Note: When *REDACTED* breaks through the gate, this song, Addicted by KOWZ, plays in my head.
Chapter Eight
Deep within Will, there was shame.
It was not hers.
It sprang from the same place her powers flowed from.
Not very often did a celestial being make a mistake, and choosing Nerissa was one of its greatest.
Her sense of good was beyond normal concepts of morality. Everything was worth the sacrifice if it led to peace.
Everything.
Even if it pained her, like Cassidy's death.
Even if it shamed her, like tricking Julian and Caleb.
Even if it corrupted her, like killing an Elder God.
Even if it drew the wrath of all the nymphs and destined her for a life outcast, both among mortals and gods. It was worth her visions, her convictions.
Will couldn't look away from the sight before her, but she felt Phobos' grip on her tighten, to a painful degree, as he processed the scene. Processed the meaning of everything. Of his connection to a grander world of magic that was stolen from him by a woman he barely saw as a threat. Who always was an afterthought to his troubles and woes.
The moonlight of Elba was cold and pale as the scene continued on. The nymph had seen this unfold but, like all five nymphs, she could not intervene. Only the chosen ones of their powers could exert their wills on the mortal plane. So it doomed her to watch as her child was slain. Killed with the powers of another nymph.
"And here you were, forgotten at this spring," Nerissa cooed sadly, stepping closer to the now still body, blood still flowing like a golden stream, shimmering with ancient magic. "When was the last time you even traveled the stars? Eons? Was this the life you wanted?"
Nerissa always needed to talk, to reason away her guilt and shame, even when there was no one around to hear her colorful words. Yet, now, she had a bigger audience than she could have thought, as Will knew all the nymphs looked upon this moment. The powers of one of them had been used on another.
Sin.
The greatest sin among the five gods.
And Xin Jing needed to atone for it.
Nerissa waved her arms wide at the cooling corpse. "I needed you gone," she explained, face pained at the sight before her. "If I am to reclaim what is mine. I know how to deal with Himerish, but you were harder. You can't just die." Nerissa reached out and called on her power of quintessence. Lightning hit the horn, making it glow, a will-o-wisp appearing at the tip.
It was glittering blue, pulsing with magic.
"Your soul is eternal, but even gods have their weakness. Your soul, in the flesh of a mortal, would defile your connection."
Nerissa grabbed it, and it turned red. The spring changed. Light fading and the water dulling. The wisp that floated scattered, hiding in every crack they could find.
"And dear, sweet Weira wants a son, before a daughter, a child just to love. So blame her, elder god, as her flesh will bind you to this realm."
"I need Weira dethroned and Metamoor in disarray," she pointless explained, prattling on in her discomfort. "So I can one day take its Heart. And your drive to reconnect to magic, and your inability to do so, will tear it all down."
The soul glowed brighter and Nerissa hissed, pulling her hand away, the light burning her hand. "Angry? Yes, of course. Let me get you home, to your new mother," Nerissa said, pulling out a glass jar and quickly bottling the red wisp with a 'pop' of a cork.
Nerissa looked at the whisperers at her feet, all weeping, pulling at the fallen body, some smaller plants near the head drowning in the golden blood. She looked away, face twisted in a rare moment as her mask broke, and the pain of her choices surfaced.
Quickly, Nerissa rushed down the stairs, gathered her things, and left.
Only the scene didn't fade as the witch fled.
Phobos, unsure of what to even say, of what action to take, just kept his grip on the woman clinging to him. She was breathing hard, visibly upset by what transpired. While he could barely take a breath, lungs heavy and frozen as he stared at the lifeless creature before him.
In the misty haze of the past, the gate was still open, magic swirling past it depths. And, with no life left in the cavern, mortal or otherwise, a figure broke through.
A bald woman, skin smooth and dark, lips full with wide, gold eyes, drifted forward. She wore a gown of glowing white that dipped low at her chest to her navel. The hem of her dress was wide and dragged as she walked, the edges of the material fading into moonlight and magic. The sleeves split at her forearm, revealing her delicate hands, nails tipped in the same moonlight.
Her features were striking and hard, a look as cold as space on her face until she gazed down at the fallen unicorn.
She slowed, golden eyes tightening at their edges, lips quivering, chest rising and falling faster.
Then she broke into a run, tripping and falling over the vines of the whisperers as she reached the unicorn's side. Gently, she reached out and touched the still, white fur, only to flinch back, like touching the cooling body brought her physical pain. Again, she reached out and this time her hand stayed, long fingers splayed through the thick fur.
