Chapter 36 Chapter Thirty-Six - Gabriella
They wash their hands and turn around, leaning back against the opposite counter. “The last and only other time Jartre was in love was thirty-thousand years ago.”
I skull down half my glass of wine in shock and place the glass down, staring at Ezillus in disbelief. “How is that even possible?! How does someone live for so long and have no other relationships?!” I shriek.
“Finding someone to fuck is one thing, but how many would so easily accept what we are? Who could comprehend a relationship with an immortal cosmic being?”
I frown thinking that over. “I guess you have a point. So, who was the last person?”
“Her name was Apaki, she was the Goddess of Chaos and true to her name.”
I balk at him as I hear my heart pounding in my ears.
“Jartre’s ex was a Goddess…? How the hell am I supposed to compete with that?” I slowly ask, my body slumping as my confidence takes a massive hit. I’m usually a very confident and self-assured woman but come on. How the fuck do you follow a Goddess?! The only person whose confidence wouldn’t be rocked by that would have to be a narcissist or an online influencer, and I’m very certain there is overlap between the two.
Ezillus steps forward, reaching across the counter and taking my hands in theirs. “There is no competition and there never will be. Yes, he loved Apaki, but you are his animai. There is no bond greater than that and if she were to return from the dead tomorrow, I promise the only feelings Jartre would have are rage and trauma.”
“Trauma?” I question as my brows furrow.
They let out a sigh. “Jartre was truly in love with Apaki,” they say as they stand up straight, leaning their hands on the counter. “But Apaki only loved that he loved her. She was also known as the Goddess of Desire and Mischief.”
“That sounds like trouble waiting to happen.”
“Got it in one,” they say wryly, reaching back and picking up their wine glass. They raise the glass to their lips and take a sip. “Apaki was everything to Jartre. So, imagine how devastated he was when he came to see her one day and found her fucking another God. One he even considered a friend.”
My face crumples in hurt and understanding. His rage towards Julie and Mitchell. The pain in his eyes when he saw Wyatt holding me. All of it reminds him of his own betrayal.
“That makes so much sense,” I sigh. “I could see the pain in his eyes. I could even hear it in his voice. But he said he wasn’t ready to talk about it. I can’t imagine what he’s been feeling. He comes into my life, only to be reminded of the worst part of his. I mean, I was never madly in love with Mitchell, but had I been… there’s not enough cement in the world to fill the crater that wound would leave. How does a God even cheat on another God?” I ask in bewilderment.
“Chaos always finds a way,” they say darkly.
“Did this other God know? You said they were friends. Did they know about Jartre and Apaki?”
They shake their head, “No, Oshmin was as much a victim as Jartre was. She played them both. She knew they would find out and knowing her, she was looking forward to it. However, she grossly underestimated how stupid it was to mess with the God of Destruction,” they say ominously.”
“What does that mean?” I ask tentatively.
“How much has Jartre told you about supernaturals?”
“He’s told me all about the beings that exist. He even mentioned he’s responsible for a few but saying that made him super uneasy. Except when he mentioned, um… what did he call them? Another word for thunderbirds.”
“Raitruums.”
“Yes! Thank you. He was happy mentioning those. He said...” I try to remember back as best I can. I took in a lot of information that day. “He said something about creating them to fix a mistake he made.”
Ezillus nods sombrely. “Yes, he made a lot of mistakes.” They take another sip and place their glass down. “Gabriella, before I go on, you have to understand, that our world operates very differently to yours, and things that might seem heinous or unforgivable are not always viewed as such for us. There’s a lot more… nuance, you could say.”
I take in a deep breath and brace myself. “Hit me with it.”
“When Jartre discovered Apaki, he blacked out. It was like his mind couldn’t process the pain, so it shut down. He flew into a rage unlike anything anyone had ever seen. It was as though all the hurt, heartbreak and betrayal turned into pure malice and consumed him. In that moment, he placed a curse on Oshmin, one that still continues to this day,” they say carefully.
“Gods can curse people? Even other Gods?” I question as shock takes over my mind. Just when I think I’ve made it past the bottom of the supernatural iceberg, it turns out it’s bigger than I anticipated. I’m like the fucking Titanic.
“That they can. Jartre placed a blood curse on Oshmin, turning him into the first sanguidae.”
“Sanguidae?” I question, then slowly realise what that name translates to. “Holy shit, he turned a God into a fucking vampire?!”
