Chapter Twenty-One:
The Walls are Closing In
Atlas
The pounding rain made it near impossible to see anything beyond the hand in front of my face. The smoke from my cloak mixed with the heavy downpour fluidly, making it hard to not only breathe, but focus as I scanned every energy field I crossed. It was incredibly difficult to drown out the dead, who were howling as they saw me fly past overhead, but I had a mission that was much more important than a few thousand year old souls. My chest felt like it was near seconds from collapsing, and this made my breathes come out in hushed pants, but that was because I had been Grim for fourteen days straight. Usually, my body could handle up to a week before caving, but I was pushing it beyond feats even I was unsure I could handle for Nick’s sake.
I realized I was coming up empty-handed, and knew Blaine had been begging me to return to Valyce that evening to go over a new gameplan, but I wanted nothing more than to continue my aerial search of the universe. Going back to Valyce did nothing but waste more precious time, but at the same time, if I didn’t take a break soon, I would end up crashing in the middle of China rather than at home. I thought back to the severity of Blaine’s plea and decided to be a good friend and return as he asked; I was barely able to conjure a portal to Valyce without expelling my guts from the overload of pain and power I released.
Valyce Academy was on heavy lockdown now that two of our students had gone missing. Security lights acted as beacons to illuminate the night sky, and danced back and forth to keep an eye on anything that could try penetrating the barrier the Gods had set up around the academy. Each layer of the barrier sizzled with each of our elements, and acted as a menacing reminder that we were not in the mood to fuck around right now. All students were to be kept home from school for the time being, under their parents and our protection to keep anyone else from experiencing the actual Gehenna that Deveraux, Zephyrine, Ash, and myself were.
Many of our second in command roamed the streets of the academy, on high alert, and working as diligently as could be for our sake. They too had their own barriers and such set up around the academy, making Valyce one of the most protected yet deadly places for an Elemental to be in the entirety of the universe.
Blaine must have sensed I had entered the barrier, because as I glided towards the ground, he emerged from the hospital. He had black bags deep under his red eyes, with his beard disheveled and unkept from days without rest. He winced when he heard the sounds of my breathing, and took my shoulders lightly to shake me once. “Change back, now. You’re going to kill yourself.”
“I don’t plan to stay lon-…!” A violent pool of blood swam up my throat, and coated the ground and Blaine’s boots as I spoke.
Blaine jumped wildly, and rolled his eyes with a scowl. “Those boots were new, asshole!” He tried to joke to lighten the mood.
I brought a shaking hand up to cover my mouth, “Shit, sorry, Blaine.”
“Don’t make me go get your wife, moron.”
As he said this Ashlynn emerged from the hospital as well, her hair in a lopsided bun, and her eyes rimmed the same black that Blaine’s were. Her cheeks were sunken in, like all of the life had been squeezed from her, and the deep glare she wore wasn’t helping. She walked right up to me and slapped my head as hard as she could, which made me flinch. “Change back, NOW!” She demanded, clutching my arm to shake some sense into me. My bones rattled when she did this, literally and figuratively.
I ghosted to a park bench and delicately fell into it, then leaned my head back as I prepared for the excruciating experience. My skin actually sizzled as I forced it to reconnect with the bone, which made loud pants and groans slip through my lips. My chest heaved as I tried to focus on slow breathes, but the pain was beyond agonizing. Ashlynn laid a hand on my temple and fed me some extra energy to help with the transition, and once I was back to my normal self, allowed me to fall into her side lifelessly. “Dear Gods… that was horrific.”
“You need to stop pushing yourself like that. You’re still recovering from the Gashadokuro as is, Atlas. We don’t need you on death’s doorstep, too.” Her tone was stern, but I knew she was just worried about me.
I pressed my face into her side and held her for a long moment before addressing Blaine, “Why are you two at the hospital?”
Blaine’s scowl deepened, “Odysseus and Soren. They’re… well, why don’t you come see for yourself.”
I was confused as to what he meant, but stood stiffly so I could follow the two inside. We took the elevator to the sixth floor, where Blaine opened the door to a room at the end of the hall. I was astonished to see both boys heavily sedated in hospital beds, hooked to numerous wires. Their energies were deflated, and their souls a hazy pool in their bodies. I rushed to Soren’s side and combed his hair back, laying my hand on his chest to try and revive his soul a little. “Gods, what the Gehenna is happening to them?! Their souls are barely hanging on!?”
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“They collapsed this morning, in Galaxy’s house. Both had been complaining of serious chest pains for a few days…” Blaine combed through Odysseus’s hair as tears filled his eyes, “Every time they’re awake, they scream and writhe in pain. They have periods of calm, but then go back to screaming. This was the only thing we could think of to keep them at bay.”
My heart thumped in horror as I moved to coax Odysseus’s soul back to life, which sat in a hazy grey puddle in his body. “They’re… reacting like…?”
