Moon Born

Chapter 36

"Amelia?" Orsand grasped the dead queen's hand. "Come on, babe. Open your eyes."

Tears slid down his cheek as he stroked her cheek.

"Mom? Mom!"

The rest of us stood there, stunned. Queen Amelia was dead. The most gracious and most lovely of queens was dead. And for what? Why? Because Hera was mad that Artemis existed?

'Diana, we have to do something.'

'Like what? This is way beyond our abilities.'

'Is anything beyond our abilities? I mean you're dead. We have the power of Artemis. We're demi goddesses or whatever.'

'I mean, yes, but we're still just a mortal and a ghost.'

'We have to try something.'

'Okay. What do we try?' Diana asked.

'I don't know. Um, let's just try to tap into the power within and see what happens.'

'Okay. Let's give it a go.'

I stepped forward, Diana with me, and stood over the body of Amelia. Her face was pale white and ashen. Her once rose-red lips were pale and pink.

The blood on her shirt had dried and clung to the skin beneath.

"What are you doing?" Edmond hissed.

"I don't know. Something. Anything," I mumbled, a single tear sliding down my cheek.

"This isn't the time," King Orsand added.

"Do you want me to try to save her? Or just let her stay dead?"

They both sighed heavily and nodded.

I shook my head at the fact they both still doubted my abilities after all this time. Even if I doubted myself.

"Clear the room," I said.

"What?"

"I'm about to use Artemis' powers. I don't want anyone to see."

"Of course." Edmond stood and escorted everyone except Ashley, Alastair, and Andrew out.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Ashley asked.

I shook my head.

I stepped back up to Queen Amelia's body and held my hands over her. I breathed deeply as Diana stepped up beside me. She held her hands over mine as we focused on channeling Artemis and her powers. My hands glowed the blue and entered the queen's body but it wasn't working.

'Diana, step inside me.'

'What?'

'Step inside me. Maybe if we combined....'

'Okay.'

She stepped into my body, sending an electrifying tingly sensation from my head to my toes. The blue light grew brighter, bursting from my entire body like a firework.

I looked up and saw Amelia standing in front of us with Artemis.

'What are you doing?' Artemis asked.

'Bringing her back.'

'I don't have that power.'

I shrugged my shoulders.

'We can't defy fate.'

'Watch me.'

'Elanor, you cannot do this.'

'I'm not letting her go because Hera is mad at you. Queen Amelia's time is not up. Her life was interfered with by another God. Not the Moirai.'

I watched as Queen Amelia slowly lifted into the air and moved toward her body. She slowly fell into the fleshy shell that lay on the bed in front of me. Her mortal body's face changed to the rosy-cheeked woman I remembered. Her lips turned rose red as the wound in her stomach healed.

She sat up quickly and sucked in a deep breath while looking up at me.

I glanced at Artemis who pursed her lips before vanishing.

'We're going to pay for that.'

'Perhaps.'

"Amelia!" Orsand cried out.

She stood and grasped my hands. "You! You saved me."

"I just did what anyone would do."

Edmond stood, staring at me. "How?"

My head felt like it was swimming. The room spun as nausea overtook me.

"Ellie?" Ashley asked, stepping forward.

"Fine..I..I..fin..." I couldn't finish what I said.

Everything went black and I could feel myself falling. The abyss was never ending as I continued just falling. Or was I floating? Either way I was weightless and the darkness was never-ending.

"Elanor. Daughter of Artemis," a raspy voice hissed from within the darkness.

"Who's there?" I called out.

"You interfered," another raspy voice said.

"You stopped us from collecting our soul," a third said.

"Who's there!" I yelled.

"You mustn't interfere," the first voice said again.

"We want our penance," the second added.

"You owe us a soul," the third finished.

"You must pay your debt!" they all said together

The voices continued faster and faster growing increasingly angrier.

"A soul? I don't have any souls."

"You must repay the debt."

"We will collect."

"What one takes one must replace."

The raspy voices were coming from everywhere. I held my hands to my ears and screamed as the darkness vanished and I woke, laying on the same bed Amelia had been on.

"Are you okay?" Edmond asked, sitting beside me.

"What happened?" I questioned.

"You collapsed," Alastair said.

"Oh. I mean yeah, I think I'm okay." The raspy voices from the abyss rang in my ears.

Orsand let out a sob and hugged me tight. "Thank you. I am so sorry I doubted you."

He released me and pulled Amelia into a tight embrace, kissing her passionately.

"You brought my mom back," Edmond continued. "I...I..."

I pulled him into a tight embrace. "I know."

"That can really change things," Andrew said.

"What?"

"You could save us all!"

"I don't know about that."

"What? Why? You bring people back from the dead!" he exclaimed.

I shook my head. "I am defying the Moirai. I can't continue doing this."

"You must!"

"No. I really can't."

"This can help us win!"

I got off the bed and paced around. "You don't understand. Saving a life affects the Moirai and I will owe souls for each one I save."

"What?"

"The Moirai control all of our destinies. When I interfere with someone's destiny, I owe a soul to the Moirai. What one takes one must replace."

"This is way too much."

I nodded. "I'm focusing on the creatures and Hera before the Moirai. They're just going to have to wait."

What am I going to do about all of this? I really dug myself in deep here.