Chapter 18

Geoffrey Luther had given Celine the name of the Crescent Moon, because he couldn’t see her full being.

Her strength.

Her past.

Her future.

What drove her to act.

None of it was clear, so she was the moon they could only see half of.

Even now, as she dripped with rage and her aura blasting shockwaves, Geoffrey couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

The Witch…3 Moons are now gathered here.

Tonight, we shall make history and determine the future of Gealwu. He grinned uneasily as his shaking hand ran through his hair. Who wouldn’t want to see this?!

Sherwyn had started gathering shadows, wrapping them around her body and blades, and taking some inside her like she had before. 

For years, the Black Cat had lurked in the shadows to take Tetrad from Mounsan.

With great trepidation, she had awaited the day she would finally defeat the Magnanimous Magician.

But all of her plans had been undone once again by the Witch.

I’ll never forgive you!

You who cling desperately onto the now and deny the future!

Celine had been watching and listening as her fellow Moons traded words, and she was furious.

It was because of them so many had died tonight.

They both wanted to plunge Gealwu back into war to bring suffering to all 5 countries.

And it was because of them that Abigail Anjou had to become Estelle.

And then they tried to kill her.

Unforgiveable! Celine could see them out of her peripherals and they were preparing for battle. If we let loose, Tetrad will get wiped off the map, just like then-!

Geoffrey put his hands by his side. “If it’s any consolation, Celine, my actions didn’t directly harm the Anjou girl. I simply benefitted from her tragedies.”

“You were just about to kill me!” Estelle cried. “To hurt Lady Celine!”

The Magician shrugged. “Would you willingly accept a peaceful end if I withdrew my forces from the city?” Celine’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll cancel my plans and return to Mounsan for tonight. As an apology for your apprentice’s grievances.”

Sherwyn spat. “Like you expect her to trust you. Hey, Witch, do you know why I did all of this? Why I keep scheming and attacking? It’s because of you. Because of all of us! The Moons!” The Black Cat’s eyes glowed more brightly. “As long as we exist, Gealwu can’t change. It can’t evolve or grow; it will only stagnate!

“You!” Sherwyn thrust a finger towards Celine. “All you do is chain us all down and keep us from standing on our own two feet! War is terrible, death is worse and suffering is hell, but what is purgatory then?! Just to keep your peaceful little life, you’d drag us all down with you! If you’d stayed out of this, history would have changed!”

Sherwyn collected herself and let out a small sigh. “You wouldn’t understand, would you?”

“Would you?” Celine’s voice, one usually filled with such sweetness and freedom, became jagged and sharp like a dagger. “What do you know about death? War? Suffering? Purgatory is paradise compared to those.”

Sherwyn glowered. “You’re a hypocrite.”

Celine glared back.

When she turned, Geoffrey made his move.

Both hands raised, he curled his fingers into fists and the space around both women began to put immense pressure upon them.

A normal human would’ve been crushed.

Even a strong one would’ve been forced onto the ground as space shattered around them.

But Sherwyn and Celine stood firm as the world twisted.

Sherwyn moved next, dropping into her own shadow and reappearing in front of Geoffrey. She thrust her claws at his throat, but he jumped back to avoid the attack and swiped his hand before him, blasting a powerful gust of wind at Sherwyn. She braced as the blast sent her flying away.

Celine tapped her staff twice on the ground and a handmade of brick grabbed Geoffrey from behind, before slamming him into the ground. The fist then transformed into chains and bound Geoffrey’s limbs to the dirt, but the Magician easily broke free of them and leapt onto his feet. He spun around and sprinted at Celine. She tapped her cane again and the gargoyles on the rooftops soared at Geoffrey.

Geoffrey, without not missing a beat, spun a kick around at them, destroying all 8, before he resumed his charge. But Celine had closed the distance and jabbed his stomach with the top of her cane, breaking one of his ribs. The Magician went rolling down the street before stopping in a crouch position. 

Sherwyn appeared in Celine’s shadow and stabbed at her back, but Celine felt the attack and spun out of the way, her waist narrowly avoiding the tips of the blades. Sherwyn sliced them across Celine’s stomach, but they didn’t break her dress, so the Black Cat withdrew into her shadow again.

Where did she-?! Sherwyn emerged from beneath Celine’s legs and grabbed her ankles, dragging her into the Witch’s own shadow before disappearing again. I can’t move?! Sherwyn leapt out behind Celine, a dagger firmly aimed at her skull and stabbed down, but Celine blocked it with her cane.

Sherwyn grunted as her strongest weapon was held back, just before Geoffrey rejoined the fight, ice arrows launching in the thousands at them. Sherwyn took in the surrounding shadows like she had before and cut all the spells to shreds before they hit, and then countered with a dozen knives at Geoffrey. Geoffrey easily caught them between his fingers, but the blades suddenly exploded, covering him in smoke and flames.

He hissed in pain before he used the air around him to quell the flames, but this gave Sherwyn the chance she needed.

She was right before his face; both claws aimed at his chest.

