Goddess of the Moon
POV: Alexandra
Fortunately, we didn’t have to take a carriage to the destination that Aphrodite determined would be the best spot for the ritual. This ritual involved two powers that would need to marry to free Lucien of the blood magic curse. Aphrodite explained that she would need to call on the Goddess of the Moon Artemis. She asked her to meet us there and she had agreed since she was curious to meet her soul niece. Artemis, from what I understood, was Apollo’s twin sister. I was doubly nervous knowing that I would meet someone who was essentially my soul aunt and, most of all, the fact that Aphrodite was going to lift the suppression on my powers to ensure that I would unleash my full powers on Lucien. I had asked her if this would affect him in any way. She explained that since the Aphrodite power in the blood magic was so strong that this power from me would cancel out any feelings she placed on his heart. Aphrodite explained that she was super pissed that they meddled in her affairs using the blood of her own child. She told me that her vengeance would be epic on those who dared to defy the Gods. She wouldn’t give me any particulars.
Aphrodite directed me and the others to gather up white candles, a gift that Lucien had given me, anything that symbolized his favorite color, and a small lock of my own hair. She placed the candles that Jheelis brought her in an ornate silver box while I searched through my jewelry box for the bracelet he had given me shortly after coming back from the Glades. It was rose gold, with rose gold roses around it with small rubies inlaid to the center of each rose. I wasn’t really supposed to wear it to events where royalty would be since red was the color of House Doré and would be seen as presumptuous to wear their color around them. I had asked him why he would give me a gift that I couldn’t wear around him and he simply implied that I wouldn’t wait long to wear it around him. He was being overly confident that I would win the competition. I shook my head at the small piece of jewelry marveling at the fact that he thought this was a practical gift for me to wear. I handed this bracelet to Aphrodite. As she got near to me with the box, I could see the outside was covered in silver ivy wrapping itself around the box, almost like it was keeping it locked up. When Aphrodite went to open it, the vines would unravel to allow her to place the jewelry in there. The inside of the box was lined with dark blue velvet but there was a beautiful white glow coming from the bottom of the box. I looked up at her, “Why is it glowing?” She careened her head to look into the box, “Oh, I assume since this is Artemis’ box, it has a moonstone relic inlaid into the bottom to keep its contents safe. If someone were to try to steal the box, it would spell trouble for them. It is, in effect, a curse from Artemis to anyone who would dare to take something that belonged to her…or in this case, her niece.” I had directed Jynx to go down to the greenhouse to ask Tyleesh to help her find the blue rose that is especially cultivated in Blackwood. Blue was Lucien’s favorite color, I thought it was appropriate to bring something his favorite color that would symbolize my house. She came back with a rose that had just barely bloomed, the room filled with a lemony scent that the blue roses were known for. Aphrodite held out the box to collect the rose from Jynx who gently placed it in the box. I took a pair of sewing scissors out of the drawer and cut off a small lock of my hair. I went to hand it to Aphrodite but she placed it on the desk then pulled out a lavender ribbon and tied the lock up. She gently placed it inside the box which glowed even brighter once the hair was placed inside. She smiled, “I think it reacted to you since you are of her lineage.”
After everything was gathered, Jheelis helped me to put my coat on but we were quickly warned that I would need to shed the coat before the start of the ritual. It would be unsightly for me to wear anything other than the specified garb. Never mind that I could freeze my tatas off but let’s not be unsightly. I didn’t want to sass a literal goddess so I kept that thought to myself. I heard a laugh in my head, it was a familiar chuckle that I had heard countless times before. I wondered what in Vellum Mordred wanted from me this time. I closed my eyes to concentrate on sending him a nonverbal telepathic message, “What do you want, dear uncle?” I heard him clear his throat, “Oh…for two reasons…” I sighed as I opened my eyes and got ready to step through the portal that Jynx had been ready to make. She stopped to look at me, “I will let you finish, my lady.” I wondered how she knew what was going on but I would ask her that later. I needed to finish this silly conversation as I cast my thoughts back, “What would those two things be.” A short silence followed, “Well, I wanted to give you a heads up that this jerk fairy king has had enough of our company up here and will be returning to Tarn tomorrow.” I grunted and spoke out loud, “Oh great, we have to deal with Renier again starting tomorrow.” Jheelis chuckled, “He is exasperating to be sure.” Modred chuckled at the declaration he heard, it was new to me that he would be able to hear what I heard. He continued, “I also thought I would send some encouragement your way, you will be fine tonight, my dear one. It takes a strong woman to do what you are about to do and I know of no one better to break the curse from our dear King Lucien. Good luck tonight, my dear one. I will leave you to peace now.” Silence followed and I knew he had really meant that he was going to leave me in peace.
