THE MOON GODDESS

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her through the woods, breathing heavily; she skipped and jumped the dry woods. She almost lost her balance, but she stumbled and found herself and continued into the forest; the sun was coming forth as the darkness was quickly fading away. The leaves slapped her face hard as she ducked some and pushed others away. The birds were chirping and some singing melodiously in harmony. The owl rotated its large eyes like it scanned the early morning dew. The frogs croak and jump; even the little creatures ran away in fear to avoid being trampled by the princess of the forest. She was happily racing through the woods with her companions.

“Come on, Mercury,” she laughed as she jumped and landed safely on the ground. She spun and continued further; she was getting to the finish line. “Yes!” She exclaimed as her feet almost touched the line, but a rabbit ran below her leg, and she stopped her feet in the air and lost her balance and tumbled in.

She groaned in pain and winced when the blood appeared below her knee, but she looked away from her injury to check if she got to the finish line. She saw Mercury doing her victory dance and laughing happily as the referee gave her a handshake. She hurriedly got up , swallowing the pains she felt from the knee.

“I won, right?” She asked as she hopped closer.

“No, baby, Mercury did,” the referee answered.

“That’s a lie, Daddy; a referee has to be fair,” she said to the man, “Mercury used her wolf speed when she got closer to the finish line,” she complained to her father, almost in tears.

“Is that true, Mercury?” The man asked, and Mercury nodded shyly and buried her head sadly.

“Jupiter always emerges the winner, but I know I’m faster in my wolf speed,” Mercury complained.

“You need to be partial to Mercury,” he smiled as he wiped the tears from their faces. “You both are good at what you do; you are my girls, and my girls are the best.”

The girls smiled happily, and they embraced him, but as soon as they separated , Jupiter’s face became moody and gloomy.

“What’s wrong?” The older man asked as the child squatted, but she bowed her head to the ground, not saying anything.

“Jupiter?” The man called again.

“My wolf ability,” she shuddered. “I still can’t get mine. I’ve watched other kids gain their ability and even the older ones displaying their abilities, but I can’t get my ability,” she cried and buried her face in her palms; her father brought her closer and placed her head on his shoulder and patted her back.

“You’re still twelve, Jupiter; before eighteen, you would gain your abilities,” he assured her with a smile, but she refused to buy it.

“Mercury is twelve too; she’s my twin, Daddy, but she got hers.” She cried harder, “The people hate and neglect me.”

“No one dares neglect the Alpha’s favourite baby,” he said, trying to assure her. “You’re their princess, and they have no say.”

“Sooner you’ll get your power.” Mercury comforted, “You could probably be stronger than I , Princess Venus and Prince Mars.”

And that did the magic; Jupiter took up her face; her face was pale and red, and she quickly covered it with her palms, and the other two laughed.

The day was already bright; they began to stroll out of the forest, back to the castle, chatting and cracking jokes. The twins were courageous and bold; they had the same stature and size but had other differences.

Mercury was tall and dark-skinned with milky blonde hair, while Jupiter was as tall as Mercury, light-skinned, and got red curly hair which stopped at her shoulders.

They were both fierce, but Jupiter was fiercer and would barely give up. They loved themselves equally.

Princess Venus, their older sister, disliked Jupiter for the same reason the people of the community hated her: she took Jupiter as an abomination, for she was the first wolf in the clan to have no ability; she felt Jupiter was unfit to be a princess.

The little family got closer to the castle; everyone they passed by bowed respectfully at them. Yes, they were the royalty, the Alpha king and his daughters.

“Mom! Mom!” The children screamed as they jumped on the older woman with genuine smiles on their faces.

“Good morning, my children; good morning, his Royal Highness,” the queen greeted her children and then her husband. She walked towards him and kissed him slightly on the lips, and he smiled.

“I need to have my shower now,” he said as he strolled away from the happy children and their mother.

“Guess what, Mom?” Jupiter said happily, “Mercury won me in the race today,” she added immediately.

“I cheated a bit, and Dad said it was wrong,” Jupiter chirped in.

“Yes, darling, cheating is wrong,” Queen Irine admitted as she walked to the courtyard, and the children trailed behind her.

“She used her wolf ability,” Jupiter added.

“That was wrong, Mercury baby.”

“Why do I feel it wasn’t wrong?” Another familiar voice added, and they all turned to me, the beauty queen of the house, the older princess , Princess Venus. “It’s not wrong for her to use her ability; it’s not her fault that Jupiter doesn’t have a wolf ability.” The seventeen-year-old princess rolled her eyes at Jupiter.

Jupiter held her face high, ignoring the things her older sister had said; she wasn’t going to let her Venus see her weakness; she wouldn’t be intimidated. Mercury frowned slightly and held Jupiter’s hand .

“Venus,” the queen shouted with great authority in her voice, “what is wrong with you? That was wrong and immature of you to say.”

“It’s the truth, Mom, a simple truth. You can’t stop Mercury from using her powers because of Jupiter. Nobody wants to be deprived of what they have and not even because of their twin. Give the little child her freedom,” Venus tried to explain.

“And I never complained,” Mercury said in anger. “Why not face other things and mind your business? We can manage ourselves.”

“You little dummy,” Venus laughed, “Soon you’ll be complaining; maybe not now but soon.”

“Venus!” Queen Irine shouted, “I forbid you from speaking this moment.”

The older daughter sealed her lips before walking away angrily. Jupiter created a weak smile and looked at her mother.

“I hope you don’t regret having me as a child.” She tried to speak out, but her voice betrayed her, and it only came out as a whisper.

“No, baby, you’re the best gift I ever had; you and Mercury are worth more than anything. I love you both so much.” Queen Irine gave a weak smile, and they nodded happily. “Now go on, your food is at the dining; you two must be starving.

