Chapter 26 – The reason for Unique’s death.
Sion wept. His sister was banished, Unique was dead, and Retro refused to help him.
“I beg of you, please help me,” he pleaded. “I can’t stand thinking of her.”
“I can’t do anything, Passion,” Retro answered. “You’ll have to live with it.”
Unique jerked away from the vision. Envy had tied her together with Sion, and the physical contact forced her to relive parts she didn’t want to.
Envy snickered. "How about a watching something bittersweet?"
"Please stop," Unique whispered. She didn't want to do this at all--she only wanted to get away. It was tearing at her insides, to sit here and relive all these painful moments from Sion.
The man in question still hadn't regarded her with any interest. He was sitting motionless beside her. She knew that he had to see the visions as she relived them, but she didn't dare to look up to see his reaction. The memory of his earlier resentment were enough to make her cringe.
"How about..." Envy tapped her chin. "How about seeing the impact you had on Sion after you got me banished. Yes. I think that would be a terrific memory."
Unique tried to block it out, but as soon as Sion remembered the past, she was pulled in.
"Envy has been banished from here, Sion," Fury said.
Sion looked up to meet his father’s eyes--they didn't have the best of relationships, but they were close enough to share this. Yet another tragedy had fallen upon Haims.
"Will we ever see her again?" he asked.
Fury shook his head. His golden curls bounced around, and he furrowed his brows. "I highly doubt it, son."
Sion's heart broke once more.
Unique pulled away again. By now, she was panting in an attempt to keep up with the memories. It was draining to be forced to relive this.
"Ach. Why does it take so long? You should be dead by now," Envy complained.
Dead...? Unique couldn't understand. She was a Goddess—she couldn't die.
"How about giving you a little treat?" Envy's face brightened up. "That's it!"
"What is?"
"You need a treat." Envy winked. "Sion, how about reliving every single date you and Unique had."
"Okay," he said. His voice was clear and void of any emotion,
"Sounds fantastic. I won't hang around to watch this. I'll see you later, little brother." She stomped across the room and looked back at Unique. "And you. Well. Let's just say that I sincerely hope that you won't see me later."
"The feeling is mutual," Unique muttered. Envy didn't respond; instead she transported out of the cave.
After Envy had left, Unique was alone in silence with Sion; nothing she could do would change this, but she had to try.
"Sion?" she asked. He didn't react. "Don't do this."
As on cue, her attention was pulled into his past.
Sion smiled at his reflection. Tonight, he would make her his. He would make her swoon over his boyish charms. He winked. "You're the man!"
"What are you doing?" Unique asked. He jerked around to see her leaning against the doorframe. She was dressed in a beautiful soft pink Goddess Gown--probably something she'd borrowed from Amora.
He could feel heat streaming to his cheeks, and he averted his eyes, coughing lightly. "Nothing... Are you ready, hot stuff?"
"Sure... I agreed to one date, didn't I?" She winked.
"You sure did."
Unique forced through and moved her body so far away from Sion as possible. Her muscles strained in the unnatural position, and she was afraid that a vein would pop on her neck.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"I... Can't..." Sion tried. However, no more words came out. Instead, he leaned against her and once more pulled her mind into his past.
"You've killed her!" Sion yelled.
"No—I'd never do that," Envy said. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "She attacked me—she used her powers on me."
"Unique would never do that, it's too dangerous."
"But she did. I swear on my life, Sion. I didn't kill her."
"You disgust me," he said before turning his back on her.
"Father, please... help," Unique begged. But nothing happened. Her daddy wasn't coming to help her—none of the Gods would help, they'd thoroughly sealed her off.
"Unique..." Sion muttered. "Can't... stop. Need to."
Before she could answer, she was back into a new vision.
"The problem is. Unique was never a Goddess. Her immortality was only borrowed from Lif," Retro said.
"What does that even mean?" Sion frowned. He was sitting across from Unique's father. The plans of reviving Unique were put to a halt.
"Lif didn't want to create another Origin. So instead, she blew life into already dead skin. She'd never been a true Goddess."
"To me she was!" Sion's chair scraped against the floor as he jerked up to a standing position.
"I know, and to me, as well. But the technicalities around her creation made her vulnerable for the likes of Envy." Retro buried his face in his hands. "I can't believe I saw the signs earlier."
"What do you mean?"
"Unique was... broken. She was killed because she lacked the proper knowledge of her creation. She shouldn't have gone after Envy alone; retro-cognition can't solve everything."
"What did she do to Envy?"
Retro met Sion's eyes. "She did what Unique always does--she forced Envy to look back and relive."
"But how did she die?"
"She used her powers."
