Chara's POV
A Few Days Ago
'I am sorry Nix, I love you,' I say through our link as I feel the life drain from me.
In the darkness I see a bright light and then it consumes me causing me to close my eyes. When the light dies down, I open my eyes and look around. I am in a room of what looks like a castle. There are high ceilings with gold designs swirling around the ceiling and walls. In front of me a few steps leading up to a chair or I guess I should say throne. There are intricate details of shinning gold and sparkling silver dancing across the throne. Sitting in the throne is a beautiful woman and I freeze. I am pretty sure I died so, where am I?
"Hello Chara," the woman's melodic voice greets me.
"Where am I?"
"You are in the Immortal Castle. I live here," she replies.
"Why am I here? I am pretty sure that I died."
"Yes and no. your body on earth is showing the signs that you have died, but your soul is here with me, resting. Once you are ready, you will be sent back to earth."
"How is that possible?"
"You have many gifts Chara, one of them in immortality. Whenever you experience life threatening injuries where a normal person would die, you will come here to heal and then be sent back to earth."
I nod, taking in the information, "Who are you?"
"I am Fay, Goddess of Immortality and Healing."
"Why aren't you with the other gods?"
"They know I like to keep to myself and I do not wish to take sides."
"Okay, when will I be able to go back?"
"They will say goodbye to you, once that happens your will go back. You must know that time works differently here. When they say goodbye, you will go back immediately in this time, but on earth it will be about three days."
"Oh no, will I be there in time for the war? I was never told when it was going to happen."
"I am not sure; I hope you will make it and help your friends and family."
"Me too. Do you know if they were able to release my dad?"
"Noc?"
"Yes, I was supposed to release him from Valanter, but I died before I could make it there. Did my friends find him?"
"They found him, but did not release him," I give her a confused look, "When you died, he was released. The gods tethered his stay in Valanter to his youngest child. When the youngest child died, he would be released, and the gods hoped that him losing his child would be heart breaking for him."
"So, they tethered his prison to my life without knowing that I am immortal, and I can't really die?"
"Yes. The other gods also didn't plan on you being more powerful than them. This means that if you did find Valanter, you would have been able to get him out."
I nod in understanding. I really hope I make it back before the war starts to try to prevent it. I still haven't been able to take with my mother; I hope she isn't anything like how Palama described her.
"Hey Fay?"
"Yes Chara?"
"Do you know Shalhalla?��
"Of course, I do, I know all of the gods."
"What is she like?"
Fay sighs, "She is not to be trusted Chara. She wants you dead, you must use the element of surprise at the battlefield. She is the evil from the prophecy, not Aluca."
"I knew it wasn't him," I whisper to myself. "I can't believe my own mother wants me dead. If she wanted me dead, then why would she not kill be before I found my powers?"
"She couldn't find you. Without your powers, you were hidden for the most part, until your powers showed themselves."
"Well, I guess I was lucky."
We talk for a little bit, getting to know each other. I found out that she is sisters with the ruler of the gods, Baltimar. That is why she can choose to stay out of the other gods' fights. I have learned more about Fay's powers as well. She can give or take immortality from anyone and she can heal any wound. She would be helpful and dangerous in a fight with gods. If she can take away immortality, all of the gods can become mortal if she wanted them to be.
"That is so cool! You could literally make any god mortal with the…" I am cut off by a surge of energy rushing through me. "What just happened?"
"They have said their goodbyes. It is time for you to go. Farewell Chara."
"Thank you for everything Fay, goodbye."
As I say goodbye I turn into little golden flecks. A bright light blinds me once again and then I am back at the pack house. I look around and I cannot sense Nix anywhere. Oh no, I hope I am not too late. I burst through the front door to the pack house and everyone's eyes land on me. A panicked look takes over my face. Everyone else's faces are shocked and a bit scared.
"Where is Nix and Zane?" I shout.
"C-Chara?" I look to see Jason teary eyed.
"Jason! Where is Nix?" I ask in a serious tone.
Jason says the three words I didn't want him to say, "On the battlefield."
My eyes widen, "Where?"
"Chara? How?" Liam asks me, walking into the room.
"No time to explain, where is the battlefield?" I shout, frustrated.
"It's at…" he suddenly stops speaking. Both Liam and Jason have tears in their eyes, expressions filled with sorrow.
"What?" I ask.
"Nix, he just mind-linked us. He says he loves us; I think the war has started," Liam replies.
"No," tears fill my eyes, "I will save him, don't worry. Just tell me where the battlefield is."
"Gradziel Field."
I nod and then teleport to the outskirts of the field. I rise into the air to look around for Nix. I see him standing in front of Altair and a woman. I think she is Shalhalla. The gods are losing against the other creatures. I make my way over to where Nix is while in the air. I see Shalhalla raise her hand with the intentions of hurting or killing Nix. I automatically put a protective barrier around him. right after, flames dance on Nix's skin, but my barrier protects him from the flame's burn. I see confused look spread over all of their faces and then Altair looks at me; terrified. Nix turns around to see me and I give him a smile. He has tears in his eyes and a huge smile on his face.
