Chapter 129 - Elowen, Goddess of, Please Don't Touch That
Chapter 27 - Elowen, Goddess of, Please Don't Touch That
Elowen POV
Chaos trembled harder. "I don’t want to keep you here forever. I don’t want to hurt you."
“You won’t,” I told her. “We’ll figure it out.”
Selene nodded. “We will help you. All four of us.”
Then her voice gentled, warm as moonlight. “But prepare yourself, Elowen Skye Thorne…..For the path of a goddess is never walked without sacrifice.”
My mates closed around me, holding me as the walls of the Moon Palace hummed with celestial power.
And Chaos whispered in my soul, tiny and afraid.
"I choose you… please don’t let them take you away."
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“I won’t,” I whispered. “I promise.”
Even as I wondered...for the very first time....whether I could actually keep that promise.
_________________________
My eyes opened, and the world was too bright, too sharp, and too damn everything. Colors vibrated, humming with life. Air shimmered like liquid starlight. The sky held three suns and two moons, and everything pulsed in rhythm with a heartbeat that wasn’t my own.
Chaos whispered inside me, thrilled. “This place is so shiny!”
Lyssira snorted in my mind, equally delighted.
“If we lick the walls, will they taste like moon sugar?”
Chaos gasped. “OH! LET’S TRY IT!”
I groaned into my hands. “Absolutely not.”
“Love?” Daxon’s hand brushed my shoulder. “You good?”
I looked up at my circle of mates. All five kings stared at me like I was a bomb with a pretty face.
Vaelrix’s wings twitched uneasily. Lachlan rubbed the back of his neck. Bram hovered close like a bodyguard. Ashrian wasn’t blinking. Daxon was sniffing the air like it offended him.
Selene appeared beside us in a spill of silver light.
Her voice was deceptively calm. “Elowen, darling, please don’t lick anything.”
Chaos giggled in my head. “SHE KNEW.”
Lyssira wheezed laughing.
I sighed. “My household spirits are feral, please ignore them.”
Selene gave me the long suffering goddess mom look she usually reserved for fate-altering disasters.
“So,” I said, dusting off my pants. “Where’s this fancy divine living room you said we’d stay in?”
Selene exhaled deeply like someone preparing for a migraine.
“Follow me. And do not touch anything unless I explicitly say so.”
Daxon snorted. “Good luck with that.”
Lachlan muttered under his breath. “Aye, she means ye, Vaelrix.”
Vaelrix growled. “I do not touch everything.”
“You literally tried to seduce a stained-glass window yesterday,” Ashrian reminded him.
Vaelrix crossed his arms. “It was very beautiful.”
Chaos squealed. “He’s right! It sparkled!”
Lyssira purred in agreement.
Selene pinched the bridge of her nose. She led us to a training courtyard ringed by floating runes.
“Because Chaos has chosen you,” she began, “you must learn restraint, focus, and...”
The ground trembled beneath my feet. Selene froze.
My mates froze. I froze. Chaos whispered:
“…that wasn’t me.”
Lyssira added, “…I think it WAS you, sweetheart.”
Silver light exploded from my palms, a giant uncontrolled pulse that blasted through the courtyard like a divine shockwave.
Every goddamn floating shrine shattered. The moon fountain detonated into orbit. A constellation screamed. Lachlan swore so loud ten galaxies heard him.
“Aye JESUS MARY AN’ ALL SAINTS.... SHE’S GONNA KILL US...”
Vaelrix tackled me to the ground as a floating rune nearly decapitated Bram. Ashrian shielded us in shadow. Daxon tried to cover me with his body like I was a literal explosion.
Spoiler alert: I was.
“ELOWEN STOP CASTING!”
“I’M NOT CASTING!” I yelled back.
Chaos whispered, panicked. “I WAS JUST TRYING TO SAY HI TO THE SKY...”
Lyssira wheezed: “STOP WAVING YOUR HANDS YOU’RE MAKING IT WORSE...”
Another pulse burst out of me, A massive, shimmering dome of wild magic.
It knocked Vaelrix through a celestial hedge. Sent Lachlan skidding across marble. Launched Bram straight into the moon fountain (again). Ashrian’s shadows scrambled back like “nope nope nope.”
