SEVEN
Astraea stood up from the rock and walked towards me. I found myself once again staring into her eyes locked into a trance. It was only the thought of the conversation with Kiowa that finally made me pull away from her eyes.
“Are you casting a spell on me?”
“Huh?” Astraea asked tilting her head to the side.
“Never mind.”
I walked past her and sat down on the rock she had once claimed. Calling fire to myself, I allowed a low heat to dry my clothing and hair. “I’m surprised you came. I thought you would have been locked away for helping me yesterday.” I said once my clothing was dry.
“I was locked away. I escaped.”
“You escaped. Why risk it if you’re going to get in more trouble?”
“As I told you before Aristaeus.” Astraea said sitting down on the grass next to me. “It is what you wanted. You wanted to leave your world. You wanted to see me.”
An uncomfortable silence settled between us as I found myself swallowing tightly. I glanced over at Astraea who was staring at me with such innocence despite the apple green color of her eyes.
“Well you still shouldn’t have done it. I don’t want to have any more troubles with your father when I have my own father to deal with. Besides, I thought you didn’t grant wishes.”
“I don’t grant wishes. I grant true needs. You needed to escape what was happening in your world. The need was so strong that it pulled at me until I answered.”
“Does that happen to all the Gods?” I asked.
Astraea shrugged. “That I do not know since we are not allowed to discuss anything about ourselves with the others. I just know what I feel. I think it’s because I’ve formed some sort of attachment to you after watching you for all these years.”
“Well, thank you for coming to my rescue. I do not know how I would have explained wading in the water to my father. Even now I am trying to think of an excuse for when I return home.”
“Why were you in the water?”
“You did not see?” I asked confused. I thought she saw everything.
“Not this time. I told you, I was locked away. My father has banished me to my room until he can face me.” Astraea sighed. “He is trying to understand my reasoning but the disobedience is a thing he must not tolerate. Coming to see you, I’ve probably just made my case worse.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I knew what the ramifications of my actions would be for coming here to release you and now cloaking you from their eyes. They are probably searching the entire world for me. Once they look into Pearu and see that you are missing as well, they will know then.”
“Will your father tell mine?”
Astraea shook her head as she stared out into the lake, the reflection of the moon shining bright against it like a mirror. “No. He will handle himself.” We got quiet again for a moment. The sound of crickets and beetles united creating a tranquil nighttime melody. Astraea turned back to me. “You did not answer my question earlier. Why were you in the water?”
“I was trying to find the portal out of Pearu. I knew it was a long shot that it would still remain within Nicolle. I figured that it would have moved to another place with water, and since it was no longer in Nicolle, then there was only one other body of water it could have been located in, the ocean.”
Astraea laughed. “It does not work that way I’m afraid Aristaeus. The portals are very sensitive to the world of Pearu, so they travel to places that most creatures of the Damned don’t. In Pearu, most of the creatures of the Damned fear the sirens because of their needs to take souls. Since they’ve been cut off from the mortal world, the creatures of the Damned have become their substitute. Because of this, you do not travel there which makes it a safe place for the portals. It was only because of your strong need to escape that I was allowed to manipulate it which is a immoral thing in our world.”
“You talk about it as if it’s real.”
“They are. How do you think that Poseidon got there so quickly? You are a creature of the Damned who was outside the portals during the lockdown. It screamed for the God who governed the place it was hidden. In that case it was Poseidon, who is very ticked off at you by the way for burning him.”
“I should be the one that’s ticked off.” I said thinking about the tight hold the God had on my legs. “I thought he was going to pull my legs off.”
Astraea chuckled as she looked up towards the sky. “He’s not that bad. He’s quite friendly actually. You just seem to catch him during combat mode.”
I nodded and stared at an eagle swooping down to pick up a fish that had hopped up out of the water. It flew away with the squirming fishes trapped in its clutches. I instantly imagine that fish being me and the eagle being my father. As soon as I returned, he would carry me away like that. This time I think it will be for good.
“Why did you need to escape from your father so badly?”
“I needed to ask you a question.” I said clearing my throat surprised that she had guessed my thoughts. “What would happen if a creature of the Damned where to get their hands on the souls of a mortal?”
“That is not possible. Those souls are heavily guarded. Only my father can open those lockboxes.”
“I’m afraid that is no longer true.” I said. Astraea stared at me as I continued. “I went to Belham today.”
