Poison Tree

Destiny Declined

*Tsar's POV*

     We all looked at each other, me anxiously awaiting the next move. Cleo grinned at me before standing, a staff of fire appearing next to her. The staff was onyx black, red jewels of all shapes and sizes going in a spiral until it met the head of the staff. Sat at the top of the staff was a pure white statue of a wolf, one eye red the other violet. I gasped as I remembered the color my eyes reflected from steel eyes. Steel eyes. Where was he? I was pulled from my thoughts when Cleo banged the staff on the floor once, with so much force that the water rippled into waves, gently lapping at my chair. My head snapped to her, only to have the fire in the torches out. Once again, pure, pitch black silence encased me, strangling my vision. Oddly, I wasn't as scared. Well, until I heard chants. Were they witches? I mean, they did look the part. Somewhat. But then again, witches aren't fucking real! Suddenly, the fire returned to its torches, except the torches were now in a full circle around me. My eyes snapped to Cleo and the other women, only to find them with their eyes pure white. It was like they were in some sort of trance. The flames from the torches expanded in height, the once yellow orange flicker now turning a bright blue.
"You may now ask questions, with an exception of the ones you asked earlier. But be wise, we are on a timed schedule here." The woman said, eyes STILL staring into mine.
"What, you have more people to do THIS to?" I asked smirking. The woman bit back a smile, while Cleo let out an all out knee clenching laugh.
"God I love you." She said, wiping her eyes. My heart swelled at the appraisal of someone of such potential power. I said potential because I didn't know what she's made of. Yet.
"You mentioned earlier that I am one of you. What are you?" I asked, looking at each of the women. It was like all their eyes had no pupils, and were alike, but different shades.
"We are, in simplest form, phases of the moon. As you know there are twelve phases of the moon." Cleo said, leaning back in her throne and crossing her arms.
"But there's thirteen thrones. And you said in simplest form. I want the complicated explanation." I said, mimicking her.
"Her majesty is complicated. Though she is apart of us, she has a whole different title and duty than us." Cleo smiled at me. "Now as for the complicated form, in a sense, we are protectors, or warriors if you may. We protect our species in times of extreme crisis. We only appear when the situation is extremely dire." My head was spinning faster than earths axis. Yea, I know the comparison.
"Species as in..." I started, raising my eyebrow for her to continue.
"Wolves." Cleo simply stated. I laughed out loud, slapping my knees. Wolves. Pfft, did they think I was some fourteen year old twilight super fan? I mean to be technical, I was a twilight super fan, but I am also somewhat an adult. This was the real world, not some fantasy that I could only imagine in my head.
"Well, I am clearly in a deeper coma than I thought." I laughed, standing and stretching. "This has been a very....queer experience, nice meeting you all. I'm out." I wrapped the blanket tightly around me as I went and tried to squeeze between the torches. The flames raged angrily, the flames now shooting into the abyss of black that we were in.
"Marzì." Cleo said calmly. I turned to look as a tan girl stood gracefully, long grey hair in a genie ponytail, coming just to her knees. Her eyes were a pale blue, and she had nose piercings. Instead of a sword like Cleo's, she had a double bladed ax strapped to her back. The girl stepped from the platform and stopped just at the end, before she started running. Before my eyes, Marzì transformed into a huge white wolf. I stared in shock as she jumped through the fire, her eyes glowing a dangerous violet. Huge was an understatement. She was well above my head. She stalked towards me, her ears laid back, teeth bared. Cleo banged the god of a staff back against the floor twice, and instantly Marzì shifted back and vanished back to her throne.
"Holy fucking shit." I said, a huge look of shock on my face. Then the realization kicked me in the gut. "WAIT, WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE. You mean to tell me that I am one of THOSE?" I asked, hands buried in my curls.
"Yes, but I woul-" Cleo started, but I cut her off with a shriek. This couldn't be happening. I've always said that Bella was foolish for not being team Jacob, I mean, hello Taylor abs! I used to always say if given the chance, I would most definitely chose wolf. And here I am. A fucking WOLF. I shrieked a little bit more, before sitting calmly in my seat.
"So do you guys do this for every wolf? Like did they have to go through this specifically?" I asked, clearing my throat.
