“Gaia encountered a creature on four legs that turned into a man shortly after,” she repeated again. “She didn’t have white hair or any obvious white markings but was said to have dark hair, and dark skin. One can assume though she was theearliest ancestor of the First Family, but she appeared simply as a woman that encountered a seemingly harmless man. She, a woman of the day and he, a creature belonging to the night.”
“We know that story,” Namir cut in irritably. “I’ve heard of that. The woman with dark hair…yea yea yea. Maggie knows about that too. We saw it in the library, and I’ve heard it time and time again. Even in that story, she was still the moon–––”
“No she wasn’t,” Himora cut in. “She was never the moon, but a young woman who met the wrong wolf on the wrong night. He shifted into the first ever known personification of the moon which is now officially known as the werewolf. In this story, he was actually the moon, not her and she was the first to witness his transformation. That is why it was stated there was no moon in the sky that night because it was within him. He was the moon, not her.”
Stunned, I watched everyone take in the information as she continued to flip through her notes as if there were more bombs to drop.
“Did…did he attack her?” Isis hesitantly asked.
“It’s possible but not likely as they continued their courtship and were seen together on numerous occasions. I do think it’s possible she fed from him. Which would explain the confusing correlation and traits of the moon being placed on her. He was described as a man unlike any other in his pack and often walked alone, especially at night until he met her.”
“Aight,” Trevor cut in. “Timeout. So this is a story about a vampire falling in love with a werewolf?”
“The first ever werewolf,” she expressed. “She is the first documented matriarch of the First Family, but she is not the first vampire to ever exist. Of course, the First Family cannot fathom the idea of their bloodline being entangled with a wolf. That would go against everything we’ve ever known about vampiresand wolves. So a story was told to say Gaia is the moon and that wolves should stay away from her descendants because she can cause the wolf to go mad i.e. turn into a werewolf. The white mark that only the First Family have, is said to represent them coming from the moon as Gods. That they’re this mythical powerful family and said to be rare. In actuality, it’s a scar, a symptom or marker of Gaia and what happened when she crossed paths with the moon. My husband turned me last year at my request and I am already showing signs of the same aggressive discoloration.”
Himora turned to slowly lift the back of her orange hair to see the white spot against the nape of her freckled neck. It bled into the roots of her hair like a bleach stain before she turned back to face us with an adjustment of her frames.
“It’s true then,” Bellamy said with a hard expression. “He turned you… He can turn humans. Nobody in the First Family has the ability to–––”
“It’s rare but possible,” Himora cut in.
“So how did Gaia get her name?” I questioned.
“That was her name when she encountered the werewolf. Gaia,” she stated with an exact tone. “Gaia means mother to all, life, land and earth. As I stated before, she was said to control shifting, the ties, water, and all things living and now with her encounter with the first ever werewolf, she does possess some sort of moon traits but not enough to be considered a moon Goddess. Unfortunately, the First Family now uses it as a means to represent the mother of vampires, and all things powerful as it relates to the moon, and everyone believed it to be true.”
Trevor grinned with a proud look on his face while the rest of us were too…dumbfounded to speak. Maggie has been saying this entire time she’s not the moon. She doesn’t feel anyconnection to it, and it turns out she was right but what did that mean? Who could possibly be the moon if not her?
“It’s faint but…” She glanced at her notes one last time. “It’s enough for history to repeat itself.” She turned to Namir. “I believe you are the reincarnation of the first known werewolf therefore, the moon itself.”
“Wait, what?” Namir croaked before pointing at himself. “Me?”
“It could have been any young woman but one belonging to the First Family with a vague resemblance to Gaia is fate. Unfortunately, Maggie just happened to meet the wrong man on the wrong night, and for a second time? The story repeats itself once again. You have always been the moon, not her.”
Isis clamped her mouth shut while Solomon shook his head, mind completely blown. Everyone turned to look at Namir. He and Maggie were fated from the start…
“I’m…I’m the reason she’s what she is?” He asked as if he was going through every memory of her. You could see the wheels turning in his head and light bulbs clicking.
“Unfortunately. It’s my belief you will mostly find her in every lifetime as you have before.”
“Ohhh,” I cooed with my hand on my chest.
“Whether she became Gaia to protect you as your only equal in this world or to kill you as your only equal is left up for interpretation, but I believe this is merely a missed connection that stretches across generations. Something that goes beyond the alchemy of souls of finding one another.”
“Whaaaat the actual fuck is going on?” Bellamy let out, dumbfounded. Trevor just silently shook his head while Solomon and Seth looked at one another. Namir shook his head, still unsure of what he heard.
“That…that can’t be right. I mean, I saw something like that saying we–––I… When I first met her…I had a hard time fighting the urge to hurt her…I…I just thought…She’s always been the moon. We react to her…I’m not the only one to react to her. She…I’ve seen her do things that are impossible…I’ve seen her manipulate the sky at night…The red moon!” He suddenly blurted out. “The day she changed it from day to night! The moon was red!”
“And were you with her when that happened? Are you with her every time you see something she can’t explain?”
Namir’s mouth parted, fully capable of speaking but said nothing at first.
“There are times when I can’t even catch her scent,” he argued. “She…she smells like nothing when I’m around her.”
“My guess is she gets that from her uncle. My husband has no traceable scent. He is the oldest vampire in this room and most likely the most powerful and dangerous, but you would never know it. It’s another unique trait to the First Family. Rare but not completely uncommon.”
“Your brother’s funeral,” Solo whispered under his breath towards Namir. Himora’s eyes perked up for a second.
“Yes, I had my husband and his partner Ace look into that. You were a fully recognized werewolf in complete control of your body which is…unheard of…and she just happened to be right there with you. Yes? Where she displayed her ability for the first time…You being able to have self-control as a werewolf in that moment is the most obvious sign.”
