In the Light of the Moon

|FIVE

"Okay, you ready?" Apollo asked.

I nodded, and we stepped outside. In the morning, Apollo and Hestia requested to see the willow tree where I found my bow and such. For the first few minutes of the trek, I thought that I would have a hard time recalling where it stood, but the same gut feeling from yesterday led me in a direction like I was on autopilot.

In no time, I stood before its drooping fronds. It remained the same—although it was only two weeks ago; how could it have changed? For some reason, happiness settled in the pit of my stomach, and my lips curved up into a smile. I faced my adoptive parents, but they didn't smile—they frowned.

"Why did we stop, Cynthia?"

Confusion replaced the elatedness. "What do you mean? Can't you see it? The willow is right here."

"Darling, there is nothing here," Apollo responded.

"Maybe Artemis enchanted it," suggested Hestia. "She must have put a protective charm on the area, allowing her, your father, and you to see and excess it."

"That does sound like my sister." Apollo smiled, but I noticed some sadness tucked behind it. "Let's go home, darlings; we should work more on getting your abilities to surface, Cynthia."

An hour later, we stood in the backyard again. I changed into athletic clothing. "All right, in order for your abilities to be unlocked, you need to call upon them. Let's start with a smaller ability and focus on heightening your sight, smell, and hearing."

Thinking back to when I got the nosebleed, and when I fainted on that jog, I spoke up, "I've gotten them to appear, but I can't get them to stay."

"You've gotten them to surface?" I explained how, when I brought the paint cans home, my hearing magnified; then, I received a nosebleed. And how my hearing amplified again, but then I fainted. "Hmm, okay. I'm guessing they were brought forth because that werewolf boy sparked them—Artemis' soul recognized him as one of her subjects and called one of your powers forward. Since you didn't know what it is, you didn't focus on getting it to remain."

"So... how do I do that?"

"Well, first, we have to trigger it. But how...? I'm guessing your familiar could help—seeing as that's how you learned how to teleport—"

"Wait, wait, wait; you knew I figured out how to teleport? And you know about Tee?"

"Of course, darling. I'm a god; it'll take quite some skill to hide something as massive as that from me. And, yes, I am aware of Theophila; Hestia and I bought her." Oh right. I forgot about that.

"Why did you want to remain anonymous, then?"

"Those gods were never supposed to interact with you. All of the paperwork was for my eyes only, but Tee's presence was a little stronger than I anticipated, and you stumbled upon her. That's how I found the little polecat, in fact. I knew Hekate's familiar was somewhere in Greece, and Tee's presence called out to my godly powers."

"Gods?"

"Yes. The two that you met were ancient gods—Etruscans, to be specific."

"Um, okay... I'll go get Tee then..."

I turned around and walked back up to my room. Tee, per usual, was curled up on my pillow. She didn't appreciate me waking her. Once in the yard, my adoptive father instructed me to sit on the ground—my back straight, my legs crossed, the top of my feet against my thighs. I remember in yoga; they called this the lotus pose. Tee laid down on my shoulder.

Apollo instructed me to breathe deeply through my nose and exhale out of my mouth. And to picture me reaching into my body and "bringing" out my ability. I imagined myself kneeling in that cave beneath the hidden willow. This time, the chest had vanished.