My Love Triangle: Choose Werewolf Or Demon Prince

“Luna, Wake up!”

“Luna!”

It started as a calm whisper, but it soon escalated to an alarmed shout as Luna's eyes flew open while sweat rolled down her forehead.

“Luna! Come on,” A voice yelled, giggling while the girl struggled to adjust her eyes to the sudden light that attacked her senses.

Her head throbbed as she sat up. The nightmare still plagued her mind and she could still feel the chill it caused crawl up her spine.

She knew it was a dream, but it felt so realistic, and even though she could no longer remember its content, it twisted her insides into painful knots and made her stomach flip.

She forced her eyes to stay open even though it hurt to keep them that way. The sky above had rescinded its azure color and had been set ablaze with streaks of orange and purple, indicating the setting sun on the horizon.

Luna pushed the pain away and stumbled to her feet, she looked around and breathed a sigh, she was still in the Meadow. The Meadow wasn’t home, she couldn’t remember that part of her life, but she appreciated the comfort and the protection that it offered.

The grass was a nice Edencolored green with some stained yellow from excess sunshine. A neon blue stream ran right through the middle of the meadow branching out into many smaller streams that watered the entire landscape. The mountains at the extremes were golden colored in the setting sun with beautifully sculpted peaks. The skies above the meadow were equally beautiful and they stretched as far as her eyes could see in a dome of crystal blue skies punched by puffy clouds.

Everything in the kingdom of Arcadia was ethereal and it wasn't just the sights that pleased the mind and gave a welcoming feel, the sounds, and smells were equally soothing.

The Sprite river song was very delicate as its waters clashed against its surrounding silt beds. The creatures of the forest created a certain harmony that couldn't be found in most places. The birds chirped, the trees hummed and now and then, Luna heard Pixies tittering.

The music of the Meadow caressed her ears, offering relief from the pulsing in her head; the buzzing midges, the murmuring of the wind, and even the sounds of insects in the shrubs beneath her feet all combined to give a wonderful orchestra. She could smell the sweetness of cherry blossoms and the caramel soft scent of flowers in the air.

The feel of the water on her skin was therapeutic, and the taste not only satisfied her thirst but other cravings too. It was almost like it drowned out her fears and worries, her fear and her anxiety slowly faded into the recess of her mind. She let out a sigh of relief as she slowly calmed and tried to come to terms with everything that was happening around her.

"Luna"

The voice called out again, this time an audible voice she was sure she didn't makeup in her head. An image formed on the surface of the water in front of her. The image was distorted by the sunset, but she could make out big, upright ears.

She turned around and was greeted by a rabbit with bright gray fur.

“Helios!” She breathed out with a smile on her face. Something about the little animal always felt welcoming. It felt like she knew him from some distant past life. He had been with her since she arrived in Arcadia and they have both been inseparable ever since.

He waved his little hand at her and stood on all fours. His gesture made her feel fuzzy inside and she warmed up to him almost immediately. Helios always had that effect on her, it was almost like he was the remedy for an ache that she didn’t know she had.

“You snore like a horse,” The bunny muttered while he used his hands to brush his nose. “I’ve been trying to wake you up, since forever.”

“I don’t,” Luna chuckled. “Besides, I had a nightmare.”

“Again?” The bunny asked and hopped closer to her. “How do you feel?”

Luna shrugged. “I don’t remember much. I’m just glad I’m here with you now,” She said and picked up her little companion.

Helios snuggled against the thin fabric of the gown she wore. “I’m glad you’re here as well,” He mumbled.

“Now, why were you trying to scream my ears off?” She asked and glared at him.

“Oh, yes!” He yelled and hopped down. “Come, I need to show you something.”

“I’m not going to the Sprite lake again, you know vicious the Sprites can be.”

Helios itched his back against a tree, “The creatures here are practically harmless, you just have to open up to them.”

The tree’s branches waved and moved back and forth even though there was no wind, almost as if the tree was nodding its ‘head’ in agreement with Helios. She wouldn't be surprised if it did. Dryads were especially nosy creatures.

Luna followed Helios as he led her away from the meadow into the densely populated forest. They had walked a short distance when the short grasses around them gave way to tall trees. The trees were oakbrown and primitive with crackly grasses. Luna knew she would always be in awe of the height and beauty of the trees, their knotted arms pointed upwards, as far as her head could lift.

They were hoary fortresses and stood brazenly. Sunlight poured through every opening it could find even though the trees that towered above them made it impossible to see the late afternoon sky unless they moved towards the clearing next to the lake.

The Crystal blue Sprite lake a few feet away from the trees reflected the sky above it and every few seconds a ripple danced across its face as Sprites drifted lazily underneath it.

Thankfully, they didn’t stop at the Sprite lake and Helios continued to hop ahead. Luna’s brows furrowed when he stopped in the middle of the forest.

“Haha, you’re so funny,” She muttered dryly. “Where’s what you wanted to show me?”

“You just have to walk a little further by yourself,” Helios answered. His eyes seemed to glow as he stared at her. “You have to confront them alone.”

“Confront them? Who?”

Helios stepped aside and Luna felt her body move on its own.

"I guess I’m taking that path whether I want to or not," She muttered to herself. Her hands brushed past a sea of flowers and their petals leaned into her touch as she passed them.

She walked forward, taking one careful step after another, she didn’t know why but she felt a chill crawl up her spine leaving goosebumps on her skin.

