Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

-Arch-
Tilly and I decided not to give Jaden hard time for being so sad. We both could feel how much he missed Oliver already as we were driving back home, sitting in our seats in complete silence. It felt wrong not having Oliver with us, even for me. The Beta spirit in me was anxious since it was my duty to keep the pack together and safe, and as a friend, I missed his company.
And I needed him to take care of Jack.
I turned to look out the window, secretly rubbing my arm. It was still aching, but I never told anyone. It wasn't the spot where it had been cut off. It was the spot I got shot. Obviously, there was no poison or a wound or even a scar left of the incident, but it still hurt. But what hurt more was Jack's refusal to talk to me.
I understood his reasons. I understood he was not well. I understood I'd hurt him. I understood he needed time. I understood it all, but...
I just wanted to tell him how sorry I was about everything and thank him for saving my life. I wanted to know why he never said anything. Why he let me believe he thought I was the lowest scum on earth? Why was I the one he wanted as his mate?
Why did he act like he hated me?
I let out a silent sigh, trying to stop that loop of questions I'd had in my head ever since I learned the truth about him. But there was still one more question. The one I desperately needed an answer to.
Could he be my mate?
If there was a chance that I'd consider him as my mate, Henry had ruined it. It was him I'd seen in Jack's eyes every time I looked at him. I'd thought I knew Jack, what kind of person he was, but the truth was... I had never even met the real him.
My stomach turned unpleasantly, making me retreat deeper into myself. The warnings were growing worse again... It was so goddamn hard to focus on anything. I was hardly able to sleep, and eating was pure torture since all I wanted to do was throw up. I did my best to not show how sick I was because we all knew the danger we were in, so there was no point in making anyone worried over my condition.
But this one was worse. I could already tell. I was shivering, the cold sweat piling up on my forehead. By the time we reached our town, I felt so dizzy I wasn't sure if I could get out of the car.
Tilly parked in front of her home, and they both got out. I tried to follow them without throwing up or fainting. The second I tried to stand, my legs gave up, and I found myself on my knees, staring at the white snow under my hands.
"Arch!"
They both were next to me in a heartbeat, helping me up.
"What's wrong?" Tilly asked.
"You're completely white," Jaden muttered in worry.
"Arch? Can you hear me?" Tilly asked.
I forgot to answer her when I suddenly saw scorched land under my feet. It was only for a brief second, so I wasn't sure if my eyes were doing tricks on me.
"Arch? Can you walk?"
"Arch? Arch!"
"We need to take him inside."
I was barely aware of them walking me towards Tilly's house. Every second step I took, I could see burning grass for a split second, before it was snow again. I looked up so I wouldn't have to see it, but stopped walking in horror when I saw the burned remains of what was supposed to be Tilly's home. When I blinked, that image was gone.
"Arch? Come on – you need to lay down," Jaden spoke, tugging my hand.
"What's going on...?" I whispered, my vision turning blurry.
"Dad! Arch needs help!" Tilly suddenly shouted, her loud voice hurting my ears.
"Is it the warnings?" I heard Alastair's voice, his footsteps approaching us.
"I think so," Jaden said.
"When did it start?"
I couldn't hear their conversation. I guess I passed out since the next time I became aware of my surroundings, I was lying on a couch in Tilly's living room. There were a lot of people staring down at me.
"Hey," Tilly smiled, wiping my forehead with a wet cloth. "How are you feeling?"
"If I don't move..." I murmured, unable to finish that sentence since even speaking made me feel worse.
I closed my eyes, feeling so goddamn tired and sick I almost wanted to end it all. At least I wasn't seeing the burning images of my beloved home. Seeing those things had scared me. I was still scared. I'd never seen anything like that before... And I feared... I feared...
...Visions?
Had I just witnessed what was going to happen to our home?
"Hey, kiddo," Rayleigh stepped closer with a somber look on his face. "You holding up?"
"For now," I breathed out.
"Something is going on," Thisalee said quietly, looking like she was ready for war. "Something big is happening right now."
"The wards are holding strong," the oldest of the Spirit Walkers, Augustus, spoke somewhere behind the Alpha couple. "And the spirits haven't spotted anything unusual."
"Our town burns," I spoke, wanting to cough, but I knew I wouldn't be able to hold the contents of my stomach in if I did that. "I saw it."
Silence fell in the room. All eyes were on me.
"You... saw it?" Rayleigh frowned.
"We're not under attack," Augustus said, pushing past the Alphas. "What exactly did you see?"
"I..." I closed my eyes. I didn't want to look back at the flashes of our scarred territory, but I was the Diviner of this pack. "Everything was burning... This house... The forest... Everything..."
"What else?" Rayleigh asked with a demanding voice.
I tried to shake my head, but before I could do that, I saw... I saw a figure. Staring at me. Laughing at me. I couldn't see his face, but I knew... He was victorious.
I was hit by such tremendous pain... I had only once felt such pain before – when Henry had pulled me through Shadow Realm. I didn't know I was screaming. I didn't know I was being held back by four sets of arms.
"Stay back!"
