The Rise of Lunar's Light (The Story Before Mateless)

Celine’s Pov:

I stared at the small shard of Ambrosia in my hand as both my heart and mind raced. Was this a trick? We were not supposed to lust after power. If what Amelia told me was true, my powers would increase and I, too, would become a goddess. That’s not what I wished for. “No, I can’t in good conscious take this,” I stated, handing it back to the woman with all certainty in my heart.

She smiled at me for a moment with an expression I didn’t understand in her eyes. “Child, this is not a test. We are giving you only a small shard to enhance your gifts. You will need to stop Amelia before she takes hers. A small amount such as this shard will not turn you into a goddess, I assure you,” she smiled, replacing the shard in my hand.

“You will ascend at the moment of Amelia’s birth, as she will notice the power shift from your mother to you. We hope the shift will distract her long enough for you to hit her before she knows what is going on. We will do the rest,” the Girl explained. “Yes, Goddess,” I bowed. “Go rest. It will be time for your first genuine challenge as our priestess in no time.”

For the past week, my nerves have been on end. I disliked lying to the other trainees and to Amelia. I understood she brought this upon herself, but my worry was how the others would ever trust me after this deceit. The morning started out like any other except for the fact I was waiting for Amelia to start her trial, as she believed I was currently doing mine.

“Celine, it’s time. You are to come to the Temple,” mother linked. “Right,” I breathed, trying to quell my nerves. From its hiding place, I pulled out my sliver of ambrosia and slipped it into a small vial attached to a chain I wore around my neck. “I am ready for this,” I whispered, closed my eyes and envisioned the Temple.

“All hail to our new High Priestess, Celine Main. May she rule with justice, love and compassion,” Timothy’s voice beamed with pride at the other trainees. Murmurs of shock and disbelief rose from among those in attendance. Not how I envisioned my coronation, but I understood their shock.

“Ladies please,” mother’s strict tone of voice bellowed, bringing the room to a standstill. “I am well aware of the fact you all were expecting Amelia to be our next High Priestess. While she may be the most ‘gifted’, But that doesn’t mean she’s the best candidate. Amelia has moved against the pack and her mothers. For this, they have stripped her of her title of priestess,” mother explained.

The sound of the priestess’ gasps filled the room, followed by cries of anger and shock which went on forever. “All hail Celine, our true High Priestess of the Moon. May she reign long. May she reign with love, wisdom, justice, honor and compassion,” someone finally yelled out. Relief washed over me at the sound of their hails, signaling their acceptance of me.

“You are all dismissed, as we still must deal with Amelia,” Timothy ordered. While mother and I opened several portals around the temple to evacuate the trainees. My mother walked over to me and clasped my hands in hers with a mixture of love and fear in her eyes.

“Are you ready, Celine?” she whispered. “How ready can I be? I’ve betrayed my best friend, and if she doesn’t stand down, I may need to kill her,” I answered. In my ears, my voice sounded emotionless.

Moments later, Amelia appeared, with anger written on her face. Her eyes locked on my mother. “Damn what you and my mothers say, I am beyond worthy of your title,” she seethed as her anger flooded the room. “In fact, I am worthy of so, so much more. Isn’t that right, Celine?” she smiled, glancing over at me.

I tried my best to match her smile, but the shame I held in my heart made it difficult. I really loved Amelia as my sister. “Amelia,” Timothy started rising from his seat. “No, not Amelia, not anymore. From here on you worthless whelps will call me Amy,” she screamed as her anger reached its boiling point.

The ground shook as an evil grin washed over her face. My hands quivered as they dove for the vial that contained my shard. “Hold Celine, trust that I will tell you when to take it,” the Girl’s rough voice filled my mind. The winds swirled as if a hurricane was moving in on the lands. My heart felt as if it may explode. “Humph. Looks like you are all out of time,” Amelia laughed, closing her eyes and awaited her powers.

Sweat dripped from my mother’s brow and my own as a purple flame erupted from her chest and moved towards me. Amelia opened her eyes just as my mother fell to her knees, exhausted from the exchange of power between us.

Amelia’s eyes fell greedily on the purple flames which were moving towards us. We both reached out a hand to absorb the Goddesses’ powers. As the flames danced up my arm and made their way to my chest, a scream of anguish rang out from Amelia. “Now my child,” the Girl screamed through my mind as the last of the flames tingled as they entered my body, leaving their mark upon my soul.

Amelia’s face twisted with shock and disbelief as I popped the shard into my mouth and bit down, allowing its honey like nectar to rush down my throat. As I swallowed the nectar, every fiber of my being was on fire as its power spread throughout my body.

Amethyst’s Pov:

Exhausted, I fell to my knees as the power of the Goddesses danced towards Amelia and Celine. My eyes caught Amelia’s expression as the most terrifying grin I ever witnessed crept across her face. For a moment, I worried Amelia could have found a way to steal the power of the Goddesses for herself.

Both Celine and Amelia reached out for the flames. At the last moment, the flames twisted up Celine’s arm. Almost as if they were dancing to torment Amelia with the knowledge her mothers truly abandoned her. “Come on, Celine, take the ambrosia,” I screamed inside my head, wondering what her delay was.

