Chapter 566: Secrets of the Moon
“The valley tribes were peaceful once. Before the Ebon Lords became greedy and turned their sights on their lands. Before Lunis was ransacked. Before Solis’ fall. There was a time when the Keepers of the Dawn were a safe haven to all those fleeing from the vampire and drow wars of the Northern Lands. Solis welcomed them all, he cared for them no matter who they were.” Lunae scoffed to herself, a small smile on her lips. “My brother was kind, far more kind than I ever was.”
“...I’d have liked to have met him,” said Gale.
Lunae opened her eyes and looked at her. “No, I do not think you would want that. Not anymore.”
The look in Lunae’s silver gaze brooked no questions, but Gale couldn’t help herself. “W-Why?”
“...He is angry, hurt, in a way few people can ever understand. Truth be told, I wouldn’t fault him if he wanted to kill me, he definitely wants to kill you.”
“Me? Why?” Her voice came out stronger and more anxious than she’d have liked.
“Are you a daughter of House Gale?”
“Huh? Yes, of course.”
“Well, there you go.”
“Wait, the god of the sun wants to kill me just because I’m part of House Gale?”
“My brother wants to kill all the Houses that swore allegiance to the Ebon Lords, or Holo, for that matter. I would too, if I had been trapped in a prison that the Ebon Lords helped build.”
“The sun god was imprisoned? Wait, so Solis really is alive, then?” Gale shivered at the thought. Hollow Shade had so proudly used the dead god of the sun as their city’s banner for centuries. The thought of him wanting revenge suddenly became all too real.
“He is. Although, I don’t think that’s why you came, is it?” Lunae cocked her head to the side.
“It’s not,” she admitted. “I wanted answers regarding what happened last night, more specifically what you did to me. But you already knew that, didn’t you? Why else would you have the Guardian of the Sylvan waiting for me.”
“My children do not take kindly to a vampire dressed in fine garments strutting about their encampment. Arden’s escort was meant to prevent potential altercations.”
“Your children?”
“I am the Mother Moon, the Sylvan are all my children.”
“So when you whispered to me, ‘I entrust you with the safety of my son, protect him well,’ you were speaking figuratively?”
Lunae shifted her crossed legs and stood up, her long white hair pooling around her. For all the grass and torn-up soil in the courtyard, her lustrous hair did not attract a speck of dirt. “I was not.”
“I don’t understand.” Gale furrowed her brow. “Lady Aurelia is the mother of my lord.”
“She gave birth to Stryg, yes. But he is mine, since the day Aurelia swore her life to me as my priestess. She was forbidden to have any children, by breaking her oaths she relinquished any right to her child. The boy is mine.”
“You’d take away a child from his mother because of an oath?”
“Does that bother you?” Lunae walked right up to her. The goddess’ teenage form was short, over a head shorter than the tall vampire. And yet, Gale couldn’t help but feel as if she was standing in front of a giant. “I asked you a question.”
“...Yes.” Gale took a step back, “I swore to protect the Veres family and here you are telling me you took Aurelia’s child from her.”
“So oaths matter when they're yours, but when they are the oaths of others, then they lose all value?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I am saying I am the Shield of Veres and you hurt their family, my family.”
“Hurt your family? I have shown your family far more mercy than they’ve ever deserved.”
“How is this mercy?”
“I should have slaughtered your entire lineage for what Stryga Veres did to my people,” Lunae growled. “The day she stood in front of me I should have snapped her neck with my hands and crushed her body between my fangs. But that day I showed her more mercy than I ever have to anyone who has wronged me.”
“You met Lady Stryga?” Gale whispered.
“The Bane of Lunis,” Lunae spoke each word as if it were poison on her lips.
“And you spared her? …Why?”
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Luna cocked an eyebrow. “You’d rather I hadn’t?”
“No, it’s just,” Gale bit her lip. “If someone had led the razing and slaughter of my city, I don’t think anything would have stopped me from murdering them.”
“Believe me, I would have, but a friend persuaded me otherwise.”
“I find it hard to imagine anyone can persuade you of anything.”
“I owed him.”
“Forgive me, but who could a goddess possibly owe?”
“A god, far older than me.”
“A god?”
“The one you call Stjerne.”
Gale’s eyes widened. “Stryg’s father? I thought you were the eldest among the Ebon Pantheon?”
She chuckled. “In the stories your priests tell, yes. The persona of Stjerne came long after Solis and I roamed these lands, but Stjerne is only one of Death’s many aspects. He was here when the Null Realms were born, when the Ebon Realm had no name.”
“I had no idea…” she whispered.
“Caligo joined our pantheon only a handful of centuries ago, yet she is older than any of us.” Lunae clicked her tongue, “Though I suppose she was asleep for most of that time. In that regard, she may still be the youngest of us.”