I turned to Jynx and was going to tell her that I was done but she had already lifted her arm to open the portal. With a flick of her wrist and a confident smirk, the portal opened. She bowed at me, “My lady, I would be honored if you would step through the portal I have made for you.” I looked over at Aphrodite who shook her head, “Oh I cannot ride in those portals. I have to transport using God magic. I will meet you all out there.” She disappeared into her purple orb and it faded out of the room. I stepped forward and inhaled, I thought that at some point taking portals would be second nature to me. Nope, I still got nauseated whenever I came out on the other side. I sighed, “I wonder if I will ever not want to puke when I step out of these things.” Jynx placed her hand on my shoulder, “I can help with that, my lady. I will do it on the other side.” I thought of the gum my mother gave me the first time I took a portal to Vellum. I stepped through the portal with Jheelis and Jynx followed. As usual, I stepped out of the other side and felt the sensation I had dreaded as I had countless times taking these various portals in my time since finding out I was a pyrio daughter of a Duke from a realm called Vellum. Jynx placed her hands on my shoulders and closed her eyes. I felt a warm sensation come from the palms of her hands and she opened her eyes to reveal two pitch-black eyes. It was like staring into the eyes of someone who had their eyes replaced by two perfectly smooth obsidian stones. She almost looked alien and she closed her eyes again. The nausea was gone suddenly and she smiled as she opened her eyes to reveal that they had gone back to normal, “You should no longer have nausea when you travel through portals.” I smiled back at her, “You’re my new best friend.” She giggled and blushed as I continued to heap praise on her for taking away that dreaded feeling. I had begun to ask her if she could cure the fatigue on my feet when I wore heels but I was interrupted by Aphrodite calling out to us.
She was standing in a stone circle, not quite like Stonehenge like the ritual grounds in Blackwood. These were much smaller stones and were shaped more like boulders and the stones were round and white. As I approached they started to glow and got brighter as I approached until they were fully glowing. I looked around, “What is going on here?” Aphrodite waved her arm around the circle, “This is the moon ritual grounds in Kastilidan Glades. This is where the people in Vellum gather to worship Artemis. Those are moonstones so I can only guess they are reacting to your soul, as you are a child of Apollo.” A white orb in the sky revealed a tall brunette woman who had tan skin and green eyes. She looked at me but did not wear a smile. She was regarding me to see if I had lived up to whatever she had heard of me. She inhaled deeply, “You are correct Aphrodite. As she is my niece, the stones would react to her presence. This is Solamor then?” Aphrodite smiled and nodded, “Yes, this is the daughter of Aphrodite, the child of love. Daughter of Apollo, the daughter of the sun. Solamor. Child, this is your aunt and the one entrusted to watch over your children as soul godmother.” This was news to me that this would be the duty of the woman standing in front of me. She walked over to me and I could tell that she was not a small woman by any means. Others in Terre might’ve considered her an Amazonian woman. She was about as tall as Derek but not muscular in the way I imagined Amazons would be. She wrapped her arms around me and stroked the back of my head, “Welcome to my temple, long-awaited child of my family.” She pulled away and looked at me to take in my attire and frowned. I quickly shed the coat that I had been wearing. She nodded then smiled when she saw that gown I had been wearing, “Good, now you may enter my circle.” She looked over at Aphrodite, “Did you tell the semi-mortal what to wear?” Aphrodite gasped, “Oh no, I didn’t! Is there any way we can get word to him quickly?” I looked over my shoulder at Jynx who understood what I was about to ask her. I realized at that moment that I had found my own female version of Malinus. I turned to the two goddesses and asked, “What is he supposed to wear then?” Artemis snapped her fingers and a scroll materialized and she handed it to Jynx. Jynx then opened a portal for herself and stepped through.
We waited around for what felt like an eternity while Jheelis and I watched the goddesses set the candles that we had gathered on each stone in the circle. Artemis had asked Aphrodite if she had brought a means to light the candles and that was yet another thing Aphrodite forgot. The two women started to bicker until something seemed to dawn on Artemis. She looked at me and pointed, “It’s a good thing my brother’s primary magic is the sun and fire. It stands to reason she would have that power.” Aphrodite beamed at that, “She’s just about the most proficient among the semi-mortals.” They placed the blue rose, the bracelet, and the lock of hair on what looked like a white podium in front of what looked like a sacrificial table. Artemis smiled down at the items on the podium, “We are now set. We just need the man. He needs to hurry or the window will close.” I began to worry that it had been a while since I sent Jynx. To my relief, a portal opened behind us and five people ran through it. Two of them were holding one of them up. As I approached, I could see Lucien had a medium-sized gash of blood on his forehead. Blake was being held up by him and Malinus. I looked over at Jynx for an explanation but she was breathless. When she finally caught her breath, she looked at me and said, “It was The Order. They were trying to stop us from leaving. The castle is under attack right now.”
