We are all half-human. Half-beast.
But some of us are just monsters.
+ + +
"Jace?" I meet his eyes. I hadn't expected this from him. I honestly hadn't expected him to do this in retaliation, "What have you done?"
Sentinels. He let them know where I...
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Media Citation: ladybluefox666. "LADYBLUEFOX666." DARK SIDE, 12 Oct. 2017, https://ladybluefox666.tumblr.com/post/166333944569.
Chapter 2
Dozens of bodies line the hall on their knees. They face the oculus with their hands raised up to The Moon. Covered head to toe in thin silk of mostly white and red. A handful closest to the center, where the Moonlight is the brightest, wear gold. All are shielded by veils and chains. I can hear their faint murmurings as they pray to The Moon that looms above our heads.
The whispers die down as they hear our footsteps. Even in this centuries-old, stone building that knows the sound of a Lycan's footfall, ours still shake its foundations.
Sashi is the first to enter. Her gold, silken robes drape lavishly behind her like the train of a wedding dress. Like us all, her sleeves droop low and trailed behind her. Unlike the other Prophets donning the golden robes of Selene, Sashi's are intricately woven with a bronze thread. Images and symbols depicting Selene come to life as she moves. The material shines like waves of a sea at night, covering every inch of her body.
The Prophets in gold bow their heads to Sashi before lowering their bodies completely. Their foreheads will not rise above their shoulders until the Ceremony is complete.
I am dressed in a robe identical to hers but black. A wolf, a snake, and a lion all coil around my back and arms in honor of my Goddess. Head bowed and arms open to the sky, I follow Sashi to the center of the ritual circle. The Prophet of Artemis, Kaoru, follows beside me, a girl no more than seventeen. Her robes are red. She looks up at me from the thin netting of her veil, her white eyes staring deep within me.
The Prophets clad in red like Kaoru follow the same graceful bow as those in gold. It's only as I come to a complete standstill beside Sashi and Kaoru do those dressed in white—Initiates and Acolytes—greet me and lower themselves. I am the only one who wears black.
Even underneath the layers of silk and veil, the silver chains sing with crystal clear sound. Some days they sound like a thousand tiny bells, but most days they sound like a hammer against a nail to me. Tonight, I can only smell their acidic stench as they sit uncomfortably against tender flesh.
Sashi kneels before the oculus. I do the same, and so does small Prophet of Artemis. The priests and priestesses around us remain bow until their foreheads hit the floor, while the three of us stretch our hands as far as we can towards the Moon.
I breathe in that awful smell of silver and Moon Dust. The room becomes very cold, and my entire body stiffens. So does Sashi and Kaoru's.
"We are all but phases of the Moon," Sashi's whisper carries throughout the hall. It echoes back to her by all the Prophets.
My eyes begin to feel heavy. My breathing labors.
"We are all but phases of Life and Death," I shut my eyes and feel the Goddesses' power course through my veins. Again, these words are repeated.