'Ready to win this thing?' I ask Nix through our fixed bond.
'More than anything Love.'
We turn back to face Altair and Shalhalla, 'I will take my mother, you take Altair. I will keep your barrier up.'
'Okay. 1…'
'2…'
'3…'
'GO!'
I float back down to the ground in front of Shalhalla and Nix changes into his wolf running to Altair. Shalhalla tries to use her elemental powers, but I retaliate with mine. I end up turning invisible to mess with her. I get a few good blows in before she starts speaking to me.
"You don't know how happy I was to hear you were dead. You should have stayed that way."
I stay silent knowing she is trying to find me.
"You are worthless, and I cannot believe that you are my daughter. You are such a big disappointment."
I use my anger to fuel it into a blue flame of fire that I send to Shalhalla from behind. Once it hits her, I teleport to another location, still invisible. She sends a fireball to where I was standing when I sent my fireball. I chuckle and then move out of the way when a boulder comes barreling my way. I turn the boulder invisible and then throw it at Shalhalla. She gets pinned underneath it. I use my telekinesis to keep the boulder down and she struggles to try to get it off herself with no prevail. I walk over to her and place my hand on her forehead. I close my eyes, focusing on taking away her immortality, just like Fay told me. I take the immortality in her and break it, leaving her mortal and the boulder is killing her. I remove the boulder from her as she starts coughing. I lay my hand over her heart and focus on removing her powers. I can feel her powers flowing into my hand, up my arm, into my own heart. I then leave her there, still alive, but completely human. I look over to Nix to see that he doesn't have a single scratch on him. I guess my barrier worked out pretty well. I walk up to Nix as he has Altair underneath him paws. I put my hand on Altair's forehead and break the bond he has with him immortality just like I did with Shalhalla. Altair begins screaming; I guess it is pretty painful. I then take his powers by placing my hand over his heart.
"You can let him go now Nix."
He gives me a confused look, tilting his head to the side.
"He is a human now, just like Shalhalla. There is no need to kill him when he can't do any damage."
Nix steps away from Altair and then shifts back into him human form. He immediately embraces me in a hug.
"You are going to explain everything later."
I nod my head into his shoulder. We release each other and face the rest of the battle. The demons that were working with Altair and Shalhalla have stopped fighting. They were under Altair's command, since he is now human, they no longer listen to him. I see most of the werewolves and vampires back out of the fight when they no longer fear Altair and Shalhalla. All that is left is a few half-gods and Laren. Most of them we captured, some killed. The war soon comes to an end and we are victorious. I walk up to Aluca, he is the only god I recognize here other than Grim.
"Chara? You are okay? How?" Aluca asks bringing me into a hug.
"Think about it, I have many powers and what power would keep me from permanent death."
"Immortality. It's very relieving knowing that you are alive and well."
"Thanks, Aluca."
I feel a nose rub against my hand, and I see Zane in his retriever form. I crouch down give him a hug.
'Thank the gods that you are alright!' He says, relieved.
'I am glad to be back.'
'We all really missed you, but deep down I knew you would be alright.'
I give Zane a smile and stand up. I turn around to see the gods standing in front of me. One steps forward, I believe he is Baltimar.
"Hello Chara," the man says.
"Baltimar, nice to meet you," I greet holding out my hand.
He looks slightly shocked, but he takes my hand and shakes it.
"So, you have immortality. Does that mean that you met my sister?" he asks curiously.
"Yes, I did, she is a very wonderful woman. She taught me how to take away someone's immortality and powers. That is how we took down Shalhalla and Altair."
"Very impressive. I am glad you are alive and well, thank you for your help in this war. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you."
"No problem. It seems like most of the demons, werewolves, and vampires were forced to take Shalhalla's side. I hope you give them lenience in their punishment."
"Of course. Until we meet again."
I nod and he teleports along with the few other gods. One is left; Grim. He walks over to us and I hear Nix and Zane growl.
Calm down guys, it's okay.
They cease their growling and just watch Grim on high alert. I roll my eyes at their reactions.
"Chara, I wanted to apologize for my actions in Matericus. My job was to find dangerous creatures that may want to bring down the gods. I thought, since you were there and looking for Haler, that you wanted to harm people."
"I understand Grim, you were just trying to help others and it didn't help that I wouldn't give up who I was. I was not trusting any other gods, afraid that they may tell people like Shalhalla. When we met you, we thought you were bad news."
"I understand that my reputation isn't the best. I hope that we can become acquaintances."
"I would like that."
He holds out his hand and I shake it. He gives me a smile and then teleports to find the other gods. I turn around to face my friends when I see a man I don't recognize. I look a little like him, we have the same hair and facial features. I think he is Noc.
"Dad?"
He smiles, "Yes, it is me Chara."
I walk up to him and give him a hug, "Nice to meet you."
He chuckles and hugs me back, "Nice to meet you as well."
We release the embrace and I see Talia in the background looking very upset.
I walk over to her and ask, "Talia, what's wrong?"
