Chapter 28

"How's it coming along?" Noor kissed the side of my head and peeked over my shoulder at the pages before me.

"Have you ever heard of the name Vox Populi?" Noor hummed in thought.

"Vaguely. I think my parents told me a story that had that name in it. Hold on." Noor made her way over to a phone and punched a button.

"Hey, can you both come down here, please?" Noor was tapping her foot. "Now, preferably." She scrunched up her nose. "Disgusting. I didn't need to know that. Just hurry up." She hung up the phone and shuddered.

"What is it?" She looked at me with a distant look in her eyes.

"My parents informed me of their current activities..." She trailed off and shuddered again. Realization hit.

"You don't need to say anything further." Soon the door opened, and in walked her parents. Her dad smirked, and Noor rolled her eyes.

"What is it you needed us to come down here for?"Noor signaled them to sit down.

"You used to tell me a story about something or someone named Vox Populi. Do you remember that?" They both nodded their heads.

"Yes, we do. It is the name of an elder being. Just folklore passed on throughout generations." I inserted myself into the conversation at this point.

"Well, according to this translation, they are real." Everyone looked at me, surprised, and I just gave them all a look. "What are you looking at me like that for? They're real. Can we get on with the program?" I looked over at Noor's parents. "Tell me more about them. The text is very vague in describing them." They nodded.

"They are said to be the voice of all the people to other gods and goddesses. Through them, the gods and goddesses speak to us, and we can speak to the gods and goddesses through them. They are said to be all-knowing of all creations at all times; they know all the answers to our questions. They are also the ones who saved us from the gods' and goddesses' wrath at the beginning of our existence. They believed us to be too flawed and self-destructive. Vox Populi convinced them that they and we are not so different. Neither of us is truly perfect; we can succumb to our tempers and flaws, we both can leave destruction in our wake. However, with the guidance from Vox Populi and the gods/goddesses, they can guide all of us to the right path. Of course, some people cannot be helped at all; they can deal with the God of what some consider hell when they get there." I nodded. "Just for your information, hell and the stipulations for landing you there aren't how white colonialism wants you to believe. The only way to truly land yourself in "hell" is by truly being evil and soulless. Rapists, child molesters, murdering someone without reason. Like if you murder someone who rapes your child or kills your family member or something along those lines, they show mercy and understanding." I nodded again. Letting all the information swim throughout my head.

"Well, they are real, and we have to find them. They are the only ones who can tell us how to defeat this deranged piece of shit." Noor put her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Okay, so next posing question. Where do we find them?" I look back down at the pages and skim till I find the location.

"Mons Dei Qui Vox Populi?" I tried to pronounce everything to the best of my ability. I was honestly cringing out my pronunciation.

"Umm, love. Will you write down what you are trying to pronounce?" I could feel my face heat up just a bit. I wrote down what I saw on a piece of paper, and they all looked at it.

"Ahh... Latin." I looked at it.

"Why is everything in Latin?" I questioned no one in particular.

"Probably, because it has been around for a very long time." I nodded my head at Noor. That makes sense.

"Sooooo... What does it say?" Noor took a closer look at it.

"Mountain of the God Who is the Voice of the People." I shook my head.

"What?" Noor questioned me, and everyone was looking at me as to why I was shaking my head.

"That just seems like an unnecessarily long name." I shrugged my shoulders. "What? Am I wrong?" I looked toward Nina.

"I don't know. It is some ancient shit, sis. It kind of makes sense for it to be overly elaborate." I rolled my eyes. Whatever. I don't think it's necessary to be that long.

"Moving on. Where is this mountain at?" I read a little further and could feel my brow furrowing.

"What does it say?" I let out an annoyed huff.

"Always so vague. It says the third star of Denali's sword will lead the way." Noor immediately stood up and went into another room. We all looked in her direction and then looked at one another, confused as the door closed behind her.

"Come on." She poked her head out and waved us to come into the room.

We got into the room, and it was dark inside. You heard a button click, and soon we were surrounded by what looked to be the world around us. I could see the mountains, the valleys, the oceans, and I could see the galaxies.

"Highlight Denali's Sword Constellation," Noor spoke out loud, and soon the 3D map shifted, and a constellation was glowing brightly. Noor went over and was manipulating the terrain and moving it around. She inspected it closely.

"There." She pointed to a large mountain located between two smaller mountains. It was the only one that didn't have snow at the tip of it. "This is the mountain." She looked back at me. "Does it say where on the mountain they may be?" I walked further over to the glowing constellation and used its light to illuminate the pages in my hand. I bent down and squinted with one eye till the third star lined up with the mountain. I then went over to the mountain and enlarged it to where I could see every detail of it. I noticed what looked like a different type of rock on the side of the mountain.