Geoffrey raised his arms to block but he didn’t need to. Celine grabbed Sherwyn’s ankles out mid-air and slammed her into the ground before tossing her to one side. The Witch herself had broken free of the dirt and shadows and began to dust herself down when Geoffrey charged her again.

Celine went to tap her cane again, but it couldn’t touch the ground.

An air bubble?!

“Correct!” Geoffrey was in her face and palm punched her jaw, before bringing the elbow down onto her palm, releasing her cane - her staff - from her hand.

Geoffrey then palm punched her again with his left hand, unleashing a powerful lightning and ice spell onto her chest, blasting the Witch into the grand cathedral.

The whole building shook from the impact and threatened to collapse.

“Lady Celine!”

“Don’t interfere!”

“But Daya-!”

“Trust our Master!” The magpie sternly told Estelle. “Believe in her!”

Geoffrey flexed his arms, his joints aching from the impact of his own attacks, before he had to dodge a dozen new daggers Sherwyn had unleashed at him.

He didn’t catch them like before, but the blades flew after him.

What?!

Sherwyn appeared in the shadows behind him and kicked his spine, knocking Geoffrey off balance and letting the knives dig into his forearm. The magician braced himself and raised a barrier as the weapons exploded, then gathered the fire along his right arm as if it was a gauntlet.

He thrust that arm at Sherwyn, unleashing a large fiery tornado, but Sherwyn once again sank into her own shadow.

However, Geoffrey had predicted this, so he brought the inferno back around his own body just as Sherwyn poked her head out of his shadow. She narrowly avoided being burnt alive as she retreated twenty metres away.

Geoffrey redirected the blaze at Sherwyn once again, but the Black Cat didn’t dodge this time.

She shut her eyes, put her palms together and focused on the shadows the flames cast. She reached out in her mind, grasped them and then pulled them into the sky, drawing the fire towards the heavens.

It was a beautiful, terrifying sight for all in Tetrad that night.

The soldiers, the guards, the spies and assassins and knights all were captivated and horrified by it.

Gealwu had been at peace too long and forgotten the devastating powers of the Moons.

“A neat trick,” Geoffrey praised as he conjured a thousand spells behind him. “But how many can you-?”

He didn’t sense Celine’s punch before it smashed into his right side. Geoffrey spat blood as he spun a hundred metres, breaking through dozens of buildings before he came to a stop, slumped over on the ground.

His head spun as he forced himself onto his feet.

I shouldn’t have lowered my guard for even an instant. He cursed his own foolishness as he began to cast a healing spell on his body. Why is it I can never act rationally when it comes to her? Every time I try to calculate a future involving her, I’m wrong. That last attack she took was meant to knock her out of the fight until Sherwyn was dead, so why-?

“The Crescent Moon is too apt,” he mused.

Celine, a little bruised and covered in dirt, calmed herself a little as she recovered her breath.

Geoffrey’s attack had been stronger than she’d expected, but it still wasn’t enough.

Like I thought, I am-

Sherwyn stabbed a dagger into the ground and tens of thousands of shadows gathered around her, attaching to her back like tentacles, and she charged Celine once more.

“Why?!” Sherwyn unleashed an unrelenting series of strikes with daggers, claws and tentacles at Celine. “Why do you always get in our way?! If you don’t want to be a Moon, then stay away forever! Leave Gealwu! Stay in a house somewhere away from the rest of us! Why can’t you just mind your own business?!

“Why do you have to ruin everything?!”

“Why?” Celine caught Sherwyn’s arms and dispelled the shadows from the cat’s back, catching Sherwyn off-guard. “I’m angry.”

“Huh?!”

“I’m angry with you, Sherwyn, Geoffrey too.”

Sherwyn, unable to escape and scared for the first time in a long time, hissed, “What are you, a child?”

Celine smiled. “Maybe I am, but do you know why I’m angry? It’s because you ruined Abigail’s life!”

Estelle felt her heart squeeze as if caught in a vice as everything finally connected for her.

The reason Celine had been so agitated since her visit to Ordon.

The reason why she was working so hard to train her and make her happy.

It was for her sake.

“Celine…”

Her master’s name passed her lips without her realising it as an overwhelming feeling rose in her chest.

It was something so warm and gentle, and it made her so sad.

Gratitude.

Ever since the day La Fay had cast her out, Abigail had been unable to truly move on.

She had changed her name, abandoned all her friends and family, and sworn to live a life as the Witch’s apprentice but there had been a small part of her unable to let go.

When she had run into Yvonne, Cathy and Elisa, Abigail Anjou had yearned to go back.

Friends, love, a simple trip with those she cared for, even just being able to walk down the street without always looking over her shoulder.

She hadn’t realised just how lonely she’d been without those simple, normal things in her life.

And she didn’t realise just how much those lingering thoughts hurt Lady Celine.

Daya put a wing on Celine’s head as if she was patting it. “That’s the sort of person our Master is. Don’t forget that.”

Estelle wept and whispered, “Right.”

“…Because I ruined one girl’s life?” Sherwyn muttered in disbelief. “Just for that?” Sherwyn ground her teeth together so hard they felt like they would break. “Do you know how many people’s lives you’ve ruined tonight?! If you really cared, you would’ve stopped us long before it got to this point, but no!

