The scent of smoke and ash filled my nose. Was Dilara burning something? Something rotten lurked in the air. I rolled over, pushing myself up. I half expected to feel pain in my stomach, but when I looked down blood continued to soak my shirt. I pressed my fingers faintly against the fabric. No pain. Only blood. My gaze then drifted down my boots standing in a puddle of mud water.

I quickly lifted my head, checking my surroundings. A myriad of obsidian mountains settled into my view. Off into the distance, an open roar of fire released into the sky painting it orange and red. Smoke came after, and suddenly a mass of enormous black wings circled near the fire like vultures stumbling upon corpses.

I knew exactly where I was, and before I could laugh my legs were roughly pulled from underneath and submerged into the mud water. It is no longer a puddle but vast and endless. I thrashed and clawed my body against the currents pushing me down. I couldn't hold my breath for much longer. Then, I was released from the phantom's deadly grip. I quickly swam upwards until cold air touched my skin.

I gasped loudly as I reached the surface, feeling solid ground. I scrambled out and lay as my lungs squeezed and coughed violently. After my breaths became sharp and steady I knew I wasn't in the depths of Hell. I was welcomed by a different smell.

Saltwater, moss, and—my nose wrinkled—fraughans.

There was only one person that smelled like that. I must be dreaming. "I've been waiting for you." My body stilled.

I closed my eyes. The smell of her—and her voice. It couldn't be real. Either I'm truly dead or I've finally indulged in my delusionals. Or maybe the water went into my ears and is making me hallucinate. I opened my eyes, slowly turning my body over. There she was, my mother. I couldn't believe it.

She stood at an impeccable height—wearing a white silk dress made of a moth's cocoon—tattered with loose threads. Her black curls had grown in length. They nearly touched the ground. But her prominent green eyes remained the same. They bore into mine. She held the sea in them. I then remembered what they looked like after she died—ringed in red and lifeless.

She began to approach me, her curls swaying as she did. I then caught a faint shimmer on some parts of her exposed skin. But wherever I was didn't have any light to cause a reflection. She was the light. This woman was not my mother. I sat up, my eyes looked for an exit. There were no walls, no doors, no windows. Nowhere to run or hide. Water thinly started to spread on the floor.

The woman spoke in a calm and firm voice. "I'm not here to harm you, daughter. I'm here to help you." She perfectly imitated Caitlin McGrath, but I knew she wasn't her.

I finally stood up and asked. "Who are you?" She stopped a few paces before me and looked insulted by my question. "Where am I?" I rasped.

"Is this how you greet your mother?" said the imposterous woman.

I almost snapped, but she had this daring stare that if I did she would not excuse my rudeness.

There was something about her that felt strange. I felt like I knew her and not at the same time. And the more I stared at her I could feel her sincerity about wanting to help me, but she was hiding something. She was using my mother's face as a shield and in likeness. I didn't want to keep looking at her but I felt like lowering my chin would be disobeying her. She wanted me to look at her—she wanted me to look up at her...like when someone watches the moon from below. 

Chin lifted.

My eyes widened. She answered my call. The Moon accepted my call and invited me into her presence. As if she sees my realization, her lips pull slightly upwards into my mother's crooked grin. I swallowed. She wore it too well.

The Moon then declares herself. "It's me, my beautiful child, your Mother of Night." My heart sank. I wanted her to be my real mother. "I know my face confuses you, but I often use the face of the woman who has given life to my children. It's a special connection. We are in unison with our children." she adds on, rather quickly. "Besides, if I were to show you my true self you would have perished and I need you alive for what is to come."

I should be happy. I should be going on my knees and begging for her power. But it's impossible to say or do anything with the Moon wearing my mother's face. She was still smiling. My mother's devious smile was another thing I loved and hated. She wore it when she liked to withhold things from me. Like the ending to a bedtime story or whenever she won a game we would play and I wanted to know how she won. She liked her secrets. She liked her tricks even more. The Moon appeared to be no different than my mother.

I dug my fingernails into my palm as I tried to think about something else. 

I recalled my father's books about the Moon being described as a mother and much more. Previous ancestors—witches and warlocks of the Del Luna family viewed her as the protector and called her La Madre de la Noche y Guardián de las Estrellas. They also named her as the creator of 'lunares' giving us her name. But for us, it was her mark. The three kisses she bestowed on the first warlock in our family blessed him, thus marking the birth of her children and the beginning of a legacy.

We walked the night with her and for her.

The water had risen above my ankles. I lifted my chin, and her smile widened. "Could you change your face? Pick another, please." Droplets raced down my cheeks.

The Moon walked gracefully as her dress skirted through the water. "I hid you behind my shape and light for years. I cannot swaddle you anymore, child." her gaze softened. "Do not mistake this as shame or abandonment. You've lived in my darkness and grown exceptionally beautiful. I know you see the world differently than most of my children, but you're rightfully mine as the sea." she affirmed.

I frowned. "The sea?"

She raises her thin brow and drops her gaze down at my feet. The water had progressively risen and now reached my knees. "You think I'm the cause for that?" Yeah, I did. I was too stunned to speak. She laughed lightly, then said. "As much as I would like to take credit for this, I couldn't have brought this in here. We're in your conscious. You brought the water here." Calling me the daughter of the sea sounded more of an accusation than a compliment.

Although, it sounded like something I've heard before.

