Chapter Thirty-Two:
Our Solemn Hour
Odysseus
The building around us had truly crumbled to the ground. It was a place I had only seen in textbooks, heard about whispered in classes… the home of the Original Gods. What once was a gloriously lavish castle, serving as a beacon of hope for all Elemental kind, had now become a hollow coffin full of nothing but distant memories. With the flooring cracked, the statues covered in dust, the windows plagued with spiderwebs, and multiple stairwells blocked off due to structural integrity issues, the castle was nothing but a shadow of its former self. The Elementals themselves that mopped about looked like corpses, and had they not been standing upright and blinking, it would be impossible to believe they truly had heartbeats.
They were battered and abused, as expected from someone in this kind of place, but these Elementals were more than just beaten. They were emotionally drained, just shells of individuals who harbored incredible amounts of potential, only to have it soiled and suppressed by someone who had made their lives a living nightmare. If walls could talk, then the ones surrounding us would kill themselves from the things they had seen.
When Delias and Lillian lead me inside the building, the Elemental’s didn’t so much as blink in my direction. They were so numb to the sight of another victim being brought in that they didn’t waste their breath to turn and see what was going on. In a sense, they were smart to not do so; death was not worth pitying someone they had never met. The two teenagers walked through the castle like Gods themselves, and many scurried away or turned their backs in true fear. A few glanced in my direction when we made it to a far stairwell, as if to foreshadow what torture was awaiting at the top. One girl even placed a hand on her heart as the doors that lead to said stairwell closed with a thunderous boom behind us.
Once at the top, we entered a dungeon-esque room. The floors and walls were made of cobblestone, and a grand fireplace flickered to life when Delias snapped his fingers. He had to spark the wood three times to get it going, which made him swear under his breath. Lillian placed me into a distressed oak chair, where metal cuffs clicked around my ankles and wrists. Delias slid one around my neck as well, and clamped it to the back of the chair so that I was truly immobile.
My eyes flicked back and forth in terror, the only thing I was able to move, as Lillian dialed a number into her cellphone. After a few words, she hit end call and sat in the chair opposite me with a devilish smile. “Who knew we’d be so lucky? Everything is just coming up aces for us today!” She scoffed in delight.
“Don’t get too excited, we still didn’t find the book.” Delias snapped.
“Who needs the book when you have the oracle?” She said, jerking her chin to me.
“He’s no oracle; we have no clue if he even had a chance to read anything.”
“Maybe so, but surely he knows something? I mean, his father is a God for fuck sake, and one of the popular ones. To be honest, it’s a pity how sheltered these Valyce kids are. Their parents don’t let them explore anything outside their Realm, and it makes them pathetic freaks.”
“Says the one who lived among them for so many years,” Delias snorted, “You didn’t seem to mind when you were trying to fuck Nicodemus.”
“I do what mother says, plain and simple. She tells me to jump, I say how high. I’d rather not get on her bad side to begin with. Besides, can you imagine if he had said yes? I could have been married to the Successor of the God of Death!” She cried, hugging herself with a huge smile.
“Too bad he’s with this brat.” Delias laughed, gesturing to me.
“It’s incredible the amounts of fags at that place. Hey, since Sarah is toast, why don’t you go hook up with one of them?” She joked.
Delias cut her dark eyes at the comment, which made her jump a little, “Don’t talk about her that way, bitch,” he snarled.
“Why, does it twist your pickle?”
“Do you really want to start with me?” He hissed, flashing pure yellow eyes. She rolled her own before picking at her nails, sighing to herself. Delias turned away and walked to the window, where he gazed out over the castle’s main grounds. In the reflection I could see the torment on his face, and it almost made me feel a hint of remorse for whatever he was feeling.
But the door opening made that feeling recede in seconds.
A woman ghosted into the room, looking as much of a corpse as her servants did. She had deep bags under her eyes, making her radiantly beautiful complexion look old and disheveled. Her pitch black hair was cut shoulder length, and she had it forced into a clip to keep out of her face. She wore form fitting leggings, boots, and a long-sleeve, and when she looked to me, her bright yellow eyes were barely more than a mute grey. Once upon a time she had probably been one of the most beautiful Elementals in existence, but stress was ruining that.
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She conjured a chair of electricity and sat down before me, clasping her hands and burning her gaze through mine, “I am not here to play games, Odysseus,” she began sternly, “I want information, and that is all. Provide me with such, and I will let you leave in peace. I am not looking to start a fight with you, but I will not tolerate disobedience, especially after the episodes between Crawford and I.” She snapped, saying Nicodemus’s name like a curse.
