Rejected By My Mate

Three hours before 8 o'clock, Alice called all the council members of the gods and her parents except her five sisters. With every tick of the clock, Alice anxiously walks back and forth in the conference room while waiting for everyone to come in. The reason for her anxiousness was because of the vision that suddenly flashes before her eyes. It was her own fate — an unexpected twist of her fate.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard footsteps coming and sat in her respective seat. A little while later, the door creaked open, and the council members entered. Alice stood up, and they greeted each other. Then everyone sat in their seats and faced Alice.

“Lady Alice, are you sure you will go alone? We can go with you.” God Jupiter proposed.

Alice cleared her throat, trying to hide her anxiousness, which she successfully did. “God Jupiter, I appreciate your offer, but I will go alone as I planned.”

"What if this negotiation is a trap? We know how Yael thinks.” God Apollo said.

“That's right. Yael is a cunning demon. What if he plans to ambush you tonight?” Goddess Ceres said.

"Do you underestimate my ability?” Alice said coldly.

Everyone fakes a cough. “Of course not, my daughter. We are just worried because we failed to see the future concerning your departure tonight. The future is uncertain and I'm afraid it won't go as planned.” Goddess Selene said while looking at her daughter full of worry.

Meanwhile, Dalmir felt uneasy and he couldn't explain his feelings. He senses that his daughter might be hiding something from them. "Alice, I'll go with you,” he uttered and everyone looked at him. Alice sighed, "Mother, Father, you don't have to worry about me. I know what will happen in the future and I guarantee my safety. Just wait for my return.”

The other gods and goddesses stared at Alice intently. They tried to read her, but they couldn't because Alice blocked them and wore a stern expression.

“Lady Alice, we all felt uneasiness in our heart and it's a bad omen for us. We rarely feel this way and every time this happens, a bad phenomenon will occur.” Goddess Minerva said, feeling conflicted. Alice smiled faintly. “I know your concern, but I will not change my mind. You can’t go with me because the gates to heaven will open for you all at midnight in between the transformation of the Blue Moon to Green Moon. Everyone was expecting your arrival tonight and you can't miss the celebration or else it will tarnish your reputation.”

"Well then, we respect your decision. And we will wait for you in the Promised Land.” God Jupiter said and everyone nodded their heads in approval.

Despite their uneasiness, they could only respect Alice's decision and wished for her safety. They know exactly that something bad will happen tonight. For now, the only thing they could do is to trust Alice's words.

Alice slightly bowed her head with a smile. Everyone did the same. “The gates will appear in the central east at the top of the highest mountain,” Alice said and snapped her fingers. A glowing magical stone appeared in front of everyone except Dalmir. “That object will automatically teleport you to the mountain before midnight, so don't lose it.” She added.

Everyone except Dalmir took the magical stone and nodded at Alice.

At the central plaza.

To celebrate the festival, everyone gathered in the vast central plaza as their main venue. The entire plaza looked so harmonious and joyful because of the decorations. Now, the plaza looked so enchanted and they all felt the spirit of the Moon Festival.

The vast banquet hall was filled with laughter while some performed on the big stage to add entertainment while waiting for midnight to come. It was a joyous occasion one couldn't miss. But others choose to stay in their kingdom and celebrate the festival with their families. However, all rulers of all the kingdoms were invited to celebrate together at the central plaza. It was the sextuplets’ plan, so the rulers couldn't refuse the invitation.

Seeing all the races united except some demons ruled by the current Demon Lord Yael, everyone felt the peaceful magic realm. It is all thanks to the Great Sextuplets. And because of it, the celebration is not only for the festival but also for offering their utmost respect to the Great Sextuplets and to all who fought in the war.

At exactly 6 o'clock, the sextuplets with their mates and group of friends gathered at a round table for dinner in the banquet hall. The gods and goddesses with Dalmir and other rulers of all the Kingdom also gathered at the round table next to them. Everyone was having fun while eating. Despite her conflicted feelings, Alice could only enjoy her last supper with everyone. Although her actions confused everyone because she was extra caring for her sisters and Azrael like it was their last meal together. They thought that they were just being paranoid, so they shook off those bad feelings and enjoyed the night.

However, Azrael could sense something wrong with Alice's action. He also tried to shake off those uncomfortable feelings, but he couldn't. He was nervous, so he grabbed Alice's hand and grip it tightly.

"What's wrong?” Alice asked, and Azrael just smiled. “Nothing. I just like to hold you.”

