Chapter Thirty-Three

When Ashes Fall

Blaine

As soon as the portal closed behind Nicodemus, Ashlynn turned to me and held her hand out, her cheerful smile gone. I quietly set mine in hers; she flashed pure gold eyes before she began trying to read for Odysseus’s energy. All of the Gods knew what she was going to find, and we were preparing ourselves mentally for it. She finally looked up and slowly nodded to me, which made a slow, tortured sigh slip from my lips. “I fucking knew it...” I whispered morosely.

“Let’s go, before we’re too late.” Atlas said stiffly, morphing into his Elemental form before leading the way to a portal. My blood was boiling in my veins, and had I not been surrounded by the other Gods, I wouldn’t have been able to keep my composure. It was enough experiencing Sebastian and Nicodemus’s escape from Pandora, but now she had my son. Pandora truly had made this battle personal, and I would be damned if she would touch a hair on his head while I was still breathing.

Once we arrived at the portal, Galaxy went to open the door but paused, turning slightly over his shoulder to us all. “No one breathes a word of this to anyone...” He hissed. Everyone nodded in agreement, allowing him to proceed. The door slowly crept open, and the hazy grey fog that always settled around the castle that the Original Gods had once presided in poured through the opening. We shuffled inside and shut the door, slowly turning to the structure. I had spent so much time here as a young Elemental that it almost felt familiar, which made my stomach twist.

“Where is he, Ash?” Elizabeth asked.

Her sister brought her palm out and summoned a small glowing light, that danced from her hand and darted inside. “Follow it.” Ashlynn snapped, darting as a ray of light inside. We raced after her, ignoring the servants that were lurking about the space around us. They stared at us in pure awe, knowing full well who we were, and also knowing not to get in our way. They somewhat were leading us to Odysseus’s whereabouts with their eyes, which all glanced to a stairwell tucked far back behind the dining hall. The light bobbed for a moment before dissipating at the foot of the steps, making Ashlynn nod to herself before she placed her hand to the wall and began searching for the energies upstairs. “Four Elementals; two female, two male. Odysseus is definitely there, as is Pandora. I don’t recognize the other two, but their young. Seventeen, eighteen most.”

“How should we go about this...?” Deveraux began to ask before the sound I was dreading echoed through the tower. Odysseus’s blood curtailing screams of agony shook the castle, making anyone who could hear them shiver in horror. My eyes widened in shock, and my soul and heart ached with equal amounts of anger and terror as he continued to scream.

“Just get in that room!” Atlas yelled, darting up the steps. He summoned his scythe and slammed it down on the door, which caved and crumbled automatically from the force of his weapon. When we all broke into the room, we found that it was surprisingly empty, except for a few horrifying clues that the group had definitely been here. A blood soaked chair with broken metal cufflinks and fresh nail marks was in the corner, and an assortment of soaked tools and liquids sat on a side table.

I flashed pure red eyes before steam began to bubble from my hands, making Zephyrine step away a little so it wouldn’t burn her. “Where is the bitch...!?” I snarled viciously.

“There’s a hidden portal somewhere in here; I can feel the energy. Give me a moment!” Elizabeth said, holding a hand up. She sent a small wave of water through the room, which combed every crack and surface before it felt out a doorway that was concealed by the floor. She automatically pressed a hand to it and froze the wood, her eyes burning with intensity as the doorway cracked like glass and exploded around her.

The opening lead to what looked like a tile floor, which without hesitation I dropped down on. When I stood, I found I was standing in a hallway of what looked like a medical building. The space was dimly lit by swinging fluorescent lights, that illuminated a streak of blood that Odysseus had left behind as a ‘trail’ that I intended to follow. “Blaine, I know you’re angry, but please remain rational. Do not do anything in haste, so you don’t injure Odysseus.” Atlas kindly warned, his soulless black eyes holding compassion oddly.

“I will try.” I lied smoothly before I began down the hallway.