They nod gravely. “It was not Jartre’s intention, but the blood curse is just that. The moment the curse took hold, Oshmin flew into a blood craze, his entire being craved only one thing and so it sought it from the nearest body,” he says, staring deep into my eyes.
I gulp as my mind fills in the blanks. “Apaki… Are you saying Jartre… second-hand murdered his lover?” I question in disbelief.
They let out a deep sigh. “Yes. Oshmin ripped out her throat, drained her dry, then ripped out her heart and consumed it. When the craze was satiated, and he came to his senses and saw what he had done he… was rightfully inconsolable.”
I cover my mouth as I taste bile making its way up my throat. Ezillus’ words paint such a graphic picture in my mind that it makes my stomach knot in revulsion. I thought snapping Mitchell out of existence was bad, but in hindsight maybe I should be grateful that’s all he did.
I scrub my hands down my face as I try to process this information. “And you’re saying all these years later, Jartre hasn’t lifted the curse? But you said Oshmin didn’t know about Apaki and Jartre.”
“Jartre has never been able to get past what happened. What Apaki did caused a degree of chaos that nearly led to the destruction of Earth.”
“What do you mean?” I whisper hesitantly.
“The malice inside Jartre only grew stronger, especially when fuelled by his subconscious guilt for causing the death of the woman he loved. He became true to his name and began unleashing his power on everything. We all intervened, each of us – well, most of us – battling him for days on end. Eventually, it was down to him and me. But our fight came to such blows that an entire section of Greece was destroyed and sank into the sea. I managed to save the inhabitants while battling Jartre, but with my magic and mind torn in two directions and the other Gods working not only to save other humans from his destruction but struggling to contain Oshmin who was leaving a trail of bodies across the globe caused by his uncontrollable blood crazes, that the only thing I could do was turn them into sirna,” they explain with a sad shrug.
I shake my head in astonishment. When they said I’d have a lot to process, they weren’t fucking kidding. Where does this story end?
“So, you created merfolk to stop them from dying in the ocean.”
“The best I could do at the time, but they’ve lived very prosperous lives since then.” They pause the conversation to pull the pipping hot pan of deliciousness out of the oven, doing so with bare hands, not remotely fazed by the eat. They place the pan on a heating rack and smile in satisfaction, then turn their attention back to me. “They rarely ever give me grief. There was a slight hiccup with the royal family a few years ago, but it got sorted. The kingdom is now under the control of a lovely gay couple. They now have a sirna for a King and a visum for a Queen,” they giggle delightedly.
“That sounds both politically and supernaturally progressive,” I nod, amazed that there is some magical kingdom somewhere in Greece ruled by a gay couple. I wish I could tell Derrick and Wyatt; they’d want to visit immediately.
“Oh, it is,” they beam proudly.
“So, Jartre went crazy, the person he cursed went crazy and we’re all still alive, so what changed?” I ask, getting us back on track.
“Zarseti showed up and was able to break through to him just a fraction. Enough for him to realise what he was doing and that it had to stop.”
“And he just stopped? Just like that?” I ask dubiously.
“Is anything ever that simple?” they question dryly.
I sigh. “Figured as much. So, what happened next?”
They grab a couple of plates from the cupboard and begin scooping portions of the freshly baked breakfast dessert onto the plates.
“Instead of doing the smart thing and confronting his feelings and trying to come to terms with them, he decided to take a shortcut. Has he explained his abilities to you?”
I nod. “Aside from all the Zeus stuff, he can rip through the very fabric of existence. Not that I really understand how that works.”
“Well, Jartre used that very gift to tear the malice from himself.”
“You can do that? Rip out emotions like weeds?” I squeak.
They shake their head, “We can’t, but he can. But the level of malice within him was so consuming and was such a large part of him, that when he tore it from himself, it didn’t just disappear. It manifested itself into a living, breathing God, one equal in power and strength to Jartre. Almost like an evil twin.”
I raise my glass and down the remainder of my wine, my mind feeling dizzy as I’m certain smoke must be coming out of my ears. When I glance down, my glass has magically refilled itself and already realising it’s Ezillus doing me a solid, I don’t question it, and instead down half the glass.
“Might want to pace yourself there. I know you humans don’t hold your liquor all that well,” they say cautiously.
“If you were a human learning all of this about your boyfriend do you think you’d be taking baby sips?” I snap in a snarky tone.
“Fair point, I shall continue to refill your glass then.”
“Thank you,” I say as I take another sip, then take another deep breath as my foot taps anxiously against the footrest of my stool. “So, this new God…”