Revelation - Chapter 29 (Patreon)

Iris

I’m screaming, and I can’t stop. My fingers are pulling at the strands in my hair, as I crouch and let out a loud cry. I don’t know why I’m so sad. I don’t know why I’m being affected like this, I just know that I am.

I killed him. I killed Remus. Every time I close my eyes I’m haunted by his last moments. That broken look in his eyes as I sucked down what was barely left of his life force. His battered body being crushed underneath the crumbling rocks of the castle before the floor collapsed swallowing him hole. Even now, I can feel absolutely nothing through the bond. Not even a tiny sliver. He’s gone. As if he never existed, and the hole that’s formed in my chest where his presence used to be is a bigger indication than before.

“Iris!” I hear my name, and I can feel hands on me, but I squeeze my eyes shut and shove them away.

“Get away from me!” I scream. I stand up, gasping at the ground surrounding me. The grass that once grew beautifully and full is now black and crisped. As if it were sucked dry of its nutrients. I look up at Braith who is standing in front of me with a focused expression. He holds his hand up, walking towards me.

“Iris… I need you to calm down.” He murmurs. I narrow my gaze at him.

“What did you do to me?” I ask. I hold my hands out in front of me and take in the black energy that is now coursing through my veins. Not only can I see it, but I can feel it as well. I can feel it travel through the tips of my nerves, jumping on every cell and blood vessel in my body before returning to its core to repeat the process. If this is how Remus felt all the time, I have no idea how he could deliberately stay so calm.

“What did you fucking do to me?!” I scream.

“I only gave you the tools you needed to fight back.” He says. I shake my head.

“No…” I trail off. The last thing I remember was watching Remus leave me in that realm. I finally gained some self-awareness as my body took on a change, and before I knew it I was consumed by my rage. But kill him? How could I have done that?

I should feel joy and excitement at finally having the power to fight back, but I don’t. I feel guilt. Shame. Sad. And used. Used by Braith to exact his revenge on Remus.

“When did you do this to me,” I growl. He smooths his expression.

“When I showed you my home. I implanted my power in you. It’s now yours to cultivate.”

My eyes widen.

“Who gave you permission to do that to me?” I shout. He shakes his head.

“I didn’t need your permission, Iris.” He snaps. We glare at each other for a while, and my legs give way as I collapse on the dirt beneath me. I squeeze my eyes shut and the entire scene replays in my head. I could do nothing but feed on the rage within me. I couldn’t control myself. And I couldn’t stop myself.

“You…killed Sky…” I say choking on a sob. His features soften and he comes towards me.

“It was a necessary sacrifice. It was the only way to land a devastating blow in their power. Now they cannot come after us. Not with just one half-blood left and a weakening king.” He says in front of me. I raise my head at his words.

“You’re just like him,” I say. His gaze narrows, but I don’t stop.

“Let me guess. You did this for your people, right? You sacrificed all of the innocents for your people. Your cause. Because they are all that matter to you.” I say. He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have to. I’m right. I let out a bitter laugh hastily wiping my eyes.

“Sky was human. She was innocent. She had nothing to do with your war.” I say. I look up at him.

“And you killed her. You killed them. You may hate Remus for what he is, but you are one and the same.” I say. He drops his gaze.

“I don’t expect you to understand.” He murmurs. He kneels in front of me placing his hand on my cheek. I can feel the energy flow between us as he gives some to me. I realize the headache that was pounding on my skull is disappearing as he does so.

“Your body is acclimating to this new power. You have to be careful. You can kill yourself and others if you aren’t. This is probably why Remus never did this for you. He didn’t trust you enough to handle yourself.” He murmurs. He’s so calm.

It’s strange knowing him in this light. He’s always been the quiet servant dedicated to Remus, but it turns out he was the plotting slave hellbent on revenge. Even if he doesn’t see it, everything he did is similar to Remus. He hates him so much yet they are so similar. And that frightens me. He gives me a soft smile.

If there is one thing Remus taught me, it’s that people’s actions are louder than their emotional façade. I have no idea what Braith wants from me or why he even brought me with him once I killed Remus. He implanted this power with me without me knowing or without my consent. It makes me wary of him.

I meet his black gaze with my own and don’t stop the tears from rolling down my face.

“I… killed him…” I whisper. He nods his head.

“You saved us. You saved everyone. You avenged anyone who was ever wronged by him. And you did it yourself.” He says. I shake my head.

I should be happy, right? Remus is dead. I killed him. I finally got him back for everything he did to me, my people, and the people of other planets he had been to. I finally gave him what he deserved. I take in a sharp breath. I don’t feel that way though. I hate myself. And even though I hate him, I didn’t want this.

