Chapter 37 - Home #2
“Evelyn had my memories erased. She thought it was best to cancel Kristyon from my life, for my own good and my brother’s—and I forgave her a long time ago.
She told me everything after my first mission when I accidentally ended up on the wrong side of Horigos and met Kris for the first time.
Evelyn never confirmed it, but I believe she’d sent me there on purpose… ”
I narrow my eyes, taking his rediscovered will to talk like an invitation. “What happened?”
Galen sighs loudly, pressing his lips together, “You’re not letting this drop, are you?”
“Nope.” Something warm sparks in my chest when his voice regains some of his natural confidence. His laugh is more like a low rumble in his chest that makes my heart flutter.
“Fine. Ventiol was still called Sector 43, and I was sent here for a quick reconnaissance operation. There were rumours about some Rogues roaming around the gentrified areas and causing turmoil. I only had to locate them and report back to my superior.”
“And..?” I invite him to continue, waving a hand in his face when he pauses too long.
“And I never found them because Tabitha captured me.”
My jaw drops.
He shakes a lock of hair off his face, lowering his eyes. “Funny, eh?”
“Shocking that you’re still alive.”
“Well, she didn’t find me by accident. Evelyn told her exactly where I’d be.
Tabs had fun polishing knives in front of me for a few hours while I was tied to a chair in the kitchen.
But then she introduced me to Kris, and my memories unlocked the moment he started talking nonsense about feeling connected to me, as if we were mated souls, destined to be together and save the world.
” His gaze softens. “Until I threatened him to punch him once I had the chance, and Tabitha had to step between us, amused but also running out of her already thin patience. That’s when Kris told me he was my brother—the good-looking one. ”
An uncertain smile tugs at my lips. There he is again, my Galen, a perfect knot of rules and compliance, that switches into someone too passionate to control himself when people he truly cares about are in danger.
“Do I want to know if this is now the right side of Horigos?” I step closer.
Galen tilts his head, looking at me sideways, hiding his hands in his pockets. “Have I overestimated your little brain, Crimson?”
I drop my smile and slap his arm, but he doesn’t flinch or move. Instead, he leans his back against the tree. Waiting.
“It’s not that easy,” I begin. “How am I supposed to pick a side when everything around me seems to change every time I blink? I was a nobody until a moment ago, and now you’re telling me that my birth-father is someone I’d gladly throw off a cliff, and that your brother is very much alive and very much in danger because of me and my lunatic father.
And let’s not forget the little detail that I’ve been living the same pathetic attempt to destroy part of your family for who knows how many times— ”
“About ten times,” Galen states, counting on his fingers.
“Ten? Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure,” he bobs his chin twice. “I was there every single painful time.”
His last words snap something between us. The last thread that so desperately tried to connect us—broken.
His eyes linger on my face, searching for a reaction. They’re the only moving part of his body, confirming that he is still alive and is not slowly merging with the tree.
As Tabitha did with me earlier, I feel like he’s treating me like I’m some feral animal ready to jump at the slightest sign of threat. But he’s feeding me minuscule pieces of truth one at a time—the more I chew, the hungrier I get.
“So, where’s the rest of you? It can’t only be you, Tabitha, and the others fighting this war. Fighting Roden…” I point at the building that gleams in the sunlight.
A flash of pride sparks in his eyes, and he smirks. “I did teach you well. I could probably stay here, just looking at you, until you get to the bottom of the story on your own.”
“No digressions,” I warn him.
He throws his arms out before crossing them over his chest. “Fine—The Horigos you know it’s only a small part of a bigger continent. The approved section. Let’s think about it as a vast training ground.”
“Approved by Roden and the Chapter?”
“Chapters.” Galen’s features are carved in stone; only his eyes betray the relentless tempest of thoughts in his mind. “We are not the first risking our lives to stop Roden’s insane plan. We were only lucky to keep our heads down enough for him to trust us all these years.”
“And by we, you mean Evelyn as well?”
“Amongst others, yes. Look, July, I know deep inside you’re still deciding if I’m trustworthy, but Kris is only the tip of the iceberg. We were always told that the Herionos stayed behind to work against Roden, but the power they seek today is no less dangerous than Roden’s. And he knows.”
