The Lycan Villainess

4. The Explanation - Part 2

Artemis couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew the moon goddess worked in mysterious ways, but this went beyond mystery. It was impossible.

Somehow this foreigner, restored to life in a new world, knew about everyone. The new Celeste perfectly described the characters of her family, childhood crush, and even acquaintances. As if she had grown up with them herself. At first Artemis thought her human had survived and was putting on a cruel act to punish her, but this new soul didn’t actually remember those people or the lives they had lived up until that point. She simply knew about them. And even more disturbingly, she seemed to know their future.

But the new Celeste didn’t really believe it. That was the kicker wasn’t it? She was playing along, sure, but she wasn’t treating the situation with the appropriate amount of gravity. How could Artemis get her to understand?

Two could play this game, she supposed. She’d do the best she could now, but even if she couldn’t convince Celeste that this was real, that she was real, Artemis knew she’d have plenty more opportunities. Despite what this foreign soul seemed to think, time was on Artemis’s side.

'Celeste, the people you’re describing are all real, she told her. The world you’ve described is real. I don’t know about the future paths you’ve described, but the moon goddess has given us a great advantage through your knowledge. Together, we can forge a better path.'

***

Celeste, to her credit, did not laugh when her wolf replied with such profundity. Of course the world was “real.” She was dreaming she was inside a novel she’d read after all. She knew all about it. There was no need to be surprised that she could summarize a book she’d just finished with accuracy.

At least they were on the same page now. Since Artemis had been able to surmise Celeste’s level of knowledge, now they could get the plot rolling.

'Yes, of course we’ll improve our future Artemis. I’d rather not be executed after all. Didn’t you want to tell me how I got here? And could you fill me in on anything notable that’s been happening? I’d like to get the lay of the land, so to speak, before we launch our crusade. That maid earlier said something about my being on bedrest?'

Artemis made a sound that was suspiciously similarly to a sigh.

'Yes, I suppose you should know. It really all started about a year ago.' Celeste thought that was a bit further back than she needed to know about, but she didn’t interrupt.

'After King Zarek’s parents died in a rogue attack and he ascended the throne, the royal court began mounting pressure for him to take a luna. Celeste had always been mad for him, and as owners of the largest duchy in the kingdom with centuries of noble lineage, the Redfang family had the immense wealth and political power necessary to promote her marriage. The young lady Celeste Redfang was the obvious choice for the king’s bride. Eventually her parents succeeded in securing the engagement, but even after it became official Zarek paid her no mind. When he kept pushing back the wedding, she began to try to get his attention. At first it was small, tripping in the hallway to try to get him to catch her, pretending to be sick in hopes he’d visit, sending herself flowers saying they were from other men. But he didn’t care. I did my best to support her, but he’s not even our mate and her actions kept escalating.'

Artemis paused. Clearly it was painful for her to recount. The human and beast had clearly shared a deep bond. Celeste waited patiently until she finally continued.

'I want you to know that I told her not to. I told her it was too dangerous, but she didn’t listen! She decided faking illness wasn’t enough. She knew Zarek was a caring person at heart and thought he’d come for her if her life really was in danger. There was a witch she found who lives in the mountains to the north. I told her witches can’t be trusted, but she bought the aconite anyway. High concentrations of it, potent enough to poison a lycan.'

The pieces were beginning to fall into place for Celeste.

'She poisoned herself,' Artemis murmured sadly, 'but she took too much. I couldn’t heal us. Between her soul and our body, I only had enough power to save one. So I prayed to the moon goddess begging for a miracle. To my surprise, she answered my prayers. She was so beautiful, more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen before. I hope you can meet her one day.'

'You met the moon goddess? What did she say?' Moon goddess sequences usually only happened once in a werewolf novel at best. As far as Celeste remembered there was no scene with her in My Lycan Mate, so she was incredibly curious to hear about it.

'She told me to save our body and she would gift me a new human soul. The original Celeste was beyond her help, but we still had a role to play and I would need you to do it. She said that you had died before your time in another world but that we would be able to give each other a fresh start. A new beginning.'

'Did she say how I died?' Celeste flinched remembering the pain in her heart.

'No, she only told me that your name was also Celeste and that I could rely on you going forward. Hearing you recount my and Celeste’s future convinced me that she was right.'

Even though Artemis couldn’t recount her death, something about hearing she’d died struck a chord. She wasn’t ready to believe it was true, but for the first time she was truly worried. Whether this turned out to be a dream or something else entirely, Celeste decided to tread carefully going forward.

Aside from her death and Artemis interacting with the moon goddess, the rest of the story rang true. In the novel, the villainess Celeste Redfang had spiraled in exactly the way Artemis described, even if the exact events weren’t listed. What Celeste had mistaken for her own leftover pain she now felt with certainty were the remaining effects of aconite poisoning. It matched what the maid and William had said as well.

Poor Gamma William. His sister was such a nutcase. If Celeste was trapped as the villainess, she obviously needed to save herself and Artemis from their demise, but she decided that saving William was even more important. The author had been so unfair to him, and she was being given the chance to change that. Hopefully this fever dream would last long enough for her to protect him in the first battle sequence. But Celeste wasn’t even at the battle in the original novel…

'Artemis, I think we have a good shot at turning this around for ourselves. All I have to do to avoid being executed is not bully the heroine once she pops up. Bonus points if I can cancel my engagement before then. But since I know about the future rogue attacks, we should do our best to protect everyone from those too.'

'I couldn’t agree more.'

'Well then, since we’re on the same page, let’s make a plan.'