MERIKH: THE BLACK POWER

Episode 2:LUMINORA

The immortals around them were murmuring to each other.

Fragments reached us from every direction — someone clicking their tongue in disapproval, a man explaining the law to his child in a low voice as if this were a lesson, a woman beside me whispering that she had always suspected them.

“They were in a relationship,” Jane spoke in a whisper.

The biggest sin in Cosima is the union of Light and the Darkness. Our god Deus believes we should coexist but not merge, lest their essences corrupt the divine order.

What an old-fashioned thinking!

The crowd moved aside to reveal two figures coming to the centre.

Helvar, the warden of death and the king of Dejia stopped in front of the couple. He was followed a Light councillor of the Citadel, Lillith.

Soon, another person came to the centre and stood beside Helvar. Theon, the son of the warden of death who was soon going to be his father’s successor.

No one uttered a single word. Even the crowd fell silent. They looked at each other and Lillith shook her head in approval.

“Warrick, read the verdict” Helvar demanded, his voice showed no emotion.

I could hear my own heartbeat. Such situations had no good outcome. Everyone was waiting for the governor to read the verdict of their sin. Among all of us only Theon seemed to be too calm for the situation. His eyes wandered around lazily among the crowd stopping at me, as he raised his eyebrows, then moved backed to the couple.

Warrick soon returned with a verdict and opened it up, reading it.

“ As per Segregations laws of Cosima declared by Deus himself, the light and dark ever united will be considered committing the greatest sin, hence having the same consequence. You will be executed in front the entire society as an example to be followed thereafter. Your souls won’t be granted entry into the Isles of Dead and would cease to exist. Therefore, I announce Helvar, the warden of Death to carry out Deus’s order.”

Celia held my wrist, “I can’t see this,” she said turning her face away from them.

“It’s wrong, too wrong,” I murmured to myself without turning away my gaze.

Something inside me screamed I should watch this. A foreign feeling crawled inside me.

The cold outside suddenly felt too hot against my skin. The crowd disappear replaced by something I couldn't name. Fire. Lava somewhere beneath, groaning like something alive. Screams that had no direction. I couldn't tell if I was standing or falling.

"Odessa."

Celia's hand on my arm felt like being pulled out of water. My vision cleared. The place was same as before, I looked at sister.

“Let’s go,” She said.

“No, wait.” The words slipped before I could think.

Helvar placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. He took out his sword and turned to his son giving him his sword.

“Prove them son, that you are worthy of being my successor”

Theon didn’t moved. His jaws tightened.

I narrowed my eyes.

Is he hesitating?

He closed his eyes as if convincing something to himself and then took the sword from his father. He moved towards the couple like predator move towards the prey.

“Your last wish.” He asked the culprits who didn’t even looked at anyone.

The couple exchanged glances and smiled as if bidding farewell to each other.

“Why isn’t anyone saying something?” I whispered.

“Who would dare to go against Deus’s order,” Jane said, her eyes fixed on the couple.

Everyone waited patiently for their last wish but it never came.

“ Just kill us,” the girl of darkness finally spoke.

Theon took a long breath and fixed his hands on hilt of the sword. Helvar closed his eyes, his mouth moving in a chant, he raised his hand as a red orb started forming around it.

Immortals can’t die unless they are intentionally killed by someone. Theon swift his sword in one smooth glide and—two heads fell on the ground.

Helvar released the red orb and their body turned into ash.

“ Enough, let’s go,” Celia took my hand and dragged me away from the crowd. My eyes were still fixed on the ashes until it disappeared.

Without wasting any more time, we reached the outskirts of the city. The sky dragons were waiting at the outskirts exactly where we had left them. I climbed on without speaking. The ashes were still somewhere behind us in that square, scattered across stone, and nobody would sweep them away reverently or mark where they had been.

They had simply ceased to exist.

I had never wanted to stop something so badly in my life. As the city shrank behind me, something unfamiliar settled in my chest — not grief exactly. Something quieter and oddly colder.

I didn't have a name for it yet.

....

Your souls would cease to exist.

I have already lost count of how many times I had repeated the scene in my mind. The house was eerily calm. The kind of silent that made you aware of every small sound — the cold air moving through the window I hadn't closed, the faint creak of the chair, my own breathing. I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t recall when I brought my family frame with me.

I cleaned the dust with the back of my hand and showed in the dim moonlight. It was the portrait of my parents where my mom was pregnant with us. Mother had placed one hand on her womb, her head resting on dad’s shoulder who had draped his arms around her.

The smile in mom’s face was worth the world. I don’t remember the last time I saw her smiling. Perhaps, I never saw. My mother’s smile died the same day my dad died.

No one knows why, how and who killed my dad. It had always been a mystery. I and Celia have only seen our dad in portraits.

As I was lost in my thoughts, there was a knock on the door.

Before I could answer Celia had already entered the room.

“You were supposed to wait for my permission.” I said keeping the portrait aside.

“Doesn’t matter.” She came and sat beside me dangling her legs.

“Missing mom?” her voice came out in a whisper.

I sighed and stood up to close the window.

“She didn’t came home in those holidays,” she continued ignoring me, “I haven’t seen in past few years, she is so occupied in the Citadel.”

I tried my best not to think about it. Our mother never spent her time with her daughters. Probably her position and citizen mattered more than us.

“End the topic” My voice was harsher than I intended.

I pulled the window glasses together.

“Do you still hate mother?”

Her question stirred several emotions in me and I didn’t realise when—I winced as my fingers got cut from the window glasses.

“Odessa,” Celia suddenly stood up taking my hands in hers.

She wiped away the blood in her own dress then looked confusingly at me.

“Why aren’t you healing?” She asked raising her eyebrows.

Immortals have the power to heal any wound within seconds. But from a few days my wounds are not being healed in any way. I sharply took my hands and hid behind my back.

“I am exhausted,” I said avoiding her eyes, “So I don’t have much power to heal.”

Celia didn't say anything for a while.

That was unusual enough that I almost looked at her.

Then she took my hand and pulled me toward the bed, just the way she did things, like decisions had already been made and she was simply executing them.

"Sit."

I sat, narrowing my eyes.

"You're going back to the Academy tomorrow," she said, settling beside me. "Which means you need to actually sleep tonight instead of sitting in the dark holding portraits."

"I wasn't—"

"You were."

I closed my mouth. She nudged my shoulder with hers.

"Maybe a lullaby will help."

"Your lullaby would take away the little sleep I have left."

“Come on,” she said narrowing her eyes.

She then climbed up the bed settling between the pillows patted the place beside her. I raised my eyebrows. She pulled me and made me sleep beside her.

“Consider me your elder sister now” she said as her hand found my hair.

“I am that.” I closed my eyes.

She rolled her eyes. “Just a minute older.”

She patted my head like a mother do her children. This is what we always did in our childhood as our mother didn’t had time for us.

Technically I was the older sister. Technically she was supposed to be the one who needed looking after.

Celia had never once received that information.

The room was still. Outside the window Luminora had gone quiet the way it always did as if folding itself into sleep. My eyes grew heavy despite everything.

I was almost under when her voice came, so low it could have mistaken for a dream.

"I will always be there for you, sister."

I knew that. Even if the entire world leaves me alone, she will always be there for me