The Mortal Fringe

by Jordi Ribolleda

  I don't answer. I don't want to know why she is allowed to have a family, and destroy another one —mine— at the same time.

  I slowly turn back to the city, holding the rage tears I have in my eyes

  "Why are we here?" I finally ask, looking over the blinding lights from the world below, because that's what it is to me know, a world in which I no longer belong in.

  Elizabeth takes a step forward and with her gentle hand on my chin makes me face her again. She looks at me in the eye and smiles.

  "Green does look good on you"

  Her words make me blush, and the urge of looking away makes me move my head, but she stops me. Her eyes are still fixed on mine. She is holding my hand and for the first time, I hold it back as strongly as I can. I don't want to let go.

  "You wanted to know why I brought you here again" she says, calmly. The sweetness of her voice lightens the darkness inside me. "I brought you here because here is where we started, and because I want us to start again."

  CHAPTER 20

  If it's been hours, I can't tell. I'm still holding her hand when she looks at me for the second time.

  "Well?" she asks in her softest voice.

  "What?"

  She smiles again and sits down, I do the same. She is looking straight at the horizon, the endless sea surrounding Barcelona is the only thing before us.

  "She told me what happened" she says, in a soft gentile, almost shy voice tone.

  My first instinct is to close my eyes. I don't care about the bonding ceremony anymore. I am not myself now, she can't see me like this. I feel her hands on my face, touching me softly and trying to make me open them.

  "Please, don't" I say, in between horror and sadness.

  "It's ok Alex, I'm with you."

  Slowly, our green eyes intentionally meet for the first time. I feel closer to her than ever. I don't want this feeling to go away, but at the same time, there's something inside me that wants to keep me from that thought. The effects of the ambrosia are fading away, and what happened earlier today is coming back in a harmful way.

  My expression must have changed, because I can see in Elizabeth's look that she knows something is going on. She won't let go of me, I know it. I'm not alone.

  "Maybe you should get it out, Alex. It's been far too long."

  "You already know, there's no need for me to tell you."

  Every single word Constance said is hitting me back, harder and harder as the words repeat in my head. I can feel my body tremble, and the only thing I can do is wrap myself with my arms and hope for it to stop.

  Elizabeth looks at me and I know that she has no idea of what happened that day, everything Constance used to tear me apart is unknown to her. I can't understand why.

  "She doesn't say much" I hear her voice in my head "Whatever it is, she wants to keep it to herself, in case she needs to break you."

  "Lovely woman, isn't she?" my voice isn't at all understandable, but I think she got the message because my eyes can make out a tiny smile on her face.

  "Well, in my world she has to put up with a lot, and it's not easy to do what she does. We are in different societies. "

  She just opened a door that I could cross to keep my thoughts away for a while. If I listen to her voice I know I won't have to remember all the darkness in me. I will be safe.

  "Tell me about it" I whisper.

  "What?"

  "Just make the thinking stop" I am almost begging.

  "Oh" I notice she wasn't expecting that, she grabs both my hands and tries to talk fluently. "Well, Constance tells us that we don't have anything like a Government. We live in peace without one, the Council makes it happen. As I said, we are in very different societies, that's why she tries to keep us away from mortals."

  "Unless we are…"

  She puts a finger on top of my lips. She does not want me to say it.

  "How does the Council work?"

  "Alex, you don't need to do this."

  "Please."

  The council looks all around the world, protecting all Gods from harm, and hiding the souls that make them Immortals. They are the ones Gods turn to in need of advice and guidance.

  I can hardly believe such level of organization and self-control exists, I am used to a world in which crime and corruption are the most common things in society. Still, I think it would be too hard to maintain order in such a situation, because it is virtually impossible that every god is friends with the rest. Their world must have conflict, something worth fighting and killing for. If not, there wouldn't be any point on becoming a God, they would just be Immortals, and I would not have to die.

  "I can't believe that" I say

  "Well, if something happens underground, something that is not allowed or should not happen, whoever is to blame is considered a tartar by the Council, and of course is cast away."

  "And you say that you live in peace?”

  "It's our system, and it works. We have Orders within the Council that make sure that everyone living down below deserves to be there. As much as Keepers are there to make sure Gods follow a right path, we have people in charge of order."

  "So you have jobs."

  "Not really, it's specialization. Immortals need three souls to become a God, his or her own, the one from the sibling, and the mortal one. If not, you either become a Keeper, a Leader, an Order member… "

  I don't understand why would they need the soul of a sibling, but as she puts it, a God is supposed to be a pure being, and a new born can't hold such a pure soul, so it is divided in two, and later on, after the millennia, the soul is put back together. However, she is not giving me a reason for the mortal soul.

  "I know what you are thinking, Alex. Constance was right, you know? When she told you that Gods themselves created their own stories, they wanted humans to think they were being ruled, that they were expendable, just tiny insects that they could crash without hesitation or much effort. What happened was that Gods became jealous."

  "Of humans?"

