Tangled

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210 Ava: Moon Goddess (III) — END Season

3

Ava?

Ava!

Selene's mental shout has me shaking my head, startled. I'm back, and it's like I was never gone.

Ava, are you listening?

"Sorry. What is it?"

Selene stands in front of me, her ears twitching. You were here, but our bond was silent. Like you were far away.

"Ah." Clearing my throat, which is parched now that I've returned, I blink until I adjust to the darkness of my room, compared to the brightness of that magical place I was in just moments ago. "Selene, what does the Moon Goddess look like?"

Why do you ask? Selene's head tilts, her icy eyes studying me with an intensity that would be unnerving if I wasn't so used to it by

now.

I glance at Marcus, who stands sentinel by the door, before focusing my thoughts inward. It's so much harder to think this way, and I wonder if it will ever feel completely natural. I think I met her. The Moon Goddess.

Selene's confusion ripples through our bond. She was never here,

Ava.

210 Ava: Moon Goddess (1) END Season 3

I know. We were somewhere else.

You never left the room. Selene's voice in my mind is tinged with concern, her mental words hesitant.

I think my consciousness did. It was like my spirit traveled to this magical place. I struggle to find the words to describe the ethereal experience. Even my body felt real there.

Selene's worry intensifies, a cold thread winding through my thoughts. Will it happen again?

I don't know. Absently stroking the pages of the book in my lap, I think back, trying to focus on the details. Yet the memories are already fading, vivid pictures blurring in my mind's eye. There was a woman there. She called herself Selena. She spoke to me about my magic, about embracing it.

I don't know what the Moon Goddess looks like. I can't remember, Selene admits. Though, they say she appears differently to everyone who sees her. Some even see her as a wolf. She pauses. think I saw her as a wolf.

Nodding, I look down at the book again, my gaze drawn to the strange runic text that dances across the pages. Each symbol seems to breathe with a life of its own, pulsing in a mesmerizing rhythm. What are you doing? Selene's question breaks through my fascination.

I

text. Trying to figure out how I'm supposed to learn to read it." My

<

Goddess (II)-END Season

no text. Selene's

do you mean? It's right here.

to her skull. The pages are blank,

as I stare at the book, at the undéniable presence of the runic

can you come

a countdown to the answer I know he's

ma'am?"

open book. "Can you

knitting together as he studies

it possible that I can see these cryptic words so

and tingling against my palm. I think it has something to do

We'll figure

37

210 Ava: Moon Goddess

it out

get through

We'll do it together.

somehow, we're never together for

Selene being somehow separate from my magic. Why can't she see what I

hope it isn't some sort of terrible omen for the

It isn't, Selene insists.

each stroke imbued with a meaning that hovers just beyond my grasp. It's like trying to remember a dream-the harder I

on them. They flow across the pages with a simple, elemental beauty. Like water. Ink spilled from an artist's brush. Each symbol

art that speaks to my soul even as my mind-

runes are alien, yet somehow familiar. They tug at something deep inside me, at that core of glowing warmth within my chest.

477

Moon Goddess (III)-END

I can't hear

do you see? Selene's voice is a distant echo,

as they hover over

feel Selene's frustration, her longing to share in this experience. But no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to project. the images into her mind. It's like there's a wall between us, a barrier that keeps this

sorry, I whisper, my heart aching at the distance between us. I don't know how

leg, offering silent comfort even as I sense her unease. It's okay, Ava. We'll figure

my arms and into my chest. It's like the book is calling to me, urging

secrets.

runes begin to move in

swirl and dance, rearranging themselves into new patterns, new shapes. I

Letters.