Goddess Of The Dark By Valerie Millan

This is a Serena/Stanton fan fiction. It takes place right before Serena makes her choice on her seventeenth birthday. All the other daughters have already gone and become spirits. It contains information up until the unreleased ninth book so if you don't want any of the books to be spoiled, I suggest you go no further.

Chapter One Serena shut the French doors to her balcony and looked at the clock. It read 9 pm. "Less than three hours", she thought to herself. Serena's birthday had finally come. She had made her choice long before the time had come. While she was still fifteen, Serena knew what her destiny was. She was a goddess, a daughter of the moon. She was to fight the evil forces of the earth. The other daughters, Vanessa, Catty, Jimena and Tianna fought along side her. But finally it had reached all of their seventeenth birthdays, and each one made their choice. They all had become guardian spirits, or something like that. Maggie, their guide and mentor, was never really sure what became of the goddesses once they left. Their other choice was to lose the memory of what they were and lose their powers. They would remain here. But Serena was given a third choice. She was the one daughter who was the key balance between good and evil. She had the choices of the other daughters, but an additional choice as well. She had recently learned she could become goddess of the dark and reign over the dark. At first it had sounded evil to her but it wasn't. The goddess of the dark, Hekate, was good though many thought she was evil. This is what Serena had decided to become. It would be hard, parting with the other daughters but it was her destiny. It was what she had been meant to become, she had decided. Luckily she knew she wouldn't be alone while the changes took place. Her brother, Collin, had gone out for the night under Serena's orders. She didn't want it to be painful and emotional. But Stanton had promised to come. Stanton. She thought of her boyfriend and smiled. Stanton was Prince of the Night, but a follower of the Atrox. The Atrox was the primary source of evil in the world and it had been Serena's destiny to destroy it. She had fallen madly in love with Stanton, but their relationship was forbidden. If anyone knew of it they would both be killed. Stanton couldn't let it happen. Stanton ended the relationship between them and broke Serena's heart. When she managed to save him and cross him over to not being a follower he sacrificed himself to save her life. He had become Prince of the Night to save her, and the next in line for the throne of the Atrox. Serena never forgave him until she learned how much she loved him. She had almost lost Stanton forever but used her power to save him. He had still loved her even after they parted just as she loved him. But since Stanton had more power than ever before, nothing was denied him, not even Serena. A sudden cold rushed her thoughts away. She had shut the French doors, how had they opened again? "High winds." she thought. She walked out on to her balcony and looked out. It was a full moon outside. The night shadows cast from the trees seemed to be screaming at her. Her destiny had become to clear to her in the time she spent working to understand it. Her moon amulet cast a milky light across the shadows. She became very alert. Danger was near. One of the shadows moved across the yard and up her balcony. She backed away ready to use her power at any moment. Stanton materialized on her balcony. She exhaled a deep sigh and leaned herself back against the bars of the balcony. Stanton smiled at her but her moon amulet kept her cautious. "Serena what's wrong?" Stanton said. He had the power to look into her mind but wouldn't at times. He was able to read her thoughts just by looking at her. He walked over to her and slipped his arms around her waist. "Nothing. Just feeling a bit uneasy. Nervous. Something's wrong." "Like what?" "I don't know. I've just got this strange feeling." She told no lies to Stanton. She had been feeling nervous and uneasy since she woke up that morning. But it was her turn to leave, a huge step in her life. She was almost sure it was her nerves. But something inside of her felt very different. The milky light from her moon amulet shined over Stanton's face. The light no longer affected him as it had. She trusted and loved Stanton with all of the life in her. He was one of the reasons she made her decision to be Goddess of the Dark. She knew leaving him would mean living without him, and it was definitely something she wasn't ready to face. Stanton grasped his arms around her waist even tighter and pulling her closer. She fell back into reality and smiled at her boyfriend. He kisses her forehead. Serena turned around again and looked out over the night. She touched her moon amulet with her fingertips. She felt the warm glow hit her fingers and felt comfort. The dark goddess inside her was growing stronger as seconds passed. She had more of an urge to wander about the night for it was comforting to her now. She felt as if she could dissolve into the night and become lost forever. But these feelings weren't bad to her, as they had seemed when she was a daughter. This was all before she understood what her choice meant. She walked back into her bedroom in a bit of a trance, lost in her own thoughts. She looked at the clock and snapped back to reality. 11:30 pm? Did time really pass like that? It had been only 9 pm a few minutes before Stanton showed up. But she looked around to see time had really passed like that. Stanton was leaning up against one of Serena's bedroom walls thumbing through the many pages of Serena's music notes. She had continued practicing the cello and played almost every moment of the day. Her music was the one thing that could relax her. Serena lied down on her bed staring up at her ceiling. She began to become very sleepy as time passed by. Within a few moments her eyes closed.