"What? I don't understand." Sion frowned but slowly took his place on the chair again. He needed to understand this. Retro looked away and refused to answer.
"Tell me!" Sion demanded.
"Passion. Calm down," a third voice resounded through the room. Sion looked up to see Fatus--the God of Fate--coming towards them.
"Fatus, what are you doing here?" he asked.
Fatus never rewarded anyone with the respect of looking into their eyes. From what Sion had gathered, it was impossible for him to hold a conversation like that. Instead, the God walked to Sion's side and started talking, "Unique's essence was from borrowed materials. The blood from Retro, and skin from Mortitia. The Goddess of Death tainted her before she was even born."
"But--"
"And in that manner, death was inevitable for Unique. As opposed to any natural born God, Unique didn't feed her essence by using her powers." Fatus briefly glanced at Retro, before returning to the spot above him. "Instead, her powers drained her essence for the life that Lif breathed into her."
"So her powers killed her?" Sion asked.
"No. Ignorance and stupidity did. Unique knew of her strength and flaws. She was aware that going after Envy alone would be at the risk of her own life."
"Why did she do it then?" Sion looked between Retro and Fatus. When none of them answered, he slammed his fist into the table. "Tell me."
Retro sighed, "She did it because she didn't want Envy to bring herself to doom."
"Why would she care?"
Retro met his eyes. "I think you know the answer to that better than anyone of us."
Sion looked down at his fingers. It was true--he did know. "Is there anything we can do?"
"We can pray to Lif, to make her try again, and this time make sure that Unique doesn't use her powers at any cost." Retro said.
Unique gasped. So this was Envy's plan. To kill her by forcing her to use her powers. Envy transported in with a joyous twirl.
"I'm back!" she exclaimed. When her eyes caught sight of Unique, she pouted. "Oh, you're still here."
"You don't have to do this," Unique said.
"Oh, but I do. I need to make sure that you suffer as much as you made me suffer." Envy walked over and grabbed a large mirror. "Don't worry though. My plan seems to be working fine." She placed the mirror in front of Unique.
The reflection was horrible. Instead of her usual healthy look, her eyes were all white, with no pupil or iris. Her hair was fading, and her skin was pale. Unique wasn't in doubt--she was dying already. She looked up at Envy who gave a vicious grin.
"Alright, I better give baby brother some nutrients. Have a small vision in the meantime."
Unique tried to protest, but was pulled back.
"Is it worth it?" Sion asked. Unique smiled at him--that lovely smile that never failed to send butterflies through her stomach.
"It's always worth trying to better the world, Sion," she said.
"How can you be so sure about what's better?"
She shrugged and leaned back down on the blanket. "It's a matter of gut reaction."
Sion looked down at her long, white hair, surveying how it framed her face. Here, in the safety of the Gardens, there was nothing that could harm them, and he knew that what she planned would compromise that.
"I don't think you should do it."
"Of course you don't--you don't think I should do anything."
He grabbed a vine of grapes and peeled of one. Holding it to her mouth, he whispered. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Sion."
"I hope no harm will ever come to you," he said. A gasp escaped his lips as she snapped at his finger playfully. "Why did you that?"
"Because you're being silly, love. I'm a big girl, quit worrying."
He chuckled and rolled down beside her, his hand in hers. "If we weren't immortal, do you think that these moments would mean more to us?"
Unique was silent for a while before she finally rose up on one elbow. "I think that no matter what, we should cherish what we have. Nothing is infinite, and we'll do right to remember that."
"My love for you is infinite," he said with a wink.
She giggled and lightly smacked his chest. "You dork."
A/N: I can't believe how amazing you guys have been in the past 24 hours. Yesterday morning I had less than 1000 votes on the whole story, and just in the span of one day, you guys have brought it up to exceed 1200 votes *__* I am so lucky to be graced with so amazing readers.
I want to give out special mentions to the people I've noticed that really have gone out of their way to help with project "Finish Retro-cognition"
JuviiBlack - For commenting, spamming, voting and promoting like crazy.
SRBurke - For commenting, voting, and also going to my other stories. He completed reading both my "The Lores of Lyra" books yesterday while I was writing.
JeremyvanTuil - He just found my story, and have been a massive support, cheering me on, voting and making me laugh in between writing session.
FauxPunker - for voting, commenting, and offering to sacrifice something to make me finish. LOL, Thank you
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There's plenty of more that has been rooting for me during the course of the story. And I wish I could mention you all. You're so amazing, and none of this could have been done without you. Sorry for the long authors note, but I truly wish to express how much your support means to me. I wish I could name you all, and if you feel left out, just comment and I'll make sure to mention you next time. I really want to Thank you all. Without you, I'd never get anything written down. MWAH! <3
Maja <3 :)