Tangled

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Unshift 210

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

out how I'm supposed to learn to read it." My finger traces the

<

Moon Goddess (II)-END

there is no text. Selene's voice

blink, my finger stilling on the page. "What do you mean? It's

flatten to her skull. The pages

me as I stare at the book, at the undéniable presence

can you come here for a

approaches with caution, boots heavy, each thud a countdown to the

ma'am?"

open book. "Can you

his brows knitting together as he studies

Marcus and Selene. How is it possible that I can see these cryptic words so clearly while they perceive only emptiness? Ava, what does

page, I can feel the warmth and tingling against my palm. I think it has something to do

my hand, offering silent comfort. We'll figure it out.

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210 Ava: Moon Goddess (III)-END

it

get through

We'll do it together.

never together for

being somehow separate from my magic.

isn't some sort of terrible omen

It isn't, Selene insists.

tear my eyes away from the graceful lines dancing across the pages, each stroke imbued with a meaning that hovers just beyond my grasp. It's like trying to remember a dream-the harder

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

art that speaks to my soul

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

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Moon Goddess (III)-END

I can't

voice is a distant echo, a whisper in the back of my

as they

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

at the distance between us. I don't know

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

the familiar tingling sensation in my fingertips, a warmth that spreads up my arms and into my chest. It's like the book

secrets.

runes begin to move in

dance, rearranging themselves into new patterns, new shapes. I watch, transfixed, as they slowly coalesce into

Letters.