"Statues, like ideals, crumble into dust. They are the efforts of the weak who try to immortalize themselves in the illusions of strength."
—Friedrich Nietzsche
"Is this…her doing?" I wondered, voice barely audible over the pounding in my chest."Destroy that thing." I snapped, frustrated.
The grip on my core only tightened with each minute, the pain frustrated me, more than hurt.
The frustration of being controlled, by a being I created. Frustration of having to see this massacre with my own eyes and nobody to blame.
"What?" Theron confused, annoyed, "what the fuck? are you insan—"
This, only triggered the a memory I was made to relive moments ago.
"Yeah, right, I'm insane." I shoved him, "I'm fucking insane, I'm outta my fucking mind!"
"Lucian—
I interrupted, now louder, "I'm so fucking insane I put up with you!"
"HOW DARE—"
"I'm on the fucking hunt, Lucas is locked up, damn it! My father is FUCKING DEAD!" The words hit me, breath barely catching up.
Lucian's father was dead, and I went missing. The thought of them assuming it could be my doing haunted me from sometime now.
"Lucian…" Theron's voice softened.
I continued, "They're all dead. Every one of them. Turn them over and I might even find some familiar faces!"
Why did it affect me? It shouldn't have. This was the goal to begin with, a war against Eloven—one lead by Theron.
Perhaps it wasn't the loss, rather the blame. Perhaps I wouldn't be upset—if all of this wasn't my doing.
"The priests, young acolytes… The Holy Swordsmen, each with their own dreams… The women, married, unmarried, and those with newborns—perhaps they came here for the naming of their children," My voice broke, words barely catching up.
My throat numb, a lump inside begging to be cried away. "The maids, the guards… I never visited this place often, but they mattered. They were people, Theron. They were real."
"I…understand." He looked away.
"And this would go down the history Theron, you said so yourself. I would be demonized by everybody, a saint who brought his own believers to this tragedy."
The anger I'd buried deep down broke free, tearing out of my eyes.
"…I'd be blamed by so many."
Before I could suppress it, blood spilled from my mouth.
"Blood?" I coughed, choking on it. Theron slammed his hand on my back, panic flashing in his eyes as I gasped for air.
"Theron, break that thing!" I shouted, gripping his collar in desperation.
"But we shouldn't…"
"DESTROY IT!" I pushed him.
I knew it, I could feel it. The statue…was the reason. The porcelain structure it carried didn't hide it's intent.
With each second, it's grip on my core tightened.
"Theron, you must…"
"I CAN'T" he threw hands, "I…can't do it. Isn't she the goddess you cultists worship? I despise her, however I can't do it."
He continued, "I feel it.., this statue is under the same spell—one my mother was put in by YOU!"
"What?"
"This statue hasn't aged. It's frozen in time, but this magic went extinct millions of years ago, so tell ME Lucian, WHO performed it for you? On my mother's body, on this statue."
"Magic—?" The hold it had on my divinity pierced me, making it difficult to hold the conversation.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT FUCKING MAGIC, DESTROY THIS."
"Its not just magic…"
"Then what…?"
"This statue…its…alive…"
"HUH?"
"My mana can easily tell apart a dead from living due to it's bloody nature." he turned to look at it, "this thing…isn't a thing. This statue, has blood running through its veins."
"I… don't give a damn if this is alive, if this is the goddess herself." I paused, before coughing up blood, "if you won't, I'll destroy this myself."
It was strange, no matter the reason. In the original story Theron despised Eloven enough to wage a war against her, but now he couldn't even break her statue that might kill me?
I barely pulled myself back, standing on my feet.
"Is this a warning, Eloven? That no matter what I do, I'd never escape you?"
Divinity was a shield that wouldn't let go, even when it started to cut. It sheltered me, to a point where it felt like a prison.
"I will kill you Eloven? You would appear upfront in flesh, if you dared."
This game sickened me. I pushed myself ahead. Pulling out a sword from the sheath carried by a corpse.
Before I lunged, my body froze internally. Each organ felt covered itself in a thick piercing icy force—my knee caps burst open, the hands that carried the sword gave away.
And almost for the first time in my lifetime, it felt as if…divinity truly left my body—even for just a split second.
"What the hell?" Theron gasped, eyes wide.
"RUN!" Theron grabbed my collar, pulling me. He ran, huffing…my clothes tearing through the snow, and feet scrub.
"I told you, I WARNED YOU!" Theron yelled, chilling. His voice echoed in this empty carnage.
"What are you so afraid of?" I asked, as he dragged my broken body away from the statue with all his might.
His feet stopped, "afraid…"
"Hah"
He laughed, bitter and dark. "What am I afraid of? Her." He spat the word. "The goddess who's the reason my mother is dead."
