Indignation (16 page)

“Because he’s your father and not many know about it. Just like all the Gods up in the Heavens, he has enemies. Julian has done well in protecting you, but now he’s after you and that’s not good. You-” Miranda lets her finger roam to the back of her neck. One of her eyes shows Alyssa facing at her, and the other shows The God in front of her. She’s seeing through Gabriel’s eyes. She blinks and distances herself away from the sight. She takes a deep breath and ignores the fuzziness of her vision. “You may be immortal, but Julian can kill you.” She finishes.

“I know. How is he though? How is the God like? What’s my mother like?” Alyssa doesn’t notice anything.

“He’s doesn’t like to be called Zeus by, his Greek name, like his brothers Hades, and Poseidon. He prefers to be called Dias, his born name.”

“So… does he throw thunderbolts for fun?” Alyssa asks with a sense of humor.

“No, only when he’s mad, but that rarely happens. He’s a calm God. Very handsome as well. As for Selene, she died a long time ago. No one knows how or why.”

“Oh. Do you think I will be able to meet him, my father at least?”

Miranda genuinely smiles at her. “Would you like to meet him?”

“No, not really.” There’s sorrow filling the eyes of the God’s daughter. Miranda knows that for her it will be difficult to accept her father. Alyssa has always known the Keeper, Dev, as her father, not a God.

“You need a distraction. What would you normally do to distract yourself from everything?”

“Well, this is different than any of those times, but I usually fight.”

“Fight?”

“Yeah. I fight at The Jag.”

“The Jag-” Miranda’s eyes widen. “You fight in a place filled with Underworlders?”

She shakes her head. “It might look scary and the men there are a little frightening, but I hardly would call them ‘underworldies’ or whatever you called them.”

“You don’t understand Alyssa. That is run and hosted by people who belong to the Underworld and its followers.”

“You mean-”

“That every single one of them is dead or waiting to be dead.”

“That’s not creepy at all.” Alyssa sarcastically states. “They don’t look like zombies.”

“Well, neither do you, but your dead as well.”

“Wait, what? I’m dead?”

“That’s what immortality means. You know how they always say the dead are still living among us?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it’s true.”

“As weird as this may sound, I’m not shocked. If you now tell me that I have a daughter out there somewhere, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Miranda chuckles at her bluntness. “Good thing you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Yeah.”

“So you want to go fight?”

“Yes.”

“Miranda?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks. I think I know what I’m supposed to be feeling now.” Alyssa admits.

“Now it’s your turn to make good use of it.”

Miranda has a feeling of closeness towards Alyssa. She doesn’t seem like the Annalisa they all describe her to be. Annalisa was a manipulative woman, but she understood her. A curse is almost unbreakable. Alyssa is going through the phase of discovering her reality. These times will look easy compared to what’s coming though. The Oracle of Delphi has seen a battle approach. The question is if the battle is the same one Julian has called upon them.

They both drive to The Jag in Alyssa’s mini cooper and arrive twenty mintues later. The Underworlders’ territory seems as dark and closed off as it has always been. Miranda can feel the trail of Hades in it wakening. She can proudly say she never met Hades in person, but she is curious on how exactly he handles his followers and his Underworlders. They seem to have no sense of control unlike the Elims in the God’s realm.

The two women follow the dirt trail up to the building. She can feel eyes on them. Miranda stretches out her arm in front of Alyssa to stop her from continuing the path. “Stay still.” She whispers. She lets her sense open up. Footsteps are heard coming toward their direction, but it abruptly stops at the sound of her voice. The heavy breathing only a man can accomplish is heard as well. She can also hear their movements. None of them is from an Elim guard. “We’re being watched.”  She whispers.

Alyssa nods in understanding. “What do we do?” She whispers back.

“Go inside. I have a feeling that Gabriel will be here soon. He can sense my distress.”

Miranda walks alongside Alyssa up the dirt path. This way if she’s attack from inside The Jag then she can push her backward, or if she is attacked from behind she can push her forward. The ultimate goal is to protect the God’s daughter from harm. She opens the door of the entrance and lets Alyssa lead the way. She trails behind Alyssa to the only door that shows. It leads them to a set of stairs that goes downward. There is no light, but Alyssa assures her that it’s alright. The Adviser Elim can feel the sense of fear just before stepping on the last step. That can only mean one thing. “Alyssa, no!” She extends her arm to pull her back, but it’s too late.

