Chapter 145: Chapter 145

It wasn’t a storm, no! Eren thought it was the sky breaking above their heads announcing the end of the world, it was all grey and threatening above them as dark clouds invaded the horizon, there was no rain, no snow, not even the dew that accompanied such weathers, there were only terrifyingly and abnormally strong winds with deafening thunder and striking lightning that split the air like mad rage, destroying whatever was in their way.

“What in the…”

“My lord, we got the reports from all empires and the human lands, the storm is there too!”

“What?” Eren’s eyes widened in horror, for one, a massive storm such as this one was in no means nature’s doing, it was too massive and unnatural, and so sudden, the lightning seemed as if it was the spears of vengeful spirits attacking the poor lives that resided underneath the sky, it seemed like a…divine punishment, a deity pouring its rage on them all, and second, the way the air felt, the energy it carried, it didn’t belong to any God, it belonged to his fair lady!

Why? And how? An attack that big wasn’t something she could deliver nor survive! He saw before how small air attacks exhausted her, and the storm was nowhere near being small, Mind linking the demonesses in the estate, he was presented with even more worrying news.

She disappeared from inside her room, she didn’t leave it as no one saw her doing so, She just disappeared!

“This is bad!” Henry didn’t know what the shadows' lord sensed and learned but he was smart enough to figure that the storm couldn’t be anything but the Gods’ doing, it was unlike anything he ever saw and the lightning…

The lightning started random, but then, the giant and luminous bolts were acting like a …cyclone! Spinning around a far center, colliding with the sky, and hitting specific targets.

Trees, buildings, hills…

“I must go! Eren, I must return to my kingdom!”

“Take as many of my demons as you need!” Eren’s voice wasn't any less urgent and worried than Henry’s, however, he still wanted to ensure his friend’s safety, he didn’t know what was happening with his fair lady, why was she pouring her rage on them, but he knew that he couldn’t let her bear the guilt of killing innocents including her brother on her shoulders once she is done breaking the sky…

If she survived that is! The urgency turned into fear as the thought grew in his mind menacingly just like the fire the bolts were starting, the amount of energy she was putting in those attacks was alarming, and even when he knew that she was far from being the frail girl she used to be, he also knew that she was still new to her powers, an attack that strong and violent was going to drain her if not break her…

“Joseph!”

“Yes, my lord!” the old man appeared from the shadows, and even when Henry was reminded with his earlier questions about the creepy demon, he couldn’t waste an extra second there to dwell on such a trivial matter while his kingdom, his people, and his queen, were facing the storm all alone, without forgetting his sister whom he had no idea about her whereabouts, and silently prayed to nothing in particular that she had returned to the castle with her advisor after failing in whatever stupid task she had in mind.

“See that the people in the fire empire are all informed and protected and wait for my orders, if there are none, just do as you see fit!” Eren told as he watched his friend taking off on his horse, followed by his royal guards and a few demons, turning back to the old man whom he considered as his father, Eren saw the worry in his eyes.

“You are needed here, young lord!”

“I am needed elsewhere, Joseph...” with her, Eren swallowed his last words but knew that his advisor knew all about it, the man was somehow able to read him since he was a little kid, however, he never spoke against his decisions, not until then…

“This is the path she chose, to break what is already broken for it to issue in the new, you cannot stop her even if you wish to!” Eren stared at the old man without blinking, for his words were not only enigmatically precise, but they were spoken with such calamity as if he knew way more than anyone and more than what he was revealing.

“Then I will die trying to protect her from herself!”

“What is happening with the new Goddess is not your fault, young Lord, stop blaming yourself for every bit of pain she feels!” once again, Eren was dumbfounded, his advisor looked almost unbothered by the storm, his words were only focused on him, but right when he was about to question it, the earth under their feet shook violently before beginning to split…

First, there was the wind, but considering the fact that Sara was very familiar with the air element, Eren still hoped that she was okay, but then the lightning appeared followed by the earthquakes that split the ground under their feet, leaving behind massive grooves that even managed to swallow the trees and houses, the lightening was causing fire to start but the flames grew abnormally quick and big, only to join the whole ordeal in a strange combination…

She was a force of nature, Eren thought at the terrifying sight, the massive cyclone of lightning bolts, wind, fire, and debris spinning around themselves, and probably around her, but that wasn’t all, Eren thought, there was something even more impressing, the way she was orchestrating the elements together, the pull she used to keep them around her, keep them contained, she was defining the world, creating her own gravity and bending the rules, and that only meant that she was aware of what she was doing, she wasn’t in one of her distressed states when her emotions would mess with her stability and cause her little outburst, this is was all planned and managed, and the same question popped in his head same as earlier.

How? Did something happen to unlock what remained sealed of her powers? Knowing his fair lady and the way negative emotions affected her, he guessed that it couldn’t be anything kind that caused this, and that made him worry even more.