They smiled happily and ran into the castle; they caught up with their older brother at the castle hall.

“Prince Mars”. They called and ran up to him.

“My little kittens,” he teased, rubbing their heads, “what are you both up to?”

“Racing through the woods as usual with the Alphag, Mercury replied.

“Dad would never let my little sisters rest; he wants to train you till he stresses you,” he laughed. “I’m having a reminiscence of the time I was younger.”

“My teacher calls it nostalgia,” Jupiter smiled.

“You got that right,” he smiled. “Dad stopped taking me to the forest when I was eighteen, and probably when you both are eighteen, he would let you be.”

“We actually don’t get tired, do we?” Mercury asked, referring to Jupiter, and she shook her head negatively with her palms opened, and the prince laughed.

“If I could remember, tomorrow is my little twin sister’s birthday. Oh, how can I forget? I can never forget that,” he teased.

We are going to be bigger, and when we add up our age, we will be older than you and princess Mercury explained.

“That’se, he laughed, “but you can’t grow older by just adding ages.”

“That is true, but we can grow older by just assuming, so we would assume we are older.” Jupiter spoke, and Mercury nodded in agreement.

“Alright, you both won. I’ll be heading off now. I’ll be having a council meeting now, and if I arrive, let me know. But I’ll look for you both when I’m back. Now go have your breakfast and then go prepare for your birthday. I want to see you in your best tomorrow.” He kissed their cheeks and rubbed their heads individually before heading off.

The twins hurried to the dining room; the food was well arranged on the table, different meals lay open in front of them, and the food was still very hot. Venus was sat at the opposite end of the table; the girls ignored her and concentrated on their food. They hurriedly swallowed the meal, smiling at each other, and they drank from their glass quietly, ignoring the devilish glare they got from Venus.

Immediately they were done with their meals, they ran to their room to check out their birthday dresses. They opened the door to the room which they shared; their personal maids were in the room already. They stood quietly beside their bed, respectively, and bowed as the princesses got closer and went back to their duty.

“Is that our birthday gown?” Jupiter exclaimed happily when her eyes finally met the dress which was hidden; she was known for her sharp eyes and sensing hidden items. She pulled out the gown from the wardrobe, and Mercury stood beside her and got her own dress.

“Wow,” Mercury grinned, “they are beautiful.”

“It’s our favourite colour. Yellow and black”, Jupiter jumped excitedly. “I’ll take my black while you do for your yellow.”

“It’s the same design with different colours. I wished you loved yellow; it would have been more perfect.” Mercury frowned.

“And if only you loved black too,” Jupiter grinned and rolled her eyes.

“Bla, bla, bla, Black is boring,” her sister teased.

“You’re never going to know how amazing it is.” She blinked multiple times.

“I’m so happy.” Mercury jumped and sat on the bed.

“I wish I could have my abilities tomorrow.” Jupiter’s face changed suddenly.

“Don’t give me that face; you’ll get it tomorrow. We just need to pray to the moon goddess tonight.” Mercury gave her an assuring smile.

“You’ll be with me, right?”

“I promise with my pinky finger to be with you and stand by you always, fight for you, run with you, play with you, and defend you, and I will do all that because I love you,” she smiled.

“You’re the best sister ever.” Jupiter couldn’t hide her happiness as she lay on the bed.

“You don’t need to worry about Venus.”

“She gags me so badly,” she complained.

“And that’s out of envy and jealousy.”

“Why do you think so? What do I have that she envies? I don’t even have any, Jupiter asked, obviously confused.

“She’s jealous that you’re still loved even when you have no ability; you’re our parents favourite; she isn’t given much attention,” Mercury explained.

“Our parents love us equally. If she wants their attention, I’ll give her all to gain her love too,” she frowned.

“Why are you so bothered about getting her love? Isn’t mine enough? Prince Venus loves you, our parents too, and even some people. Our love overwhelms any kind she could offer,” Mercury spoke loudly.

“Okay, fine,” she rolled her eyes. “I have an idea.”

“What’s that?” Mercury asked curiously.

“I want to go back to the forest, alone, or maybe with you.”

“Why?” Her sisters eyes widen. “We can’t go there alone; Dad wouldn’t approve of that.” Mercury pushed away the idea.

“Don’t you see?” Jupiter asked, sitting upright, “Maybe I have to be alone and try the transformation. I’ve never been left alone to have my privacy; they are always watching. I think my wolf is scared.”

“Do you feel it?”

“I don’t feel anything, but I have this strong rushing power inside me, and it’s too strong; it’s different from how you explain your inner wolf to me. Not to exaggerate, I feel special. I have something in me that’s different, and it needs a trigger.” Jupiter explained to her sister

“You both don’t talk like kids,” saw the chief maid peep inside. “Did you say you’ll be thirteen tomorrow? No, I don’t think so; you’re born adults. And Jupiter, I advise you don’t go to that forest alone.”

“How long have you been listening?” Jupiter screamed.

“Long enough to know that you want to do something bad, and I remember hearing you say something about rushing power,” the maid demonstrated in a funny way, making the children laugh.

“You shouldn’t listen to our conversation; it’s meant to be a secret,” Mercury said.

“I’m sorry, my princess, but you aren’t even alone; your personal maids are here too.” The woman pointed at the two maids who were engrossed in their work.

“They are trusted,” the two girls said in unison, batting their eyes before bursting into laughter with the chief maid.

“We won’t go to the forest alone, Aunty Sarah.” Jupiter gave her a puppy face, and the woman smiled.

“I pray tomorrow you get your powers; I love you both. I have to go.” She smiled and hurried out of the room.