NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 34 – Who Is Gallae?
The second chapter release today. Don't miss chapter 33 that was released only minutes before this one.
"Restrain her. She's not leaving." Lena said firmly. "I don't care if she takes up the entire room, she's not leaving!" Valina smirked.
"And if she keeps getting fatter?" Valina asked.
"Then I'll eat her, leave her in her core form, and sleep with her that way!" Lena said angrily. "She is not getting away from me, no matter what beast shit she tries!"
"Am I going to be your prisoner?" Nuri asked angrily. Lena gave Nadya a pat and gestured to the bed. Lena stood up after Nadya climbed eagerly onto the bed, and grabbed Nuri's chin. She lifted her chin with strength that Nuri was not aware she had. She could not resist her.
"You are my pillow. You allowed them to eat you like you were a roast for centuries, but is it so detestable to you to keep me warm at night?" She asked in a low voice.
"You're not giving me a choice!" She said angrily.
"You had a choice to be eaten, and look where that got you. Rebellious towards your goddess. And I am giving you a choice. You can choose to be a core, on a shelf, listening to everything happen around you, and unable to respond, or move. Or you can be my pillow at night and keep me warm." Lena looked down at her. "You were assigned to be my servant by the goddess. Did you think that endless life had no costs?"
"I died for the goddess!" She yelled.
"No. You Offered your remaining life to the goddess." Lena said with a soft smile. Everyone in that room came to a sudden stop, as did every single being in Haven.
"What?" Nuri said in a low voice.
"Everyone dies. Every single person on Imera eventually grows old and dies. The goddess accepts your willingness to Offer that small amount of remaining life, and gives you endless life. She gives you the ability to heal, regenerate, become strong, and feel pleasure as she feels it." Lena grinned. "And only if you willingly Offer your human life a few years early. You did not die for the goddess." Lena said with a big smile.
"You exchanged your human life on the altar, and became one of the Other people like herself. Her Others. Her children." Lena said and leaned down. "She gets nothing from you, other than the knowledge that you are enjoying the life she provides. But this is how you really feel." Lena shook her head.
"You poor mixed up child." Lena's eyes turned white. Her voice began to vibrate, and pressure filled the room. "You won't obey. You won't enjoy your life. You just complain in your heart." She growled and sent everyone to the floor.
"Do you know how many centuries I have waited? How much have I longed to be Offered to my KYRIE?!" Her eyes faded back to her normal amber colored eyes, and she fell to the floor. Nadya, Sol, Valina, and Valcynie rushed forward to catch her as she fell. Nuri also struggled, but she was chained to a red post embedded in the stone floor. Kyrie appeared and shouted.
"EMPRESS!"
* * *
"What is wrong with the Empress?" Nadya said quietly as she held Lena in her arms. She was moved to the bed, while Kyrie ran her mist over her body.
"She's in hibernation again." Kyrie growled. "She just came out! Just came out! Now she's back in hibernation because she was so angry!" Her eyes traveled over to Nuri who continued to struggle with her chains.
"Let me go! I have to keep her warm!" Nuri said, growing more frantic with each passing second. She couldn't break the chains, and she couldn't break or bend the post, but she could break the stone it was embedded in. She ripped the stone and forced her way forward on her knees.
"She's cold! I have to keep her warm!" She said even louder. "It's my job! I have to!" Kyrie held out a hand and stopped her people from interfering.
'Why is she so frantic now? When she had made her so upset because she wouldn't obey, and now she struggles to do what she was assigned to do? Why!' Valina growled, while Kyrie nodded. They watched her force herself forward with each agonizing step, on shattered stone, and the wounds she left on her body as she forced herself forward.
'Do not interfere. I have removed the pleasure from this to test her willpower. If she makes it to her side, remove the post. If she makes it onto the bed, remove the chains. If she gives up, rip out her core and send her to the throne room to sit on a shelf.' Kyrie said to the Shadows who watched.
'It will be done. Goddess.' Valina said with a bowed head.
'You sound a bit different, Valina.' Kyrie said as she watched Nuri continue to struggle and force herself forward.
'The Empress was correct.'
'Oh? How so?' Kyrie asked.
'We only Offered a bit of our remaining life to you. You gave us everything after that.' Valina said reverently.
'Of course I did. Your Offering was done with an open heart, baring it all to me, with faith in your eyes, and on your tongue. It seems like my Others have forgotten since the Offerings have stopped.' Kyrie said softly.
'We did forget, goddess. But now we remember. The Empress reminded us of the reason why. Oh, it looks like she made it to the bed.' Valina said, obviously surprised that she didn't give up.
'Keep watch. I need to go somewhere.'
* * *
"Mother." Kyrie stood in front of the statue that was her mother, Imera, and wondered what she felt.
"Do not worry, Kyrie." A voice said at her side. She turned and saw a small child wearing a black robe. She floated up and stood on Imera's knee. "Imera is sleeping. She was supposed to sleep for another ten millennia, but I've given her a bit of a hand. She will wake in two." The 'child' turned towards her.
"You worry about Lena."
"Yes. Her eyes glowed white. She said she waited centuries." Kyrie said anxiously.
"It was a slight rupture of her seal." The 'child' said with a soft smile. "Her emotions were quite agitated, which pierced the seal. She's not ready to know who she is, and neither are you."
"What do I do, Gallae?" She asked. Gallae smirked.
"So you do know who I am. Good. That will make it a bit easier." She sighed. "No more is she allowed to get so agitated. Do not allow any to stress her while she is so young." She said firmly. "No more tests. As soon as someone is disobedient, rip out their core." Gallae's eyes glowed white, and began to seep white light.
"She is important to me, to Imera, and to you. If you can not protect her while she grows, I will take her away again." Gallae said firmly. "Although I've sealed her memories, and your own, this has already happened twice in this life. This is your last chance, Kyrie." Kyrie slumped.
"You'll take her away from me?" She whispered.
"To protect her from the power she can not yet handle. No more mistakes. If they do not do what they are supposed to do, keep them away from her." Gallae growled. "That person let them eat her. Did not fight at all. But when she was treated nicely, she rebelled? Encouraged, and she fights? Given what she needs, and gets angry?" Gallae began to glow in multiple different colors.
"Blue? White? Red? Black?" Kyrie felt faint. There was so much power in front of her, she could barely keep conscious.
"This is only a sprite, little Kyrie." The 'child' avatar of Gallae said without moving her lips. "A sprite which I use to talk. None of my children can be in my presence, so when I create the living planets, I leave them to grow peacefully." Gallae smiled a little.
"Imera is the one I have not left to grow alone. She is special to me." Gallae said in a soft voice, and the light from her avatar faded. "Protect her from herself, Kyrie. Do not fail her again."
Gallae disappeared, and along with her, the immense pressure that her sprite radiated.
"She's not just a god." Kyrie whispered. "Mother, just who is she?" Kyrie shuddered, and hugged herself. "The colors of the stars themselves. Blue, white, red, and black, all contained in a sprite?"
Kyrie disappeared from the throne room of Imera, her mother goddess, whom she once felt was the largest of the gods, and most powerful. She even considered herself to be an elder god, and quite strong compared to the other children of Imera.
The 'sprite of Gallae' reminded her of how small she really was.