“I know. I overheard Athena and Apollo talking about it. They were supposed to be watching you, but something else grabbed their attention.”
“Well they should have been watching. If they had, they would have seen what I seen. I went to investigate to see if I could find anything on one of Eris flunkies when I noticed the disturbance in the room I’d been staying in. I checked Os’ mar’s office and his office was torn apart like my room and it was then I remembered a succubus named Lilith, had Os’ mar’s keys. That prompted me to check the hidden room beneath the floorboards were Os’ mar had taken me the other day. The vault in the room was still filled with currency, only a few moonstones were missing. It was only an excessive pulling that I felt that made me decide to check the lockboxes. I opened them to see that the boxes that I’d carried away the mortal souls in were all empty. I think Lilith took them.”
The silence from Astraea spoke volumes. The missing of the souls was not a good thing. Lilith taking them meant something big. I stared at Astraea, her face was impassive, but her eyes were the opposite. The usual changing with a blink had disappeared as they were now changing as soon as they appeared. It was like a rainbow-colored flashing light.
“Astraea.” I said placing a hand on hers. A warm heat unlike the one I was used to spread through our hands making its way through our bodies. Astraea’s eyes stopped flashing landing on blue as she stared wide eyed at me. “Are you okay?” I said finding my voice.
Astraea nodded— her eyes still the size of a cat’s.
“What does it mean? Lilith taking the souls.”
“Nothing good.” Astraea said. “Eris is unlike any other creature in Pearu. She’s not a demon or one of the Damned. She is a Rakshasa.”
“What?”
“Do not get confused. She is not a God like us, but yet she is. Eris was created from the foot of the Hindu God of Creation. Because the Hindu God went against our Great God wishes to replicate, he killed the Hindu God and banished his cruel daughters to a world as malicious as them, thus Pearu or in mortal worlds Hell was born. The two oldest daughters of the Hindu God begged for forgiveness, but his youngest Eris did not. She felt betrayed by the Great God and her sisters. One night as they slept, Eris killed them in their sleep. While the Great God was creating his world of mortals, Eris had a created a world full of creatures with ill intent like her. It was she who sent the snake to the mortal world to influence Adam and Eve to take a bite of the apple. It was her first act of defiance against the Great God. Her secon
d came when she input cruel thoughts into the mortal Cain’s head making him attack his brother. Her evil was a counterattack to the pureness of our God.”
“So why didn’t he stop her? He could have taken care of her like he did her father.” I asked. I silently thought to myself that it would have also taken care of a lot of problems that are happening today.
“Because our God is a forgiving one. He had hopes that Eris would one day see the error of her ways and change her way of thinking. But she did not. She continued to release her imprint of evil on the world making mortals create their own hell. It had become to the point that she no longer needed to interfere, the mortals were creating havoc on their own. It was then that God started to send their souls to her world. If they wanted to be like her, to follow her rules of life instead of his, then they could spend their afterlife with her instead of in his world. It was towards the Adolf Hitler reign that the Great God had had enough. He ordered my father to have Eris dethrone from Pearu, however, she caught wind of the forthcoming banishment and fled. Someone she disappeared from our sight. It is like she never existed.”
“So why is that she took the souls?”
“That I do not know. Eris, her kind, they feed on mortal flesh and spoiled food to live. I do not know what she needs with their souls since she is no longer in Pearu, but whatever it is cannot be good.”
“Of that you can be sure.” A voice came behind us.
Astraea and I jumped up as we stared at the trees behind us. There was someone standing within the trees cloaked in the darkness of the night. I withdrew my demos and stood in front of Astraea. The figure in the trees began to move as they slowly approached the light. Once the figure was completely in the moonlight, I felt myself tense as my hand gripped the hilt of my demos tighter.
“My, oh my Aristaeus do you look like your father” said the voice of the woman in front of me. It was Lilith, and yet it wasn’t Lilith. She no longer resembled the succubus I was used to seeing. She stood about six feet tall and was in a form of a mortal. She wore a long gold dress that was made of snake skin. There was a high collar that covered her neck and the bishop sleeves came down to her wrist. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a high ponytail, three braids marking the sides and middle. Her eyes were that of the color of the dress. “And who is that we have behind you.” She peered around my shoulder as if she hadn’t seen Astraea when she first arrived. “Ah, Astraea. My, oh my how the mighty have fallen.”