Even though I despised Remus, a part of me cared for him.

I look up at Braith.

“So what now?” I ask. He stands up looking at the night sky.

“Now, we leave this place. We go somewhere safe, and we re-build our lives.” He says. My eyes widen in shock.

“That’s it?” I ask. “What was the point in killing them if all you were going to do was leave?” I ask. He smiles. And it’s a smile that makes my heart drop into my stomach and my flesh crawl all over.

“Revenge.”

I grab his shirt yanking him in close to me.

“Revenge?” I ask.

“Now they know not to mess with us. They know not to come find us, and they know the error of their ways. Now, we can finally live.” He says. He sounds like that’s what he truly wants. But somehow, at the back of my mind, I know that isn’t the case. I know that he’s lying to me. But at this point, I’m alone and at his mercy, so I don’t want to do anything stupid.

I just step back and nod my head. He steps forward placing his hand on my cheek, caressing it with this thumb and I can see the caring look in his gaze.

“Soon you’ll forget about him. Soon you’ll come to terms with your actions and you’ll realize it was a good thing you did.” His smile widens.

“You’re no longer human. You’re one of us, now.”

I give him the best smile I can, but I can already tell that he’s just as fucked up as Remus.

He killed Sky & Ezra without batting a lash. He murdered innocent Celestivine. And even though he says it was me, I feel as though he had something to do with my actions that led up to Remus’ death. Why would he implant his power inside of me with no sure idea of how I would respond or react?

So I just smile and bide my time, already thinking of a way to survive.

~

Xion

He can’t be dead. He can’t be. My fingers are beginning to bleed from the constant yanking I’m doing of the rubble of the castle.

“We’ve hit another dead end.” One of the guards speaks behind me.

“Keep fucking looking.” I snap. I used all of my power up to the point of exhaustion trying to move the heavy remains out of the way. Not only me but Remus’ father as well. We’ve been digging for days. There’s no sign of Remus. No sign of his life force.

No sign of Ezra, or even Sky’s body.

They left me. All alone in this foreign world. They promised they would never leave me but they did. Tears are streaking down my face, and my sobs are audible at this point. I hold my hands out in front of me trying to dissipate as much of the rubble as I can, and I feel a sharp pain in my chest.

I crouch over clutching myself in pain, looking at the stones through tear-streaked visions.

“Remus…” I sob. “Ezra…”

I look up at the sky. There are clouds beginning to form overhead. I’ve managed to dig a hole out of the ground.

“Please, Remus…” I sob. I pull back more and more rocks until I see something. My heart leaps into my chest and I begin grasping at the stones until I see him.

“Remus!” I gasp. His eyes are closed, his body is crushed and bloody.

“Over here! Help me!” I scream. I hear footsteps and hands are helping remove the rubble. Someone moves a rock that causes everything else to crumble and fall. I use the rest of my strength to hold it up.

“Move him!” I shout. The guards drag his body out from under the rubble, and I immediately let it collapse. I turn away from the mess moving out of the hole and to the ground above.

Remus’ body looks awful. I’ve never seen him like this before. I can’t hear his heartbeat. I kneel on the ground next to him, tears already filling my eyes. I reach with shaky fingers and trace his cheek.

“I’m sorry.” I murmur. The whole time I was here, I shunned him and told him how much I hated him. Even towards the end when I warned him about her killing him, his words haunt me.

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

I squeeze my eyes shut shaking my head.

“No… that’s not what I wanted.” I sob. I lay my head over his chest and let the sobs consume me.

“I found him!” I look up and see Chris coming towards me with Ezra. I stand up.

“Ezra!” Chris lays him down gently next to Remus. He has a wound through his chest. His heartbeat is very very weak. I push his hair out of his face. I try and give him some of my energy but i used it all up moving rubble from the castle. I'm completely powerless.

“Ezra…” I cry. I look up at Chris who is watching me with a worried expression.

“Help me…. I don’t…” I look between Remus and Ezra.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper.

“Remus!” I look up and see Remus’ father and Nira coming towards us. His father collapses next to his body.

“Remus!” he shouts. He grasps his head between his hands.

“Remus!” He repeats his name over and over again. Nira reaches out and grabs ahold of his hand, her eyes wide with shock.

I squeeze Ezra’s body close to me, resting my cheek against his forehead with my eyes closed, letting the tears fall.

My brothers. My heroes. My protectors. My first friends.

I see Remus’ smug grin as he outsmarts me. I see Ezra’s determined face as he tried to keep up with me. I will never see that again. Never.

I keep rocking with Ezra in my arms until I can’t hold them back anymore. I throw my head back letting my wails echo through the air.

Nothing compares to this pain. Absolutely nothing.