The forgotten daughter
1146 Words
No one moved.
No one dared.
The woman standing beneath the shattered cathedral doorway looked so much like Luna that, for a heartbeat, it was as if the Moon Queen had been split into light and darkness.
The same graceful features.
The same silver-white hair woven through with moonlight.
The same regal posture.
But where Luna’s presence brought calm…
Nyx’s presence made every shadow in the cathedral stretch toward her.
Even the eclipse seemed darker.
The Shadow King remained on one knee.
“My love…”
Nyx didn’t acknowledge him.
Her golden eyes remained fixed on Luna.
“You’ve grown.”
Luna’s voice was barely a whisper.
“I’ve never met you.”
“No.”
Nyx smiled sadly.
“Because our sister made certain you never would.”
⸻
Seraphina’s Secret
Seraphina stepped forward.
Her spirit trembled.
“I did what I had to.”
Nyx laughed softly.
“Did you?”
“You were dying.”
“I was cursed.”
“You were becoming something else.”
Nyx’s smile disappeared.
“I was becoming what Mother intended.”
The room fell silent.
Luna looked between them.
“Someone tell me what’s going on.”
Nerissa closed her eyes.
“The Moon Goddess had three daughters.”
Lucien frowned.
“Three?”
“We only knew of one.”
“Because history was rewritten.”
Nerissa looked toward Seraphina.
“By her.”
Seraphina lowered her head.
“The world couldn’t survive knowing the truth.”
Luna felt her chest tighten.
“So tell me.”
Nerissa nodded.
“The eldest daughter was Seraphina.”
“The Queen.”
“The second…”
She looked at Luna.
“…was you.”
Luna blinked.
“What?”
“You weren’t created when you were born.”
“You were created before humanity.”
The Moon Crown pulsed.
Fragments of forgotten memories flashed through Luna’s mind.
Three little girls running beneath a silver tree.
One laughed louder than the others.
One always carried flowers.
One always walked in the shadows.
Then the memory vanished.
Luna grabbed her head.
“I know that place.”
Nyx smiled.
“You should.”
“It was our home.”
⸻
The Goddess’s Children
“The Moon Goddess loved all three of you,” Nyx said.
“But she gave each daughter a different gift.”
She looked at Seraphina.
“You received wisdom.”
Then Luna.
“You received compassion.”
Finally, she touched her own chest.
“And I…”
Her smile became bitter.
“…received judgment.”
Kael frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I was created to destroy worlds.”
Silence.
Nyx continued.
“When a civilization became too corrupt…”
“I ended it.”
Luna stared.
“You… killed people?”
“I judged them.”
“There is a difference.”
Lucien shook his head.
“There isn’t.”
Nyx’s golden eyes met his.
“Tell that to the tyrants you executed.”
The Emperor said nothing.
⸻
The Truth About the War
The Shadow King finally stood.
“It wasn’t I who began the First War.”
Everyone looked at him.
Nyx nodded.
“It was me.”
The words echoed through the cathedral.
“I saw kingdoms poisoning the earth.”
“I saw magic abused.”
“I saw immortals treating humans as livestock.”
“So…”
“I passed judgment.”
Kael whispered,
“The Black Winter…”
Nyx nodded.
“My doing.”
“The Burning Seas…”
“My doing.”
“The Falling Stars…”
“My doing.”
Luna couldn’t breathe.
Millions had died.
“My mother stopped me.”
Nyx looked toward the sky.
“She split my power into the Nine Seals.”
“And Seraphina…”
“…erased me from history.”
Seraphina’s tears fell freely.
“I couldn’t bear to kill my own sister.”
“So you imprisoned me.”
“I saved you.”
“No.”
Nyx whispered.
“You saved the world.”
⸻
The Choice
The Moon Crown suddenly burned brighter than ever before.
The two seals inside it pulsed.
One silver.
One blue.
Then…
A third light appeared.
Everyone froze.
“But…”
Nerissa whispered.
“There are only two seals.”
The third light wasn’t a seal.
It came from Nyx.
A strand of black-and-gold energy drifted from her heart.
It floated toward Luna.
“No…”
Seraphina gasped.
“Don’t.”
Nyx ignored her.
She placed a hand over Luna’s heart.
“I’ve carried this burden for five thousand years.”
Her voice broke for the first time.
“I’m tired.”
The darkness entered Luna.
The Moon Crown erupted with silver and gold light.
Luna screamed.
Her eyes changed again.
One became silver.
The other…
Gold.
The entire cathedral shook.
Outside…
Every supernatural creature in Prague stopped fighting.
They all turned toward the cathedral.
The moon appeared through the eclipse for one impossible second.
Then split in half.
One half silver.
The other gold.
Far beyond Earth…
The Devourer opened a second eye.
And smiled.
⸻
The Oracle
A voice echoed through the cathedral.
Not the Shadow King’s.
Not Nyx’s.
Not Seraphina’s.
Older than all of them.
The air shimmered.
An elderly woman dressed in robes woven from starlight appeared before the throne of moonlight.
She carried no weapon.
Only a staff carved from a single branch of white wood.
Every immortal immediately knelt.
Even Nyx.
Even the Shadow King.
“The Oracle…”
Lucien whispered.
The old woman’s blind eyes opened.
They were filled with galaxies.
She looked directly at Luna.
“I have watched the threads of fate since the first sunrise.”
She smiled.
“And for the first time…”
“…I can no longer see the future.”
Luna’s breathing slowed.
“What does that mean?”
The Oracle’s smile faded.
“It means prophecy has broken.”
The room fell silent.
“For thousands of years…”
“I knew exactly how this story ended.”
She looked toward the heavens.
“Now…”
“…I see nothing.”
Hope flickered across Kael’s face.
“So we can still win?”
The Oracle answered with a single sentence.
“You can.”
She turned toward Luna.
“But only if the Moon Queen is willing to become…”
She hesitated.
“…something no Queen has ever dared become.”
The Oracle lifted her staff.
A hidden doorway of pure silver light appeared beneath the cathedral.
Beyond it…
An endless staircase descended into darkness.
“The Hall of Origins awaits.”
The Oracle looked at Luna.
“There…”
“…you will learn who you were…”
“…before you were the Moon Queen.”
And with those words, the doorway slowly opened, revealing a faint silver glow from the depths below.
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