Gaia snaps her eyelids shut and hesitates before speaking. “Fine, Nyx. If that is what it takes to make you happy, then consider it done. “She glances over her shoulder, nodding once. “We will no longer send celestials to your realm to eradicate the demons. But we will have no choice but to slaughter the ones who enter the Earth Realm to torment mortals. It is our duty. You know as well as I do that we could not stop even if we wanted to. It is what we were created by the Gods to do.”
Hekate’s eyes dart to the queen in shock and they stare at each other for a moment, then she nods and returns her gaze to me. “I will also command the witch covens to pull back, if it is truly what you want. I wanted to stay close because I believed I could convince you to come back to me.” Her eyes gloss over as a single tear slides down her cheek. “If there is no hope left for us, then I will let you go. I only hoped to one day bring you home.”
Home. I should laugh at her words. She took part in ensuring I could never again return home. Gods, how I would love to gouge those pretty eyes out of her skull. The Goddess of witches is dreadfully more pathetic than I realized, begging for someone who makes it perfectly clear they do not want them.
I cannot bear this torture any longer, the lies you are forcing from my lips. Please let me go!
“It would be wise of you to let me go, Hekate. I let you go so long ago that it is like our love never existed. I feel nothing for you. I have a home now, no thanks to you. A place where I belong. I will never come back to you.” I hold her gaze as she wipes tears from her cheeks, my lips curving up the moment my words break her, and she turns away.
I miss you. I need you. Please… you promised you would always have hope! You promised it was us against anything!
I note Gaia’s protective barrier of white light glimmering around her, and glancing at Hekate, the faint glow of her blue shield still stands. They have summoned me to form a truce, to form an alliance, or so they say, but they cannot let their shields fall in my presence. They will never trust me, nor should they, but for now, I need them to.
“We are not here today to discuss the past. We are here to look ahead to the future. Our future and yours as well, Nyx. Our futures are dim if we cannot find peace. I have seen it myself.” Gaia clasps her hands behind her back, letting her shield of protection fade away.
I should kill her now and end this. I should allow myself the vengeance I deserve for the way I was shunned and mutilated by their people, people I trusted with my life.
These are not my thoughts. This is not me.
Hekate’s blue shield glimmers and then fades away. “We only want what is best for the realms. What is best for our people. I am truly sorry for what has happened to you, Nyx, but if you have found happiness within The Underworld, then I truly am happy for you.” Blinking back tears, she sucks in a deep, trembling breath.
Tipping my head back, laughter pours from my throat in a high-pitched screech. The beastly women step back as the air around me stills, the glowing creatures and insects skittering away behind trees and in bushes. The lights in the river dim, even it having the intuition to be scared, an attempt to hide the divine light held within it. The light which will be mine one day.
I will never be happy without you, Hekate. I will fight this darkness until I take my last breath. I will not let it win.
“I do not want an apology,” I croon, gliding toward them on the tips of my toes, my power floating me on air as if I am weightless before settling my heels back on the plush ground. “I do not want acceptance or approval, not from either of you. What I want is for you to see me as I truly am. Who I was always fated to be. A queen. A creator of life. A ruler who has just as much power and authority as the both of you.” I run the point of my nail down Hekate’s cheek, smiling as she trembles beneath my touch. “My realm thrives because of me but it bleeds because of you. You have taken so much already. We do not need you. I do not need you.”
Gods, why can’t they see this is not me? I need you! Please, can’t you see how much I need you!
The poor, pitiful witch turns her back to me, lifting a hand to her face and sniffling quietly. My lips twitch but I force the smile away, wanting to get this over with and not have to look at them any longer. I am the queen of creation, so if a creation is what they want, a creation they shall receive. It will belong to me in the end, anyway.
The queen places a delicate hand on Hekate’s shoulder, her brows scrunching together and eyes narrowed on me. “I see there is a lot of pain here still, but we must let it go. The fate of our realms is in our hands, so we must try to work together. We must forget how we have hurt each other and face the path of healing.”
There is no such thing as healing. There is only suffering in silence and pretending the pain no longer exists, but it always exists. It only becomes easier to ignore.
“Are you absolutely certain we are making the right choice?” The false hope in Hekate’s eyes is gone.
Has she at last come to her senses and given up on her lover?
“A week ago, a new prophecy was written in the book of Gods and Monsters right before my eyes.” Gaia smiles as if she has never seen anything like it. “A new being who is connected to each of our realms must be brought to life. Peace will prosper one day thanks to her light.” Staring into the river, the water churns, the lights flickering and growing brighter. She kneels before it. “I saw her. I saw who she will become. A queen. A savior. The mate of someone very special to me. This is our destiny.” Dark eyes glance my way as the swirling colors in the river pulsate.
It is calling to us. This is our destiny. Mine.
“Mixing the blood of the Celestial Queen with the blood of the Queen of witches and the Queen of Darkness… well, what could possibly go wrong?” I step closer, unable to peel my eyes away from the pull of the divine light.
Everything will go wrong, and I will delight in the fiery downfall of the realms as I witness it all burn to nothing. If this being is important to Gaia and her realm, in giving her even an ounce of joy or hope, then I will gladly destroy it myself. Anything to make her pay. To make her hurt in ways she can never recover from, as she has done to me. She might foolishly believe this being will bring us together, but in the end, it will only make me stronger. I will have no need to destroy it. Everything I create ultimately bows down to me.
“If you think it is what must be done, then I will gladly offer my assistance.” Hekate kneels next to Gaia, two lying, heartless, goddesses in disguise, and as I look down upon them, I relish in the glimpse of the future I see of them kneeling at my feet, begging for repentance that will not be granted.
I might feel badly for them if I did not despise them so dearly. If they had not so thoroughly destroyed my entire life.
Lifting the bottom of my dress, I kneel on Gaia’s other side, my reflection rippling across the water and sending the light drifting away in fear. A wince of pain is followed by the scent of blood as Gaia drags her dagger across her palm. Hekate uses her own golden dagger wrapped in roses and does the same. Using the tip of my talon-like nail, I slice my skin open, letting the thick, black blood ooze out and drip into the water with theirs, mixing and darkening the crimson that leaks from their veins.
The water swirls and then our power rises, the divine light depleted as it floats above the now ordinary clear blue river. I cannot help but smile as the sound of large, fluttering wings made of flames, of divine light, greet us in the sky.
“Holy Gods,” I whisper.
“Holy gods is right.” Gaia’s words are barely audible over the crackling of flaming colors that somehow seem to outshine the sun.
