Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

AGATHA

H ow long had they been in Achlys? Time was indiscernable. Agatha could still hear their voices—their daughters. She could still, just at the edge of her consciousness, make out more memories. Snippets of time spent in the dining hall of the Palace of Achlys. Small moments of laughing over coffee with Nyxia and Athania, the former sitting before her now.

Agatha sniggered. Having coffee with goddesses was still an absurd concept. Even as she sat with one at a lavish dinner table. Even as she had memories assaulting her of being a goddess.

"Agatha?" Nyxia broke into her thoughts. "Is something amusing?"

"Isn't this all mad?" She threw an arm out wide, gesturing to the opulence. The absurdity. "I feel like I will wake up and find all of this has been a dream."

"It is ludicrous," Grimm cut in, taking her hand from his place next to her. "We've had similar conversations so many times, Katya. C'est vraiment sauvage ."

Agatha baulked at his usage of a name foreign to her, and his accent that continued to change. Nyxia looked pitifully at Agatha, then dropped her gaze to her plate. But Grimm continued before they could comment, his voice and dialect returning to his own just as suddenly as it had slipped.

"We had to bind her to something . The safest way to ensure she couldn't break the binding was to make it us and to separate out strains of my power. That is the one thing I couldn't remember in all the times I was reborn as a mortal reaper. Not with the silence instilled into the binding and your spell."

"And now?" Nyxia pressed, giving Agatha a warning glare she could only assume was meant to keep her from mentioning Grimm's slip of the tongue concerning her name.

Grimm turned his attention toward Lady Death. "I put the vines of my power within each of the Thirteen, beginning with Athania—to tie her to me. Then, one vine in each of the rest of us, entwined with one in me."

"And the spell you cast?" Nyxia looked to Agatha.

"I–I don't rememb— Oh, gods…"

A memory slammed into her.

Thanasim stood in a dark alley, a faint breeze off the sea slipping through to ruffle his chaotic hair. Athania writhed a few steps from him, gagged and bound by his power .

In the briefest of moments, she gathered her quaking courage and slid a memory down the bond to Thanasim. One she had kept to herself for too long. But he already knew. That much was clear.

It is not right to rip away her likeness with us entirely. It is no crime to love and be loved, she'd pleaded with Hespa when Athania wished to leave The Void. Leave her place amongst The Primordial.

Asteria … The Mother had said, her tone severe.

Be warned … The Maiden's voice rang in a similar fashion .

This will mean … The Crone's frown lines ran deeper in that moment, but she cut Her off. A vicious, vile thing to do to their Goddess Three. But she fought for those she loved.

I know what it means , Asteria had snapped .

Very well . The Crone's tone had sent a drip of dread into her gut. It was grief and finality in one.

When the memory concluded revealing itself to Thanasim, Asteria wanted to apologise, but he shot a warning down the bond before she could.

Never apologise to me for fighting for those you hold dear. Even if they turn out to be a fucking monster like this woman. You are not at fault for her vile actions.

His plan unfolded behind Asteria's eyelids adder fast, while Athania writhed.

Asteria took a deep, shuddering breath. You're certain? She looked at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

I see no other way.

Asteria lifted her hands. Light shot forth to twine around Thanasim's ghoulish vines, chanting her spell until the entire alleyway glowed a ghostly grey .

But magic without forethought was imperfect.

The spell spilled from Asteria's heart, from her hands, from her lips, from her very being.

Soyez liée par la magie,

Soyez liée par la graine

Protégée dans la retenue,

Tous trois enlacés,

Protégeons la magie,

De peur que la ficelle ne se brise

Dans l'obscurité du jour,

La nuit tient bon, il n'y a pas d'autre moyen ? *

Together, they bound Athania to them to protect magic, to protect everything.

"Throw her," Asteria hissed when the spell was complete. All their fates sealed like a fucking tomb.

Thanasim roared, launching forward and plunging his hand into Athania's chest.

Agatha gasped, returning to her present reality with Grimm on one side and Nyxia on the other.

"What did you see?" Lady Death pressed, her violet eyes anxious.

" Nyxia ," Grimm hissed through his teeth. "Give her some breathing room."

"I–" Agatha started. Tears were building in her eyes, scratching at the back of her throat. "I know why we left."

* ? The only known Seagovian translation: Be bound by magic, Be bound by the seed, Protected in restraint, Entwined we three. Protection for magic, Lest the twine be broken, In darkness by day, Night holds fast, There is no other way