“It’s always nice to know the wrong side you’re choosing.” Gabriel sarcastically says.
“It’s always nice to know that, once again, you choose yourself over me. Bye, Gabriel.” She turns and walks out the door without looking back.
Miranda doesn’t know what to think about everything. Gabriel is once again harming someone else for his benefit. He doesn’t like Julian. His punishments don’t get through to him. Gabriel doesn’t like to be overruled, or ignored. As an Authority Elim, he has the power to execute anyone, except the fallen king. Julian might have been weak when attacked by Gabriel, but Julian is so much stronger.
Her emotions have always been like a river, so calm, peaceful, and delicate. Elims are meant to always put others before themselves. If she had to choose between her humanity and the immortality she’s living, she would choose her humanity. In her humans years everything was peaceful filled with love and unending friendships. On the most perfect day a woman could ever dream of, she was stripped of her humanity. Gabriel made a choice back then. It was selfish, impulsive, and she would have never agreed to it if wasn’t forcefully put upon her.
The worst about his choice is that he never even acknowledged his wrong doing. He never apologized or showed any emotion to let her know that he felt guilt. His selfishness affected her life. Now he wants to tell her that she’s doing wrong by choosing to save her friend? Not even the God, who’ all powerful is so cruel. She will always respect the God, but she holds to many secrets of his to notice that he isn’t perfect, no one is. The God will understand why she will help Julian. If he doesn’t then so be it. She’s not perfect and will never claim to be.
She drives to the house that looks so abandoned. Alyssa has neighbors, although you never see them. Also more than half of the owners of these homes don’t even live in them, probably because they live busy lives involving their careers. She remembers the time where her small village would always gather around weekly to spend time with each other. Everyone in the village helped each other in some shape or form. In this modern time no one seems to have time for anything. Humans take their mortality for granted. Immortality might seem like a gift, but its torture. You watch the people you love die. You watch your life pass until no one remembers you. No one misses you. Then no one cares about you like you wish they did.
Immortals are a very selfish species. They fight, bring war, and fight again for their own benefit. Vampires drain a human’s blood and leave them to die. Sometimes there’s the choice of bringing them into their world, but it’s a world not many want. They live in night being controlled by their thirst. They lose their control more than a Lycanthrope does. A Lycanthrope has a twisted sense of fate. They find their mates and if their mate dies then they die along with them in mind. Only the strongest Lycanthrope can survive without their mate. Those who do can’t love again. Fairies are so set in their traditions that they lose sight of the immortals around them. They all have a twisted mind mixed with the appearance of the most innocent and purest. Then there are the Mermaids. The poor creatures desire to have contact with those on land, but when they lure them in, those mortals die. They have to watch them drown slowly. They are always so lonely. Immortality is more of a curse than a gift. Sooner or later they lose sight on what they want to live for. The worst part is to have to accept that.
Miranda snaps out of her thoughts when she hears the breakage of a glass. She quickly turns the knob to let herself in. She runs up the stairs to Alyssa’s bedroom. She lays her hand on the knob. The silence stops her. No noise is heard from behind the door. She turns the knob slowly with caution. The squeaks of the door are heard loud and clear when she presses against it. The darkness engulfs her. Her eyes take time to adjust to the dark. She focuses on the spot beside the door frame. She flicks the lights on. The room becomes bright instantly. Her eyes scan the room. The mirror above the dresser is shattered. Breakable objects decorating the room has been thrown to the floor leaving them in pieces. Photos are torn in half while endless amounts of glass shards are visible around the floor. The glass on the window has a seeable hole through it with long cracks trailing to the edges. Alyssa stands off to the side of the narrow window. She’s facing out the broken glass. Her hands are limp on her sides and her hair is down in messy strains. Her violet eyes seem vacant. No emotion showing through them.
“Alyssa?” Miranda calls her out of her trance state.
Alyssa turns around to face her. “What are you doing here?” Her voice is low, but loud enough for her sensitive ears to hear.
“I’m here to help you. That’s if you let me.”
“Well, at least you don’t talk like you were born in the medieval times.” Alyssa states.
“I was born centuries ago.” She points out. “It just took me a long time to adapt. I’m usually not one to be with the mortals.”
Alyssa just nods. “You look like a really nice person, but I don’t need help. I just need to be alone.”
Miranda takes a deep breath before speaking. “Feelings are complicated.” She takes a step forward, keeping the distance between them so she won’t make her feel uncomfortable. “A person can feel many things. When someone’s happy they want to be surrounded by others to share their happiness. When a love one dies you want to be surrounded by those that feel the same feeling of abandonment like you do. It’s the problem of feeling the responsible one to the wrongs in your life that make you feel alone, and when that loneness makes you finally feel empty, you surround yourself by isolation so you won’t feel anything. That way you don’t show anyone you’re hurting and feeling guilty, in return you end up feeling nothing. That’s when you know that your pain is so big, when you finally don’t feel a thing.” She says it with much experience in that area. The feeling of not feeling anything is hard to even think about. Having no emotions run through you system makes you feel nonhuman. It’s like when a needle pricks your finger and you don’t feel it for a couple of mintues until you notice the tears of blood that drip down to the floor. That’s when you feel the sting of the perforation. Feelings are the same. You feel nothing until you see what you have to feel.
