The Luna's Gift

A Very Interesting Breakfast

“You want me...to ride on the back of...that?” Helena asks, a look of uncertainty on her face.

Artemis laughs loudly, “you don’t have motorcycles in Rome?”

“Of course there are motorcycles in Rome, I’ve just never...been on one. And I mean, most people just ride mopeds...or scooters--”

Apollo cuts her off with a sarcastic groan, “are you coming or are you staying?”

Helena shifts nervously on her feet thinking, before finally taking the helmet Artemis is extending out to her. Artemis helps her up onto the bike behind her. 

“Hold on tight.” Artemis calls back to her with a smirk, revving her engine and peeling off from the front door steps. Helena’s arms wrap tightly around Artemis, and she leans her head against her back, closing her eyes, and she wills her stomach to stop lurching. 

“Open your eyes! You're missing the view!” Artemis yells, and Helena reluctantly opens her eyes, a blur of trees and hues passing by her. “You can run through the forest 50 miles per hour but can’t keep your eyes open on a motorcycle?” Artemis continues. She slows the bike down a little, and Helena opens her eyes again. Luscious greens take form, the sun shining through the leaves, and she even notices flocks of birds flying overhead. 

Artemis can feel her anxiety lessen, as did the tight hold Helena had around her torso. Soon they enter a town, Helena assumes Salem, and pulls off in front of a busy coffee shop. This is Helena’s first time leaving the house, and she is thrilled to find a picturesque town bustling with small stores and restaurants just a few miles away. 

“Calliope lives on that street there, so this will be a little tricky, but I have complete faith in us. I’m going to get some coffee for all of us, it’ll be a balancing act, but I’ll drive slow.” Artemis goes into the coffee shop, while Helena sits outside, watching the Sunday morning crowd walk around. Artemis comes back with five drinks, four of them in a drink carrier, “you carry this,” she says, handing Helena the carrier, “and I’ll carry mine.”

“Five? There’s going to be more than just Calliope there?”

“Yeah, remember I said she lives here with her partners. They’re poly.”

“Wow, I thought that was just a European thing.”

Artemis lifts an eyebrow, “oh you know something about that?”

Helena gives Artemis a smirk, “wouldn’t you like to know?” as she gets back on the bike, carefully balancing the drink carrier. They slowly pull up to Calliope’s house, the trio sitting out on the front porch waiting for them.

“Hello, friends!” Calliope calls out to them, waving to them, her bright pink and orange hair pulled up in a bun that moves when she waves.

Artemis and Helena walk up, Helena extending her hand to the person who spoke to them, “Hello, I’m Helena Flynn.”

“I’m Calliope, nice to meet you. This is my partner Julian, and my other partner Veil.” She gestures to the people around her. Julian is handsome, tall and dark skinned, with short cropped hair and thick square glasses, and he looks particularly fetching in his light blue button up and brown shorts. Helena can immediately smell that Julian is a wolf. The second person, Veil, is short, with a long faux hawk with bright blue streaks, a nose piercing, and lots of tattoos. Veil’s look is complete with a black tank top and jean shorts. 

“Hello, I’m Julian.” He shakes her hand, and Veil also stands to shake her hand, “and I’m Veil, they/them pronouns.”

Helena smiles and nods, noting to herself that she can’t place Veil’s scent, and wonders if they were Fae as well, “thank you for having me over for breakfast. I’m looking forward to getting to know you all better.”

Calliope invites them into the house, and gives them the brief tour, ending in the kitchen. Breakfast is finishing in the oven: a sausage frittata, cinnamon rolls, and bacon. Calliope certainly knows how to cook for wolf appetites, and both Helena and Artemis are ready to dig in. They take seats around her large table, when Calliope shrugs off her zip up hoodie, her large wings being free of their constraint. The bluish silver wings glint in the sunlight, creating kaleidoscope patterns across the kitchen. Helena can’t help but stare, not only because she’s never seen a fairy in real life, but because of their beauty.

“So...how did you all meet?” Helena asks, trying to make small talk, and break her focus from staring at the wings.

