Chapter 96: Magnolia’s Awakening
Magnolia stepped forward, her breath catching in her throat. Her reflection stared back at her, eyes hollow, lips chapped, bruises blooming across her collarbone like crushed violets. She didn’t remember how she got here. She only remembered the dream.
The voices. The fire.
"Is this what it means to awaken?" she whispered, barely hearing herself over the pounding of her heart.
From the shadows, Celeste emerged without sound, her long white cloak trailing behind her like smoke. "You followed the pull, didn’t you?"
"I didn’t even know I was walking," Magnolia muttered, kneeling by the pool. Her fingers hovered above the water. "It called me."
"The Moon remembers its daughters," Celeste said quietly. "Even the ones who were never meant to return."
Magnolia looked up. "Tell me the truth. All of it."
Celeste’s features were carved in hard lines, no softness left in her except the moonlight glazing her cheek. She folded her arms.
"You are not just descended from Luna spellbinders. You are the first to survive the Blood Reversal."
"What is that?"
Celeste tilted her head. "A ritual. Forbidden. Ancient. One that fuses bloodlines long separated. Your ancestors were burned, their blood cursed, but someone preserved a fragment. And someone, " her eyes narrowed, "brought it into you. I suspect Rhett knows."