Skye's POV
It had been four months since I had arrived in Nexus and all I could see was red. Nikolai gave me a tour once Nero commanded that my training be finished here. Gold walkways led to gold temples the gods called houses. The trees were green and plush with gold bark. The very grass we walked on had gold roots. The one thing that gave me the biggest headache was the crystal clear waterfall enlarging the gold and ruby mountain with the sun shining directly on it. Nero was more vain than I first realized.
But that didn't bother me as much as the thought of Jacqueline. She broke the rules and I was being punished for it. Sure I was free to roam Nexus and walk side by side with the gods, but my people, my friends needed me. They were fighting for their lives and each decisive battle drew closer to our annihilation.
I spent most of my days and nights with Nikolai learning about other races and their history and culture. Today I was hammered with the Minotaurs' expressly strict regulations on foreign policy. I needed a break. No, I needed to break something. I didn't know exactly where I was going but when I entered the nearest building I was extremely pleased to find weapons of all shapes and sizes. I picked up a hefty mace, a weapon I have never used before, and swung with all my might.
The armor I had targeted clattered to the floor with a loud bang. It felt good. I swung the mace again at a nearby dummy. It withstood the blow. Growling, I swung harder. The chain wrapped around the dummy's neck but the ball had missed entirely. If it was a live target it wouldn't have mattered. I would have been happy strangling the demon until it returned to the earth. But this wasn't a live target and I wasn't able to kill anything here in the world of gods!
"Agh!!!" I screamed and kicked the dummy in the face. It splintered and broke off its pole. I felt a little better.
"Poor dummy. What did he ever do to you?"
I turned quickly but saw no one.
"No, not there." I swerved to my right.
"Nope, not there either." I turned to the right again and pushed a weapons rack out of the way. No one was there. "As entertaining as this is, I think I'll tell you what you have already figured out. I am not there."
"Who are you?!" I yelled.
"No need to raise your voice."
"Who are you?" I growled.
"Isn't it more polite to introduce oneself before asking for ones name?"
"The reason you are speaking to me while I'm in Nexus proves you already know who I am. For the last time, who are you?"
"Fine, you wish to name me then name me."
What is this voice and what is its purpose?
"What do you want?" I asked instead.
"I want what you want."
Not true.
"How do you know what I want."
"Your soul is bare to my eyes."
Demon? No, Nero wouldn't allow the race to enter here. A god then?
"Then you will only say what I want to hear." I countered.
"True."
I turned back towards the dummy and unwrapped the chain from its neck.
"And what you want is to kill something."
Isn't that obvious? I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
"Yes, it is obvious, but what isn't obvious is what you want to kill."
Wait. She knew what I was thinking?
"Oh and what's that?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could. I readied my weapon and found another dummy a few yards away.
"It's not what, it's who." A figure arose from dark mist in front of my eyes, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. My strength failed and I dropped my weapon in pure shock.
"I can't do that."
"Not now."
"Not ever!"
"Once given the power of the gods you will be able to do anything."
That stopped me in my tracks. Was that even possible?
"Once that being is destroyed you will have peace. You know what I say is true."
Beads of sweat rolled down my temples. No, I couldn't. What would happen to the world if I did that? I shivered from the idea and then I remembered. The world as I know it wouldn't change a bit. But if I had the power, maybe I would be able to change it.
"You would be the great peacemaker. The hero of Comwen." The voice purred.
If she could truly see my soul, she would know that I don't care about that.
"I just don't want my friends to die anymore." Or be used after their death.
"And they wouldn't. You would protect them."
"That sounds all well and good, but if I do as you suggest what will happen to—
"Nothing." The voice interrupted. "Everything will carry on as you will it. You will get whatever it is you desire."
What I desire? Jacqueline's face flashed through my head.
"The Goddess of Death. The Keeper of Souls." The voice sighed like an adolescent girl thinking about her crush. It unnerved me and my anger rose. I swung the mace again at the innocent dummy as hard as I could.
"Do you want to know a secret about sweet, innocent, little Jacqueline?" The voice carried on. I swung the mace again in an attempt to ignore it but it spoke in my mind like a secret whisper.
"She raised Marcos back to life in the battle for Wildgate."
The mace smashed the dummy to pieces. No, there's no way. If she did then that would mean—
"She is the Goddess of Life and Death. She is the only one with the power to bring a soul back from her realm."
But if that's true, then why am I here?
"To keep the rest of them off her tracks." The voice gently caressed my mind. She doesn't want the world to survive. She has the power to create and the power to destroy. She could change this world how she sees fit.
"Think about it: why would she choose someone unversed in politics to rule the world? Because she will control you."
Is that it? Am I simply a pawn in her game to destroy the world? I decided to answer.
"She was doing just fine on her own." My conversation with Jasper ran through my head.
***
"She must be very busy, killing everyone."
"She's not!"
"Then who is?!"
"We don't know."
***
They don't know. So she could be the one who is behind it all. My blood ran cold. It only makes sense.
"Her siblings only see her as good and sweet. But you know the truth." The voice slithered through my mind and I recalled the words she said to me.
***
"You do something so reckless again that gets you killed, I will destroy you and your family's souls. Every one you ever cared about will be as nothing."
***
She is not who she seems to be.
"She will form you into a very powerful slave and she will use you to destroy the world under the pretense of protecting it." I gripped the mace so hard my hand began to bleed. "She will put you in charge of ruling, but she will be the true ruler of Comwen." An image came into my mind. I was sitting on a throne of stone surrounded by flame with Jacqueline embracing my shoulders from my right, she whispered something in my ear and I laughed as I conjured a ball of flame that killed an innocent man in front of me.
No! I will not be her slave! I will never become like that!
"There's a way to stop things from getting that far though." The voice held a thread of hope. I quickly latched on.
"I'll do as you ask." I paused.
"I feel like there's a 'but' coming." The voice annoyingly said.
"I'll do as you ask but I have one request."
"Oh? And what is that?"
"Let me kill Jacqueline."