Daxon clung to me like a determined tick.
Selene just covered her face with her hands.
Soltharion, the sun god, materialized mid-air like he’d heard an alarm.
“Elowen!” he barked. “WHY ARE YOU SETTING THE MOON REALM ON FIRE?!”
“I DON’T KNOW!” I shrieked.
He dodged a bolt of pure chaos that obliterated a statue.
“That was a holy relic!”
“Then maybe it shouldn’t have stood so close!”
Elanithra appeared, glowing gold and violet, dodging another burst.
“Elowen, love, sweetheart, my champion...please STOP MOVING.”
“I AM STANDING STILL!”
Her eye twitched. “Chaos is not.”
Chaos whispered proudly: “I AM WAVING.”
Finally, Selene reached me. She grabbed my face between her hands.
“Elowen Skye Thorne. LISTEN. TO. MY. VOICE.”
I gasped, the magic flickering.
Chaos whimpered inside me. “I don’t want to hurt her…”
Lyssira soothed her. “Then breathe with me, little one.”
I inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled again. The power leveled out. The courtyard stopped trembling. My mates emerged slowly from their hiding places.
Lachlan from behind a statue that was now headless.
Bram from the fountain, dripping and offended.
Ashrian from a patch of shadow that looked traumatized.
Vaelrix dropped from a tree, smoking slightly.
Daxon didn’t move, he was still glued to my back.
Selene let go of my face and exhaled shakily. “Well,” she said. “That could have been worse.”
Soltharion stared at the wreckage. “What part of that could have been worse?”
Elanithra pointed at me. “She didn’t implode.”
Bram nodded. “That’s fair.”
Vaelrix grinned at me. “You looked beautiful doing it.”
“Shut up,” I said, shoving him.
Lachlan popped his knuckles. “Bloody hell, if this is the first lesson, I want hazard pay.”
Ashrian murmured, “At least we learned something.”
“Yeah?” I said dryly. “And what’s that?”
He smirked. “You shouldn’t teach toddlers with star-exploding powers how to wave.”
Chaos gasped indignantly. “I AM NOT A TODDLER!”
Lyssira snorted. “Sweetling, you absolutely are.”
Selene placed a hand on my shoulder. “Elowen… this is only the beginning. Your power is extraordinary, but volatile. Training will be long. Dangerous. And exhausting.”
I sighed. “Fantastic.”
My mates gathered around me, forming our familiar circle.
Daxon kissed my temple. Vaelrix brushed my cheek. Lachlan held my hand. Ashrian rested his palm against my back. Bram touched his forehead to mine.
“We’ll do this together,” Vaelrix said.
I smiled softly. “I know.”
Chaos whispered hopefully: “Can we practice again?”
Everyone shouted: “NO.”
Selene guided us away from the smoldering courtyard and into a long hall carved entirely of moonstone, glittering like frost caught in sunlight. I could still feel Chaos humming under my skin, thrilled from the accidental courtyard demolition, and Lyssira trying to soothe her like an overstimulated toddler who found glitter.
“Deep breaths, love,” Selene murmured, sweeping open a towering set of silver doors. “This is your suite. You and your mates will stay here until training resumes.”
Suite was an understatement. This place was a cosmic mansion.
A large central chamber stretched out before us, and its ceiling was painted with constellations that shifted like they were alive. A soft lavender glow filled the space, flowing from floating candles shaped like tiny moons. There were couches the size of dragon wings, a hearth burning with blue flame, and six separate bedroom alcoves branching off the main room.
“Holy hell,” Bram muttered. “Is this… all ours?”
Selene nodded. “Naturally.”
Ashrian wandered to the nearest wall, pressing his hand to the shimmering stone. “The realm is alive,” he murmured. “It breathes.”
“It’s judging us,” Daxon corrected.
“It should,” Lachlan said dryly. “We broke half its courtyard.”
Vaelrix smirked. “I think it liked it.”
Chaos squeaked inside me. “I DID!”
Lyssira groaned. “Please don’t encourage her.”
I rubbed my forehead as Selene clapped her hands, summoning a swirl of soft, floating fabric that hovered in the air like enchanted jellyfish.