As I walked, Odysseus’s blood coated my boots, and me shudder behind the confident and unbreakable exterior I was fronting. I tried my best to not think about it was I pushed a metal door open, which lead to another equally horrifying sight. The walls were lined with iron gated prisons, that had chains attached to them. Luckily they were empty, all accept for one at the end of the hall. The one before us was protected by a set of barriers, (one of electricity, and one of wind), and behind the iron gates was a sight that truly broke each and every one of my comrades. Lillian, of all fucking people, was stood behind Delias, who was reading out of an ancient looking tome. He practiced a few lines to himself before picking his head up, and repeating them loud and clear. Once spoken, the words began to viciously attack their victim, my son.

Odysseus was chained to the wall by neck, wrists, ankles and waist, soaked in blood, sweat, and tears. His hair was matted to his face, and his eyes were completely blood shot and full of nothing but misery. The words Delias had spoken conjured a violent spell that took Odysseus’s element and made it attack his own body, causing him to recreate the blood curtailing screams. Rays of light shot out of every orifice of his body, and he arched his back and cried out in undeniable agony. The sight of this snapped something inside of me.

The other Gods went to step forward but I held an arm out as fire began to bubble around my eyes, and my veins illuminated through my skin, “I will handle this.” I said simply.

“Leave neither alive.” Galaxy replied, something I never thought he would say, but extremely glad that he did. I began my walk down the hall, my boots echoing alongside the sound of my son’s suffering. Delias heard the noise, and turned to see what was coming towards him. Every light that I passed under shattered, which made him unable to see what threat he was about to face. This caused him to hiccup in fear and drop the book, turn to say something to his sister, then race to try and fortify his barrier.

I simply walked towards the wall and placed my hand on the energy fields before whispering, “Ignis expiationis sanctificabitur.” The spell sent a violent shock of fire energy through the room, causing the two teenagers to scream as their barriers shattered instantaneously. Once through those I cupped the iron bars, which melted in an instant and allowed me to simply squeeze through the opening. With Delias’s spell now over, Odysseus had fallen forward slack, and was moaning in defeat. Blood continuously spilled from his wounds, making a pool bubble on the floor at his feet that slipped through the bars and coated the tile in the hallway. Though injured, he fought to stay coherent by twitching his fingertips in an attempt to focus on something besides the pain he was experiencing. He wasn’t truly aware of what was happening, but I believe he knew rescuers were here, and his fight was over.

Every step I took towards the cowering adolescents left a footprint that had melted into the floor, and flames that sizzled off of its surface. Lillian stood and laughed nervously, her hands trembling violently as she held them towards me. “B-Blaine...?! L-Long time no see…? I-I know what this looks like, but...?”

I grabbed her throat and lifted her from the ground, which made Delias scream out. She cried for her brother and clawed at my hands, tears racing down her cheeks as she desperately tried to free herself. I looked into her eyes and saw my own oozing flames, “This is the last time anyone that is a descendent of Pandora will touch our children.” I growled venomously.

“Please... I'm sorry...?!” She sobbed pathetically.

“It is too late for apologies.” I whispered before burning hot magma spewed from the hand I had around her neck. She screamed in agony that would scar a Human for eternity, but to me, it meant nothing. Delias watched in absolute astonishment and horror as his sister’s body was fully consumed in the thick liquid, which ate her skin, bones, and organs until she was nothing but ash within a puddle of lava. The only thing that dropped from her decimated corpse was her weapons, a set of knives which I stepped on and shattered under my boot.

When I looked to Delias he truly was bawling hysterically, and had no clue how to save himself. He kept trying to summon a portal but Atlas had already put a barrier around the cage, making it impossible for him to break through and leave. Zephyrine, Ashlynn, and Deveraux had slipped inside to uncuff Odysseus as Galaxy, Elizabeth, and Atlas stepped forward to shadow me, Atlas now in the form of the Grim Reaper. “Where, is your mother.” Atlas creepily echoed in a terrifying voice that I had not heard escape his lips for over three hundred years. It was darker than his already dark Grim voice, a true tone from a being intent on ending another’s life.