Katana and Longsword

Alyssa stands still. Her heart beat is slowing down as she feels her breathing stop. Her head spins like an awakening tornado. Her eyes don’t want to see. Her heart doesn’t want to feel the acceptance that she decided to feel. She blinks to clear the image in front of her, but it’s now stitched in her mind.

“Alyssa, we have to leave.” Miranda tugs on her arm, but she shoves her away. She takes a step forward even if her mind is telling her to do otherwise. The ache in her heart is what is now driving her. She looks directly at Julian. His black eyes bore into hers with no emotion. He doesn’t step away from the woman he was kissing not too long ago. The woman grins mischievously at her. The woman has a beauty of a goddess. Her dress is gold that looks like a million of diamonds were placed upon it. Her gold blonde hair is loose on her side complementing the pale tone of her skin. Her lips are an unnatural red.

“Well, I see the rat has come back from the dead.” The beautiful woman stares straight at her with no remorse. “You never mentioned that Julian.” She turns to him and runs her perfectly polished finger nails graze upon the skin on his neck.

Julian’s eyes leaves Alyssa’s and cups the chin of the woman in front of him. “I was… distracted.” He smirks.

“Who are you?” She asks the woman.

“My name is Caillech, the destroyer goddess of the Underworld.”

Miranda lays her hand on her shoulder. “Alyssa, let’s go now.”

“Alyssa? Oh, I think you are mistaken.” The woman says. “That is Annalisa. She’s the one who took Julian away from me.” She raises her eyebrow up at him. “Julian, you will not leave me again for her. Right?”

“Of course not.” Alyssa’s heart stops for that second at his answer. She thought him wanting to kill her was cruel, but she didn’t know cruelty until now.

“Alyssa, please.” Miranda begs beside her.

“No.” She shakes her head. Her eyes connect with the Elim’s eyes to show her how serious she is. “I’m done running.” She turns to Julian. “I’m done feeling guilty. I done mourning over the life I lost. I’m done with everything. I came here to fight. We end this now, Julian.”

“You want to fight me?” Julian smirks, not taking her seriously.

“That deserves a clap.” Caillech says with a taunting smile. “You fight against Julian? He will win before you pick up a sword.”

“Yes. I want to fight you.” She ignores the goddess. “If I win, you leave me and my friends alone.”

“And when I win? What do I get?”

“My death.”

“No!” Miranda gasps. “Julian you can’t agree to that. You love her.”

“Miranda it’s fine.” Alyssa says. “If Julian wants me dead then he can kill me… if he wins of course.”

Julian clearly shows his amusement by the smirk that won’t leave his face. “Deal.”

“Julian when she dies can I have her blood?”

“What do you have in mind Caledonia?”

“Soup.” There’s a sinister glint in her gold eyes.

Caledonia, Caledonia. Alyssa remembers the time in history class where they were going over the minor gods and goddess and what their names meant. Caledonia was another name for Scota which means in Scotland- “Caledonia. Doesn’t it mean old hag?”

Caillech’s eyes flames with rage. If fire could blaze in someone’s eyes, it will be her golden ones. “You vile woman! How dare you speak to me that way? I am a goddess, you will respect me.”

“I respect myself and those who deserve it.”

“Calm down Caledonia. The fun has just begun.” Julian turns to Alyssa. “What will your weapon of choice be?”

“The Katana of Selene, my mother.”

“It’s such an expected choice. I choose my Longsword.”

Alyssa takes off her jacket and tucks the bottom of her purple tank top in her black sweat pants. She ties her light brown hair up into a high ponytail. Julian walks to the weaponry board to get their weapons.

“Alyssa, this is mad. You can’t fight him.” Miranda moves to stand in front of her.

