Chapter 7: Chapter 7

The voice whispered things Kathy could not understand. The words sounded like gibberish to her.

”Who is that woman? Why do I hear a voice from the throne?”

Her parents gasped, the rest of the blue-eyed people had surprised looks on their faces too. Her mum shot them a stern look and they all left the throne room.

”That is the voice of the Oracle, she disappeared two thousand years ago. Your great grandmother was the last Luna to hear her voice.”

”Why is that?” Kathy asked.

”We call them the Blessed Lunas, Lunas that can communicate with the Oracle. They are usually gifted with extraordinary powers, each mostly different from the last,” her mother said.

”What was her power?” Kathy asked. ”I mean the last blessed Luna.”

Her mother smiled, then replied, ” She could command the flames, and could get the fire to do whatever she wanted it to. Our people called her the Phoenix due to her mark. However, with great power came a great disadvantage, that particular power had this darkness attached to it. Luna Celeste couldn't overcome the darkness, it consumed her.”

Flames. Darkness.

Kathy remembered the day of the red moon on earth, she had shot fire from her hands. ’Could it be that she had the same power as her ancestor–Celeste?’ If so, will she have the darkness too?

She wanted to ask about that but something told her not to. She didn't want to tell them about her power yet.

”Is it only blessed Lunas that are given powers?”

”Aerial, can you please leave us for a moment?” Her mother asked her father. Aerial is probably her dad's name. Kathy thought that his name was weird.

He frowned but nodded and left. Only Kathy and her mother remained in the huge room. For a moment, she tried to imagine what her life would have been like if she wasn't sent to earth and what her name would have been. She quickly wiped those thoughts from her mind. There was no use thinking of such things.

”Why did you ask him to leave?”

”Some things are not to be heard by males. Like I said before, Lunae has always been led by women. There are some things my mother instructed me to not tell my husband, things I will tell you when the time is right.”

Kathy nodded. She was curious but didn't ask further questions.

Her mother led her to a smaller set of chairs located on the far end of the throne room.

”Ordinary Lunas are also given gifts. Water, air, nature, etc. However, blessed Lunas are gifted with more than one gift, sometimes more than two.

”Foresight, mind control, the ability to move things with their minds, empathy, etc. These are some of the special gifts bestowed upon the gifted Lunas, ” she continued.

Kathy nodded again.

”And the Oracle, where is she?”

”No one knows. Up until two thousand years ago, the Oracle stayed in Lunae. She helped our people communicate with the goddess of the moon–Selene. It was easier back then because we had the Oracle intercede on our behalf. She disappeared when the second moon became fully red.”

”Why did the moon turn red?” Kathy asked, obviously confused.

”That is a story for another day.”

Kathy frowned again, the mystery surrounding Lunae was beginning to bother her.

”Okay. So, how do you know it's her speaking from the throne?” Kathy cocked a brow, staring at her expectantly.

”My grandmother said so.”

”Well, I've been hearing that voice in my dreams for a while, so I doubt it's any Oracle or whatever you call it.”

Her mother gasped again. Kathy raised an eyebrow at her weird behavior. She wondered if that was normal.

”She has been speaking to you for a while?” Kathy wondered if she would have to repeat herself.

As if on cue, the voice whispered again. Kathy could barely make out the words.

”I can barely hear what she is saying right now.” Kathy looked at the throne again, the red moon looked like it was shifting away from the throne.

”Listen from your heart. Our people have a saying that goes like this, ’let your heart guide your light….”

Her mother didn't get the chance to complete her statement because Kathy did it for her.

”And your mind would heed, ” Kathy found herself uttering those same words from her last dream as if on autopilot. She felt as though she had known those words for years.

”You remember, ” her mother whispered with tears gathering at the rim of her eyelids.

”No, the voice told me in my dream.”

Kathy wished she could take that back as soon as she had said it. The disappointed look on the face of her mother caused a tinge of guilt in her heart. ’Should she have said yes?’

Kathy heard the hum again. This time, it sounded louder. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the voice alone.

”Open your heart, Kathy, ” her mum said. Kathy felt annoyed by that, to her it sounded an order.

”Do not tell me what to do! You have only been in my life for not more than two hours, ” Kathy spat.

All the guilt she felt earlier vanished immediately. To Kathy, her mother had no right to dictate what she did. They left her at a very little age, now they come into her life and feel like they can tell her what to do.