Alice smiled warmly and didn’t complain, even though her hand hurt. She knew that Azrael felt nervous. “I love you...” Alice whispered. Azrael froze for a moment before he whispered back with a forceful smile. “I love you more, my love.” His heart was beating fast because of anxiousness. He couldn't explain his feelings right now. So he never left his gaze at Alice like she would vanish any time if he looked away, even for just a second. He was being paranoid, but his gut feeling told him that he shouldn't let Alice out of his gaze.

"Azrael, I have to go to the restroom,” Alice whispered.

“I'll come with you.” Azrael quickly said.

“No need. It will not take long.”

“But...” Alice put her fingers on Azrael's lips. “Shh, I'll be back... I promise...” she said and smiled. Azrael reluctantly let go of her hand. “Thank you...” she whispered and stood up without the other noticing. She left the table quietly, with Azrael's gaze following her until she vanished from the crowd.

Instead of going to the restroom, she teleported to the castle and quickly put the letters in her sisters’ and Azrael's room. She also made letters for her parents, Layla, and Sabrina. Since her time was limited, she just left the letters in her mother’s room.

Then she went to her room and wore her silver-blue cloak and with a heavy heart, she quickly teleported to the deserted land of the southwestern part of the magic realm to meet Yael.

Back to the central plaza.

Unbeknownst to everyone, something big will occur later that will shock the entire magic realm. Meanwhile, everyone at the round table could sense the uneasiness which the five sisters and Azrael emitted. They suddenly felt nervous and became alert. At the same time, the sisters looked at each other, and, through their gazes, they knew what it meant. What they felt was a bad omen. "Where's Alice?” they uttered in unison, and everyone at the table turned to Azrael.

“Azrael, where's Alice?” Sabrina asked and also became worried.

"She went to the restroom, and she still didn’t come back,” Azrael replied and quickly stood up and then ran in haste.

Because of his action, Layla and Stephen quickly followed Azrael to look for Alice. Meanwhile, the sisters froze and trembled. They knew that something was going on. Alice might've kept a secret from them and based on Azrael's reaction, they knew that it's serious. Without wasting time, they quickly left the table to look for Alice.

Sabrina was shaking because of nervousness. “Vorges, I felt something wrong with Alice these past few days. The way she talked to us, it was like she was saying goodbye.” Sabrina said and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Vorges held her hand and pulled her up. “Then let's go find her.” Cybelle and the others were shocked, and it took a while for them to recover. Seeing the sisters in a hurry, they all stood up and followed the others.

The councils saw the sisters’ anxious expression, so they looked at each other knowingly. Goddess Selene and Dalmir excused themselves in a hurry and followed their daughters. The others at the table looked confused and noticed the table beside them was empty.

"What's going on?” Queen Leia uttered. She, too, felt nervous all of a sudden. The council members looked at each other while contemplating whether they would tell them the truth. In the end, the council remains mum about it. They promise Alice not to tell a soul about the negotiation until she returns.

Without getting a reply, Queen Leia stood up and excused herself to follow the others. King Alexander followed his wife with an anxious expression.

God Jupiter stayed silent, feeling conflicted. He knew that Alice would not return tonight. Although his powers were limited now, he still saw some fragments about the future. It's the future without Alice in it and everyone's sorrow over the disappearance of Alice. He wondered what's the cause because he couldn't see the entire happening of Alice's disappearance. His attempts at seeing the future again and again always failed until his head hurt and drained some energy. All he could do now was to pray to Almighty God to give mercy to Alice. The girl had suffered enough, and he felt bad about it. He sighed and excused himself.

The other council members also excused themselves and followed Jupiter. Everyone in the banquet hall noticed what was happening at the two tables. They were curious but had no guts to ask what happened. All the rulers remained at the table in silence and looked at each other with curious gazes, but all they could do was wait for the news. They knew it's a serious matter, and it's something related to Alice.

Azrael and the others looked everywhere else for Alice, but to no avail. They couldn't even feel her presence, no matter how hard they tried to locate her. They all felt distressed and felt like crying any moment, but they tried to compose themselves.

However, an hour before midnight, they still didn't find Alice and the sisters burst into tears. "ALICE! COME BACK!" Willow screamed at the top of her lungs while standing at the top of the rooftop castle. Tears streamed down her face nonstop. She continued screaming Alice's name until her voice became hoarse. She fell down onto the floor while weeping and clutching her chest tight. “Alice, you're so unfair. Please come back...” she wept painfully. It's the last words she spoke before she lost consciousness.

"Willow!" Zelix ran towards Willow and carried her quickly with a sad look.