  "Yes. Humans die, and for that reason, every moment in their short lives is lived as it were to be the last. A God could not experience that, unless they willingly chose to destroy themselves, so, after a while, they decided that a mortal soul would make Gods capable of feeling the importance of little things."

  That's it then, Gods are superior to us in every single aspect one could think of, all but one, living. And it is for such an unimportant thing, that they punish us.

  She has managed to keep my thoughts away, but now my head is full of new wonders. I just don't understand why they still do it, history has proven that humans are not even ready to live in society. If we were, there wouldn't be constant wars, killings, or rapes. Yet they still want to be like us. What is even worse is that their only concern is to feel like us, momentary, but none of such mighty creatures has done a single thing to help us live longer, be healthier or find cures to illnesses that keep killing the new born, teenagers, and adults. They are not only selfish, they are willing voyeurs of destruction.

  "I understand your feelings."

  "What?"

  "I can read you, remember? I know what you feel, and you will know what I feel once you accept all this."

  "I don't want to accept all this, Elizabeth."

  "I know, you are a mortal fringe."

  And again I hear that word. But this time I will not leave this building without knowing what it means. Not again. Apparently, she is reading me again, because she is already talking when I make up my mind an open my mouth to ask the question.

  "The mortal soul can't be taken by force, it must be given willingly, that's why, if in the end you are not willing to do it, I won't become a God. I'm on the verge of being accepted in The Atlas, or being a cast out, a Tartar for the rest of my life. That's what we call, the mortal fringe."

  Now everything comes down to what I will do when the time comes. I obviously don't want to give my soul away, or maybe I do, I thought I did some time ago, but after
what happened today my thoughts have utterly changed. Does it mean I am condemning Elizabeth to a life of misery and loneliness? Or maybe not only her, I remember that Constance told me that my family would pay the consequences of my acts if I was the reason for Elizabeth going the wrong way. I close my eyes again, because if I do I forget they are as green as Elizabeth's, as dangerous as Elizabeth's, as bewitching as Elizabeth's. I can hear her move towards me, she is getting closer, her lips are on my chick and I don't move, she gets closer and now her lips are on my ear, and with a whisper, she frees me for an instant.

  "We'll be together."

  I look at her, I don't know what she means but the warmth of her voice makes my heartbeat slow. I don't feel the cold wind anymore.

  "Before, during and after. We'll be together, no matter what happens."

  I don't know what to say. Am I ready to give my life to someone else? To literally do it? I don't know.

  -Say something.

  I want to, and perhaps I should say lots of things right now because there are lots of things in my head that need to get out, but none of them would be appropriate, because she is not to blame. She has not created that terrible world of hers that for some reason doesn't look to be hideous in her eyes. But then again, of course, mine doesn't look as terrible as it is either. No, I don't really think I should say anything. She is expecting me to say something that would make this whole thing easier, but I don't think I could do that.

  After a long pause, she looks at me and stands up.

  "I want to show you something."

  "What?"

  "I know you have been wondering what "down below" means.”

  She is right.

  "Do you trust me?"

  I'm silent, my mouth doesn't move, no matter how hard I try. She closes her eyes in disapproval and comes right at me and kisses me. My senses are all gone, I don't know where I am and the only thing I feel is her warmth and passion. I wouldn't mind dying right now. This is the first time I've been so close to someone, and it seems ironic that the closest I get to her, the closest I get to our eventual separation.

  "Do you trust me?" she repeats.

  "I do" I say, in the end.

  She takes my hand and walks me to the edge of the building.

  "Do you want to do it nosily or calmly?"

  "Calmly. Please"

  She smiles, and holds my hand harder.

  "Not a chance."

  She then pushes us both from the building. Barcelona disappears as I close my eyes, I know we are gaining speed because I feel the air hitting me harder every waking second. I don't bare to open my eyes, my whole body shivers as the noise from the streets gets closer and closer. If I am about to hit the ground, I don't want to be staring at it when it happens. Then everything is calm again, and when I open my eyes, I am in a place I have never seen before.

  "Our Paradise" she thinks for us both.

  CHAPTER 21

  Not even the brightest mind in the world could have envisioned the mesmerizing structure I have in front of me. My body is still recovering from the colossal jump and my eyes can't make out all the beauty in front of me. Barcelona is gone, and everything I'm staring at is new to my eyes.

  "Where are we?" I ask in the shiest tone.

  "This is The Atlas. This is where Gods live."

  She tells me about this place as we walk through it. In a matter of minutes I know that we are actually underneath the surface. Barcelona is right above our heads and this ancient white and golden city has been under it for as much time as one could think of, but it's not just under the city above, it goes all around the world.

  The stone pavement shines as silver and the white paint on the walls of the little buildings reflects a sun-like warming light to my body. The feeling I have while walking through here is quietness, all my worries and nightmares stayed on that high roof from which I used to watch the Olympic city. There is no natural light, of course, but the high ceiling reflects the light from the surface, or that of the stars in the sky as they would look without all the pollution of my world. I don't particularly use what I consider to be corny adjectives to describe things, but this truly is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Maybe not the most beautiful one, that one is walking in front of me.

