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

out how I'm supposed to learn to

<

Ava: Moon Goddess (II)-END Season

is no text. Selene's voice is

stilling on the page. "What do you mean?

ears flatten to her skull.

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

can you come here

caution, boots heavy, each thud a

ma'am?"

point to the open book. "Can

leans over, his brows knitting together as he studies

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

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

We'll figure

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Ava: Moon Goddess

figure it out

get through

We'll do it together.

together for the things

heart twists at the thought of Selene being somehow separate from my magic. Why can't she see what I can? Why can't she feel

isn't some sort of terrible omen for the

It isn't, Selene insists.

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 I focus, the more

vision, then breathe in static form as I focus on them. They flow across the pages with a simple, elemental beauty. Like

art that speaks to my soul even as my mind-

The runes are alien, yet somehow familiar. They tug at something deep inside me, at that core of glowing warmth within my chest. It's as if they're whispering

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Moon Goddess (III)-END Season

I can't

Selene's voice is a distant echo, a whisper in

fingers trembling as they hover over

can't seem to project. the images into her

distance between us. I

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

secrets.

my amazement, the runes begin to move in a way that I can

shapes. I watch,

Letters.