| The Rising Moon: The Awakening of a Demi-Goddess |

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 alamort

(adj.) half dead of exhaustion

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Ignoring the voices might have been a bad choice. Knowing the voices were her mother made it even worse. But she just had to. If everything went right, it would be a blast. And worse come to worse, they could die. But in every situation somebody could die. Just tripping over the railing, or stumbling into a large large pit. The chances were just a tad bit thicker than usual, but it wouldn't hurt. Right?

"What did you want to talk about?" Nico asked her, shadow traveling. It still made her shiver a bit, the way he just popped out of nowhere.

"Right, I know what I'm going to say might sound crazy..."

"Like usual,"

"Oh shut up," She felt her face blushing a bit, but continued on. "I have a request to make. Just trust me on this, okay?" She asked again. He nodded, staring at the night sky.

"Shadow travel to Italy," she said plainly. He sharply swirled around to her, an unknown emotion in his gaze.

"I can't! We're on a mission, and I couldn't even go back! I passed out a week from going to China, remember? Everyone will-"

"Just trust me?" She said calmly and quietly. He stepped back, his face a mixture of uncertainty and anxiousness.

"...Fine. But if I feel like passing out, we travel back immediately, okay?" He asked. She understood his wordiness and nodded. Traveling halfway across the world with a girl he'd only known for weeks while they were on a mission- quite dangerous.

He took her hand, and his cool skin was wrapped around hers. She clutched it tightly, not knowing what would happen to her if she let go in the middle of going through the shadows.

Suddenly, it felt like they were moving at an inhuman speed. Her vision blurred and blackened and blued all at the same time, the world around her fizzy. Strange noises howled through her ear, and for a moment she thought it was the voices before realizing it was part of the teleportation. A cold shivering feeling crept up her spine. What would happen if she let go?

Come with us, child, a voice whispered in her mind. It wasn't the voices, or her own consciousness, it was something else, something hiding inside the shadows. Terrified, she wrapped her wait around Nico, making sure there was skin contact so that they would stay connected.

In a blink, they were in a completely different location. Canals with boats, beautifully built apartments, and authentic cafés surrounded them as she gazed at the beautiful city. Venice, Italy, her mind whispered. She turned to Nico, and the color flooded from her face. He was collapsing, looking deader than he already did. She ushered him to an alleyway and looked at him, feeling his forehead.

"I don't- I'm going to pass-" She shushed him, and placed her palm in front of his face. It had worked with a tree, so why not a human? Okay, those words did not make that much sense together, but she had to trust the process.

Her hand started to glow. Nico's eyes widened as he slowly started to gain color in his cheeks, his health regenerating. Meanwhile, Celeste was getting paler and paler every moment. She drew back, rubbing her tattoo, and turned to see Nico back at full health, giving her an amazed look.

"You just healed-"

"Yep. Now let's go, we have a city to explore!" She cut in, not wanting to get to the details. Dragging him out of the alleyway, she looked at the marvelous city, the gem to Italy.