Amelia wailed in disbelief because it was Celine, not Amelia, who was the one who the Goddesses’ powers obeyed. Pride filled my soul as Celine popped the Ambrosia into her mouth. Thankfully, this was unnoticed by Amelia. Suddenly, the temple was still. All of a sudden, it shook with a violent tremor which threatened to tear it to pieces. To my surprise, glorious purple flames erupted, engulfing Celine, which made her scream out in pain before the flames threw Amelia back.

In an instant, Timothy shifted and attempted to race to Celine, but the intense heat from the flames held him back. Tears flooded from my eyes. Did the Goddesses really mean for this to happen? No one could survive the heat.

Suddenly the piercing shriek of an eagle like bird tore through the temple. To my amazement, a Phoenix emerged from the flames which surrounded Celine. For a moment, it scanned the room before flying towards Amelia, who screamed in fear before scrambling away from the mammoth beast.

The bird extended its talons as it closed the distance between it and Amelia. In the blink of an eye, it scratched three deep gashes into her back before returning to Celine’s chest. “All hail Celine, the High Priestess of the Moon. Chosen by the Goddesses themselves. May her powers be more legendary than her mother’s,” the Girl sang, taunting Amelia.

After regaining her senses, Amelia’s hand dove into her pockets to retrieve the ambrosia she somehow got her rotten hands on. With a gloating smile on her face, she presented it to the Girl. “Dearest mother, you have it all wrong,” Amelia laughed, shaking her head. While the smile of the Girl only grew. If one ever doubted they were mother and daughter, their smiles alone could change that. Both could make your blood run cold.

“Do I?” the Girl mocked. “I love that you both were stupid enough to give Celine your powers. It will only strengthen her once I ascend to a veritable goddess like you,” Amelia beamed, bringing the ambrosia to her lips.

Before she could taste the stone, the air filled with an electrical aura. Suddenly, the Ambrosia in Amelia’s hand was flung away. The shock on her face was priceless once she realized it was Celine who flung her precious ambrosia away from her.

“Amelia, for crimes against the Temple of the Moon. As well as your pack and your Goddesses, we the reigning three, on behalf of the Goddesses. We hereby sentence you to imprisonment within a statue for the rest of time,” Timothy proclaimed with the most vicious grin I ever saw on his face.

“You forget who I am,” she screamed, moving in the ambrosia’s direction. Before Celine and I could react, Timothy shifted to intercept her. As he lunged at her, she knocked him back with a blinding light.

I watched in horror as the light flung Timothy toward one of the marble pillars. Before I could react, Celine snapped her fingers and replaced Timothy back on the floor. Even in his wolf form, it was easy to see he was unnerved. “Awe what’s wrong Timmy, just not strong enough to play with your little sister? See, Celine, you and I could have been an unstoppable pair,” Amelia hissed.

“No Amelia, your lust for power would have destroyed both you and Celine. She did the right thing telling me, now the Goddesses plan will succeed,” I laughed. “Always lazy and counting on your bloodline, not your abilities to get you by.” I shook my head at the now disgraced child of the Goddesses. For almost as long as I’d been training her, I, like Timothy, hated this child. Spoiled and entitled, never putting in any effort to be a priestess. Thankfully, now that would never happen.

“My name is Amy,” she shrieked. Amelia’s eyes grew black at my words, and, with no warning, she sent a wave of Chaos’s magic hurtling towards me. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this weak attempt. “I am the one Chaos favors, Amelia,” I hissed. Before I sent her magic, plus a little of my own back to her. Ultimately sending her flying. Lyra made her way to the ambrosia with her sword drawn. In an instant, her sword slammed down on the stone, shattering it into pieces.

“You imbeciles. Do you know what I needed to do for that?” Amelia spat. She turned her attention to Lyra, who fell to her knees with an ear-shattering scream as her blood poured from her eyes and nose. A wicked smirk crested on Amelia’s face.

Foolishly, she believed Lyra was done for, and her smile quickly washed away as the deafening screams stopped. As Lyra rose, she struck fear into Amelia. All the colour drained from her face as Lyra went in for her attack.

“Pathetic,” Lyra spat. As Amelia dodged and weaved to avoid the speed of the sword. Amelia glanced at Celine with an arrogant smile on her face. At this moment, her grin turned into a victorious smile as she dove out of the way of the never-ending attack. Amelia screamed in pain as Lyra’s sword grazed the side of her ribcage.

“You ratbag,” Amelia hissed, as she attempted to stand. A vortex of purple flames erupted around her. “Enough Amelia, surrender please. I don’t want to hurt you. Repent to your mother’s. Perhaps they will grant you clemency,” Celine pleaded. Her emotions were ripe in her voice.

But Celine’s words fell on death ears as crazed laughter rang out from within the vortex. The flames which surrounded Amelia turned a crimson red. Suddenly, a pulse erupted from within the center where Amelia was currently imprisoned, scattering the flames in a blinding flash.

After the burst of light faded, Amelia was nowhere to be found. The Woman walked over to where the shards of ambrosia laid. Her eyes cast down at the remnants of the stone before they rose into her hand.

When the Woman was satisfied that she collected all the pieces, she closed her hand around them and reformed the stone. In her eyes, there was a significant amount of despair as she held up the reformed ambrosia. Half of it was missing. “It would seem we have not seen the last of Amy.”