"No," Elba cried, voice echoing not just from the cavern, but with her vast magical might. "No." She collapsed, falling among the weeping plants, hands gripping clumps of pure white fur. "No!" Her body shook as she fell across the wide frame of the unicorn, face buried, rubbing against the fur and leaving traces of magic with her streaks of tears.
It was surreal to both Phobos and Will, watching the nymph, a god of creation, weep.
Watching her cry for the lost of her child.
They knew it was only through the magic of the forge they could witness it, as nymphs never revealed themselves to mortals, not even their own chosen ones. Himerish, the only chosen one to even directly converse with one, N'Ghala, was forbidden from acting with any knowledge given to him. Yet, here they were, watching Elba cry for the death of Phobos' previous life.
"Elba," an unknown voice called from the gate.
Will looked up and froze, fighting the urge to knell before her goddess. It was a hazy vision of the past, after all. She just never expected to see her so clearly.
Xin Jing was petite, with long straight black hair framing her pale, perfect skin and soft, round face. She wore a flowing lavender and pink hanfu with layers of silk that folded over each, like the petals of a blooming flower. Her hands were lost in the large sleeves of her robes as she lifted it to her mouth, covering the lower part of her face as she looked at the scene before her.
"You must not dwell here," Xin Jing gently urged, golden eyes crinkling at the corners. "We cannot be-"
"Quiet!" Elba snapped, not lifting her head. "What right do you have to tell me of the rules of magic?" she yelled, voice muffled by fur. "When it is your magic that has slain him? Your chosen that has stolen his soul?" She lifted her head and looked at her fellow nymph. "Are you to do nothing? Is all you have come here for is to tell me to leave my child to his fate?" she demanded in anguish. "Being bound in mortal flesh will make him beyond my reach. He will never return to the heavens, with his sisters and brothers. With me."
Elba, sorrow turning to rage, stood now facing the way Nerissa went.
"I will not let this injustice go unpunished," she growled, gold eyes flashing as she took a step towards the stairs. Only four different colored orbs of light circled around her, halting her movement. The orbs elongated into strings of light that thicken until the features of the four dragons became visible.
Elba spun around, rage now pointed at Xin Jing. "You dare…?" she started, eyeing the surrounding dragons, trapping her.
Xin Jing kept her hand to her face, but the pain in her eyes was clear. "If you pursue her on the mortal plane, you break our laws just as she has."
Elba clenched her teeth. "You protect her? After this?" she demanded, waving at her fallen child. "And dare to say I am in the wrong?"
"I have not said that," Xin Jing said, voice firm. "Only I will not watch you corrupt yourself in your grief. Nor see you punished for actions born of haste."
"I do not care!" Elba screamed, tears falling again. "You pick mortals as your vessels, as your children. Their passing does not phase you. But my children are not meant to leave me. They are not meant to die. They are not meant to…" she stopped, hands covering her face as she sobbed. "Please, let me get my son." She begged. "Let me get my son."
Xin Jing looked away. "That is not true. It pains me when they pass. And Nerissa has hurt me deeper than any before." She looked back at her peer. "Elba, we must go."
Elba screamed, body turning as she swung her arm at where Nerissa fled, destroying the lower section of the staircase in a flash of power.
"You will pay for this!" Elba announced, eyes glowing with magic. "All your children will suffer as long as he does! His pain will be their plight! Until Phobos is returned to me, all the wars of the heavens, of every planet I have ever made, will fall upon your keeper! And Deimos will stalk them, ensuring their fate, stealing their souls in return."
The flowers stopped crying at the new name. They shivered and began to chant the name, little hands digging at the ground underneath them.
The vision finally faded, only the whispers of the plants echoed around them, still chanting the name, voices lingering in the still air.
Back with just the bones and glowing sword, the whispers came to an abrupt halt as the closed doors of the forge shook with a hard bang. The grand door creaked from the force, dust dislodging and metal vibrating. The light of the moon grew tighter, the beam resting on Will's face, marking her.
The banging on the door continued as the room grew colder until their breaths came out in puffs of frost.
Will looked at Phobos, not sure what to do, what to say, and the bemused expression on his face showed he was equally at a loss.
Phobos looked at the keeper, the light of Elba illuminating her worried expression, and he knew this was beyond just the powers of the Oath Forge. This was a decades old fight that she didn't start, but was in the middle of. And whatever was about to smash through that gate was not coming just to chat with her.
With one last fierce strike, the doors flew open, slamming into the walls, a stale, magic filled wind kicking dust into their eyes.