"You see this discoloration on the side of the mountain? Where it looks like there is almost a different type of rock than what is surrounding it?" I felt them all peer over my shoulder. "This is where they are at." I felt Noor kiss the side of my head.

"Good eye, love." I smiled big at this.

"It actually makes sense." I looked over my shoulder at Noor's mom. "It's the only mountain where the lights touch." I looked at her questioningly. "They are like Earth's Northern lights." I hummed.

"Cool." I looked back at the mountain. When I looked at it, I almost felt a pull towards it.

"What are we waiting for?" Hannah spoke up out of nowhere. I looked at her, kind of shocked. She and Naiomi have been reticent this entire time that I almost forgot they were here.

"I agree. We should head out now. The sooner, the better. That eerie feeling in the pit of my stomach that usually happens when this dude is about to pop up is starting to make its presence known." I could feel something brewing too. I think once Naiomi said that we all started to notice we all felt it. The air around us was changing.

"Mom, dad, you both hold down the fort. Everyone pack up on weapons and nourishment. We have a ways to go." Hannah stopped us all in our tracks.

"You know I can just teleport us there, right?" We all looked at each other with big O's on our faces.

"Right. Won't that drain you of your energy, though? You're going to need it when we face this dude." I'm running out of things to call this puppet master creature, thing, piece of shit, fruitcake, psychopath, etc... So dude will have to suffice for now till I think of something new.

"I made an elixir that will help restore my energy. Plus, I'm sure this elder being, god, goddess, whatever their title truly is, will be giving us a lot of information and will hopefully have a couch I can chill on for a bit." I looked at her, amused.

"As if. They are not going to have a couch." Hannah shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, well, at least grab some weapons. You never know who or what we may run into. Also, nourishment if you want." We all nodded at Noor and went our separate ways to gather what we needed.

"What's wrong, my love?" Noor came up from behind me and wrapped her arms around me. I let myself melt into her.

"I'm just anxious, is all. I can feel the air around us changing, and it doesn't feel good." She squeezed me a little tighter and kissed the side of my head.

"It'll be alright, my love. Together we are unstoppable." I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I took in the moment and relished in it.

"Together, we are unstoppable," I repeated back what she said—saying it with conviction.

"Okay, let's find the wonderful wizard of oz." Noor looked at me confused, and I just laughed at her.

"We will have to add the Wizard of Oz to our movie watchlist." I grabbed her hand and pulled her along with me. "Come on." We made our way back downstairs. We waited at the bottom, and soon we were joined by everyone else. We all grabbed one another's hands.

"Take a deep breath." We all took in a deep breath, and I closed my eyes. Soon I felt the wind blowing through my hair. I opened my eyes, and I looked out around me to see nothing but the sky. I did the worst thing possible and looked down. I felt my knees buckle a bit, and Noor steadied me. I looked up at her and gave her a grateful smile. I went as far away from the edge as I could get and made my way forward. Everyone followed behind me, and Noor made sure to stay close just in case my legs decided to give out on me. I was paying close attention to the wall when I found the part of the mountain that looked like it didn't belong.

"What do we do now?" I shrugged and did the only thing I could think of. I knocked on the rock. I heard a scoff. I looked over to find my sister rolling her eyes.

"Really? You're going to knock?" I looked at her, annoyed.

"Do you have a better idea?" A weird sound brought our attention back to in front of us. The rock in front of us was shifting. Soon a beautiful being with glowing white hair and piercing ocean eyes looked at us. They definitely looked God-like.

"I've been waiting for you all. Come in." The being motioned us in, and I hesitantly took the first step in while the others followed my lead.

We walked in, and I was looking around. I heard someone clear their voice. I looked back to see it came from Hannah. She looked at me with a smirk and looked to the right of her. I followed her line of sight to see a couch. I just rolled my eyes at her.

"I would drink your elixir and rest on the couch, Hannah. You're going to need it." Hannah nodded, exaggeratedly flipped her hair at me then made her way to the couch. I couldn't help but roll my eyes again at her antics.

"I have answers you seek. But, first, I shall get the irrelevant one out of the way." The being looked at my sister. "Your sister buried it in the backyard of your childhood home." I looked at the being and then at my sister questioningly.

"Which sister?" The being then pointed at me. Nina looked at me with an angry expression and her arms crossed.

"What did I do?" The being rolled their eyes a bit.