“My lord, we had the reports from the fire and the frozen edge, the storm is attacking their outer borders too, slowly inching inside!” the borders, why was her attacks focused on the outer borders? Unless…

“She is pushing us to move to the human lands!” Eren whispered, thinking that no one was there to listen but the sound beside him startled him out of his own thoughts.

“Should we, Young Lord?” Eren contemplated the question of his old advisor for a second, his eyes never leaving the massive cyclone, it was lethal, however, the bolts were not attacking any livings, not directly at least, was she trying to keep them all safe while terrorizing them to leave their lands? Why? It was the ultimate choice to make, whether he should trust his fair lady and place the fate of hundreds of thousands in her hands, or stay in his empire and try to fight her rage.

“Do it, give the order! And inform Henry and Rima, tell them we are going to take shelter in the human lands, the Manrast lands are too far, so we will remain in Taghit, the fire demons shall join as well but keep a close watch on them, it is about time that the humans pay their debts!”

.....

"It has been four days already!" Rima grunted, looking outside the window of Henry's study, the arms around her, resting on the little bump of her belly did little to soothe her worries, for she knew that he was in no better state than her, if anything, the human king had more on his plate with his missing sister who was still missing all while the massive storm was still raging outside.

It was still unbelievable, the way the world changed after the storm, one moment she was in her castle trying to organize things for when the time for her to give birth would come, and in the next, the sky was raining bolts and fire on them, the towers of her castle and many other estates were destroyed due to the fire, and the people were terrorized, not understanding what was happening, what was even more alarming was the fact that their powers were almost useless while facing the attacks, reminding the ice queen with the water of the forbidden sea, which only meant that the attack was created by the Gods.

Everything after that was a complete rushing mess, and because the attacks were stronger and more dangerous on the edges, the demons had to evacuate their empires and head to the human lands, it was one of the most bitter moments in her life, and one of the hardest sights to witness, her people, including the weaker ones, the families, the children, the elderlies, all leaving behind their homes, their lands, out of fear, trying to escape the approaching death, the once-proud ice nation was but a convoy of rushing bodies and fears, marching out of the frozen edge to head towards the kingdom of Katara, the moving was supposed to be slow, gradual, and over many years, but because of the storm, the demons had to take refuge in the lands they conquered, only that they were not welcomed with open arms.

"Did you get any news from Eren?" Henry asked, both helpless and hopeful, the shadows lord was once again his only hope as he, a human, could not do much about the whole situation, it was driving him insane, how short his hands felt, and the fact that he couldn't do anything but wait in his Castle for the storm to pass by, leaving behind destruction that he did not know how to manage after it.

"Not yet, the last time I heard of him he was still trying to get to the center," Rima answered disappointedly, blaming herself for not being much help either, especially to her lover who was on the verge of insanity with his sister missing and his kingdom being destroyed in front of his eyes, cities were emptied, villages were abandoned, buildings were destroyed, people were terrorized, and lives were lost, even the castle had its share of the lightning attacks, causing some of it parts to collapse. "Both my hunters and his are still out there looking for her, love, we will find her!"

Probably dead! Henry almost shouted but held himself back, his Queen was only trying to help, and snapping at her would only make things worst, taking her hand in his, he gently squeezed it, once again borrowing some of her strength to survive the madness raining on the world.

"What do you think he would find there?"

"One of them" Rima answered with a heavy heart, knowing that even the shadows' lord himself wasn't capable of standing up to one of the first generation Gods, she had seen it with her own eyes, the only hope she had was that the disappeared hybrid was with him, helping him to fight whoever was causing their world to collapse. "How about your people?"

"A few hundreds died!" Henry answered sadly, once again feeling the bitter taste of helplessness, he was failing as a king, failing to protect his people, many died because of the storm, while others died because they fought the shadow demons who took refuge in his lands, and even when he wanted to do something about that, he couldn't, the demons were there not only to take shelter but to help them.

The capital was the safest place to be, even when there were other big cities in his kingdom, most citizens chose to hide close to their king, it was indeed the safest choice, with most of the army barracks and the food storages, the shadow demons did an important job in ensuring the humans' safety as they moved to the capital, using their magic to shield the people and evade the attacks, however, their request for payback, a price paid only in blood, wasn't taken lightly by the humans, if anything, they didn't even tolerate the existence of demons in the same place as them, which led to more chaos that ended up with casualties on both sides, eventually, he had to give orders to his people to provide demon with blood in exchange for protecting them, an order he knew was going to be hanged around his neck in the near future.

Growing up, Henry imagined demons to all be alike, scary and strong monsters, however, as they came to his capital seeking refuge, he saw the other side of the demon world, the one that was so similar to his, not all demons were strong, some were slightly stronger than humans with weak magic, they had families too, children and elderlies, and as they arrived in the capital, he realized once more that the differences he thought were there were but a mistaken image drawn by his ignorance, the demons were actually...humans, with an appetite for blood and the ability to use magic, and that was it...

