Page 122 of A Kiss From Death
The light grows until it snaps from the ground and forms one giant, glowing orb. Opening her eyes, she floats the orb in front of my chest. “Nyxi, it is time to see what fate has destined for you.”
In one, swift movement, she shoves the orb into my chest. It clashes harshly with my body, knocking me back slightly until it becomes one with me. I feel a heavy pressure in my chest as it slides inside me, learning its new home.
It’s an uncomfortable pressure at first, until it slowly seeps into every inch of my body, a heavy hum beneath my skin. I’m vibrating, and it’s overwhelming as my body fights this foreign entity inside it. I breathe through the pressure, air seizing my lungs each time I try to take too deep of a breath. My eyes burn, and my body becomes heavy and dizzy with the sheer power running through my veins.
Whispers of anticipation break out, but I can’t hear any of them as I fight to stay conscious. My fingers tingle and itch, as if they are begging to release an ounce of this heaviness within me. My back aches, a pressure sitting between my shoulder blades, begging to be released.
Without thought, I flex my buzzing hands while closing my eyes, startling when deathly screams rupture my eardrums. My body feels light as a feather, the buzzing under my skin now a manageable hum, and the ache between my shoulders has dissipated.
Opening my eyes, I panic when I notice the entire ballroom is plunged in pure darkness, nothing in sight. Something feels like it’s nudging at me…no, at mymagic, as if trying to wrangle it into submission.
The darkness surrounding us is coming fromme.
The nudging feels cold and dark…familiar in a way. I stop fighting it, letting it invade my senses and brush against me, urging me to fall under its command. It pushes against my magic, and my magic responds, easing its way back inside me where it belongs.
When I feel a single tendril snake across my cheek, I realize why it feels familiar. It’s Hade, helping me gain control, coaching me through it. I close my eyes again and open myself to him fully, allowing him to take control.
Gasps ring out, making me open my eyes once more. I’m met with hundreds of stunned eyes staring back at me. The room is nolonger plunged in darkness, and my feet are no longer touching the floor. Every citizen drops to their knees, bowing before me.
Looking to my left and right, I realize why the ache between my shoulder blades has resolved. Two beautiful black wings jut out from my back, flapping lazily to keep me afloat. My gaze sweeps to my right again, and I can physically feel all the color drain from my face when my eyes land on the giant black sword from under my floorboards grasped tightly in my shaking hand. My head is thrown back as I’m assaulted with a flashback that has my body convulsing.
A young Hade kneels in front of me, presenting me with his personal black sword with owl eyes carved just above the handle. He stares at me with knee-wobbling intensity, promising it will protect me in his absence. It is imbued with his magic, and as his Eternal, it will recognize a part of him within me.
I’m launched back into the present, gasping for air as my wings vanish, and I fall to the floor. Getting to my feet, I snatch my dress up and take off, sprinting out of the ballroom.
My whole life is a lie.
My body can barely keep up with my feet as I race down the hallway. I have no idea where I’m headed, just that I needed to get out of there. I don’t let myself stop, or everything will come crashing down, and I don’t think I’m ready for that.
“Nyxi!” Hade shouts.
I don’t stop, my feet push me harder, and I realize I’m headed towards my room. I round the last corner and crash inside. I fall to my hands and knees, heaving and begging for air to enter my lungs.
A crash thuds, like my door has been ripped off its hinges. A large presence kneels next to me, and a soft embrace rubs down my back. “Breathe,” he whispers. I manage to drag one shaky breath into my lungs. “That’s it. Again.”
I gasp again, less shaky this time, and he continues stroking my back until I’m able to gain control of mybreathing enough to speak. “I don’t understand.” I try to speak again, but a searing sensation rips across my back, and I gasp, my back bowing.
Standing, I rush to my vanity, ripping the veil from my hair and turning my back to face the mirror. “Oh my gods.” Staring back at me is a large marking sitting in the center of my back. A delicate, abstract, black swirl wraps around a ball of fire.
My Eternal marking with Hade.
When I look up, my eyes crash with his wide ones in the mirror. He takes one slow, painful gulp.
“Hade?” I whisper shakily.
“You came back to me,” he says, trembling through his words.
The magic humming through my body pushes at the permanent fog around my mind, slowly melting it away. Every repressed memory of my entire life since birth plays out in my head.
I see myself growing up in the castle. Learning to wield my night magic. Meeting Hade for the first time. My mother…oh gods,Mama. The Empress is my mother. My loving, sweet mother, who would never harm a hair on a single person’s head but is somehow now corrupt. And Papa… Where is my father?
What happened that changed it all? The last thing I remember is the day before my sixteenth birthday, getting ready for my coming of age celebration. Mother told me how much she loved me. She mentioned the birthday gift she hid in the library for me, that it would forge me into the woman I was destined to be when the time was right.
A nagging feeling itches the back of my brain. What am I missing? One glaring question zaps me straight in the heart.
What happened to all the magic? There was never a Crucible growing up, and citizens in Fallout were originally sent there from Lunaria as punishment until they started their own civilization, growing families and breaking off into sectors. That means they would all have magic down there as well. How did I end up down there…with Theo?
I think over everything I know, and then I’m reminded of one important thing.
