushing about how intelligent Deimos was and how ready she was to carry his 'intelligent genes' onto their children.
Of course, Deimos ignored her.
While Octavia began her campaign to persuade Deimos into completing the matebond (so she could have pups), I simply walked behind them, observing their interactions.
I mostly looked at Deimos, or more specifically, his interactions with his. On the surface, it seemed like he was quite negative towards the she-wolf, but in actuality, he was constantly gauging his emotions. his eyes would scan her facial expressions very carefully, and he would reply in a way that may be mean or teasing, but not enough to cause emotional harm.
In a way, he was being mindful of her emotions, but I wasn't sure if it was because of his own personal reasoning, or if it was just due to the matebond.
Elliot and Octavia didn't seem to mind, however. Although she complained about his negative language, that didn't stop her from always being starry eyed when she was around him. That could be due to the Matebond, but I don't think that was entirely the case. She may have already fallen for him deeply, which made her very tolerant to his actions.
Hopefully it didn't turn into a love crazed obsession.
But then I remembered what Octavia told me about Elliot, when she confessed her love to Deimos over and over, after stabbing him multiple times.
I shook my head. It may already be a love crazed obsession.
"Octavia!"
A white blur few into Octavia's form, and she yelped before falling to the ground. I flinched at the impact, and worriedly looked at where she fell. "Ow! Lilly? Get off of me! Your armor's digging into my chest. . . You're stabbing my boobs!" she groaned, and the person apologized before rolling off of her.
"Sorry, sorry, I got a little excited. When I found out that you were in control, I rushed over here to find you! I never got to meet you a few days ago, but everyone else did, so that really annoyed me so now I made sure to find you so that I could meet you myself! So are you just like Elliot? I heard that you are like her opposite, is that true? I also heard that you don't have a wolf form. How are you able to operate a human body so easily then-"
Octavia covered her mouth, then shuddered.
"Ugh, she's worse than I thought."
"How mean Octavia! They were right, you're just like Deimos!" she whined, and Octavia ignored her as she massaged her chest, mumbling about how hard Lilly's armor was.
"Octavia, are you listening?"
"No."
Lilly then whined, before accidentally locking gazes with me. Her bright blue eyes stared at me from head to toe, and she sent me a strange look.
Then she grinned.
"Wait a minute. . . Are you Marely?"
"Umm, yes-"
"I knew it! You're just like how Elliot described you!" she gushed. I looked to Octavia nervously, and she rolled her eyes, before gesturing to the excited female. "This is Lilly. She talks a lot."
That her entire introduction.
Deimos sighed, then spoke.
"Lilly's the second in command of the Alpha King's Army-"
"You can't just leave things like that out Octavia!" I quickly took about three steps back, then bowed my head at the Second in command. "P-please forgive me for my rudeness! I am Marley of Moonshine-but you already know my name. . . Umm. . . thank you for being merciful to the Eastern Territory, and saving our people from-"
"Oh, you don't really need to be so formal! You're Elliot's guardian, so you could just call me Lilly-"
"No she can't, idiot. She's a regular werewolf, so she has to be formal."
A woman appeared next to Lilly, and gently tapped the back of Lilly's head with the handle of her sword. Although I didn't recognize the Second in command, I definitely recognized this person.
General Europa. The Watcher of the throne, and the Commander of the King's army. She was with the King when I visited all of those years ago, and I never forgot the aura she exuded. I stepped back several more paces than before, then bowed my head even lower. "Greetings, General Europa. . . Commander of the Army of our King. I-it is an honor to stand in your presence-"
"Oh, wait a minute, is this Marley? It is isn't it? It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Elliot. . . How are you?"
I stopped talking, then hesitantly nodded.
"Marley's acting weird", I heard Octavia say, but I kept my head bowed. Deimos replied to her afterwards. "She's showing respect to those that are superior. It's not everyday that a regular werewolf encounters the Commander and the Second in command on the same day. Their power and authority is several times higher than everyone else's. She has to show respect."
"They're that much stronger? Oh, I didn't notice."
"I know. It happens sometimes."
I rolled my eyes. Of course you didn't notice. You guys are way too overpowered now to tell the difference.
"That's enough Marley, you could lift your head now", I did as I was told, and looked up at the commander. She wore the intricate and lightweight armor that only the white wolves create, which actually expands in certain areas once shifted. It shone like diamond, and was barely scratched or dented. Her sword was the same hue, glittering even under the cloudy skies that dimed the light from above.
"Why are you all here?" I asked. Commander Europa parted her lips to speak. . .but was immediately interrupted.
"We are here to guide the Young Empress to the meeting place of the all of the Alphas of the Eastern territory."
Elder Athena came form behind me, with her arms behind her back. She then turned around and tilted her head at me. "So you're coming as well?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.
"Elliot said so."
Elder Athena slowly turned away from me, and gazed at Octavia.
"I see."
She walked past Octavia, then she stopped a few feet away from her. "Octavia. . . Isn't it time that you give the young Empress her body back?"
Hostility immediately filled the air.
A secret fire burned between the two of them, spiraling around them with an otherworldly intensity.
And it only lasted for a second. No, barely a second.
If I wasn't so close to them, I wouldn't have felt it.
What was going on?
Octavia blinked, then turned to me.
"Marley. . . I got to go."