She looks at me with tear filled eyes and steps to the side. Laying on the ground I see Lina and Jared, dead. Tears fill my eyes as I look at two of my friends. I look around and I see Killian, but I can't find Mikhail.
"Where's Mikhail?" I ask as a sob breaks free.
"He went for a walk, he should be back soon," Killian responds.
I just nod and turn around, unable to look at their faces any longer. I walk up to Nix again and notice that I can't see Malik or Daniel.
"Um…" I start afraid to ask my question, "Where is Daniel and Malik?"
Nix looks over to me just realizing they aren't here, and I begin to panic. They can't be dead.
"It's okay Chara, when the war began, I sent them both to the school, so they are safe."
I let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god. I don't know what I would have done if I lost anyone else."
I feel another presence behind me, and I turn around to see Mikhail. I run up to him and give him a big hug. He stiffens and then grabs my head so he can see who is hugging him. he looks very shocked and then starts to sob as he hugs me closer.
"It will be alright Mikhail, I know you don't want to hear it right now, but everything will be alright. We are all here for you, for anything you need."
"Thank you, Chara. I am so glad you aren't dead, but I am going to have to kill Nix for this. That joke wasn't funny at all," he chokes out a laugh.
"He didn't know Mikhail, no one did. I am apparently immortal, so when I die, I come back."
"Thank gods, I don't think I can live without you in my life. You are life a sister to me."
"And you are like a brother to me."
He eventually lets me go and we all say our goodbyes. Talia, Killian, and Mikhail bring Lina and Jared back to the underworld. Aluca soon follows. It is just the three of us now.
"Ready to go home?" Nix asks with a smile.
"Yes," I reply.
I teleport Nix and I back to the pack house, Noc teleports himself. We arrive in the field in the front of the pack house. People start filling out of the house to greet us and many looked relieved that Nix is still alive. I run up to a very shocked Daniel and Malik. We hug each other and by the look on Daniel's face, he knows what happened to me. We say our hellos to the other pack members and then everyone goes silent as Liam clears his throat. All eyes are on him and he gestures for me to walk over to him. I walk up beside him and I know what he is going to ask.
"Everyone, today the war was won, good prevailed."
Cheer erupt from the crowd before silencing once more.
"Ask you all know; Chara was presumed dead a few days ago and we held a ceremony for her. I don't know if you can tell, but she doesn't look quite dead to me," Liam chuckles and so does the pack members. "Chara I would like it if you could explain what happened to you."
I nod, "As you all know I have many abilities. I found out when I died that I have the power of immortality. When I died, I went to the Immortal Castle where Fay, the goddess of immortality and healing, lives. She explained to me how to use my immortality power and when you gave me a proper burial for the gods, I was given the energy to come back to earth. Time moves differently in that realm, so it took me three days to come back in earth time. That is pretty much it."
Everyone seemed to just stare at me, but they didn't seem shocked. I guess they are used to me having new powers every so often by now. Liam finishes his speech and I walk over to Nix.
"Nix, can we talk alone for a bit?"
"Of course, come on."
He leads me into the forest, and we sit down by the edge of the waterfall.
"What do you want to talk about?" Nix asks me, some worry in his eyes.
"It isn't bad Nix, I just wanted to tell you that I won't age from the time I turn twenty."
He looks sad, knowing he will keep getting older as the years go by.
"If you want, I can give you immortality, but if you don't want it, you don't have to take my offer."
He eyes light up, "I would love that, I want to be able to be with you for eternity. Not growing old would be great too," he laughs, and I chuckle.
"Okay, lay down and I will do it."
"Now?" he looks surprised.
"Do you not want to do it now?"
"No, I just didn't expect it to be so soon," he says laying down on his back.
I put my hand on his forehead and concentrate on the part that says he is mortal. I build up around it to make it strong. The process doesn't take much time and within two minutes he has the gift of immortality.
"Done," I say removing my hand.
"Thank you, Chara. I really appreciate it."
"No problem, I want to be with you as well. If you ever change your mind, I can remove it."
"Okay, I have something I need to tell you now," I look at him waiting for him to continue, "When I was sleeping, Katrina came into my room and marked me. I did not mark her back and she was exiled from this pack and the other packs around the world. I am so sorry Chara."
"It's okay Nix, it isn't your fault. Let me see it."
He pulls on his shirt to show his shoulder where I see two marks. I put my hand over the mark and concentrate on healing it fully. A golden light appears from beneath my hand and when I remove it, it is gone."
Nix hugs me tight and thanks me for removing it. We then walk back to the pack house, taking out time. When we walk in the door, there is Daniel, Zane, Malik, Jason, Noc, and Liam sitting on the couch.
Jason and Liam look over to us confused, they must be able to tell that Nix seems different.
"What happened to you?" Jason asks Nix.
Nix stands there wide-eyed, "Well, um…Chara made me immortal like herself."
"Say what? That's awesome!"
I laugh at Jason's reply. We all watch a movie together and I cuddle up to Nix. After the movie we all just talk about nothing and everything, laughing along together. I finally feel like I am at home and I have everyone I need.