Chapter 145: The Moon's Sister

Chapter 145: The Moon's Sister
Melissa’s POV

There was silence across the council room.

No wind stirred, but the cloak billowed as the masked figure stood in the middle of the sacred circle. Dark, old power swelled from them. The hair on my arms stood up.

I was immobile.

Not because I was scared, but because I somehow... knew who they were.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly.

The figure remained silent. Rather, they raised both hands and took the mask off gradually.

Gasps reverberated across the room.

I took a step back.

Since the face I saw...

I owned it.

Not exactly, though.

She had darker eyes. She had the same midnight-colored hair that cascaded down her back. Something sharp—like ice that had never melted—was in her face, which was a mirror of mine.

"What?" I said.

She smiled. It wasn't warm, though.

"My name is Selene," she said, her voice resonating with power.

My knees went weak. "That isn't feasible."

"Oh, but it is," she said, taking a step forward. "We shared a birth. The same sky is home to two stars.

"No." I gave a headshake. "I would have been aware. I would have—

"You weren't supposed to know. I was captured. Concealed. While you were granted the light, you were buried in the shadows.

The goddess reappeared in a white flash. She was wearing a sad expression.

"It's true," she murmured. Selene is your identical twin. My miraculous gift's second child.

My heart broke.

A sister.

I also didn't know.

"You were aware?" With a burning sense of betrayal, I turned to face the goddess. "You didn't say anything even though you knew I had a sister?"

The goddess looked down. "It wasn't time yet."

Selene laughed. "Is it not yet time? While she was loved, lauded, and worshipped, I withered in the dark!

I turned to face her again. "You were tainted."

"I was left behind!" Selene yelled. "And now, I'll take what is rightfully mine."

A surge of energy erupted from her palm as she extended her hand. Half veiled with cold energy, half golden like me. Like a vine of fire, it encircled her arm.

"I own half of the goddess' power," she declared. "And I'm not going to request it."

My chest constricted. "You wish to battle me for it?"

"Not desired. I will.

I gave a headshake. "You're my sister."

"And you're getting in my way."

Her comments struck me more forcefully than a knife.

I said, "I don't want to fight you."

She smiled once more. "You're weak because of that."

"No," I responded, standing up straight. “I am strong because of that.”

Something flickered in her face for a second, perhaps hesitation. Pain. But it was gone as fast as it appeared.

Selene turned to face the council and yelled, "I challenge you." "To a divine duel." Sisterly rivalry. When the holy eclipse occurs.

The chamber was filled with gasps once more.

Not even the goddess spoke.

As Selene turned around and vanished into the darkness, I stood motionless.

A duel between the gods.

Against my blood.

Additionally, the eclipse was just a few days away.

I was immobile even after the council rejected me.

I was standing by myself in the middle of the hallowed space, my heart racing with pain, perplexity, and something more.

Kane approached me in silence. At first, he remained silent. He simply stood next me and caressed my shoulder.

"I had a sister," I said, my lips quivering as I spoke. "I have a twin, Kane."

He said, "I saw her." She is strong. However, she is not you.

I looked over at him. She is who I am. The worst part is that. She is the person I could have been if circumstances had been different.

He softly squeezed my hand as he reached for it. However, they were identical. You're present. Your decisions have moulded who you are.

My eyes hurt with tears. "I stole the light," she said. That I caused her to live in darkness.

I was drawn into Kane's embrace. "Melissa, that wasn't your fault."

"What if I am unable to defeat her?" I pressed a whisper to his chest.

He answered, "You don't have to beat her." "You just need to get in touch with her."

I wanted to think he was real.

However, I knew in my heart that Selene didn't want to be saved.

She desired to be in charge.

And she would stop at nothing to steal the power I held within.

Even if it meant my death.

Through the open ceiling of the temple, I looked up at the sky.

The eclipse was approaching.

And with it came a struggle I never thought I would encounter.

Like a shroud of quiet before a storm, night swiftly descended upon the kingdom.

Kane, Zephyr, and Lydia remained close, their words muted, their faces strained.

However, I felt very distant.

By themselves.

Just outside the temple, I took a seat by the lake. Soft and silver, the moon hovered over the lake. Even though its mirror shimmered, it didn't feel serene.

It seemed to be observing me.

"Are you alright?" As she got closer, Lydia's voice disturbed the stillness.

I honestly said, "I don't know." "Every time I take a step, someone falls, and I feel like I'm standing on the edge of something."

Lydia replied softly, "She's your sister." "But she poses a threat as well."

"She's both," I remarked. And, Lydia, I am both. I've sensed my inner gloom. I almost drowned in it.

"But you returned," she remarked. "You always do."

I got up and rubbed my hands across the velvety grass. "This fight is not something I want."

"So why agree to it?"

My heart ached as I looked at her. "Because if I don't, she will ruin everything."

Suddenly, a wind blew over the ocean.

And from the wind came a voice, her voice.

“Sister, I’m waiting.”

I felt the moon's pulse in my veins when I closed my eyes.

Everything would be different at the sacred eclipse tomorrow.

More to myself than to anyone else, I said to the sky:

"I will fight her if I have to. not to win, though. to keep her alive.

The moonlight wavered.

The countdown has started.