"No. Normal wolves would go through this on their first shift. It was either they make it or they die." Cleo said, eyeing me carefully.
"So what you're subliminally saying, is that I am no normal wolf?" I asked, biting my lips.
"You are very special." The woman said, now breaking her silent streak.
"You also mentioned earlier some nonsense about my destiny." I asked watching the woman and she looked back at me.
"Well Tsar, you are one of us. We didn't think there'd be another one of us, but then before you shifted, your eyes were violet, and we got the pulse waives.
     "So what does this mean for me exactly?" I noticed that they were trying to steer me away from the question.
     "It means that you will be here. With us." Cleo said, scanning me for my reaction, which I strategically masked.
     "And what is it that you do here when you aren't kidnapping girls or fighting for your species then, hm?" I asked, sitting up straight.
     "That is something you would have to stay to find out." Cleo was now watching me intensely.
     "So basically You're trapping me." I stated. Cleo opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.
     "Can I at least have a free trial? You know like how Netflix does?" I now stood, my hands crossed.
     "Netflix? Child we are serious, not some silly form of entertainment." The woman said, eyes glowing. I raised my eyebrow at her smirking.
     "Well, if it's so silly, why do you know about it?" I asked. Another bubbly laugh erupting from Cleo.
     "Well, what's the process of becoming one of you?" I asked, sighing angrily.
     "Well, as you know we are warriors. You will be, and I cannot stress this enough, rigorously trained. Your training will be so intense that there will be times that you will turn to suicide for release. After physical training comes mental training, which is as grueling as it sounds. We will play with your fears, develop new ones and play with those as well. This stage is crucial for developing your powers, which you will learn more about after you get through the second awakening." Cleo explained. The atmosphere in the room was dire. I looked at each and every one of the women. They looked at me with knowing eyes. I felt a calming wave fall over me, followed by barely comprehensible whispers, that had to be the women.
     "So what will it be child?" Cleo asked, eyes filled with hope.
     "Do I have a choice?" I smiled lazily.
     "No. You can postpone it, but eventually, we will take you if push comes to shove." The woman spoke fiercely, the promise clearly there.
     "You can't just force me to be some soldier." I spat out, my anger getting to the best of me.
     "We have our ways." Cleo stated. They had to be fucking kidding.
     "Do you not want to know about the shift." The woman asked. I glared at them all.
     "You can come and try to take me," I started. The flames now back to the original color. Cleo gasped.
     "The time your highness." Cleo hissed under her breath. This caused me to smirk.
     "But don't expect for me to be an easy catch." I put every ounce of truth into it.
     "Get her now!" The woman yelled. The women were out of there seats In seconds. But I could tell it was too late.
     "Make notice. We will come for you when you least expect it. Enjoy your moments, for when you get here, I will be sure your training be especially excruciating. Enjoy Tsar Guiseppe." The woman's voice faded into mere nothingness. I bolted upright in the bed, panting, my breathing labored. I looked at my hands and screamed for joy when I say that they were actually hands. I jumped out from the bed and jumped about. Before an aching pain courses through my body. I was sore everywhere. Before I had time to look over me, a huge black dog came barreling through the room on high alert, making me shriek again. The dog stood in an alert position, ears rotating like the submarine eyes above water. When he saw that there was no danger, he sat stiffly and looked at me with the same silver eyes as steel eyes. I cautiously and slowly approached the dog, who watched me intensely. When I was close enough to touch the dog, who was statue still. I gently placed my hand on the dog, while mumbling for it to please don't bite me. The dog immediately bowed in a playful position, before jumping on me, knocking me to the floor. I squealed with laughter as the dog sniffed and attempted to lick me in my face.
     "Well, your owner may be a jerk, but you aren't him now, are you boy?" I asked, talking in my baby voice.  "Your much more handsome than him too." I said chuckling. The dog stopped and glared at me. Then it did the unthinkable. I'm sure my scream could be heard in another continent.