His mouth dropped in awe of her power. He looked to the almost barren field for just a moment and then found his daughter again. He screamed when she began to collapse. He witnessed Ar’ch’s agony as he held her, and Drake knew that she was gone.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, he turned on the Goddess. “Why? Why did you let her die?” he screamed.
“I did not let her die. It was one of her destinies,” She replied.
“One of her destinies? What does that even mean?”
“God and I bestowed upon our children the gift of free will. I can no more force you to make a decision than God would force a human to make a certain choice. Your choices shape your destiny. Sofia knew what her sacrifice would be, and she still chose her action.”
He shook his head and began to pace. “That is not fair! Why should she die when everyone else is left there to live?”
The Goddess sighed. “Sofia did not see it that way. She saw only love. She knew that her life allowed her loved ones to live.”
“I want to see her,” he said and started looking around. “She’s here somewhere, right?”
He felt the Goddess shake her head. “Sofia is on her own journey, Drake. She will need to decide what path her journey takes.”
He felt utterly defeated. There was no way that his daughter would want to see him. This truly was the worst possible punishment for him. “Why am I not with Lucifer?” he thought aloud.
“Lucifer is not a god, Drake. He cannot call souls home,” She replied.
“That can’t be true. The Raizyns pledge their souls to Lucifer, and with that pledge, they are transformed into demons and deminions because he commands it.”
He felt the Goddess shake her head. “The Raizyns, as you call them, may believe they are pledging their souls to Lucifer, but their souls have always and will always belong to me, just like the humans’ souls will always belong to God, their maker. When you make that pledge, what you are truly doing is allowing Lucifer to reside in your heart. It is because of that choice that your bodies undergo a transformation. Love and hate cannot reside in the same place; one must have dominance over the other.”
Drake stumbled backward. Everything his people believed to be true was a lie. “So, when Sofia blasted the field, what happened to my people?”
“Those who were still on the battlefield lost their current lives,” She replied.
“So, are they here as well?”
“Those who had love in their hearts will experience a journey like yours.”
“And those who did not?” he asked, picturing Damiana burning in hell.
“Those with no love left in their hearts will have a different journey, a cleansing one of sorts. Their souls will need time to find love before they can be given life again.”
“Does that mean that I will one day live again?” he hesitantly asked.
He felt Her smile. “The man who has just died will not live again. His life is over. The soul who resides within you will be wiped free of your memories when you are ready, and he will be reborn to experience a new and different life.”
“Oh,” he mumbled. “When will that happen?”
“When you are ready,” She replied.
He nodded and looked down at the now empty battlefield. “Will I see my children again?”
“You will not know them as your children, but souls filled with love tend to gravitate toward one another. The roles may be different, but the souls find comfort in being close to one another.”
Drake swallowed and sighed. He looked away from the scene below him while the window sealed itself. He looked toward the Goddess, squared his shoulders, and nodded. He had no idea what would happen next, but somehow, he knew that he was safe, and maybe for the first time since being a child, he was loved. He only hoped that in his next life, he was strong enough to trust in love and make better choices.
He felt the Goddess smile right before She touched him and said, “Let your journey begin.”
-o-
Liana pulled a blanket over Sofia so that it covered her shoulders. She had just finished giving her a sponge bath, and although she knew that Sofia could not feel cold, Liana could not stop herself from covering her. She sniffed back her tears for the millionth time and turned toward her closet.
How was she going to find an appropriate dress for her daughter so that she could say goodbye? She leaned against the closet door when her strength dissolved. Goddess, help me, she prayed with closed eyes. I know she is with You, and I know she is at peace. Help me through this process. Help me dress her to Your liking.
Liana took a few more breaths and felt her strength return. She opened her eyes and began to look through the closet. As if a magnetic force pulled her to the very back, she skipped the clothes in the front and went straight to where the energy took her. Her hand clasped a hanger and pulled it out.
Liana laughed and looked up. The Goddess seriously couldn’t expect her to insult their customs by adorning Sofia with the dress that she held before her. The others would think her mad, and yet…Red, dress her in red. That is what Ar’ch had requested of her, and that is what she held before her. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind. She turned inward to her heart and found peace and acceptance.
She opened her eyes and smiled. Her daughter would look stunning in the dress. She wasted no more time and gently dressed Sofia. The sleeveless, royal red gown hugged her bodice. A thin, white sash outlined the top of her breasts and crossed in the back to tie around her waist. At her waist, the rest of the material lay loosely around her legs. She placed a pair of red, small-heeled dress shoes on her feet.
As she stepped back, she smiled and sighed. Sofia looked elegant and peaceful. Whether others agreed with her or not, Liana knew she had made the right choice. A knock at the door told her that she had finished just in time.
“Come in,” she said.
Ar’ch entered slowly, wearing the traditional white ensemble. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Sofia. He turned to Liana, tears glistening his bloodshot eyes. “Where did you find that dress?”
“In her closet,” she replied. “I truly have no idea how it got there because Sofia has never worn anything like it.”
