Page 76 of Destinies of Diamond
“So, the seed had finally bloomed. You say you are ready to embrace your truth and your destiny. Let’s see if that is true.”
“It is. I have no other choice.”
Gaia laughed. “There’s always a choice, dear child. The path you have to follow is a difficult one. In your heart, you know there’s no turning back from this.”
I clenched my fists so hard I could’ve sworn my fingernails drew blood. “Please. Just tell me. I need to hear it.”
Gaia’s amusement melted away. “So be it. It’s quite simple. The world will always unite under one banner as long as there is a foe powerful enough to be a threat. Despite everything, that was what made it possible for The Grand Judiciary to take over in the first place. But that enemy was, in part, fabricated, specifically so that they could acquire power. To counter that, you need someone new—someone mankind can defeat. And that person is you.”
I suppressed the hysterical laugh bubbling in my chest. “That can’t be right. I’m powerful, but I’m just a person. One single chimera could crush me.”
“I think you and I both know that’s not true. The Great Mother was right, Selene Renard. You might not have been able to take on your previous foes before, but now, you can do it. My power isn’t easy to control. Do you know why that is?”
It sounded like a rhetorical question, but I decided to reply anyway. “It’s steady, but stubborn. It refuses to obey.”
“Something like that, although it’s not so simple. Every deity has an alignment, Selene. Helios won’t just resurrect anyone who dies. Tartarus won’t give tachyon manipulation to everyone. I won’t bestow my gift to every single person in the world. Other gods and creatures are the same.
“In my case, the people who are most aligned with me are always women—and always mothers. Because that is what I am, Mother Earth.”
I thought about Nestor, about the child I’d been forced to leave behind in the Apsid Quasar. His name meant ‘homecoming,’ but that was the whole point. I’d always known I wouldn’t be coming home.
“If I turn on them, if I fight them, everyone will look down on Terran women,” I said weakly. “We can’t let that happen.”
“Don’t worry. By the time I’m through with you, there will be no trace left of Selene Renard.”
It was so ironic that I’d been so angry about the fate of the people in Gaia’s Haven, and now, I’d be doing something far worse. But in the depths of Gaia’s green eyes, I saw my own destiny of death. I took her hand and prayed my family would forgive me.Please, take care of Nestor,I thought, and then my world turned to magic and ash.
****
Knox
The crowning ceremony went well. The only problem was Selene’s absence, but that couldn’t be helped. Officially, this was a formality and our focus was on stopping the rebellions on Terra.
The rest of our unit flanked Brendan as he took the vow to protect Terra and the future of the dynasty. We stood in the grand hall of the Hades Moon Base, surrounded by Chimera aristocracy. I’d never felt more aware of just how distant my family was to me. “I vow to abandon all selfish ambition and guard our world from our foes,” Brendan said.
“This vow, we accept,” the head representatives of The Grand Judiciary said.
“I vow to obey the will of Tartarus and Gaia and uphold the standards of our ancestors.”
“This vow, we accept,” they repeated.
It went on and on, the litany of words washing over me, barely comprehensible. For the most part, they were empty promises, since half the time, nobody cared about what the gods actually wanted. The assembly knew that as well, because a lot of its members watched Brendan with visible anxiety.
It was ironic that one of our staunchest supporters turned out to be Paul Welton, but I knew we couldn’t rely on him. He might decide to betray us, and the whole business with the First Chimera Project had scared him.
As Brendan finished taking his vows, the representatives clapped their hands. Waves of tachyons surging from each of them struck Brendan. I’d known it was coming, but I still hated seeing it.
It was a small test, one meant to show that Brendan could indeed carry the weight of the dynasty. As a rule, the force employed was limited. When Philip had been the one standing in Brendan’s place, the whole thing had been mild at best.
I expected the representatives to try to take things further with Brendan, but they didn’t. That did nothing to reassure me. I eyed them all suspiciously, registering which of them was most resentful of the process. I’d have to get rid of them soon, before they became a threat to Brendan.
The crowning ceremony ended with an explosion of enthusiasm that was only half-faked. If nothing else, The Grand Judiciary did seem to believe that Brendan was the solution for the problems we all faced. So far, our plan was working.
Of course, that was when things had to completely go to shit.
An explosion shook the base, so powerful we almost fell over. It was much worse than what we’d experienced at Tartarus Base. I instinctively steadied Brendan, but most of the members of The Grand Judiciary weren’t so lucky and collapsed to the floor like domino pieces.
They got up quickly enough, at which point panic rushed over the room. “Terrorists?” Leonardo cried. “Here?”
