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

how I'm supposed to learn to read it." My finger traces the graceful lines of a particularly intricate

<

Goddess

is no text.

page. "What do you mean?

skull. The pages are blank,

me as I stare at the book, at the

you come here

a countdown to the answer I know he's going to

ma'am?"

to the open book. "Can you see

leans over, his brows knitting together as he studies the pages.

is it possible that I can see these cryptic words so clearly while they perceive only emptiness? Ava, what does this mean? Selene's question

warmth and tingling against my palm. I think it has something

comfort. We'll

37

Moon Goddess

it out

get through

We'll do it together.

never together

thought of Selene being somehow separate from my magic. Why

it isn't some sort of terrible omen

It isn't, Selene insists.

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

and change in my peripheral vision, then breathe in static form as I focus on them. They

my soul even as my mind-

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

477

Goddess

can't hear

is a distant echo, a

I breathe, my fingers trembling as they hover over the pages.

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 magic separate

the distance between us.

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

I feel the familiar tingling sensation in my fingertips, a warmth that spreads up my arms and into my chest. It's like the book is calling to me, urging me to delve deeper

secrets.

then, to my amazement, the runes begin to move in a

patterns, new shapes. I watch, transfixed,

Letters.