"You buried her favorite doll when you were seven years old. So now, can we get back to the important information?" My sister huffed.

"Their name is Keres. They are a dark elf. They have been evil since their creation. Truly soulless and vile." Soon the mist surrounded us, and our surroundings dissolved around us. Soon we were looking at what looked to be a god and a little being. Dues Exitio. Yes, Lareina, more Latin. The God of destruction or doom. He is now exiled and will spend eternity in the abyss. However, his creation, Keres, still roams our planets. Still seeking and wreaking havoc." The images changed around us, and we saw Keres grow. "They once tried to fight the evil within. However, once Dues Exitio brutally murdered everyone Keres held dear to them, everything inside of them broke. The evil within them took over completely." Images of this story being told flashed around us.

The images were so vivid it was like we were actually there. It felt like I could reach out and touch Keres. A small fraction, very small, minuscule, felt a little sorry for Keres. Even though this was a small piece of me, I felt a little disgusted with myself.

"It is okay to feel a little sorry for Keres. That only means you have a soul." I knew that was being addressed to me. Maybe to some others, but definitely me.

Everything turned dark around us. It then morphed into what looked like an older-looking Keres. They looked absolutely horrifying. He had his hands out and was wiggling his fingers. The image dropped down, and then we saw the souls of people.

"His desire to collect souls stems from a longing to have one himself. He would never acknowledge this himself. Darkness runs through his veins. He will forever revel in the darkness; there is no saving him." I gulped. I wonder what that means for the souls he has collected. "He has no control of himself, so he controls the ones around him. He is a mass manipulator, deceiving, conniving, truly a spitting image of Dues Exitio himself. Dues Exitio is always the outcast, never relating to anyone, so he creates a being in his image to have what even the evilest beings desire. Companionship, family, someone who understands them and they can trust." That is something completely shocking to hear. I almost don't believe it. The images again kept morphing around us. Showing the God being cast away by the others into the abyss.

"Whatever Keres may believe, he is not invincible. There is a creation that was prophesied to bring an end to him." The image around us morphed again. It looked like a battle scene, and there in the middle was Keres facing off against someone. The person's hair was glowing, and so were their eyes. They looked so powerful. I heard Noor gasp beside me.

"What is it?" I whispered out.

"She realized that the creation that is to end Keres is you." I pointed at myself. The images around us blurred once again. It showed a blinding light leaving my hands and burning its way through Keres. "Yes, you, Lareina." I gasped this time and quickly covered my mouth.

"What the hell..." I spoke out. I honestly was in disbelief. The images swirled around us, and soon it was replaced by our original surroundings. I looked around to see everyone looking at me.

"Hybrid fae where dark meets light. The dark is what is seen, but the light is what pulses throughout. The first of your kind. Divinitas fae." I rolled my eyes. Latin. I'm going to be fluent in it by the time all this shit is over. "A Divinity fae." So that's what I am. "Your powers are the only thing pure enough, divine enough, to defeat the evil darkness within him. That is why the dark souls that he manipulates cannot touch you and perish at your powers." I nodded.

"Okay... I have one last question, though." The being signaled for me to proceed.

"What, you didn't want to go ahead and answer it before I asked?" I sassed a bit, and Noor elbowed me in the rubs. I let out a huff. "Sorry. When I defeat Keres, will the souls be set free? What will happen to them?" The being lets out a long sigh.

"They will return to the state they were in before they became under the control of Keres." Vague. Vague. Vague.

"What does that mean? What will happen to my father, more specifically?" The benign looked at me with something in their eyes. I couldn't quite place it, though.

"It means however they were before they were turned is what they will revert back to. Your father went to Keres when he was sick. When you defeat Keres, your father will revert back to being in the same state he was when he went to Keres, sick." I nodded my head and looked away. I felt my jaw clench.

"So he'll still be dying?" I looked back at the being to see them just nod in confirmation.

"Love, you need to breathe." I felt Noor hold both sides of my face. I could feel my emotions taking over and feel my eyes begin to glow. I pried her hands off my face. I did this gently, though.

"He will have his soul back, though, correct? Will he be judged for the actions he had no control over?" The being gave me a small smile.

"His soul will be returned. His actions while under the manipulation were not his own. He will not be judged for them." I let go of the breath I had no idea I was even holding. I turned my attention to everyone else.

"Let's go do this shit." I started walking towards the entrance we came in through. I stop and turn back towards everyone.

"Well?" They started making their way towards me. I looked at the being. "Thank you." The elder one nodded with a smile.

"Everyone grab hands." We did as Hannah said and teleported back to our home. I'm going to have to come up with a name for it.