“New garments,” she announced. “Divine robes, woven for your training. Self-repairing, resistant to wild magic, infused with moonlight. They will adjust to your forms.”
The men collectively recoiled.
“I’m no’ wearin’ a dress,” Lachlan said immediately.
Bram crossed his arms. “I refuse.”
Vaelrix tilted his head. “Is there… a version with fewer sparkles?”
Ashrian squinted at the fabric. “Does mine have sleeves? I feel like it doesn’t have sleeves.”
Daxon growled. “Mine looks like a toga.”
Selene lifted one brow. “These garments are worn by champions, kings, and warriors of divine rank.”
“So… fancy pajamas,” Vaelrix decided.
Selene sighed. “Elowen, help them.”
I shrugged. “You heard the goddess. Strip.”
Five grown kings froze like startled deer.
“That is not what she said,” Daxon sputtered.
“She implied it,” I countered.
Lachlan groaned. “For the love of...fine. But if mine is pink, I swear...”
Selene flicked her wrist. Lachlan’s robe unrolled toward him like a puppy.
It was pink.
Elanithra appeared in a burst of soft gold.
“Oh my stars, I love it,” the star goddess declared.
Lachlan stared at Selene. Then at his robe. Then back.
“I reject this destiny,” he whispered.
Chaos giggled uncontrollably. Lyssira wheezed laughter.
Vaelrix held up his own robe, which was emerald with silver threading. “Mine is majestic,” he said smugly.
Bram scowled at his, a deep sapphire with moon sigils. “Fine. This one is tolerable.”
Daxon examined his dark charcoal robe. “This looks like something I’d wear to a funeral.”
“Fitting,” Ashrian murmured, examining his own pure white, sleeveless one. “Mine looks like priest attire.”
“Are you a priest?” Vaelrix teased.
Ashrian rolled his eyes. “Only on days ending in ‘never.’”
Selene cleared her throat.
“These garments help control the flow of divine magic. Elowen is unstable right now. Chaos is young and unpredictable. You five must balance her.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Thanks for calling me unstable.”
“You destroyed a seventy thousand year old lunar shrine.”
“Accidentally.”
She stared at me.
I coughed. “Totally accidentally.”
Selene moved toward me and touched my cheek gently.
“Rest now. You’ll need strength for what comes next.”
Her tone tightened, and I felt my stomach drop. “How bad is it?”
“All of it,” she said simply. “Chaos has merged with you. Raelith hunts for openings. And something is moving in the lower realms.”
Chaos whimpered quietly inside. “She’s talking about the hungry one…”
Lyssira bristled. “Ignore it. You’re safe here.”
Selene lowered her hand and turned toward the exit. “I’ll return tomorrow. Sleep, eat, restore yourselves.”
She vanished in a shimmer. The silence left behind was heavy. Bram was the first to break it.
“So… we’re stuck wearing glowing curtains.”
“Divine curtains,” I corrected.
He glowered. “Same thing.”
I laughed and walked further inside the suite. A giant balcony overlooked the floating gardens. Silver-fruit trees hovered in neat spirals, and glowing koi swam through streams in the air.
Ashrian stepped beside me quietly. “How are you feeling?”
I thought about it.
Magic still pulsed beneath my skin, big and unwieldy, stretching farther than my mind understood. Chaos curled in my chest like a sleepy star, humming.
But there was also fear. Not mine. Hers.
“Chaos is scared,” I whispered. “She’s ancient, but she’s still… young. She didn’t expect this world to be so loud.”
Ashrian’s hand touched the small of my back. “We’ll help her.”
Behind us, Daxon was trying to put on his robe and failing miserably.
“Why is there a hole in the side?” he snapped.
“Maybe it's for your arm?” Bram guessed.
“I have two arms!”
“Maybe it’s… aesthetic?” Vaelrix offered.
“It’s a design choice,” Lachlan deadpanned. “I look like a magical flamingo.”
“You do,” Daxon confirmed.
I snorted laughter as my mates continued arguing with their enchanted outfits.
Chaos let out a shy little sigh inside me. “They’re funny…”
Lyssira curled around her warmly. “They’re yours.”
I leaned onto the balcony railing and breathed in the divine air.
Tomorrow, the real training would begin.