Days passed from the incident and the pain from my new wings was taking its toll on me.
I had given up training Yuki in how to use her abilities and settled on just teaching her how to control it and when to use it and when not too… After awhile I even gave up doing that, she was just too young to be doing any of this…
"Mommy…?" Yuki asked as she came into the room.
"Yes sweetie?" I answered as I lifted her onto my bed.
"When I grow up will I have pretty wings like you…?"
I looked over my shoulder at the things I wanted to scorn and remove from my back. The color did not belong to the night goddess that resided in me. No… My mother's wings were a beautiful jet black that shined with a navy blue tint when the sun reflected off of them… Nor did the color represent the day god that was my other half. My father's wings were a crisp golden color that looked like our protector had taken the sun and shaped its color into wings.
My wings did not even match my dear little sister's wings and she was just as much a half breed as I was. Her wings were a lovely cloud white, like the wings of an angel's in the stories one hears, which shimmered with a silver hue when the sun shone against them. Her wings were the color of a day goddess.
No… my wings were the color of the blood red sun that set when the day retreated into the night and reflected a coppery color when lighted by the sun. My wings were the true mark of a half breed; wings that were never given to any goddess even when we were not afraid to interbreed with one another.
I turned back to my daughter and held her close to me. "Your wings will be the prettiest wings ever. They will be even prettier than mine." I told her as I tried not to cry.
Please God… If you are ever merciful please… Do not give my daughter the wings that adorn my back now… She does not deserve the mark of a half breed…
"You really think so mommy?" She asked as she beamed up at me.
"I know so sweetie…" I answered as I hugged her once more.
As my daughter left to go join Inuki out in the front I went to my closet to see if I had anything to wear with my new wings.
I had one outfit… My mother's kimono…
I slid my arms into the sleeves of the pale blue silk and found that the wing slots that she had made fit around my wings perfectly. I slid into a pair of sandals and then headed down to seek out one of the girls.
"Keiko." I called as I walked toward the brunette in the kitchen.
"Mm?" she answered as she turned around. "Wow! Your wings look really lovely in that kimono Moon!" She exclaimed.
I tried not to sneer… "Could you watch Yuki for me…? I'm going over to Koenma's to ask him about some things."
"Sure!" she chimed, "I'd love to watch Yuki!"
"Thanks… I won't be gone long." With that I took off to Koenma's.
"He's busy right now." The clerk answered in her annoying whine.
"It's urgent… Can't I just see him for a minute…?" I implored.
"He's busy." She whined again.
"Well when will he be done? It's important for me to see him ASAP."
"I cannot disclose that information."
I growled at her and slammed my fist into her desk. "Look!" I seethed at her, "either you tell me when he'll be finished or I'm going in there right now!"
The woman just stared up at me.
I was fuming so I shoved her desk over and stormed to the door; literally. You could hear thunder crack through the hall as I made my way to Koenma's office.
"Koenma!" I shouted as I slammed the doors open. Suddenly all my anger dissipated as I stared at the stranger in front of the toddler's desk.
Their face as covered by the hood of their cloak but the energy that exuded from his very persona filled the room and stole my breath away.
"What can I do for you Moon?" Koenma asked as though I hadn't just stormed in here or flipped his secretary's desk over.
"I uh…" I mumbled still fixated on the stranger.
Did I know him…? He felt so familiar…
The stranger excused himself and walked towards the door. As he passed me I caught the smell of spices from him.
That was Hiei's smell! There is no one else in this world that even came close to smelling like he did!
"Hiei!" I called as I turned to the stranger.
The person didn't falter in their walk as they left. "I don't know who you're talking about…" Came the icy reply.
I stopped, it wasn't his voice… there was no way Hiei would ever be that cold to me… That wasn't even the same tone…
"I see you have wings now Moon." Koenma stated as the doors closed in front of me; I jumped.
I took a deep breath to quell the sadness that filled my heart. "That's what I cam to ask about…"
"Your wings…?"
"Yes…" I turned to face the two year old high up in his desk. "My wings are not the same as the people I am descended from. Not a single one of them in the entire history of my kind had wings the color as mine… Am I truly who you say I am…? Am I truly the last remaining goddess of the heavens…? Or am I just a mutt that shouldn't even exist…?"
"Do you know the story of the guardian of the children of the night and day…?" He leaned over to look down at me.
"Yes." I answered starting to get angry. "She was the first of our kind. She raised the first ever day god and night goddess. We are her children though the first of our kind fell from the stars themselves to be brought up here…"
"Do you know the names of the first two children she raised…?"
"No… their names were lost to history a long with the name of the goddess that brought here."
"Their names, Moon, are Akeno and Maki… The names your parents had…"
"But my parents were born far later than when our protector left us to go home…"
"That maybe but their names are still the names of the very first god and goddess that your guardian harbored… Do you know what she was called…?"
"Of course I know what my people called the guardian! She was gifted with the name that means 'from the heavens'. Her name was Celeste."
"That's the name your people gave her after she was gone from your village. Her name was Selene. Her name literally meant 'moon'."
"I don't understand. My people called her Celeste for generations. How could her name really be Selene…?"
"Do you know the true story of the guardian and mother of your people? Or even what she looked like…?"
"Well… not what she looked like… but she started our village and when the people were thriving she left us, to watch over us from the heavens."