Anger was slowly infiltrating her thoughts. She glared so hard that her mother flinched. Her mother wrapped her arms around herself as she cried. Kathy couldn't find it in herself to feel guilty, for they left her after all.

She stormed out of the throne room, not wanting to be in her presence any longer. All she wanted to do was go back home.

Kathy found herself in an oddly familiar hallway filled with pictures of different women, all had the same dark blue eyes. Each picture had a name and date written below it. The last one was of her mum, Hala was her mother's name. The woman before her mother; her grandmother had a very short reign of twenty-one years. She wondered what could have caused that.

She moved up to Luna Celeste. Her name had the symbol of a Phoenix attached to it. Kathy then realized that all other names had different symbols too. She guessed that it could be their gifts. Kathy walked back to her mother's picture to see the symbol of rock beside her name. That could only mean that her mum was gifted with the power to command the earth. She went back to Luna Celeste. Celeste was a very beautiful woman, with shiny black hair like the rest of the women and other people in the family. But her eyes had a tinge of red in them, it was otherworldly.

”Beautiful, right?” Kathy heard from behind her.

She looked back to see her brother standing behind her.

”Yeah, she is, ” She replied.

”Luna Celeste was the most beautiful Luna to ever rule Lunae. Too bad she died so early.”

”How did she die?”

”I’ll let mother answer that. Pardon my manners, my name is Triton.” he smiled and Kathy couldn't help but smile back at him.

Triton.

Kathy thought the name was familiar. She tried to remember where she heard the name but to no avail.

”I feel like I've heard that name before.”

Triton had a hopeful look on his face while Kathy pushed her mind to recall. She started feeling slight pain on her forehead as she tried to remember. The pain increased the more she concentrated.

”Ouch!” Kathy cried out, grabbing her head. She saw white light flash before her eyes, then red hot pain was all she could feel.

Triton rushed over to her and held her by the shoulders.

”What is wrong, sister?”

Kathy felt like a thousand needles were piercing into her forehead.

”My head hurts.”

”You don't have to force yourself to remember. It is okay if you don't remember everything immediately. Take your time.”

She tried to stop herself from remembering but couldn't. She kept on getting white flashes. She fell to her knees as her head ached the more.

”Can't...stop it!” Kathy cried.

”Stop what?”

”The flashes...it's blinding...my head….like….splitting.” Kathy could hardly form a full sentence.

”May the goddess forbid! Come, I'll take you to Cynthia, ” Triton said and led her out of the hallway.

Kathy barely saw where they were going. She didn't know who Cynthia was and she didn't care. All she wanted was for the pain to stop.

”Hold on, we are almost there. I already informed the healer of our arrival.”

Kathy realized then that Cynthia was a healer.

They kept on walking through the hall, with Triton bearing most of Kathy's weight. They stopped in front of a room at the far end of the hallway. Two quick knocks and the door opened by itself.

The room was eerily quiet, with colorful candles and plants scattered throughout the room.

”Come in, my Prince. Lay her on the bed, ” A lady said.

Triton picked Kathy up and placed her on the small bed. He hovered over Kathy in concern, while brushing her hair off her face with his fingers. Kathy groaned in pain as she felt her head throb. Her parents rushed in, slamming the door behind them as they came.

”Son, what is wrong with your sister? You sounded urgent, ” Her dad said.

”I don't know. I told her my name, she said it sounded familiar and tried to remember where she had heard my name. All of a sudden, she started screaming and grabbing her head.”

”What could be wrong with her, Cynthia?”

Cynthia sighed then said, ”In most cases, this kind of severe pain is caused by either power awakening or a spell.”

She then turned to Kathy.

”You are twenty-three, right?”

Kathy nodded with much difficulty.

”Then your awakening should have occurred two years ago. What is your element?”

Her parents and brother stared at her with full attention. Kathy didn't want to say anything about her powers. But then again, she wanted to get better.

”I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is.”

Kathy felt like she was going crazy, her head felt like it was being turned from the inside out and at the same time, it was being squeezed.

”Fire, ” Kathy uttered before she could help herself. She didn't tell them her awakening just happened the previous day.

”Goddess, no, ” her mother muttered.

Kathy looked at her mother who looked like she would pass out at any moment.

”Then we have a big problem, ” was all Cynthia said.