He took a deep breath and smiled as he looked at Sofia with adoration. “She once had a dream where she was wearing that dress on her death day,” he almost whispered. “Let’s hope that dream comes true,” he said. Liana looked away, knowing that Sofia had died a human, so the chances of that happening were slim to none. Ar’ch cleared his throat and turned to her. “Thank you for…”
She shook her head. “Thank you,” she interrupted. “Your love gave her strength and conviction. I had never seen her happier than when she was with you.” His sob caught in his throat, so she waved her hands in front of her and shook her head. “We must stop this. We have a celebration to begin. I trust that you will take her to her resting place.”
“I will.”
“Very well then. I will need to prepare myself, and then I will meet you there.”
Ar’ch nodded but didn’t move. She looked at him while he stared down at Sofia. The desolation in his eyes broke her heart. She threw her arms around him and felt him flinch with surprise. “You are loved, Ar’ch, and you are not alone. We are loved and not alone. The Goddess is with us, and She will see us through this.”
He gently pulled away and placed a kiss upon her cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.
She smiled and nodded. Then, she turned to Sofia and placed a kiss on her forehead. “See you soon, baby,” she said and left the room before the sadness overpowered her.
Chapter Forty-One
Ar’ch sat on the edge of Sofia’s bed and caressed her cheek. He picked up a thick strand of her hair and twirled it through his fingers, remembering how she had reacted the first time he had done so. The red undertones in her brown hair were more prominently visible because of the red dress. How he wished she would open her eyes so he could gaze upon the r
ed specks within her brown irises.
“Hello, beautiful. That was one heck of a showstopper you put on this morning,” he said and smiled. “I must admit that I’m quite relieved that you didn’t have that amount of power in you back when you were mad at me.”
He half-heartedly chuckled when he thought back to the fight they had in the training room and the fireball she had thrown at him. The look of shock on her face should have told him that it was unintentional, but he had been so wrapped up in his own guilt back then to have seen the truth. Thank the Goddess that she didn’t give up on him.
“When did you become such an attention seeker?” he teased as his fingers traced over her shoulder. He remembered her shyness at the lake when she first joined him in the water. He could almost feel himself lathering the sunblock on her while she shyly looked away. He brought her hand to his face and breathed in her scent. “Why didn’t you just tell me what Damiana was about to do? I would have used the transporter to pop up behind her and kill her.”
He had run a thousand different scenarios through his head of how the war could have ended without her losing her life. He once again chastised himself for following the rules, for not using his powers sooner. He slumped his shoulders and lowered her hand into his lap. No matter how much he wished he had been the one to sacrifice himself, he knew that it was Sofia’s destiny. She was their savior. She was the one chosen to destroy the Raizyns and restore the Diasodz.
He looked at her peaceful face and pressed his quivering lips together. “Sofia, oh, how I love you! I started loving you the minute I first entered your dreams. With each dream and with each passing moment, I loved you more. And when you were taken away from me, I thought I knew what it felt like to lose you, but this…” He sobbed and collected himself. He clenched his teeth before taking a deep breath to calm himself. “I am not done loving you, you hear me? The Goddess prophesied that you are the one for me, and I have a whole lot of life to still live, so you better find a way to come back to me.”
He knew that she had died a human, and that meant a true death for her, but he refused to give up hope that somehow, she would come back to him. He wasn’t ready to accept that she was gone. Using his affinity to air, he carefully lifted her onto his lap and cradled her head against his shoulder. With his right hand, he held her face and whispered, “Do you hear me, Sofia? I am not done loving you.”
He kissed her lips and then smiled. He stood with her in his arms and said, “Now, let’s get you to your celebration, shall we?”
He pressed the transporter and instantly took them to their willow tree. Rafe stood by the water’s edge, so he started walking toward him until he saw Sofia’s resting bed. His mouth dropped involuntarily.
Rafe turned around as Ar’ch approached the bed. “Do you like it? Do you think Sofe would like it?”
He lay her gently upon the silver, willow branches and smoothed out her dress. “Rafe, it’s incredible. It’s…perfect,” he said. He put a hand on Rafe’s shoulder and then said, “Thank you, brother.”
He pulled him into an embrace and thanked him again. He knew that Rafe suffered, too. He had known Sofia longer, and Ar’ch knew that he truly cared for her. He let go of any qualms he had once had about Rafe and truly accepted him as his brother, knowing that Sofia would be happy with him for doing so.
Rafe held him for a moment, too choked up to reply. Then, as he pulled away, he looked over at her. “I thought we were all supposed to wear white.”
He smiled and nodded. “We are, but Sofia is too hot for white,” he said mischievously.
Rafe laughed and shook his head. “That sounds like something Mel would say.”
“Did someone say my name?” Mel asked.
Ar’ch turned around to see Mel, Kai, and Z coming toward them. He and Rafe stepped aside so that they could see Sofia. Mel walked over to her and held her hand.
“Hot damn, girl! I have tried all my life to get you to dress up, and now you get all sexy!” she said and then turned to him. “She’s gonna kill you if she comes back, you know that, right?”
