28. Lunar
1585 Words
“Here she comes”
Just as the words left his mouth, the darkness began to tremble as a soft, lunar glow illuminated the underworld. Even I felt her presence. There was an aura about her that even the dead could not resist.
The door opened, and a beautiful girl walked in. She looked different from the first time we met, but I could recognize her even with a different face. I heard from werewolf folklore that Selene was also a shapeshifter, but I was seeing it firsthand. Her caramel skin glowed, bearing a contrast to her lacy white dress and long white hair. She kept her eyes on Hades as she walked towards him, as though counting her steps. Her gaze shone bright, Her gentle light piercing the shadows that this place bore.
Hades stayed seated, an everlasting beam on his beautiful face. “You have finally come to see me after ages.”
She rolled her eyes, a look of boredom on her face. “I have no time for your sentiments, Syntheos. I am only here because I recognize that you have one of mine.”
He chuckled. “Last I checked, she was sent here to me. You cannot claim what is already in my realm.”
“Then why do you want me here?” She stopped just a few feet away from him.
He feigned hurt. “Oh, Selene, guarded as always... Can’t an old friend try to get in touch?”.
“Old friend? Is that what you call someone whom you have tried to kill many times before?”
He gave a muffled laughter. “Last I checked, the favor was mutual.”
She folded her hands on her chest. “I never tried to kill you.
Hades pretended to remember something. “Oh, you are correct my beloved Selene, you did not try to kill me.” He got up from his seat.
Without warning, fire erupted from all around the throne room. Flames surrounded him—his eyes burned with yellow flames as he glared at Selene. “You did not try to kill me, but you connived with my enemies and had me trapped in this place!!! I cannot leave, I cannot be with the one I love even for a day! You stole everything from me!!!”
The angrier he grew, the more the flames increased. I became scared watching it all unfold. But Selene stood there emotionless, it was clear she didn’t seem fazed by his words.
“Sytheos, I will say this once... let Esnie go, she is not part of your stupid game.”
“Stupid?” He was getting angrier, and at this point, I feared that these people were going to destroy each other before helping me get outta this damn place. “You know what is stupid, Selene? It is you rejecting my proposal, only to fall in love with a man who did not love you.” He started laughing, and as a result, the flames started decreasing with each sound. “We could have made a perfect couple, we both ruled the night. It would have worked perfectly, but you chose to be as stupid as humans.”
Selene stood silent the entire time, her gaze calculating. “You are just the same; silly and pathetic being that you have always been. And you can laugh all you want, but I learned a valuable lesson about love from that experience.”
At this time, the flames had subsided. Hades’ eyes returned to normal. “Well, so did I.”
She turned to me, and for the first time since she came here, she had a worried look on her face as she approached me. “How are you, Esnie?”
I answered, still mad at her. “I’m fine, given the circumstances.”
She seemed taken aback. “Your anger for me courses through your veins...I can feel it.” Her gentle voice was so soothing that one could easily get lost in it.
“Get me out of here, and it all will be forgotten.” I spoke before she could get into my head.
She replied, her voice like a gentle breeze. "I've come for you, to save you from this...” She glanced at Hades, “this god's forsaken place.” —I said nothing, but I could sense that she had more to say. —She added: “...Only if you agree to my conditions.”
“Here we go,” Hades remarked, earning a scowl from Selene.
She returned her attention to me. “One: You will come with me to the moon and forget about Earth and Jace. Two: You will agree to serve me for all eternity.”
“No offense, moon goddess, but I came here for Jace, so unless you can promise me that you will give him back his body, then I cannot come with you.”
She shook her head at me. “I cannot help you unless you help yourself, Esnie. Stop being stubborn.”
“You know what is going on between Jace and Alpha Kaiah, you know I’m only here because you refused to help me. I need you to fix everything. That is all I want...take me if you want, but make him okay.”
“Jace is alive and well.” She waved her hand and showed me a vision of Jace back in his body, full of life and happy. —“Now, come with me.”
I nodded. “O-Okay.”
She turned to him. “Esnie agrees to come, and by the rules of Olympus, you cannot keep her here. You have held her long enough, her soul belongs to me now."
He had an unreadable expression on his face. “You turn to the rules at your convenience, but where were your precious rules when you were having s****l affairs with Endymion?”
In response to his words, her whole body began to glow. “Never mention that name with your filthy mouth!”
Hades continued. “He made you feel like a woman by day and then what? He went back to his wife every single night.”
Selene’s body shook with rage. “I am warning you, Syntheos, shut your mouth.”
“He took advantage of your foolishness and your innocence... imagine that; a goddess acting a fool for a mere mortal.”
Her glowing eyes changed to the color red, like blood. And a silver sword appeared in her hand. “I said shut your mouth!!!”
His lips stretched into a smirk. “Your rage has imprisoned you, Selene.”
Just as he said this, a ring of fire surrounded Selene, holding her within the confinement of its circumference.
“Esniessa!” he called.
Just then the golden cage holding me disappeared. With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the chains binding my hands... “I free you from your bonds to the underworld, return to your world!”
A familiar wind entered the throne room and was about to take me back, but Selene grabbed me tightly. “I would rather your soul be lost in hell than for you to return to Jace. You belong beside me!”
I tried to pull myself out of her grip, but she held on tighter, causing my skin to bleed. “Let go of me!... How can I believe a word you say when you stole my power?!”
“I was only protecting you, Esnie. Don’t let Hades get into your head. He is making you an offer you cannot refuse, but rest assured that you will be indebted to him forever.”
“I see no difference between the two of you then.”
She wrapped both her arms around me and embraced me. I stopped fighting and sunk into her warmth, my essence resonating with her gentle energy, her motherly affection that I needed badly.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my side which caused me to shriek. I looked down, and it was Selene’s sword piercing my side.
“I would rather kill your soul than let you return to Jace, you gullible little thing.” She pulled out her sword which was dripping with my blood. I fell to the floor, bleeding.
She faced Hades. “Your plan has failed, she will never leave this place, not even with me.”
Hades, who had been watching everything, replied. “Esniessa was never the one I wanted. It was you, my dear Selene.”
On hearing his words, Selene transformed into a white bird and tried to fly away, but her lunar essence disappeared mid-air, leaving her to fall. She transformed back to her human self. “Do not be foolish, Syntheos, the world needs a moon goddess!”
He sneered. “It has one.”
“What do you mean by that?” She questioned.
His gaze shifted to me. “When you stabbed Esniessa, you unknowingly transferred your powers to her. She is now the new moon goddess.”
She screamed at him. “You trickster!”
“Now you know what it feels like to be betrayed by your very own. Go ahead and yell—I feed off of the fire of your rage.”
He walked up to me and handed me her sword. “I will take her in your place.”
- Writer
