Athena's Wish
Hi! This was originally intended as a spin-off from The Rebellion but now its actually the prologue to it!! Hehe. But I'll just post the prologue for now!
“Father, no!” the girl shrieked. “Please, no!”
The girl and her father were sitting in her bedroom at the Palace in Saranthea, the base of the Thealdian Empire, which comprised of the four Lands – Saranthea, Alhoria, Tythalia and Dunmaria. The girl’s bright red hair fell around her in waves. She was beautiful, way past beautiful, and many rich Princes had sought her hand in marriage, but she had turned them down, seeking a life of celibacy in the Church of the God, Rayn. Now he sought her hand, ironically.
“You are the Princess of Thealdia! You have a duty. A duty to your country, to our Empire! You must do this, or risk his wrath!”
“He is a God, father! How could you do this to me?”
“Athena, do you know how powerful he is?” her father said. His heart was breaking, knowing that the God would destroy her spirit and her soul. He would chew her up and spit her out, and he didn’t know if she had the strength to resist him. But he had given them an ultimatum. Give up their Princess, of he would destroy them all.
“I am the First Priestess, Father. I know all there is to know about him,” she said, brokenly. Not all, the Emperor thought sadly.
“You must do this or he will destroy our Empire and everyone in it. I’m sorry child.”
He reached forward but she snatched her hand away.
“He will eat me,” she said. “Eat me, take my spirit, my soul, my mind, my power.”
“Your power? Surely that can’t be of any use to him?”
“My power is great, Father. Greater than you know. He must not have it.” She stood, stonily regarding the man who would ultimately prove her downfall.
“I shall prepare for this,” she said, emotions in check. It was her duty, to her Father, and to her Empire. She would do this. But Rayn must not have her. Not her, not her essence. For that was what he wanted. And what better way to destroy a woman than by taking her, forcibly in marriage? It was unheard of in Thealdia. Women were respected by men, for their efforts in childbirth, among other things. They were not forced to marry. If that ever happened, the man in question would be punished severely. Athena could not get her head around it.
She went to her temple. The Priestesses nodded and smiled nervously, trying to avoid their Mistress’s gaze. But Athena wasn’t looking at them. Her mind was working fast, faster than it had ever done before. She pushed open the door to her private chamber.
“Rayn?” she called. “Rayn!”
There was no reply. “I know you can hear me,” she said. “Why are you doing this? I am your loyal servant! I live only to serve you.”
Yes, my dear, yes you do.
Athena started as the voice crawled in to her mind.
“No! I am sworn to celibacy!”
A mere technicality, my sweet. I am a God, after all.
Yes, Athena thought bitterly. Yes you are.
She stormed out of the room. Her power would fuel him, make him stronger. He would feed on it. He would thrive on it.
The only place she felt safe was at the Lake. Trees surrounded it, and it was in trees and near water, places of nature, that Rayn was weakest. Athena knew these things. She slumped down against a tree, lowered her face into her hands, and wept.
“Athena?”
“Rueben! You can’t be here!” she hissed, jumping up at the voice, wiping her tears away. She was a Princess, and she shouldn’t cry.
“I heard,” he said simply.
“Oh Rueben.” She clutched his tunic. “I can’t survive him!”
His heart broke and he held the woman he loved in his arms. He knew she loved him back, but her duties as a Princess never accounted for the scruffy son of the carpenter. But they always made time in their respective schedules.
“I have to do something,” she said. “There must be something I can do!”
“You have power, which is no small thing. Once, everyone had it, but now…the empowered are few.”
“You and I,” she said. “The only ones in the city.”
“What do you fear?” he said.
“My power is great. Too great. He will consume it, consume me. I cannot risk that!”
“Will you become immortal?” he said. She lowered her head, the turmoil tearing at her heart, her mind, her soul. All of which would be gone soon. She loved the man who held her, she loved him more than her own life. But she was a Princess, and the First Priestess. Their love could not go beyond an embrace. Athena would go to Rayn as a virgin. Her body would survive him, but her essence wouldn’t.
Then the solution hit her. “No!” she whispered hoarsely, fresh tears running down her face. “Oh, no.”
“What?” he said, eyes searching her face. “What?”
“I must hide,” she said, eyes glazed.
“What do you mean? He is a God, Athena! He will find you!”
“Not if you put me in a box.”
“What?” he hissed. “What do you mean? You are not dying, if that’s what you mean.”
“Death?” she said thoughtfully. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Then what are you talking about, Athena?” Reuben said, gripping her shoulders. His eyes were pained.
