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“What about Guardian?”
“If you gave it back to him, he’d simply hide it to enjoy my agonizing frustration of not getting batteries from my own damn mate who’s going to be my husband! I swear if you don’t get me batteries, Asher, I’ll— Hey! You’re not listening to me!”
He wasn’t because he was tugging me along and humming happily, which made me groan in defeat.
“I hate you.”
“I love you, too,” he responded, knowing damn well I actually loved him back. “To the Shadow Realm.”
To the Shadow Realm.
CHAPTER4
The World Of Shadows And Souls
~ALPHA ASHER~
“So the black sand will keep us in a meditative state?”
I could feel Selene’s curiosity and actual excitement as she glanced around in anticipation. The moment Nyx brought us through the underground into this underground lagoon, her eyes wouldn’t stop staring around the hidden oasis.
“Yes, Darling,” Nyx replied as she continued creating the magic circle design with white sand that poured out of her hand. She was in a draping grown of purple while her face was marked with white paint. “You will remain in such a state until you’re both ready to return to your bodies. This is a spiritual experience which is why I’ve chosen this spot in particular. It hides your essence and magic from the outside world while surrounding you with the serenity our universe has to offer us.”
She finished the magic circle around Selene and nodded in approval before looking down at her.
“It’s been a long while since I’ve gotten the privilege to see you with such markings.”
Selene blinked a few times, and I could feel her tousled emotions. I was sure she hated the fact that she couldn’t recall her past, but I felt this journey would begin to ignite those memories that had been forgotten for many reasons.
“All of this is new to me,” she admitted. “Yet, the traditions and customs you’ve presented thus far feel extremely familiar.”
“Your parents enjoyed embracing our culture,” Nyx confessed. “Even though Diana may not recall all her memories, she still is drawn to these traditions, and that is why she still visits me once in a while for meditation sessions.”
“If Mother knows about the Shadow Realm, why hasn’t she attempted to return?”
It was a good question to ask. Oddly enough, I felt like I already knew the answer to that.
“Trauma is a disease of its own, Darling,” Nyx quietly admitted as she smiled. “When you feel like you’ve failed those you love, it feels almost insulting to enter a realm knowing you can’t save them a second time.”
Selene looked deep in thought at Nyx’s words.
“Diana attempted a ritual that required the host to carry hope,” Nyx emphasized as she paced around our cross-legged bodies while her eyes scanned around us to ensure both magic circles were complete and aligned. “Magic vibes with one’s energy, but hope is a strong essence of power many underestimate because of its uncertain definition. Some think carrying hope is but a foolish gamble with life, while others embrace it at the peak of tragedy. In Diana’s case, she couldn’t convince herself to be hopeful of changing her pack’s destiny, so no matter the calculations of perfection, spiritual tools and rituals, and the immense magic needed for what she sought would lift her pack from the universal plane of stillness, failure was inevitable.”
“And the consequence?” Selene had to know the end.
“Extensive memory loss and her Celestial powers dwindling away,” Nyx confessed and sighed. “I want you to understand, Selene Darling, that you are rather different from your mother. Even as a Celestial, I believe due to the uniqueness of balance you carry within that you’ll probably surpass every Celestial that has existed upon this world.”
She paused so her words would resonate in the air before she bobbed her head.
“But hopelessness is the ultimate killer of a Celestial’s radiance. I want you to learn this early on because many Celestials of the past weren’t given the privilege of discovering such truth until they were struck by its crippling force and faced their end feeling as if they couldn’t escape its clutches. Diana was lucky to survive the aftermath, but the cost of such survival may have led to you not getting the opportunity to be raised fully by your mother, who loved you dearly.”
Nyx moved to stand before Selene before she crouched down and began sprinkling white sand around her head in circles.
“Your destiny is limitless, Darling. Grander than the ocean and the skies above. The hand of Mother Moon lies upon your head for you are destined to rise and be a root to many shifters. Traits you believe are hindrances are but gifts given to you so your survival is guaranteed, but you lack confidence in what you are. You fear you’re undeserving of the love you begin to receive from so many when you were but an outcast years prior to your tumble into our world.”
Selene tried not to show how hard those words hit her, but I could feel every emotion.
See every line of distress and sadness that morphed on her beautiful face as she nodded.