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Delias only trembled and sobbed, unable to find his voice as he stared at us and waited for his inevitable death. Atlas ghosted forward, the smoke from his cloak filling the damp air of the cell. He reached down and plucked the boy’s shirt up, lifting him from the ground. Delias began sobbing harder, trying to look away from Atlas’s glance, but to no avail. I knew what he was doing; Ante Mortem, better known as the Eyes of Death. It was a non-escapable trance that Atlas could use to show his victims how they would die. The victim could not look away, and was forced to watch themselves suffer a gruesome and awful end before truly experiencing it. The man before me was no longer Atlas Crawford; no, he was, truly, now the Grim Reaper. “I will not ask you again, child...” He growled, “As you stand face to face with Death, I suggest you speak now, for it may be your last words ever to be spoken...”

“Why should I tell you, when you’re just going to kill me?” Delias squeaked.

“Because I don’t exactly see your mother running to your rescue?” Atlas taunted.

Delias turned a sickening pale with realization, and threw his hands up to clutch at Atlas’s cloak to plead for mercy. “Please, Please, I’ll do anything! Please, DON’T KILL ME!” He screamed between his hysterical crying.

“Answer his question, then.” Galaxy snapped, unfazed by the events transpiring.

Delias sniffled to try and compose himself, “She went to find a new host for Constantine,” He whimpered. The Gods all paused and slowly looked to one another, all dumbfounded by his words. Delias choked on a hiccup, his voice trembling as he spoke, “I don’t know where she went exactly, but she came back a few days ago with that book, and told me to use it on Odysseus...!”

“What is the name of the book?” Deveraux snapped.

“Liber Silentium; The Book of Silence!”

“So she did take it…” Galaxy breathed to himself.

“It has s-spells, ancient spells, that Erasmus and Endymion created to keep the other Gods in check. She wanted me to use them on Odysseus, to, to prove he was one of them…?!”” Delias automatically replied.

“Elizabeth, take the book back.” Ashlynn said; her sister nodded and rush to retrieve it.

Atlas looked over his shoulder to me, asking permission with his eyes to finish the job. I nodded to him before he slowly turned to Delias with an expression that truly haunted nightmares. Delias knew what the look meant, and began screaming for mercy he would surely not receive. Ashlynn watched her husband emotionlessly as he leaned his head back once before snapping forward and inhaling. With the inhale, Delias’s soul began violently detaching from his body and funneling into Atlas’s mouth. The boy’s hollow croaks of pain and suffering were music to my ears. He made sounds that were indescribable, and his previously yellow eyes slowly darkened to the glossy grey of death. Atlas slowly leaned back until he had finished retrieving the soul, and paused for a moment to make sure it ‘sat right’ before lifting his head again.

Delias slumped forward, now completely dead weight, into Atlas, who simply dumped his body to the floor before turning to the rest of us. “Admittedly, that was very fulfilling, especially after what his mother did to my son.” He said in a creepy tone that matched his status as Grim, “Sorry to take the kill on you, Blaine,” he added.

“The boy should be lucky, I had much worse planned for him than what you did.”

Atlas tittered a soft chuckle, a twisted smile crawling in his tone, “Well, I can assure you having one’s soul forcibly removed from their body is one of the most intense pains a being can experience. I made sure that he felt every single second of it.”

“As he should.” Ashlynn scoffed.

“Ashlynn, my dear...? A Life Elemental approving the excruciating death of another being?” Atlas devilishly and sarcastically taunted, walking his boney fingertips up her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes with a small, scandalous smile and smacked his hand away, which made his bones click methodically, “I only approve of the ones that had a hand in torturing our son. Otherwise, I would have skinned you for such actions.” She joked back before turning to me, “He’s stable, Blaine, but we absolutely need to get him home. His energy is fluctuating by the second, and I can’t keep it still for much longer. I need a few more Life Elemental’s to help me stabilize him thoroughly...?” She explained as I knelt down before Odysseus warily.

When facing us, I could see that Pandora had also violently burned his handsome face, leaving gnarled, bleeding brands into his eye. I shuddered and touched his cheek, brushing his past fallen tears and blood off of his warm skin. “Odysseus, can you hear me?” I asked, trying to speak as calmly as possible for him.

He weakly peeked through his good eye, and when he saw my face, he did something that made everyone surrounding us burst into tears. He smiled a beautiful, broken smile, and shakily reached up for me. “Dad...? You came for me...?” He whispered in a tone hoarse from screaming.