A chill that I’ve never experience went through my body as I stared at the creature in front of me. It couldn’t be.
“Lilith.” I breathed out.
“Yes it is I.”
Thunder sounded above us as sharp flashes of lighting hit the ground before us. The smoke from the blast instantly cleared revealing Zeus, Poseidon, and two other Gods I did not know. Zeus shot a glare in Astraea’s direction before directing his attention to Lilith.
“Zeus. Right on time.” She said unmoved by his sudden appearance.
“With the accordance to the bylaws and the courts of the universe, you are ordered to submit and return with us at once.”
Lilith laughed as I noticed the gold snake necklace that had been around her neck stared to move.
“Oh you must be mistaken dear Zeus. I have no plans to submit to anyone.”
Lilith gave a wave of her hands as creatures of the Damned began to pop up around her instantly. The army behind her was filled with Dryads, Minotaur’s, Furies, and Titans.
“This is my last warning Baba Yaga. Submit, and no harm will come to your army.”
Baba Yaga? It all started to make sense. During my times in Belham, I had often seen Lilith covered in jewelry made of bones. I didn’t find it strange then, because it was normal for Creatures of Darkness to have a fascination for bones. She also didn’t have matted hair or an odor like legends described her. But she was a Witch. Such creatures did not exist in Pearu.
Lilith response to the God’s demand was sending the gold snake around her neck at Zeus who instantly blocked it. Her army charged forward their weapons drawn as the battle commenced. My demos sliced through creatures that I once thought of as my kind. Now they were my enemy. Astraea jumped from behind me and removing her own sword that had been hidden until now. Out the corner of my eye I watch her take on a Rogue quickly destroying him in one blow. All of the Gods had their swords pulled and locked into battle.
Astraea removed a bolt from her bracelet and tossed it over to Zeus who threw it down at the ground. The ground split into as a few creatures fell down in the hole. My demos glowed blue as it removed the torso of the harpy chilling its insides. My weapons were made exactly for the creatures of darkness. Our body temperature was one of high heat— the coldness embedded in my weapons was our weakness.
As I swung my sword up to attack another creature, Lilith suddenly appeared in front of me grasping my hand.
“There’s something different about you Aristaeus.” She smiled at me. I struggled to get out of her hold but it was no use. Her strength was one that I’d witness from Poseidon. “You smell of Pearu.” She said sniffing me. “But there is something else I’ve smelled on you. What could it be?”
I pushed out of Lilith hold and swung my sword at her. She bent backwards smoothly as the blow missed her. A scream sounded nearby taking Lilith’s eyes off me. Seeing her off guard, I removed my jugest and threw it at her. The gold rope circled her twice before the gold fist clamped down on her.
Lilith shot me an annoyed look and yanked the gold rope pulling me towards her. Her hand went around my throat. “Some warrior you are. You are nothing like your father. You are weak. I will do away with you just as I plan to do away with him.”
The thought of Lilith harming my father brought forth a rage that was new to me. As her hand clenched my windpipe, I felt my eyes heat up with fire as I stared up at the night sky. The clearness of the night sky instantly shadowed as rain came pouring down. A sharp white flash shot down from the sky striking Lilith and knocking us apart.
Lilith flew into the trees behind her as I flew over to the water my hand clenching my throat. I peered up to see Zeus staring at me, his eyes wide with shock. A Minotaur noticed the God’s slight distraction and raised a battle axe up at him.
“Look out!” I screamed.
Zeus turned around just in time to block the blow. He sent a fist to the Minotaur’s chest that sounded like thunder. Glancing towards the trees, I could no longer spot Lilith within the crowd. I pushed myself up from the ground and stared at my hands. What had happened to me? How did I call forth lightening when the God of lightening was here with me in battle? How could I call forth lightening at all?
“Aristaeus!”
I turned my head to see Astraea staring at me. She pointed to the lake. “Go now!”
I knew she was telling me to get out of here while I still could. The battle was coming to a close with most of The Rogue on the ground dead. I ran towards the lake and waded my way to the middle. I glanced back at Astraea as she gave me a soft smile. She wasn’t the only one watching. Zeus stared at me with a peculiar expression. Not wanting to find out just yet what that expression was about. I dived in the water and disappeared through the portal.