Losing The Light Of The Moon

Little Game Changer, Part I

Chapter 35: The Little Game Changer, Part I

JACE

While I understood they were misled and hated Frieda with every ounce of my being now, I found myself both angry and disappointed in my aunts. The hold Frieda had on them—to turn them against their family in such a way—yet part of me also felt for them. The intense pain in their faces as they relayed their story and the deep regret they continue to live with still...

Though it is thought she tried to come up with a way to stop it, in the end, my grandmother realized the outcome in her vision was something she could not change. She accepted her fate and worked her own magic to hide any knowledge of it from Frieda, but not before putting everything in place to save her youngest daughter, the only outcome she saw that could be changed, another secret kept from Frieda...but apparently, even then, Mother was headstrong, which as it turned out, was fortunate—at only eight years old, my mother ended up changing the entire game of cloak and daggers with their enemy...but it came at a cost...

Soren drawled out, “After the battle, there was a great deal of bitterness within the Howling Wind pack, which ended with heavy pressure on my father to drive all the witches out of our territory, starting with individual families as debates continued about what to do about The Chosen. He felt horrible for those families who had lived among us peacefully and helped us on so many occasions—especially Vesta, whose family had lived in her home for generations. Father went to talk with her personally—a decision he paid for later with accusations from the legacy families that lasted for many years afterwards.”

His aged eyes distant, Soren recalled, “Father’s hands were tied, but he still adamantly wanted to protect Vesta and Tati, who he was incredibly fond of. So, he and Soloman arranged for them to have a small home in Spirit Walker territory.”

With deep sadness in his tone, he regretfully continued, “Father was surprised when Vesta agreed to it instantly, then practically pushed him out the door. That’s when he asked about Tati, who normally ran outside to greet him and was always by her mother’s side yet was nowhere to be found. Vesta told him she was picking flowers, but he should make a point to visit her soon at Spirit Walker. Tati later told him that their mother had seen in one of her visions his death if Father had stayed. Frieda would have made it appear that she killed him trying to save Vesta. But Vesta also saw the house at Spirit Walker, knowledge she used to her advantage. The Chosen five arrived not long after he left.  Another source of guilt that haunted him—especially where Tati was concerned.” 

Both of their now tear-streaked faces reflected their continued feelings of devastation as Aunt Reina quietly sobbed, “Nimue let out a frightful scream that echoed throughout the house at the Forest of The Vines. As we all ran outside, Persephone and I both noticed the blood-soaked dress—it was a favorite of Mother’s. Frieda told us that she had a vision of Mother being killed by Nigel because she refused to leave when he tried to drive her out of our home. She immediately brought Mother to the forest, profusely apologizing, and appearing miserably distraught that she was too late, panicking that she couldn’t see Tati anywhere. We all left immediately to find her.”

“Frieda went to great lengths to make it impossible to dispute that Mother was killed in a wolf attack and there were witnesses stating Nigel had been at our house,” Aunt Persephone tearfully stated, “We barely had time to let that settle in before we frantically searched for Tati, not knowing that The Chosen five had already searched the area and came up with nothing.”

Aunt Reina’s mouth widened into a proud, yet remorseful grin, “We later found out that when Frieda and the others showed up at our home, Mother put a perfectly timed spell in place to distract them—a split second image of what looked like Tati running out the back door. Frieda was hoping Persephone and I would know of a secret place Tati may have run to hide, but of course, there wasn’t one. All of it was part of Mother’s plan.”

Lorenzo stunned everyone as he spoke up next, looking directly at me, “A plan that your headstrong mother changed at the last minute after she received her first vision just after their mother passed. She saw everything—all the different scenarios—including the plan for my father to be her guardian, bringing her home to Spirit Walker. I can’t even imagine what that must have looked like to a child or how she was able to react as she did, but as she was always mature and intelligent well beyond her years, Tati formed and executed her own plan.”

All of us sat in stunned silence for a moment until Alastor finally asked our burning question, choking out in disbelief, “Hold on a minute father—Auntie was supposed to become part of our family? A Spirit Walker?”

“Although it was a complicated situation at the time and all the details needed to be worked out, yes, she was,” Lorenzo fondly replied, “Mago and Vesta were dear friends. Truth be told, Nigel wasn’t the only one with a fondness for Jace’s mother—your grandfather adored Tati very much.  That’s why Vesta sent him the butterfly, knowing it wasn’t safe at Howling Wind and wanting Tati as far away from the Forest of the Vines as possible. Her voice rang out in his head explaining where Tati was and why—apologizing for not bringing her there directly, but Vesta felt compelled to follow the direction of her vision. He immediately set out with a group of our men to the home he set aside for them. But when he got there, there was no trace of Tati.”

“Where was she?” I incredulously asked.

