by Emma Hamm
“You make small selfish decisions, but everything you do is to keep your family and friends happy.”
The Siren did not argue with her.
Trailing her eyes over them once more, Lydia took a deep steadying breath. There were so many things to say, and millions of ways for her to say it. But this was not about her. It was about them.
“I chose you as representatives for your world. I think it’s painfully obvious my kind has been making the decisions for too long. It all boils down to two threads you can follow. Two different lives, different worlds.”
Pitch squeezed her hand. He didn’t know what she was going to say, nor did he know she had already seen the future.
“There are two very different futures you may decide upon. The first is that Gods will disappear from this world. Pitch and I are the last remaining, and we will willingly walk to another dimension. You and your people will be left alone.”
She paused, letting the question sink in. Pitch stiffened beside her, and she could hear the questions running through his head.
“Is this really a good idea? No Gods? You know what that will do, Lydia.”
“I do,” she said in his mind. “But it’s not our decision anymore. This is their world, we are the invaders, and we have destroyed so much. It’s time for them to take control over their lives and the lives of their people.”
Wren cocked her head to the side. “What will happen if there are no Gods?”
She had known the Legion would ask the right question. “Magical creatures require something to guide them. A divine force if you want to call it that. Without some kind of figure like that, they will fade. It will take a mere hundred to two hundred years before magic disappears from your world again. Humans will rebuild this dimension, and eventually we will be nothing more than myth.”
Wolfgang rubbed a rune at his wrist. “Does that include me?”
He had returned to his human form. Lydia’s magic could draw him back, although she listened to his mind and was amused to find he thought it was still only Lyra. Their bond was impressively strong.
“Yes, even you,” she said. “Magicians are much weaker without natural magic to fuel their power. You could likely continue small magics, but your power would fade drastically.”
“And our creatures?” Mercy asked. Ignes sat on her shoulder, smoldering with anger. “What of them?”
“They will die.”
Their reaction was visceral. So much anger and rage washed over her that they felt like a storm.
Lydia smiled. “There is another choice.”
“Then tell us!” Jasper growled. “We’re not going to kill our creatures!”
“The only other choice is for the Gods to remain. Pitch and I will not continue to be your Gods, frankly because I am tired. He has been fighting for you and your people for thousands of years. We both deserve our rest. Therefore, the responsibility falls upon you.”
They all blinked at her.
Lyra was the first to blurt out, “What?”
“I chose you all because you are the embodiment of what Gods and Goddesses should be. Knowledge, compassion, honor.” She turned her head, meeting Pitch’s gaze. “Free Will.”
“I’m not part of this crazy plan,” he said.
“You are. You always have been, and I’m supposed to leave you here with them. It was the only future I could see where everything worked out in the end.”
“You’re asking me to let you go again.”
“I’m asking you to save their lives, because that is what we’ve worked so hard for.”
He brushed his fingers through her hair. “I can’t lose everything again.”
“Neither can I,” she whispered through tears. “It is their decision. I leave this choice with people I trust to make a judgment with thoughts of their world and people in the forefront of their mind. But I can’t leave you. I can’t do it, no matter that I should.”
A tear slid down her cheek, caught by his thumb. “I would never let you, anyway.”
Lydia took a shuddering breath and turned to the others. “I chose you, Wren, because knowledge is important. Without knowledge, we lose everything we are. You are tempered by the creativity of a dreaming mind, and a lover who will always test fact against what could be.”
She pointed to Wolfgang. “Although you have walled off your world, your compassion for your people has always defined who you are. Lyra will always make certain that the people are worthy of your trust, and if they are not, then she will turn your opinion from them. You will keep your people safe whether those numbers are in the hundreds or the thousands.
“And Mercy. My dear, sweet Mercy. I have wronged you in so many ways, and still you hold tight to your steadfast ways. You are honorable, and the justice of this group. But justice can be blind, and the natural kindness and forgiveness of Jasper will ensure you never condemn someone without reason.”
She squeezed Pitch’s hand. “Pitch, my phantom, you were always meant to be their guide. Their light in the darkness and their path home. But I cannot let you go. So if you choose this path, to become the Gods of your people and guide them to a better future, you will do so on your own.”
Lyra flinched. “You’re just going to leave us with divine powers and let us run wild? What if we don’t know what to do?”
“We won’t be far. We can answer your questions, but I think you will have very little of them. As I have personally learned, powers such as this come with memories of their own. It’s not a third voice, it’s not another creature, it’s something else entirely. A knowledge, an understanding you never would have had before.”
They turned to each other, their murmuring voices hiding their words. In a way, she was grateful for it. Lydia was so tired. Her bones ached. Her eyes drifted shut, and she wanted nothing more than to rest.
She didn’t think it was even sleep she craved although that also sounded agreeable. For the last two hundred years in this body, and for thousands of years before that, she had fought to reach this moment in time. Now that she was here, she wanted it to be over with.