Xandra, Val, Damona, and Demonise were still looking for Alice everywhere with a heavy heart while tears streamed down their faces like a river. Their tears wouldn't stop pouring while their hearts were aching excruciatingly. They knew that something happened to Alice. Reminiscing about their time together with Alice these past few days, they now realized that their sister had been saying goodbye to them every day. How come they didn't notice it? Well, they noticed the changes in Alice's behavior, but they thought they were just being paranoid. It turns out they were never wrong. But it's too late for regrets.

However, Azrael is the most affected by them all because he is the only one who knows where Alice was. He never realized that Alice would leave abruptly. When Alice didn't come back earlier, fear struck him and he quickly transformed into his full wolf form and ran faster towards the deserted land of the southwestern part of the magic realm. With all determination, he ran at his full speed without stopping, even though he was hurt because of the branches that blocked his way. He never minds his wounds because if he stopped now he would never catch up to Alice.

Halfway through, he encountered some half-goblin half-demon, and he had a hard time defeating them because they are more fierce than the normal goblins. Since they stopped him, he poured all his anger onto the goblins and killed them all without mercy while grinding his canine. They just woke up the demon in him. After defeating all the goblins, he was all bloody, but he continued his pace faster and faster. Too many thoughts ran through his mind and it drove him crazy. One thing he is certain of, he was so scared out of his wits. Too afraid that he couldn't see Alice anymore.

At the central castle.

While the sisters were looking for Alice, Goddess Selene went to her room and noticed the letters on the top of her desk. One letter was addressed to her and Dalmir. She picked it up and opened the letter. It's the letter from Alice. She read the letter with trembling hands and when she finished reading the letter; the paper slipped in her hands and she covered her mouth with her hands in shock.

She stumbled onto the floor with tears streaming down her face. “No! No... no... no...” she uttered helplessly and she couldn't believe what she read. A painful memory flashed through her head, and she felt like all her blood left her body.

“My daughter... no... please come back...” she sobbed and lay down on the floor while weeping. She remembered what happened to the previous goddess of fate.

Two hundred years ago, Goddess Moira fell in love with a human and conceived a child. The human wished to be with her and their child as a family. However, a goddess and a human were forbidden to be together and Goddess Moira was aware of the divine rule. To escape her responsibility as a Goddess of Fate and the strong desire to live normally and happily with the human she loved deeply and with their child, she seeks help from Destiny to remove the cursed thread of fate for her to become fully human.

Despite knowing the high risk of not coming back, she still pursues her desire to become human for the sake of her happiness. But in every action, there's a heavy consequence. Goddess Moira didn't succeed, and her soul, together with the baby in her womb, dissipated forever.

Now, Goddess Selene regrets not knowing her daughter's other plans. If she just knew, she would have stopped her with all her might. But it was too late. The feeling of regret is the thorn she could never, ever remove in her heart. If only she could rewind the time, but it was too late now because fate was their enemy. It was too late...

“Selene!” Dalmir quickly reached out to his wife the moment he saw her lying on the floor while weeping loudly and weakly. He hugged her and asked what happened, but Goddess Selene was too weak to respond. He saw a paper on the floor and reached for it, then read the contents. It was addressed to him and Selene. And the letter was from Alice.

Just like Selene, his hands trembled while reading the letter and, after reading, he also bursts into tears. He can't believe what he read. He, too, felt deep regret. A lot of what-ifs are running through his mind. As a father, he felt useless. It's his fault for not seeing his daughter's suffering. If only he didn't transfer the responsibility as the new guardian of the orbs to her, she wouldn't go at such length to free herself. But it was all too late now for regrets.

Five minutes before midnight, the council members of the gods gathered at the location Alice told them. They stood at the top of the highest peak of a mountain in the entire magic realm. The pressure of the wind was too strong and lightning was striking everywhere around the mountain. But no one uttered a word and just stared at nothing in particular. When they all learned that Alice went to the eternal unknown, the painful memory they tried to bury at the back of their mind resurfaced again. The history repeats itself abruptly that opens a deep wound in their hearts which was regrets. How could they accept such the same fate Alice went through that also happened to their beloved Moira? Now, they're convinced that being chosen to control the fate of all beings has a heavy consequence and a curse that couldn't be avoided.

When the blue moon turns to a green moon, the gates of heaven appear in front of them and open widely. The angels blew their trumpet to welcome them back, but they remained silent and still lost in deep thoughts. They entered the gate in a daze and all the angels stared at them with confusion. Are they not happy to be back? But seeing them at a loss and sighing deeply now and then, they let them be and some angels escort them to the castle silently. They wondered what happened to the council members.