by Kiki Howell
“I fell in love with Endymion from the first time I laid eyes on him. I can be certain that he fell in love with me at that same moment as well.”
She studies me with a glower. “Well, your love won’t be able to save you. In fact, I would have assumed you were more powerful. I guess everyone has a weakness and your’s is this beautiful charm,”
“Charm?” I ask.
“Oh yes, I was told that you would try to escape.” Arianna dips between her bosoms and pulls out a necklace. “This beautiful jewelry is the reason why you couldn’t escape. It stops you from... I don’t know... however you appear and disappear.”
“That’s how you’re controlling Endymion,” I say putting everything together.
She nods her head, “This little pendant is quite powerful. However, I would not say control—I like to think of it as opening his eyes. Endymion needed a little guidance for him to understand that you were using him.”
I was not using him! “Who gave that to you?”
“I do not know but he had these dreadful horns, he was quite intimidating. Endymion...” She calls to him, and on command, he steps forward. I see him clutching something and the tight grip of the rope loosens around my wrist.
Just a little bit more.
Arianna smiles mischievously. “You know what, Selene? In all honesty, this is all happening because of you.”
Yeah, I think I already established that.
“What do you mean?” I ask instead.
“When you brought that demon into our kingdom and that savage fight broke out, one of its claw had broken off. Show her, Endymion.”
He complies, opening his hand.
My sight falls on a huge black talon. It’s almost the size of his palm, and that’s pretty huge considering Endymion’s hands aren’t small.
“The god was kind enough to inform me that if this penetrates your heart, you will suffer an eternity in the underworld. Supposedly once it gets in there, something happens and it can never come out. No more moonlight goddess, no more deception.”
Closing his hand, Endymion now grips the talon in a threatening grasp and Arianna commands that he put that thing into my heart.
Fighting with the lingering rope, I finally get it free. Not wasting a second, I fling out my hand and aim the water into a point. A sharp blade-like tide forms from the water and strikes the necklace around Arianna’s neck, shattering the pendant.
Endymion drops the talon and staggers back, holding his head.
“What have you done!” screams Arianna. Quickly, she runs past him and drops to her knees, searching for the talon in the water.
I yell for Endymion, who stumbles into the cave wall, disoriented. When he doesn’t respond, I stand up from the wet ground and with a flick of my wrist, I lift all the water from the ridged ground. It hits Arianna in her face before reaching the ceiling.
While she’s struggling to wipe her face dry, I see the black talon and leap to grab it. At that same moment, Arianna snags her hand over my own and we wrestle for the talon. Somehow, it manages to slip from both of our grasp and lands by Endymion’s feet.
Holding back a thrashing Arianna, Endymion picks up the talon. I yell at him, “Take it and leave!”
At first, I am unsure if he heard me correctly because he doesn’t budge. Maybe he’s still under her control. But when he asks me if I can handle Arianna, I answer with a haste nod. Focusing back on the female, I do not know what to do because she won’t stop attacking me. She’s like a wild being possessed.
I don’t see the blatant attack, but I feel it and stumble to the ground, feeling dizzy. Struggling to get back up, Arianna kicks me over, sending me tumbling to the side. I see a bloody rock in her hand. The room spins, and the water that I had been holding up in the ceiling comes crashing down, soaking both of us.
Two Arianna's are cursing and wiping their faces with the water. Two rocks, two ceilings, and double the amount of candles. I groan, attempting to sit up when I see Arianna about to strike me again. Taking a chance, I lift my hand and direct the water toward her. It engulfs her body and almost immediately, she begins choking.
Narrowing my strained vision, I see her struggling and I watch her unavailing fight. With a groan I force myself to stand up and before leaving, I swipe my hand. The water and Arianna drop to the ground. She’s coughing, so I know she will survive.
Walking back through the tunnel, I use the wall for support as the dizziness wanes. Upon seeing the entrance I stir with emotions. My feet seem like they’re dragging, and my heart is humming.
Approaching the entrance, a cool breeze whips out against my body. Upon stepping out in the open, there’s a smile on my face and I see the moon lowering into a background of purples and blues. The stars aren’t as bright and the shift in the air is evident.
The sun will be rising soon and Eos will be waking the sun.
I lower my gaze and my smile disappears. My stomach sinks into a frenzy of raw dread as I narrow my sight on Pan. Or more importantly, the blood on his fists. The god is seething with rage, with his massive shoulders rising and falling.
Pan hovers over Endymion, who’s also covered in blood. Crimson paints the grass and Endymion’s face with red. All I am seeing is red, everywhere.
Red.
Red.
Red!
Endymion is unmoving.
A shrilling scream rips out of my throat as I run toward them, but I fall down, feeling dazed from when Arianna had hit me over the head.
Please, Endymion cannot be dead. That cannot be possible, not after everything we went through to be together. He wouldn’t have stood a chance against Pan who is almost twice his.
Pan has the nerve to speak, “Calista...”
“What have you done?” I’m crying, knowing exactly the answer.
“I’m taking back what is mine.”
My glare is blurry when I stand. “I was never yours—you manipulated me!”
