Lie

Lie
Uriel
“Get up.”
A thunderous crack rang through the room, my chest rising heavily while I tried to rise. Hand going over my mark, it burned my fingers. Looking about the room, my tangled hair caught in my face. Brushing it away, I flung the covers from my body that Luci had meticulously tucked around my body.
Did he leave already? The mark burned furiously thinking about Luci. Dread swept over me once I rounded the bed. My bare feet slapped the wooden floors, my hands pulling at the handles. The heavy door sounded with a long whine, the pressure becoming unbearable.
“Hang on,” Loki’s voice pushed through the door. Along with my pulls and his pushes the door opened enough for me to squeeze through. “Lucifer wants you to stay there, the ward will keep you safe. I’m surprised you can move it so well,” Loki looked me up and down.
Loki’s appearance was starkly different than before he first transformed into a Raven. He was taller than me despite only being ten years old. Silas cleared his throat, his tentacles popping the floor.
“Goddess Uriel, your mate as well as the others have already left for the Celestial Kingdom. Our orders are for you to remain here with us.” Silas’ small smile only made me grind my teeth. Sure, I wanted to be Luci’s ‘good girl,’ but if we were dealing with Zeus I could help him. I’ve helped Zeus once before, maybe I could do it again.
Having everyone else fight my own battles, about a prophecy about me seemed silly. Aren’t I the one able to change fate? Silas’ lips turned to a frown, his non-existent eyebrows raised on his forehead.
“Surely, you do not plan to—” great thunder from outside the palace roared. It wasn’t the normal sound of thunder, more muffled like the loud sounds sounding into a thick pillow. “I didn’t think you could hear thunder in the sea.” Loki mused, his footsteps walking down the hall to the first window.
I didn’t think so either, the waves could be rolling on the surface of the water but beneath the waves and the heavy currents, the ocean floor should remain untouched. This was not the case when we looked outside into the gardens. The kelp was being uprooted, even in the large atmospheric bubble.
“Master has our home mimic those conditions on the outside of the sphere,” Silas twisted his lips, his hand sitting on the window frame. “The ocean must be in great turmoil if the plant life here is being uprooted.”
“Imagine the surface,” I whispered, grabbing Loki’s hand. “It can be ten times as worse above the water.” Loki shook his head. “No, surely not, maybe Poseidon is angry and that is why the waves move.”
Silas stepped away from the window, motioning for us to follow him down the hall. It was insanely quiet as we entered the forbidden room we were to stay away from. Silas parted the shells but Loki and I remained on the outside. “Come,” Silas waved again. We squeeze our hands together as we walked inside.
The darkened room was filled with purple and blue lights, and a round table sat in the middle. Loki and I huddled near the clinking shells of the doorway way as Silas put his hands on the table. “Poseidon cannot control the seas as well when he is out of his element. If there is a raging storm on the surface causing the forceful waves, it is being created by something else.”
Stepping forward, I let go of Loki’s hand and silently walked to the table. The table wasn’t really a table at all, but a map of all the oceans. On one side was that of Bergarian, white caps trailed across the seas of the East and West. Earth was no different, the Pacific and Atlantic sides had hurricanes, waterspouts, and huge storms sweeping across both ocean and land.
“Zeus,” I muttered. “He controls the sky, if his storms are powerful enough they can invade the water.” Silas only hummed in agreement.
Biting my lip, my thoughts went spiraling down into a dark place. As much as I had loved spending my time with Luci, as much as I loved the life around me, the only way to stop this was for me to face the evil.
If I don’t follow Luci to the Celestial Kingdom, the world will end. Innocent lives will continue to die, the fate of the realms was in my hands as much as Luci wanted to protect me. If I didn’t go many would die. If I did go, we still may enter the same fate, but I had to try. What could I possibly do to make this madness stop?
Gripping the table, my head hovering over the moving picture, a tear dropped into one of the oceans. It rippled, causing the white caps to cease as they traveled over the ocean. Each tear that fell, it rippled into the next realm, calming the seas and the storms. My innocent gasp as I watched the map of the world calm had me grip my fist.
“Go,” a gentle voice echoed into my head. “Go,” my eyes glanced around the room. I only could see Loki and Silas watching the moving map before me still. “Go.” Each voice was different, more determined than the last.
Go? Go after I told Luci that I would stay? My fingers played with each other, interlacing with one another until finally, with a determined spirit, I made my decision. I knew what I had to do. I knew exactly what was needed of me. Looking to my hands, I traced my fingertips that once touched a lying soul, I sucked the lie right from their bodies and it turned to ash dripping to the floor. Zeus, when he was burdened, even with my powers still weak I was able to pull the guilt from him.
I was no warrior; I could barely lift the weights Luci used every day to make his body stronger. I could barely reach the top of the bed without jumping. In every sense of the word, I was weak. Weak in body but I wasn’t weak in the mind. Luci made up for my weak body and in return, I would use my newfound power to help him, the gods, my family the realms.
“We have to go,” I muttered, still looking at my hands. Loki put his arm around me, now hugging me to his chest. “Please,” I spoke bolder. Loki’s smirk grew, his fingernails brushing up against his black shirt to polish them.
“I’ve never been one to follow rules, and I’m not about to start now.” Loki grabbed my hand to pull me outside when Silas’ tentacles gripped my ankle.
“I can’t let you do this; I promised my master. I promised the Prince of the Underworld to take care of you.” Silas’ tentacles raised his body making him two times the size of Loki. “I have to keep my word,” he growled.