And in the same breath, she didn’t want it to end. This was her reason for being. What would she be without it? Just a woman? Just a lover of a nightmarish man who would have to find his way as well?
“We have to do it,” Wren’s voice rose. “I’m not willing to lose E, and I don’t think any of you are willing to lose your creatures either.”
“Easy for you to say,” Lyra responded. “I don’t have a creature, neither does Wolfgang. This doesn’t include us, and I think I speak for everyone when I say no one wants me as a Goddess.”
“You are mine,” the tattooed man beside her responded.
“Shut up,” Lyra growled. “You’re not helping.”
“I’m not losing Ignes,” Mercy said. “I’m with Wren. I’ll take being a Goddess over anything else. And I’ll fight every one of you to the death if I have to.”
“No one is fighting,” Burke muttered while rubbing his forehead. “We won't argue over it either. We have to come to some kind of decision.”
“We’re going to say yes.”
“We’re going to kick the Gods out!”
Two sides were clearly forming. Anger and fear ran hot beneath their skin, but Lydia was not frightened.
She leaned and whispered in Pitch’s ear, “Wolfgang doesn’t mind the idea of becoming a God. It frightens him, but he fears seeing this world without magic more. He doesn’t remember a time when technology was king. This is an evil he knows.”
Wolfgang stood and repeated her words.
“Lyra wants to argue, but she won’t. If Wolfgang agrees then she will as well. Jasper does not want to become a God, but he doesn’t want to see Mercy die either.” Her brow furrowed. “He doesn’t know how this will change his future. Mercy is immortal, but he is not, and Ignes has a strange place in their relationship as future husband, once Jasper is gone.”
Again, the words were repeated.
“But, they will make the right choice.”
“Are you using your powers?” Pitch asked. “You’ve done enough of that lately to drive a man to exhaustion.”
“You’re tired?” she replied with a chuckle. “How do you think I feel?”
“Like you need to snuggle up next to me on a beach at midnight. We’ll watch the stars.”
“That’s all? Disappointing.”
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
“I would imagine it would be the other way around.” Her lips quirked. “After all, I am thousands of years older than you.”
Their eyes met, and she saw her life reflected in his gaze. Every moment of love they would feel, every difficulty they would undergo, every whisper in the night and fight they would have. It was a happy life. One she had fought for and finally, finally, won.
“We’ll do it.” Wren’s voice rang loud and clear in the still world of nothing. “But we don’t know where to begin.”
“You will,” Lydia said. “And you won’t regret this decision.”
Her head lolled back on the couch and six orbs appeared in the air. They hovered, each a slightly different color. The pair of red orbs zipped toward Mercy and Jasper, sinking into their skin which glowed golden before stilling. The blue orbs swirled around Lyra and Wolfgang before bursting like bubbles in a shower of blue sparks. The remaining white orbs shimmered in white mist that covered Wren and Burke like a blanket.
All six turned startled faces to Lydia, who weakly sat up.
“I can see everything,” Wren whispered.
“I feel millions of lives connected to mine,” Wolfgang said.
“The elements are mine,” Mercy sobbed. “It’s not just fire, it’s everything. It’s all mine.”
“Can’t you feel it?” Tears dripped down Lydia’s cheeks as she watched her family. “It’s the world breathing.”
She inhaled and let herself feel. The first day of summer, wheat grass waving in the wind. A boy learning how to ride a bike, and a little girl battling monsters with a twig sword. A Pegasus taking flight for the first time, shaking its head at the sun and the wind rustling through its feathers.
This was the world they would create together. A seamless combination of human and magical creature because their Gods were exactly that. In this decision, they had saved humankind not just from the Five, but from magic itself.
“Thank you,” Jasper said. “This is wondrous.”
“All the thanks should be given to you,” Lydia replied. “You saved the world I love dearly. For that, I owe you all a great debt. But we are not yet done.”
She waved her hand, ushering forward the one man they all despised. Malachi.
Molten silver encased his hands. It ensured he could not use his magic though Lydia could control him in this place she had created. This in between space was easily malleable.
“Malachi,” she said. “The time has come for you to be judged. As I promised, the judgment will not come from my lips.”
“Us?” Jasper asked.
“You are the Gods of this world now. You can peer into his soul and measure the weight of his guilt.”
Malachi struggled against his bonds. “You promised!” he shouted. “You promised me you would save me!”
“I did,” Lydia bowed her head. “It is my gift to you that I argue in your defense. My children, this man is not a good man. He has committed many evil deeds, and he has harmed you personally. I ask that in your first decision as Gods, you showcase humility and forgiveness. He was twisted by men and women he trusted. Many of you have felt the same. I do not ask for you to spare his life, merely to consider its worth.”
Her words fell like weights to the ground. They thumped against the still air and she worried they fell upon deaf ears.
Mercy growled. “Absolutely not. I want him dead, and I want him to suffer.”
“The things he did to Mercy,” Jasper shook his head. “They are unforgivable. There will be no leniency from me.”
