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Mareina’s body went rigid as I clutched her to my chest as though she were the most fragile and precious thing in all of existence.
And, to me, she absolutely, unequivocally was.
“One day, Mareina… One day, you’ll be glad for this bond.”
She closed her eyes, features tightening as she appeared to steel herself. Heaving a sigh, she rang the bell. The gorgon appeared in our room within moments, wearing a heavy grey-ish, silvery cape over her chiton.
She unfurled herself from my arms, turning to face our host.
“Would it be possible for you to witness our vows? I’m happy to pay whatever fee you’d be willing to accept.”
The gorgon gave us an enigmatic smile that made me wonder just who the hells exactly she was… Perhaps she knew my mother?
“It would be my honor.”
She extended her hands to us as if tofoldus, and a flutter of anticipation went through me.
After accepting her hands, we found ourselves standing in an open-air shrine. Mine and Mareina’s eyes widened as we took in our surroundings. High on a mountain’s peak, enormous stone pillars stretched towards the cloudless night sky, surrounded by a dense forest. Glowing orbs I briefly mistook for faelight emerged from the forest until I realized they were something else entirely.
“They, too, would like to bear witness,” the gorgon said softly as we gaped in awe.
“Who’s they?”
“TheSeraphi Ousia…They are the fragments of restingSeraphispirits… When angelic deities such as these go to sleep, sometimes for millennia, parts of their souls wander the realms, drifting until they find a… a certain energy source.”
My brows knit, studying these seemingly benign amorphous whorling wisps of light… The harder I looked, the more my eyes finally focused, finding what appeared to be whorls of cosmos and stars around them.
Little was known about theSeraphi. ‘Seraphi’being a broader term for beings and deities who had come from one of the higher realms, dimensions accessible only by them and those who exceeded their…evolution.The onlySeraphiI’d heard of who had come to Atratus were theNephilimandArchestratim.
“An energy source? As in, they feed off of our energy?”
The gorgon chuckled. “Not in the way you think… Just as a flame is not diminished by sharing its fire, it only grows.”
As if in affirmation, theSeraphi Ousiadrifted closer, surrounding us. A powerful energy swelled within me, making the very core of my being tremble at its gravitas… Both soothing and familiar yet new, awe-inspiring, and wholly intimidating.
“Who are you?”
The gorgon gave us a pitying look as she replied in a gentle tone.
“My name is Phaedra… But you’re asking the wrong question, Mareina. What you should be asking is whoyouare… Who yoursoulboundis. Though these are not answers for me to tell. I apologize.”
My arm curled around Mareina’s waist to draw her against me as I caught the wavering in her voice.
“Do you know my mother?”
Phaedra tilted her head.
“Those who you think are your parents are not of your blood…”
Mareina went so still in my arms, I worried for a fleeting moment she’d turned to stone.
“Your parents are not in this world,” she added before her eyes settled on me. She seemed as though she had something more to say but remained silent. Before I could ask her what I couldfeelwas on the tip of her tongue, Mareina interjected.
“Not in this world? As in… Dead?”
“Your parents are ageless beings.”
“... What?”
