33
I blink as the demon blood running through my body awakens me. I wash my face and brace myself on the sink. I review all of Lavian’s instructions. Today, I will leave this godforsaken hell. The thought makes my heart pound against my ribs.
Whatever happened between Darya and me over the past weeks, no matter how good I felt drinking his blood, I have to end it now. I can’t succeed if I’m not fully focused.
So, I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them, the reflection in the mirror before me gleams with determination.
Darya oversees the entire cave system, so I need to distract him when the last rays of the sun dip below the mountains. They haven’t invented clocks here, but I’ve spent enough time underground to know exactly what time of day it is.
I need to divert Darya’s attention, and I know how to do it. I’ll spar with him and then attack in a fit of rage. I might even cut myself, so he gives me his blood and toys with me. I’ll figure it out. But at that point, I won’t be myself anymore, so I need to find the dagger first.
I don’t have much time. Lavian said I’ll find the knife where my memories are .
There’s one person who can help me decipher this.
I tie up my hair, put on a fresh jumpsuit, and apply some purple lipstick.
My hands shake as I glide the color over my lips.
This gesture always helped me survive my days in the human world.
Now, I have to survive here too. For the first time in my life, I want to fight, but this is when I’m most likely to fail.
I won’t give up – a thought that solidifies like my lipstick. I step into the room, place my hands on my hips, and just stare. An idea sparks.
Alright. I’ll be a fucking Rapunzel.
I strip all the bed linens and decorative cords tied to the bed, knotting them as tightly as I can and securing them to the sturdy bed frame.
When I’m done, I toss it out the open window.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t reach all the way down.
I’ll have a big drop, and the bat-sized demons patrolling in the distance might easily spot me. But I have to try.
I grip the rope and stand on the ledge, taking a deep breath. It’s like abseiling. Slowly, I put my full weight on the rope, and once I’m sure it will hold, I start descending.
I dangle several meters from the dark-scaled stone tower, the black stones barely offering my feet any purchase.
I keep reminding myself that I’ve grown stronger, but my muscles burn as if thrown into a fire.
My heart pounds in my throat. I hurry while trying to stay steady.
I ignore any creaking, and the rope does hold.
. I can’t stop. The dragon-scaled tower reflects a green light, just like Mathys’s eyes.
I can’t let him down. I can’t abandon the other children.
It would be like me abandoning my brother.
Still, I mess up, swaying too much. The rope starts to thin, and with every descent, I feel the fabric tearing. Just a bit more, I beg, but the material doesn’t listen, giving out just before the end, and I fall about ten meters.
My ankle takes the brunt of the impact, and a terrible crack is followed by pain. I scream out. So much for my stealthy escape. My foot dangles limply, the pain so intense I don’t dare touch it.
Then suddenly, the pain lessens. I’m stunned. Darya’s blood is still in me, and I feel the bone slowly knitting together. The healing burns; I press my hand to my mouth and pound the ground with my fist. I don’t have time to wait for a full recovery, so I stand.
I straighten up, turn, and freeze. Hundreds of demons are staring at me hungrily.
I try to appear calm, not showing how terrified I am. Some drool in human form, others just smile and lick their lips. Their eyes gleam with the desire to tear into me.
I straighten up.
“What do you want?!” I snap at them. “Get out of my way, or you’ll have trouble with the Kraldem! Don’t you remember how he slaughtered anyone who so much as touched me? How he’s torturing his favorite mermaid underground right now?”
I spread my arms to make myself appear larger, but I still feel small among the crowd. My words make them retreat to a respectful distance. I start walking; I’ve seen them too many times in my dreams to fear their appearance.
People are the same way, only masked by their rosy skin.
I limp forward, forging a path through them. I can’t walk straight. A shattered ankle can’t heal quickly.
Inside the castle, there is no courtyard, with only towers making up the structure. I have no idea what rooms most of them contain. I walk along the wall, entering the cave system in the mountain. I pause.
Which way now? The tunnels are so dark I can never hope to navigate them. I close my eyes. I have to start moving.
It feels like a rope is pulling my chest to the right. I blink. What the…
I close my eyes again and feel the tug once more.
I don’t understand what’s happening, but there’s no time to figure it out. I follow the pull and stumble through the cave system to the gate I know well.
When I open it, I can’t believe I’ve found the mirror garden.
Maybe I should worry more about the feeling in my chest. Perhaps I should also worry about how easy it was to find my way here, but I don’t have time for that now.
I go straight to Pandora, ignoring the other mirrors, and tap on the glass. No response.
“Pandora,” I say, closing my eyes. “You have to help me! I need to find the key to the Gates of Heaven!”