It wasn't I who yelled. Maybe Rayleigh... The pain was driving me out of my mind. I tried to get away from it. I tried to find a place I could rest and not be constantly in pain. And sick. I was so tired of being sick all the time...
Suddenly, I was outside again, but not in the peaceful, snowy forest. I looked up and saw nothing but dark brown dirt. Dust. Ashes. My home... All gone. The ground was shaking, splitting in pieces right before my eyes. The sky was red, as if the air itself was set on fire.
And he stood there. The dark, faceless figure. He was something much, much worse than Henry could ever be.
"Your gift..." he spoke with such a horrible voice I wanted to start crying. Like a hiss of a thousand snakes, but much more sinister than that. Emptier. "...will be the death of you..."
He lifted his hand, and the pain... My goddess...
I screamed.
"Not today."
I saw something golden fly past me. And another. The figure vanished, and I gasped so hard it hurt my lungs before collapsing onto the ashes. I could only lie there, shivering. Gasping. My mind so blank that for a moment I thought I'd died.
And the pain was gone.
The scarred land, however, was not. Weakly, I pushed myself on my side and saw four golden figures approaching me, wearing golden clothes, golden capes. Two men, two women. I could not tell their ages, but they were beautiful.
"Not today," one of the men repeated as he stopped next to me, looking down at me with pity and sorrow in his eyes.
"Who...? How...?"
And I recognized one of them.
"Selene..." I breathed out when I saw her ageless face again, understanding I was accompanied by gods.
"Diviner," she smiled at me with a nod.
She stopped next to me as well, while their two companions passed us and stopped to study the ground where the dark figure had stood, both holding golden bows in their hands. Arrows... I'd seen arrows fly past me.
But the woman caught my eye. I recognized her too.
She was one of the guardian spirits that came for our aid when Jack, possessed by Henry, attacked us. But it was not a spirit I was looking at.
"Artemis..." I spoke her name, the connection not hitting me quite yet.
"Are we too late?" Selene asked the man, who was still staring at me.
"Late, but not too late," he sighed, kneeling next to me. "He broke my gift."
I stared at him, thankfully too freaking tired to freak out by his intense stare. "Who broke what?" I whispered.
The man gave me a sad smile. "I gave you a gift at your birth, but he broke it."
I had so many questions, but I focused only on one. "He who?"
"Our enemy," he spoke. "It can be fixed, however."
"Who was he?" I asked, carefully pushing myself to sit up.
"That is what we've been trying to find out," Selene spoke. "They have many faces."
I glanced at her, then at the man in front of me. "Who are you?" I asked, feeling some weird familiarity with him, even though I was sure I'd never met him before.
"I am Helios. I am the god of Sun. I am the Sun" he smiled at me.
"The Sun?" I repeated.
That was why he felt so familiar, I suppose...
"Yes. And you have my gift. Or what is left of it," he sighed, touching my cheek with his warm hands.
"He broke it..." I whispered, realizing I couldn't feel the familiar connection with the world anymore.
Helios moved his hand away, pulling a small, radiant sphere out of me. It was badly cracked.
"No..." I whispered, almost taking it back from him, but managing to stop myself.
"It can be fixed," Helios spoke reassuringly. "I will bring it back to you once it is done."
I stared at the sphere. My ability. "Why?" was the next question. "Why did you give it to me?"
"For the same reason my sister gave another ability of mine to your brother," he spoke. "We are at war, and we've chosen our champions."
"Brother?" I repeated, starting to feel really stupid because of how confused I was.
"Jaden," Selene helped.
"Why would you choose us?" I asked, now feeling really small and helpless. "We're just a bunch of stupid kids."
They both shortly chuckled at my words. Then Helios stood up, pulling me up with him. "You are Cerberus. We let you out, and we are making sure Hades' ferocious beast is living up to its terrifying reputation."
Terrifying...? Me?
"You will see," Helios said, and turned to look at the two archers. "Artemis, Apollo."
Now it clicked.
"You really are gods," I whispered.
"Yes," Helios turned to tell me. "Though, until now, we were mere spirits. After the Harbinger let us out, we've been looking for our long-lost glory. We do not belong here anymore, but..." he trailed off, taking in a deep breath.
"We still have a little bit of power here," Selene said, as the other twins joined us.
"We found nothing," Artemis said, glancing at me. "But he was without a doubt after your gift."
"They already tried to assassinate me just before the battle started," I said, feeling dizzy.
"How does it feel like to be the person our enemy fears the most?" Selene asked me with a spark in her eyes.
"Not good," I said truthfully. "Why, though? I could barely use my ability. I couldn't foresee anything. I'm hardly a threat."
"They were actively trying to interfere with your ability," Helios spoke. "But you have grown much stronger in mere days. Your true spirit is now awake, and it was only a matter of time before you'd reached your full strength. They knew that."
"But there is one thing giving me great concern," Apollo spoke. "A gift from gods can be repaired, so this was an attempt to buy some time. They are doing something right now. Something they did not want us to see."
They all fell silent. I, on the other hand, couldn't see their concern.
