CHAPTER NINETEEN #2
I could start to make out the light in my vision, but the fogginess made it difficult to see anything. My body felt solid then, the pain in my forearm making its appearance again, except the shame of my failure pierced more agony than the blade had.
I blinked feverishly until my eyes finally cleared, revealing an open entryway inside a palace where I laid.
Walls of glazed glass surrounded me, spiraled staircases of the same fragile material at each side.
Light filtered through the walls from the outside, casting rainbows across the white stone floor.
There was so much beauty in Noctis’s realm, yet all I’d witnessed so far was failure. Even in beauty, there was a touch of pain. Nothing lovely came without cost.
How much had the god paid in blood and sacrifice?
Silence loomed in the manor—the kind that intentionally separated noise to keep a person on edge, festering in their own anticipation.
“Trauma reshapes our choices, redirects our futures, and rewires our minds.”
Finnegan’s voice could have shattered the frosted glass walls. I shuffled to my feet and faced the main council man, awaiting his decision to deny me the third trident piece.
“But we want to make sure it hasn’t weighed you down beyond repair,” he continued, stepping slowly forward to close the distance.
“I lost the first trial.” I let the words fall from my mouth like a painful confession.
“Break the chains.”
And Finnegan disappeared.
Frustration festered under my skin with the sudden changes in the setting, how I was thrown into trials without warning, and the disappearing of people without answers.
I scanned the large space, but it was empty. My eyes wandered past the low hanging chandelier through the floor-to-ceiling window. Clouds covered the ground that peeked through the hovering white puffs in green splotches.
So, definitely still in the Aetherkin Bound.
A crash echoed through the corridor. Then, the noise hit in rhythm, shaking the ground at the impact.
Hit, hit, hit. Hit. Crash.
One right after the other as if in sync. Metal clanked together as each crashing boom filled the castle.
Break the chains, Finnegan had told me. My eyes shot open in realization.
I jolted toward the thunderous clamor, but when I turned the corner, I froze at what stood before me.
My parents.
They thrashed against bulky, metal chains, spasming with rageful, starved hunger covering their features.
Their eyes locked onto mine and then widened as they sensed the dormant power in my blood.
I’d never seen them with legs before. Somehow, that terrified me even more.
It extended the reach they had on me—the ability for them to travel amongst the waves and the shore.
It was no secret they could, but it only lessened how safe I felt in the Terraguard Bound.
My mother’s iced over eyes recognized me first, a sickening hoarse scream escaping her mouth toward her daughter.
Her matted white hair reflected against the cool tones of the glass castle walls.
My father stopped yanking on the chains, but my mother was in one of her frenzies, thrashing toward me as if her very life and soul depended on reaching her daughter’s blood.
“I suppose you disappearing was your twisted way of saying thanks for everything we did for you,” my father spat.
His deep, rumbling voice followed me, gluing to my heart and soul.
His eyes frantically searched for my weak spots.
I knew his ways best. He always devoured my confidence before devouring my soul piece by piece.
All I ever wanted was for them to do better. To be better.
I couldn’t speak—couldn’t breathe. I was sure I would never see my parents again.
Would never allow them to drain the blood and life from me again.
Children are either molded into their parents as they age…
or repulsed, making promises they stay true to through adulthood.
And I would bend light, shatter mountains, and even rip out my own heart with a blade before I became the two beings before me.
My mother roared and tore me from my thoughts. Then, instantly, she stopped heaving on the chains that connected them both to a glass pillar. The irate woman’s eyes softened, even for a split second, and I looked back in time as if I were fresh in the moment.
I was nine again, sitting along the vibrant coral in the ocean’s depths. The warmth of my mother’s arm across my back seeped into my skin, reminding me of tender hugs. Reminding me of a time I didn’t have to fear for my life—or Evelyn’s.
My sister slowly lowered her head onto my shoulder as we looked out across the Silver Stream, the gray long-fin luminastrum that migrated toward the Ruschal Isles.
“I’ll race you to the air,” Evelyn whispered into my ear, careful not to allow our mother to hear.
I gave her no indication, only tore off through the water straight for the surface. I pushed my premature tail and fins hard, the tight muscles screaming in protest. Evelyn was close behind, straining to catch up.
I laughed, only fueling Evelyn’s fight. My sister reached for me, but I cackled and snorted when she completely missed.
When my entire body flew out of water, my fins began to slowly transition into my land form and then instantly switched back when I crashed back into the ocean.
My eyes adjusted back quickly, only to see my scolding mother watching with arms crossed.
“You didn’t even give me a chance this time,” she snapped, but her lips slowly began to tilt upwards in a smile. It was beautiful—the sheer happiness and love my mother carried towards my sister and I.
My mother loved me. But that’s what hurt the worst living through my parents’ addiction. They chose power over their children. It was a conscious choice in the beginning that spiraled out of control.
If only I knew how much my life would change the day the Ocean Mother first fueled that addiction.
The chains rammed into the ground.
Break the chains. The words replayed in my mind over and over.
Spit flew from my snarling, thrashing parents’ mouths. And I just stared.
We will find another way, darling. Leave. Your arm. The potion. Noctis’s smooth, deliberate voice filled my head in sudden urgency.
I startled. I didn’t realize I’d let the wall fall in my mind again, opening up the connection with the god. Nor did I realize he could speak to me through the Blood Tie.
Kick rocks, I attempted to send back in his direction, searching for the thread that tethered us. However, no answer was returned.
Blood splashed at my feet, dripping into my boots making the sensation between my toes wildly uncomforting. I lost blood too fast, my head whirring, and I reached out to steady myself against the closest glass pillar.
I gripped the vial potion inside my vest pocket from Neryssa. It hummed in response as if begging to be of use. I exhaled, the breaths ragged from my quivering mouth. Dizziness found me quickly. My fingers wrestled with the cork stopper separating the healing potion from lips.
Under trembling knees, I stepped closer to my mother, taking in her face. It might be the last time I ever saw her again.
Then, I shoved the vial into her cracked mouth, switching to my father next, making sure they devoured every drop—one by one, they fought against the help, but I stood firm in their recovery.
I saw the moment the magic began to work.
My parents’ cheeks filled in, the scabs along my mother’s arms sealed shut before my eyes, confusion replaced the insatiable hunger and frenzy.
When the chains exploded into millions of pieces, so did my parents.