Finally, that opening I’d been wanting for days. I start to feel at ease again, even if there is a side of Galen I’ve never been part of. The questions pile up. But I force myself to stay focused, pacing up and down, pinching my lips to keep them shut.
“What is it? Spit it out?” Galen sighs and lowers to the ground, sitting cross-legged.
“Roden showed me the screens-room, or whatever it’s called. Well…” A bitter laugh escapes at the memory, “Daddy kept me hostage there. What do you really know of the Horigeans he sent me to harvest all these years?”
I look down at Galen and then towards the walls surrounding the building. The sun is at its peak, and in the distance, it glistens over what seems to be a lake.
Galen seems to ponder his answer. He plucks a blade of grass and lifts it to his eyes, bending it between his fingers.
“Some of them are real debtors, as wrong as that sounds now that you know the truth. As for the Rogues…” he drops the piece of grass and jumps back onto his feet.
“Those are Roden’s failures. His forever stain.
Some of them will crave souls if not stopped.
But only because of what Roden is trying to do with them. ”
“Which is?” I get closer, almost pinning him between me and the tree at his back.
“Creating indestructible souls that solely obey his orders. Nothing like us. They have no conscience, no feelings. And the more they live, the more their soul changes colour—and becomes red.” Straight to the point.
I cover my mouth, shaking my head in denial. “Like that young woman, I harvested before this shitshow fell upon us. Well. Upon me. You were kind of already drowning in it.” I smirk.
But Galen remains serious, rubbing at his chin, pondering something until his eyes dart to mine. “We’ve never seen so many all at the same time. Roden is powerful, but he can’t be everywhere. We believe he decides to find allegiance in those he used to hate and that wanted to destroy him—us.”
I move closer. “The Herionos we feared as children are still out there then. The man who tried to kill us on the Blind was one of them. You didn’t lie…”
Galen’s eyes close with the weight of that night’s image. “I never lied to you. I was trying to protect you—and stay alive in the meantime.” When he reopens his eyes, the brown one shines bright with hundreds of silver specks.
“That man was sent not to kill you - we believe - but to kidnap you. If his plan was successful, Roden probably wanted to use that to explain your sudden disappearance and blame it on Tabitha and her rebels. But Evelyn had a suspicion. Mostly caused by the amount of red souls we spotted lately. Roden knows they’re marching towards Kris because they sense his power… ”
“Oh…” I nod. Then, I shake my head. “Is he like me? Can he—”
For a moment, Galen stares at the top of the tree, lost in thought.
“He’s so many things, but nothing like you.
You can harvest our souls; you can destroy them - well, a good thing you’ve never learnt how, or I could be dead by now,” he allows himself a quick shrug and a smile, “Kristyon can’t harvest, but can cure them and put them back wherever he pleases.
That’s why Reds are attracted to him. They seek revenge for what’s been done to them, and his soul smells like a miraculous elixir. ”
The words of the woman in the alley punch me in the face. I kneel before him, taking his hands in mine. “Because they were stolen…”
He looks at me, his eyes heavy with guilt. “We lost so many. They only have a small window of autonomy after Roden starts playing with them. But those who made it are safe within The Mother’s territory.”
I brush my thumb over his fingers. “How does he do it? How does Kris help these souls if he can’t harvest them?”
Galen’s chest deflates in a way that makes my heart ache. “He sacrifices a small part of his soul. It’s the only way. He can willingly let go of a tendril of his soul to purify a red one. But he can’t do it forever without…”
I don’t want him to say it. I take his face into my hands. “I can help him. That’s why Roden wants him, because we can complement each other with our abilities. Is this why you stopped me from learning my true power?”
Something sparks behind his eyes. He touches my forehead with his, running his hands over my arms. “The meeting will start soon. But if you wish to stay out here for a bit longer…”
“I get it.” I get up and put some space between us. “You don’t want to spoil the surprise.” A light sense of freedom warms my chest as I can finally look at Galen like I used to.
“I missed you,” he mumbles, pushing himself up as well.
