8 Selene

"Where are you taking me?" Daryn asked

"To explain better" the woman replied

"And may i know this place?"

She turned to him. "You'll see" she said calmly.

She faced ahead and made a long whistle. Daryn heard gallops and looked ahead. He saw a white chariot being pulled by two winged white steads racing towards them. They raced the whole space then halted in front of them. The mystry woman went ahed and mounted her chariot then beckoned him to join her. Daryn was still looking at the horses with awe before he mounted the chariot too. Stroking their backs as he passed them.

When he had settled, the lady pulled the reins and the white steads raced. They raced to the stream with full speed flapping their wings and then they took off soaring above the jungles of Azra.

They soared over the great trees, over the whole land mass and over the sea. Daryn did not even know the new world he was in had oceans. Now that surprised him. Everything looked mynute from this height. Everything beneth felt little. Then there it was. The floating island. A wide expanse of land that floated on its own. No support what so ever. Daryn was awed by it all. The beauty of the land and pretty much everything. He felt a faint sense of deja vu.

The chariot galloped towards the surface of the floating island. The stead made their way to a small cottage surrounded by sparse vegetation and some flowers. Mostly lilies near the river bank and a few water lilies in the slow flowing crystalline river at the side of the cottage. The chariot halted at the entrance of the cottage and they both got down from the chariot. Then she led him into the cottage.

When they got inside the cottage, the woman's physic changed. She suddenly seemed to tower over Daryn as though she gained a few feet in height. Probably two....or three. Daryn couldn't measure. Her white tunic appeared to be brighter and shinier than before. The cresent shaped ivory accessory grew bigger and sat on her head like a crown not looking like ivory diadems anymore. It had a silvery hue now. It glowed....everything about her glowed not just shimmers like before. She actually glowed. Except her hair that was a shining black. So black it could be compared to the midnight and her eyes were a glowing silver. Not gray.

She looked sureal. She was a goddess. Daryn did not need to be told he stood before one. He was afraid as he was awed. He didn't go further and let her go ahead of him waiting until she asked him to. She turned and said; "There is no need for reverence my child. Come let me show you what you had lost over the centuries"

She took him to her court. At the middle a large basin was mounted. Inside the basin crystalline water filled it. Not to the tip but it filled it anyway. She took some of the crystalline water and asked him to drink. "Courtesy of your father" Daryn hesitated but drank the water when he couldn't smell anything on it.

"Who did you say is my father again?" Daryn asked

The goddess didn't answer but beckoned him to follow her to her garden. When they got to the garden she began to explain.

"This is not your first life Daryn. You have had many but your soul only came to existence because of me...through me. Your first mother. Selene"

Daryn was confused but he was listening so he let her finish not cutting her off.

"I had let you live different lives. Let you stay in different worlds. Those watched by the gods and those abandoned. She said

"And why did you do that?" Daryn asked

"I was protecting you. I had you when i was younger. A hundred years i think. I was....inexperienced though i had already claimed my status as the moon goddess at that time but i hadn't known my duties....couldn't keep up. I wasn't ready. Then your father offered to guide me. He showed me the ropes. He was good at his anyway. Better than me i thought."

Daryn sat on the grass looking at her curiously. She continued;

"Although i had Helios for coordinates on where to start riding from, your fathers where clearer and easier to follow. He always mapped out the direction of the cardinal pillars. After the titanomachy, things became a bit confusing for me." She haughed without humor.

She joined him on the grass and continued the story.

"We became close as he groomed me. My brother Helios complained about it but he could do nothing to him but argue. Afterall he owned the second largest realm and was seen as the strongest of the gods after Zeus. Helios could do nothing. Helios couldn't even touch him."

"I did not know when our mentor student relationship became something else. It wasn't love....that much was obvious but it was something. We fancied each other. The other goddesses warned me of his inconsistencies in those areas. His mood swings and all. But i wasn't bothered. All i knew was i fancied him and he fancied me the same."

"One night, i stood at the shores of his domain eager to meet him and show him i had gotten better...at least i told myself that was the reason i seeked him. He arrived at the shores to meet me. I showed him how good i had become. I thanked him. As i made my exit, Poseidon stopped me. Then i was wooed....successfully....and thats how you were created. Daryn"

"Huh?"

"Anyway Zeus denied us the relationship. He said it would bring chaos and truth be told we never actually loved each other. Plus your fathers....tendencies. His mood swings. It would have never worked." She said

"So you both never tried?"

She sighed

"The fates foresaw the moon loosing its hold in the sky and falling to the seas. Zeus didn't want that so he made a barrier between the Moon and the sea preventing both Moon and sea to reach for each other. At that time, i was with child. Hecate eventually took on a role in the Moon phases. She rode the skies during the last quater till new moon giving me some free time for myself"

"Eventually Poseidon finally got married and his kingdom had a queen. I had known the ruthlessness of prime dieties wives from Hera herself. So i decided to hide you. I used the power of time to cross you to different worlds away from me so Amphitrite won't be able to find you without me linking her."

She looked him in the eye and said. "My name is Selene the moon goddess and Poseidon the ruler of the seas is your father"

Daryn froze.