“You’re just a little brat who can only care for the things that matter to her! You don’t care about Gealwu or these people! All you are is a lonely child with too much power!” Sherwyn headbutted Celine and kicked off her chest, breaking free of the Witch’s grasp. “Disappear!”

Sherwyn’s rage and aura exploded, reaching across the entire city, drawing every single shadow into her body and covered her in shadows.

What came next happened in the blink of an eye.

With a great howl, the Black Cat jumped at Celine faster than the speed of light, with more ferocity than a dragon, shockwaves blasting from her very being, and stabbed with her claws at Celine’s heart.

Celine’s eyes blossomed into a vibrant blood red, bat like wings spurted from her back, her nails became sharper than any sword.

And she caught Sherwyn’s claws in her palm.

The blades broke.

The shadows dispersed.

And Sherwyn collapsed.

The earthquake that followed broke the cathedral and the surrounding square.

Tetrad shook from head to toe for almost a minute.

Geoffrey who had seen everything dropped to his knees.

Estelle had passed out from the impact of the shockwaves.

Daya had exerted herself to try and protect them, but she was sapped of all strength and fell onto her back.

Captain Alexios’s mind went white before he collapsed, his heart threatened to burst.

And the Moon turned half red.

Celine undid her transformation, drained entirely of her power, and fought to stay standing.

If she fell now, everything would have been for nothing.

Shaking knees didn’t stop her from turning to face Geoffrey and she stood tall under his gaze.

The Magnanimous Magician offered nothing more than a simple lowering of his head.

The Battle of Tetrad was over.

***

The long night didn’t end when dawn broke.

There was much work to do in the city and not enough hands to do it.

Hundreds were dead, thousands missing or wounded and every man, woman and child from every nation was expected to do their part under the careful watch of Captain Alexios’s men.

When they had found the captain, whose hair had half-turned white in a single night, he simply told them to just do their jobs and ask nothing more.

Dead bodies from Mounsan, Du Lan and La Fay were discovered and piled up in the city square in near equal amounts and questions were raised about what had happened.

All 3 ambassadors denied having any knowledge, but they all resigned from their posts.

They weren’t the only ones.

The entire council and its chancellor stepped down.

Whatever questions people might have had turned into fury at the negligence of the men in charge who abandoned their posts, making the Tetrad populace believe the battle was their fault entirely.

Rumours spread that several Moons had appeared and fought near the cathedral, but the only witness who had been there, Captain Alexios, swore himself to silence.

Had Lady Sherwyn and Lord Geoffrey fought for the future of Tetrad?

No one knew but Alexios.

Of course, those who had witnessed the battle knew the truth, but they were gone.

On the top of a mountain, Celine had gathered Geoffrey, Sherwyn, Estelle and Daya.

The two Moons held out their left arms as Celine finished chanting her spell, vines wrapping around their skin and branding them with an invisible mark.

“With this, you have both now sworn an unbreakable vow,” Celine said. “You will both leave Tetrad alone from this point onwards.”

“Should we break it, may our lives be forfeit,” Geoffrey mused with a sly smile before he laughed. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand you, Celine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, perhaps this is revealing my hand to the enemy, but you’ve left quite a lot of loopholes in this ‘vow’ of yours. I shall leave Tetrad alone could be interpreted in many ways.”

“I know,” said the Witch firmly. “This is a test of faith.”

Sherwyn grunted and walked away angrily. “What a joke.”

That was all she said before vanishing.

Maybe my actions seem childish to you both, but this is for the best, Celine thought. I don’t want to force you to change; I want you to change your ways and become stronger people.

“I shall only say this once, Witch of the Crescent Moon, but today was my loss,” Geoffrey said. “Until the next time we cross paths.”

And so, the magician flew away, leaving Celine with her apprentices.

“Lady Celine.” Estelle stepped forward with a warm smile and took her master’s hand in hers. “Thank you, for getting angry for me, for saving my life and taking me under your wing.”

“…You’re welcome.”

Estelle giggled. “Don’t make such a sad face, Lady Celine. I won’t be going anywhere.”

“Hu-Eh-? Wh-what do you-?”

“You were scared, weren’t you? That I was going to leave your side and return to my old life. I can’t deny that I miss it, but I also know that it’s over. Even if everything with Flora and Lady Sherwyn was brought to light, I wouldn’t be able to go back. It’d be too painful for me; I wouldn’t want to live in the shell of my old life.

“Instead, I would rather stay with you as your apprentice and as your friend.” Estelle hugged Celine. “Thank you!”

Celine was overwhelmed with emotions, but she managed to keep under control and hugged Estelle back. “Thank you.”

“If you two are done.” Daya flew over beside them. “What do you say we go back to Tetrad and have some fun?”

“Only after we’ve helped them,” Celine said, separating from Estelle. “And then, we’ll go to our home.”

Estelle smiled brightly and Daya nodded.

I’m still a bit worried about what the Emperor of Du Lan was thinking, but we can deal with that later.

For now. Celine, Estelle and Daya went back towards Tetrad. Let’s just enjoy this moment!