"Nothing is going to remain the same after this..." Henry voiced out his worries, knowing that the woman in his arms, carrying his heir, was the only one able to contain them, and she did as she turned to face him and circled her arms around his waist, not around his neck like she loved to do, as if afraid to put extra pressure on his shoulders, instead, her gesture was that to say that she was there, helping him to remain standing.

"Maybe it is for the best, maybe it is the way to start a new, rebuild what has been so frail and decayed for thousands of years."

.......

A new world, Sara thought as she released a tired breath, the clouds above herself and everything in that world were fading, and with it the winds, the lightning, and the flames, air burned her lungs as she inhaled but it felt better than the suffocation she was fighting for the last seven days as she unleashed her rage over the world.

It wasn't rage, Sara reconsidered, unlike the other times when her emotions were what steered her powers and pushed them to the surface, this time her emotions were pushed to the very back of her mind as she focused on nothing else but the words of the God.

'Be a Goddess!' Sara kept on telling herself that as she reached down inside her, no emotions to hinder her, no remorse to stop her, she was not Sara nor Dahlia in those moments, she was the daughter of Historia, she was a Goddess embracing her divinity, her fate, and her full potentials, and once there was only the Goddess on the surface with the hesitating human pushed to her depts, it was all too easy, as if she unlocked a sequence with one single act, and as she ascended to the center, lifted by the air, she felt as if she was the world, she was nature, a living force that broke rules to set new ones.

New rules, for a new world, and to build that new world she had to take down the old one, or at least a part of it, the humans and demons only tolerated and worked with each other when they were faced by a greater enemy, the Gods, and once that enemy was out of their way, the once one was separated again, the enmity returned, stronger than before, and for that she planned to remind them of the true enemies, the true dangers that still existed while they were busy fighting each other.

She didn't plan for it to go that far though, Sara thought as she laid on the crystal roof of the Gods' castle, she didn't even know that she could go that far and do that much, but once she accepted herself to what she really was and took ownership of her powers and her destiny, the identity that brought her so much pain, suffering, loneliness, and loss yet also gave her the ability to make the impossible happen, it was all there, in front of her, a net of invisible bonds that related her to the world and every living creature in it, nature was but an extension of her own limbs, mighty and malleable for her to command, and she did command it, she owned it.

The humans and demons, they were both monsters, both capable of doing unspeakable things, yet there was good in both of them, they both deserved to live, yet refused to live together which was the only way, the gap could not be fully closed, not with those who didn't go to the war against the Gods keeping it, and therefore, she took it upon herself to show them, to remind them of the true enemy and the things they were capable of...

Be a Goddess...Gods belonged in the center, and that is where she went, using air to carry herself like a whisper through the lands, passing by the forbidden sea with the strange monsters that lived in it and nothing else, the shores, the burned forest, and lastly, the crystal castle.

Be a Goddess...Gods were mighty, strong, and terrifying, Gods were the creators that none dared to stand against, and Gods were the ones that controlled the world, the elements, Gods were as mighty as nature itself, so she became nature, all of it, not just the air she was familiar with, but the clouds brought by air, the winds steered by it, and as if something exploded inside of her, lightning erupted from the sky, initiating flames and causing earthquakes, spinning around her as if she was the center of the world, imposing new rules on the mortals beneath her and forcing them into the new order she was setting for them, all while taking some lives, grey ones.

It was a sacrifice that needed to be made, the blood of those who helped the priests take the lives of the innocent demon children, and few other criminals, mercy wasn't something her divine self possessed, not towards those who didn't have it towards the children, and not towards those who planned to kill the demons while they were under their roof, the world did not belong to any of them, they had to share it or die.

The world needed Gods, just as it needed death, to give life a value, a purpose, to give it order, and the right amount of fear to suppress the chaos both kinds were capable of bringing upon each other, the previous Gods might have been unjust, mostly to demons, but at least they set an order, an ethical system with a lie that people clung on, a promise of reward that matched their deads, an illusion of hope and fear that tamed the monster in each one of them, the necessary evil, that is what she was, all while thinking that she was good, and she was, on a different and hardly understandable level, just like death, and just like nature rage, destroying an existing life just so a better life can bloom.

But as she laid on the crystal roof, staring at the fading clouds, with her human emotions resurfacing with all the pain and insecurities, Sara thought about herself, about what her actions meant, she had attacked both worlds, and that meant that she could no longer be a part of any of them, the Gods were not so welcoming of her either, which meant that she was on her own, it made her wonder if that was what her mother felt, mighty and powerful, but also lonely, and maybe it was the reason that made her leave the center for a love that didn't even remember her.

What next? What to do? Stay in the center, be the Goddess she was, accept the loneliness she was running from, or return, but to where?

However, she never got to make the decision, as the ominous presence settled on top of her, short silver locks, clear eyes that dripped with pure evil, and a sadistic smile were the last things she saw as the man whispered in her ear before everything went black!

"Hello there, daughter of Historia !"