I broke into my own sob, and clutched his frail hand lovingly, “Of course I did; we all did as soon as I couldn’t feel your energy anymore. I'm so sorry you’ve suffered so much…” I choked. He tried to speak, but flinched, which made me rub his fingers in mine, “I need you to save up your energy while we get you home, ok?”

Ashlynn used a little spell to help him sleep, and as soon as he was, she looked up to me seriously, “His body is in serious shock, so I'm very surprised he was able to do as much as he just did. We really should go, Blaine?”

“I trust him in your care completely, Ash, and if you could please escort him to the clinic, I would highly appreciate it. There is something I have to take care of before I leave.” I hollowly said, which made her blink but nod.

“Of course, I’ll protect him with my life,” she replied.

“What do you need to do?” Galaxy pressed.

“You’ll see in a moment. Atlas, Zephyrine, I’m going to need your assistance.” I said, waving them forward. They shrugged and followed me through the iron bars as I summoned a portal back to Valyce for the other Gods. “We’ll be home within thirty minutes. This truly won’t take long…” I hissed.

The others nodded and scooped up Odysseus, who laid slack in Galaxy’s arms as they walked through the portal. Once they were through it snapped shut, leaving Atlas and Zephyrine to turn to me. “Now, what do you need us to do?” Atlas asked.

“Summon as many souls as you can, and command them to escort every Elemental in this Realm to safety.” I asked as I rolled my sleeves up.

“Um, sure, but why...?”

“Have I not made my intentions obvious enough?” I snapped, which made he and Zephyrine slowly nod in realization.

Atlas brought his scythe to a ninety degree angle before he began summoning a Bladedance, which made the floor below us crumble to smoke. Zephyrine and I hovered above it unfazed as thousands of souls began to appear, and slowly crept through the hallway and up through the doorway we had used to find the place. His own Shadows hurried down the corridors to keep the newly summoned souls in line, nodding to Atlas reassuringly. “They should be done within fifteen minutes,” he said confidently.

“Get outside, then.” The two followed me up to the above floor and down the stairwell, where we passed by crowds of servants being lead to the courtyard by the dead. They looked utterly confused, but when they saw us exit the academy, they put the pieces together. Most of them sobbed in relief, while a few were deadpan as they watched me turn to the castle lifelessly.

Atlas nodded as one of his Shadow Walkers breathed a few words to him before turning to me, “Everyone is out. They’ve combed the entirety of the building, and no living souls remain, demon familiars included.”

“Zephyrine, when I began, please help keep everything under control. Help me focus the energy to the castle, and the castle only.”

“Of course,” she said as Atlas backed up to assure the group of haunted Elementals behind us. I brought my arms to my sides and bent them at the elbow, summoned every ounce of my strength, then stomped the ground once. A moment later, a huge volcanic eruption rocked up through the floor and dowsed the structure in its thick magma. The Realm illuminated from the fiery substance as I directed the lava over and through every crack and hole in the building. Zephyrine used wind currents to keep the liquid and any stray flames from spilling over into the forest, as I had asked. After I was satisfied, I stepped back and watched Pandora’s home burn to the ground. The structure crumbled like sand under the weight and heat of the magma, and any area that I had missed was consumed by flames. I turned to Atlas and Zephyrine with a face that they both understood, guilt and agony. “I want no trace of this place left behind. Pandora has tried too many times to take everything from us, and now, I shall do the same to her.”

“What should we do with them?” Atlas asked, gesturing to the on lookers.

“Bring them to Valyce and congregate them in the auditorium. I’ll explain to Galaxy what happened. Hopefully they can be of use to us.”

“Sounds good to me. Let’s go see Odysseus,” he attempted kindly.

Zephyrine set a hand on my shoulder with a small nod, “I'm glad you did this. As a parent who has suffered through similar, I could not agree more with your decisions.”

“It’s only a matter of time before she is out of places to hide. Pandora better hope she finds sanctuary wherever she is, because the next time I see her will truly be the last time she walks the face of this universe.” I said firmly.