  Elizabeth walks as freely as an animal in the middle of the forest. It seems as if she was trapped in the city, and now she is home. Home, I think, will I ever see what I consider to be my home again? The thought disappears as quickly as it came to me. I don't want to trouble my mind with this matter, not now. If I am to never go back, I will at least make the most of what I have right now, and what I have, seems priceless.

  Suddenly the idea hits me. «This is where Gods live» she said. What about me? Am I in trouble now? I realize that my connection with her is growing every waking minute, because she stops walking and I can feel how she is listening to my thoughts. Her mind travels through mine, and I feel everything she feels as she moves like the flow of the river through my deepest self.

  "Only Gods live here, of course" she is waiting for me under some marble sculpture. "Those who are not yet Gods are not well received, we are foreigners. But don't worry, the only ones in trouble are the Tartars, their entrance is strictly forbidden."

  I smile, there's no need to say anything, she knows that I am worried, and I can't do anything about it. However, I have yet to see anyone walking by, is everyone hiding or something? This city of Gods is just empty, and no matter how beautiful it is, it seems abandoned, punished by time itself to exist without life.

  "There's an explanation for that too, you know?"

  "I will have to get used to you listening to all my thoughts" I say in a friendly voice.

  "You should indeed" she grabs my arm and starts walking right by my side.

  It feels so good to be with her, just the two of us. Time could stop right now, I'd rather be a frame in my own life than having to live the end of it.

  Suddenly, a bad feeling. There's a hand in my shoulder and before I can turn to see what's going on, a new voice speaks, and I am terrified.

  "What do you think you are doing here?" Says the young man staring at me with a dislike look on his pale face.

  "Tristan!" Elizabeth drops my arm and jumps on the man in front of us, he is not much older than me, at least on appearance. "I thought I would never see you again!

  "Hello Elizabeth, my dear sister."

  Sister? The words come as an impossible surprise, I need to make myself remember that their world works not in the same way as mine.

  Elizabeth steps aside and smiles at me, then looks at Tristan and does the same.

  "Tristan this is Alex" She waits for any of us to do something, but it's useless. I am too intimidated by the figure in front of me, and he is obviously not willing to welcome me here "Alex this is Tristan, Constance was his Leader too. He became a god about a decade ago."

  "Which is why I can be here and you can't, specially your mortal fringe."

  "Oh come on, don't be so boring."

  He is too serious to be ignored; he grabs her by the arm and does the same with me. I am used to teleportation, so when I appear in a completely different place I am not at all surprised.

  "We are in regency year Elizabeth, you are not supposed to be here."

  "I know, I know, Constance is all over the place with it. Shadows, Shadows, Shadows, that's all I get when she's around."

  Elizabeth doesn't say much more. I know she won't talk about it, which means that it is something important, and none of my business. If I have learned anything about all this is that we mortals are not always welcome in the Immortal matters.

  "Where did you take us?" She asks while checking out everything.

  "My chamber, I haven't been out of here for the last three years."

  "Three years? Why on earth would you do that?"

  Tristan takes his time to answer, and while he walks around, looking for the right words to speak, he keeps looking at me like if I was some
trophy. I remain silent, trying not to move an inch, too scared to even form a thought, even if it is just for me and her. His presence is like that of mist, too think to see what lies within him.

  "I don't know what Constance hast been telling you, but things down here are not as she wanted us to believe. Every single day, Gods, and particularly Goddesses, leave to find the Shadows. It's a lie that there is no ruler in this land. Gods are on the move, you should know more than any other. "

  "My family?"

  "Along with the Council. Whoever gets to the shadows first will be in charge of everything until the next regency. "

  "You are wrong" she says, frowning her forehead.

  "Everyone wants power Elizabeth, it's just they have been hiding the thrust for it for much too long."

  "Don't ask" she thinks when I move, but she isn't talking to herself, she is talking to me.

  "But I don't understand, you said…"

  "I know, I don't understand it either."

  "Well, maybe his is just playing you."

  "Tristan would never lie to me, I know him. If he says that there's something going on, he means it."

  "Those from above believe that here we live in paradise, and the ones that really live here are divided between the ones who want to believe that paradise exist, and the ones that want to become part of history."

  "In which group are you?" Elizabeth seems to be worried.

  "I belong to those who want to keep on living" Tristan's voice is full of anger and fury "I owe that."

  "I understand" Elizabeth's hand is on Tristan's shoulder, showing him her support, like any friend would do "We will leave right now."

  "Wait. You need to make sure that no one notices you are here, you just crossed over, it will take a couple of hours until its safe for you to go back."

  Elizabeth knows that I need some information as I am starting to worry. She moves her thoughts to my own mind so I can understand that the division between my world and this one is pictured as a line, a line that once crossed leaves a trace until it is still again. "That line is not yet ready for us to cross" She says, "and we can't go back with no one noticing."