“There will be no Master coming home if I don’t go.” I pulled at my leg. “There will be no more gods, no humans, no worlds of fantasy. If I don’t go, we all perish. If I go, we may have a chance.” Silas held onto my leg. The inner battle he had was enough for his body to sink back down to eye level.
“No more worlds mean no more mates, no more finding the other half of your soul, Silas.” Silas stiffened his fluid movements on his tentacles ceased. The heavy sigh leaving his body had his arm loosen, my leg now free.
Silas said no other words, just gripped me into a tightened hug. “Do what you must, and when you return please save me from your mates’ wrath.” I giggled pushing him away.
“Everything will be fine.” I spouted the lie from my lips. I wasn’t sure if everything would be alright, but I had to try.
“Getting there might be difficult,” Loki broke the awkward tension. “No carriage to go between worlds.” Silas chuckled, crawling to the massive bookcase beside the bed.
“You won’t need it, you have your animal, the Raven.” Silas flipped the pages of the old book, opening up the gods who could shift. One being that of Athena who could turn into an owl. She was able to fly between realms with ease with her wings.
Loki gripped the book, reading it with intensity. “This first flight is going to be a bitch,” he muttered his feathers beginning to sprout from his body.
“Language,” I whispered.
The next thirty minutes, Loki worked with Silas at the front of the palace. His Raven had doubled in size since the first time he had transformed. Mighty horns stuck out from his head; his wingspan close to that of Luci’s. The more he flew around the courtyard, the better he became. His large wingspan gave me hope that we would be able to fly between worlds and arrive in the Celestial Kingdom, in time to help. The pain in my chest was growing by the minute and I feared we may be too late.
Loki’s feathers ruffled; his head tilted behind him ready for me to mount his back. Silas only looked on worriedly, clutching a bag in hand. “At least take this,” he muttered, pulling my hands securely around it. “It is purified sea water, only available in Poseidon’s personal pools.” Opening the bag, a small glass vile shaped like a mermaid held the contents. “It can heal small wounds, but I’m not sure with the power you are facing if it will work.”
“Thank you,” I whispered again. As I tried to mount, Silas stopped me, pointing to my necklace.
“What is this?” He pointed to the small black pearl. My bright white manta ray leather was a stark contrast against the pearl Luci had found on the beach.
“Luci gave this black pearl to me. On our first date on the beach.” I admired it, still feeling the panging in my chest. I prayed to the fates he was still alright. Silas studied it, the suction cups on the tips of his fingers playing with it.
He hummed, gently placing it back on my chest. “There is a human story from the Tahitians of Earth. The god of Peace and Fertility, Oro, fell in love with a Tahitian princess and offered a black pearl as a symbol of his love.” My shoulders slumped, feeling the heaviness of the necklace.
“Luci gave me this the day he told me he loved me,” I sniffed. Smiling at the tiny pearl, I took my leg and swung it over Loki. We would win this, I wasn’t sure how, but we would.
“Are you ready, Loki?” Loki let out a caw. Silas stood back, crossing his arm over his chest in salute. With heavy wings, Loki lifted from the ground with me on top of him. My small wings would be no match going in between the realms. Loki let out a mighty caw pushing himself upwards towards the sky.
I was going to get our family back. With the little plan I had in mind, I prayed to the fates it would be enough.

We landed just outside the gates. My home wasn’t the same as it was before. Lightning, thunder, rolled through the sky. Buildings toppling over, my heart stopped as I heard screaming from my mate.
Loki ruffled his feathers, grabbing me by his claw on my arm. “I know, remember the plan,” I whispered to him. He hopped the ground three times before jumping into the sky. His large form went unnoticed with the rain and ice coming down from the darkened sky.
Not taking my time, I ran up the stairs. My two daggers at my side, my wings barely meeting half the height of the dark angels that lined the hallways had me pause. They were looking straight at me, but not really seeing me. My hand waved in front of their faces until I heard a scream.
Parisa.
Running forward, hiding behind the unhinged doorway, Zeus leaned over Luci who was chained to the floor. Everyone was. Athena’s neck was pinned to the ground, Hades was half shifted into his wolf stuck to the throne and so many others were in pain.
“Don’t listen to him!” Parisa cried from a cage. She held onto Lillith who was now screaming in terror. “Don’t bring her here!” Parisa cried out again as lightning hit the cage. Zeus’s words echoed through the halls to bring me, or have his mother and sister pay the consequences.
I would not leave that guilt on my mate.
Stepping forward, my head held high, gripping the black pearl around my neck my judging eyes hit Zeus.
“You wanted to see me?” My voice shook more than I wanted. The pat of my shoes drug on the marbled floor. A malicious grin settled that on Zeus’s face. My face paled seeing the dirty complexion.
This wasn’t the same god I saw at Lillith’s party, the one who lay on the floor of Hades throne room wallowing in his guilt. There was no guilt in him, only hatred, revenge.
My slow calculating steps were too slow, Zeus shoved Luci back to the floor while wails of goddesses screamed for me to leave. I held my ground, my hand gripping the dagger that would do me no good.
Zeus’ heavy breath fanned my face. Brimstone and rot filled my lungs. Eyes full of fury no longer the pale blue full of regret. “W-who are you?” I forced my breath.
“Zeus, who else do you think I would be, little goddess?” The pang in my body hurt so much at such a tremendous lie. Luci yelled for me to run, to save myself but how could I save myself when half of my soul was chained to the floor? How could I leave knowing that all the realms were being destroyed?
“Lie,” I said out loud. Parisa gripped Lillith tighter, Luci’s mouth hung open as I stepped forward. ‘Zeus’ stepped back, his brows furrowing.
“You are not Zeus, God of the Sky.”