“No, nope, nu-uh, not a chance!” Edmund ranted. “That thing is not allowed anywhere near him.”

Sebastian sighed. “Ed-”

“No! We have no idea what it will do to you!”

“Ed-”

“It could kill you instantly- or fill your body with unbearable pain- or start a fire- or teleport you somewhere!”

“Eddie!” Sebastian snapped, finally catching the other teen’s attention. “It won’t hurt me. Remember my dream?”

“Which one?”

“The last one, where the message finally got through to me. I touched the necklace and the voice was finally clear. True, we won’t know what will happen if I touch it know, but I need you to trust me on this.”

Edmund looked very conflicted, while Seb kept his gaze steady and everyone else elected to stay silent. Sebastian felt happy to know he cared so much but this felt like something he needed to do. His instincts were practically pushing him to touch the artefact. If Ed tried to stop him, then he didn’t know what he’d have to do.

“You’re sure about this?” Edmund asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Seb gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. “I am. Will you let me?”

“...If things go south, I’m going to destroy that thing.” Lydia and Persephone tried to interject then, because the artefact was very old and precious, but Edmund just narrowed his eyes at them and repeated. “If that thing hurts him in anyway, I’ll tear it apart, melt the pieces, and sell them online as cheap paper weights.”

Sebastian smirked. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

“You’re one hundred percent sure about this, Sebastian?” Hayden asked.

Seb looked at everyone, noting the concern they each had for him, and gave his best reassuring smile. “I promise, I’m sure. I’ll be alright.”

Lydia hesitated a moment, then held the box out towards him. Sebastain got up from the couch and walked over without any indication of fear, despite the feeling of his heart beating out of his chest. He touched the wolf right between the eyes and their glow seemed to brighten until Seb realised... he was in a library?

He blinked once, twice. Yep, he was no longer in his living room. He panicked for a moment at the thought he had been teleported to some wired location, but noticing there was nothing dangerous around him at the moment, he relaxed. Just a little.

The room was tall and cylindrical, like some kind of tower, with bookshelves lining the walls and staircase after staircase, connecting floor after floor, leading up and up until they came to the ceiling. The ceiling was shaped like a dome and made nearly entirely out of glass, allowing a beautiful view of the night sky. Except this wasn’t the night sky that Sebastian was used to. There were stars that danced around each other, stars that flew across from one point to another, and instead of a midnight black-blue backdrop, the sky was a magnificent blend of deep purples and blues. The most outstanding detail however were the three moons that seemed to be slowly circling. A small red one, a silver one, and a large blue one.

“This can’t be on earth,” Sebastian said to himself.

“Well, it is and it isn’t.” A squeaky voice said from behind Seb.

He jumped in fright and nearly tripped as he turned around to see who’d been speaking. The person was around the height of a ten-year-old child, but the laugh lines on their face and stark white hair indicated that they were much older. They smiled in amusement it seemed and lifted their hands in mock surrender.

“Apologises. I haven’t had company in quite some time.”

“Right. What- who are you?”

They shrugged. “I have had many names. It changes depending on who I serve. However, you and your friends have been addressing me as the artefact.”

“You’re the artefact?”

“Yes. Well, almost everything here is the artefact, I’m just the manifestation of consciousness. That's neither here nor there though. You could just call me Arte for short. I think the artefact is a bit of a mouthful.”

“I- Okay. Arte... Why am I here? Where even is here?”

“Second question first, this is a pocket dimension which stores knowledge and various treasures of the past Moon Champions. And, to answer your first question, you are here because you are the latest champion.”

“Me?”

Arte nodded.

“How? I’m just an ordinary human.”

Arte frowned. “No, you are far more than that. I can feel the magical energy pulsing inside of you, and as an enchanted artefact, I am never wrong about magic.”

“The what inside of me?” Sebastian questioned, looking down at his shirt as if searching for some kind of spill or mess that would explain Arte’s strange words.

“Hmm, it seems I will have a lot to teach you. That’s alright though, it will be nice to have a student again.”

“I think you need to explain things properly to me. How am I a ‘Champion of the Moon’?”

Arte shrugged. “Your heart of course. You are someone who loves with their whole heart. Selfless and kind to the point you would endanger yourself to protect others. You are also brave and smart and have a high level of empathy that helps you to comfort others. But, most importantly, you chose to join a pack. Non-wolves do not commonly bond with wolves, let alone in such a strong way as you have with your Alpha. I don’t know the fullness of your story, but I know a bond when I see it, and yours seems bound by the heavens and earth.”

Sebastian was rendered absolutely speechless as he absorbed those words. He had magic, he had a bond with Edmund, and now he was a ‘Champion of the Moon’. It made no sense yet he couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why it was untrue. Hell, he’d been through so much over the past month, what’s this when compared with everything else.

But this wasn’t Edmund going through some kind of change. It wasn’t finding out he worked in a magical shop with a vampire and a ghost. It wasn't discovering that Luke was also a werewolf, and facing horrifying abuse from the people who were meant to protect and love him. It wasn’t learning that he had a grandmother, or his parents needing to leave suddenly because of an emergency.

Was this somehow connected to that? Maybe not the artefact, but the apparent magic inside of him. Was his father magical? Is that what his mom and Nick were being so tight lipped about?

“This is very overwhelming, I suppose.” Arte said gently, pulled Sebastian out of his thoughts. “Perhaps you should explain things to your friends then come back again later?”

Sebastian nodded. “How- how do I...?”

“How do you get out? Simply close your eyes and will yourself back to your body.”

Sebastian nodded then did as he was instructed. He felt his limbs almost get heavier, as if there had been a sudden shift in gravity, then he opened his eyes and blinked. He was back and the artefact had stopped glowing.

“Fuck.”