She just shrugs her shoulders like it’s nothing. She knows it’s crazy to fight him for her life, but if that’s the only way to end all of this then why not? Apparently she’s live a long life, dying shouldn’t be her biggest fear. Then she thinks about Jim and Brandon. They were so disappointed in her. She drove them away from her when she needed them the most. She loves them both so much. “I have to tell my friends’ goodbye before it’s too late.” She tells the Elim. Alyssa moves far to the side and scrolls down her speed dial to find Jim’s number first.  She quickly presses it before she changes her mind.

“Alyssa?” Jim answers on the first ring.

“Jim-Jam.” She smiles, but he can’t see her. “I wanted to say sorry for earlier today. I know I was being a bitch and you didn’t deserve that.”

“It’s okay. Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“I can’t.”

He sighs through the phone. “Where are you? I don’t see your car.” He states suspiciously.

“You’re in my house?” She frowns.

“No, I just parked outside your house.”

“Oh, I just went out for a walk.”

“When will you be back?”

She turns to face Miranda. She knows the Elim can hear her conversation by the way she lowers her eyes. “I don’t know.” She takes a deep breath to calm down her emotions. “Jim, I just wanted to apologize and tell you that you’ve been such a great friend to me. And I love you for it. I’m going to miss you.” Her eyes widen at her outburst. “I mean when you go back to the military. I’m going to miss you.”

“You know I love you too as a friend, but I have to confess that I was always hoping to be more than friends.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice to know, Jim-Jam. I have to go, but I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure.”

She closes her eyes when she hears the line die. “Now Brandon.”

“Now I’m more worried. You’re saying your goodbyes which mean you know you’re going to lose.” Miranda searches her eyes to find confirmation. Alyssa reluctantly gives it to her without much hassle. She knows that Julian is strong and he can strike worse than a cobra. She won’t pretend that he’s not like that. She has been training though, and that helps her a little, but she has a feeling that he has been fighting for centuries compared to her.

“I’ll be fine after I call Brandon.” She begins to scroll down her speed dial contacts and sees Brandon’s name.

“You don’t have to say goodbye to anyone. You can stop this before it’s too late. Think about everything you’re losing. I say it from experience, don’t do this.” She hesitates pressing the call button.

“The people I care about can move on, but I never will. What I’m gaining is so much more than what I’m losing. I’m gaining my peace of mind whether I live or die. I can’t hide from everything anymore. I needed to make my choice, now I am.”

“You’re stronger than I thought.”

“I wish I can think the same.”  She presses the call button and listening to the chime of the dial tone.

“Are you going to say sorry now?” Brandon answers.

She joyfully laughs. “You’re too confident for your own good, Brady.”

“So you’ve told me before. Now are you going to say sorry?”

“You’re too impatient as well, but I am sorry Brady, for everything. I know you saved me that night and it was messed up of me to snap at you like that. You’re my best friend. I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I know. Want me to come over and have a movie night?”

“No, that’s okay. I’m just tired.”

“Are you home?”

“No, I just went out for a walk.” She lies.

“You’re a bad liar. Where are you?”

“I’m walking. Actually Brady I need to go.” She quickly says. She hates that he can easily read her even if he’s not physically next to her. That was always one of the disadvantages to their friendship.

“Alyssa-”

Alyssa presses the red button, ending the call.  “Brandon knows me too well.” She whispers.

Miranda sighs. “There’s nothing I can say to stop you from fighting, right?”

“No, but thanks for caring.”

“Caring for you is nothing. I grew attached to you like a sister.” The Elim explains. Miranda lays both her hands on either side of her. “I wish you luck. You’re very brave you know that? You might have his hate right now, but you also have his love. Remember that?”

“Thanks, Miranda.”

“You both are too touchy.” Caillech walks toward them with impish eyes. “I would have never imaged the day that Julian would wake up and see you fro who you really are. A rat.”

Alyssa crosses her arms with a wicked smile spreading on her own lips. “If you’re trying to knock me down, save it, Blondie.”

“Elim, you should teach her how to talk to the higher rankers. If I was not in such a good mood over this fight, I would banish her from life.”

Miranda laughs rather loudly. “She can’t be killed, goddess Caillech.”

“We will see about that.”

Alyssa takes a threatening step forward. “Caillech, you might want to stay away from me.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m afraid when I have my mother’s Katana in hand, I will accidently slip and the blade will tear your beautiful gold dress.”