Sera struggled to lift her head, the weight of a thousand suns pressing down on her. Every muscle screamed in protest at the simplest movement. "Delena?" she rasped; her voice hoarse from disuse.
"Don't play dumb, Sera," the Creator's voice dripped with disdain. "She's been shielding you all these years. I gifted you the lion's share of Destruction, intending it to fulfill my purpose. Your hatred, your anger, they were the perfect fuel. Five years ago, you even began your task, but then... you vanished. I couldn't reach you."
How could she forget that day, five years ago, etched in blood and ash? The day she had razed her village, the day she had taken her husband's life. A shiver wracked her frail body.
"His love began to weaken the Destruction within you," the Creator continued, circling her like a predator, his hands clasped behind his back. "When you unleashed it, I thought my victory was assured. But to my surprise, you only destroyed a village, and your husband remained somehow... alive. Creation clinging to him, I first thought. But when I fueled your rage further, you snapped his neck like a twig."
Fury boiled within her, a simmering pot threatening to overflow. "You tricked me into killing him!"
"I am but a catalyst, Sera," he countered, his voice smooth as polished stone. "You lost control, unleashed the beast within."
Sera squeezed her eyes shut, tears stinging against her lashes.
"This curious anomaly," the Creator mused, tapping his bony chin with a long finger. "If he wasn't strong enough on his own, something powerful must have been shielding him."
"Delena," she whispered, cracking open her eyes.
"Indeed. Unfortunately, when I sent Marzo, you and your daughter had already fled. Tracing you proved impossible, thanks to her neutralizing your power."
"Marzo? The red-haired brute?" Sera guessed, a flicker of strength returning to her voice.
The Creator inclined his head, a grudging acknowledgment.
"She's just a child!"
"No, Sera," he said, the circlet on his brow turning a dull, rusted iron. "Born of the one who wields Destruction, she is a creation of it herself. A perfect balance between the two forces."
Sera's gaze dropped to the ancient glyph on her wrist, smeared with sweat and dirt. It glowed, not with the fiery intensity of before, but with a soft, white light. Rezak's words echoed in her mind: how she had somehow lifted his day-blindness curse. He was right, but about the wrong source. It wasn't her, but Delena, who had kept her human, kept her sane all these years.
The wall she had built around her heart, she realized, wasn't made of fond memories. It was Delena.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced - the night the sky bled crimson, turning the moon to blood. "All this time," she said, newfound confidence lacing her voice, "I thought you feared me because I witnessed the red moon. But it was Delena who saw it first. You fear her power, or you wouldn't have separated us so quickly."
"Enough!" the Creator boomed, the ground trembling beneath him.
Sera couldn't help but laugh, a hysterical sound that echoed through the clearing. She rolled onto her back, locking eyes with the looming figure above. "You took me away so you could reclaim your precious Destruction," she accused, a smile playing on her lips.
The Creator's face contorted, the circlet turning pitch black. He lunged.
Sera felt her body lift into the air, an invisible force twisting her limbs. Destruction churned within her, but she fought it down, refusing to give him the satisfaction. Then, with a sickening crunch, she crumpled to the ground, her limbs twisted at unnatural angles. Paralyzed, her teeth gritted against the pain. She had challenged a god, and this was her punishment.
But then, at the edge of her vision, a shimmering light pierced the mist. Two figures emerged, a man with a glint of steel in his hand, and... Delena. Her Delena.