Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 49: Chapter 49

-Jack-
I stared out the window at the back of the Hall as Oliver spoke with the Alphas in the room. Things had gone to shit once again, but I... I was scared and worried, of course, but not the same way I used to be. I felt this certain calmness in me. And confidence.
Like this wasn't my first time fighting for our lives, and that had nothing to do with the little battles I'd lived through in my short life. No... That feeling in me was much more ancient than that.
There was movement right next to me. Arch shifted his weight while he leaned against the wall with Tilly right next to him, his eyes white and his senses most likely all over the place as he kept a close eye on our surroundings. I could feel his disappointment in himself. He blamed himself for us getting so easily ambushed, even though it was not his fault. The enemy had once again tricked us.
Adam had tricked us.
But now we knew his secrets.
I turned to see the people in the room and noticed Aurora keeping her eye on me and Tilly. When our eyes met, she smiled and walked to me. She stopped in front of me and placed her hand on my shoulder, giving me a proud look.
"Your true form is magnificent," she whispered, then hugged me.
"Thanks," I murmured back, wrapping my arms around her as well.
I hadn't even realized how much I needed that hug. Her warm arms took away most of the fear and tension I had carried in me. She squeezed me tightly, then pulled back to look at me.
"Look at you..." she whispered. "You are so strong now that your strength gives us strength."
My first reaction was to argue back, but... I was not weak anymore.
"I wouldn't be here without you and this pack. My strength came from all of you," I said.
"That is what families are for," she murmured.
She hugged me again, then took her place between Tilly and me and continued listening to the conversation. I tuned out of it, and instead, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I dug through my memories, trying to find clues and hints about Adam and his castle.
When we searched for Oliver in that place, we'd rushed through boring hallways. I'd not seen anything even mildly interesting in our path. Nothing, not even paintings or statues. Just empty hallways. I'd not felt anything out of the ordinary, either. But the room he'd held Oliver in... That machine Adam had used on him... I'd broken the machine first thing after tearing down the wall between us and them, but Adam could probably fix it. It wasn't important now, anyway. We already knew what it could do. But had there been something else...?
I went through the entire scene, trying to remember every single little detail, but only one thing kept drawing in my attention.
The look on Adam's face when he saw me.
Fear.
I opened my eyes and continued staring out the window.
"Why is Adam afraid of me?" I asked quietly, but the whole room heard me and fell silent.
"You are a Champion," Selene spoke. "And not just any Champion. You are Fenrir's Son."
"That's important?" I asked and turned around.
"Yes," Selene said and stepped closer. "Adam's power is to create life. He can take pieces of himself and turn them into new bodies, but in war, it's not very useful. He hides behind the abilities he must've stolen from other gods. Then there is you, with a power made for war."
"All I seem to have is sheer size," I noted.
Selene let out a small snort of amusement. "Imagine you have a sword of gods that can cut through anything. Anything, even your nearly impenetrable fur," she said. "But what's the point when your enemy is the size of a mountain?"
I snorted at her words. "I could've torn down his entire fortress," I said.
"And that is why he tried to get rid of you," Selene said. "But he can't kill you. He tried, but failed. He tried to turn you against us, but failed. He tried to possess your spirit, but failed magnificently. You're one of his worst enemies."
"I like the sound of that," I said.
'Of course you do, my little psycho.'
I smiled at my god's gentle words. "Fenrir. I was getting worried."
He appeared next to me, looking banged up like he'd been through Hell.
"What happened?" I asked him, feeling now even more worried than when he was gone.
"Getting sent away is... I don't recommend it," Fenrir said with a soothing smile.
"Where did he send you?"
"To the deepest parts of the Spirit Realm. It took me a while to find my way back," he explained.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Are you all right?" he asked, and I nodded. "What happened after I got cast out?"
"We kicked ass," I said, earning a big smile from him. "Not Adam's ass, but–"
"Wait, what?" Fenrir frowned.