“There’s no reason to be scared, you’ve been here a million times,” She muttered to herself but for some reason, Luna couldn’t believe it. The chill slithered up her spine and slowly wrapped itself around her neck till it felt like the oxygen was being sucked out of her lungs.

The orchestra of birdsong that echoed around the forest came to a haunting stop. She couldn’t deny it anymore, something felt wrong, there was something about the forest that didn't feel right anymore. The tall trees and their flaring limbs were slowly stretching till they blocked the sunlight out.

“Helios? I don’t think I want to confront anyone anymore,” She whispered and wrapped her hands around herself.

The shadows that the trees created seemed to bubble like the darkness was trying to birth something.

“Helios?”

Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest and she felt her lungs constricting in her chest till it was almost too painful to breathe.

The air seemed menacing, like evil was about to lunge out from the darkness and devour her till all that was left was ash and bones.

Maybe it was.

Something seemed to slowly slither out from the shadows. It didn’t look like anything she had seen in Arcadia or even the neighboring kingdom.

“You have to shut them out before they invade,” Helios yelled from behind her.

“What is that? What are you talking about?” Fear brought tears to her eyes and it took all her willpower to hold back her tears.

“It’ll only get stronger, Luna!”

The shadow slowly took the form of a slug of some sort, its eyes glowed a devilish red and the more it creeped out into the little light the forest now offered, the bigger it got, till it was almost as big as she was.

It hissed slowly and the sound bounced around in Luna's head forcing her to her knees as she groaned in pain. The flowers that lined the edge of the forest slowly wilted as the creature slithered past her. Fear slammed into her like a freight train and she choked where she knelt, tears fell from her eyes as the pain at the base of her skull seemed to grow.

“Luna!”

“Luna! Open your eyes!”

“Luna! Can you hear me?”

She struggled to breathe and the voices that called out to her felt far away. The wind in the forest seemed to pick up, whipping sand and dry leaves into the air while Luna fought for her breath as darkness dotted her vision.

“Luna!” Helios yelled from beside her. The howling of the wind carried his voice farther away from her. “Listen to the sound of my voice. I’m here. Focus on me. Listen to me.”

The wind didn’t slow and she heard branches snap around her as their weight broke under the force of the wind.

“What’s happening to me?” She cried.

“It’s the darkness. It’s here,” Helios whispered in a somber voice.

Helios climbed into her hands even though she was hunched over in pain. The feeling of his fur against her body made her slowly become more aware of her surrounding. The wind was slowing down, the darkness was spreading. Helios chased away the chill that clawed at her with the warmth his body emanated.

“What the actual fuck?” Luna cursed as she sat up. Her breath came out uneven, it felt like she just finished running a marathon and her heart pumped erratically in her chest.

Creatures burst out from where the giant slug came from, some flew into the sky, and some ran past her, each one a barely shaped mass of darkness.

“It has begun.” Helios muttered solemnly.

Luna and Helios manage to seek refuge in the Duke’s castle closest to the meadow like all the other villagers closest to it as well, and like every other night since the first time she saw them, the darkness came again, stealing light from the sky till colors bled out of the kingdom, rendering it cold, dark and unforgiving.

The sea of sirenflowers that hummed at the gate of the castle wilted long ago, their bright blue colors that were once reminiscent of the summer sky was now a pale grey. Luna couldn’t remember what life was like outside the castle walls.

“Arm the gates!” A guard yelled as he dashed past her. “Arm the gates! They’re coming!”

Luna could feel her heart pumping faster in her chest. Was it fear? Was it adrenaline, she couldn’t tell but she gripped her dagger firmly beside her. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight this time.

The weaker ones were smaller in sizes and they traveled in packs, they destroyed crops and livestocks and were quick to retreat into the darkness after they were done rampaging, the more dangerous ones moved alone, confident in their destructive abilities. They devoured humans leaving behind only bones and they attacked till there was nothing and no one left standing.

“Where are you going?” Helios asked from behind her. His gray fur glowed a soft color under the light of the flickering candlesticks that lined the wall of the castle.

“To the gate. The shadowlings are coming, if they breach the gates I’m going to fight them off with the rest of the guards.”

“Oh,” His eyes seemed to narrow in concentration and his whiskers twitched on their own as they often did wherever he was deep in thought. “I’m coming with you,” He said and hopped a little closer to her as if to prove his point.

“What? No. It’s dangerous out there—”

“Which is why you need me. You need me as much as I need you,” He said.

Luna looked down at her companion and couldn’t help but smile at the warm feeling that his words triggered in her chest. He always had that way of calming her even when she didn’t know she needed to be calmed.

“Fine. But you head back immediately you think you can’t handle the fight, okay?”

“Pfft. I’m not as sensitive as I look,” Helios said. He had a certain glint in his eye like he was telling a joke only him could understand. Luna had given up a long time ago trying to understand Helios.

“I heard the capital is still standing. The darkness hasn’t reached that part of the kingdom at all,” A woman whispered in a hushed tone as she walked past Luna and Helios, hand in hand with a man that looked like her husband from how firmly they held each other.

“If the castle falls. We go to the Capital, it’s safer there. The Queen’s guard will do a better job than this Duke’s washed up farmers pretending to be guards.”

“The Queen hasn’t addressed Arcadia in months. Some say she’s gone crazy,” The man whispered.

“Don’t say that about the Queen,” The woman whispered back harshly.

“Oh please, you know something’s wrong with her head.”

“Something is seriously wrong with your head, girl,” A voice hissed in the back of Luna’s head. It sounded so familiar, like she had heard it a million times before.

