CENTURIES AGO - PART IX
OUT OF ALL THE places she could be, Delilah hadn't expected to be in the human world on her birthday. She hadn't been planning to, but she'd woken up at midnight with the knowledge that something was happening to the souls down below and she couldn't sleep until she found out what. Whatever was happening, it was pulling the threads loose on souls which had already been spun with difficulty, causing chaos as they slowly lost both their minds and themselves.
Which god was messing with her? The thought was sharp in her head as she walked through the cobblestone streets, only the moon shining it's silver glow on her, no stars to be seen. They always hid when she got angry. Honestly, she was simply glad she hadn't woken up Helio on her way down, because in the rare occasions he slept she didn't want to wake him up. She'd resolve this quickly, so she could get back to him.
When she had waken up, she had seen one extra present beside the one she had already spotted, a small box which was colored golden. She hadn't worn a necklace in a long time now, but if it came from Helio, she would love whatever it was. Her thoughts flicked to Niccolo then. Yesterday was the first time she had ever seen him cry in all the centuries she had known him. She wasn't sure whether to wait or visit him at once to see if he was feeling better now. The toll those visions were taking on him was one which grew heavier every time. It was enough. She'd make it her personal mission to find a way to help him, even if that meant demolishing the whole temple and his followers.
"I can help you with that, Delilah."
Her blood ran cold as she stopped in her tracks at once. She could feel the souls unraveling all around her, not even her presence managing to work stabilizing anymore. Soon they'd all vanish into nothing, but all she could focus on was the woman standing behind her, who was the cause of the magic running wild.
"Mother," Delilah said.
Even now, years later, she looked the same. It was a strange thought, Delilah knew, considering that they were immortal, but a part of her had believed her mother would be the exception. The woman who had always been the picture of power and elegance, she wouldn't be like that anymore years after losing everything, after losing her daughter. Yet here she was, smiling like none of that had happened, like she was still keeping the key to Delilah's prison in her hands.
She lazily waved a hand then and Delilah felt the souls around her vanish in the wind, all of them gone at once.
"It isn't your place to touch those humans," Delilah snarled, her fury making the wind around them whirl around in the beginning of a storm," you've doomed them to nothingness."
"What does it matter?" her mother chuckled," they're just humans, there are millions of others to replace them with. What happened to you, Delilah? Since when did you get so angry, so tainted? What did they do to my delicate daughter?"
"No one did anything to me," Delilah said as she stopped right in front of her mother," no one but you. Don't you dare put the blame on someone else. I can't believe you have the gall to even be standing here in front of me right now. What makes you believe I won't kill you?"
Her mother's face was warm, as if none of the words Delilah said could ever hurt her. Was it love or possessiveness? The line between the two had become thin a long time ago. When her mother reached out to place a hand on her cheek, it was crossed again. Her mind was screaming to slap her away, but there was still that small part of her, the one who remembered holding her mother's hand as the goddess sang her lullabies, which wasn't able to let go just yet. First, she needed to see what she was going to say.
"You won't," she said," you're my daughter, Delilah, you couldn't hurt me. Besides, I'm the one who has been there for you your whole life, I'm the one who will never abandon you, no matter what happens. Ever since your father died, you have been my whole life. What do I have left without you?"
"What do I have left when I'm with you?" Delilah whispered.
"You have me," her mother said, cupping her face with both hands now," isn't that enough?"
"One person can never be enough for anyone," Delilah replied.
Her mother stared at her almost sadly then, like she saw the beginning of the end in her eyes already. Delilah wasn't sure what she saw herself, but she didn't want to know. All the fury she had build up over the years would disappear if she stayed here for too long, if she allowed herself to be pulled back in her past. Despite all the terrible things her mother had done to her, she had also loved her. In a way which had hurt her more than she could ever describe, but it was love nonetheless.
"But you're enough for me," her mother smiled," I don't need anyone when I have you, Delilah. I won't let anyone take you away from me again."
A note of pity colored Delilah's voice as she shook her head, ready to take a step back and walk away.
"I'm stronger than you, Mother," she said," we both know that. There's absolutely nothing you can do to me. Now, leave. I'll let you live if you do."
Her mother's smile widened, the moon hiding itself behind the clouds, as if afraid of what was going to happen.
"You don't understand, Delilah," she said," living doesn't matter if I don't have my daughter by my side. I'll do anything to keep you there, forever."