Lyra cocked her head to the side. “I have done terrible things in my life, not nearly as bad as him, but I know the feeling of regret. I can taste it in his soul and hear it in the song he sings.” She nodded at Lydia. “For you, new mother, I would forgive him.”
“As would I,” Wolfgang agreed. “I stand beside the old ways. I don’t want him to live, but I don’t want to see him suffer.”
A crackle of fire licked at the air. “You saw what he did to me,” Mercy growled. “He poked out my eyes, put metal stakes between my fingers, and you want to forgive him that?”
Lydia watched their choices carefully. She was measuring them, waiting to see what kinds of Gods they would be. The first choice laid heavy on the shoulders for millennia.
She had made the right decision when her magic first drew breath and the stars inside her came to life. Many had not.
Wren stepped forward, her feet silent upon the ground. “It falls to us, Burke. What do you say?”
“I follow your lead,” he murmured. “You have something up your sleeve.”
“Yes I do,” E’s voice warped Wren’s. Her eyes were no longer just white, but swirling with power. “Siblings, I do not ask you to forgive him, but I do not want him dead. I want to keep him.”
“Like a pet?” Mercy chuckled.
“No. I want him to live inside my head with the others. He has much knowledge and experience. I do not want him condemned to the Underworld for that is where his soul will go. I want him to remain with me. Ever useful, and at my beck and call.”
The others seemed to ponder this choice.
Lydia dipped into Malachi’s mind, wandering through his thoughts like a cool breeze. He was not opposed to a life sentence within Legion. There was at least one other like him in the depths, and he would agree without a fight.
“Fine,” Mercy said. “Absorb him. Just give him a few days in living hell for me.”
“That is least I can do,” E said and turned to Lydia. “How would you like me to do this? This is an in-between place, and I would not want to violate any laws.”
A sword rose from the ground between them. Lydia gestured. “May your sword be true.”
Wren grasped the blade, her body stronger, her mind sharp as steel. The blade whistled as she sliced it through the air and Malachi’s head separated from his body in one fell swoop. A black mist rose from his neck. Wren opened her mouth, inhaling his soul, and smiled.
“He is home.”
“Good,” Lydia said. “Now go back to yours.”
They blinked out of the world in between worlds and returned.
Lydia dipped into the Future, knowing they would return changed. Nothing would seem different, but everything was. Their lives would never be the same again.
“Is it wise to leave them alone?” she asked. “I trust them, and just I feel as though I should give them guidance.”
“They will know the way.”
“How?”
“Because we aren’t going anywhere far. We’ll remain here to help.”
“You don’t want to go somewhere new?” Lydia turned, her hands framing Pitch’s face. “Some new dimension we could save? Another adventure?”
“I’ve had enough adventure for the rest of my existence. Now I want peace and quiet.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. “And you.”
“Even the Goddess me?”
“I will take you in any form. I carried you with me for a thousand years, and I will never let you go again.”
She flung her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly. Against his lips she whispered, “I love you, my phantom.”
“And I love you.”
Epilogue
Lydia slurped at the drink she held in her hand, though it rattled at the end. Frowning, she nudged her sunglasses down her nose. The margarita in her hand was suspiciously empty.
“Pitch?” she called. “My drink is empty!”
“Again?”
“Apparently.”
> “I thought I filled it a few minutes ago?”
She shrugged. “I was more thirsty than I thought. Can you get me another?”
He rolled onto his side and stood, grumbling about needy women.
They were enjoying their retirement. Lydia had insisted they find a beach house as close to the ocean as possible, and Pitch wasn’t very good at denying her anything. The gaudy hot pink beach chairs were horrible, even Lydia thought so, but she still bought them. Anything that annoyed Pitch was absolutely necessary in her life.
She jingled the ice in her glass. “It’s still empty! There’s something wrong with my glass.”
“I’m coming, woman!” He returned to her side and poured her another glass. “Is that all, my queen?”
“Oh, hush. Sit down so I can put sunscreen on your back. When are the others arriving?”
“Any time.”
A soft popping sound near her head made her jump.
Jasper sat down hard in the sand next to her. “You’d think after all these years, you’d get used to that.”
“You surprise me every time. Stop showing up unannounced.”
“And uninvited,” Pitch added.
“No, actually I invited him,” Lydia corrected.
“Why don’t you have a bonfire going?” Mercy asked. Ignes peeled himself off her back and took flight in the air. “And why are you wearing sunglasses, Lydia? It’s night time.”
“There’s still a chance of getting a burn.”
“That’s not how the sun works.” Mercy raised an eyebrow. “Is that sunscreen in your hands?”
“Pitch has sensitive skin.”
The subject of their conversation snorted and stood up. “Jasper, help me get the tables before she unmans me any further.”
“I don’t want to know what mine will say, right behind you.”
They marched across the sand while Lydia snickered. She lived for nights like these. Though they were retired, she liked to keep in touch with the other Gods and Goddesses. She considered herself their mother, or new mother as they liked to call her.
She gave them their powers. That made her something to them, more than just a friend.