He smiled. “If she comes back, she can do whatever she wants to me,” he said. His smile faded when he said it; he knew they were all just wishfully hoping for her return. None of them could accept that she was gone forever.
She nodded rapidly as Kai put his arm around her. “I’m gonna tell her you said that.”
Kai led her to the seats that had been set up for them. Z hugged him. Not one for lengthy moments of affection, she patted him on the shoulder and smiled.
“We are all hoping she transitions, Ar’ch. I mean, her death day was supposed to be around this time, right? So, it’s possible.”
“It’s possible, if the Goddess makes it so, right?” he said. He refused to believe that the Goddess would take Sofia away from him; She couldn’t be that cruel. The minute he thought it, he took back the thought. Their Goddess was not cruel, but he knew that there were some things in which even She would not intervene.
As Z went to join Mel, Kai, and Rafe, Ar’ch saw his parents, Angel, Sarah, and Liana appear, all dressed in white. They all hugged him and then went to see Sofia. He watched each of them bestow a kiss on her hand. He walked over to them and stood by Angel.
“Liana, she looks beautiful,” Valerie said.
Liana smiled. “Thank you.”
He leaned over to Angel. “How are you holding up?”
Angel shrugged. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” he asked. Ar’ch gave him a knowing look, so Angel admitted, “My shields are in place. I am having a hard time dealing with my own emotions right now. I can’t handle feeling everyone else’s.” Ar’ch put his arm around him, and Angel leaned into him.
As the sun set on the horizon with their large moon as its backdrop, Nolan cleared his throat. “The High Council and leaders of the other communities are honoring our request to have tonight for family only. Since we are all here, I think we should get started.”
Kai, Mel, and Z joined the rest of them by Sofia’s resting place so that they all created a circle around her. Nolan stood by her head with Valerie and Liana on each side of him. Angel and Ar’ch stood across from each other, by her heart. Rafe stood next to Angel with Z by his side. Kai stood next to Ar’ch with Mel next to him. And Sarah stood by her feet.
“Goddess,” Nolan began. “Our youngling, Sofia, has left her human shell to join You in the heavens. We pray she has reached You peacefully and that her soul is safe and secure in Your love. We pray she knows how much we love her and how grateful we are for the short time that we were blessed to have had her in our lives. And we pray You will return her to us so that she may live as a Diasodz among us. We know Your love is our reason for being, and Sofia encompassed Your love even with her last breath. We have never stopped loving You nor have we stopped serving You, and we will continue to serve You until You call us home.”
Everyone stood silently, each saying his/her own prayer to the Goddess. Ar’ch looked at his family and thanked the Goddess for every one of them. He didn’t know what he would do without them by his side. He tried to stay focused on gratitude and being graceful, but at the end of his prayer, he couldn’t stop himself from saying, And Goddess, give her back to me.
-o-
Sofia sat up and heaved air into her lungs on reflex. “Did it work?” she said to the nothingness surrounding her. “Did I save them?”
Only then did she realize that she sat alone in a white void. She rested her elbows on her knees and held her head in her hands. She had no doubt that she was dead. Once she had understood her prophecy, she knew that death was her consequence. She just needed to know that her sacrifice had been for something.
“Welcome, child,” the Goddess said.
Sofia sighed and lifted her head, smiling. “Goddess,” she whispered.
“Welcome home,” She replied.
“Did it work?” she hesitantly asked. “Did I make the right choice?”
“Well, child, that all dep
ends on what your objective was.”
Sofia pressed her lips together. “I wanted to save those whom I loved.”
The Goddess nodded. “Your loved ones are safe.”
She exhaled her relief. “And what happened to Damiana and the Raizyns?”
“Ah,” She said. “Why do you ask?”
Sofia chewed on her cheek before answering. “Are they dead? Did I kill them all?”
Instead of answering, She asked, “Do you remember when you first discovered that you had been given the affinity to fire?” Sofia nodded. “Do you remember how you felt about that gift?”
She looked down. “I felt like it was a curse because fire destroys things.”
The Goddess nodded. “Every skill has two sides. It is up to the wielder of that gift to choose how to use it. Fire can destroy, but it can also warm and purify. It can also provide light. Your light banished the darkness, Sofia. Darkness cannot exist where there is light.”
“So, I killed them all?” she asked, both relieved and horrified.
The Goddess shook her head. “You banished those who were on the battlefield. Their souls have come home. There were many who chose not to fight today or who left the battle after it had begun. They are still alive.”
She stood, her heart racing. “Then, my family is still in danger.”
“Danger will always exist, child. The world must have balance. There cannot be peace without the concept of war. There cannot be good without the idea of evil. There cannot be light without darkness. It all exists, but it is up to the living souls to choose what should prevail.”
“So, I died for nothing?” she asked, deflated.
“That is a question you must answer, child. You only knew the Diasodz for a few months. Why did you risk your life for them? Why sacrifice yourself when so many of them did not believe in you?”
The One Awakened Page 28