"Sit down Moon… I think it's time you learned about the true story of your guardian… The one the history books have omitted…"
"Selene descended to the demon world over three thousand years ago from the spirit world. She wanted to create a people that would help protect the world from the evils that had started to brew. She was the most beautiful goddess and was one of a kind. She began the village with two children that joined her from the stars. As the children grew more came down to join the life the goddess had created. As more came down some began to marry and have children of their own here on earth.
"Selene was extremely happy as the children grew and had more children. For years she was the high goddess and supreme ruler of their village and all the children loved her greatly. They prospered and lived in peace with the villages around them and some went out and married with the other demons and humans.
"Until one day when a god spoke out against the village. 'Why did you bring us here? You who claim to be our mother?' he asked. She smiled at him 'my dear child…' she said to him, 'I brought you here to make this world a better place and so that you could have a life or your own; away from the heavens that have confined us all.' 'But what if we wanted to stay? What then? Would you force us to come with you?' Selene smiled at the god that had been born here on the earth. 'if you long to go home you are allowed to that is why you have wings of your own, so that you can fly to the heavens and back again.' But by this time the god had grown angry with the woman that stood before him. 'You don't know what it is like to be born here and long to be up there!' he shouted at her. With that he left the village and journeyed the lands as his anger for the goddess and her happy village grew tremendously.
"Selene was saddened by the loss of one of her own children and made sure that the others all knew that they were allowed to return to the heavens whenever they wished. They took the news to heart but continued their happy life here amongst the demons and humans.
"After many years a traveler appeared at the village gates asking for shelter and a place to stay the night. The villagers welcomed the stranger into their homes without a second though. They fed him and clothed him and gave him a place to stay. By now the goddess that ruled the village had grow weak and had lost her ability to leave her homestead and though she wanted to greet the man that had come to her village she could not.
"As the traveler walked around the village he stopped at the home of the goddess and called to her. 'You who calls yourself the ruler of this village why do you scorn a traveler that has come to stay in the village? Are you to high and mighty to even be bothered by someone who is not the same as your people? Do they have to have wings to fly to the heavens with you?'
"The goddess mustered all the strength she could and went to the door of her home and gazed out at the stranger that stood on her steps. 'It is not that I am higher than the people that come to my village, nor do I wish to scorn them when they pass through. It is that I have no strength to leave my home to greet the traveler and hear of his travels as I use to when I was much younger.'
"The traveler grew angry and pulled his cloak from his body. 'Do you have enough strength to see one of your own people when they return? Or do you feel that it is not necessary to greet them either?
"The goddess looked down at the man and smiled. 'It is not that I did not wish to see you, it is that I did not hear that it was you that had returned to us. Come, join me in my home and we will speak of your travels' she implored. But the god was not ready to join her in her home. 'You still have not told me if those who wish to join you in the heavens need wings of their own?' she looked down at him and realized that his wings had been removed, 'My child,' she implored as she realized his wings no longer adorned his back, 'what has become of your lovely wings…?' 'I had removed them. Why should I wear the one thing that ties me to this horrid village? This village is full of corrupt gods and goddesses and you are the worst of them all!' With that the god ran up the stairs and stood in front of the one woman he had hated with a passion. 'I've come to take this village from your hands and eliminate all those who believe in your ideology. We could be the rulers of this planet but you've reduced us to servants!'
"Selene moved away from the angered god and stood in the center of the room. 'If you wish to strike me down do so, but know this. I am the one who gave you life in this village and one day I will take your life away as I have taken many of my children's life away. When that day comes you will see why I have created the village the way it is for gods and goddesses do not die. We only return home to where we were first born.' The god seared with anger and pierced the goddess through her heart, but instead of dieing she just held out her hands and closed her eyes and became stone the only thing that did not turn to stone with her were her wings. And though no god or goddess had ever seen the wings of their mother her wings finally became visible to all; they were the color of the setting sun, each god and goddess came to their mother and each one took a feather from her wings and carried it with them. Each god and goddess knew that the day the feathers finally disappear their mother and guardian would be reborn and once again join them in their village.
"Moon… You are their guardian reborn and though your birth doomed your village your birth also gave them their right of passage back to the stars where they all belong."
I stared up at him; tears welled in my eyes as I looked down at the floor. "How could I be their mother if I cannot even be with them anymore…?"
"You have Yuki. She is a child of the heavens as well; she is the beginning of the new generation of the gods and goddesses of the heavens."
"But why were my wings given to me now? Why couldn't I have them when I could have saved my family?"
"Because you didn't want to admit you were a goddess. When did your wings come?"
"When I battled Malice…" I murmured. "When admitted I was a goddess…"
"See…? They couldn't come out before that because you didn't want them."
I turned away from Koenma; I just didn't want to admit that he was right.
"As you've noticed you're stronger than you ever were before. Wasn't it easy for you to kill Malice…?"
"Yes…"
"You're finally becoming the goddess you were supposed to be." Koenma sighed "Well now… if you excuse me I have to get the papers ready for the team to go to the tournament."
I left his office and didn't look back. I didn't want to believe what he said, though part of me knew he was right the other part still questioned why everything came so late…
Oh Hiei… If only you could help me now…
I turned my head to the sky and held my arms out just like the statue of our protector and closed my eyes.
God… Please… Help me…