“Your mother went to the last place our mother ever wanted her to go,” Aunt Persephone uncomfortably breathed out, “The Forest of The Vines.”

“Why in the world would Auntie go there?” Madeline emphatically questioned.

“So, she could keep deep love and adoration close to her,” Aunt Reina heartbreakingly replied, “Tati retrieved Mother so she could bury her at her new home. She was so sneaky, no one saw her. After a few weeks, she took Father there as well.”

I was completely confused by her reply, dumbfoundedly asking, “What new home? What was her plan?”

“The abandoned home your mother found. Her plan was simple—hide there until it was time—until she found a way for your aunt and I to see the truth—completely isolate herself to protect her and everyone else from Frieda, The Chosen, and us,” Aunt Persephone guiltily replied, “In a cloaked stone cottage deep in the forest on the outlying territory of—Crescent Moon.” 

“It would be two incredibly long years before we saw our Tati again,” Aunt Reina devastatingly told us, “and quite some time after that before our littlest sister trusted us again after we let her down and abandoned her so abominably.”

“It was two years before any of us would see her in person again,” Soren quietly stated, thoughtfully adding after, “The day she bravely saved both my father and I from another deadly fate.”

Tears fell down her cheeks as Aunt Persephone morosely whispered out, “And the day she did the same—for her sisters.”

***********

TATIANA

It wasn’t hard to see that Frieda still held a grudge against me for defeating her all those years ago in her game of lies and deception, not that I expected any less of her...but her current mind games were trying my patience...

“Tell me, do you regret any of your choices back then?” Frieda coldly asked, seething afterwards, “I know I do. You know the only reason I didn’t take you the day you were born is that I have never liked children—they seem to be so time-consuming and so...wicked.”

“I’m sure I didn’t help matters in that department, but do find myself incredibly grateful you didn’t make that choice—not that it would have mattered, I’m still my mother’s daughter inside,” I softly laughed out, maintaining my calm tone, “I don’t even need a vision to know your outcome would have been the same. But to answer your question—no, I have no regrets about the choices I made. I only regret that I was the real reason behind them having to be made in the first place.”

Frieda seemed to find herself amused, curiously pressing in a cynical tone, “Did you suffer in those years you were hiding from me? All alone—far away from the world around you—with nothing but your parents’ graves to talk to after you stole them from your sisters...knowing you and your powers were the reason they died?” Smirking as she added, “Tell me, if you could do it again, who would you have rather saved? Your parents or your sisters?”

“If I could do it all over again, none of them would perish,” I sweetly shot back, “And I didn’t have time for suffering—I was too busy studying and honing my skills and my powers for the day I saw coming—” Taking a step forward, I grinned, “A day you should remember very well, Frieda...the day I rid every one of The Chosen and helped put you here—in those shackles—at ten years old.”

“I remember your magnificence that day, my beautiful little fairy,” Frieda satisfyingly retorted, “The day you first became a murderer—something you should remember well—you killed Desmona, Medea, and Oratia and sent Nimue to her death—at the hands of wolves!”

“I remember defending myself against the triplets and Nimue’s choices led to her death,” I stoically replied.

“Taking a life so easily proves you have darkness within you. Your sisters showed promise as well—I saw the beautiful darkness within them,” Frieda proudly stated, “Darkness I know they still have, only quelling it because of your self-righteousness. Darkness you still have inside you—that I bring to the surface, even if you do try to hide it behind your morally superior exterior!”

My eyes drifted to the ground for a moment, laughing under my breath before I looked up to confidently lock my unwavering gaze at her once more, steadfastly stating, “Sometimes the darkness is necessary to remind us how beautiful the light can be.”

“Mmmmm, you do love wise quotes, don’t you?” Frieda rasped out in a deadly tone, “Allow me to add one to your repertoire—Peace has cost you your true strength. Victory will defeat you.”

The green door burst open again in my mind, forcing me to use all my strength not to outwardly react to the cloud of knowledge flooding my mind. All I could do in that split second was thrust myself towards her cell to hoarsely whisper out my stark warning, “Don’t make me do this, Frieda! Stop her NOW! She will DIE!”

*********

HORACIO

It was all I could do to hold in my irrepressible rage, my protectiveness over Tati sending me to a boiling point. I was consumed with anxiousness knowing she was with this Frieda witch that I wanted dead more than ever now—and listening to the story being told—misled, misguided, lied to or not, I was ready to tear her sisters apart for their betrayal of Tati...

Then there was Lorenzo’s unexpected revelation...Tati was supposed to be a Spirit Walker? It was obvious the affect Tati had on me—before our blossoming friendship, my initial thought would have been to selfishly wonder if it would have changed anything had we known one another back then—but just as Lorenzo spoke up again, all I could think was I couldn’t change the past...I could only hope for the future...I needed my Fairy Queen...she made me a better person...a person I even liked more...and more than anything, I needed Tati to hurry up and appear before us so I could breathe again...

