“The unthinkable has happened!” Cientiam ran to Soria who sat before her father in conversation. “Mother is planning to travel to uncle Dovium’s realm. I don’t know what she plans to return with but no good ever comes form Drathell.”
Plexous sprang up from his seat. “What?!”
“I swear it father I over heard her and Ev’rvessa discussing her plans in the gardens. She gave mother something that she had hidden. Mother called it a key.”
Plexous stood Soria up and wrapped around her protectively. “She is planning to visit Drathell then. The item you speak of is known as a laconis. It is a wand or key that your uncle created shortly after Plexsia’s death created the three planets. One must have it in order to use the Platforms of Transcendence. The are the only gateway between the our realms and the mortal worlds.”
Soria stepped forward. “What does this all mean? Will I die and part from you both so soon?”
“No you will not die nor shall I part from you and our child. I will gather our warriors and await Ephealia’s return. She has done the unthinkable and for her crimes I will restrain her. To move against Hailotia with the aid of my brother means she no longer holds love in her heart for any of us. She will be arrested the moment she returns.”
“Father, where is this platform?”
“In the Temple of Song’s courtyard where your sister and nephew vanished. It is invisible to the naked eye unless you have a laconis or my staff. My staff created the platforms and your uncle’s laconi were created to conceal or reveal them,” Plexous looked the women over. “Cientiam take Soria somewhere safe. I need to rally the other gods for your mother’s return. Until we have contained her and whatever she returns with stay from view no matter what you see.”
“I will protect her with my life father. Please take care of yourself. I never thought my own mother would stir the pot of war in our realm. She is turning us all against one another. Her actions will destroy Hailotia one way or another.”
“Hailotia has stood strong for an eon, it will not fall under the storm of your mother’s insanity.”
Cientiam took Soria hand. “Come on we should go and gather some things we may need. Who knows how long we will be in hiding.”
“A moment please mistress,” Soria murmured. She kissed Plexous for what seemed like a flash in time. “I love you, please stay safe. Our child deserves to meet its father. As for Ephealia, please try and be merciful to her. Her losses are enough to drive anyone crazy.”
“You are to forgiving Soria. I have turned a blind eye to her instability for to long and now look what has happened because of it. My only choice now is to protect you and my remaining three children. Go and do not look back. Listen to Cien and dont reveal yourself no matter the cost. Daughter, take my staff with you. If things get out of hand you both leave and find somewhere to hide in the mortal world.”
“I won’t leave you alone father. I will try to help in whatever way I can.”
“Do as you are bid child. I have lost one child I never want to experience that pain again. Now go and do not defy me.”
Cientiam and Soria ran into the night and to the far west of Hailotia. The pair gathered food and water, something more of a comfort than a necessity. From there they packed up two satchels of robes and blankets.
“Why do we need all of this Cien? I am sure your father will handle everything,” Cientiam let her words fall onto deafened ears. She continued to pack, stuffing a few valuable trinkets and bobbles into the pouch. “Mistress please I know you are worried but there is no reason for all this. If things do go horribly wrong and I am caught with any of these belongings I will be killed for sure.”
“You truly don’t understand what's happening do you? My mother is about to start a civil war here in Hailotia. None of us will care if a few bracelets or earrings go missing. Besides if we do end up having to transport ourselves to the mortal world we will need things of value. There is nothing humans love more than gold and silver. Their very way of life revolves around it, sex and food.”
Pleased with what she gathered, Cientiam swung the pouches over her shoulders and led Soria to the far ends of the Temple of Song. They hid behind a statue of Incendartu, the first dragon and Plexsia’s own pet. Ephealia was gone, there was no site of her thankfully.
“Come on I know a place we can hide. Only my sister and I were aware of it”
“What about the staff mistress?”
“Oh damn my fretful mind! I forgot that quickly. I’ll get you stashed away and go back for it,” The two women walked into Plexsia’s bedroom. “Come on this way.”
Soria fell behind and took a moment to witness the horror before her. After five centuries the room had been left exactly as the goddess left it. Bed linens were thrown over the floor, blood stained the walls and curtains hanging over her bed. A vase rested shattered over the area before the door. The silhouettes of foreign symbols were burned in the baseboards and ceiling where Plexsia had given birth.
The squeak of a hinge tore Soria from her historic trace and beckoned her to Cien’s side. Hidden beneath a rug was a door, one that led into a secret storage room. They climbed inside and closed it behind them.
“What is this place?” Soria said. “I have never seen anything so dark and contrasting to the rest of our realm.”
“This is where my sister used to meet up with the demon Jacothole. She showed it to me once when I caught her moving things around in here.”
“You knew about her affairs?”
“Yes I did but I was not going to betray her trust. I didn’t see the harm her choices could make then like I do now. One day that story will be told but not today. For now my only concern is saving you. Stay here, it wont take me long to retrieve fathers staff.”
Cien climbed out of the small underground room and closed the door behind her. As her footsteps faded away Soria took a moment to appreciate the room and the meaning behind it. A faint red glow pulsed around the entire circumference of it. She kneeled down and ran her hand over the lights. There was life in the cherry glow of the room, it beat like a heart quickening with her touch.
“Oh I would love to know what memories your walls hold and the secrets you know.”
The pulse of the room grew quicker with her words. She placed her cheek to the floor to see if she could hear anything. A heat injected its way into her flesh, cementing her to the stone. Her teal eyes glazed over with an arctic hue as her vision was transported to another dimension.
Vines, so many vines, snakes slithering over mounds of moss, insects crawling over moist soil. Soria’s conscious mind and spiritual body was transported to a place unknown. The space was ripe with the petrichor of a past rain. Red roots scattered about the dirt like the veins of a placenta. Their hue remained the same shade that Soria remembered in the small room.
She walked forward waving her hand before his vision to clear the vines before her. Somehow she had been placed in a tunnel, one that led to a vast open cavern. In its center pulsed an orb. One of transparent and powerful nature. The demi-goddess inched closer, called forth by a pull of the heart. The closer she grew the stronger the pull became.
Her eyes cut as she stretched her neck to view what hid inside the sphere. There curled up in the arms of a leather wing demon was Plexsia holding her sleeping with hers hound Xyrentak at her feet. Their chests rose and fell and with each breath the vein of the orb pulsed. Soria reached out to touch them but the moment she did she woke from her trance in the room it all started in.
“Plexsia is alive,” Soria rubbed her temples. The feeling of a spike ran straight down the center of skull. “This is my saving grace this is how I can stop the war before it even begins.”
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