Chapter 7 Nyssa #2
“What? It was a good idea — to reinforce it — you know, make it harder to sever… at the end.”
My heart stuttered. Another quiet reminder of Arch’s doom — and my promise to save him from it.
Aphrodite padded over to him, her sandaled feet soundless on the white tiles. She said nothing, just grasped his hand and shared a moment of simple reassurance that somebody was there. That somebody cared.
I cleared the emotion from my throat. “The first part refers to me.”
Several faces turned, confusion etched into the creases between their brows.
“Well, more accurately, to Leander. Not many of you know this, but during Ares’ trial—”
“Filthy traitor,” Haras spat.
Several grunts sounded in assent.
I inhaled deeply, delaying the inevitable reveal of this darkest part of myself — knowing I ultimately had to. This was my council, and these, my most trusted allies and guides. It was time I actually trusted them with something.
Maybe not all of them, Velira inserted, still eyeing Hermes hungrily.
Maybe not all, I agreed.
Exhaling, I confessed in a rush, “When I killed Leander, my soul devoured his.”
“What?” Hestia asked, her petite face scrunching.
“What do you mean, child?” Athena asked at the same time.
Hermes rolled his eyes.
“Part of my powers — the death-wielding part… I don’t just kill. I devour. Their soul ceases to exist. They never make it to the afterlives. They become no shade, receive no judgement — they’re just… gone.”
Several jaws were slack, several sets of eyes blinked, mystified.
It took a moment for that information to be processed, but when it did…
Pandemonium followed.
I did not see who raged at me, nor who questioned what I claimed. I could not bring myself to step around the thick, violet leg, adorned in beautiful, glistening scales. Velira had stepped between it all, shielding me from the worst of their judgement, Aros and Evie doing the same.
A familiar icy feeling crept down my spine. My lungs tightened and my stomach dropped, tingles alighting my limbs. My lids slammed shut, trying to block it all out. My hands shook even as they leaked — viscous rivulets of black dripped from my fingertips to pool on the floor.
“Nightshade?” Caelus said from somewhere behind me, sounding oddly far away.
My ears rang. I squeezed my eyes tighter.
The darkness did nothing to reassure me. Not this time. I cried out as the feeling overwhelmed me. I screamed as I exploded.
Several shrieks pierced the din, and I cracked open my eyes to see naught but pure blackness. My magic leeched the air of all light, suffocating and cloying in its consistency.
Breathe, Velira shouted into the void that was my mind.
I whimpered.
Breathe, she tried again.
But my lungs would not comply.
Breathe, a second voice added. A voice I knew better than my own.
Charon.
I crashed to my knees in the midnight-filled room, tears streaming freely down my cheeks.
What did it say about me, that my own broken mind was trying to save itself with delusion?
Breathe, the voice said — only it no longer sounded like Charon, but had warped into the soothing, deep hum of my soul-bonded storm-wielder.
Caelus, I whimpered.
Of course. He had been my most constant reassurance since…
I’m here, he said.
A warm hand pressed against my spine, soothing me when words could not.
Look at me.
I turned into his embrace, and gasped at his glowing eyes. They were as bright as a flash of lightning — except for that halo of black — illuminating the concerned planes of his face.
“That’s it,” he whispered. His thumbs brushed the tears from my cheeks even as his head dipped, our foreheads meeting.
“In a moment, you’re going to have to put that mask back on, my love.
You’re going to have to pretend that was an intentional show of power — or they’ll shred you to pieces for it. ”
I swallowed roughly, nodding.
“You are brilliant. You are deadly. And you can do this, Nyssa.”
His steely resolve thrummed along our bond, lodging itself behind my breastbone, forcing my panic to the wayside.
Maybe I could. Just as I thought it, a spark of lightning flared from his fingertip into my cheek, searing the skin beneath.
I flinched and recoiled; he blinked, horror flashing through those bright eyes as the light faded from them. A sticky emotion replaced his resolve instantly.
Confusion.
He may not have meant to zap me, but the shock of it jolted me into awareness. I cast him one last long look before spinning on my heel, ready to face the backlash.
Step back, Vel.
The air shifted around me as she moved — but I knew she wouldn’t go far.
Now that I was in control of them once more, it took nothing more than a thought to have my shadows fading. The Parthenon’s chamber slowly returned to view — and so did its stunned council.
Half were on their feet, but all eyes were upon me.
Hestia was the first to speak. Her hazel eyes sparkled with mischief as she said, “Well, that was quite the show.”
Demeter, seated to her left, chuckled softly. “Yes,” she agreed, laughing louder. “Reminds me of the time Hades eclipsed the Olympian sun for an entire month just so Zeus lost his tan.”
Several chuckles echoed around the open space.
“That’s right,” Artemis chimed in. “I believe his words were: if I have to be pale then so do you.”
It felt like my snort eclipsed the others’ hearty chuckles, but no one seemed to notice. I surreptitiously wiped the tear in the corner of my eye. That sounded exactly like my father.
“So,” Athena interjected. “‘One vanished’...” she trailed off, slightly awestruck, slightly horrified.
“Yes.” I sighed, still slightly off-kilter. “Leander’s soul vanished because mine devoured it.”
Nobody was laughing any longer.
“‘One tethered’ refers to me,” Caelus broke in, shifting the attention to himself. “For those who aren’t already aware… last year, during the Fates’ trial, I severed my thread—”
Aph gasped.
“—and joined it to Nyssa’s.”
“But that would mean—”
“Yes,” he answered simply. “My fate is no longer my own. It is forever entwined with hers. And when her thread is severed…”
“You’ll both be lost to us,” Athena finished, no longer struck with awe, but instead, horror.
Neither of us answered. We didn’t need to. Nobody doubted the truth of Caelus’ words, nor the fate that awaited him when I died.
Throughout the rest of the council meeting, Aphrodite stared at us with tear-filled eyes. She was no stranger to loss, but something about the particular tragedy that was our love — and eventual demise — evidently pained her.
Leucia has given me a message from Aphrodite, Vel murmured.
Oh? What message?
“Don’t you dare fucking leave me too.”
My lips twitched into a barely-there smile.
Tell her: I don’t plan on ever leaving you alone.
I knew the message had been received when Aph smirked and soundlessly mouthed: Good. Bitch.
And I’d meant it, too. One day, Atropos would sever my thread and I’d leave these realms for the next one — but today was not that day. I hoped Aph had found peace by then, but more than anything, I hoped she’d found someone worthy of her love. Someone who loved her as soulfully as Caelus loved me.