Vivian #2
I wanted to cut in, say “I am, bitch, who are you,” but I couldn’t risk harm to Nurghle by sassing this woman. So, I stayed reluctantly silent.
“Twenty-eight years ago, ma’am. Your child fathered by the kingpin of New York’s underground. He brought you that castrated sacrifice and introduced you to the white powder you enjoy inhaling through your nose.”
“Oh, him.” She cracked a half-smile. “How time flies. Is he still alive? I quite enjoyed his company. Perhaps we can summon him again?”
“I will inquire.” Arella bowed her head.
“Well, you know the protocol. Send her somewhere.” Eva flicked her fingers at me.
“Send me somewhere?!” I couldn’t believe the gall of this woman. “What does that mean?!”
So much for staying safely quiet.
Arella shot me a corrective glare, and I knew I’d fucked up in the exact way I was trying not to. I learned from my father that pissing off the powerful sociopath in the room was never a good idea, buuuuut… here I was.
Eva’s air of nonchalance dissipated. She sat up in her seat and ran her hand through the hair of the man situated between her legs as if he were upgraded from furniture to dog. “Bite your tongue, child. Or I’ll have them put you back on Earth to waste away.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Arella quickly cut in, grabbing my wrist and yanking me back into the marble hallway. The heavy doors slammed behind us.
“You’re trying to tell me that’s my mother?!” I shouted after her as she hurried down the right wing, forcing me to break into an awkward jog to keep up.
I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t. Except…
she knew who my father was. The head of the city’s underbelly.
Rich. Powerful. Evil. I had done everything I could to separate myself from him, not that he’d fought for my return once I was gone.
Maybe he preferred not having a daughter to think about when he was busy building a dark empire.
I’d spent most of my childhood locked away in my bedroom anyways, trying to avoid stumbling upon the illicit activities of daddy gang leader and his morally black employees.
“Yes. You are a demigoddess,” Arella said with an exasperated breath. Her tone was factual, as if this conversation was routine for her. A routine that I threw a wrench in by acting out.
A laugh sputtered past my lips. “Sure.” It was too absurd to believe, but I played along. “And this woman is sending me where exactly?”
“To one of her fields, where you can heal from your Earth poisoning.”
“Earth poisoning?”
“Now that your body is coming into its full power, it can’t tolerate that planet anymore. You will have to be relocated, or you may succumb to the illness.”
“Full power,” I snorted. “I vomited four times today. I can barely stand sometimes.”
“Correct, Vivian. Goddesses aren’t meant to live on Earth once fully developed.
Your body chemistry needs a new environment to thrive.
I’m sending you to a planet called Trebianna to live the rest of your days.
Its atmosphere has proven acceptable for your sisters.
” She muttered the last sentence quietly, seeming to second guess it as the words left her lips.
Sisters? I was an only child. At least, the only one my dad bothered to acknowledge as his. I certainly had my theories about some of his staff’s pregnancies after seeing them leaving his office flushed all the time.
“Then why didn’t she send me there when I was born?!” That sounded much better than growing up in a mansion built on innocent blood.
“So your father, as your parent, could raise you on his planet. You are not a full god, you can’t live in Elysium with your mother.”
“Raise”… That was one word for it. These people should’ve sent just my infant body to wherever the fuck Trebianna was. That man was never meant to have kids.
Arella opened a more modest door, stained wood with copper fixtures.
I stepped into an office lined by bookshelves and wall-to-ceiling lattice windows.
She seated herself in a cushioned chair behind a large walnut desk, immediately putting pen to paper on the carefully laid out documents before her.
I self-consciously seated Nurghle and myself in the chair across from her. The surface was cold on my bare ass. Gross.
“Can I have some clothing? Or a blanket?” I asked.
She didn’t reply, silently unscrewing the lid to an object I couldn’t quite see. “Give me your hand.” She held out her palm expectantly.
Not sure why I was cooperating, I shifted Nurghle into one arm and reached out to her.
Before I could register what she was doing, she pricked my finger with a needle and pressed it into a glass petri dish.
The shallow liquid clouded red for a moment, then turned a deep blue. I withdrew my hand in surprise.
Arella opened the book to her left, flipping through page upon page of pigment swatches that were grouped together by color.
I watched as they flicked under her thumb.
Cool-toned reds, warm-toned reds, muted reds, pinks, purples…
She skipped ahead to the dark blue section.
“Let’s see…” she hummed, dipped a small strip of fabric into the liquid, and held the color swatch next to each square.
“Looks like your new home is in the mountains of Cyciciah.” She wrote something down in a leather-bound notebook.
“Home?” That word caught my attention. Afterall, I was in the market for one of those now that my rundown flat had been spoken for.
“The field will take care of you. Stay there as long as you can.” She paused quickly, catching herself in a thought.
Her brow furrowed. “So that your Earth toxicity symptoms abate. You’ll recover faster within its borders,” she explained, continuing her scribbling.
“The field in Cyciciah grows blackberries from your home planet, they’ll sustain you adequately.
The water is pure to drink. The weather in that region is extreme, but the field will provide shelter for you from the worst of it. You will be taken care of there.”
This field sounded like built-in stability. And it was just for me? As was determined by a blood test? My heart pounded. That sounded like something that I could call mine. My DNA claimed it.
“Despite your behavior in the throne room, you are taking the news well,” she observed.
“I didn’t have much going for me on Earth,” I shrugged. “Can Nurghle come with me?”
She looked at the cat in my arms. “If the beast managed to port with you the first time, I don’t see why it wouldn’t a second time.”
“Alright. Then… port away.” I squared my shoulders. This was going to hurt if it was anything like last time, but I was more than willing to rip off the bandage.
New—hopefully permanent—home, here I come.
She raised an eyebrow, surprised by my compliance.
“This is a guide to get you settled.” She passed me the small notebook she had been writing in.
“It will coach you through the basics. Once you finish reading it, the book will disintegrate. Don’t be surprised.
We don’t need this kind of information floating around in that world. ”
I took the journal, flipping through the first couple of pages curiously.
It might as well have been titled “So, You’re a Demigod.
Now what?”. The front page contained my name, regional information, and a pronunciation guide.
Sih-see-shee-ah. Treh-bee-on-ah. The wet ink smudged under the edge of my thumb as I flipped to the next page, a table of contents. Earth poisoning, powers, reproduction…
“Any questions?” She began to stand.
“Tons… but I’ll stick to asking again for some clothing if you don’t mind. I’d rather not port to a random planet butt-ass-naked.”
“It will disappear once you port. Only lifeforces can move between realms.”
I didn’t love the idea of showing up in a strange world nude, but it was fine. I was scrappy. I’d figure something out once I got there.
Arella walked towards a large amber crystal situated on an otherwise empty table against the window. Dust sparkled in the air around it, the endless golden wheat field filling the backdrop.
“Ready?”
I pet Nurghle and nodded. Sorry, buddy. This is going to suck.
“Expect a strong zap.”
She touched the crystal and that bright light and sharp burn of electricity returned, ripping me apart and sending me into my next life.