LUNA'S AWAKENING
Part one
By Jack Dense
Adrian's Third Person POV (narrative focus: Selena)
Selena floated in a space that felt neither alive nor dead, neither dark nor bright, only endless and silent like the hush between heartbeats. Her body felt weightless, suspended in something that shimmered faintly, as though she were cradled by moonlit water. Each breath she drew sounded like an echo, soft and hollow, yet full of strange life. Her chest rose and fell, but her heart no longer thudded; it hummed with a deep melodic rhythm that felt borrowed from an older soul. She lifted her hand and saw it faintly glowing, her fingers traced with light that pulsed in time with the rhythm inside her chest. The world she drifted in rippled as though she stood on liquid glass. Far above her, the sky shimmered in swirling colors of pearl, violet, and silver, and the moon hung impossibly close, vast and luminous, watching her as if it remembered her name. She reached toward it instinctively, drawn to it by something that was both beautiful and terrifying.
A whisper slipped through the silence, deep and soft, and her name fell from it like a prayer. "Selena." The sound struck her like a bell inside her chest, echoing through the strange stillness. She spun around, her breath catching in her throat, her mind searching for familiarity. A man stood behind her, tall and cloaked in deep midnight fabric that moved like smoke around him. His hair was long and pale, falling in waves over shoulders that seemed carved from shadow and light together. His eyes glowed a haunting shade of violet, intense yet sorrowful, and something in their depth made her pulse stumble. Recognition flickered within her even though her memory protested. It was him—the stranger who had caught her before she fell at the fortress, the one who had looked at her as if he had known her for a thousand years.
He took a slow step forward, and the air shifted, carrying the faint scent of cold rain and moonflowers. His presence filled the strange realm as though it bent around him in silent deference. "You finally heard the moon," he murmured, his voice rich with an ache that felt older than time. "You finally woke." Selena backed away instinctively, her voice trembling when she found it. "Where am I? Who are you?" He stopped, his gaze calm but piercing, and when he spoke, his tone carried both command and sorrow. "You stand in the space between worlds," he said. "This is the Gateway of Memory, the first Realm of the Luna." The words sent a chill through her spine, and she shook her head in disbelief. "That doesn't make sense," she whispered. "It doesn't have to," he said gently. "Your soul already remembers."
Something inside her stirred at his words, a deep vibration under her skin that was both fear and recognition. She pressed a hand against her chest, feeling the Moonfire inside her tremble as if awakening. "You didn't answer my question," she said softly. His gaze deepened, and his voice lowered. "I didn't," he admitted. "Why not?" she demanded. "Because," he said, stepping closer until the distance between them was only a breath, "you already know who I am." Her chest constricted painfully. "No," she whispered, "I don't." His eyes softened, but the sadness in them seemed to pierce her more sharply than anger ever could. "You have always known," he said, "you have simply forgotten."
He lifted a hand toward her face, and the light around his fingers shimmered with gentle warmth. She wanted to step back, yet her body refused to move. "Kade and Malek told me someone killed me in my past life," she whispered, her voice trembling. His fingertips brushed her cheek, and in an instant her mind exploded with flashes—running through the forest, blood on her hands, a scream, the taste of iron, a whisper in the dark saying, come back to me. She gasped and stumbled backward, but he caught her easily, his hands firm around her arms. "I didn't kill you," he said quietly, his voice breaking with emotion that was almost unbearable. "I loved you." The words cut through the air like lightning. Selena froze, her pulse roaring in her ears. "No," she said shakily. "That can't be true. I don't even know you." His gaze softened, full of longing. "Your soul does."
His hand moved beneath her chin, lifting her eyes to his. His violet gaze burned with the pain of memory and the ache of centuries lost. "I found you first," he whispered. "Before Kade, before Malek, before the prophecy. You were mine long before any of them knew your name." Selena's world tilted as the truth collided with disbelief. "Who are you?" she whispered again. He exhaled slowly as if the answer carried the weight of entire lifetimes. "My name is Azerin," he said softly. "Highborn of the Shadowborn. And once, long ago, you were mine." Selena flinched, the words striking her like a blade. "No," she whispered, "the Shadowborn are monsters." His expression faltered, his pain raw. "We were not always monsters," he said, almost pleading. "We became what the world forced us to be."
Selena shook her head as if denying the tide itself. "You're lying," she said, but her voice trembled. Azerin took a step forward, and she stepped back. "Don't touch me," she warned. His face tightened, grief flashing through his expression. "You loved me once," he said. "You will remember." Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't believe you." His voice softened. "You will." The moon above them brightened, and the ground beneath her began to glow. Her birthmark pulsed like a living heartbeat, and behind him, Azerin's wings unfolded—vast, shadowed, and radiant with shifting light. "You carry the Moonfire," he said in awe. "You feel it inside you, clawing to rise. That is because this place—this moment—is the awakening of who you were before the curse." Selena's voice broke as she whispered, "What do you want from me?" Azerin's eyes glimmered. "I want to free you," he said. "From what?" she breathed. "From the lie that you ever belonged to anyone else."
Selena trembled, her throat tightening as tears gathered in her eyes. "You're wrong," she whispered. "I don't belong to you. I don't belong to anyone." His expression softened, pain shadowing the curve of his mouth. "You did," he murmured. "You will again." Selena's heart pounded as though her chest could not contain it. "I'm not that person anymore," she said firmly. Azerin smiled sadly, his voice breaking with tenderness. "No. But she's waking inside you, piece by piece." The light around them trembled, the silver sky quivering like a reflection disturbed by wind. Then the moon cracked with a thunderous sound, a fissure splitting across its surface, and a voice roared through the Realm so powerfully it shook her to her knees. "Selena!" The sound tore through her like lightning. It was Kade. Another voice followed, darker, fiercer, shaking the air itself. "Luna, come back to me!" It was Malek.
The Realm convulsed violently, silver wind whipping around them as the ground fractured beneath her feet. Azerin's expression darkened. "They've found you," he said, his voice urgent. Lightning flashed across the sky, half silver, half shadow. Selena gasped, feeling both of their presences pressing against the walls of her mind, trying to reach her. Azerin seized her shoulders, his eyes blazing violet. "Selena, listen to me," he said, his voice fierce and desperate. "You must choose who breaks into your awakening first." Her breath caught. "What are you talking about?" He leaned closer, urgency dripping from every word. "The Luna's Awakening binds her to the first Alpha she allows into her Realm. Once you open the door, there is no turning back."
Her heart pounded so fast it hurt. The silver wind screamed around them as Kade's voice boomed again through the storm. "Selena, let me in!" Then came Malek's voice, sharp and commanding. "Luna, you are mine, return to me!" The air pulsed with their power, pressing at her consciousness, pulling her in opposite directions. Azerin cupped her face, his voice barely audible over the chaos. "Choose," he whispered, his breath trembling against her skin. "Let one of us in before the Awakening consumes you completely." The Realm fractured with a sound like shattering glass. Selena screamed as light burst around her, silver and shadow colliding, and the entire world split apart. Her final thought before the light engulfed her was not of fear, but of a single, aching question that echoed through her soul. Who was she before love broke the world apart?
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