"I don't have visions, so I couldn't have seen anything either way. I only get feelings. I can feel when the ice is about to break under my feet, or when someone is planning on hurting me. I don't get the details. Even if my ability worked just fine, I could only tell that someone is doing something that is causing me harm. I really am no threat."
"You were about to reach that stage of your powers," Helios said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "And what a power it is. Once you learn to handle it, your enemy will tremble at your feet."
I didn't share his conviction.
Maybe he could see that, since he chuckled. "You still have a lot to learn."
Suddenly, all four of them turned to look back. My heart skipped a beat when I turned to see what they were looking at, but I saw nothing. The four gods relaxed, though.
"Oh..." Selene breathed out, and smiled. "I see you're here as well."
"And who would that be?" I asked carefully, still not seeing anyone around.
They all turned to glance at me.
"A friend," Selene said, and suddenly, all but Helios vanished.
"I will return my gift shortly. Then I will teach you how to use it, so they can't trick you like this ever again."
"I didn't mean to be tricked..." I muttered, not feeling too great about myself.
"I know. I wished you had more time to learn the ability at your own pace. It will be mentally exhausting to force the process, but what can we do? You are our chosen warriors, and it is our duty to give you everything we can to win this war," Helios spoke. "You should rest now. Your body had to go through a lot."
"I still don't understand half of the things I just saw," I said, nearly begging him to stay and explain.
"Your thirst for knowledge is something I admire about you," Helios said. "But I must go. There's work to be done," he added, throwing my sphere up in the air and catching it again.
"Please," I tried stepping towards him, but he had already turned around and was walking away.
"You will be safe for now. We are watching you closely. And do tell Matilda she should try her skills in archery."
And with that, he was gone. So was the scorched land.
It took me a moment to understand what I was looking at. Jaden was standing in front of me, Tilly on his left. And someone else on his right.
"Jack?" I whispered his name.
"Are you all right?" Jaden asked carefully, keeping his hand raised in front of him, his fingers spread like he was... like he was scared of me, trying to make me to stop. His sleeve was torn...
I looked around and realized I was standing in the middle of the forest with half of my pack surrounding me. I looked down and saw my claws. My bloodied claws. I was halfway into a shape-shift.
"What's going on...?" I whispered, seeing all the familiar faces from my parents to Rayleigh, all staring at me in worry.
"We're uh... just having a little stroll around the woods," Jaden said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "But I think we should head back now, don't you think?"
"I..." I trailed off, my body suddenly feeling heavy. I turned to look at Jack again and saw worry in his eyes. "I think..."
That was when I passed out.
-Cameron-
Something sifted in the darkness. Something new... like icy fingers disturbing my eternal slumber. I let it be. There was no reason for me to acknowledge them. Peace returned, and I let myself drift.
Whispers...? Someone was being serious, but again, I ignored it.
"...hear..."
No. I moved away from the voices and the ever-so-delicate disturbance in the darkness. How annoying...
"...answer..."
I answered to no one. Not even someone as powerful as this one. No one had ever gotten so close I could hear their voice, but that wasn't going to help them. My answer was still no. I was not leaving this place.
"Hear me!"
If I had a body, I would have been grinding my teeth together. This was starting to anger me.
"Answer to our call!"
Fine... Have it your way then.
I took the hand that was searching for me, letting it pull me out of my resting place. I felt three of them upon my arrival. I possessed all of them. I lifted them up and brought them closer to me.
'What do you want, mortal?' I addressed the strongest of them, tightening my hold on their bodies.
"I... I...!" he gurgled, staring at me in shock with my invisible hand around his throat.
'Then prepare to die,' I told him, already bored with these individuals.
"Wait."
I felt something new behind me and turned around.
"Please let go of them – I've already lost too many men," a man said with a bored look on his face. He looked young, but he was not.
'You brought me here,' I guessed, letting go of his little pigs. They fell on the stone floor, gasping for air and scurrying away from me.
"Yes. I have something you want," the man said, inflicting rage in my chest.
'Choose your next words carefully,' I said calmly.
"There is nothing you can do to me," the man said. "But I'm not lying. I know you. I know what you were looking for, and I know where you can find–"
'You are lying. What you're saying is impossible,' I spoke, the rage nearly consuming me once more.
"I can show you," the man said, waving his hand.
I was suddenly surrounded by snow. A battlefield of some kind. I could hear the sounds of a battle around me. Werewolves... Spirits, shadows, humans.
And a guardian. I could only stare at him.
"I told you I wasn't lying," the man said, appearing next to me. "He became a guardian. Fitting, don't you think?"
I turned to glare at him.
'What do you want?' I growled.
"I have a world to destroy. I need powerful shadows at my side. And I need that guardian gone. He is protecting a Spirit Walker child who stole something from me right under my nose," he said, looking at the guardian fighting a handful of shadows all by himself. "Poetic, isn't it? Of all spirits, it was him who answered the call. Now, the question is..." he trailed off and turned to look at me. "Will you answer mine?"
There was only one answer.
'Yes.'