“Missed you too.” I slap his arm. “Thanks for keeping me alive.”
He shakes his head, and his gaze roams towards the high walls protecting this place.
I follow suit. “That’s definitely a lake!” I blurt out when I capture a faint shimmering in the distance.
Galen lets out a surprised sound. His profile waves and changes in the sunlight every time I blink. Another Galen is trying to break through the face I know so well.
“That’s not possible.” I hear him saying under his breath.
He places himself between me and the supposed lake, frowning. “July, did you guess, or do you actually remember the lake?”
“I…I don’t know, but I have a strong feeling that there is water down there and that nobody should ever get too close.” My voice drops, heavy with uncertainty.
I should be scared and confused, but the more I let the blurry image of a lake sink inside me, the more I feel—at home.
Tears start running down my cheeks. “The room I woke up in this morning—”
Galen tilts his head as if struggling to understand what I’m saying.
“Is that my room?”
I take in every detail of Galen’s face, the sweetest smile slowly blooming on his lips and the spark in his eyes, and my heart starts beating wildly.
He lets his arms rest by his sides, but he’s fidgeting as if to stop his hands from doing something else.
“I’m telling you everything I know, Sof.” He opens his arms, defenceless, “Like I never could before because we need you to be ready this time. I need you to be prepared.”
“Why this time?”
Every inch of his face calls to me: the sudden melancholy in his eye when he lowers his lashes, the slight drop of one corner of his lips, his gentle gaze on my cheeks.
“Because the one thing Roden never lied about is that the souls he touched belong to him, and sooner or later, they will bend to his will. We don’t know where his power comes from, but Roden is growing tired of educating his children.
And if taming Kris to his will doesn’t work, he may try something drastic.
” He distractedly plays with my necklace while his words come out like a river held by a dam for too long, fed by tempests and secrets.
I know Galen’s every smile—when he closes his eyes and allows his whole face to show true happiness, the smirks that lift only a corner of his lips and make even strangers blush and their knees weaken.
But the one stretching now on his face makes my heart ache. It speaks of longing and regrets.
My hand has a mind of its own. As if watching from outside my body, I see it slowly lifting and stopping inches from Galen’s face. My fingers tremble. My chest rises and falls fast, betraying my desperate need to eliminate the distance between us.
“Sof…”
For the first time, the name that’s never spoken for me sounds like the perfect representation of who I really am.
I let my hand linger in mid-air. I don’t care what’s happening around me—us. There is no breeze to distract me, no distant image of a forbidden lake. The sun is just a bright sphere in a fabricated sky. Its heat is not real.
What am I thinking?
I close my eyes. They say your senses enhance when you can’t see.
“Sof…” His voice is like a caress on my skin that soon makes space for his lips, gently kissing the palm of my hand.
“Can we just hide here? Forever?”
“I wish…” His voice tickles my skin.
I force my eyes to stay shut, calling for darkness.
Faces dance behind my eyes, and the hand I think is Galen’s turns out to be mine. A kernel burns in its centre. Purple. Then red. Hot and cold. A dancing flame, alive and happy, growing larger. It is bigger than my hand, but so light it will fly away if I don’t curl my fingers around it.
A sudden wind blows my way, and the kernel bursts into white ashes.
“Where did you go?” Galen whispers.
I open my eyes and step away from him, gulping air until I can feel the tendons in my neck tensing.
“I don’t want to crush it.” I don’t make sense, but nothing that happened lately does.
Galen approaches me, but something disturbs the leaves above us, breaking the spell. My hand is still in midair, reaching for something.
“Sorry to interrupt…” A voice calls from the top of the tree.
“Oh, here we go.” Galen’s voice sounds different, lighter, unbothered.
“Oh, you are boring.” The hidden voice replies.
As soon as I look up in its direction, the voice takes the shape of a man who gracefully jumps off the tree despite his build. He lands on the grass between Galen and me, on one knee, his head of light brown hair bowing, like a knight out of place and uninvited.
“Let me guess?” I ask, standing above him, akimbo.
“July, meet Kris.” Galen cuts in, bending to grab his brother by the collar. “Again.” He adds while pulling him back onto his feet.