Chapter 58
Loiza's POV:
I have been busy but I have been checking some books to help me be a more competent leader. Books my Dad was tutoring Yadiel with even though he wasn't his mentor, he also made us read them... But one in particular I never understood except for a vague childhood memory. Yadiel and I wanted to explore The Catacombs one day after looking at it and I remember Suania coming with us, I must have been about four, but I always felt a strange pull to them and so did Yadiel, funny enough Natalia would say the same and even stranger was that all three of us were nursed by Luna Isla, but I can't remember why it was Suania with us that day instead of Talia. Either way the book was about our primal animal or spirit. But it wasn't in any language we knew yet it directed us to The Fort's Catacombs.
So we got a pair of flashlights and went down without anyone noticing. Once there Suania got really afraid but Yadiel and myself felt really safe, so we tried to calm her, still she wanted to leave. Yadiel gave her his flashlight and she took it and ran out, we still had mine so we continued to the passage to the left. Yadiel opened the book and the words started making sense... "Izzy, look!" And some symbols in the book matched to symbols in The Catacombs. The symbol for wolf were abundant, but there was also the symbol for bat, for fire, for the sun, for cat... They were inside The Catacombs... Unfortunately Suania's wails alerted the grown-ups and we were kicked out.
Now there's no one to stop me. I have the book and the will-o'-the-wisp is guiding me to the exact place I felt at peace with my milk brother. I open the book here and the symbols are there, yet the words are still gibberish. I remember very clearly that WORDS were making sense, what am I missing? And I look at the will-o'-the-wisp and remember that their original mission is to give false hope, that has been modified in modern days but this building is centuries old... "Sorry little fella but I think you're not helping anymore I appreciate your help but you have to leave" And it leaves me in darkness.
SNAP! "And then there was light!" I snap my fingers and every torch was lit and finally there are words in the book. Why hasn't this book been translated? According to it there used to be a time where packs, clans, covens were mixed not by species, but by skills, the symbols on the wall are to determine the species of the long dead Osupa and those who came before. So we weren't JUST wolves to begin with, according to this, before humans lived in these islands they were inhabited by fae folk... And in turn they guided other supernaturals and humans here... Who would their mischief be directed towards if not the rest of US?! I take out a small note pad from the bigger book and scribble the symbols and to what species it belongs to. WHY would Dad give us this book? Where did he get it to begin with?!
**You are the ones who will make us whole again.** A voice says. I turn but of course no one is there.
"To what name should I address you by?" And the torches go out. I snap my fingers again, but nothing. When I turn to leave, there is a woman with a green luminescent hue, her hair is black like mine, her eyes are shining all white she touches my forehead right by my hairline and just like my Mark, my inner flame creates another Crescent Moon yet this one is horizontal, it's also small and simple, yet when I close my eyes to focus on it, it signals the steps to make The Osupa to it's original state of diversity and power.
I see many species hoping island to island to get supplies. There were wolves, but also fae, humans, witches and warlocks, in the night, vampires had their rituals and humans sacrificing themselves to the vampires in exchange for eternal protection for their bloodline. There were even some elves. I saw intricate stone structures with the same symbols on the book and in The Catacombs, I feel myself inside one but no symbols of the Moon, the prevalent symbol was that of the Earth. When I open my eyes the woman is gone. I didn't feel fear of her even though I have no idea who she is on the contrary I felt at peace. I snap my fingers again and the torches light up again.
I finish writing my notes and leave, when I'm outside again I open the book and I feel the Mark in my forehead pulsing and I can read the book like any other the words clear... Ancient Sumerian! The others come back and I am sitting in the main court yard making sense of this book... "Izzy, when did you get that Mark?" Ayana asks suspiciously.
"Just a few moments ago in The Catacombs." I say in a very matter-of-factly kind of way. And I am literally memorizing this book with ease now.
"Did it JUST appeeeeaaaar?!" Of course Nina has to ask like I am an insane person. And I try to remember that I love her.
"Now you're talking crazy Nina, a Mark is given or it is earned, it doesn't JUST appear." I finally look up at them... "I was touched by a woman on my forehead and the Mark appeared, and the answer to your next question is I have no idea, but could it have been the Goddess? That's something only Moira can answer. But I have the feeling it or she is something or someone different." I scratch my head trying to recall everything, but it's etched into my memory now.
"Is that father's book that he makes everyone read but it's written in gibberish?" Sharp Nina!
"Nothing escapes you Nina! If only Bayo was here so you can shove it in his face! Here read here, what do you see?" She comes over and looks...
"The same gibberish as always! Are you telling me you can read it?" I look at her, like if I was seeing her for the first time, I understood her moods and the whys of it. I was able to see the words she likes to hear and the ones that can crush her. I touch my new Mark and it has the same texture as my Avalon Mark.
"IZZY!" She exclaims, and it's like I just awoke.
"The Mark is like special glasses to read not just this book. I can't fully explain it. I need to study it more and ask the help of the two idiots I just told to go fuck themselves." Nina is as curious as a damn cat!
"Who did Izzyboo tell to fuck off?" Goddess I can't ever get any respect?!
"My Beta and The Lady of the Lake." Cresta gasps while Nina just laughs her ass off and Ayana joins her: "Oh my Goddess, you guys should have seen their faces! Izzy gave them more than just a slice of Fuck You pie! In very fine words she told Moira she was a bitch and Bayoán a moron! It was glorious to witness!" Ayana hails.
The Sun will start to set in about an hour, which means it's already setting in Blood Moon, I ask Ayana to send us back...I have a promise to keep. I have to have a talk with Isla, she is a unifying component. The Catacombs, or rather The Woman in them was calling those whom The Luna had nursed.