The Darkness
Chapter XXI

The day had arrived and Serafina’s worry grew. Thousands of deities, known and forgotten, were standing in the throne room of L’Attene and they would all witness her weakness. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Hey, Serafina, look at me,” Thanatos said, cupping her face in both hand and turning her head so that she was facing him and not the massive crowd that stood behind those curtains, “It’s going to be okay. You can do this.”

There was a double meaning behind Thanatos’s words. He didn’t just mean that she could finish the ceremony but that she would be able to have control over herself still, even if she could control just a miniscule aspect of who she was, so long as she had control everything would be fine.

She nodded and her eyes lit up as she remembered an important task that she wished to pass on to Thanatos. She held her hands out and a box surrounded by flames appeared in her palm. She held the box out to Thanatos and explained, “This box holds a message to everyone I hold dear, after today’s events I want you to give everyone theirs and have them read it in different rooms.” He took the box from her. “I want you to read yours after you kill me.”

“But there’s no guarantee that I’ll have to kill you.” He protested.

She gave him a knowing look, “Thanatos you and I both know that once I forget myself, I won’t be able to come back. I’ve accepted the inevitable now it’s time for you to do the same thing.”

He hated how easily she excepted the fact that she might-will- die. She should want to fight it, she should want to live. But Serafina knew that her death did not tip the scale compared to the death of billions of people not to mention the gods.

“You ready?” Lykos asked, holding his arm out for her to take.

She nodded and turned away from Thanatos, linking her arm with Lykos’s. The curtain pulled back and Serafina lifted the white cotton skirt of her dress so that she would not trip.

“You know this is the second time you’ve walked my down the aisle, dear brother. I do hope not to make it a third.” She whispered, leaning closer to him yet not taking her eyes off of the podium.

Lykos looked down at her with realisation yet said nothing, keeping a forced smile on his face as he unlinked his arm and watched her go up the stairs. She stood before a table filled with a substantial number of weapons but only one called out to her. She took the dagger from the woman who stood next to the table and slit her palm, dripping her blood on a disk blade. The blood sizzled with contact and disappeared into nothingness. She grabbed the disk and watched as it became a tattoo on her arm, waiting for her to call out for it.

She knelt before the Silent Three reciting the words, “ahdadkkk kkiuaokad ako kadh vokku kl al. uaaikl dkkla uovi dval kuxo kro kod okoa. a, Nakadu kuikhdol ad rado uvk koudh ka karonvrav kvoul.”

They hummed in approval and set her crown upon her head. To most the crown would feel like a reward for all the hard work they did and were going to do but to Serafina it felt more like a chain that reminded her of the lie she told her family.

“Rise, Nikita goddess of forfeiture and Vengeance.” The Silent Three conveyed through telepathy.

Her mark started to burn and she hissed in pain, gripping it. Gasps filled the room as black smoke came through the vents. The smoke surrounded Serafina like a tornado and provided a sound barrier so that only she could hear what the Darkness had to say.

“You’re not afraid of me,” The thing hissed when it realised that Serafina remained standing instead of cowering away.

Strangely enough, Serafina didn’t feel scared. Her standing tall wasn’t just a front to make the thing think she wasn’t afraid of it; she genuinely didn’t feel scared.

“I’ve been expecting you for a while now.”

“Then you know what I’m here to do, my vessel?”

She nodded, “I’ll let you do as you wish on one condition. If I believe you have gone too far, I am able to pull back the reins”

“Deal,” Its raspy voice grew more urgent.

“Valke will never win I won’t allow him to use me as a weapon.”

“You foolish girl, he doesn’t want to use you for a weapon. He wants to kill you.” With that the smoke entered her mouth, possessing her soul. It honoured its promise of letting her keep a portion of her remaining soul so that if she felt like it, she could reel the Darkness back in.

The crowd watched as she stood up slowly from her kneeling position, her white dress turning pitch black as she did so. She cracked her neck as the darkness got used to being in a body.

She opened her eyes and what was once light green was now pitch black, not a dash of white to be seen within them. She was no longer Serafina, the kind queen who only killed when essential, she was now someone no one recognized. Her smile was one much more sinister and her pitch-black eyes sent terror through everyone she set her gaze upon.

“After so many centuries you forget how good it feels to own a body,” She spoke after a long silence.

“Restrain her, don’t hold back.” Niana said, glaring at her. The guards moved to do as they were ordered yet stopped when she spoke.

“Oh, now that’s no way to treat your daughter now is it mother?” She asked with a mocking pout.

Niana gripped her husband’s hand, her voice shaking as she spoke, “You are not my daughter. Get her.”

She smiled as the guards came charging at her and held her fingers up, snapping them together. Flames circled around each of the guards to prevent them from moving. She watched as one of the guards drew their heavenly weapon and dug her nails into her hand, breaking the skin.

She manipulated the fallen blood droplets to create a shield around her just as the knife came flying at her. When the knife fell, she turned her shield into blood daggers and sent them flying at the seven guards. The blood daggers lodged themselves into each guards’ necks and melted.

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No one said a word as they watched them die and when everyone turned to look back at her, she had disappeared from sight.

The End....

For now.

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