As Lunaire recounted the events, Elara's eyes widened with each passing detail. She listened intently, her curiosity growing with every word, sensing her sister's genuine interest.
"So when you made your first soul, you accidentally cursed it, and to make sure nothing bad happened, you would watch and keep tabs on it. Eventually, you fell in love with it, but it died. And now living with you for the time being?" Lunaire gave Elara a tearful nod.
Elara's heart swelled with empathy as she grasped the weight of Lunaire's journey. She couldn't help but wonder how it must feel to bear the burden of such a tragic mistake and the subsequent loss. Deeply moved, she gently reached out and clasped Lunaire's hand, offering her unwavering support in this difficult time.
"I'm so sorry. Here, take one." Elara reaches up, and one of the pomegranates falls from the tree into her hand. "Give this to her, specifically when she's drunk; it'll help her show her true emotions."
Lunaire took the fruit and hugged her sister. "Thank you; you're the best."
Elara smiled warmly at Lunaire, grateful for the opportunity to provide comfort. "I'll always be here for you, no matter what."
Lunaire nodded, feeling a sense of relief knowing she had someone like Elara by her side during this challenging journey.
Elara began to hug her back. "I have another way...to...help...yo-zzzzzzzz." As Elara was going to share her other way to help her, empowered narcolepsy struck, causing her to fall asleep. "Elara?" Lunaire couldn't help but giggle until she realized she was stuck. Lunaire tried to wake up Elara and pry herself out of her arms, but she could only sigh in defeat and slowly drift into sleep within her sister's embrace.
After a few hours under the light of the setting sun, a silhouette stood over the girls. "Hey Lunaire, Elara, dinner will be starting soon," a man's voice said.
Hearing the voice caused Lunaire to stir. "Hmmmm, what? who's there." Lunaire said as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Oh, it's the guy who..." The guy interjected. "Yes, it's me, and you guys are going to be late for dinner, so get up." Hearing this, Lunaire tried to stand up, only to be pulled back down by the still-sleeping Elara.
"Elara, get up, or I'm going to use the nuclear option to wake you up." Elara stirred slightly before returning to her peaceful state.
"Fine, you leave me no choice. Mom and dad are fighting; they might get a divorce." Elara only frowned a little.
Seeing Elara's reaction, Lunaire sighed and looked at the man. "That usually works. Well, time for plan B. I'm sorry, Zephyros." Zephyros opened his mouth to ask a question but was cut off by Lunaire.
"Elara, wake up! Someone is in love with you!" Hearing this, Elara's eyes shot open.
"Who?" Lunaire smiled mischievously. "I can't tell you who, but I can give you a hint. You know them well, and they've always been there." Elara's heart raced as she tried to think of who it could be. She racked her brain, going through all the people she knew, but couldn't seem to figure it out.
Lunaire watched her with amusement, waiting for her to make the connection. "Well, anyway, dinner will be ready soon. Let's go so we won't be late." Lunaire grabbed the pomegranate off the floor and began walking to the entrance of the field, leaving Zephyros to help up the still-thinking Elara.
Once Elara caught up with Lunaire, Lunaire looked at her. "So what was the other way to help me?" Elara grinned. "It's.a.secret." Elara's response caused Lunaire to roll her eyes.
After a few minutes, they reached a large table with 20 seats; almost all of them were full. Lunaire scanned the table, recognizing familiar faces and greeting them with a smile. As they took their seats, the aroma of the delicious food filled the air, making Lunaire's stomach growl in anticipation.
After about five minutes, all the seats were full, and each seat contained a family member.
Lunaire had three aunts and uncles who weren't related by blood and an aunt who was her mother, Seriphina, the Goddess of Destiny's twin sister, Serenity, the Goddess of Fate. including Elara in total, Lunaire had four siblings: two brothers and two sisters. One would think that having five kids was her father's fault for not keeping it in his pants, but he tried, and sadly, he couldn't fight off their mother. The rest of the seats were filled with cousins, whether they were blood-related or not. It truly was a big happy family, who all loved to dote on the cutest and youngest one out of all of them, Lunaire.
Once all the seats were filled, the food immediately disappeared. After two minutes, dessert came out and was gone faster than the actual food. After everyone had their fill, they all broke into conversations, all except Lunaire, who was sipping on apple juice because, according to half the family, she was too young to drink. She sat there in silence, thinking about what Lillith was doing right now. Evidently she still hadn't woken up yet; it seems like the previous day gave her more fatigue than she had thought.
Unbeknownst to Lunaire, Elara was executing the second plan to help her. Elara was telling everyone Lunaire's love story, asking them to bless Lillith to raise Lunaire's chances. After an hour, everyone knew about Lunaire's hidden love and flocked towards her, asking questions.
"Is it true?" "What's she like?" Lunaire became flustered by the sudden group of people flocking to her. "What are you guys talking about?"
Suddenly, in the middle of the crowd, her mom spoke. "We're talking about how you're in love with Lillith." Lunaire's face turned crimson as she tried to process her mother's words. She stammered, "I...I never said that!" Her heart raced with embarrassment as she desperately searched for a way to diffuse the situation.