“She and her familiar have not attended any of the meetings the High Mages have set up, how are you so certain the Capital is going to be safe?” The Man continued. The lady beside him turned her head around to see if nobody heard her partners blasphemous words and her eyes widened when it met Luna’s. She squeaked in fright and urged the man along the dimly lit hallway of the castle.

“You okay, champ?” Helios asked from below. Luna clutched her dagger girdled at her waist. “Yeah. I’m—”

BOOM!!!

Something slammed against the gates so strongly that it rocked the entire foundation of the castle making both Luna and Helios lose their footing. Luna gripped the cold stone walls to keep her balance while Helios skidded to a stop.

“They’re here!” Helios yelled, his eyes were wide open in shock and if he didn’t look so terrified, Luna would have thought it looked comical.

“At the gate?”

Helios shook his head just as a couple of guards dashed past the both of them.

“They’re on the castle grounds.”

“Heavens!”

She dashed off immediately, her dagger left it’s prison beside her waist and it glinted in the light as she brandished it with a yell.

“Get away from my head!!” Luna yelled and tackled the creature, her dagger going through his body as they tumbled down the staircase it came from.

“Luna!” Helios yelled after her.

Luna tore through the battlefield like a storm, black blood spilt every time she moved, it was an elegant dance of death for all the monsters that crossed her path.

There was no hesitation, there was no deliberation, only steel and blood. But as more beasts she dropped, it was beginning to look like two more took it’s place, but she wouldn’t give up. She couldn’t .

A slime covered tongue wrapped around the hand that held her dagger and she dropped the steel blade, catching it with her second hand before it hit the ground and she spun around in the same second, slicing the tongue with her dagger that now rested in her second hand.

Oilslick blood sprayed her face, adding a new coat of monster blood to her sweat covered face.

Luna paused to catch her breath, exhaustion was creeping into her bones slowly and the beasts weren’t slowing.

A tongue shot around her hand, this time before she could cut it off, another shot around her second hand. Two shadow creatures slowly slithered around her legs, holding it in place. They were holding her down!

“Helios!” She yelled for her companion over the cry of the battlefield. A few villagers had left the grand hall to join the fight, it didn’t solve their problem though but it slowed the monsters down.

A large sluglike creature that was almost twice her size crawled up to her, darkness bubbled across it’s skin and Luna knew the other creatures were holding her down for this… this thing.

“Let go of me!!” She yelled and struggled against the monsters that held her down.

The slug blinked at her, it’s antenna peered directly into her eye till she felt like it was going pop open her soul.

It’s mouth didn’t move—not that it had any she could see, but she heard it’s voice in her head, just like the screech of the monster from the staircase.

For the first time since the darkness came, she felt fear. Pure, unadulterated, fear stronger than anything she had ever felt in her life. It creeped up her spine and squeezed her heart till she felt like it was going to pop out of her chest.

“You’re weak, broken,”

“You are nothing, girl!”

More voices joined the ones in her head already, it felt like she could hear the screeching—No, the voices of every shadowling around her. The pain built in the back of her head and it brought pain to her eyes to badly that it made her want to scratch them out.

“Please…” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Stop. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to me?”

The slug moved closer, it’s body pressed against her skin and she felt the darkness on its body slowly start to give way. It was absorbing her!

“No! Let go of me! No!! Somebody help!”

The castle walls were broken, the protection it offered no longer existed, shadowlings chased after women and children that hid in the castle, ripping them from limb to limb and tossing the bloody carcass to one another. The glee on their faces could not be missed as their fangs and claws tore through flesh and bone.

The beast was slowly absorbing her and her senses began to fail one after the other. She could no longer smell the sulfur and blood that lingered in the air, the screams of the villagers slowly began to muffle till she couldn’t hear a sound anymore, her sight when black and she waited for the nothingness of death… It didn’t come.

She was drowning! She didn’t know how, but she could feel the waves knocking into her over and over again, dragging her down even as she continued to struggle. She had never felt what it was like to drown before, the feeling was excruciating. She wanted to breathe but her brain held off as long as it could, her lungs were burning from how hard she struggled, she clawed at her chest, she didn’t know why but she continued.

“Breathe! Just breathe!”

“Just take deep breath’s,” A familiar voice said at the back of her head, it was a gentle female voice. Somehow it felt like she had heard it all her life.

Pain intensified behind her eyelids and she could feel tiny needles pricking her brain. Something flashed behind her eyes and the saw a flurry of white coats carrying her as they raced somewhere.

Where they angels? Was she finally dead?

She had always thought death would be pain free but she could still feeling the pain in her brain and a crushing weight in her chest. A wave of darkness slammed into her again and everything went dark.

Helios. Where was Helios?

“Helios!!!!!”

Bright light emanated from a distance ripping through the shackles that weighed her down instantly. She crashed on the bloody field, gasping for breathe while Helios stood beside her. His fur still glowed softly. The light came from him.

“I’ve got you buddy,” He whispered. “I’ve got you.”

–––––––––––––

“I’m weak and pathetic!” Luna yelled and screamed into the air.

“Every time we fight the shadowlings I always lose.”

“You can’t win against an enemy you don’t know, Luna,” Helios said in his usual somber manner whenever he was about to deliver a speech. But she didn’t care for it.

They had been traveling for days, fighting the darkness and the shadowlings it birthed but they always over powered her, Helios always came to her rescue. They were supposed to be partners, for once, she wanted to rescue him too.

