Lluvia sobbed desperately as her daughter lay pale in bed. Melibeth had lost consciousness, but when she finally reacted, she did so abruptly and with a determination that left her parents breathless. She needed answers, and she needed them now. She would not stop insisting until she got a clear explanation about that strange conversation she had overheard.
"I need a coherent explanation, and please, no more lies, Mother," Melibeth demanded firmly, her voice trembling but determined. "I know something has been going on for days; I saw it in Bastian's eyes and in yours too, both of you… I mean, you were talking about very strange things. Magic is practically exclusive to the noble castes…"
Gastón and Lluvia looked into each other's eyes, a silent gesture that sealed an unspoken pact. There was no turning back now. The truth had to come out, no matter how painful it was.
Melibeth had a right to know, and time was working against not only them but also their other daughter, Melodía. Every second counted.
"Melibeth, your father and I came to this village years ago, before you were born," Lluvia began, her voice broken but full of sincerity. "The village patriarch welcomed us and gave us the names you know us by, daughter. Our real names are Rosella Amelie Howl de La Vallière, former duchess consort of Azair, and your father was a soldier in the royal guard of Azrrahen; his name was Arnaid Anouk. Now we are just Lluvia and Gastón, your parents. But there's something else…"
"So you've been lying to me, to Melody, and to Bastian our whole lives?!" exclaimed Melibeth, her green eyes widening to their fullest. Her body trembled as she absorbed her mother's confession. Her already troubled mind began to formulate disturbing questions: Who was her family really? What was the reason for this colossal lie?
She sat up with difficulty, looking at her parents in confusion. She felt as if she couldn't breathe, as if the world beneath her feet had collapsed. She wanted to scream, to demand answers, but the words stuck in her throat, unable to express everything she was feeling.
"Melibeth, please listen," Gastón intervened, trying to calm his restless daughter, "what your mother and I are trying to tell you, daughter…"
Gastón took Melibeth's hands in his, his touch warm but full of fear. He knew that any misstep could trigger another crisis in the young woman. They had already faced Bastian's rejection; they couldn't afford to lose Melibeth as well.
"I'm listening," Melibeth replied, forcing herself to calm down. Despite her confusion, she decided to give them a chance. After all, she couldn't accuse them without knowing the whole story. She needed to understand what had led them to make such a drastic decision.
Lluvia took a deep breath before continuing her story. As she revealed the truth, Melibeth's expression changed, contorting into grimaces of confusion and pain. But the hardest part came when they revealed that her twin sister, Melodía, had been kidnapped by slave hunters.
"Knowing all that was like thousands of stabs through my chest," thought Melibeth, overwhelmed. "It was like feeling my sister's fear and anguish. I felt helpless, and what my parents were telling me still seemed absurd. What is it like to be a fairy? My head was about to explode."
She picked up the book Miss Azalea had given her. Its pages contained information about magical beings and also mentioned Azrrahen, the land from which her family apparently came. Without saying a word, Melibeth got up and went to the small makeshift bedroom she shared with her brothers, seeking refuge in solitude to process everything she had just heard.
⋯ ❈ ⋯
"So that was why Tristan distanced himself from me, why he said he was a being of light and all that stuff, things I didn't understand at the time." She sighed wearily and put the book aside. Her mother came into the room, sat down on the bed, and Melibeth enjoyed feeling her mother's hand stroking her long, black, wavy hair.
The small room was lit only by a candle flickering on a worn wooden table. The wooden walls creaked softly, as if whispering ancient stories, while the thatched roof let in a faint scent of the open countryside. Melibeth felt enveloped by the warmth of the cabin, although her mind was still restless, full of unanswered questions.
"Melibeth, my darling, I know you're awake, you naughty little mouse," Lluvia whispered in the ear of the youngest of her twins.