She looked to Delias, who mumbled another Latin phrase that let my body relax. I flopped into the chair with a soft wheeze; my muscles ached and felt as if they were oozing from my body. Lillian hopped up and sat on the arm of her mother’s chair, where she pulled out a notebook and pen. “So, what were you doing in Siberia?” She asked.
“Studying nomads.” I said simply.
“Really? You expect us to believe that?” She snorted.
“I have the mission documents. I requested to be in snow, and Valyce placed me there. They want us to begin familiarizing ourselves with the Humans, so I chose a remote group to help ease myself into it.” I lied like a champ.
She looked to her mother, who shrugged, before sighing and writing down what I said. “What do you know of Victorine Deorum?” She continued suspiciously.
I swallowed soft enough for only I to hear before answering, “I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about...?” I tried.
“Oh really?” The woman, who I could only assume was Pandora at this point, scoffed, “I have a hard time believing you would be in Siberia just to spy on a few recluses?”
“If it has something to do with the Gods, then I'm truly at a loss. Our parents have barely told us anything. We’ve been asking the questions, but they refuse to give us the answers. We’re as out of the loop as you are.” My response was somewhat factual to a degree, but the look on their faces didn’t assure me that they agreed.
“Had I been having this discussion with Crawford or Montgomery then I may have believed that statement, but I know you too well, Odysseus Levasseur,” Pandora stood, making my heart pound like a drum, “and I know that you are left alone the most out of all of the God’s children, which means you have the most time to snoop around and stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. I have every reason to believe you know everything about that book.”
“Looks like I learned from the best then, eh, bitch?” I snapped venomously.
She paused to lean back and look at me in shock. “You’ve truly been around Crawford too much. You’re beginning to sound just like him!” She chuckled to antagonize me.
“For good reason; what makes you think I would give you information even if I had it?”
“Well, many things. To start with the obvious, you have no choice. You are confined to this chair unless I allow it, so, really, why put yourself through tedious discomfort when you can just behave? Secondly, as I'm sure you’re aware, I have forces lying in wait all over the dimensions. Should I decide I want to pay Nicodemus a visit, then I can make it happen…” She whispered in my ear, making my breath catch. She smiled in delight at my reaction before squeezing my lips and turning my face towards her, “I’d presume you’d hate to see you’re adorable boyfriend hanging from my mantel piece?” She mocked in a childish tone.
“Do you think you scare me?” I scoffed confidently, which made her blink in shock, “If I have learned anything through my time at Valyce, it’s that not everyone in the world is as cold and demented as you are. You have not a single ounce of power over me, Pandora, no matter how much physical pain you cause. There are people who truly care about me, truly love me, and give me a reason to fight. I won’t betray them for the sake of a few lashes.”
“Fight for what?” She growled.
“Fight to rid the world of people like you...” I hissed. She slowly dropped my face before turning to the fireplace to stare into the flames. She considered my monologue for a few moments before slowly looking up. Whatever look she had on her face must have been truly terrifying, because both of her children slowly slinked back towards the door.
“Here is something your parents have yet to tell you, Odysseus...” She began, picking up a poker from beside the fireplace. The end had a X shape to help push around and catch debris when the fire was put out, but with the way she placed it in the flames, I soon realized it was about to be used for a different intent, “I know very dark people, who lie in very dark places. I have crawled and clawed my way out of the holes from which they dwell, and rose to the top of the mound to distance myself from their disgusting stigma…”
“Lillian, go outside, now.” Delias whispered seriously as Pandora pulled the poker from the fire and turned towards me. Lillian slowly slinked out of the door, shaking like a leaf in pure fear. Delias moved to stand in front of it, and slowly cast his eyes away in guilt.
“I have learned many things from my days in the darkness, and they are things that I will use to crumble Valyce to the ground. That academy, and all who reside in it, have cost me everything, and I will not take that kind of disrespect lightly...” She tilted my head back and raised the poker, her eyes so dead that it made my soul shiver, “But now, my goal is simple; I will pick all of you off one by one, slowly and painfully, until there is nothing left but your ashes upon the ground. This universe is mine, and I will not hand it off to insignificant fools such as yourselves.”
I looked up into her eyes completely deadpan, staring directly at the poker that was inches from my face. I could feel the heat radiating from it, yet I felt no fear for the first time in my life. “Should the occasion arise where you think you can defeat me, than I welcome your advances. Until then, I will stand my ground; it is I who will kill you, Pandora, for all you have done to the Elemental world.” She scoffed a soft chuckle before tilting her head, cracking a smile, and slamming the poker as hard as she could over my eye. The scream that escaped my body made not only Delias cry out and cover his ears, but made the entirety of castle pause as if time had stood still. The only person who was unaffected by the sound was Pandora, who held a child-like smile as she watched my skin sizzle and burn.