“Like their Particeps Potestatis are being tortured…” Ashlynn choked before sliding a hand over her mouth, unable to continue.
Blaine watched me perk Odysseus’s soul up with distant eyes, “This is what happens, isn’t it, when your Particeps Potestatis is in a significant amount of pain. It’s supposed to torture you just the same, until you learn to control your connection better. It’s the only explanation we have for why the boys are behaving like this.”
I gripped the edge of Odysseus’s bed frame tightly, “You say this assuming two things. One, that Nick and Sebastian are their Particeps Potestatis. Two, that they’re… experiencing horrific pain, horrific enough that it would make Soren and Odysseus this sick…?”
“Atlas, don’t be a fool. What else would make them this sick!?” Blaine shot back.
Ashlynn went back to healing Soren, who was wincing violently in his sleep, “I don’t know how much longer they can handle this amount of pain. I’m doing everything I can to keep them calm, but the pain is going to force them awake… and I don’t know if I can help them if it does.”
I brought my shaking hands up over my face, panting behind them, “Where the fuck are they… WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY!?” I screamed into my hands, shaking so hard that the chair I sat in shook with me.
Galaxy abruptly threw the room door open, his hair stuck to his face from the dense downpour, and his breathing hurried. “We have something.”
╪
Galaxy raced into the dining room and slammed a huge stack of ancient tomes on the table top, pointing to them, “Someone has taken one of our books, and not just any book, but a sacred tome, the Liber Silentium. It is the book that has the spells to nullify all of the Gods powers, which means we are in some pretty deep shit here, people!”
“How did someone get close enough to take that book?” Deveraux barked.
Galaxy threw his hands up, “I have kept these secured in the Electricity Realm for centuries, Dev, so I really, really have no idea. I am the only God alive who can access that part of my Realm…!?”
“So we think.” The Gods all turned to me, watching as black smoke pillowed from my hands and eyes, “Galaxy, is it possible… that Pandora is still alive?”
Galaxy turned as white as the molding around the archway, “N-No… no, she couldn’t be?”
“That book nullifies the powers of all Gods… including Gods-to-be…?” Elizabeth breathed, bringing a hand up to hold over her mouth, “Oh Gods… what if she’s using it against the boys, and that’s why…?”
“Hold on, HOLD ON!” Blaine yelled, slamming his fist on the table, “You are going off a random, insane idea that has never once crossed our minds. How the Gehenna could Pandora be alive all this time, and what would she want with the boys if she was?!”
“The same thing that everyone else does; how long are we going to pretend like we don’t know these kids are our replacements?!” Elizabeth shot back, which made the room fall deadly quiet. Her eyes were pure blue with rage as she spoke, “Everyone, everyone, at this table knows that those boys are destined to be Gods, so let’s stop playing games here. The real issue, is understanding why someone like Pandora would want to go after them.”
“Are we assuming the Original Gods are evil?” Blaine scoffed.
“Blaine, we know nothing of the Original Gods, or how any of them are as people, or beings. Pandora is probably the only other being in the universe strong enough to break through Galaxy’s Realm, let alone someone who would know about the book…” Zephyrine began to hyperventilate loudly, “She is torturing our children, and we have no fucking clue where she is?!”
“Everyone, take a deep breath. We cannot continue if we’re going to be this hysterical.” Ashlynn snapped, which helped her regain the focus of the room. Deveraux did his best to comfort his wife while Ashlynn pulled a map of the known realms out of one of the books. “Ok, this is something we can work with. Assuming it is Pandora who is behind this, we know we’re looking for an Electricity Elemental, and a powerful one at that. Galaxy, are their any realms you know of that hold enough Elemental energy to keep her fueled and hidden?”
Galaxy tapped his head wildly with a pen, “I, well… Claude had numerous realms when we trained that might still be active, but there’s well over a hundred of them. I would need to be present to open each and every one of them, but most should be barren landscapes…”
“Ok, well, let’s split up then. Half of us stay with the academy, half go investigate with Galaxy. This is the only lead we have, people, so let’s do our best to follow it.” Ashlynn nodded to the door, “Blaine, you, me, and Galaxy. Atlas, Zephryine, Deveraux and Elizabeth stay here.”
“Like Gehenna!” I scoffed, standing immediately.
“Atlas you are barely able to breathe on your own, and if you wish to continue doing so, you will fucking listen to me!” She screamed in my face, her eyes pure gold. I could see in her eyes that she was beyond able to handle my bullshit, so I sunk back into my seat wordlessly. She spun on her heel and stormed outside, and through the window, the courtyard erupted in a flash of light as she switched to her ultimate form.
Galaxy hesitantly crossed the room and laid his hands on my shoulders, which made me look to him in defeat. “I will do everything in my power to bring your son home, Atlas. Please, trust me this time, ok?”
I blinked back a few tears and nodded, “Don’t let me down…”