Calliope answers, “Well I met Veil first, we met in New York in 1918. I move around a lot. And so does Veil--”

“I’m a kitsune,” Veil chimes in, “Not quite as rare as fairies, but rare enough that I keep moving.” Kitsunes are fox shifters, originating from Japan. They are often captured and imprisoned, their rich captors keeping them as pets, parading them about as a status symbol during lavish private parties. A kitsune’s tail is said to be good luck, to cure infertility, and are highly sought after trophies from the Underworld Black Market. 

“A kitsune…” Helena repeats quietly, staring in awe, noting that Veil’s face is pointed with high cheekbones, just like a fox. This is shaping up to be the most interesting breakfast Helena has ever had, and she understands how deeply they are trusting her with this information. She can never tell Jonas. 

“You didn’t know you were having breakfast with a trio of weirdos did you?” Calliope says playfully, sipping her coffee.

“No, not weird...beautiful.” Helena replies sincerely. 

“Ooooo, we like her.” Julian says jokingly to Artemis.

“And what about you, are you going to tell me you're the abominable snowman? Bigfoot? A Puck?” Helena asks Julian, amused.

“No, no, nothing so interesting. I’m just an ordinary werewolf, nothing special here.” He says with a smile.

“That’s not entirely true, he’s Unaligned.” Artemis offers.

“Unaligned? What does that mean?” Helena asks.

“You know...without a pack.” Julian replies.

“We’re his pack.” Veil says, stuffing their mouth with a cinnamon roll.

“You’re...a mutt…?” Helena asks in disbelief.

Julian chuckles, “never much cared for that term. But yes, your world considers me a mutt. I prefer to be called Unaligned.”

“But...why?” Helena asks sincerely.

Julian shrugs, “why are you Aligned? Did you choose to be, or were you told to be? There are so many different ways to be, and just because you don’t know how else to exist, it doesn’t mean your way is the only or best way. Everyone is different, and for me, being Unaligned is where I thrive.”

“We’re his Chosen Pack.” Calliope says, rubbing Julian’s arm.

“Have you ever been in a pack?” Helena asks.

“Yes, several. I thought being in a pack was my only option. It didn’t work for me--the hierarchy, the rules, the inability to see anyone for anything other than a wolf. I’m a man too, a Black pansexual man at that, and no matter how different we think we are from humans, there are some...weaknesses...that seem ingrained in our human side. I found myself in packs of all straight white people, one after another, feeling alone in a crowd of people. It just...was never home.” Julian places his hand over Calliope’s, and smiles sweetly at her.

Helena absorbs his words, feeling like she’s been quite unaware about how most of the world lives, and that for someone who spends her day in a library, there is a whole lot that books couldn’t teach her. “Thank you for educating me. In a few days, I’ve learned that there’s a lot I don’t know, my experience of the world is...different. I am...quite privileged..to exist within the walls of the Daae.”

“We definitely like her.” Julian says warmly, a hand coming to rest on Helena's shoulder.

      ****

    After breakfast, Calliope invites Helena and Artemis to the parlor room, setting up tea. “Now to the business at hand,” she says once everyone has sat down, “there’s much to discuss. To begin, I need to preface what I’m about to tell you. This will be hard to hear. You will not want to believe it, and yet it is the truth.”

Helena takes a sip of her tea, wondering what could be harder to hear and accept than the events of the last three days in Salem. 

“I’m going to tell you what happened. The Great Happening, or The Fall as we call it. How you lost magic, how entire species have been wiped out, and how it’s been covered up for over a thousand years,” Calliope continues, making intense eye contact with Helena. Helena shifts uncomfortably in her seat, anxiety over this big reveal. 

