Chapter 44
44
KASSANDRA
I ’m standing on my platform, but this time, there isn’t anybody else with me.
What did they call it? My soul?
Am I standing on my Gaiadamn soul ?
The landscape seems to be divided into four sectors. One quarter features a tall tree with orange, red, yellow, and brown leaves. The grass beneath it is brittle, the color alternating between green and brown as if it can’t quite decide which one it wants to settle on.
The second quarter is a winter paradise, with fresh snow on the ground—so white I can see my reflection on the surface—and the same tree as before, but this one is devoid of leaves. Its branches hang lifeless and skeletal.
The third section is covered in tulips. Red, orange, yellow, and even pink. They surround a large tree—the same tree—decorated in bright-green leaves.
The final quarter features perfectly manicured grass and a large tree.
The same damn tree.
It’s almost as if the universe is trying to depict the same area during the different seasons.
Both the moon and the sun hang suspended in the sky, their lights intertwining like long-lost lovers to bathe the landscape in a golden glow. Half the sky is a bright, cheerful blue, while the other is pitch-black.
Despite the varying weathers and temperatures, I don’t feel cold or hot. My feet are bare, but I’m able to stand in the snow with no pain. Able to turn my face up towards the sun without feeling the sweltering heat.
“My daughter.” The lyrical voice carries on the wind. It seems to envelop me in a cocoon of warmth.
“Gaia,” I whisper…and then immediately clamp my lips together when I realize I spoke.
I spoke .
That has only ever happened during my dreams with Raven.
“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, my daughter,” Gaia continues in her sweet, musical voice.
“What’s going on? Where am I? What’s happening?” Unease prickles along the back of my neck.
“You were meant to be the savior, but I’m terrified we just made a weapon instead,” Gaia says. “You were given many mates to help you through this journey, but it may not be enough. Nothing I do will be enough to fix this.”
Normally when I speak to her, she sounds…impassive. Ethereal. Almost bored. But just now, there’s a slight quivering in her voice, hinting at her fear.
Why does a goddess feel fear? What could’ve possibly caused it?
“I don’t know what you mean.” I spin in a mad circle, searching for her, though I know my efforts will be futile.
I have never seen her before, and I doubt I ever will. She’s as evasive as the moon sprinting from the sun.
“I know your elf told you how we came to be.” A wind dances across my face, and I can’t help but equate it to fingers caressing my cheek. Goose bumps rise on both of my arms at the eerie sensation.
“He… He told me about Order and Chaos. About how they fought. About how you and Thanatos combined your powers to put them to sleep.” I desperately search my memory for anything I may be missing, but I can’t think coherently, not with fear rampaging through my bloodstream.
“Hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, we combined our power to create a spell potent enough to keep them away.” Gaia sounds…sad. Despondent. Maybe even guilty. “And then one day, the magic began to change. Distort, you could say. When we went to check on Order and Chaos, we found that the magic had manifested into fae.”
“Wait…what?” I whirl around again, but like before, I don’t see anyone.
“Magic has a mind of its own, as your elf can attest to. It does what it wants, when it wants.” She chuckles wryly, but the sound holds no humor. “And it appears as if this magic wanted to take the form of a fae.”
“Of a fae,” I parrot blankly, a sick understanding twisting my stomach.
No. No. No. Nononono.
“Of two fae,” Gaia corrects. “A fae who embodies light, and a fae who embodies darkness. Both of whom were gifted the same magic— our magic.”
Her words don’t make a lick of sense. My head begins to spin with the onslaught of information being thrown at me. A splitting headache threatens to rip my brain apart.
“T-two fae?”
“A little boy and a little girl, both gifted the abilities to control both life and death.” There’s the slightest pressure of what feels like fingertips against my cheek, but it’s there and gone too quickly for me to be sure. “Your brother, Kassandra. Your twin brother.”
“W-what?”
This can’t be happening.
This can’t be.
“And your brother is not like you. He wants to awaken Chaos. He wants?—”
“What are you saying?!” I demand, my voice rising in pitch until it’s practically a scream. Tears flow down my cheeks, freely and unencumbered. “Are you saying that I’m not… That I’m not alive? That I’m just…excess magic?”
“Oh, my darling daughter.” Another phantom touch against my cheek. “You’re alive because you came from me. From me and Thanatos.”
“And I have a brother?” My voice cracks on that last word.
“He may have been your brother once upon a time, but he’s not anymore.” Gaia’s voice is infused with steel. “Your brother has been corrupted by Chaos, and he would sooner see you dead than partake in a family reunion.”
I feel pressure against the mark on my arm, feather-light, and I wince imperceptibly, pulling away.
“Who do you think gave you the Mark of Chaos in the first place?”