Chapter 89: The Veiled

August's brows furrowed at this. "The… Veiled?" she repeated, her eyes fixed on the otherworldly Charlotte.

"Yes, that which is concealed from our eyes and our awareness. It has been called many things—More, Mist, Shades, Darkness—but of course words, as magical as they themselves can be, fall short. And labels fix thoughts and definitions around belief. So the alyko have always just referred to it as… the Veiled," Charlotte explained as her cloudy blue eyes shone in the candlelight.

"Charlotte's mother and sister were alyko," Sylvia said quietly, and August suddenly recalled that there were others in the room.

"Oh my," August whispered, her thoughts stumbling to catch up as she looked back once again at the woman seated next to her. "I'm—I'm so sorry."

Charlotte's expression did not change, but she hummed in response. "My mother passed before the killings here. Her and my sister were remarkable women." Did that mean her sister was killed by the elders? The room turned quiet as the thoughts of those who filled it mourned silently.

"Charlotte, may I ask you… do you suppose my, uh, ability to see into the—the Veiled," August stuttered, "Do you suppose that somehow makes me alyko despite… despite not starting that way?"

"Ah, don't get hung up on labels like that. They don't matter. You are simply and perfectly who you are." Charlotte patted her hand again before continuing, "If it helps, think of your life before this as if you were living on the Sun. You were a being of the Sun, and all you knew was the Sun. It's light. It's heat. It was so bright and all-consuming, and you were so near to it, that there was no way to experience anything but the Sun. It filled your whole vision. Your whole experience. Everything."

"And then, well… the virus and this situation came and spun you aloft. Now you can see and feel that there is More than just the Sun. There is also the Darkness, the previously Veiled—a whole universe beyond the Sun that extends on and on. Out 'there'—wherever 'there' is—but also inward. And even More than that. Direction is misleading. There is uncountable, infinite distance in every direction imaginable and yet, at once, no distance at all. The stars are out there and yet their dust is in our bones. Like I said, these words fall painfully short. As they must." Charlotte's words were slow and deliberate, alighting on each as if she were telling the oldest of tales.

"Anyone can get peeks into that which is Veiled—have something unconcealed to them that wasn't sensed previously. Get hints. Hear voices. See spirits. Feel… something unexplainable. Usually these are what some call highly sensitive people, but really anyone can get a glimpse, because we are all woven in this fabric of the universe. Perhaps someone has a near-death experience or consumes a substance or something else happens that expands their mind and body—spinning their being aloft. The alyko, though. Well, the alyko were born aloft. They were born aware of the Veiled. And they grew learning how to interact with it in ways that seem miraculous to those who are only aware of the Sun."

August found herself nodding with eyes wide, soaking up Charlotte's metaphor like a child. "So the alyko see… everything," she said, still unconsciously trying to position herself and her abilities in comparison. It was overwhelming opening herself to the second vision she had acquired, and after the experiences she had, August was frightened of it. She didn't have control. She didn't see everything. Reiki would hopefully help of course, but she wasn't comfortable with the idea of trying to do anything with this ability of hers unless it was absolutely necessary.

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Charlotte's head shook slowly. "There is no everything. No 'All.' Our universe is infinite, and there will always be that which is concealed from us. There is just… More," and she smiled patiently.

"What about… the Moon Goddess?" August asked. It would seem that a god or goddess of any kind would be a superior being, aware of everything.

"There are many gods and goddesses. Think of them as points of contact. Like conduits. A way to focus our divine power. We are all divine. We are all powerful in some way. For lycans and alylko, the Moon Goddess holds special significance. And our connection with her is very strong," she added. "She is like our mother—reflecting the Sun while allowing us to see deeper and experience the Darkness. She shields us from impacts and watches over us. She bares the scars from her vigilant presence. Like all mothers."

"Mother Moon," August whispered.

"You are still worried about where you fit in all of this," Charlotte said, scanning August's face. "Some call you human. Some witch, because they believe you are alyko. And yet you are mated to a powerful lycan. Tell me, August, do you know that no alyko has ever been mated before?"

August's eyebrows pinched together, and the other two women in the room also looked surprised. "What?"

"It's true," Charlotte nodded, turning to assure Sylvia and Greta as well. "Alyko do not talk about themselves much, but having a mother and sister who were alyko, I can tell you that they believed no alyko had been mated in that way—with the mate pull and the mate mark that lycans and their mate's experience," Charlotte gestured toward August's neck.

"Why?" Greta asked from behind August.

"It is peculiar, isn't it?" Charlotte said thoughtfully. "I think since our future Luna is here, that it will be okay for me to tell you a story. A story that if any powerful lycan has ever heard it, they have either not believed or have worked to hush the whispers that carry it. Indeed, it is likely the root of this hatred and distrust for the alyko."

Greta caught Sylvia's eye, and they gave each other a bewildered look. What did Charlotte know about the alyko that they had never heard before?

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