“I mean my soul. My spirit. I will put it in a box. I will contain it. I will still know, still have my mind. But I will put my power in a box. You must take that box, Rueben. You must take it and hide it, for me to reclaim it when the time is right.”
“Can it be done?” Rueben whispered, awed. “Can you pull it off?”
“If we pool, then maybe,” she replied. “It is my only chance, Rueben. Will you help me?”
“Meet me here tomorrow. Be well rested and fed. I will have your box.”
She trailed a hand over his face, love and thanks apparent in her eyes, before turning on her heel and leaving him in the clearing.
They met there the next day. Rueben’s eyes were red-rimmed, it was clear that he had not slept.
“Oh, Rueben,” she said, sadly. “I wish it could have turned out differently. I wish we were free to love each other. I wish I was born a tinker’s daughter. I would give up life as a Princess, I would give up life to be with you.”
“As would I, Athena.”
As have I, he thought. Athena stared.
What? She hissed back into his mind. What?
He smiled weakly at her, and presented her with a box. She stared at it, before taking it. It was the most exquisitely crafted thing she had ever seen, which was no mean feat seeing as she was a Princess. The swirls and ridges were so intricately carved, the detail was wonderful, down to the last small ridge and hole. She trailed her fingers over the box, emotions threatening to choke her. The power exuded from the box, and it almost glowed. Athena knew how much power had been put into this box. Rueben could not survive this! He was not as strong as her! She raised her eyes and stared at him.
“You did this, for me?”
“I love you, Athena. Of course I did.”
“You are going to die, Rueben. You can’t have used this much power!” she cried, distraught.
“I have a little left.” He looked meaningfully at her.
“Enough?” she asked, hating herself. She was sacrificing her love for her world. The decision was heartrending, but it must be made.
He nodded, determined. “It should be.”
“Alright, lets do this.”
“Have you said goodbye?”
Athena shook her beautiful hair. “No. For whom would I farewell?”
“Alright, lets go. I assume you know how to do this?”
“The last spell we will do.”
“Yes.”
Athena put the box down and opened the lid. The two sat and placed their hands on the box. Athena took a deep breath, and her stomach churned. If this worked…well there was no need to think anymore. But the alternative was too terrible a notion to entertain.
Her tears mingled with the sweat pouring down her face as she channelled her power into the box. She felt it creeping from her mind, her body. It flooded in after a while, and she felt Rueben putting the last of his power and his life into the box. But he was not strong enough. He gave one last cry, and a furtive glance at Athena before slumping backwards onto the sweet grass.
It was as though someone had torn a hole in Athena’s heart. The pain was physical. She felt a great, all-consuming anger take hold of her. She jumped up, trying to break the connection with the box.
He gave his life for you, fool girl! Use it! Use him! Don’t make his death a waste!
She screamed, agony, pain and desire fuelling her mind. The damn on her mind broke and the power roared out of her mind, dangerously. She was relentless, her anger almost killing her. Rayn would burn for this, Rayn would twist as she plunged the knife again and again straight into his heart!
The power was too fast. Way too fast. There would be none left, none to keep her alive! She was spending herself, just as Rueben had. Rayn has won, she thought numbly. He has won, and Rueben is dead. She did not notice the boy twitch and sit up next to her. He stared in horror as blood started to gush from his lover. He could not discern from exactly where the blood derived, but it was enough that it was there. He was drowning, choking in the blood. It congealed in his hair, in his mouth and in his nostrils.
He screamed, and passed out on the grass.
When he came to, Athena was sitting opposite him, running a brush through her faded red hair, the box to one side. There was no blood.
“Athena?” he whispered.
“Oh, you’re awake? Would you kindly escort me back to the Palace, boy? I must return to my father.”
Reuben felt weak, and wanted nothing more than to collapse back onto the grass. But he stood.
“Athena, it is me!”
She frowned. “Do I know you?” she asked, puzzled. There was something about this peasant. But she shrugged. She was a Princess, how could she know a serf?
“Athena, please! Its me, Rueben!”
She frowned, irritated. “I think Princess Athena would be appropriate don’t you?”
Then she smiled. “But you must be out of sorts. What with that bang on the head and all.”
Rueben shook his head. He hoped their spell had worked, maybe this was supposed to happen. But surely she should remember him? He stood.
“Of course, your highness. Forgive my impertinence. Allow me to escort you home.”
She smiled and held out her hand.
Rueben stayed for the wedding. He couldn’t possibly not. It was like a murder, you can’t bear to look but you can’t drag your eyes away. The Princess smiled blankly and repeated her vows dutifully, and the god Rayn and Princess Athena were wed. He leant down and kissed her, and she complied.