“I don’t want to understand them. I just want them gone, but I can’t even learn how to summon light.”

“Whoa! Easy there, big guy. Channeling isn’t just something you learn in a few days, it took me years to be able to channel light. I know you want to fight the darkness, if anyone can do it, I’m sure it’s you,” Helios said and nudged her gently with his nose.

“Now, come on. Again.”

Luna shut her eyes and tried to focus on pulling the energy she needed from the air, energy thrummed between her fingers but the most she got were sparks.

No big bright light capable of eliminating shadowlings.

“Oh forget it!” Luna scoffed and stood up from where she sat to head further down the road.

Even the birds no longer chirped and sang, their once melodious voices now replaced by the hissing of vultures as they circled around looking for any carcass they could feast on. The air smelled like burnt sulphur and it made breathing very difficult. It wasn’t just Arcadia that suffered, Luna looked like life was being sapped from her as things in Arcadia worsened. They needed to get to a safer part of the kingdom.

Through out their journey and their battles with shadowlings, Luna had tried severally to summon light, but it was almost like the talent eluded her out of spite.

“Is something bothering you?” Helios as he hopped beside her.

“It’s nothing,” She muttered, more to herself than to him.

“Come on, talk to me. Are you still bummed that you can’t channel?”

“No—I mean I want to learn to channel, but that’s not what’s bothering?”

“Come on, talk to me. Do you want me to kneel? Might be a little difficult with this paws but I will if you say the word.”

Luna sighed, she knew Helios was only trying to cheer her up but it wasn’t working.

"I'm scared, Helios. I know I don’t show it, but I get really scared sometimes. I just… I just—I want to go home," Luna cried out as they made their way down the forest with trees that had lost their leaves, leaving them naked and exposed.

"Home? You mean the meadow?"

The meadow wasn't home and she knew it, her instincts and guts told her so. She felt she had a past, she had to have one but the memories seemed so distant and it caused her head to ache every time she tried to remember.

"I don't know, I wanna be anywhere else but here. Everything here gives me the creeps," she said as she stopped walking, afraid that if she took another step, the darkness will creep out of the skies again. She hated that she was scared. She wasn’t supposed to have fears. Warriors don’t have fears, right?

If only that could be true.

“Do you hear that?” Helios asked as both his ears perked up.

“No,” Luna answered but she gripped the dagger beside her waist. Helios could always sense whenever the shadowlings were around, it would be foolish to brush off his senses even though she couldn’t hear anything. She was scared, yes. But for now, her fears would have to wait till later. She had a job to do.

“Listen closely,” Helios said.

“Forget what you’re seeing.”

She closed her eyes abs listened closely, that was when she heard it, the sound of women wailing and rushed footsteps as people scurried around for safety.

“I hear it,” She breathed out. Her eyes scanned the empty forest, “But where’s it coming from?”

"There!" Helios said, pointing forward. "The noise is from over there," He added as he raced through the forest, urging Luna to keep pace with him.

"Wait! Helios," she screamed as she struggled to keep up.

They ran a small distance forward and came to the edge of a cliff.

"Woah! Careful Luna!" Helios yelled as manifested a wall of light to keep Luna back, preventing her from tripping over the cliff by her momentum.

"Thanks Helios,” She muttered as the construct shimmered away. “What's going on down there?" She asked. Ignoring the jealous pinch in her stomach at how easily Helios could manipulate light.

"I can't make any sense of it, it's all chaos," Helios replied.

"Let's go find out. But how do we get down there?"

“ We jump,” Helios said, giggling as he spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Are you nuts? That would be the end of us. What’s the point of running from shadow monsters if we’re just going to end it all on a cliff?” Luna yelled.

“You want to learn how to channel, right? Trust me,” He yelled as he jumped off the cliff.

She could hear him giggling as he fell. Luna gulped hard as he tried to make sense of what she was about to do. Stranger things had happened in Arcadia and at this point she was certain nothing could surprise her anymore. She walked closer to the edge of the cliff and dared herself to look down. The distance to the bottom seemed so far away as she looked around and tried to locate Helios’ gray fur.

“Stop looking for me and just jump!” he yelled, the wind seemed to carry his voice over to her making it feel like he was standing right next to her.

“Are you in one piece?” She yelled back.

“Hurry and join me, you're asking too many questions,” Helios scoffed, amusement softening his tone.

She took few steps backward as she prepared herself to follow Helios’ lead. She was certain that Helios wouldn’t do anything that could harm her and if he made it down safely, so could she.

“Trust me, Luna.” He yelled again, urging her on.

Luna increased the distance between herself and the edge, muttering to herself in inaudible words that even she couldn’t make sense of then she paced off, allowing her momentum and adrenaline push her, drowning out her fear and sense of reasoning.

She screamed as she fell freely, the wind slashed at her face forcing tears to well up in her eyes. She shut them to relief herself and when she opened them she was on the ground, standing. No broken bones or torn skin. She examined herself as Helios stood before her, chuckling slightly at her bewildered expression.

“How did that happen. How am I not…?” she trailed off.

“Dead?”

“Yes, I should be a lot more dead right now.”

“That’s easy. You trusted me.”

She checked herself again to put away her doubts then pinched hard at her wrists to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. She had seen her life flash in her eyes as she jumped, the precious little remembered of it. Not that there was much to remember.

It made no sense. How was she still alive? How did “trust” save her? And how did Helios know she could make it to the bottom alive if she jumped down.

