Stronger as One (#1, Completed)

56. Il sole e la luna (New)

RILEY

I stood there, not believing quite what I was seeing. The sky above me was caught in the midst of day and night. I could see the stars glowing with the moon beside them and at the same time there was the sun shining across the bright blue sky. My head couldn't grasp the sight before me.

"Is this-" I tried to speak but my mother interrupted me.

"Real? It is, darling. Welcome to the realm of the Goddesses."

When we teleported here, I was not sure what to expect but this was certainly not it. The realm was beautiful, even if rather strange. We landed in a field full of bright sunflowers that were basking in the sunlight on one side and gardenias blooming under the darkness and coolness of the other side. It was like someone had drawn a line across the realm, marking where the day ended and the night began.

We made our way through a thick forest until we finally made it to a magnificent garden which led to a grand manor at the end of it. As I reached for the gate to enter the garden, my mum put her hand on top of mine, drawing my attention to her.

"Are you sure you are ready for this, Riley? The Sun and Moon Goddess might have the answers you seek but they might not be the answers you wish to hear." My mother's eyes were full of worry, just as they had been every time she thought I was hurt or upset when I was little.

"I need to do this, mum- I have to know," I reassured her, placing my hand on top of hers.

"I know, sweety. I just wish that there was more that we could do for you. But this is as far as your dad and I can go. We can't enter further but they will be expecting you."

I was not one to panic but I had hoped that my parents were going to accompany me during my visit to the two goddesses. I was completely out of my element here and my parents' presence would have been invaluable for me, not just for their support but also for their guidance in this world that I barely knew anything about.

"Don't worry, Auri. We will be waiting for you here when you are done. They will not harm you," my dad reassured me, as if he could read my mind. He didn't need to though- he knew me that well.

I pushed the gate open and made my way through the garden. I felt so much life around me as I walked through it and yet there was no other person in sight. But I could feel the flowers, the trees, the birds, even the crickets that were hiding in the dark part. The realm was so lively, so pure- nothing like life back on Earth.

My footsteps were the only noise I could hear as I walked right down the middle between the day and the night parts. I prepared myself to knock on the door when I finally got to the mansion but before my knuckles even touched it, it opened on its own.

"Come in, Aurelie," a gentle, melodic voice said from within the house.

I entered the manor and walked straight ahead where I could see two figures seated in huge sofa chairs, admiring what I could only describe as the sun setting on one side, while the moon was slowly preparing itself to give way to the sunrise on the other.

"We have been expecting you, child," one of the two figures said confidently.

Great, yet another foretold move on my part, I huffed in my head as I moved towards them.

"Don't worry, Aurelie- we did not know when and how you would come. Just that you would visit us one day. That brilliant, inquisitive mind of yours would not have allowed otherwise," the first voice spoke again and I could sense that she smiled as she said that. "Come, join us here."

I did as I was told, finally taking a spot next to them by the floor-to-ceiling windows. My new spot allowed me to have a look at both of them and I had to admit that I was taken aback by their grandeur- each one of the two goddesses was magnificent.