The mood was sombre. Everyone exchanged glances and muttered under their breaths. Why was their feisty, powerful, intelligent Princess smiling like a dolt and giving herself to their God? They couldn’t understand it, and Rueben wasn’t about to fill them in. After the whole sickening charade was over, Rueben packed up the box in a cloth and trekked off, in search of a safe place for Athena’s Soul, her last wish.
Things were never quite the same in Thealdia after Athena married Rayn. It was as though the Empire’s heart had been torn away. Emperor after Emperor tried to resurrect the once-thriving empire but all failed. All the while, Athena’s unresponsive shell watched indifferently, with never a twitch of remorse for anything – even her own father’s death a few years after she left for the Rayn’s palace somewhere in the heavens. She never bothered to discover the dynamics of the Palace, all she knew was that Rayn was the King and she was his queen, with a duty to serve and obey him.
He had been furious on their wedding night. As he roughly forced himself on her compliant body, he had realised that he had been duped. He felt no transition of power from her to him, no satisfaction at the consumption of a soul, nothing! Roaring in anger he had shoved her away from him and beat her savagely. She tried half-heartedly to defend herself, but there really was nothing left of the girl but her “Princess” ancestry. Everything she had been taught that had anything to do with etiquette and duty had remained, making her the perfect princess, no opinion, no independent thought, nothing except the duty to her husband.
She should have died that night, at the cruel hands of her husband, but Rayn knew she couldn’t. Her vows saw her bound to him forever, and seeing as he was immortal, that made her so too. After seething over the loss for a while, he sprang to his feet and began the search for her soul.
But Rueben had done his job well. He had journeyed until he was nearly dead in search of the perfect place for his love’s essence. He hid the box, and then the last of his life left him, and he fell over the box, adding the last protection to the enchanted box.
Rayn eventually gave up the search, reasoning that it was no mortal loss, and contented himself with his over-compliant, beautiful wife, and the power he already possessed. His anger, however, remained and he took it out on the unsuspecting citizens of Thealdia, starting with Rhialor, the town Athena had stemmed from, subconscious revenge for the loss of his ultimate prize. He withdrew all his power and influence from the Empire, knowing that it was the only thing that was holding the four continents together. It had done the impossible, it had outsmarted him, but he would get his own back.
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So anarchy and chaos reigned. All felt their God’s absence keenly, but it was an unconscious feeling for most. Some thought they knew what the trouble was, they said that they had “sinned” and were being punished by Rayn, which was not far from the truth. In an effort to please him, they set up extensive networks of worship, a Church dedicated to Rayn and Athena, who had instantly received Goddess-like status.
Eventually, what had once been known as a fact, the existence of Rayn, was now challenged. Why have we never seen him? Why hasn’t he made himself known? But Rayn just smiled, two differing beliefs would create more chaos and anarchy, he surmised, and he was right. Over the course of centuries, wars were waged between the religious and the non-religious, and Rayn pushed and prodded enough to make the religious win. The Church eventually became the most powerful association in existence, and anyone who did not follow the belief of the Church were murdered.
Seemingly unrelated to this, crime was increasing to the point where people were afraid to go out at night for fear of being mugged or worse. From a highly disciplined populace stemmed the worst age the people had ever heard of. Trials dissipated, and what had once been common practice became very rare, and they were only held for people of high status, such as Royals and nobles. Treatment of women went from respect to condescension. They were treated horribly, allowed to be raped and beaten by their husbands, forced to marry. They were now second-class citizens.
Eventually, inevitably, Dukes and Lords of the respective continents that made up Thealdia revolted. They wanted independence and their own kingdoms, freedom from the failing empire. Alhoria joined forces with Dunmaria and they invaded Saranthea, where the Emperor was based, and laid waste to the country, especially the main cities. Rhialor was practically unrecognisable. The Emperor surrendered and was killed, and Alhoria and Dunmaria withdrew their troops and returned to their homelands, where they set about establishing Kingdoms of their own. Tythalia followed suit, as far as the Kingdoms were concerned, but remained largely neutral, whereas Saranthea and Alhoria warred for a long time after the Empire was abolished. The Emperor’s nephew proclaimed himself King of Saranthea and the continents fell into an uneasy peace for a further 1000 years, until somewhere, through the continuum of time and space, in three separate worlds connected by the subconscious state of dreams, three boys were born who were destined to bridge the gap between their three respective worlds, triggering a terrifying chain of events that would ravage everything in its path - including the dormant soul of a Goddess, awaiting the Lover who would set her free…