She exhaled and let her thoughts fly with the air.

Stranger things had happened to her in Arcadia, and there was action to get to.

The darkness had crept into the fae villages with it's minions in tow, and Luna had taken it as her job to put an end to their menace.

"Someone help!" a woman yelled in the distance.

A thick black fog had enveloped the village making it hard to see through and it choked her, also making it even hard to breathe.

She heard a snarl beside her and she made a sharp turn, ramming her dagger into the eye of the unlucky creature that snarled at her and ripped off it’s eye socket as she yanked her knife out of its head.

Helios held his own, firing bolts of light rapidly at the monsters that came at him, wounding them as the light burned off their limbs slowly.

Luna dodged another shadow monster as she ran straight into battle, and used its momentum to knock it off balance and rammed her knife into its chest as it fell, not giving it a minute to catch his breath.

She picked up a discarded sword on the ground as she charged at a shadow beast. The sword glowed softly as she ran and it tore through the black fog as if it was fabric.

"Die!" She roared as she struck it's tip in the heart of the beast. The beast roared as it clawed at it’s chest drawing the attention of others of it's kind.

The fog was slowly starting to rescind and Luna noticed the group of women that some shadowlings were circling.

"I'm gonna help the women out," Helios yelled, giving another shadowling a blast to the face as he scurried away to help the women.

Some of the monsters slinked towards her, they looked hideous. Some slithered, some crawled on all fours and a few walked, each one was armed with dangerous looking fangs and claws that looked like they could cut through bones without a problem.

Luna smiled as she faced the assembling beasts. If it was the first time she was facing a group of shadowlings she would have been scared out of her mind, but she had done this dance already. She had found courage from her last success and it spurred her on.

She spun her new sword in one hand and clenched her dagger firmly in the other. She didn’t wait for their first move before she struck. She descended on them with the fury of the gods. She charged at them, stabbing and cutting at them.

"Die!!!" She screamed as she thrusted her sword through another.

She was holding her own against the shadow monsters until she felt an all too familiar pain in her head. She faltered for a second and a tail whipped against her chest sending her skidding backwards, she forced herself to her feet, biting her tongue till she tasted blood to distract herself from the searing pain in her head. She swung her sword when the attack came again, thrusting her dagger into the creature’s body.

The pain flared at the base of her skull again. She staggered back, her dagger was embedded into the creatures body but she couldn’t find the strength to rip it out.

"Helios!" Luna screamed as she fell to the ground.

The pain threatened to rip her head apart. She clutched her head firmly as she crouched in pain almost as if she was trying to squeeze the pain out of her head. The creatures almost seemed to snicker as they slowly surrounded her.

Helios was firing bolts left and right as more shadowlings surrounded him. Was this it? Was this how she was going to die?

“Leave her alone!” A little girl yelled and threw a stone at one of the creatures.

“Get away you meanies!” She yelled and threw another stone with a surprising accuracy that hit another shadowling.

The women who were watching Luna all along stepped forward, emboldened by the little girl’s efforts. Each one drew a glowing weapon, some knives, some arrows, even katana’s and charged in. The shadowlings rescinded as they fought and finally vanished.

Screams of relief and victory pierced through the air as everyone celebrated what had played out.

"Over there," one of the women screamed out. Luna was laying helplessly on the ground as she groaned in pain, she couldn't bear it anymore, the last thing she heard before she she passed out were the women shouting as they ran over to her. “Get help!”

"Get some herbs," another yelled.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She coughed as she regained consciousness. Her head still pulsed from her last episode. She opened her eyes slowly with the sun threatening to blind her when she finally did.

"Helios! Where is Helios?" She asked in fright as she sat up, her insides were twisting into knots at the thought of something awful happening to her companion. The last thing she remembered was seeing shadowlings surround him.

"I'm right here, Luna." Helios responded, rubbing the back of her head with his furry little paw.

She coughed again as she staggered to her feet.

"You need to rest." One of the Maidens, Angel, said to her, motioning for her to lay back.

"I'm fine, " Luna pushing her hands away, she must have looked so weak in front of these women. What was the pain all about? It all started when the darkness arrived. Was she connected to it somehow? And the voices in her head… Who were they?

If only she could remember her past, maybe it would give her some sort of insight on everything.

“Who are you guys?” She asked. Angel gave her all the answers she needed, she was a tall, blackhaired woman with bronze skin and a slim shape. From what she had learnt, Angel was the leader of the maidens. Though they weren't warriors, they had began training immediately after the darkness first attacked them a few weeks back, it was also around the time Luna first confronted it.

"What brings you here," Angel asked.

"We heard cries from your village, and we came to help out," she responded.

"So who are you supposed to be? Some superhero?" Another woman asked.

"She just saved us, Annika. You should show some gratitude!" Angel retorted as she gestured for her to leave them.

"That's Annika. I'm sorry about her attitude. She wasn't like that until...." She broke off.

"Until what?" Luna asked, she was filled with interest and curiosity but her face remained a mask of indifference.

"Until the darkness came and took our men from us. That's what!" Annika spat acidly before she walked into the cottage Luna found herself in.

“I told you to leave!” Angel said and shot her a glare.

“Naa. I’m good.” Annika shrugged. She had brown skin and a cloud shaped birthmark at the side of her nose.

Angel rolled her eyes and faced Luna again.

"So what about you? What brings you here?" Angel asked.

Luna paused and stared at Helios, he nodded, his little way of saying these people can be trusted.

