Eclipse (Part 2)

She was glaring at him, but he dismissed her gaze. Instead, he turned to Elias.

“Stay here and keep an eye on her. Here is the blood I promised to you,” he threw at him a small glass bottle. “Since I have appointed you as a priest today, you have the right to drink her blood from this point on.”

Elias caught it in both his hands, letting go of the delicate ceramic cup. Selena looked as the cup smashed into pieces once it fell onto the hard floor. The sound of flying shards echoed in her. A crack formed in her body, hurting deeply.

The high priest has left and locked the door behind them. They were now alone in the tower. Selena moved her gaze slowly to him. He was still standing there motionless, squeezing the small flask full of her blood in his hands.

Anger was slowly rising in her body. The calm moonlight was trying to extinguish it, to fill her body and mind with stillness, but she pushed it aside. Thinking about his actions, she did not notice before, she could feel a sprout of hatred growing in her heart, its roots clawing deeply into her.

The moonlight magic split inside her, leaving her body alone. The powerful force, she could feel before swirling inside her, was now circling her whole body, trying to find a proper nest to settle. The drug started to wear off in her blood, with her emotions rising.

“You betrayed me,” she said.

He looked at her quietly, his lips trembling.

“I gave you my blood and you went to the priest instead. You schemed with him against me!”

“You asked me to escape with you and to leave our kingdom right before a war,” he replied. “You did not jest.”

“You traitor!”

“No!” he yelled at her. “You are the real traitor! You wanted me to betray my own family! My own country! You are selfish! You don’t even want to sacrifice herself for the people of your own kingdom!”

Something inside her snapped. The powerful magic, unable to find its host, suddenly found the small sprout of hatred growing inside her. It went after its roots, straight into her heart.

Selena screamed. A sharp, piercing sound left her mouth. A sound that was neither human nor animal. The powerful magic pushed out the drug circulating in her blood. Her skin, which was glowing before under the moonlight, now dimmed. Instead, her wounds started glowing a crimson red.

An invisible force lifted her from the armchair and set her on her feet. Her long black hair was flowing in the air despite the fact, the window was closed and there was no air moving inside. Even her habit swayed around her ankles, rising to her knees.

“This is not my country!” she screamed.

Her voice sounded different. It was not a woman's voice. It was deep and raspy, as if a centuries-old beast awakened in her, roaring.

Elias backed a few steps. He did not expect the drug to wear off so suddenly, but that wasn’t what scared him the most. Behind the saintess, he could see a big red moon glowing in the sky, even though there were several weeks until the full moon would appear. Its red light filled the tower. Saintness's blue eyes were now glowing red as if she were a fiery beast.

“These are NOT my people!” Selena screamed.

She reached out her hand with her palm open. A powerful force shot out of her body. It hit Elias straight in his chest. Blood and meat splattered everywhere. The wave force shook the whole tower. The window in her chamber shattered. The wooden door split open, the stone wall cracked. The bells under her room started ringing.

Seeing what was left of Elias and realizing she was the one who did it, she was stunned. She clenched her chest, gasping for air. The sweat was trickling down her temples, her knees shaking. Her heartbeat was loud, and each beat shook her whole body. Her mind was racing, unable to calm down.

It was all their fault. She was never their saintess, she was never a part of the Lunaria kingdom. Yet, they locked her in this tower, and they let her bleed. She was like a tool to them, a bottomless chalice of power.

It was all their fault!

She was unable to breathe. She fell on the floor, clawing at her own throat. An ice sweat was gliding down her back. She was shivering as if she had a cold. Her head hurt from the loud ringing of the bells. The bells. They are so annoying. Her head will split if they do not stop. If they could just stop.

STOP!

A hollow metal sound replaced the ringing of the bells. She didn’t have to see it to understand, they just fell from the heavy wooden beam. The annoying ringing finally stopped. The tower stopped shaking. The deafening silence filled the whole chamber, but she was not still at all.

Strong emotions were swirling in her, festering inside. Fear and sadness, frustration and rage. And… hatred. Yes, hatred. Hatred for the young servant who betrayed her. Hatred for the sly priest who owned her. Hatred for the people hungrily licking their lips during the mass. Hatred for people who knew who she was.

All those emotions were merging with the powerful magic flowing in her body, rooting it deep in her insides, finally making it hers. With the strong emotions, she was finally able to grasp her own power. This was the answer.

They wanted to have a powerful saintess, and they will have it. They will pay with their blood for each drop she has to spill. They will pay with their own lives for the lives of young girls residing in this body. They will pay until there is nothing left.

Turning around, she looked outside the window to bid farewell to the moon, which once lent her its power, but she rejected it. There was a big red circle glaring at her, straight through the shattered window.

Once the Red Moon appears in the night sky, the Moon Princess fully awakens in her new body.

“No,” she shook her head. “I will not allow them to see that I fully awakened!”

She waved both her hands, clasping the red moon in her palms. Her red magic spilled out through the window, flying straight at the moon. It called forth the dark clouds swirling around the sky, pulling them closer, hiding the red moon with them. The night sky was now black, the red glow of the moon fully disappearing in the darkness.

“They wished me to go to war,” she said. “So I shall go. But it will be a battle of me against every last one of them.”