"The enemy is Adam," Selene said. "They saw him use his rib to create a new body for the part of Oliver's soul he stole."
"Wait, what?!"
We quickly filled him in.
"I should've known it was him!" Fenrir hissed. "I didn't recognize him after all this time!"
"He can create a new body for himself," Selene said and sighed. "He will probably do that again to throw us off."
Fenrir stared at her, then sighed. "Well... At least now we know who we are up against."
"Indeed," Selene said.
Fenrir shook his head in annoyance, then looked at me. In seconds, his smile returned, and he slowly lifted his hand to rest it on my shoulder. "You got up," he said quietly with a proud tone in his voice.
"Like I had a choice with you there yelling in my ear," I muttered.
His smile grew warmer. "I will always be there," he said, and added in a whisper, "No one takes my Champion away from me."
"And now they'll get to witness the wrath of our Sons and Daughters," Selene said in a fiery tone. "That traitor will be dealt with."
"Why is he doing this?" added Helios. "I've not heard of him in... How many centuries has it been?"
"I'd like to know what he wants, too," Selene said, her voice turning angrier. "Why would he betray us and attack Gaea? Why would he want to destroy this world?"
"Great, more questions..." Rayleigh muttered and sat down at the table. "I need to know everything about this Adam."
"We need to go find someone who has more information on him. I'm afraid I don't really know him," Fenrir said.
"I can't even remember the last time I spoke with him," Selene said.
"Me neither."
"Same..."
"He must've been hiding with the mortals. He can keep creating new bodies for himself so he's not bound to the Spirit Realm," Helios spoke.
"We'll go look for someone who knows him better than we do," Selene told Rayleigh, and Helios nodded. "Maybe Gaea can tell us what is going on."
"Thank you," Rayleigh said. "We need to know everything."
"Agreed," Helios said, and together, he and his sister vanished.
"What are we going to do in the meantime?" one of the Alphas asked.
I tuned out since we didn't really have much to go on, and I was too tired to focus on strategy talks. I guess Arch could feel it, since he took half a step closer to me to offer comfort. Our eyes met when I looked at him. His were still white.
My mate... He was so handsome, and I... I liked his white eyes. He looked even better like that.
"What can you see?" I asked quietly.
"I see you," he murmured with a smile, making me feel all kinds of things inside me. "Not with my eyes, but I can see the marks you've left behind. I can see the threads tying you to this world, and it's fascinating. Your connection to everything is deep... old... like you weren't born into this world, but the world was born around you," he spoke, lifting his hand to touch mine.
"You can see that?" I muttered, enjoying his skin against mine.
"Yes. You are one of the pillars this world can't go on without."
"I'm not..." I muttered, but his quiet chuckle interrupted me – curse his warm voice that always distracted me.
"Yes, you are," he whispered. "You should see what I can see. Without you, this world would've ended several times already. Today, we would've lost if you hadn't saved us. Adam would now have the Echo. Oliver would be dead, and Jaden, Tilly, and I would be possessed."
"All you had to do was get up," Fenrir added with a smirk – that eavesdropper. "I wasn't lying when I said this world still needs you."
"It can't survive without you," Arch agreed.
"Shut up..." I mumbled, feeling a faint blush creeping up on my cheeks.
Everyone who was listening laughed lightly at my words.
But I couldn't stop myself from thinking about the fear in Adam's eyes. Or the day when my father let Henry possess me. That day when I saved Oliver from him. That day when Henry tried to kill Arch, and I'd died saving him. I thought about the little cabin Rayleigh gave me. I remembered the words Heidi had told me when she fixed it. And I thought about how I died today.
How many times had someone pushed me to the ground already? And how many times had I gotten back up? How many times would I still have to get back up?
I looked down at our hands. Arch's skin was hot and soft, and for a short second, I didn't care about anything else in this world. For him, I would get back up. Again and again, no matter how many times he'd need it... And no matter how many times this world needed it...
I'd get up.
"I'm not giving up on this world," I whispered, and looked up into his eyes. "I will fight."