"I'm trying to find a way home," She said.

"Home? That can't be that hard. You should have a compass or something,"

"I have no idea where home is, I've been roaming the forests for days with Helios, then we heard your cries and came to find out what was happening,"

“Oh…” Annika trailed off. “I’m so sorry.”

Luna shrugged. She didn’t know how to feel about the sudden show of concern. Was she not used to people being concerned for her? Had she grown used to Helios and his nigh omniscience?

"Oh! I know,” Angel piped up. “Hailey can help you, just like she's helped everyone of us when we needed guidance. When the men left, she was the one that kept this village standing."

"Who's Hailey," Luna asked.

"Our mother. We've pretty much called her that ever since she saved us. Some of us were just as lost as you when the darkness struck, but she gathered us together and we managed to put all of this up," Angel responded as she turned around, gesturing to explain what all of this meant.

"If you wish to find your way home, then she can help you. She knows all." She added.

"Thank you very much. How do we see her?" She asked.

"We’ll take you to her."

“Helios, wanna come?” Luna asked.

“Sure thing,” He said and hopped after them.

They walked a few meters with a couple of turns to reach her. The old mage might have been old in age but not in her appearance.

Her white hair was flowing, straight and had a glow that gave a youthful feel to it. It wasn't the white that came with aging, but elegance and her skin didn't wrinkle, she also had a warm smile that dispelled any fears of her being anything but sweet.

"Welcome dear ones! " Hailey yelled as she sighted them just outside her hut.

Her cottage was the biggest and most polished in the small village and just like her, it reeked of splendor. She had a small garden just outside with rose and lavender flowers. The hut was pained and it shone like the sun that shined on it.

The insides were well decorated too, her living room had cupboards on almost all sides where she stacked her crockery.

A wide wooden table stood at the centre of the room with five chairs around it. At the opposite end of the room, she had a small fireplace with an antique just above it.

Luna marveled at how a place could be so simple, yet so delicately arranged that it made it's sparse adornment look even more than it was.

"You have a nice place, ma'am" she complimented as she walked in.

"Thank you, darling, " she responded with a warm smile still on her face.

"Here, have a seat. I was just making lunch; Cottage pie and my favorite raspberry juice."

A sense of Deja vu struck Luna when she heard the meal but she quickly shrugged it off. She had never met this woman in her life… Right?

They helped her prepare her dish and sat down to eat soon after. Luna told her about her time in Arcadia so far. She told her about the meadow and where she feels the darkness came from. She filled her everything in between when she left the meadow and when she arrived here.

“Come let’s take a walk to my flower house, it is very relaxing, you need a little bit of that after all you’ve been through.”

“I’m just going to hang here for a bit,” Helios said, licking his pie covered paw while he eyed another piece on Luna’s plate. “You know, just in case the shadowlings come back.”

Luna chuckled and allowed Hailey lead her way, she didn’t miss Helios jumping at her piece immediately she turned her back. Damn. She loved that rabbit.

They both sat down in it and Hailey gave her a minute to collect herself before continuing her questions.

"What happened before you got here? Surely you must have some memory of that" Hailey questioned.

"I don't, and it worries me, I didn’t use to have a problem with it, but ever since the darkness came, I’ve been hearing voices… Seeing flashes of people," She sighed. “I don’t know why, but I feel like all this kind of leads back to me and my missing memories. But why now?”

She had tried many times to reach out to whatever part of her head her old memories were locked in—if she had any—but the harder she tried, the more impossible it seemed for her to remember anything.

"Hmmm, now tell me. What do you seek?"

She could feel a dull ache at the base of her neck where the pain from earlier struck her.

"Peace and calm,” She sighed. “I just want to get home. "

Hailey exhaled and closed her eyes as she stood up, she held her hand out and a soft glow emitted from it. The light slowly traveled up her body till she was glowing from head to toe. Almost all the butterflies in the garden drifted towards her, they flapped their wings softly as they all formed a looping circle around her, the different wing colors created an ethereal look to it and Luna couldn’t help but be mesmerized. Hailey looked like a goddess… Maybe she was.

“You can channel light,” Luna breathed out in awe.

“You sound surprised,” Hailey chuckled. “How did you think the girls got their weapons consecrated?”

“Yeah, of course I’m surprised. Helios is the only one that has channeled light in front of me. Why didn’t you join the fight? Why didn’t you chase the shadowlings away with your light?”

“The darkness that plagues Arcadia isn’t mine to fight, it is the Queen’s. I can help as best as I can, but in the end only she can do what needs to be done. Arcadia belongs to the Queen alone.”

“Well, I want to fight. Maybe I’m stupid and I have no self preservation skills but I can’t let this continue to go on. Please, tell me how to summon light.”

“Your emotions are the answer, Luna. They’ve always been.”

“Riiight,” She drawled. “Can you tell me how I can find out where I come from? Maybe get my memories back while I’m at it too.”

"You need to get back to the meadow, the answers you seek are in there.”

Hailey walked over to her and held her hands to steady them, then lifted her face so she could take her eyes in hers.

"You're strong, little one. I see a lot of dark clouds hanging over you but you've fought your way through everyone of them."

"I'm not." She said. Hailey had a calm to her, and it spread to everyone else around her. "I'm not the strong one. Helios is." She added. "He's always been the one saving me.”

“You’re weak, broken.”

“You are nothing, girl!”

“On my own, I'm weak, broken… I don’t even know who I am… I’m nothing."