“Calista, you are mine!” Pan’s voice is loud and domineering as he reinforces his control. “To lose you to a mortal, I couldn’t fathom the thought.”
“Yours to manipulate, because isn’t that what your flute does to women? It arouses desires.”
Silence befalls us as I wait for him to speak. To fight my argument but Pan allows an extended time to go by. Finally, he says, “We all have our talents, Calista.”
Talents!?
Enraged, I stride toward him. “You told the female about the talon and she tried to banish me to the underworld."
"I would have stopped her,"
I stare at Pan, teary-eyed and confused on how he's so calm when I can barely control my distraught emotions. Pan smirks and just like that the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. "That was your plan, wasn't it? Turn Endymion against me and use his mortal woman as a threat. Then you would come to the rescue? Like you did when the Horai was going to whip me?"
Pan steps over Endymion’s body. “You were the only one, Calista.”
"You were willing to put my life at risk and for what?"
“You took a chance on me.”
"What?"
"You were the only one in Olympus to actually see me,"
I wipe the tears away, "I will never forgive you."
"In time you will see that the earth was not good for you,"
"You were never good for me!" I scream at Pan and I don’t realize that both my arms are spread at my sides until it's too late. I see the water from the ocean rising high behind Pan, above the trees in the distance.
A bitter laugh escapes my lips. “You used the only goddess who actually cared about you. You murdered the only man that I will ever love.”
“Calista—”
“Leave.”
Pan takes a cautious step toward me. “You will see that I did you a favor,”
"Leave me alone!" I yell at the god but he keeps moving closer.
I can’t hold it back.
The water crashes down around Pan in a giant wate
r bubble and then floats in the air. I step back, watching him struggle for air, how Arianna fought for her own life.
Then I cry.
My legs collapse and I scream out in absolute rage.
All this for nothing!
Crawling toward Endymion’s lifeless body, I fall into him and rest my head on his clothed chest. No heartbeat.
I cry out even harder.
No. This is not fair.
I was coming back for you, for us.
Abruptly, the skies rumble and Zeus’ bright light splits the dark sky. With a blink of an eye, the god of all gods is on earth and is standing above me. I look up at his piercing blue eyes, hiccupping in turmoil.
Zeus says with utmost importance, “You do not want to do that.”
“I’ll keep him there forever!” Gods cannot die, therefore he will suffer until the end of time.
“Selene, let me deal with him,”
“The underworld would be too sweet of an escape,”
“Selene...”
On a broken breathe, I look down on Endymion. “He killed him,”
Zeus kneels down beside me, reaches out and touches my face gently. “Trust me, Pan will be punished for his this and when I am through with him, he won’t dare look at you again.” His gaze is intense and without another word I release Pan. The heavy body of water plummets to the earth with a loud splash.
The sound of Pan’s body hitting the earth is an ample sound that I take pride in.
Pan’s coughs ring out.
With a hoarse voice, I beg, “Leave me alone now.” I bury my head against Endymion’s chiton and whisper how sorry I was for everything. He died without knowing how much he meant to me. I could have fought more while I had him close. I could have shown him more actions of love. Instead, I gave him excuses.
In a soft voice, Zeus says to me, “Everything will be okay.” And he stands up and to Pan, his voice is a roar, “Did you not think I wouldn’t have known you were the reason for my son’s death?” Zeus is angry as he strides mighty and dauntless toward the god struggling to stand. The skies above us booms loudly, the loudness echoing through growing gray clouds, crackling.
Wait, what? Son?
Pan, wobbling on his hindquarters, smiles faintly. “We do what we must for love.”
Love? My mind echoes.
What part of this was love? How he manipulated my body against myself and killed End—
“Love?” Zeus repeats, enraged. “What do you know about love?” He takes a step toward Pan.
Zeus and Pan stare at each other fiercely and after a moment too long Pan says to me. “I will see you soon, Calista,” before backing away into the woods to disappear.
Upset I yell at Zeus, “You let him go.”
“Trust that I will stay true to my word,”
Not liking what happened, I let it go and focus on what happened or what was said. “Endymion is your son? Why didn’t you say something?”
“It was not of importance.”
I swallow down the immense heartache. “That was why you allowed me the freedom to come to earth because I told you that I loved Endymion, your son.”
There’s a ghost of a sad smile when Zeus looks down at me. “Another one of our little secrets.” His eyes are focused on Endymion.
How many secrets does Zeus have?
Nevertheless, to Pan, Zeus had mentioned Endymion being his son like it wasn’t a secret.
Did Pan know?
I ask unsure, a shot in the dark. “Can you do something?”
He shakes his head. “I cannot.”
I don’t believe him. Correction, I don’t want to believe him. “Cannot or won’t?”
“I cannot. Mortals die and they are born; it’s the way of their life,” he says simply. And although his words are passive and he is not in tears like myself, his heart is sore. You can see the pain in his eyes.
My hands ball against Endymion’s chest, clinging to his shirt. “But he is not just a mortal: he is your son, and if there is anyway...”
Silence.
I wait for his response.
Please tell me that there is a way.
More silence as Zeus shifts his attention from Endymion to me. I look up at him and without words, my gaze begs for an answer.
