The Darkness

“Where am I?” Serafina asked when she woke up in a white void.

“Your subconscious,” She said yet the words didn’t leave her mouth.

Serafina turned around and saw a clone of herself wearing a white peplos. Serafina froze for a moment and stared at the woman, she looked like her- minus the hair- yet she had a different aura.

“Who are you?”

“I am you just as you are me, we share the same soul yet not the same memories,” She told her softly.

“Did I always speak so cryptically?” Serafina couldn’t help but laugh.

“I apologize. Listen I don’t have a lot of time, I need you to accept me.”

Serafina shook her head in confusion, “Accept you? What do you mean to accept you?”

“When people die their past souls live on within them, as a separate entity- not being able to share the same memories- but if you accept your past souls as you the souls merge.” She explained, looking around her as if someone or something was watching her and she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to, “To end this war you need to access my memories and powers. All you have to do is touch my arm and say I am you and you are me.”

Warning bells would have gone off in Serafina’s head by now if she meant any harm yet there was nothing. Serafina looked at Nikita’s outstretched arm for a second before grabbing her forearm.

In unison the girls said, “I am you and you are me, now and furthermore.”

Their arms glowed gold until it blinded them. Serafina’s mind was flooded with images of herself from another period. Every emotion she felt in that time came rushing back at her like a wave on the sand during a storm.

She remembered everything including her death and the one who killed her.

“Serafina, wake up.” She heard her brother call her name through the void. When the light dimmed, she looked around for Nikita only to find herself alone in the white room.

“Serafina!” She felt her body being shaken and jumped up, hitting Lykos in the face with all the power she had.

“Shit,” He groaned holding the side of his face. Serafina covered her mouth to hide the foggy smile that lived on her face as she snickered. The side of his face had a red handprint that seemed to grow redder by the second.

“Yeah, yeah laugh it up,” He said rubbing his cheek, “Damn, how are you so strong?”

She shrugged in response and shuffled her blankets over so that he could sit down.

“How you feeling sis?” He asked, putting his hand on her shoulders. She looked down at her hands, suddenly finding interest in them rather than the conversation she would have.

“Sad? Hurt? I practically raised him, Lykos. I’ve known him since he was 8 and a scared boy who never got to see the sun. I can’t believe he died like that.” She confessed. When Kai and Serafina first met, they were both broken children in their own way, yet they had their similarities. Both Kai and Serafina had never known the love of a parent who cared about their child’s wellbeing. They had imprisoned Kai since his mother’s death which was as soon as he could drink from a bottle. Serafina had lost her children when they were a day old and then had her life taken away by the woman, she called her sister, “He died because of me.”

“Serafina, you can’t blame yourself. There was no way you could have prevented this from happening,” He soothed rubbing her back.

She shrugged her brothers arm off and glared at him, “Yes I can and yes I could have. Hali was the one who launched the attack, her need for power is the reason my brother fought at the front lines. If I had just killed her the moment I became Queen of Hel, I could have prevented any further a6ttacks by the Dark.” She gritted her teeth and gripped her blanket so tight in her hand that she could feel her nails through the thick cloth. “I was so stupid. That attack was meant for me, I should have been the one who died.”

They sat in silence for a while, processing the words that Serafina had thought since Kai’s death yet had never voiced.

“Tell me about Malakai?” Hearing Kai‘s real name sent a giggle through her and she couldn’t help but let it out.

“He was nothing like he used to be. When I first met him, he was this fragile, malnourished child who had only known the dungeon. They executed his mother after he could stop feeding from her breast. After I became Queen, I did everything to help him. I named him taught him how to read and speak. He had just learned what it was like to be outside a dungeon. You know I could still hear his cries at night. His father not only locked him up but he would have him taken by the guards out of his cell and whip him and I would fight as hard as I could to get them away from that child. The king found out of my attachment to his son and had them force me to watch and he would never cry out-never. He later told me that if he made any noise, they would just whip him harder because he was a prisoner’s son. Malakai wasn’t okay, I’ll admit that, but so is everyone. No one is perfectly okay, everyone hurts in a way and some are just more hurt than others.”

She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face, “I’m sorry you must think I’m stupid.”

“Why would I think you were stupid?”

“I’ve seen people die before as have you. We are immortal so we’ve got used to the fact that death happens to everyone we love and yet, seeing the doctors try to restart his heart...it felt as if I had just lost everything.” She explained.

“He was your family, Serafina of course you felt like that.” He reassured her.

She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. Deep down she knew he was right yet there was a constant voice- Lamia’s voice- telling her she was weak, that she should have been the one who died.