Arch smiled at me and nodded, taking my hand in his. I let out a slow breath, then turned to look at Fenrir, my god.
"I will fight," I repeated. "In your name. Once again. Until you and this world no longer need me."
"I will always need you, my Son," Fenrir whispered, hugging me tightly. "And this world will always need its Champion."
"Then I know how I'll be spending the rest of the eternity," I said.
When I pulled back, I saw several wide smiles around me. And I realized the room had fallen silent, and everyone watched me. When I faced them, my spirit was calmer than ever before.
I lifted my head.
"Fuck Adam," I said. "Today he showed us what he really is, and I'm not impressed. He is nothing but a puny little god hiding behind the powers of others. The only advantage he has are the stolen powers and an army he's been building for who knows how long, but that is all. He is just another god."
I turned to look at Oliver.
"All he can do is try to trick us to be scared of him; to believe we stand no chance against him," I told him. "But I'm not afraid anymore. You showed us we do stand a chance against him. You said you were unable to hurt him, but how many times did you take a knife to your soul and didn't even flinch? Twenty?"
"Something like that," Oliver said, and I could feel his inner strength growing.
"He could not hurt you either," I said. "And he was scared of you. I could taste his fear as he tried to kill you, but couldn't."
"He did freak out when he understood he can't kill you that easily," Jaden noted, hugging his mate with one hand.
"Freak out?" Tilly repeated. "He had a full-blown panic attack!"
"If he's so almighty, why was he holding onto the knife that clearly couldn't kill you? Makes me wonder if that was his best weapon against you," I said to Oliver. "We don't even know what weapons he does have, or if he even has any at all. Don't forget, we've already taken several of them back."
"And now we have a new one," Oliver said, suddenly holding Adam's dagger in his hand, but it was now made of pure light. "He forgot to take it back before sending us back home."
"See? He keeps making mistakes," I said. "We will not underestimate him, but we will not underestimate ourselves either. He can no longer push us around however he pleases. This is no longer his war. This is no longer his playground. We now have weapons and an army of our own. We, too, have strong fighters who can't be easily defeated, and Adam learned that the hard way today."
"He's not going to underestimate us the next time," Jaden said. "He will be better prepared."
"Perhaps, but so will we," I said.
"His mistake was to let us know his secrets," Oliver said with a nod. "We now have a better idea of what we're up against."
"Exactly, and if we're lucky, we may have a little more time to grow our own army," I said. "I have a feeling he will be having his hands full for now with his broken castle and the evil Oliver."
"I doubt the evil version will play nice with our enemy," Arch agreed. "The fake Oliver didn't give a damn about what happened to Adam."
'That thing was pathetic,' Cameron said with a snort. 'No surprise there...'
'Come on – it's Oliver we're talking about,' Cedric muttered.
"I don't mind," Oliver said. "I'm pissed that I was betrayed by myself."
"We will get your soul back," Jaden said. "You will be whole again."
Oliver gave him a gentle smile. "I'll whoop his ass first."
"That's the spirit."
I stopped to watch the people in the room. I could feel the hope and determination rising all around me. Adam had wished to scare us, but his tricks weren't working anymore.
"There is no room for fear," I said quietly. "This is the beginning of the end, the last nightfall for this world, but we can still stop it. We have to make sure there will be a new sunrise after the end."
"We will make sure of that. This is our world," Oliver said, his head held high. "I will do whatever it takes to protect it."
"As will I," I said, a smile spreading on my lips. "Adam raised us to be his worst enemies. He singled us out because he's afraid of us, and what we can do. I believe it is time he learns just how scary we can be."
"Agreed," Oliver said with almost an evil smile on his lips.
"You and I, Harbinger... Together, we will show Adam this world belongs to us," I said and took a deep breath, enjoying the strength and courage that was growing all around me. When I breathed out, I could feel the last bit of fear leaving me. I felt... I felt like myself again.
Myself.
A Champion.
"And we will show Adam he no longer belongs in it."