Chapter 22 Kaira #2
Hades occupied the corner of the room, opposite of where I sat, glaring at everyone gathered around me.
It was becoming more and more apparent that he wasn't a fan of too many people and massive gatherings, and as his eyes once more flickered over me, I couldn't help but smile. The feeling was entirely mutual.
Elandra walked inside the room, carrying a stack of papers and parchments in her arms, grumbling the entire way toward the table, before she set them down.
The Furies were sitting on my right, while Typhon and Echidna kept staring at me, and I pretended I didn't see the curiosity in their eyes every time I looked at them. Artemis, on another hand, ignored my very existence.
Not that I minded. I didn't want to talk to someone who obviously didn't even want to be here, and I had a feeling her brother was the only reason she was here. Apollo kept trying to talk to Hades, who completely ignored him—just like everyone else.
The light from the firepit had managed to illuminate half of the room, but when Elandra spread one of the parchments across the table, a light above us suddenly turned on, allowing me to see what was in front of me better.
"A long fucking time ago, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had managed to take down their father, Kronos," Elandra began. "Now, I know this sounds like the beginning of a very bad story, but bear with me."
"Okay," I simply said.
"I won't bother you with dates, but I need you to understand how this island came to be. How we all became prisoners of this fucking place, and why it is so important for you to be careful. And for you to learn to control your power, Kaira."
Elandra sat on the chair opposite of me, just on the other side of the table, looking at the papers spread in front of her.
"Sometimes I forget how many years we've been on this Earth," she murmured, getting a couple of nods from the immortals seated around us. "And then other times I remember how painful, how bloody, our history is and I get angry all over again at those that were supposed to be our leaders."
My eyes found Hades immediately, but unlike before, he didn't seem so untouchable. None of them did.
I could never imagine what they all went through, what trapped them here. Elandra mentioned Demeter earlier, but all I could remember about her was that she was the mother of one of the Goddesses. Nothing more.
"Some of us were around for more than six millennia," Elandra added.
"Some, like me, a little bit less, but that doesn't mean we didn't see the empires rise and fall.
That doesn't mean we didn't see the injustices happening in front of our eyes, unable to do anything about it.
Because we were trapped. We are still trapped, but you could help us.
" She looked at me. "Since you came to the island you may have heard many different variations of what you are, Kaira, or what you're supposed to be, but truth be told—none of us actually know.
" I gulped. "You may think your life isn't yours anymore, but it is.
Your choices will either save us or curse us forever, which is why the entire Council thinks you should have the full picture before we start your official training. "
My muscles locked tight, anticipating the next blow, the next hard truth, but instead of destroying me with her words, Elandra spoke of a different time. A time that didn't belong to me, but to them. To these immortals sitting around me, trusting Elandra with their history.
"Many millennia ago, a Goddess walked on this Earth.
A Goddess of Spring, representing both joy and sorrow when those seasons changed.
Unfortunately," Elandra looked down at her hands, "she found herself in the middle of a war that was older than her.
She found herself bound to a God that loved her, that worshipped the ground she walked on, but that wasn't enough.
" I was transfixed, listening to the story, feeling every single word deep inside my soul.
Apollo looked at Hades whose eyes narrowed at Elandra.
"The day she died," Elandra said, clearing her throat, "so did the hope for a better future.
You see, Kaira." Elandra finally looked at me again.
"This Goddess was the daughter of a woman who gave her everything just to make her child happy, and her death…
Her death broke her, and by breaking her, our entire world surrendered to the darkness we are still living in now. "
"Who was the Goddess?" I asked quietly.
"It was—"
"Persephone." A masculine voice overtook the story, interrupting Elandra. My eyes flickered toward Hades as he spoke, seeing all the grief, the sorrow, the torture he lived with every single day. And I knew even without the words uttered and signs shown—he was suffering because of her.
"Yes," Elandra continued. "Persephone. Demeter cursed the Gods, sacrificing herself in the process, locking every immortal to this island.
To this wicked place between life and death, cutting them from their realms, from their homes, giving each a part of this land in the process they would rule over.
" Elandra kept talking, but my eyes couldn't leave Hades.
They couldn't leave the one God that, unlike before, wore his emotions on his face. The God that seemed about ready to flee from the room the more Elandra spoke, and just as she opened her mouth to share more, he moved away from his corner and stepped outside, taking my fucking soul with him.
Heads turned toward the entrance where Nox and Vesper still sat, not following him, but it took everything in me to stay seated. It took everything not to get up and follow him, because it was obvious this story, this curse, had more to it than what Elandra had mentioned.
"Ignore him," Artemis murmured, but the bite in her tone was no longer there.
Neither was the venom in her eyes as she looked at me.
"You need to learn the truth, Kaira. The truth about your heritage, and we can't waste a single second.
We can't wait for you to realize things on your own. Not right now."
My brow furrowed, my fists clenching in my lap when Grimm lifted his head, pressing his snout against my calves.
"Please," came softly whispered from my right, and as I looked to the side I could see the pleading look in Megaira's eyes.
"I promise you will understand everything, but you need to stay.
He will be okay. Trust me." And for whatever reason, her words had calmed the turmoil coiling in my gut, making it descend back into the dark parts of my soul.
Turning toward Elandra and seeing the wariness in her eyes, I knew I had made the right choice, even if it didn't entirely sit well with me. "Please continue," I murmured. "I want to know. I need to know."
Artemis nodded, a teeny tiny smile appearing on her face as Elandra continued talking.
"As I was saying." Elandra rose to her feet, standing over the parchment in front of her, and as I looked closer, I realized it was a map.
An ancient-looking map showing an island in the middle of the sea.
"Nevermere Island is split into five areas.
The Serpents Bloom, The Drowned Veil. The Stormkeep," she spat out, her finger stabbing into the map where the mountains seemed to be drawn, connecting the main island to a smaller one, "Zeus's domain. The Sanctum—"
"My domain," came from the doors. My head swiveled sharply, seeing Hades standing there again, between Nox and Vesper. "On the south side of the island, in the middle of the Umbra Forest," he added.
Elandra rolled her eyes as I looked back at her. "Yeah, his domain. And last." She looked up, spearing me with her eyes. "The Hollow." She pointed at the area not far from Hades's domain. "This is yours, Kaira."
My own eyes widened as I leaned toward the table, trying to see better. Roughly drawn caves littered the area, connecting it with Hades's domain, bordering the forest. "What do you mean, mine?"
"Your father was Thanatos, child," Echidna explained, making me turn toward her. Her serpent-like eyes dragged over my face. "The God of Death was never supposed to have an heir. He was never supposed to find a soulmate, either. It was never to be. But he did."
And it dawned on me. "My mother."
"Yes," she hissed. "Your mother. Daniela Vale. The seer. The mortal."
Wait a second. "A soulmate?" I asked, more confused than ever. "You can't mean literally." I turned toward the rest of the group, all of them looking at me expectantly. "Right?"
"We do mean it literally," Apollo added from his spot next to the firepit. "Gods and Goddesses were born with only half of their soul. Half with them and the other half with their soulmate."
"But the power Thanatos wielded was too big. Bigger than Zeus, bigger than Hades and Poseidon," Artemis added. "Bigger than any of us."
"But why?"
"Because he was the only one that could kill one of the Ancient Gods," Hades answered instead.
"He was the only one that could destroy me or one of my brothers, and that's why my dear brother," he practically growled, "killed the only God that could destroy him.
That could prevent him from getting all the power he wanted. "
My eyes filled with tears, realizing the death my biological father faced was not a simple death. It wasn't painless or quick. He must have suffered. He must have been tortured.