“I’m older than Christ,” she begins, and even Helena has to agree that this is one hell of a way to start a story, “not much older, but a little older. His life really had no bearings on us...at first anyways. I was born in what is now Ireland, as I believe you were too, and I am a seer. My family were all seers, and for many centuries we worked for various covens, packs, Fae rings, even human royalty. What is lesser known is that before the Happening, the Underworld, and much of the human world, were both matriarchies, and were matriarchies for as long as I can remember. Female Alphas, Fae priestesses, Vampire Queens, and human pagan tribal leaders. The species of the Underworld were at war with each other, pack against pack, vampire against werewolf, and so on. Now back to Jesus, who by all accounts was a righteous dude, and a vampire--little known fact--but his followers? Now that’s where everything went wrong. It started with the Christianization of Europe. First, the Mediterranean, Italy, and small pockets throughout Europe. But it quickly spread among the humans. It came to my homeland in the early 7th century. Ireland, Britain, Scotland, Scandinavia. As a historian, I hope you can appreciate this: the Roman church was so good at propaganda, their most successful conversion tool was Beowulf, created by Saint Augustine himself.” Calliope throws her arms in the air, mimicking a victory celebration, “Vikings believed that you had to die violently to go to Valhalla, then along came the Blockbuster hit of the century, Beowulf? Which tells the story of a Dane who becomes a king, receives so much glory, and the entire story is just an allegory for the life of Christ. This is the power of stories, this story gave people a way out, who otherwise thought they had to die horrible painful deaths for an afterlife. Die peacefully and receive a glorious afterlife, and all you have to do is believe in a demigod vampire? It was a win-win situation. The Church got what they wanted--heathens converting quickly, and then those heathens could live out their lives peacefully.” Calliope pauses, takes a sip of her tea and clears her throat. 

“The eternal afterlife was just one part of it,” she continues, “the other, much larger part of it was that Christianity is a patriarchy. It appealed to human masses, human men converting and overthrowing their female leaders by any means necessary. The Christian God gave them absolution, power, told them they were being subservient but were meant to be kings. Human men practically swooned before the Christ King. Power, eternal life, and all they had to do was kneel before Rome.” Calliope takes another sip of her tea. Helena is listening intently, unsure of where the story is leading.

“Within a few centuries, most of Europe had fallen to their knees--vikings, pagans...we never stood a chance.” Julian chimes in.

“At the same time, the Church spread to China and East Asia, but luckily it never quite took root Japan, through several failed attempts.” Veil offers as well.

“So what happened?” Helena asks, eager for more. 

“Our men were weak,” Calliope continues, “they saw an entire world bow down before men and they wanted the same. At the same time, we had been battling Christian armies for so long, we were dwindling. Our queens called for a Treaty among species, to fight the Church together. In secret, our men planned a coup while all of our leaders traveled to Pagan lands for the writing and signing of the Treaty. This was the most historic event of our lives; werewolves and vampires at peace? Leaders, tribes, bards, everyone practically, came together to end our wars to fight the larger enemy. The exact details, I don’t know, I wasn’t there, but the end result was that everyone there was slaughtered by a surprise attack, an uprising of Underworld men and Christian forces. It engulfed our entire world for years after, men murdering their Alphas in their sleep, killing their vampire queens, burning Fae villages to the ground, killing all who opposed them. They had formed an alliance with the Church, and worked together to rid their world of female power, and when it was finished...magic no longer existed. The men signed their own Peace Treaty among the species, a peace on false pretenses, a peace forged in genocide.”

“Why weren’t you there?” Asks Helena quietly.

Calliope takes a little while to answer, finally answering, “I saw it coming. I was, am, a seer. My birth name is Cathbad. I knew something was coming, but my naivety blinded me to what was before me. I warned my Fae Priestesses, I even warned the human court I worked in, but they disregarded my warnings.”

“Cathbad was a--” Helena starts.

“Cathbad was a man.” Calliope quickly finishes Helena’s sentence. Helena nods.

Calliope smiles, “when you’ve lived as long as I have, you have an awfully long time to figure out who you are. I’ve always been Calliope, I just went by another name once.”

“You’re...famous!” Helena says, “Irish lore still talks about you, one of most famous seers we’ve ever had.”

Calliope laughs, “and unfortunately not too many people believed my prophecies, or else maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess. To be honest, I wasn’t even that great of a seer, I was just the best at making important friends. I served for a long time in the court of King Conchobar, and various other royal families.”

Helena nods, “so let me make sure I got all of this correct. The Happening was actually a femicide perpetrated by Underworld men who betrayed us because of the power of the Christian patriarchy, and you’re a famous trans Druid who predicted the end of magic?”

Calliope holds her hands up and shrugs, “pretty much. I told you it would be hard to hear, and we haven’t even gotten to the hardest part yet.”

