25 Broken bond
Someone laid on a mat in a dimly lit room surrounded by candles with markings on the floor. It was a ritual performed for those who were ready to move on to the other side, it was also a ritual performed to keep the soul from leaving the body.
She was drenched in sweat as she moved around violently in her sleep. She must be having a bad dream to move in such manner. Her lips moved like she was muttering something.
"Don't go," she said. "Father please don't go."
"Shhhhh," a male voice hushed quietly. "No need to call out for him. You will be reunited soon."
He took out a needle, dipped it into a bottle filled with purple liquid and pierced it into her arm.
Opening her eyes, she looked to see who the stranger was, "Olly, what are you doing?"
"I'm sorry Petra, this is the only way," he responded sadly, packing his items in a hurry, whilst leaving the Xaj to fall asleep.
Closing the door behind him, he leaned on it for awhile as tears rolled down his face uncontrollably.
"This is the only way," he kept on muttering to himself. "It has to work."
Standing upright, he cleaned his eyes out, sniffled a little before walking back onto the deck. He had to mingle with the crowd to avoid suspicion.
***
"We're here," Senile said out loud for everyone to hear as the ship drew closer to the port.
"Where are we?" Mephistopheles asked with a tired look on his face. After drinking with his brother, he had fallen asleep only to wake up by dawn to a seagulls cries on the window pane. It was a sign that land was close by.
"You'll see," the warrior god responded with an excited look on his face.
"Where are we?" Trina asked with a fake smile. Ever since the ship moved away from their intended course, she had been irritable and impossible to deal with.
"We're in Klax," he whispered. "It was here that I got married to Aurora. I also hid Xerxes here as a baby when the war started."
So much had happened on this island. Those two were the most recent memories it held.
He squinted at the port when he saw someone he recognized. She hadn't changed a day.
"I'm sure she'd love to see you after what you did to all of us," Senile let out a snide remark before disembarking from the ship.
He held a feeling of shame staring at her from a distance as she stared back. Gagontae, goddess of forgery. He had not seen her in over a thousand years since he left the skies to roam on earth. She had approached him countlessly to take him back to no avail. He had his reason for leaving the skies, but she wanted him close.
"Something tells me you don't want to leave the ship," Olly grunted past while carrying a stretcher with Petra on it.
"Take it easy down the ramp man," Harry blurted to Olly as he struggled to follow the warriors long strides.
He slinked into the ship without a word to anyone. He was ashamed of what he had done and even though he had made up his mind to pay for his crimes, it wasn't as easy as he had initially thought.
Walking past the kitchen, he heard a clutter which got his attention. It was Indigo, as usual she was selecting the best drinks for herself.
"You should be moving out with the crew," he let out authoritatively.
"And you should be having a family reunion right about now," she responded without looking up.
He could not argue about that and it made her look up from her raid.
"It's that bad huh?" She asked sadly.
He nodded slowly. There was nothing left to say. He was in the wrong and everyone knew it. He had put his selfish wants over the needs of others and it had broken everything that he had — family, friends, relationships — everything.
"Well, why don't you talk to them, maybe they'll..."
"There's nothing to discuss with any of them," he interrupted with a dangerous whisper. "I am just like my brother Uranus. I let my pride and wrong judgement lead me into this, now look where it has gotten me. There's no difference between the both of us. In the end we're just selfish, greedy gods without a care of who gets hurt or who gets burnt."
She nodded in confusion at what was going on, but she did know that the only thing that would cure his mood was a good drink.
Looking at the stash she had gathered in a bag, she took out two bottles of wine and walked up to him with it.
"Here," she said handing them over to him. "You need this more than I do. Besides I think I've raided enough."
He took them with mixed feelings as she picked up her bag, left the kitchen and started down the hall. Maybe staying on the ship and drinking out his feelings would be a better idea.
"Thank you," he said after watching her walk down the hall.
She halted without looking back, "I've never heard you say those to me," she said with a soft laugh. "I guess you really have changed."
With those words, she left the dark god in the ship, joining the rest of the crew at the port.
***
The bottles stood on a table in front of him as he sat on the floor with his back against the bed. He couldn't sleep, he couldn't think, he sat there for hours staring into the little expanse of space before him. He had no one, even his own son despised him. His family hated his guts for choosing humanity over them, breaking rules without thinking about the consequences and acting less concerned about his actions. If he could not face Gagontae, how was he going to face the other gods?
Sighing deeply, he stretched out his arm, grabbing a bottle and opening it without hesitation. He was going to drink till his feelings were numb. Downing the drink to drown his sorrows were all he had to do to face reality. He was an outcast amongst the gods, a defect. He was a failure who had let his wife, brothers, sisters and child pay for his crimes.
"What happened to you?" a familiar voice asked from the door.
Dropping the bottle to the ground, he laid his head back on the bed as he stretched out his arms on it. He was prepared for whatever punishment she had for him, he deserved it anyway.
"Answer me damn it!" she let out with a shaky voice.
He had nothing to say to her, he was done giving excuses, he was done making up stories. Sitting up and taking the bottle, he poured more wine into his mouth, swishing it from side to side.
"I waited for you, we all did," she went on. "Raïs kept his faith in you and you broke it. You think Uranus is the villain, well I've got news for you brother, you made him the villain. He's lashing out how he feels to the world because of your actions."
He looked down to the ground studying the cracks in the wood. She was right, Uranus would not have turned this way if it wasn't for him. He was the real villain in this story, not his brother. Uranus and Mars were victims of his past errors.
"You never deserved her," she gave off bitterly.
"You killed Aurora and Raïs and I will never forgive you for that," with those words of finality, she walked out in anger, breaking parts of the ship as she went through the hall.
A tear dropped from his eye as he laid back on the bed with a sigh.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before letting tears cover his line of sight.
