The Moon Goddess' Chosen

450 ‘Just a little longer.’ The warmth of friendship

Honour’s eyes fluttered open, staring into space. Like she was witnessing something very far away.

The memories of her dream were still vividly flashing through her mind, muddling her thoughts and making it impossible to think straight. Where was she? Who was she?

Questions she normally wouldn’t ask herself.

Rubbing her eyes, she looked around her. A soft glowing blue mist covered the large bed, flowing away from her like a river’s current and falling to the ground silently.

While anyone would be shocked by the strangeness of this sight, Honour wasn’t moved in the slightest. Her eyes scanned the luxurious room until they landed on the amber-eyed redhead standing by the door.

The girl was dressed in her pajamas and from the heavy look in her eyes, she was just from sleep. Madeline looked to be locked in an odd mix of shocked and sleepy, “G-Good morning, Honour.”

“Good morning, Mady,” Honour replied softly, taking another look at the now-dissipating veil of mist.

The redhead tentatively walked up to the bed and climbed atop it, finally stopping her advance when her face was too close to Honour’s for comfort, “Umm, Mady…”

The girl had waded through the blue mist as if it wasn’t a primary concern and was currently staring at Honour. The goddess couldn’t read her expression, “What in the moon’s light is going on… Honour… Honour… You are Honour, right?”

.....

“What?” Honour’s voice raised a few octaves.

“Yeah, I know that voice. It’s definitely you,” Madeline brought her finger up to the girl’s face and poked her cheek.

“Ouch… Is there something wrong with my face, Mady?”

“I’m confused. When did you put on your makeup?” Madeline was now poking every inch of the girl’s face as though trying to solve some mystery, “Not a single sign of it.”

“What are you talking about, Mady? I’ve just woken up now just like you.”

“It doesn’t look like it. Your face is normal. There are no lines, no scars, no morning eyes and no signs of grogginess at all. Nothing... It’s like you’ve just walked out of a beauty salon,” the girl finally gave up and pulled away, sitting atop Honour’s mattress, “It’s not fair. Is it because you’re a goddess that you don’t look terrible when you wake up?”

Honour was only now understanding the jibberish spouting from her friend’s mouth, “How long… How long has this been happening?”

“I don’t know… I’ve only noticed today because of this bluish mist flowing in your…” the calm demeanour the girl had shattered, replaced with a look of panic and fear, “What’s happening to you, Honour? I thought we had until…”

“It’s nothing, Mady. I’m fine. Nothing’s happening…”

“Except that something is happening. When I came in here, you were glowing and this mist was coming off you like you were some misty spring. It was like watching a mummy waking up… but a divine mummy,” the girl tried to describe.

Despite her odd choice of words, Honour understood what she was trying to mean. “So that’s what I looked like,” Honour sighed. It’s not like she didn’t know what was happening to her.

She’d known for more than a year now that she was the moon goddess. And this wasn’t the first time she was having a memory of her divine life centuries ago.

However, this was the first time she’d had a clear memory and not just some random feeling of nostalgia. Honour still felt her connection to the goddess of the hunt. She still felt the need to comfort the crying goddess in her memory.

Honour wrapped her hands around herself, suddenly looking like she had been dipped into liquid air. Honour’s calm exterior shattered, “I don’t know what is happening, Mady. I don’t know…”

The redhead pulled her friend into a hug, “Hey, we will get through this together.”

“We’ve ignored them for so long, Mady but I don’t know if I can ignore them much longer… the memories… the emotions… My powers...

My birthday will be here soon. In just two weeks, I will turn eighteen… I don’t even know if we’ll make it that far.”

Madelina clawed at her mind, trying to find something to soothe the girl’s mind, but anything better would have sounded like a lie. The closer Honour’s birthday grew, the more detached she became from the mortal world.

This wasn’t the first time she was waking up in a similar state. In fact, her powers were acting out more frequently with each passing day. This was one of the many… but after so many reminders, the magnitude of the miracle didn’t matter.

Honour could only bear so much at a time.

“You’ll make it, Honour. Just hang in there. Just a little longer… Stay with us longer.”

The red-haired girl hugged her friend tighter… there was nothing more she could do for Honour…

Unknown to her, however, at that moment, this was all Honour needed. A friend to hold her… to remember how much she was loved by her family and friends.

‘Was… Artemis really in search of a friend?’ the question echoed through Honour’s mind as her shivers lessened in the warmth of Madeline’s arms.

A lot didn’t make sense.

......…..

The two girls got ready, finding everything they needed and more in the spacious bathroom before meeting Bree in the common room that would then lead them out of the facilities they had chosen for the contestants and friends.

As it so happened, the fifty-fourth floor they had been blessed to occupy went all around the Great Arena in one colossal ring.

It was such a large facility that they soon found that the elevator was capable of travelling horizontally as well just to get them to another part of the same floor.

Their options for rooms to stay in made the decision hard. In the end, Bree had chosen a unique suite containing three sets of double rooms, each set equipped with one shared bathroom and a common room that joined them all together at the centre, allowing them one exit back into the winding maze of corridors that occupied the fifty-fourth floor.

The other three empty rooms were reserved for Lina, Crysta and potentially… Wyatt.

Bree wouldn’t stop yawning as they exited the suite, “You two spend an eternity getting ready.”

“How long have you been waiting out here?” Honour asked.

“Not long. Just an hour. Where are we headed?” Bree shrugged. Madeline stared at her slackjawed only to be more surprised when Honour proceeded without a hint of sympathy.

“Breakfast… I’m famished. The king said we can go to any restaurant on this floor and order what we want,” Honour replied.

The girls started making their way through the 54th floor leaving a sheet of paper on the table without a second thought. This flimsy sheet of paper was a map…

And it was soon clear that the girls were going to get lost on the gargantuan floor.

Finding a restaurant should have been easy and all considering the 54th floor was packed with just as many facilities as the other dazzling parts of the Colosseum.

However…

They had walked for thirty whole minutes and found so many of these facilities that were still closed this early in the day.

Recreational facilities, saunas, indoor games… the girls were even sure they found a bar at some point(which was open, unlike the rest) but decided against lingering around the place.