Chapter thirty

THE GREENLANDS
Denys could feel sweat pooling in all the wrong places as he made his way towards a shade of huge trees. He was close. He had not thought of the disaster his recklessness could cause. Strange how he stooped so low to help an insignificant figure in his ascent to power. Screw it! Denys would not kid himself. He was here for her sake. Despite having the knowledge of what could happen if his mother ever discovered the reason for his visit in the first realm. A wild thought like that should have given Denys the strength to stop right in his tracks and focus on what was more important at the moment but no, It only strengthened Denys’ urge to claim her. From afar, He could already see a faint picture of the haven the resilient nymphs lived in. The streets were filled with activities. Tiny speckles of light dancing through the skies, Winged creatures tending to nature, and a group of younger faeries heading in one direction. As Denys ambled along the clear part, He began to notice passerby staring. They whispered something and sort of avoided speaking to him, not stopping to spare him a greeting. They, without a doubt, knew what fate their only demigod had met and another god figure in the village was surely something unexpected. Summoning courage, Denys hurried to a white-haired Fae who was working in her garden before she made eye contact with him. As the Fae stood up to escape a dreaded conversation by retreating to her hut, Denys cornered her.
“Excuse me,” He said, “Do you perhaps know where I can find Maveth Trueborn?”
The woman froze. Her body sending a prickle to her shoulder blades. Even her almost transparent wings shuddered in response, leaving a dust of white on the warm earth.
“Do not tell me you are one of her spawns?” The woman shot back, avoiding his eyes.

“What! Maveth? No! Do you not recognize me?”

“No.” The Fae shook her head, still refusing to meet his gaze.

Denys could not quite pin his finger on what was making the villagers so timorous. Either way, He did not care. The Mareel ritual was close and he was still yet to make contact with Talia’s mother.

“I am Denys. Primordial god of the seven seas. Now tell me, where can I find Maveth Trueborn?’ He heaved.

“What!” The lady cringed, finally looking up. Her face turned pale once she observed all his features. “Persephone’s son…” She muttered, retreating even further.

Denys sighed. His mother did have a reputation and considering she was the bane of the Trueborns pain, The Fae’s reaction was nothing much of a surprise. It was valid.

“Yes. Now can you tell me where I can find Maveth?”

The Fae swallowed. It was like her mouth went dry. Denys could already sense something awful had happened.

“What is it?” He demanded, briefly wondering if he could handle bad news.

“Maveth Trueborn disappeared the day her daughter was betrothed to the sea. The only witness said she used succubi abilities to perform a sort of teleportation spell. Many thought she sought not to return knowing she was not nature’s child but we found out she was dead.”

Denys practically lost it. He stood motionless, staring at her. It could not be true. All he wanted was to give that girl comfort knowing her mother was fine but then this happened. Denys was certain his mother had her fair share in the cruel game. Perhaps that was why… NO! No matter how low his mother had stooped to get what she wanted, Denys could vouch that she was not a monster. This was a mix-up. It had to be.

“How do you know this?” He asked.

“Goddess Aine checked the book of life. Maveth’s name was struck out. She died drowning.” The Fae swallowed. “Probably with her daughter.”

Just like that, All his faith in his mother vanished. A metallic clang was stuck at the back of his throat. Her mother tried to save her and she paid the price. As unintentional as it might be, His mother was the cause.

“Where did she live?” Denys asked, unmoving.
The Fae pointed in the opposite direction. Denys blinked back the tears as he ran to the hut. He rattled at the knob of the front door but it did not give. Denys was not even sure what he planned to do by entering the house. Was it to find out how close Talia was to her mother? See how their family dreams were shattered because of his? He circled the rectangular hut, eventually stopping at an open window. He looked in. The house was simple but he could sense it was much more. Her scent lingered from within. Her memories were still there. His eyes moved from the photo stamped to a wall and the notes stacked to the refrigerator. She was hugging her mother tight in the picture, flashing her beautiful set of teeth just being near the older Fae. A stamped note on the fridge had nothing but hearts inscribed to its pink page but it still held an important message. Denys was not sure he could it. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his mind and very conflicting thoughts but yet, the only picture the prince could paint was, he had to lie to her.

***
THE SECOND REALM
Talia could sense Sybil’s displeasure judging from her glare. The upfront attitude of the witch happened to be a wall and Talia watched the walls come tumbling down brick by brick, her eyes dripping with tears she had held back since the old god knows when. Talia hesitated. She had wanted to help, not make it worse. She was not even sure what she had done exactly. Sure she had tapped into Sybil’s painful memories but how?

“I never wanted to remember.” Sybil cried, salty drops falling from her chin to the ground.

The lowers in the room were still in the dark. Everything was hazy for them but that did not mean an emotionally charged Sybil would not speak out, making her more of a freak than she already was. Before that could happen, Talia rushed to chip in. “What are you talking about?”

Sybil jumped to her feet, wiping her tears and looking intently at Talia.
“You were in my head! I know you were!”

Her screams got her the wrong kind of attention and her Gemini sisters stepped in.

“Sybil, You are having a breakdown. Maybe you need some air.” They offered.

Sybil blinked, trying to process what they just said. They called her mad. They tagged her as unstable, Her own sisters were wary of her. Talia detected something she had tasted when she was in Sybil’s head. It was fear. An inexplicable fear of the unknown.

“You believe the demigod and not even your fellow sister.” Sybil sneered and she walked away, slamming the door hard.

“Are you alright?” A male asked but Sybil could not see. Her eyesight was blurred by the heavy hot tears she kept holding back as she tried to push back the memories Talia had ripped open.

“I am fine.” Sybil lashed back, quickening her steps as she fled to her room.

The man followed her. Whoever it was, He was not taking no for an answer. But Sybil did not want to share. Bringing up the past hurt more. In reality, Sybil knew she was lying to herself. She kept those memories bottled up for a reason. She liked the pain. She craved it. It was punishment for failing her brother. Grief would only let his memories fade away. She could not let that happen. Even if the pain was the only memory of Storge’s that was strong enough to hold on to. The man managed to hold on to her hands but Sybil did not have the strength to fight him. She nestled against the man’s chest and let the flood of tears burst. Whoever it was, He did not find it weird. She felt his arms tighten around her pulling her to a warm and strange feeling. Sybil had never felt so safe and protected. Perhaps it had something to do with what Talia did to her brain but at the time, It did not matter. She wanted to throw out the words haunting her and she did.

“I want a do-over. I want another chance to save Storge. He did not deserve to die. He loved Simon.” Then she stopped. Whatever Talia had done, It had worn off. At the last moment, Sybil broke off from the hug to see who the good Samaritan was.

Solomon.