Then her father spoke. "We know you didn't tell us; Elara did." Lunaire's eyes widened in shock as her father's words sank in. She glanced nervously at her sister, Elara, who was standing at the edge of the crowd with a triumphant grin on her face, like she had done something good.
Lunaire stared at her sister, then began to cry, shocking everyone. Elysia and her twin brother, Aeson, the closest siblings to her, ran over to her. Elysia is the goddess of blissful dreams and dreadful nightmares. She has a split personality matching her title and has a record of cursing people with nightmares, especially other deities who bully her little sister. While Aeson is the god of imagination and creativity, funnily enough, Aeson has social anxiety, so Elysia usually does the talking for both of them.
Elysia gets on her knees in front of the crying Lunaire. "What's wrong, sweet sister? Why are you crying?" she asks, her voice filled with concern. Lunaire sniffles and wipes away her tears before staring directly at Elara. "Elara, you-you Ugh!" As Lunaire screamed at Elara, her eyes began to glow. "What in the hell is wrong with you? Why would you tell everyone?"
Lunaire began to walk towards Elara, and as she continued to berate her, the moonlight got more intense. "L-Lunaire, I'm s-sorry I was trying to help." Lunaire continued to approach Elara, and with each step, the light around her dimmed, and empty, multi-colored soul flames began to appear around her. "Help? You tried to help by telling everyone my secrets!" As Lunaire got closer, Elara's eyes began to glow a vibrant rose gold, and the moonlight grew stronger, reflecting off the sweat dripping from Elara's forehead. "I'm so mad at you that I could just..."
Lunaire was just a foot away from Elara when a memory resurfaced of her and Elara talking about their favorite animals. "Hey Elara, what's your favorite animal? Mine is a rabbit." Elara looked at Lunaire with sad eyes. "Mine's a red fox because red foxes are often monogamous, living in pairs with one male and one female. They can also live in dens with multiple female foxes or coexist with a non-breeding nanny who lives with the breeding pair and their offspring. They demonstrate three types of love...Love that I'll never feel." Elara burst into tears, hugging Lunaire. "Oh...I just think rabbits are cute."
After the memory played in her head, two words echoed: "red fox." As the words echoed in her head, a rose-gold flame began seeping out of Elara's eyes and mouth. Lunaire, at the moment, was elsewhere mentally; currently, she is in her "domain," or soulscape. Her soulscape was an endless plain of water under the night sky with a single body of land, a hill that had a large, beautiful, blooming peach tree with light mint green leaves and lilac flowers; its branches were adorned with hanging four-pointed star and crescent moon charms, and lanterns filled with multi-colored flames. "Huh, why am I here? Wasn't I just yelling at Elara? How'd I get into my soulscape?"
Lunaire began to walk around until she made it to the base of her tree and placed her hand on it. "When are you going to bear fruit? I get I might be a late bloomer physically, but spiritually, I'm not; I'm the goddess of souls for crying out loud." Each god and goddess's soulscape contained a tree that would bloom and bear fruit once they matured spiritually. This bearing of fruit would awaken a new power in them; this usually happened between 13 and 18. Once the tree starts to bear fruit, one of the corresponding tree types in the family orchard mutates into the tree. Lunaire had bloomed on her tenth birthday and is now currently 20 without a once of fruit, causing her to lose hope that it would ever bear fruit.
Lunaire sighed as she turned to walk away, and as she did, she felt a gush of wind that had never happened before. She turned around in surprise as she saw a single glowing ivory peach with a silver hue. The peach seemed to radiate a gentle warmth, as if it held a secret power within. Lunaire's heart skipped a beat as she reached out to touch it, her fingers tingling with anticipation. She grabbed the fruit and took a bite of it, feeling a surge of energy coursing through her.
On the outside, Elara begins to spew out the rose-gold flames even faster as others try to help her. Lunaire, on the other hand, is in a trance, just blankly staring with dimmed eyes, while Elysia is trying to snap her out of it. "Lunaire! Wake up; you're hurting Elara." Elysia tried shaking her, but still nothing happened. When Elysia began to lose hope, Lunaire began mumbling. "Let the silver bloom grow in the divine orchard." Instantly, the moonlight split, letting the new stream shine into the orchard. After a few seconds, the light dissipated, with the soul flames returning everything to how it was. Once this happened, Lunaire's consciousness returned with a mumble. "Red Fox." With those words, the flames coming from Elara's body completely exited her body, causing it to fall to the ground.
Lunaire walked over to the table and grabbed an empty bottle and opened it, and the flames flew into it, taking the shape of a fox. Lunaire quickly closed the bottle before poking a single hole in the cap, and the fox began speaking. "Lunaire, let me out. I'm sorry." Lunaire smiled. "N.O." Hearing the conversation and recognizing the second voice, Seriphina walked over to Lunaire. "You beared fruit, didn't you?" Lunaire smugly nodded. "That's your sister, isn't it?" Lunaire added once again; her response caused her mother to sigh. "It's okay, everyone. Elara's fine. Lunaire's rage caused her to bear fruit and turn her sister's soul into a fox, which she then trapped in a bottle."