“I feel a lot of things. I feel so much that I don’t know what to feel exactly right now.”
“You’re confused. It’s normal.”
“No.” Alyssa’s light purple eyes meet hers. “It’s not normal to find out that a God is your father and your mother was a witch. It’s not normal to be told that you were a creation to kill the man you love. It’s not normal to not know who you really are. None of it is normal to me.”
“You have to be strong, Alyssa. If you give up now then how are you going to face the rest of the challenges that you are to face in your life?”
“I don’t know if I can.” Alyssa admits. “Four years ago, when Julian left me, I didn’t accept it. Everything was so perfect that I didn’t want to believe it. Then I found myself accepting it slowly. I turned that into strength and faked smiles and distracted myself from the feeling of being left behind. Back then I was a young girl who thought love could conquer all. I thought nothing bad could come because love was invincible.” She takes a deep breath. “I thought it was just a matter of time before I could get over him like other girls my age did, but that never happened. I always felt like it was the day he left me. My fake smiles just started to cover all that up. I was being haunted by his memory every time I looked around. When I thought that I was finally moving on, he comes back. All those feelings turned into anger. I didn’t want him back. I felt like it wasn’t fair for him to come back and knock down every ounce of strength I worked so hard to get.” Her eyes blister in emotion. “Then you come along and to tell me that it was my fault that Julian left me.”
“I never said it was your fault. It’s not. It was a curse that was put upon you. You didn’t have a choice.” Miranda says.
“It is my fault. He wants to kill me, and I don’t blame him.”
“You can’t feel guilty over something that you don
’t remember, Alyssa.”
“I saw that mirror. It was me. I saw those eyes. How could I have killed the man I love? It was cold blood murder. I literally stabbed him in the back at his weakest Moment. I don’t deserve to even be alive, let alone his forgiveness.”
“You said the man you love. Do you still love him?”
“I do. I never stopped. I guess I know why now.”
“You both are still bonded to each other. It’s part of the curse.” Miranda informs her. “If you still love Julian then the best you can do is to stay away from him. He has always been an impulsive man driven by anger and power. As much as I would like to think otherwise, he will kill you in that state of mind.”
“When we were at the clearing, you said that he wasn’t himself. That he wasn’t the man I know. What did you mean by that?”
“You already know that he was a powerful king. He was so powerful that the God had to take actions against him. This might be hard for you to understand, but Julian has two sides to him. One side of Julian is a man who cares and is able to feel compassion towards others. The other side of him is the king he was. That side is filled with darkness of being the cause of so much power. Before you came along as Annalisa, he was a king who showed no compassion or mercy on anyone. Everyone was naturally scared of him except Yenta. She was a maid of Julian as well as his mistress of that time. They never loved each other; they just enjoyed each other’s company. They were like brother and sister. She was never fazed by the natural fear he inflicted upon others. Yenta was the one who controlled his demeanor. If it wasn’t for her, Julian would have lost himself to the darkness completely a long time ago. If that ever happens, no one will be able to stop him. He’s that powerful.”
“You think that maybe he’s losing himself to that side?”
“If he was losing himself to the darkness, you wouldn’t be here; you would be in the Heavens with a lot of protection.”
“So what are you trying to say?” Alyssa is trying to make sense of all of this.
“That he’s close to losing himself. If that happens, earth will never be the free planet it’s become. He will claim his throne above all and millions of humans wouldn’t be able to stop him. Not with the Underworld on his side.”
Miranda notices Alyssa’s eyes widen at the thought of that. “Can Yenta help? Maybe she can stabilize Julian again.”
“Yenta died at the arms of Julian’s enemies when-”
“I killed him.” She interrupts her.
“Yes.”
“Then what can we do?”
“You’re willing to help him even if it means endangering your life?”
“I owe it to him to try.”
“You’re a good woman Alyssa. You should forgive yourself before you help someone else forgive you.”
“I don’t want to help Julian forgive me.”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do. When he sets aside the darkness he holds he will be able to see clearly. Then that side of Julian will forgive you.”
“I really hope your right, but what can I do to help him?”
Miranda takes another step towards her. “The only thing you can do is to stay away from him. He needs someone to make him see what he doesn’t. I will be that person. I will help me.”
“Please do. The times I’ve seen him, he’s so different than what I remembered him to be. He was never this cold or cruel man he is now. I don’t like to see this side of him. He’s not the Julian I fell in love with.”
“I know. I promise you that I will help him. As much as it’s forbidden for me, I will. He’s my friends. Friends always help friends.
“Why are you forbidden?”
“The Authority Elim, Gabriel, he said if I help Julian I will be a betrayer to the God.”
Alyssa frowns at the statement. “But won’t the God understand? If you’re telling me that Julian has a dark side he can’t control, then it should mean something.”