“Wait, Caligo is a woman?”
“There is much you do not know. And Caligo is whatever she desires to be. A shapeshifter of her power can appear to you as a child, a broken old man, a monster… You’d do well to keep that in mind.”
“That's why I’m here. I was trained to fight mages, maneuver against nobles, defend against assassins, but this… Gods? Dragons? Monsters of myth? I’m out of my depth. I need answers.”
“Why do you think I’m here? Or do you think a goddess has nothing better to do than indulge a little vampire?”
Gale bowed. “Thank you for taking the time to speak to me.”
“Oh, now you have manners, hm?”
Gale kept her head down. “Stryg told me you chose me as your Favoured. I know you did that for a reason.”
“And what reason do you think that is?”
Gale licked her lips and swallowed. “I think that despite whatever oaths Lady Aurelia forsook, Stryg isn’t just some thing to you. I think you care about him, more than he knows.”
“Oh?”
Gale peeked up from her bowed position. “Last night I dreamed, no, I saw, clear as I see you now, I saw you. Stryg was just a child, he should have been no one of consequence back then, but there you were. Fishing on a riverbed. He was laughing as you played with him. And you… You seemed happy. You were happy.” Gale’s voice grew more certain as she recalled more and more from that night. “He called you mom, didn’t he? Yes, and you called him ‘my dear sweet stupid son.’ I remember.”
“He never was the brightest child,” Lunae chuckled softly. “But he is smart, in other ways. He memorized the entire Arcana language in only a few years.”
“So it really did happen? All of it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I don’t understand,” Gale frowned. “If you are his mother, if not by blood, then by love, why does he act so, so…”
“Broken?” Lunae muttered.
“I wasn’t going to say that.”
“He is. He lost his memories of his life with me. …And it’s my fault,” Lunae’s voice shook with every word and she turned her back to Gale.
“...You taught him the Arcana?”
Lunae shrugged half-heartedly. “I did.”
“Stryg told me that a hunter named Sigte taught him.” Gale stared at her palm, “But Sigte isn’t real, is he? Sigte is some kind of bond. I saw it, in my dream. Your memory.”
“A side effect, a few of my memories were imprinted upon your mind when I instilled you with a drop of my power.”
“Maybe it’s the same thing with Stryg? A side effect.”
“I didn’t imbue him with any of my power that night.”
“Then maybe it’s his own? He is a god, right? Or a demigod, at least? I’m not sure about the specifics, but what if Stryg’s own power kept his memories? What if that night, he kept his promise? ‘I won’t forget you.’ Those were his words, I remember.”
“We remember. Stryg does not… He lost his memories.”
“Sure, they’re twisted, but they’re still there. Some part of him remembers you. Maybe there’s a way—”
Lunae shook her head. “I’m not interested in the past. His memories are broken, simply trying to recall the past causes him pain. You must never tell him about his past.”
“But—”
“All I care about now is keeping him alive, keeping him safe.”
“So do I.”
“That’s why I chose you.”
“Then tell me what I need to know. Please, tell me what I need to protect Stryg.”
“Are you prepared to give up everything to keep your ward safe?”
Gale straightened her back and held her head high. “I am his shadow, I am prepared to die.”
“No, you must be prepared to live. A corpse will not protect him. The first Veres’ mind fell to ruin after he lost your namesake. You must be better than her. Gian understood this, it is why he has clung to life though everyone from his youth is gone. He understands that the greatest sacrifices take more than a defining moment. It takes a lifetime.”
Lunae’s form shifted in a silver mist and in a single breath Gale found herself standing in front of a titan, a goddess who loomed over her. Piercing glowing eyes stared down at her. “Tell me, little vampire, are you prepared?”
“My brother’s death wasn’t for nothing. Even if it takes me a lifetime to discover why I’m still here and he isn’t, I will gladly pay that price.”
“Good.” Lunae narrowed her eyes. “Let us begin.”
~~~
Stryg stood in front of the Noir manor once more. He thought he might feel a little less uncomfortable about coming back here, but standing here, now, he realized how wrong he had been. Gods, he wished he could be drunk right now. “Do we really have to do this?”
“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Holo clapped his shoulder.
“Your first lesson, you need to start learning to face these things head-on,” said Melantha.
Stryg glanced at her. “And when you say these things do you mean my family or—?”
“Our family and the difficult problems in life.”
“Did you face your difficult problems when you were my age?”
“No, and my entire kingdom paid the price. Thousands died because I let a prime archmage ‘handle’ my problems instead of facing them myself.”
“...Point taken,” Stryg mumbled.
Tauri slipped her hand into his. “It’ll be fine.”
He smiled nervously, “Right.”
“I told you it was a good idea to bring her,” Holo whispered to Melantha with a smirk.