Hailey held a finger to her lips to shut her off.

"You, little one are none of those things. You're what you allow yourself to be and I see in your deep beautiful eyes, the ability to be so much more.”

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. You are powerful, Luna. You know you are. Your light will shine forth when you need it, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. Your past... or lack of it, don't let it affect you. Focus on the present."

Hailey smiled at her and she could see the sincerity in her eyes. She could see that Hailey didn't make up those words to jeer her up, she genuinely meant them. And it meant the world to her.

"Thanks, Hailey. I don’t think anyone has spoken to me like that before. Thanks for making me believe in myself."

She stood up and hugged her in a long passionate embrace.

Luna and Helios stayed in the village for a few more days, recuperating and resting from the wears and tears of their previous journey, but soon it was time to leave.

"Luna," Helios said from behind her, interrupting her conversation with Annika, they had both warmed up to each other. "All packed and ready."

"What?" Luna asked with surprise on her face. “So quickly?”

"I had the maidens pack a few things for you. I didn’t have a lot of things to take along."

Luna spotted Hailey coming up and she ran over to her. "Thank you, Hailey. For everything."

They left not too after. There was a lot of crying and goodbyes as they left. Even though their stay was short, she did bond really well with the maidens and most especially, Hailey. Her feeling of deja vu always acted up around her. Hailey had a familiar feel to her, like she knew her from some distant past. For the first time in a while, she felt what it was like to have a mother and it felt good. Her hugs and smile had therapeutic effects on Luna.

They seemed to walk up to her and say, "You've got this" every single time she began to doubt herself. She left the village feeling a lot better, her fear extinguished, replaced with an inner peace and a courage she never knew she had in her. She was almost certain that now she could fight back, fight the darkness.

It didn’t matter that she hadn’t She wouldn't need to rely on Helios so heavily anymore. She wouldn't be that scared little girl that shrieked and ran when the shadow monsters showed up.

“How is this possible?” She muttered to herself.

The sprite lake that often had dozens of sprites dancing in it, splashing water at each other and occasionally zapping her with their magic whenever she got too close, now had no sprite to give its magic. The darkness had consumed them. The tree Dryads looked like they were long dead, and their trees looked hollow, empty of the life that used to fill them up.

“Run!!!”

She whipped around, looking for where the sound came from. It sounded like

“Run, Luna! Run!” Helios yelled as he yelled and tore through the black fog that veiled the other side of the clearing.

“Are we under attack?” Luna asked as Helios dashed past her. She reached for her dagger by her waist, but she couldn’t find it there.

“What the fuck?” She muttered to herself as she patted her body and searched the clearing for her trusty dagger.

“Luna!” Helios yelled from a safe distance away.

“Give me a minute,” she yelled back.

Helios yelled something in reply, but it was muffled by the growl that resonated through the air. She froze and slowly looked up.

She was facetoface with a chimera. It was a shadowling, but the features were distinct. A lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail

“I can’t decide who to eat first,” the chimera hissed. The lion's mouth opened, and a forked tongue came out. “That familiar of yours sure looks tasty."

The chimera was almost two times her size. Luna gulped, and she slowly backed away from where she knelt. Were the shadowlings evolving? She didn’t know what to do; fear had her frozen in place.

“Run!” Helios's voice pierced through her, and she immediately jumped to her feet and dashed off. She ran as quickly as she could through the forest, using the familiar terrain to her advantage, ducking over low tree branches and running in a zigzag around the trees.

“You smell so good,” Its voice came out in low whispers that made goosebumps rise on her skin. “I wonder if you taste any good.”

It didn't waste any time leaping for her, but as it jumped, its glinting claws mere inches away from ripping out her throat, everything slowed down.

So she let it go.

Pure white light shot out from her, searing through the chimera and disintegrating it almost immediately. There wasn’t much she could do to hide her grin when she heard its dying screech as it disappeared into nothingness. Even the black fog seemed to have cleared a little. Luna slowly stood up, the weight of her actions sinking in.

“You channeled light,” Helios whispered from behind her.

“I did,” she whispered, looking down at her hand; it still had a faint glow.

“How did you do it?”

“I don’t… I don’t know; it just happened. "Everything was so sudden." "I was feeling everything, everywhere, all at once.”

Suddenly, her eyes glowed a strong, bright white, almost as bright as the light she emitted, and memories she had long forgotten hit her all at once.

The long, phalllusshaped appendage fell over Lucille's eyes before stiffening so that she slammed blindly into the approaching woman.

"Saint!" Lucille shrieked, pulling at the grinning snake that'd now fallen languidly, curling around her neck as Lucille kissed her knees, apologizing profusely to the scowling woman.

You didn't just bump into people in Armagetton; everyone kept their limbs to themselves—that is, if you weren't looking to lose said limb.

Esmeralda ignored Lucille's apology, her black orbits flashing as she scoffed a

"Watch it, gingerbread," she said, kicking a soiled napkin out of the way and strutting forward, the pointed edge of her chin jutting out.

The witch's long, glossy black hair swept the grime off a carpet behind her.

Gingerbread was a name Lucille had gotten after her very public, illfated affair with a Gingerbread man in her early teens—the weakest of the bottom fae—ended with the fae bounding off with a wealthy Babushka, leaving Lucille pining after him.

In her defense, the gingerbread man had made really delicious cupcakes.

Personally, Lucille found it embarrassing.

