The Castle Under The Moon

Chapter Five

"There are a couple people that you need to meet before we do anything else." Gheorgie tells them as he helped Luna down from the front of the cart.

"Only a couple?" Asher asks, his gaze never leaving the castle.

"Only a couple." Gheorgie chuckles as his beta, Gabriel, opens the front doors, allowing them into the foyer.

"Are you a king?" Luna looks up at him as she grabs his right hand and his attention.

"He wishes he was." Valda announces as she struts down the stairs with a smirk on her face and a gleam in her emerald eyes.

Valda is a tall woman, she has wavy black hair that went down to her hips. Her eyes are an abnormally bright green and her skin is almost as white as the clouds that the kids had been looking at earlier in the day. Her dress was draped over her body and is a deep orange color with yellow accents.

She snaps her fingers and disappears, only to appear, within seconds, in front of them.

Both children's eyes were wide as they looked over the woman.

 "This will all be explained later on." Gheorgie tells them while glaring at the woman in front of him.

"Jaiyana is upstairs waiting for you, Luna. She is extremely excited to meet you." Valda tells the small girl as she bends down to be closer to her level.

"Asher, you will come with me while Valda takes Luna to meet with Jaiyana." Gheorgie tells him.

"What, why?" Asher grabs Luna's free hand and holds it tightly, fear and defensiveness sprouting within him.

"No worries, it is just for the night, you will see one another again tomorrow." Valda tells them, a small, sweet smile on her face.

Luna looks up at Gheorgie and when he nods she lets go of both of their hands and, after giving the both of them hugs, Ashers stronger than the one she had given Gheorgie, she grabs onto Valda's hand. 

"Gheorgie just needs to speak to him about a few things tonight." Valda tells the girl, squeezing her small hand in hers.

"Who is Jaiyana?" Luna asks, glancing up the woman once the men were out of sight.

"She is The Goddess of the Moon." Valda tells her as she squats and places both of her hands on Luna's waist, lifting her up and propping her on her hip.

Before Luna is able to say anything Valda speaks in a different language and then they were in front of two large doors.

With wide eyes, Luna reaches her hands out to touch the magnificent doors that hid a nervous Jaiyana behind them.

Jaiyana had been pacing the library since she was notified of their entrance into her world, and would be lying if she said that she wasn't a bit terrified.

"Right through these doors." She hears Valda say.

Her pacing instantly stops and her heartbeat starts to speed up a bit as she makes her way to the doors, stopping halfway so that she was standing a few feet in front of them, hands joined together in front of her.

When the doors start to open a sense of calmness instantly envelops Jaiyana, shocking her a bit.

As their eyes meet, both girls feel connected almost straightaway and Jaiyana drops to her knees.

Luna's blue eyes look over the woman that was now in front of her, waiting.

Jaiyana's hair is large and curly around her head and the first thought that ran through Luna's head was that it looked like a pillow surrounding her. Her eyes are a mixture of light and deep blue, the same exact ones as Luna's, and stood out against her dark as night skin.

Jaiyana's eyes fill with tears, feeling like she found the other half of herself, heart fuller than it had ever been, and raises her arms up from her sides, insinuating that she wanted a hug from Luna.

Without hesitating, Luna makes her way as fast as she can towards Jaiyana and when they touch for the first time both of their eyes start to glow, causing a watching Valda to gasp.

After a few seconds Jaiyana's eyes meet Valda's, raising her right hand Jaiyana flicks her fingers forwards and watches as the library doors slam shut, scaring Valda.

Valda shakes her head, heart hammering in her chest, and hurriedly makes her way to Gheorgie to tell him what she had just witnessed.

"My daughter." Jaiyana's melodic voice sweeps through the room and through Luna, giving her entire body goosebumps.

Luna pulls back so she can look Jaiyana in the eyes.

The small girl seemed as if she was in a trance.

"Is it okay for me to call you that?" Jaiyana asks her as she places her hands on either side of Luna's face.

"Yes." Luna states, still in awe at how beautiful the woman standing in front of her was.

Jaiyana's face lights up when she hears the answer and then she stands.

"Come, let's sit and talk." Jaiyana grabs both of Luna's hands and walks backwards towards a comfy looking couch that was in the center of the library.

"I have been searching for you." Jaiyana tells Luna, who is still trying to figure out why she was lucky enough to have a home this big and a mother this nice.

"Why me?" Luna asks as she plays with the hem of her dress while pretending the floor was the most interesting thing around her instead of the breathtaking woman that sat beside her.

"Because we are the same." Jaiyana tells her just before she brings the crystal glass full of warm tea to her lips.

Luna's head pops up and her lips are scrunched together and it was clear that she did not understand the meaning behind the answer that she had gotten.

"Just because my body didn't make you and we don't look alike doesn't mean that we aren't connected. Family is more powerful than that, little one." Jaiyana explains, watching in amusement as the young girl thinks it over.

"So you're my mother now?" Luna asks, hope bubbling within her as she watches the woman with wide eyes.

"Yes. For as long as you will let me." Jaiyana tells her, smiling along with the small girl.

"Forever." Luna tells her, making Jaiyana's smile widen.

"How old are you?" Jaiyana asks as she pours Luna a glass of tea.

"Eight." Luna tells her and gently grabs the beautiful crystal cup from Jaiyana, focusing on it as she slowly brings it to her parted lips, not wanting to break the delicate looking object.

"Thank you." Luna smiles, meeting Jaiyana's eyes over the cup.

"You're welcome, dear." Jaiyana tells her, hesitating before asking her next question, trying to find a proper way to word it.

"Have you ever heard the story about Shadow?" Jaiyana asks, glancing at the small girl that was placing the now empty cup back on the table where the older woman had gotten it from.

Luna shakes her head and watches as Jaiyana leans her back into the couch, getting into a more appropriate position.

"Get comfortable and I will tell you."

Luna does exactly that and mimics the position the goddess was in.