I walk over, peer into the smoky water, and I can see the bottom. She swirls her hand in the water, and colors appear, glowing different colors before she runs a finger straight down the middle. The blobs of color move to one side, and I watch as the blurred colors take small forms of wolves.
“So, the first part is the history lesson.” She announces.
“History lesson, on what?” I ask.
“Celeste, I know you hadn’t heard of her before I mentioned her, but how did she become the Moon Goddess?” Seline asks, and I shrug.
“God!” I tell her, and she chuckles. What did she expect me to say?
“Celeste was a witch, but not just any witch. She was half Goddess, she was the sister of Venus. Since she was a half-witch, her father got with a mortal woman, creating Celeste. So she was half-human, half Goddess. Venus was a full Goddess, and she is the Goddess of love and Celeste’s half-sister.” I nod, trying to take all this in.
“Okay, so?” I ask.
“Well, as I said, she was half-mortal and a witch. When Celeste was alive in the human world, she lived in a village with humans, her mother being one of them, and her little brother. They all lived together in a small hut, and the village was surrounded by forest. One night, Celeste’s mother was killed, which angered Celeste. Can you guess what killed her mother?” I think for a second, it could be any number of things, but the first word that pops to mind is…
“Wolves.”
“Correct. Wild wolves had become desperate because there was not enough food. Not enough wild game to feed hundreds of villagers and the carnivores, so Celeste wanted to protect her village. Her sister, who she didn’t know, always kept a close eye on her. Venus found her mortal sister quite fascinating and kept watch over her. Venus tried to warn her that doing a spell like that was dangerous. Celeste, however, didn’t care. Her anger fueled her intentions. The villagers were scared, and Celeste wanted to do something. She wanted to ensure her brothers’ safety, so Celeste and a few coven witches decided to do a spell. Level the playing field, if you will. Only it required a human sacrifice and the sacrifice of a wolf.”
“Celeste became that sacrifice. What is it with gods and sacrifices?” I shake my head, and Seline laughs.
“The things one would do for love,” she says, and I nod.
“Anyway, no one stepped forward obviously, but Celeste couldn’t bear the thought of her brother being killed. So she tried to do the spell without a sacrifice, Venus warned her against it, but of course, she didn’t listen as no teenager does. So they created the spell, and it was a full moon. They had everything else except the human sacrifice. When they cast the spell, they quickly realized something was wrong when the humans suddenly shifted. The spell was supposed to give them extra senses, if you can’t beat the enemy, join them. They should have been given speed, sight, sense of smell, all that comes with being a wolf but in human form,” She pauses for a second.
“Only when they shifted did she realize her mistake. Venus tried to warn her, and she didn’t listen, and suddenly her entire village and every village in the country were forced to shift into beasts, savage like real wolves. Only bigger and stronger instincts ruled over them, making them crazed. Nearly her entire coven was killed, all but her. It is believed she was spared as punishment by the gods. Forced to watch her mistake, this is also where all the myths come from. She didn’t create wolves. She created something worse, she created Lycans.”
“At first, they could only shift on a full moon. If the moon was out, they couldn’t help it. Their bodies transformed, roaming the earth, killing everything they came across. In a bid to stop this, the villagers set out to sea in search of new lands and places to live, trying to separate the colonies of Lycan’s because their uncontrollable urges were killing everything and leaving nothing,” Seline explains.
“So that is how so many exist today. She didn’t just transform her village, she transformed an entire country?” I ask.
“Yes, she underestimated her power being half Goddess, so with the coven, it only enhanced it, like a plague, affecting every human it reached. Celeste angered the gods, so they locked her into this realm to ensure she did no more harm while the monsters she created continued to roam the earth. They told her she had to fix it and undo it, but she couldn’t without the original coven elders who helped cast the spell. So for centuries, she tried. The monsters she created were feared, and humans hunted them, sought them out, and killed them while they were in their human forms, hence when they found out about silver harming us, it did. It harmed Lycans. It could kill them.”
“So when did you become the Moon Goddess?”
“Time wasn’t really measured or accurate, so I can’t say for sure, but the saying I am as old as dirt would be close.” She chuckles.
“And you created werewolves?” Seline nods, pointing to the fountain.
“Yes, so Celeste was stuck in this very realm, and they called her the Moon Goddess because the only day she could leave here was on a full moon to reign in the Lycans. But it never worked.”
“Now my parents were King and Queen, making me a princess of our Kingdom. My parents died. Lycans got them when they traveled to another Kingdom by horse and carriage. My maid raised me until my coronation. I wanted to eradicate the Lycans. What I wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with one.”