Lucille had seen the energy bulb the Witch fisted in her hands before she apologized; she could have probably taken the hag on, but it wouldn't do for Lucille to lose soul matter in another fight or be turned into a slime frog, not after the way her fight with that Gorgon—a firebreathing bull covered in blue, spikey iron plates—still left a metallic taste in the roof of her mouth.

"You little shithead!" "You're going to get us killed!" Lucille whispered fiercely, pinching the smooth muscle of the snake that was chuckling derisively. Lucille's serpentine familiar had the same absinthe skin tone as her green, goldspecked eyes and her illfated taste for violence.

The darn thing had cuddled up to her the night her sister disappeared, but Lucille was already chumming up to it; she was sure she was breaking a selfpreservation rule by keeping a snake as her familiar.

Most of the residents were crossing the lintlittered road to avoid Lucille, their purses cinched high enough that it bruised their lowered jaws, but a few folkgarbed disciples marched past her, their bulbous eyes never leaving her face. It was like they were trying to prove something to themselves.

The girl filled her diamondstudded nostrils with the rot of the city; the gnarled black roots that seemed to sprout like waterlogged tentacles from the cracks between the asphalt of the highway snagged the occasional car and gobbled it up, dragging it through the small cracks into the open mouth of whatever abomination lived beneath.

Armagetton was buzzing with filth and depravity, and Lucille loved it a lot more than was maybe wise to.

When a slimeslick root shot up, whipping through the sidewalk and snagging a few faeries, their highpitched screams were cut off midsqueal as they disappeared into the asphalt.

Lucille had skipped to the side, nearly breaking her newlysharpened teeth as a bony hand reached out in the chaos to trip her over the heap of rubbish the other night's rain had strewn around.

She'd have kicked the darn thing if the appendage hadn't scurried off before she could react, with her only managing to huff out the sickly sweet smell of urine.

Lucille turned back to admire the carnage on the road, keeping her other eye on the sidewalk now. Once bitten, forever changed

It paid to speed on the highway; it was the only way to get across without losing any body parts or having The Circlers—some very scary, humanoid vulture birds that hung permanently over the stretch of road—munch on your soul. It was one of those things Lucille had learned from experience.

Lucille ambled to a stop at the gray light district, where anarchy music was pumping from the Devil's Lullaby and the building seemed to bounce from the intensity of the beats. Something about teenage angst and rebellion

It was the biggest nightclub in Armagetton, owned by that pompous brat of a rejected Demon Prince who was her best friend, Damon.

Lucille had heard his story: how he ran off from hell with his grand witch coven after their takeover of his father flopped, and how some of those witches he'd risked his neck for betrayed him by breaking out and starting their own cult. at the end of the streets.

It was also one of the reasons Lucille didn't do favors for Fae; usually it ended with a good ol' knife in the back.

She knew she would never ask him directly; he would tell her. when the time was right.

Saint had stopped hissing on her neck, and his muscular form had stiffened again.

He was bobbing his flat head, mesmerized by the purple and green disco lights that flashed continuously from the large appleshaped building, casting a neon glow on the deadeyed people prowling the stonepaved sidewalk.

Their eyes passed over the rift of dull, milky white light that shone straight on, at the outskirts of the city. Lucille felt the portal's heat from where she stood.

She heard Saint whisper a prayer and laughed at the irony before pushing into the bustling nightclub doors that flew open with a ding.

"Oi! Gingerbread! What's cooking goodlooking?" Ofgar roared, highfiving his 3 foot, 4 inch mates on the back like he'd done something spectacular, like confronting the neighborhood bully.

Lucille had the sudden urge to step on the thumbsized Imp.

"Your mom's arse, Shrek," Lucille hissed as they glided past their nowquiet group, with Saint perched on her shoulder, hissing with satisfaction.

"You really showed him back there." Damon snickered when she reached the counter, where the pleasedlooking demon was leaning casually, one bony asschee hanging from the high bar stool, and his pointy red tail whipping lazily behind him.

Shut it satan spawn.

Saint snapped in her head; of course Damon couldn't hear him; familiars could only communicate with their host in Armagetton. She mentally rolled her eyes at the snake.

Lucille gave Damon a look as she settled her own moderately shaped derriere on the small ledge of the brown rubber stool. It was like giving herself a plastic wedgie; her cheeks were pushing out on either side.

She thought Damon must have just fed; he was brimming with soul matter. Lucille wondered where he hung his humanoid skin; he wasn't wearing any now, not that he needed to; the club was his palace.

Damon's luminescent red eyes followed her as she ordered a bottle of ginseng and takeaway ttekboki before pricking her finger and allowing a few drops of her blood to sink into the barrel of resin on the counter. It wasn't like she had a choice; blood was currency in Armagetton, if you didn't have money, that is.

She could have sent it to Damon's tab; he ran the place after all, but Lucille was not keen on jumping into more debts. The redbodied man was her friend, even though he didn't know it yet. And debt pacts with demons, however charming—and this one was very charming—were tricky.

Debtors usually end up shorthanded, losing more than they bargained for.

Benedict suddenly dropped his buff frame into the stool beside Lucille, clapping one tan hand on her back with enough force that her stool tethered to the side from his momentum.

"Lucille Arkavis, fancy seeing you here!" Benedict boomed, the corners of his lips twitching with a faint smile as he steepled his fingers on the countertop.

Lucille croaked before settling back on the chair gingerly; she didn't need to look to know that Damon had disappeared into the darkness. Werewolves and demons in Armagetton always had a bone to pick, most times it was human.