Chapter 25 #2
Celene shakes her head, giggling as if something I said was funny.
However, the sound isn’t like when I laugh.
No, it’s magical, drawing me, calling my attention even though she already has it.
“It was never yours. It was a gift to your mother,” she clarifies.
“She took it upon herself to give it to you. But it was never a choice amongst us.” Her lighthearted laughter turns into anger and frustration over the course of her speech.
And for some reason, all the emotion she’s hurtling my way takes root in my own.
“I’m simply just doing what I was told.”
“Since when do you do that?” she fires back.
I scoff, unbelieving that she would have the nerve to say that.
As if I had a choice in the matter. As if I wasn’t told that I somehow hold whatever key in a prophecy that was made up by the woman standing in front of me and her equals.
“Oh, my apologies, your highness,” I hiss, my tone lethal.
“There’s some weird shit going on down here with the people who are far from being all holier than thou.
” A force comes over me, and despite the warning look she points at me, I can’t bite my tongue.
“I’m sure you and all the other godly beings are more than aware of it, and yet none of you are doing a damn thing to stop it! ”
“You will do well to remember who you are speaking to.” Celene glides forward so fast dust flies behind her, swirling into the light her essence brings to the space, and in a blink of an eye, she’s only inches away from my face.
An ember sparks deep within me, and I take a step forward. “It would do you some good to remember what I’ve dealt with while you’ve been sitting up on whatever throne you have up in the clouds.” My voice remains steady, calm. Quite frankly, I’m undecided if that’s deadlier than the yelling.
She jerks back as if I’ve slapped her. In all actuality, I’m not wrong. There’s no doubt in my mind that everyone knows what’s going on down here. They clearly just don’t care.
“We can’t interfere,” she finally says. “The prophecy states—”
“Fuck the damn prophecy!” I cut her off.
“You claim to care so much about your people—which, from what I gather, seems to be a trend amongst the higher-ups in this realm.” Anger bubbles within, and I make the conscious decision to turn away, needing to calm down before I go all psycho killer on this goddess’s ass.
“But at the end of the day, all anyone cares about here is themselves. You all sit up there, watching the carnage rain, blood spill. You’re no better than the rulers on the ground.
” I keep my back to her, knowing if I were to face her right now, I’m not sure what kind of reaction it would elicit from me.
She takes a deep breath, and it’s like the room shifts to something calmer, but it seems to put me even more on edge.
“Kallie, I know that all of this has been challenging for you.” My arms fold over my chest, and I turn to face her, scoffing at her ignorance.
But she keeps going before I can get a word in edgewise.
“Let me speak, then you can say your piece.” My piece?
I’m not sure if I have anything left. All I do is nod once, and she takes it for what it is.
“When the prophecy was made, there was no telling who was going to fulfill it. It’s my understanding you’re still trying to figure out what it means to be a part of our world.
” She takes a pause, and again, I nod in agreement, indicating she can keep going.
“When you were born, your mother had a vision. It was like everything that we had questions about all came to fruition, and it made sense. Your mother was the most powerful oracle that I’ve seen in my lifetime.
” I push back the tears brimming in my eyes.
It hurts knowing I’ll never meet the person everyone was so fond of.
I keep my lips firmly pressed together, praying she’ll keep going, because I’m afraid if I had to speak right now, the tears would begin to pour, and I wouldn’t be able to stop them.
“At that point, it was set,” she continues. “And as much as your mother wanted to change it, she couldn’t. Nobody could. And it tore her up inside.”
Something inside me snaps. “Aren’t you guys the ones that produce the prophecy? What happened to divine intervention?”
“The fates chose you. Nobody—not I or the other gods and goddesses—would dare go against them.”
“I thought you were the end-all be-all. The fates are what exactly? Like, your boss?”
“In simple terms, yes.” The wall behind her pulses faintly once with a purple glow. “There wasn’t anything anyone could’ve done. Your fate, your destiny, was written as you took your first breath. Some would see it as a blessing.”
My arms quickly unfold and rest at my sides. The tension builds inside them, tumbling toward my palms as the anger grows, and I start curling and uncurling my fingers as a distraction. But it’s no use. The flames breach the surface and dance in my palm, but she doesn’t move, as if unfazed.
“A blessing?” I exclaim, rage embedded in my disbelief. “This whole thing has been a curse.”
“You might view it that way, and in some capacity, I can understand.” No, she can’t. There’s no way she could. “If your mother hadn’t done what she did—”
“I would’ve died a long time ago,” I deadpan.
“That’s not what I’m saying. Your mother loved you very much.
That is clear by the treason. She hid you for years, faked your death, Kalliope.
Don’t you understand? The prophecy never died out.
Somehow, it knew you were still with us, and you were going to be the one to save us all.
” Her words start getting quieter, eyes glazing over like she’s had an epiphany.
“This was all supposed to happen. Do you see that?”
Flames still at the ready, I give her a once-over before sharply shaking my head.
“You just said if you had stayed, you would’ve died.
Your mother didn’t hide you just to save you.
She did it to save us all.” She covers her mouth as the last word cracks.
The wall pulses again, brighter this time, and as if she didn’t see it the first time, her head whips to it, then back to me. “It’s been a pleasure, Kalliope.”
“Kallie,” I correct.
“There’s greatness in your future, should you choose right.
” Her hand grazes the gray stone behind her, and the lights spiderweb out.
Purple slithers over cracks, turning and twisting until it’s complete.
A beautiful fluorescent purple poppy is drawn, and as the bulb, the necklace I’ve never taken off, the one I felt so attached to all these years, lays waiting.
Celene reaches out and plucks it from the wall. The light slowly fades, and she suddenly looks up, as if the heavens are speaking to her. Actually, they probably are. Without another word, she glides closer and hands me the necklace.
Extinguishing the flames, I hold my hand out, and she gently places it, wrapping my fingers around the amulet as hers wrap over mine. “I don’t understand. You’re just giving it to me?”
“As you can imagine, I can’t say much, but yes. This is yours, and I—we—know you’ll take very good care of it.” We were literally just in a stand-off, and now she’s just going to hand it over?
“What’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch. Take it. You and your friends must be on your way. But I shall warn you, do not let that fall into the wrong hands, or else this would’ve all been for nothing.” Before my eyes, she vanishes, slowly fading, dimming until I’m alone in the cave.
Unfolding my fingers, I stare at the necklace I’ve stared at thousands of times, and without hesitation, I secure it around my neck, the weight feeling heavier than it ever has before.
I let out a long, steady breath, and my eyes shut, gripping the amulet in my palm as I soak in everything Celene said and allow it to take hold. I guess I relaxed a little too much, the effects of the exhaustion showing, because the wall between Voraxis and me slips open.
Kallie? Are you okay? His voice is laced in worry, and I feel terrible for shutting him out.
I’m okay.
The sigh of relief he releases skates down the bond and causes goosebumps to cover my arms. We’ve been trying to get through, but clearly we’ve been unsuccessful.
Fuck, how long have I been in here? I’m coming back. I look toward the way I came, thinking if all goes according to plan, I should be able to just walk back through.
I got the necklace.