Hearing her mother's sing-song voice made any trace of anger evaporate. Despite what had happened, Melibeth did not know the feeling of anger toward her parents. Her beloved mother's voice was a ray of light in the storm of questions that overwhelmed the young girl.
"I brought you tea and white rolls, little one. Come on, Melibeth, you didn't eat dinner, and I'm worried that you're not eating…"
"It's okay, it's okay, mother. I'll eat the rolls and drink the tea." Her mother placed a tray on her lap and she began to eat, inhaling the delicious aroma of mint tea. Her mother knew it was her favorite.
Lluvia noticed the book resting on the bed.
"Do you want to know more about your powers and about fairies?" Of her daughters, Melibeth was the most curious, calm, and gentle. She hoped that as soon as her fairy powers awakened, her daughter would return to being the young woman she was before she fell ill in such a strange way.
Curiosity overwhelmed her, and who better than a fairy to explain everything to her? She wanted to know more, and the book did not have all the answers to the many questions that were running through her head all day long.
She nodded, and her mother gave her a smile, with her mouth closed, and a caress on her cheek. She sat down on Melibeth's bed to explain everything the girl wanted to know.
"Fairies can have one or more virtues. These are connected to nature, and there are seven types of virtues: water, fire, earth, and wind. These are the basic elements of the virtues of fairies and other magical beings, my daughter. Although there can also be derivatives, such as ice if water is your virtue. This is an example of these elements and more than one virtue in the same bearer."
"But there are seven… What are the last three virtues, mother?" she asked, somewhat eager to know everything. The more she knew, the more likely she would be to practice and mature as a fairy faster.
"Light, darkness, and emptiness, little Melibeth. Those are the last three elements, and they are also the most powerful virtues."
So light and darkness, along with emptiness, were the most powerful abilities. She was dying to know what her virtue would be as a fairy.
"Mother… What is your virtue?" murmured the girl, her green eyes shining with growing excitement.
She looked at her daughter for a moment and got out of bed, walked to the window and looked at the moon, remembering the night her daughters were born and her past as Rosella.
"My virtue, my daughter, is light. The Howl clan was the bearer of the descendants of the goddess Selene, goddess of the moon and love."
She had to ask her. Anxiety overwhelmed her, and perhaps her mother could answer her questions, or at least clarify some of the things she had been thinking about for a long time.
"Mother… What is my ability? What power lies dormant within me?" Her mother looked at the moon again and then back at Melibeth.
"Melibeth, you and your sister Melody are Selene's favorites. You both enjoy the virtue of light and shadow. You two are like the moon, equal parts light and darkness."
The silence in the small room was oppressive, barely interrupted by the occasional creaking of the wood under Melibeth's bare feet. The dim light of a candle flickered on the table, casting moving shadows on the wooden walls. Her mother sat across from her, her dark hair pulled back in a loose braid, stray strands falling across her thoughtful face. Melibeth wrung her hands nervously; there was too much at stake, too many threads tangled in her mind.
"Mother," she finally said, breaking the silence. "Can a supernatural creature tell if you're human or… another magical being?"
Her mother looked up, surprised by the question. Lluvia's index finger remained resting on her chin as her eyes seemed to search for something in the air, as if trying to catch elusive memories. It was a strange question, even for someone like her, who had spent years immersed in legends and ancient tales. But there it was, the curious gleam in her daughter's eyes, that insatiable thirst for answers that characterized her.
"Well, my dear," Lluvia began, her voice sounding like the murmur of the wind through the trees, "according to my Nana Eudora, there are some species with the ability to perceive it. If magic is involved, werewolves, for example, can see beyond and smell your aura. They say they see things that other creatures cannot. There are also forest or sea nymphs, who can detect whether a person is good or evil, similar to unicorns. But I haven't seen a unicorn in a long time… Perhaps they no longer exist. Finally, there are demons or creatures of the night, beings with very rare abilities. Sometimes they look like ordinary humans, but they can change shape. Within them dwells a power similar to the magic of any magical creature, also called demonic energy, with great destructive power if not controlled in time."