Delilah sighed, her mother's delusions seeming to only have become worse. The only one in the world who would be able to succeed in forcing her to do anything was Helio and he would never do so. She wasn't worried about her mother, a person who had forfeited most of her magic when the position of Soulweaver had been passed onto her daughter. Now she was just hanging onto a past she didn't even have the capacity to cling to anymore.
"The Reaper's successor got you a necklace," her mother said suddenly.
"The Reaper," Delilah corrected her, before frowning," and how do you know? Have you been stalking him? I'm warning you, Mother, if you even dare so much as to look his way, I -"
"There's no need to threaten me," her mother chuckled," like you said, you're stronger than me, as is he. I doubt there's much I can do."
"Then what are you doing here?" Delilah asked.
"I wanted to give my daughter a present on her birthday," she said," that was all."
"I don't need anything from you," Delilah said.
She tried to take a step back, but her mother's nails began digging in her cheeks, refusing to let go. Delilah raised her hand, ready to blow her mother away with a simple touch, but before she could, her mother quickly slipped something around her neck. A frown immediately tugged at her eyebrows as she looked down, the opal necklace gleaming eerily in the lights of the street lanterns.
"What do you think you're doing?" Delilah said, annoyed as she grabbed the necklace to pull it off.
Her mother didn't seem fazed, finally letting her go. She was silent as she watched Delilah try to break the necklace, but to no avail. Whatever magic had been cast on it, she wasn't able to break it just yet. Her fury started blazing again as she looked at her mother, unsure what kind of joke the woman was pulling but very annoyed by it.
"Was it worth it?" she said," slipping a necklace on me which you've enchanted to make stick for an hour or two? It won't be, you know, when I kill you."
"Haven't you been wondering where I've been, sweetheart?" her mother said, looking more serene than Delilah had ever seen her," why do you think I'd leave my daughter alone, when I just told you you're my entire life? I wouldn't give up on you. Never."
She looked up at the sky then, which was completely devoid of any color. "A long time ago, when everything was created, we were spun out of nothing. The original Reaper, Soulweaver and two magic stones. One, the Reaper used to forge his scythe with. The Weaver didn't have a wish yet with a stone she could use for anything, because she believed there was nothing she couldn't do herself. So she lost it, in her carelessness. After decades of searching, I've found it again."
"Like I said," she continued, tapping on the opal hanging on the necklace as a smile began to form on her lips," I wouldn't give up on you. You've become confused by all those bad influences around you: that irresponsible Reaper, that selfish Oracle — they've poisoned you against me, my delicate daughter. You wouldn't be able to see it on your own, so I needed to help you."
Delilah parted her lips to curse at her mother for daring to speak of Niccolo and Helio, but her vocal cords were tangled. Something was wrong. Her consciousness was slipping, her thoughts were becoming fuzzy and that necklace - that damn necklace, why wouldn't it come off?
"What's happening?" she managed to say, falling to her knees as she stared up at her mother.
"I made a wish," her mother said warmly," and everything will go back the way it was, just like it should be. Only, with a small twist. I can't have any of them searching for you after all, can't I?"
"Mother," Delilah said, a fear clawing it's way in her heart which she hadn't felt for a long time now," please."
"Don't you worry, Delilah," her mother said as she crouched down in front of her, caressing her hair lovingly," I wished for you to remember nothing anymore. You're right, I started the wrong way with you, but I won't make that mistake this time. I'll take you to the human world, I'll be a better mother to you this time. None of those responsibilities I had before, nothing of this magic which has poisoned us against each other."
Delilah felt her eyes grow heavy, all the power seeming to have seeped out of her body and right in the crystal on her neck. She didn't want to lose her memories, not of - Wait, who did she want to remember again?
"My wish was quite the big one, you see," her mother's voice said," I didn't want just your memory to be altered, but the whole universe. All those fucking parasites with divine blood, every single last one of them, they will think you're dead. A true replacement won't come, because the law of nature only gives one when you truly die, but that doesn't matter. The magic will be powerful enough for none of them to realize."
Her mother's eyes were filled with pure joy then as she softly placed Delilah's head on her lap, gently caressing her hair.
"My daughter," she said," you're finally mine again. My mistake was that I left you alone last time, but I won't repeat that. I need you to love me, so I suppose I can't follow you, but I have gotten you your own guardian angel. He'll protect you for me and in exchange, I'll make him human, when the time is right."
The last thing she saw before her eyes fell shut was the conflicted expression of an angel, one which had spoken about the curse of his wings not too long ago.
"Roshan," she whispered and then she fell asleep.