“In order to not raise suspicion from Frieda, Father quietly led an extensive search for Tati,” Lorenzo told us, “But even as a child, she was brilliant, quickly making us realize it was a futile effort. A week later, Tati’s voice suddenly echoed out as we sat in our living room, assuring us she was safe and well hidden. Father begged her to return to Spirit Walker, but she said it was too dangerous and she refused to be the cause of more lost lives.  That’s when Tati told us about her visions. She had seen great devastation if she returned but promised to send signs that she was well and all would be as it should be—when the time was right.”  

It’s rare to see emotion from our Alpha, but after a slight pause, Lorenzo grinned, thoughtfully reminiscing, “Father loved snickerdoodle cookies. Twice a week, there would be a plate full of them that would appear on his desk—shaped like little sparkling wings. That’s how Tati let us know she was okay, though we still worried about her.”

Distractedly playing with the tablecloth with her fingers, Reina almost inaudibly admitted, “For us, it took much longer for Tati to send a sign. For a multitude of reasons...all of them justified as she kept an eye on us from afar—neither of us knowing of her new ability.”

“And to this day, I’m mortified at what she saw—what we had become—what I had become—enraged and spiteful because of what we believed both Nigel and our mother had done,” Persephone pensively relayed.

The shame in Reina’s expression and tone was even heavier in her eyes as she brokenly said, “Frieda had Persephone and I convinced that Tati had run away—confused and hiding out of fear—afraid of us because of Nigel’s lies about The Chosen and afraid of Nigel himself because she saw him kill our mother. Neither of which were true—but neither of which did we ever think to question.” 

Persephone appeared to be in a daze, staring out into nothing as she desolately said, “Our exhaustive search became relentless. Frieda was determined to find Tati, no matter the cost, and we were right by her side the whole time, all of us becoming more and more livid—and more and more consumed by it and the high price we wanted Nigel to pay for his part in all of it. I allowed Frieda to take advantage of my devastated state, becoming more and more like her, the real her...forgetting who I was and who I knew to trust...Tati.”

Reina softly recalled, “Frieda was furiously trying to conjure up a vision and failing miserably—thanks to our Tati’s impressive protection spell—and we continued to hit dead ends. Weeks turned into months. Persephone and I had all but lost hope of ever seeing her again. And that’s when Tati came to us—when we needed her most.”   

Bringing her hand up, Persephone made a small circle, emitting a soft pink light before a small wooden chest appeared on the table in front of her. Grazing her fingertips along the top, she sincerely said, “If Frieda knew how much this means to me, she never would have given Reina and I our old trunks back. I’m glad she didn’t—I am very grateful to have these back...”

Opening it, a pile of several neatly folded green paper fairies with extra-large wings fell out, tiny bits of sparkle scattering all over the table as she warmly smiled, lovingly murmuring, “Sometimes the darkness is necessary to remind us how beautiful the light can be.”

Scattering several across the table, she fondly told us, “It had been six months since Tati vanished into thin air. Reina and I were searching for her alone in a forest close to the Spirit Walker border when two of these flitted down from the sky, green glitter bursting out of their wings as they swirled down towards each of us. I was in awe of the beauty of them delicately sailing through the air. When they landed in our hands, Tati’s sweet little voice whispered out those words.”

Leave it to my Fairy Queen to continue to inspire me when she wasn’t even here—words given to her sisters as a child affected me in so many ways as I heard them. Words that are now imprinted on my mind forever. The darkness I allowed to dictate my life for so long after I was rejected by my ill-fated mate—and how beautiful the light was to me now—my light—my Tati.   I am more in love with her now than I ever thought would be possible—for anyone. Not even the Moon Goddess could convince me otherwise.

I reached out for one of Tati’s delicate paper dolls, carefully opening it up to find two of her favorite quotes I have heard many times, one neatly scribed on each wing—the wise words about timing and making magic a positive act—at the bottom, however, there was another special note...

“The power of three will set us free,” Persephone breathed out in awe, looking down at the paper in her hand with so much tenderness and love in her eyes it almost made me forgive her for what she had forced Tati to do—almost—“It wasn’t until after Tati faced off with Frieda that we really understood what she meant by that.”

Reina picked up one of the fairies as well, looking down at it as she devotedly said, “Tati said we had a decision to make. She had cloaked the notes and if we told Frieda about them, we would never hear from her again. She said she had chosen wisely and still believed Persephone and I could do the same...and for the first time in a long time, we did. But as our littlest sister had seen in her vision and you can see from all her paper fairies, Tati still had her work cut out for her before the darkness in Persephone and I finally became light again.”