Swirling Sea of Colors

Quinn

~I am not a murderer.~

The words echoed in my mind as Matheius taunted me.

He had to be bluffing.

There was no way he’d kill Jodie, not after everything she’d given up for him—her family included.

“Let her go,” I demanded, my voice stronger than I expected.

“You really want to save her?”

“This is between you and me now,” I said. “Leave Jodie out of it.”

Jodie’s eyes met mine. She looked surprised. Relieved. Grateful.

Matheius just shook his head.

“Your weakness never ceases to amaze me,” he said.

As he spoke, Matheius knelt down and placed a hand on either side of Jodie’s head.

She let out a final, agonized cry as Matheius snapped her neck.

I recoiled in horror, watching the life drain from her body.

If I wasn’t mistaken, her last word was a desperate whisper of my name.

Matheius held onto Jodie, his body starting to tremble as she died.

“What is he doing?” I murmured to Theodore and Isabelle.

“Absorbing her life energy,” Theodore said grimly. “Taking all her powers.”

He stopped shaking and released her body, which fell lifelessly onto the floor.

~She’s dead.~

~She’s really dead.~

A wave of sadness washed over me.

I didn’t have much family in this world.

My father was dead. My mother had turned her back on me.

Jodie was my last living relative.

Thankfully, I had found a family of my own in Jax, who was immediately at my side, steadying me. He saw that the grief had taken me by surprise.

“I can’t believe you, you foolish mortal,” Matheius sneered at me as I shed a tear. “This woman didn’t care for you at all. She used you and abused you and still you mourn her loss. Your weakness disgusts me.”

He was right. Jodie had never done anything good for me. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t pity her. She had put her faith in Matheius when she was very young, and it proved to be her downfall. Now she was gone.

I couldn’t find the words to respond, but then I heard a voice address Matheius from behind me. It was Isabelle.

Isabelle

Matheius’s condition was worse than I had feared.

He looked unhinged, wild—a far cry from the werewolf he once was.

I had known Matheius since his creation. He was created long after I was. We had such hope for him—believed that someday he would be a great disciple of the Moon Goddess.

~What other small, incremental traumas led him to become the man he is today?~

It couldn’t all come down to one single traumatic incident.

Maybe he felt abandoned by us in his youth. Theodore and I weren’t very present for him. We were busy spreading the word of the Moon Goddess.

If we had paid more attention to him then, would he still be the bitter man he is today?

He locked eyes with me after I spoke his name. “Well, well. Look who’s here,” he said. “I thought you both swore never to return. Isn’t that what you said last time?”

“Yes, Matheius,” I replied calmly. “We couldn’t stand your hatred toward our divine creator.”

“So what changed?” he snarled. “Why are you showing your unwelcome faces here again?”

“I understand now something I didn’t before,” I said. “When you called us to your temple last time, it was a cry for help, but not in the way you said.

“You didn’t really want help defeating the Moon Goddess. Deep down, you just wanted love and support. Instead of standing by you, we feared you and left you alone here.”

“Ha,” Matheius scoffed. “Thanks for your analysis, but you’re wrong. I’ve known for a long time what’s best for the world, and you refused to listen. You still do.”

He stretched out his arms, clenching and unclenching his hands. He was clearly feeling the surge of Jodie’s powers coursing through his veins.

But I was feeling something too. Another hidden magical presence in this temple. And then I heard her. She was trying to speak to me.

Selena

Thank you for coming to find me, my child.

Isabelle

Goddess, where are you?

Selena

I am just on the other side of the wall behind him.

Selena

He has placed an enchantment on this room that has weakened my powers. And without my stone…

Isabelle

I understand. You are in grave danger.

Selena

I knew that Matheius was planning something of this nature, but I could not bring myself to believe that he would actually go through with it.

Isabelle

We will save you, Goddess. It is our only mission.

I pulled out of the mind-link to find Theodore and Matheius locked in a silent battle of wills.

So I created another mind-link with my twin, Jax, and Quinn.

Isabelle

She’s here. On the other side of that wall.

Quinn let out a small gasp.

Theodore, knowing to tread even more carefully now, softened his features. “Matheius. We’re here to help you. Join us and let us. It’s not too late.”

“Save your breath,” Matheius spat back. “I don’t think you have many left.”

Quinn

Matheius stood between us and the Moon Goddess.

To reach her, we’d have to get through him.

I didn’t want to kill him any more than I wanted to kill Jodie. But I didn’t know how else we could free the Moon Goddess from her earthly prison.

It seemed impossible at this point.

As we stood in this stalemate, I could see that Jodie’s powers had made Matheius stronger. He even seemed more physically imposing.

Matheius didn’t waste any time. His hands shot up and a barrage of hexes rained down on us. One hit me, searing my skin. We scattered, seeking cover.

I tried to retaliate, to throw a ball of energy his way, but the pain from his blast had weakened me.

Matheius was relentless. He charged at Theodore and Isabelle. They fought back, but one of his blasts hit Isabelle, sending her sprawling.

I watched, my heart in my throat, but she was back on her feet in a flash. Theodore pulled her behind a large marble statue, a grotesque likeness of Matheius.

Matheius was about to shatter the statue, which would bury Theodore and Isabelle under a deadly avalanche of marble.

Jax saw it too. He lunged, pushing them out of the way.

With Matheius’ back to me, I seized the opportunity and charged. But he was ready for me.

His hand shot out, gripping my arm tightly.

A memory flashed through my mind. My mother, catching me sneaking out late at night, dragging me back to my room with the same iron grip.

The memory gave me a jolt of confidence. If I could survive my mother, I could survive Matheius.

I reached into my pocket, my fingers closing around the stone. I tried to knock him off balance, but as I launched another ball of energy, he spun me around.

The blast hit the wall hiding the Moon Goddess.

I’d either freed her—or hurt her beyond repair.

Isabelle’s cry echoed my fear.

She and Theodore rushed into the next room while Jax charged at me, trying to pry Matheius’ hand off me.

I reached for the moonstone again, but Matheius knew what I was after. His hand dove into my pocket, brushing against mine.

We were face to face.

His breath was foul, his sweat dripped onto my face.

~Oh no.~

~He’s touching it.~

I wanted to cast another spell, but one wrong move and I could blow myself to smithereens. He seemed to realize the same.

I clung to the stone, but his other hand was free. He brought it to my neck, just like he had with Jodie.

Jax was yelling, trying to fight him off.

But with his hand on the moonstone, Matheius was too strong.

Darkness was closing in.

But I knew two things: I couldn’t pass out, and I couldn’t let go of the stone.

Jaxon

I watched as Matheius held Quinn’s life in his hands. I pounded at him, but as Quinn’s consciousness slipped away, he gained more control of the stone.

Every punch, every claw, left him untouched.

Quinn had told me we’d both died in the alternate timelines she’d seen. That thought scared the shit out of me. I wasn’t going to let it happen again. Not to me. Not to her.

“Stay with me, love,” I pleaded.

Then something strange happened.

Matheius’ face twisted into a cruel smile as our surroundings dissolved into a whirl of colors and shapes.

I couldn’t make out anything anymore. It felt like we were floating.

~Up and up.~

Then Matheius grabbed Quinn’s head, just like he had with Jodie. I knew what was coming. He’d snap her neck, absorb her life energy, and ascend for good.

I summoned every bit of strength I had left. I reached into the chaos, grabbed Quinn, and pulled her to me. We started falling, down, down, down, through the swirling colors.

I had Quinn, but Matheius had ascended to Astria with the stone.