Fog swirls behind the glass, but the girl’s figure doesn’t appear. As in the past few days, she doesn’t deem me worthy of a response.
“Lavian is coming for me today,” I say, hoping the angel’s name might provoke a response.
“He’s taking me out of Filizi, to Herebu.
This is the last time we can talk. If I succeed, I can open the Gates of Heaven and end the suffering.
Pandora…” I continue slowly, wanting her to hear every word.
“You were created to be deceived. They had no right to do that. But I was born, and somehow, I have the power to change everything. Defy the gods with me! Don’t be the one who was defeated.
Be the one who takes revenge on them! Show them that, although you were created for a predestined fate, you can pick up the pen and write your own story! ”
My face is almost pressed against the mirror. I sigh as the white mist behind the glass thickens, and the surface becomes fluid, as if stepping onto water.
I fall through it and find myself in Pandora’s garden.
The colors and tranquility numb me. In the distance, harp music plays, drawing me closer.
At the source, a pale blue stream trickles beside a girl with copper-red hair.
She doesn’t look up, but she knows I’m there.
I feel her attention shift from the instrument to me, like a bee towards flowers.
The hibiscus blooms beside me blaze from pink to red.
I realize I’ve touched the plant, and to confirm, I run my finger along a pale white datura flower.
It too bursts into flames, red streaks covering and then completely masking the former light shade.
The color of restlessness, exactly how I feel.
“Pandora,” I whisper to the girl.
“Why have you come?” she asks coldly.
“You know why I’m here, and I know you want to help me,” I say, surprising myself with how confident I sound.
A sharp pluck of a string responds, a wild melody breaking free. It doesn’t match the garden’s calm. Pandora looks at me. Her date-colored eyes are framed with red streaks. Has she been crying?
I take a step forward.
“Did someone hurt you?”
Pandora laughs mockingly.
“As if you care.”
“I do care.”
Her arched eyes narrow to thin lines, then relax, accompanied by a sigh.
“Since you left, I’ve been thinking about what you said. If they had told me what awaited me, what would I have chosen?”
I swallow hard. I look at the beautiful girl’s silky face, then stare at her vibrant hair color.
If Pandora was indeed created by Hepotis, the gnome did an excellent job, but it means she existed before the birth of angels and demons.
She’s older than Darya, though I still haven’t figured out how old or where the Demon King comes from.
Is Kripot from the same world as humans? Or was he also a god?
This world is full of details I’ve barely considered. I blame a pair of gray eyes, along with myself. I shake my head. I’ll get answers to everything, but not now.
“I’m sorry. Truly. I shouldn’t have said that. I… honestly don’t know why I did.”
The girl nods after a moment, as if she’s been pondering it for a long time.
“You’re looking for the dagger.”
My heartbeat quickens.
“Do you know where it is? What it looks like?”
Pandora shakes her head.
“Only the feathered ones know where it is.”
For a brief moment, I wonder why Pandora doesn’t call them angels.
“Lavian said I’d find the dagger where my memories are.”
Pandora’s eyes light up as the sun breaks through the clouds.
“You really haven’t figured out what that means yet?”
“I wouldn’t be here if I had,” I say, suddenly feeling a surge of hope. “So, you know what it means!”
Pandora nods, then her voice deepens to an unrecognizable level. The hair on the back of my neck stands up as she speaks.
“Tell me, Lotte,” she sings. “Would you rather remember, or forget?”
My body goes still.
Of course. Léthé asked me this when she nearly drowned me in the bathtub. Every time a child transformed, the mermaid brought forth a river from the ground, each one lighter than the other. The River of Remembrance.
I shake off my paralysis.
“Thank you, Pandora! Do you know how I can find the source of the rivers?”
“Just go deeper into the tunnel system. Your blood will show you the way,” she says softly, her voice returning to normal.
My blood surges, hot air rapidly filling my chest. I nod quickly and turn to leave, but Pandora’s hand grasps my wrist.
“Memories are dangerous things, Lotte. Go too deep, and you’ll be lost in them forever!”
She doesn’t let go until I nod slowly. I know what I’ll find, or rather who, and my heart clenches, but Mathys’s eyes flash before me. No. No one will go through what I did. No one will lose their sibling again.
“I have to do it,” I whisper, and for one last time, I look around. Now I know what’s missing from this garden.
“You don’t have a green apple tree.”
Pandora’s eyebrow arches on her sunlit face.
“They don’t grow here.”
“Pity,” I say. “Their fruit has a beautiful color.”
I turn away from her, but Pandora stops me again.
“Lotte! When you’re there, pay attention to the details!”
She says no more, and although I want to ask what she means, the mirror expels me.