Melibeth frowned, her skepticism evident in the tension of her jaw.
"Destructive power? Demonic energy? Are wolves part of those creatures?"
Lluvia nodded slowly, her lips forming a thoughtful line. "In my family, there is a relic capable of sealing those powers for such powerful creatures. It is called the Hirios amulet. As long as they have no control, they use this amulet to mitigate the excess demonic energy flowing within them. For them, retaining so much power is painful, not to mention dangerous for themselves and those around them."
"And how does this relic work, Mother? What makes it capable of maintaining such a seal?" asked Melibeth, leaning forward, completely absorbed in the subject.
Lluvia let out a deep sigh, as if each word she was about to utter weighed more than she could bear.
"A fairy of light must purify it. If not, sooner or later the amulet will stop working for the wearer, and little by little they will lose control. The idea is that Hirios' amulet is an aid while the fairy instructs the wearer to control their power, until they no longer depend on the amulet."
The young woman stared at the candle, watching the melted wax accumulate in small golden drops.
"You see, Melibeth, in the past, the unknown was evil, and magical creatures were marginalized. These creatures began to take justice into their own hands, and this angered the gods, causing a war with no apparent end."
Her mother's story echoed in her mind, her eyes shining with recognition.
"That was the Holy War of the Black Moon, right? I remember the stories you and my father used to tell."
"Yes, little one. You have a very good memory," replied Lluvia with a melancholy smile. "That war was caused by the guardian creatures that the gods created. That is why the goddess Selene sent two of her daughters to this land ravaged by war. The first two fairies to arrive in this world were Serena and Helena, twin fairies, daughters of Apollo, god of the sun, and Selene, goddess of the moon. One carried the amulet of Hirios and the other the ocarina of rebirth, to restore order and balance to this world."
Lluvia took a breath, closing her eyes for a moment before continuing. Her voice became softer, almost like a distant echo.
"That war took place in what we now know as the nation of Azrrahen"—a treacherous tear ran down her cheek, slowly sliding down her skin. Memories played tricks on her—"In compensation, the god Apollo bestowed many blessings upon the nation of Azrrahen, and Selene left her two daughters in Azrrahen. Thus was born the Howl clan, where we come from, Melibeth. Never forget that, my daughter."
Melibeth approached her mother, hugging her tightly. She could feel the weight of those memories on Lluvia's shoulders, the pain of having lost her entire family in such a devastating conflict.
"Mother," Melibeth whispered after a few moments of silence, "is Melody's ocarina the same one from your story?"
Lluvia nodded slowly, her eyes filled with a mixture of nostalgia and sadness. Before Melibeth could say anything else, her mother spoke up.
"You should sleep now, Melibeth. You mustn't demand so much of yourself, my child. There are some things that, for now, are better left unsaid. You already have enough information."
"Yes, mother. Let's rest and then you can tell me more, okay?"
"Of course, little mouse," Lluvia replied with a tired smile. She covered her daughter with an old but warm blanket, kissed her forehead tenderly, and left the room, leaving Melibeth alone with her thoughts.
As the door closed softly, Melibeth stared at the ceiling, her heart beating fast in her chest.
"I didn't want to tell my mother anything," she thought, "but as she recounted all the events of the past, thousands of images flooded my mind."
The last image was vivid and terrifying: Melody kneeling, playing the ocarina as tears streamed down her cheeks. Around her, a war raged, and in front of her, a nine-tailed beast growled angrily. It was an imposing creature, with white fur and reddish highlights, but it was covered in wounds that were still bleeding.
"I hope it's just a nightmare or a figment of my imagination," Melibeth murmured, feeling her skin crawl with fear at the sight. "Sister, we'll be together soon, dear Melody."
Fear took hold of her, but even so, she closed her eyes, letting herself drift off to sleep, hoping that the shadows in her mind would not haunt her during the night.