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

supposed to learn to read it." My finger

<

Moon Goddess (II)-END

there is no text.

finger stilling on the page. "What do you mean? It's right

to her skull. The

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

you come here for

a countdown

ma'am?"

open book.

knitting together as he

I look between Marcus and Selene. How 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 echoes my

and tingling against my

at my hand, offering silent comfort. We'll figure

37

210 Ava: Moon Goddess (III)-END

figure it

through it

We'll do it together.

together

my magic. Why can't she see what I can? Why

isn't some sort of terrible

It isn't, Selene insists.

the graceful lines dancing across the pages, each stroke imbued with a meaning that hovers just beyond my grasp.

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

a work of art that speaks to my soul even as

deep inside me, at that core of glowing warmth within my chest. It's as if they're whispering secrets, ancient knowledge long

477

Moon Goddess

I can't

voice is a distant echo, a whisper in the

as they hover over the

to project. the images into her mind. It's like there's a wall between us, a barrier that keeps this

heart aching at the distance between us. I don't

nose against my leg, offering silent comfort even as I sense her unease. It's

pages, 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,

secrets.

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

themselves into new patterns, new shapes. I watch, transfixed, as

Letters.