Miranda shakes her head in response. “The God is many things, but perfect. If it comes to the safety of his daughter, he will do anything.”
“The God, as you call him. My father. You make it sound like he cares. He was never here when I needed him. Why would he care about my safety?”
“Because he’s your father and not many know about it. Just like all the Gods up in the Heavens, he has enemies. Julian has done well in protecting you, but now he’s after you and that’s not good. You-” Miranda lets her finger roam to the back of her neck. One of her eyes shows Alyssa facing at her, and the other shows The God in front of her. She’s seeing through Gabriel’s eyes. She blinks and distances herself away from the sight. She takes a deep breath and ignores the fuzziness of her vision. “You may be immortal, but Julian can kill you.” She finishes.
“I know. How is he though? How is the God like? What’s my mother like?” Alyssa doesn’t notice anything.
“He’s doesn’t like to be called Zeus by, his Greek name, like his brothers Hades, and Poseidon. He prefers to be called Dias, his born name.”
“So… does he throw thunderbolts for fun?” Alyssa asks with a sense of humor.
“No, only when he’s mad, but that rarely happens. He’s a calm God. Very handsome as well. As for Selene, she died a long time ago. No one knows how or why.”
“Oh. Do you think I will be able to meet him, my father at least?”
Miranda genuinely smiles at her. “Would you like to meet him?”
“No, not really.” There’s sorrow filling the eyes of the God’s daughter. Miranda knows that for her it will be difficult to accept her father. Alyssa has always known the Keeper, Dev, as her father, not a God.
“You need a distraction. What would you normally do to distract yourself from everything?”
“Well, this is different than any of those times, but I usually fight.”
“Fight?”
“Yeah. I fight at The Jag.”
“The Jag-” Miranda’s eyes widen. “You fight in a place filled with Underworlders?”
She shakes her head. “It might look scary and the men there are a little frightening, but I hardly would call them ‘underworldies’ or whatever you called them.”
“You don’t understand Alyssa. That is run and hosted by people who belong to the Underworld and its followers.”
“You mean-”
“That every single one of them is dead or waiting to be dead.”
“That’s not creepy at all.” Alyssa sarcastically states. “They don’t look like zombies.”
“Well, neither do you, but your dead as well.”
“Wait, what? I’m dead?”
“That’s what immortality means. You know how they always say the dead are still living among us?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, it’s true.”
“As weird as this may sound, I’m not shocked. If you now tell me that I have a daughter out there somewhere, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Miranda chuckles at her bluntness. “Good thing you don’t have to worry about that.”
“Yeah.”
“So you want to go fight?”
“Yes.”
“Miranda?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. I think I know what I’m supposed to be feeling now.” Alyssa admits.
“Now it’s your turn to make good use of it.”
Miranda has a feeling of closeness towards Alyssa. She doesn’t seem like the Annalisa they all describe her to be. Annalisa was a manipulative woman, but she understood her. A curse is almost unbreakable. Alyssa is going through the phase of discovering her reality. These times will look easy compared to what’s coming though. The Oracle of Delphi has seen a battle approach. The question is if the battle is the same one Julian has called upon them.
They both drive to The Jag in Alyssa’s mini cooper and arrive twenty mintues later. The Underworlders’ territory seems as dark and closed off as it has always been. Miranda can feel the trail of Hades in it wakening. She can
proudly say she never met Hades in person, but she is curious on how exactly he handles his followers and his Underworlders. They seem to have no sense of control unlike the Elims in the God’s realm.
The two women follow the dirt trail up to the building. She can feel eyes on them. Miranda stretches out her arm in front of Alyssa to stop her from continuing the path. “Stay still.” She whispers. She lets her sense open up. Footsteps are heard coming toward their direction, but it abruptly stops at the sound of her voice. The heavy breathing only a man can accomplish is heard as well. She can also hear their movements. None of them is from an Elim guard. “We’re being watched.” She whispers.
Alyssa nods in understanding. “What do we do?” She whispers back.
“Go inside. I have a feeling that Gabriel will be here soon. He can sense my distress.”
Miranda walks alongside Alyssa up the dirt path. This way if she’s attack from inside The Jag then she can push her backward, or if she is attacked from behind she can push her forward. The ultimate goal is to protect the God’s daughter from harm. She opens the door of the entrance and lets Alyssa lead the way. She trails behind Alyssa to the only door that shows. It leads them to a set of stairs that goes downward. There is no light, but Alyssa assures her that it’s alright. The Adviser Elim can feel the sense of fear just before stepping on the last step. That can only mean one thing. “Alyssa, no!” She extends her arm to pull her back, but it’s too late.
Katana and Longsword
Alyssa stands still. Her heart beat is slowing down as she feels her breathing stop. Her head spins like an awakening tornado. Her eyes don’t want to see. Her heart doesn’t want to feel the acceptance that she decided to feel. She blinks to clear the image in front of her, but it’s now stitched in her mind.
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