“Is it aliens? It’s aliens isn’t it?” Helena looks around the room, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone chuckles, and Calliope continues, “all of this is a secret the Daae has been keeping for more than a thousand years. Not only that, but they’ve actively sought out women in power and orchestrated killings in hopes of preventing a prophecy from coming true. My prophecy, about the Bringer of Magic.”

“You can’t be serious? They’ve orchestrated historical murders?” Helena fires back.

Everyone in the room nods. 

“The Salem Witch Trials.” Veil says.

“Joan of Arc.” Julian says.

“The European Witch Trials. ‘Witch’ is a very quick and efficient way to get a woman murdered with no evidence. The Daae and the Vatican are one and the same, just different buildings.” Calliope says.

“I really don’t believe this. If this were true, there’s no way it could have been buried for so long.” Helena argues.

Again, everyone nods their head. 

“They created their own world, in their vision, and part of it is that so many were slaughtered the night of the Happening, and in the resistance after. There was a Great War, and we lost, and the remnants of that war have long been hidden. The people still alive who knew the truth were far and few in between, and those who got away had to hide for survival. You know the Daae better than any of us, how do they react to people who go against them?” Artemis asks, putting her hand on Helena’s knee, “when Jonas emailed me telling me you were coming, he sent along your credentials, and I looked you up online. I know you're writing about the connections between Catholicism and the occult, so you know for a fact the similarities between our two worlds.”

“I knew it was coming, and days before the Treaty signing, I hid. That’s when I wrote my prophecy. I didn’t know the complete magnitude of what was going to happen,” Calliope shrugs again with a small smile, “my sister was always a better oracle than me.”

They all sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity, all of them eyeing Helena nervously. She brings her elbows to her knees and her head drops to her hands. 

"Tell me the prophecy." Helena says.

Calliope takes a deep breath, "it's been a thousand years since I wrote it, and this is from memory, so don't hold it against me if I mess up a few parts," she closes her eyes and begins to recite, 

"She will reign, and she will be the Bringer of Magic, the North Star. 

The Bow and Arrow shall rise, 

and the word of men will fall before Her. 

She is the Restorer of Blood, the Luna’s Gift

Alpha. Queen. The Sun and Moon."

"The Luna's gift...," Helena mumbles to herself, recalling her earlier conversation with Mags and the book she was sent to retrieve, "how….just how….” Helena continues to mutter to herself.“We’re not the only ones,” Veil begins, “there’s an entire resistance. Working to end the Daae, expose the truth, and we believe, with your help, we can bring magic back. We’ve been searching for Artemis for a very long time.”

“How do we bring magic back?” Helena asks, looking over at Artemis.

“I don’t know everything, or how exactly you’ll do it, but your magic was a gift from the Luna herself,” Calliope starts, “a sacrifice. Her life essence was poured into the Blood Stone, and the Stone was placed at the epicenter of our world’s energy...the Hill of Tara. It’s what mystics call ley lines...every solstice we would have festivals there to praise the Mother for her sacrifice. The Blood Stone is missing, and has been since the night of The Happening. This had been a well guarded place, as the epicenter of all the realms, the Blood Stone was hidden within all the realms at once, meaning it would have taken one Child of each Immortal to work together to open all the doors for the Blood Stone to be taken. We believe the Christians found out the source of our magic, and sought to destroy it and make us vulnerable, and somehow forming alliances with a Child of each Immortal...I don't know how they pulled it off but they did, somehow the Blood Stone was taken, and with it, the Children of Luna's magic, and with that, our main source of protection from the Crusaders. Like Artemis' namesake, the Luna is a Goddess of the hunt, and Her Children were our warriors. Without magic, we had very little power. The Blood Stone must be found and restored at the Hill of Tara, and the Luna has chosen Artemis to be Her restorer, and you her Mate.”

“This is too much…” Helena says softly, her voice hitching. Artemis brings her hand up to Helena and lovingly caresses her back. 

“Yes, it is too much, and yet it’s what’s been handed to us.” Artemis says to her.

“This is your destiny. This was written in the stars long before you were born, all of the heavens above have conspired to create you. You were always meant to be exactly where you are and exactly when you are.” Calliope says empathically to Helena. 

Helena picks her head up, her eyes glossy, “what do we do?”

“We prepare.”