The celestial runs toward us, and Kairos leans down, whispering in my ear. “Try not to stare or gawk too much over his looks. Mio is already overflowing with an abundance of confidence. He needs no more.” He laughs quietly and then straightens.
Is the big bad celestial jealous of what I might think of his friend? I shake my head at him and click my tongue as I turn back to Mio, avoiding a conversation about his possible jealousy. His first in command is without question a specimen to admire, for sure. As he smiles, the little dimples on his cheeks deepen and Mio always seems to be smiling. I think if I spent more time with him, we’d be good friends in no time. He radiates joy. He reminds me of Olivia and my heart aches thinking of how much I miss her.
“Hey Commander!” His voice is silky smooth and brimming with warmth, and excitement. He slaps Kairos on the back and then turns to me. “Nora. Looking as beautiful as ever, I see.” He winks, gently placing his hand on my shoulder and nodding toward the army. “We’re almost finished running through drills and then I can introduce you to everyone. I’m sure you’re dying to be free of conversation with this bore.” He motions toward Kairos with his eyes.
I can’t help but laugh. “That’s funny, I just told him earlier what a bore he is.” Placing my hands on my hips, I abruptly put on a serious face. “Please, Mio. Help me.”
He laughs and the sound is wild and carefree, and I laugh with him, ignoring the annoyance in Kairos’ eyes as he glares at us.
He clears his throat. “Forgetting your manners, Mio?”
“Shit. Right.” Mio bows his head immediately, all humor fading away. “Darkness guide me.” As he straightens, he flashes another wide smile my way. “See you soon, Nor.”
“Gods save me, prick.” Kairos spits, smiling after him as he walks away.
“What the hell was that?” A huff of confusion escapes my lips.
“Are you referring to the celestial mantra or that man child you just encountered?” He crosses his arms and his eyes light up as swords clang and soldiers spin through the air in circles, dropping to the ground faster than my mortal eyes can track.
“The thing you said to each other. What was that?” My eyes are glued to the celestials, admiring how stunning they are even as they fight.
I step forward to get a better look, mouth hanging open in awe.
“Darkness guide me. Gods save me. It’s our mantra.” He moves in closer, ignoring the soldiers and focusing only on me.
“What does it mean?” I clasp my hands in front of me, giving him my full attention as I wait.
“It means to follow darkness wherever it leads in order to conquer it. If we do just that, gods and goddesses will save us in the end.” He swallows, his fingers twitching at his sides.
“But you believe the gods have turned their backs on your people. That they abandoned you after casting you down to Earth. Do you believe they’ll still save you if a time ever comes where you need their help?” My heart races as I consider the possibility that maybe they wouldn’t save them. That maybe they would again let them fall.
He inhales deeply. “We have no choice but to believe. Faith. Fate. Destiny. All of it is what keeps the celestial realms going.” Looping his arms around my waist, he leaps into the sky without warning, and I scream.
His laughter is short as he peers down at the celestials. “Look at them. Look how amazing they are. They’re determined and devoted to their faith even with all we’ve been through. After all we’ve lost. I won’t ever be the one to take that away from them no matter what I might believe.”
I gasp in awe as the soldiers suddenly get into a new formation. Their wings are spread wide as they form a circle of protection around those in the center while some of them stay outside the barrier acting as the enemy trying to push through. They don’t get through. Their wings shield the ones in the center so fiercely I can’t even see them there at all. A shield of darkness made of wings. It’s beautiful.
“What if their wings were hurt during battle? Or worse, what if they lost them completely?” My mouth hangs open as I watch the rows and rows of celestials practice the move, barreling toward the enemy as one to force them back or knocking them on the ground.
Kairos’ wings shift and flap and then we drop down lower, giving him a better view while he floats on air and watches his Dark Legion in action. “Our wings typically heal as quickly as our bodies.” He takes a deep breath. “Celestial daggers will kill us no matter where we’re harmed, but holy fire on our wings mutilates us. It keeps a celestial alive to suffer an eternity of feeling the loss. It’s like losing a limb in a traumatic way. I’m not sure mentally one could ever truly heal.” Noticing the horrified look on my face and my loss for words, he gives me a small, reassuring smile. “As far as any of us know, there was only one who possessed that kind of power. A god or goddess. Like all the others, we don’t remember what they look like or even their name, only that they existed. They could be dead for all we know. Holy fire isn’t a power anyone else has ever wielded.”
“It has happened before…” I murmur more to myself than him, but he nods his head anyway.
“Only once. To Nyx,” he replies, and as my boots hit the ground a wave of nausea crashes into me at the mention of her name.
My body feels weightless, like a shell of a person stands here as my mind drifts somewhere far away. The saying ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’ seems fitting for what the gods did to Nyx. She isn’t going to just give up on me. She’s going to do whatever it takes to get me under her spell, to use my power against the ones she feels wronged her. The ones who stood by as the gods took her wings. Her coming after me can’t only be about some crazed thirst for power, it must be about much more. It’s about vengeance and destroying the realms like they destroyed her. Being here makes me a danger to this entire realm. She’ll find a way in. She’ll find a way to hurt the ones I care about until I have no one left. Until there is nothing left.
Celestial warriors shake my hand and greet me one after the other. They all say ‘darkness guide me,’ so I reply with ‘gods save me,’ the way I’ve learned I should. One after another after another. As soon as one of them step away, I forget their name. There’s so many of them. I repeat the few names that stood out in my mind, hoping to at least remember a couple. Josephine. Bailey. Ananthe. Fuck, I’ll forget those too as soon as the next wave steps forward to greet me. The emblem on their chests, the wings with the sword down the center, glistens and mocks me as they stoop to bow at my feet and welcome the Divine One home. The Divine One who will one day undoubtedly be their undoing once Nyx gets ahold of me.
I want to go home. To my real home. This is all suddenly too much. I have no energy left and my head is throbbing by the time we finally head back to Kairos’s home.
“Why are we not flying? It would be so much faster,” I groan as we make our way up the grey brick path leading to his house at the top of the hill.
His pace is slow and steady, unrushed and unworried, as he loops my arm through his and places his warm hand on top of mine. “It would be faster, yes. I thought you might like the fresh air and the silence after so much stimulation. I know it was a lot meeting each of your soldiers. I felt your anxiety and fear, but you held it together so well.”
I freeze, forcing us to a standstill as I process his words. “Kairos, what if I can never be her again,” I breathe out, unlooping my arm from his. “We don’t know if I’ll ever have my memories back. I might never remember these soldiers or this realm or even myself.”
He takes my hand, caressing the top of it with his thumb. “I know you’re struggling to believe any of this without your memories. I can’t even begin to imagine being in your shoes, but as soon as you stepped into the Realm of Darkness, we all felt the rush of divine light entering and your soul coming home. You are Hemera.” He brushes the back of his fingertips across my temple and then down my cheek and smiles. “Nora and Mera are not two separate people or beings. You are one and the same. All you’re missing are your memories, and they will be returned to you one day. We just need to have a little faith.”
