Shattered Line

Chapter 15: The Truth

Isla's outward smoldering fire receded as she restrained the raging beast. Though she maintained a composed and silent outlook, inside she straddled two diverging cliffs. Each new discovery widened the chasm, further threatening her stability.

Her sitting frame remained poised, unflinching and dominant. The gaping cuts that scarred her defenses were temporarily skinned over. She gazed out the fabricated window, the surface like a lake's surface temperamental and frequent to disturbances. Ripples appeared, shifting the scene from frolicking grasslands to blizzard covered mountains.

"Isla?" Layla said, pulling the conversation's flow back.

Isla spoke before Layla could voice another word. "How did you find me?"

Her sisters exchanged looks, a hidden meaning etched into their vibrant eyes. Linda was the first to speak. "Rein."

Isla chewed the inside of her mouth as the questions flashed through her mind. Yet, there was only a single one to voice. "How?"

"It isn't important, child," her grandmother interrupted.

What was her problem? Each remark this woman barked had arrogance and supremacy interlaid upon each word. Forget the notion of a respectful Queen, her behavior was drenched with the Gods stench.

"Then what do you want?"

"Grandma Nirvana, please let me explain to her," Layla requested while gazing at the elder.

She huffed a sigh. "Very well."

Layla returned her attention to Isla, her eyes steadfast and resolute. "Isla. I want to tell you what happened all those years ago. I know what I have to say won't fix the past, but you have a right to know. Mother, she died giving birth to you, as you know. But what we didn't tell you was that she knew her fate. She knew she was to die."

Her words inflicted no disorder, but rather created another inconvenience. What importance did this have to Isla's current state?

"To be fair," Layla continued, "We never could figure out why she said this. Our mother was unique, she had a strength we didn't understand. I believe that strength was what drew our father to her. She would always speak about him as having been a changed man. Either way, we had difficulties accepting her death. She warned us things would change, but when our world fell apart, we just had to step away." Layla stared at Isla, her gaze shining and expecting of a truce.

"And?"

Her lack of response knocked the radiant mood from Layla's face. Her head dropped, crestfallen and sullen. "We think the strength mother had, she passed on to you," Layla murmured.

"Which would be?"

"I don't know..." Layla glanced towards Nirvana for clarification.

She unfurled the fan before her face. "Don't ask me. She wasn't a Seraphine from what I saw. I found her abandoned as a child and raised her. But even so, your mother was a special case. She saved us in a time of need by sacrificing her freedom."

"Saved?" Isla questioned.

Nirvana snapped the fan shut and tapped her chin with it. "From the Gods, who else?" she hissed. "For many years, we Arcadians fought to free ourselves from the Gods and their oppressive ruler—your father—Osiris ."

Isla's eyes widened. Her father was the King of Gods.

She shut her eyes and strived to subdue the chill slithering up her spine. In an instant, her shield had shattered, exposing her reactions. A single, but cruel revelation destroyed the precarious mends she completed to refortify her resolve. How could this be? This truth unbound the dam blockading those pathetic emotions.

Isla clenched her teeth and her chest burned. All these years, she empowered herself through deadly battles with courage and tenacity. She retained the sole thought that steady determination would leave an opening. Her father was a man. He would make mistakes.

But she was wrong.

The wall was never small and surmountable. The wall was a looming mountain of doom with sharp jagged cliffs, lacking a single traversable path.

Nirvana cleared her throat. "That man's cruel, uncaring, and manipulative. He finds amusement by pitting friends and families against one another, forcing them to kill. The moment you think he's ignoring you will be when you lose it all.

"But when your mother met him, he changed briefly, becoming a different man. Those days of struggling to survive became distant. However, I always felt it was simply the quiet before the storm. Why wouldn't it be, when he could control the actions of his race, demanding them to commit atrocious acts? He lured both the weak and strong alike with prospects of power and wealth by turning them into Gods. Despicable."

"And his children? Can he control us?"

Nirvana snorted. "Worried, aren't we?"

Isla glared at the woman but remained silent. She had exposed herself, any more and she'd risk her future. Who knows what schemes this woman would concoct to ensnare Isla.

"The answer is no." She paused, narrowing her eyes. "His children are the only ones capable of resisting him, besides the Demons. They are after all his successors, heirs to the lineage and power of the Gods."

"Then what about her?"

She tapped her fan to her chin. "What about her?"

"You know what I mean," Isla growled.

Nirvana's face twisted into a conniving smile. "She wasn't affected. But as to why, even I do not know. However, you being her killer should know why."

Isla jolted to her feet. "That's ridiculous." She snapped her gaze to the door and with powerful strides, shortened the distance.

"What's wrong? Can't accept the truth? Did you think Osiris hunted you because you killed your mother? Don't make me laugh. He's simply afraid. Afraid of your potential and the gifts you were left with."

"Shut up," Isla retorted, grasping the door handle and jerking the wooden barrier open.

"Keep letting him hunt you, child. His heart and soul are far too corrupted. Only death awaits..."

Her last words scattered, becoming whispers on the wind.

A/N: Short and sweet! The next chapter should be a little longer. Hopefully this chapter explains some things.