A black smoke billowed from the tainted gate, thick and oppressive. It twisted across the ground, eating away all light it touched. There was a click of metal striking stone in the rhythmic steps of a four-legged beast. The silver gleam of its horn was visible at first, near identical to the one on the fallen unicorn. But that was where the similarities ended, as the black furred beast stepped from the smoke, eyes blood red. Its hooves were a cold steel that sparked as it pawed across the marble ground. Its black mane was finer, not as long, with its body smaller compared to the fallen one, but still larger than most horses.
It snorted, smoke pluming from its nostril, and scanned them both, stopping on Will. Its eyes flashed as it reared up, legs pawing the air, and whinnied, voice thunderous.
For the first time in what felt like ages, Phobos spoke, now doubting they had what was needed to win this task if a nymph was involved now.
"That, unfortunately, would be Demi God Deimos. While the one slain would have been the light of the moon, life. He is the darkness, death."
"Survive death," Will whispered, understanding. "Phobos… I don't think we were meant to switch back bodies so soon…"
The forge had switched them, as Phobos' soul in her body, and her in his, to make it so there would be no obvious target. To attack Will, they would have to either attack Phobos' body or soul. Yet, like this, she was undeniably in the crosshairs.
"That is also both unfortunate and seemingly true," Phobos agreed as, even with the rage of Elba staring down, and Demi God Deimos looming before them, he knew, deep within him, that their wrath was not for him.
Prince Phobos could, without a doubt, step away from the Keeper and let her face them with no risk to himself.
He looked from the white bones of his old self, sword glowing pink with the magic of Wilhelmina's mistress, and to the red-head clinging to him in genuine fear as she stared at a living god of death. One that was here for her soul. And would come for every soul of every Light of Infinity as long as Phobos lived.
It was a bizarre moment to be struck with his increasing desire to be near her, near Wilhelmina, as, for the first time, she seemed breakable to him. And here she was, trying to find shelter within his arms.
Was this why Xin Jing sent her in the forge with him? Because he was the only real shield between her and Elba's curse? If he walked away now, Wilhelmina would die without question. And the forge would have to release him, as her soul would be gone from this realm.
It was a strange realization.
Knowing that he didn't want her to die.
Unlike with the stone titan, where there was ambiguity to if his rescuing her mattered. They had inadvertently bypassed the fail-safe for this task and now Wilhelmina was in real, undeniable danger while he was in none.
Will didn't know what to do or where to start. She wanted to run, as the forge still bound her powers. But could she run faster than a death unicorn? Highly unlikely.
So she waited for it to make its first move, grateful in a way she couldn't express as Phobos kept his arm around her, moving slightly in front of her. The fact he wasn't shoving her towards the danger, and was seemingly blocking her from it, was something she would have never expected from him only hours ago.
When they were freed of this place, Will knew she wouldn't just be able to walk away from whatever fate was waiting for him. Now, seeing him face his ancient ties, blue eyes narrowing as he readied himself for a fight, all for her, she could never just walk away again.
Finally, red eyes on her and only her, Deimos charged.
RANT OVER THE MESSED UP TV TIMELINE (You don't need to read this lol)
I had to draw out a timeline for this to see if it made sense. So, Cassidy was killed as an older teen, as that's her appearance as a spirit. So looking at Yan-Lin (as Halinor and Kadma have magic access to keep them youthful) Yan-Lin is around 65ish. So 49 years between Cassidy's death and the start of the show. Let's say Nerissa spends a few years actually trapped on Mt. Thanos, before the mage frees her (explained later in the story), only for the mage to die and Nerissa, guilty over Cassidy's death, takes over her friend's duties, only to jump at the chance to eventually steal the Heart of Meridian. So sixteen years before Elyon is born, Nerissa acquires the enraged soul, helps Weira conceive a son, and waits while everything falls apart.
So I realized two things. One; Elyon was 13 at the start of the TV show, and let's say 2 years passed over the two seasons. Lilian is around 8 at the end of the show, who is 17 now. So 9 years have passed since the end. So Elyon is 24 now (Will 25) in this story.
Two; Phobos is 40! This motherfucker is 40! Canonically, looking at the TV show, he has to AT LEAST be 29 at the start of the show if we go by his appearance as an older teen/young adult. Unless, like a literal child dethroned Weira and was fighting C.H.Y.K.N? Like how? (are there fanfictions of a kid Phobos overthrowing Meridian? Like, I would read that.) He had to be an older teen when he started fighting, even if he stopped aging later.
Like goddamn it! Dealing with immortal characters from a TV show that barely had plot episode to episode is hard lol I once again invoke 'vampire romance rules' and now must resist writing a story with mini-Phobos overthrowing a kingdom, as adorable as that would be.