The silence between us was suffocating. I watched as he turned cold, then turned to the body of his mother, still lying there, untouched.
"Speaking of your mother…" I trailed off. "I think you forgot her."
Theron jolted, his face going pale. He swallowed hard. "What? What the fuck—"
"We're going back, get up."
The further I was from the statue, the less my core hurt. I was right, the statue needed to be destroyed.
Theron let go, as I slammed towards the ground. Unable to get up on my broken knees.
He hesitated, "I…need to bring her back." I had never seen that look on his face. More than fear—it was of failure, as if he lost.
I laid there as he left, "I will bring her myself, do not move from here. I…will be back.
He faded away, among the snow. While I stared at the night sky, laying hopelessly there.
In the original story, Lunette suffered from a curse. A divine punishment so to sugar coat it, perhaps because she was a witch. Or perhaps because the story needed a reason for Theron's disdain towards Eloven.
The only one who freed her from the curse, was Theron. At hardly ten years of age, he pierced her chest until it was torn. Hand on his ear, as he ended the suffering of his mother without…hearing her scream.
A couple minutes went by, Theron shortly returned. Holding her mother, no sign of any violence—did the statue not attack him? I wondered.
"It…didn't attack me." Theron said, walking towards me.
If there one person Eloven disliked among her own creation—that would've been Theron. Eloven hated him to a point where she sent Magnus back in time to flip the future and make it right.
"Time to leave." He grabbed me again. In the midst of thoughts, I forgot to heal myself. Perhaps for the good—it wasn't bad being dragged to safety than having to walk.
We finally reached the gate, at last after walking for long and navigating through the snow.
The colonies around the temple had suffered the damage too, the radiation could be felt thick.
"What now?"
"What do you mean?" Theron turned around, putting his mother down. Huffing.
"Where do we go?" I asked, assuming he must have had a plan if he so desperately wanted to reach the gate and escape.
"The palace of course." Theron face palmed in a moment as he realized it himself. "We…how will we reach palace…?"
I shook my head. "We can't, unless you plan to walk miles until we reach the capital and then palace. All while avoiding the gazes."
Theron's eyes widened in disbelief. "What the hell do you mean we can't? We have to get there!"
"Teleportation." I said. Assuming he didn't have any plan, that only left us with this one option.
"Oh yeah, I forgot we two are such exceptional mages who could make a teleportation portal within seconds casually and leave." Theron mocked, "Listen idiot, if I could teleport, I wouldn't have saved your ass."
"You saved me?"
"Yes I did, just now and even then you became a monster. From nowhere, you lunged towards me trying to eat me."
"I remember that." I said, "and then you attacked me."
"What?" Theron made a face, "you're right, I should have."
"You didn't?"
"Why would I attack a crazy person who out of madness started eating his own flesh, and yelling strange things before I could do something."
It was clear, Theron wasn't the one who put me inside the illusion at all.
"I…ate my own flesh? Where? When?"
"Was it Astaroth…who put me in that illusion to consume my soul?" I wondered.
"Your divinity kept healing your body while you consumed yourself, you were probably inside of an illusion I supposed. It was obvious from your eyes." He continued.
"Then…a red light came…" I said.
"You saw my mana? I tried to break your illusion myself. I had no idea where my mother was, if I knew I had left."
"But that's her" I pointed at the woman.
"Yeah, all thanks to a little girl. One a sick fuck like you had kept caged, she broke through a wall and opened the way for where mother was kept." He clenched his fists, "perhaps she heard your monstrous screams."
"Eira?" I desperately asked, "Where is she?"
"Are…you dumb? Can't you feel it?"
"feel what? Tell me where she is, she's extremely important."
"She's been inside your shadow this whole time, I thought you knew. She entered as soon as you woke up."
I turned around, looking at my show. It did look weirdly darker than his. But I hadn't noticed, perhaps due to it being night.
"Eira?" I called.
Nothing came out, "perhaps she doesn't wanna talk." He scoffed.
"Enough of this." Theron stood up, "we need to escape somehow, before I'm found and mistaken as the kidnapper of the oh so holy saint."
"I already told you, teleportation."
"You—"
I cut him off, "There already is a teleportation portal. Each temple connects to every other temple by portals."
He looked dumbfounded, clearing his throat, "Oh. Uhm. I wasn't aware, I see." He paused, before shouting, "YOU KNEW OF THIS AND YET YOU LET US WALK TOWARDS ALL THE WAY TO THE GATE?"
"I thought you had some plan."
I did believe, but turned out he was simply desperate to get us out of there without thinking how exactly we would leave.
"Does this mean…?" He turned pale.
"Yes." I wanted this.
"We…will have to pass the statue again."
…
This time, I would destroy it.