They Call Her Psycho

32. Juno Vale

The white light cleared, and Athena and Artemis saw an ancient village. There was the hustle and bustle of a different age, one that was unknown to them. But they were not there themselves, it felt like they were watching a film in their mind.

"I was born about a thousand years ago," the voice of the Moon Goddess filled their ears as she narrated the scenes that unfolded in their minds.

"My mother had died in childbirth, which was very common at the time, so it was just me and my father. We were part of a very powerful witch coven. You see back then werewolves, vampires and many other supernatural creatures didn't exist. It was only witches."

The scene faded, and they watched as child version of Juno crept through a dark alley, nervously looking over her shoulder.

"Naturally, humans suspected our existence, but we were always far too smart to ever be caught. We had strict rules. One of the most important of which was that our kind were never to interact with humans. We were to stay far away for both our safety and theirs. Unfortunately, I was never good at following the rules. Since I was a little girl, I had always been curious about the non-magic folk. I was always fascinated about the way they used their hand and tools to do what we could do with magic."

They watched as the girl magically changed into the simple clothes of the local villagers. Before she had worn a black and red gown, the colours of her coven. She covered her striking silver hair with a hooded cloak and darted out into the busy streets.

"So I used to sneak out of the coven's compound and into the human village. When I was seven I had snuck out to the village cemetery and I had carved my mother's name onto the back of a gravestone so that I could visit her," Juno continued to narrate as the scene now showed her adult self kneeling in a misty graveyard. "I had never known her, but I wasn't close to my father and I didn't have any friends, so I would tell her everything. I was different. My hair was the colour of the moon, and my eyes were the colour of blood. Most people, even the other witches, tended to avoid me and would look at me like I was a shame to them. Like you girls I was born on a blood moon, and it gave me power unlike anything the witches had ever seen. I was the first Luna Sanguis. So my coven kept me hidden, I was never allowed contact with anyone other than my father and the other elders. Many of the other children were scared and their parents would always hurry them away from me."

The young woman skipped through the graveyard and came through the trees into the village. She stood in wonder on the edge as she watched the village children play in the medieval streets.

"But humans never treated me that way, they never looked at me with fear or ran away from me. Instead, they just ignored me. To them, I was just another village girl who showed too much ankle. So, whenever I could I would sneak out and watch them. I would spend hours wandering their streets as they lived their lives."

Like a film, the scene panned to the other side of the street where two men stood next to a couple of horses. They were more richly dressed than the other villagers and didn't seem to fit in. The men stared at them suspiciously and then women giggled and whispered as they hung around them.

"What I never realised was that someone had been watching me."

The taller man with black hair that he swept back with his hand, didn't pay any notice to the giggling women around him, he watched the hooded girl with curiosity. This wasn't the first time he'd seen her in the village since he'd first arrived there a few months ago. He'd seen her several times as she watched the villagers with a longing smile, always staying in the shadows.

"His name was Magnar Danger, and that's exactly what he was; danger. What I soon found out was that he was the son of one very wealthy Lord Gregory, the man who owned the human village. I also quickly learnt that all the other village girls my age also wanted him. But I'd never thought I'd meet him. I'd never spoken to the humans, my coven had taught us they would only want to kill us. In my mind, Magnar would be no different, so I satisfied with just watching him from a distance. What I never expected was for him to take an interest in me, especially when his father had already promised him to Lavinia Bennett. She was the most perfect girl in the village; pretty and demure, the type of woman by father had tried to mould me into. She was everything I hated. But every eligible man who laid their eyes on her wanted her hand in marriage. Fortunately for me, Magnar wanted nothing to do with her."