I opened my mouth to ask what had happened, but was quickly stopped when she hugged me.
It lasted for a second, before she leaned up to kiss my cheek.
But she didn't.
She pressed her forehead by my ear, and she forced her thoughts into my mind. The voice was jumbled, but slowly rearranged itself in my mind. When the voice finally cleared-
I froze.
'Beware of Athena.'
Octavia pecked my cheek, then turned to Deimos. I remained still, not knowing why Elliot told me that in the first place. I glanced at Elder Athena, and watched as she stared at the woods. Beware of Athena? What does that mean? I thought to myself. Is she. . .our enemy?
Athena suddenly turned around, and looked directly at me. I held my breath, and my entire body stiffened. Her glowing red orbs stayed locked unto my form, and didn't even twitch.
She barely even moved.
Slowly, a small smile made it's way across her face. and she waved at me. I lifted my hand, and was about to wave back, until she suddenly looked away, staring at Octavia. I shakily exhaled, before clenching my fist.
But that's not true is it? She's not our enemy. . . but she's not truly an ally.
There was something else going on. Something far beyond our perception. She knows however, and is working towards a goal, a pathway that only she could see.
But what was it?
Athena's POV
When you've finally accomplished something that you've set out to do, the time taken to accomplish it diminishes. Years feel like minutes, days, like seconds. Time well spent. All worth it.
It took millenniums of 'work' to accomplish what stood before me today, and the time taken now felt truly meaningful. My ancestors toiled for centuries, hoping to see what I currently saw. They lived, toiled and died, trying to reach this seemingly unattainable goal. Several generations dedicated and sacrificed their lifetimes, stacking lifetimes upon lifetimes.
A tower of lifetimes.
An endless mass of human toil and suffering, pain and hardships, stacked upon the several meaningful centuries that it took to reach to this point.
A tower of arms, a tower of hope, of painful earth shattering hope, reaching for the unobtainable heaven.
This hope made my ancestors push the limits of evolution, of mental and spiritual growth, bending the laws of this world, just like the humans had almost done a millennia ago. The humans subconsciously knew their destiny as soon as they looked up to the heavens. For thousands of years, and thousands of generations, humanity unconsciously acted like a single organism, trying to explore its world, trying to grab its destiny.
But most importantly, it gazed upon the heavens.
It stared at it with desperation.
It swam.
It drove.
It flew.
It orbited.
It landed on the moon.
It landed on the planets.
It went around the sun.
It explored, and explored, and explored.
Yet the humans. . . that organism. . . wasn't satisfied.
And that was because they didn't know what they were searching for.
That was until they stopped looking at the stars, and started looking within.
To bend the laws of the world, the one observing the world had to be altered. The world didn't exist if there was nothing to observe it. That was learnt.
So the laws were bent, and bent, and bent, and bent.
The humans climbed higher and higher, but the tower swayed. Humanity missed the heavens, but it wasn't accidental. It was destined to happen. Humans had to fail. That was their destiny. To fail. Their failure was their destiny. Their destiny to create an opportunity. An anomaly.
And that anomaly released the Devourer.
Humanity fulfilled their destiny, their tower crumbled, the sky darkened and curses rained down on the planet.
It was now our turn.
The Red wolves were like our own organisms as well, and we picked up what the humans left off. We destroyed ourselves. . .our matebonds, our wolf forms, most of our attributes. But because we had much more to lose, we reached further than the humans did. Much further. Impossibly further.
Then most of us died.
We couldn't live longer than two centuries, we couldn't form mates, we couldn't copulate.
Our population became sterile. Our tower crumbled.
But we had made it.
We had fulfilled our destiny.
Our destiny was also to fail.
But we achieved the goal that was set out for us.
The 'tower' was no longer needed. We had made it. We had finally made it. It wasn't all worthless.
I looked at the Young Express, the fruit of our destiny, and sighed.
Finally.
I heard a familiar rumbling in the spiritual realm, and I turned towards the East, where I observed the large disturbance from within my spiritual gaze. Light and darkness seemed to bend around this anomaly, and what couldn't evade, was consumed completely.
It was the Devourer, or what the others called, the Queen of the Vulcans. It's eternal form was true to its name, and if any regular person were to see it, they would lose all hope of survival, all reason for living. The young empress showed no signs of being able to see it, nor the ability to sense that it has been following us for days.
But that wasn't a problem.
She still had time to grow. As she slowly obtained Deimos' Talent, the laws of this world were finally snapping, little by little.
I sensed someone's gaze on my form, and I noticed that it was actually the 'Marley' woman, staring at me with a strange expression.
I pretended to smile, and waved at her. She unconsciously bit her lip, and rose her hand to wave at me.
I didn't wait to see her greeting. I refocused on the Young Empress.
Once she finally unlocked the ability to sense that creature's Aura, It would have already caught up to us.
But I wasn't afraid.
My duty was done. These moments were simply a blessing, a merciful extension of time giving to me so that I could behold the growth of the being that would remove the Laws placed on this ruined existence, and revive the ones that created it.
They will renew us.
They will set things right.
They will destroy the Devourer, that Queen of nothingness.
I bit my lip, then stared at the clouds above.
"Then our sacrifice would be meaningful. . . right? It would finally all end. . . right?"
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Hope you enjoy.
Gonna go read.