The Moon said, "Many things hide inside of you. Some of these things you already know about. The rest is being kept from you. And you must open yourself to all." she then commanded. "Call her."

I looked at her strangely and confused. "Call who?"

She comes closer, her chin lowered as she stares down at me. "The woman inside your head. Call her." Oh. The spirits had been quiet this entire time. But I still didn't know how to do what she wanted me to do. I idly tap my fingers on the side of my head as if I were knocking.

The Moon's gaze narrowed. "Don't play those games with me, child. This is part of your consciousness. She must be here somewhere. Call her. " she repeated as she took my hand out as the water rose.

I forcibly stretched my fingers and closed my eyes. There was only one way to get the spirits' attention. I needed to say her name. Her true faerie name. I uttered it, coming out raspy and thin.

The water stirred.

A haggard and tripled voice spoke. "You wear one of my descendant's faces." I slowly turned facing the woman that was trapped inside my head. But she had no face. She was drenched in a dark robe that revealed nothing but her voice. She was always one being. Her mind, body, and soul were split and came in echoes of three. My mother never got the chance to tell me why they had been separated.

"Daughter of the sea." The Moon greeted her.

She answered, full of spite. "I'm no one's daughter." It sounded a lot like a lie but she couldn't lie, even if she wanted to.

The Moon imitated my mother's crooked grin again, maybe a little more wickedly. "Fine. You're nothing. You're no one. Be as silent as you want." The spirit made a disgruntled noise. "But my daughter will not be ashamed of herself. Give her your knowledge and power. And I'll give her mine and she'll become the blade forged by the Moon and doused in the sea." The spirit remains quiet.

The Moon let go of my hand and walked to the ominous spirit. "Some things shouldn't fight against each other. The sea has always held a special place in my heart," she revealed. "I know you've lived through each of your daughters' lives. What they've done to you—it is too cruel and far too simple to call it such," she spoke as if she knew more about the spirit than I did.

She firmly announced. "But our children's deaths deserve to be avenged and our daughter will put an end to those who ever harmed our precious children." Now I understood and wholeheartedly agreed.

The spirit breathly speaks. "What exactly kind of harm do you think Nora will invoke? I'm sure you've been watching her from above, and are aware of her..." She tilts her head at me from underneath her robe. "Tendencies." she settled.

I frowned. I don't know what exactly she was referring to, but if she was talking about me almost getting killed by the Parmagis of Oregon and his little posse then I suppose it was a concern.

Because I would do it again.

The Moon replied. "She is special." As if that was enough.

The spirit goes quiet again, only this time I think she was considering whether to give me her knowledge of the sea's power, and whatever secrets she wished to share. After seconds passed, she decided. "She is more than special."

The Moon was pleased with her answer. She walked forward as she told the ill spirit, "Hold her." Her emerald eyes meet mine. "The power I'm giving you is going to hurt. You must endure. Remember, pain is temporary but power is forever." She took hold of my hands and flipped my palms outwardly and placed hers over them. Cold and damp. 

Then the hairs stood at the back of my neck, nearly making me recoil. The spirit emerged behind me as she put a tight grip on my shoulders. Her nails dug into them. "Bainfidh an fharraige a cuid féin amach; beidh a cuid féin ag an bh." Her tripled voice whispered into my ear. "Rise your fury, and the sea will follow."

The Moon roughly pulled my hands like some inattentive child. "You will bear my darkness. Tend to it." Her skin began to glow, brighter and brighter. It made my eyes hurt. 

Her brilliance started to burn my hands as if submerged in ice, scalding my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut. If this was the price I had to pay for the power of lunaris, then so be it. I held her hands even tighter. The spirit rocked us to and fro, pressing her head on the back of mine. She was murmuring. Then my eyes snapped open. Her mind seared into mine, pouring all her past lives. The gasp of someone as a blade cut their throat and choked on their blood. The pressure of holding someone's head under water came like an instinct, as they kicked and splashed. Air is suddenly taken for granted.

Then, the wailing came one after another like an echo down a dark empty corridor as the walls turned narrow—an endless, and suffocating torment.

I could hear them all.

Their sorrow, heartache, and a drowning wrath. My mother's cries were there too. They all withered back into my throat.

The Moon spoke in an enchanting voice. "They call your name in their last breath. They call your name first in death. You walked through the darkness and found them without a shred of light. You have given them your ears and earned their favor. They want you. They will fight for you." She crushed my fingers until they went numb and stiff. "The dead are yours."

I swallowed a scream. The spirit tucked my hair behind my ears as she quietly muttered. "It's time for you to show your true form. Tear down the glamour." I didn't understand what she meant as the Moon charged more of her power into my veins. I kept enduring. But then something pierced my ears like growing iron nails. I screamed.

"Shhh..."

A wet hand clamped over my mouth tightly.

"Daughter of the Moon, daughter of the sea." The Moon and spirit spoke in unison. "Your feet were never meant to touch the ground." The Moon's brilliance dimmed and freed my hands, although I barely felt it. My body was overtaken by exhaustion and I almost fell back if the spirit hadn't caught me in your arms. She drew us away from the Moon, away from my mother.

"May your heart bleed black," she said as I submerged into the vast water with the ill spirit. This time I didn't feel like drowning. The coolness soothed my ears and hands. Calmly. Gently.

A storm unleashes at the third ring

One last lament woe before the tides turn

Blood and water will wash, their clothes drenched in themselves

Awake, Banshee!

Wail our Banshee!