Zeus sees the silent plea, hears the sorrowful cry of my heart. “There is a way, but to steal his soul from Hades... I know my brother will not be pleased. And secondly, to go down this path—”
Knowing what Zeus will say, I cut him off. “There will be unforeseen consequences.”
“Selene, listen to me carefully because once it is done, you will not be able to return to Olympus, which is why I cannot do it.”
Never? That’s extreme, but Pan killing Endymion was extreme.
Arianna using a necklace to control Endymion was extreme.
A moon goddess falling for a mortal is extreme.
This whole situation is extreme.
I ask, “Will I still be the moon goddess?”
“That is something that can never be taken away from you. But how you help with the balance, may alter just slightly.”
“How?”
“I do not know, but if you chose to go down this path, you will need to figure that out. You are changing something small but vital within the cosmo’s and there will be rippling effects,”
“Okay, then please tell me what I have to do.”
“Give Endymion the ichor that flows through your veins. Your divine liquid will revive him, and he will awaken.”
Looking down on my forearm, I know it sounds simple enough. “That’s it?”
Zeus nods his head. “Selene, I have to ask you again, are you confident that this is the path you want?”
“I can’t imagine a life without him,”
Heeding my words, Zeus says. “Never forget who you are,” and with those final words, Zeus disappears into a burst of luster.
Chapter Eighteen
I DO EXACTLY what Zeus had said.
I find a rock with a sharp edge and cut my forearm. When ivory ichor begins seeping out from the wound, I open Endymion’s mouth and allow a few droplets.
I wait, but nothing happens. I stay right by his head, wanting my face to be the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes, but that does not happen. Endymion doesn’t move or make a sound.
Time goes by. The sun has fully risen, yet the mortal is still dead.
I missed Eos ceremonial dance.
Standing up, I look around me with the sun shining high and bright and the blood staining the grass is even more visible. I look back on Endymion—to be more specific, at his hand—and don’t see the Erinyes’ talon. He might have dropped it when Pan attacked him. I look around the area but can’t find it. Hurriedly I walk back into Mount Latmus and almost all the candles have stopped burning.
There is no sign of Arianna—I hadn’t noticed when she left.
Did she find the talon and disappear?
Or maybe Pan had it all along?
How dare she try to ruin this place for me?
Mount Latmus holds such pleasant memories, but here is also where Pan caught Endymion and I. It’s also where Arianna found out about her king and his secret. Endymion and I both had secrets.
I exist Mount Latmus to see Endymion stirring in the distance and run toward him. Staring down at his now conscious body, I drop to my knees. Not touching him, I anxiously wait for him to open his eyes. I don’t say a word—I think I’m holding my breath by the time I catch sight of his eyelids fluttering open. I’m so anxious, I could pry open his lids myself.
Endymion sits up on his elbows. “Selene, I think I had a bad nightmare.” His voice is rough, strained.
I smile through my tears. “It’s all over now.”
He groans painfully, touching his bloody stomach. “Not a nightmare.” Breathing in sharply, he closes his eyes and lies back down.
I’m angered once more, knowing that Pan is responsible for this. He and that crazy wom
an Arianna. I shouldn’t have released him; I should have left him in the water and watched him drown for all eternity.
I can’t help myself as I lean down and brush my lips against Endymion’s. He groans, but this time it’s interlaced with a little piece of heaven. Withdrawing, I grab his hands and think of his home. Before we know it, we are in Endymion’s bedchambers.
At least I still have those abilities.
After helping him from the ground and into the bed, I want to get someone to help—I’m worried about his bruises and his pain. He doesn’t deserve to be in pain. Not to mention he’s covered in blood—he needs to be cleaned up.
“I only want you,” are Endymion’s simple words.
“But—”
“Only you,” he urges and biting down on my bottom lip, I lay back with him.
Endymion wraps an arm around me, holding me protectively against his body. He kisses me on the forehead and I melt. That’s the only way for me to describe the familiar flurries of butterflies in the pit of my stomach. That’s the easiest way I can describe the feverish heat that flushes across my flesh and awakens hard bumps following its path.
I lie with Endymion until he falls asleep, and before you know it, I’m slipping away as well.
I’m feeling drowsy, which never used to happen before. I never used to sleep or get tired.
What am I now since I gave Endymion my blood?
Zeus made it clear that I would still be a moon goddess but I cannot return home.
Was that the only price I had to pay?
I have feeling, more surprises will arise. I allow the pull wanting to take me under. My eyes are heavy and I can’t fight it.
I let go.
I go to sleep for the first time in centuries, sleeping beside the man whom I love dearly. I fought for him and going forward, no mortal or god will ever again take him away from me.
He’s mine and I am his.
Forever and always.
The End
About Author
SHELIQUE LIZE BEGAN her writing journey with vampires, her first love of the paranormal world. She loves anything to do with myths, legends, folktales, and fairy tales. Becoming an author was never a thought despite that she spent most of her young days fantasizing and writing stories. After her first daughter was born Shelique decided that life was too short, to not do what was in her heart. She’s married with two crazy little girls. She has a soft spot for Disney movies, cheesecake and anime.
