Ruin and Revival

Chapter 62: Gravity

ARIKA

I kneel before the eerily still statue, but I shiver as I feel those stone eyes penetrate my soul as if seeking out all of the sins, my wrongs. I bow deep and true, touching my head to the edge of the mat as Rhea had instructed.

    The air seems to hum around her, despite the silence of the ancient caves, only interrupted by the drops of water pittering onto the floor. I breathe in the much-needed peace, relishing the strange serenity.

    "I'm stuck. I, I..." It is like there is something wedged into my throat, blocking the exit for the barrage of emotions that were welling within me. Why did I even come here?

    "Please help me! How do I forget this anger? How do I forgive the world after everything it has done to me?" I sob wildly, just a girl lost in a cruel world.

    Why are you angry? I startle as I hear a woman's voice, soft yet firm sound through my mind.

    "I am angry because, because-" I stop. Why am I angry? Why am I lost? Is it because he doesn't love you, is it because you feel useless, is it because you hate yourself for being selfish, for always surviving when people better than you have died?

    Before you can control other Life Force's, you must feel your own, understand it for it is what comes into contact with the elixir of life itself. Healing begins with yourself. The words echo as if they were bouncing off the dark cave walls.

    Suddenly an alien sensation takes hold of me as my body snaps still, an invisible spirit seeming to wrap around me, constricting me in its grip. A clear and powerful voice penetrates my mind, like a spear through a body.

    "Child. It is time for your awakening. However, yours will differ from the rest." Galena finally appears before my eyes. Perhaps it was a vision, a deception. But, nonetheless, the woman who learned to control the elixir, who started this miracle now sat in front of me, the stone statue no longer still. Her being glows and pulses, fading into and out of my sight. My muscles seem to tense individually within me until my body a tightly wound spring.

    "Long ago, when I saw the demise of humanity, the rising temperatures and the increase in drought and famine, I sought a solution far and wide. I learned of a way to harness gravity, Earth's gravity, the very force that anchors every entity to this planet. With it, you can control anything. Water could be extracted from the vast oceans, and so could the souls of all living organisms. Liquid is the most malleable state, the easiest kind of matter for gravity to manipulate. There came a time I realized I had harnessed too much gravity from Earth and if I had taken any more, we would have been thrown off balance."

    "Okay, okay, woah, slow down. Two questions: how did you harness gravity itself and what the hell does this have to do with me?! Can't you just awaken me and we can get this over with?"

    "I don't have much time. Before I died, I perfected gloves that could contain a tiny morsel of gravity, only enough to control water. These gloves cannot be remade and at most would last another 500 years. I discovered people, rare and few, that had souls like water, but as durable as steel. I found that these individuals could contain gravity itself, and manipulate the souls of others. I awakened these beings, turning them into healers, saving the last bit of gravity for future generations, for people like you. I only had enough to last 500 more years, in which each generation only had two healers. But, if you are receiving this message, the gravity has officially reached the end of its supply. It is your job to keep this last bit of gravity alive. Before, I had trusted healers to bring me compatible souls that could not be corrupted by this power. However, you have no choice now, but to sire the Imperator's children. I gave him three times the average amount of gravity. He doesn't know this yet, but you shall tell him when it is time. I will give you the last reserve, all the gravity that there is left. Your children will retain this aptitude of gravity for five more generations before the last trace will leave your bloodline and this world forever. I do not believe humanity will survive after that, especially without gravity on its side. You or your bloodline must find a new way to sustain our people before the gravity runs out."

    "I can't have children with Axel. He doesn't even want to be with me! And I'm not an object that has babies with whoever you want." I exclaim impatiently, unable to absorb the vomit of information being thrown in my direction.

    "I do not care who you are. This is your only job, and the only way we can save humanity. You must promise me to never let your children abuse this power and to never harness gravity again. Find a way before it is too late" Galena Reigh's flickering body winks from existence. The invisible force around me stiffens.

    Then the agony began.

    It is like being ripped open over and over again only to be remade, the cycle of pain never ending. Every time, I felt fuller and fuller until I wanted to explode from the crushing fluid that now flows through my veins. I shriek my throat raw before the pressure of the liquid inside of me consumes my mind.

    My eyes snap open. I push myself up roughly, astonished at the clarity of my senses, the lightness of my limbs, coursing from my arms to the tip of my toes.

    "You were awakened the exact same way he was." I turn my head slowly, Rhea's familiar voice ringing almost too loudly.

    "How long was I out?"

    "An hour or so. We found you screaming and writhing on the cave floor. It took ten women to carry you back here. It is like you had gained a hundred pounds overnight. Just like him." She murmurs, her brows crinkling deeply in thought. Galena's words abruptly drop like a weight onto my already sagging shoulders. How could I possibly find another way to sustain humanity?

    "Where is Axel!" Rhea starts at my sudden intensity.

    "They haven't returned yet. We can only wait. It's getting harder to control the people down here. They are getting antsy. We desire the sensation of fresh air in our tired lungs, the feeling of the wind on our faces." Rhea responds grimly.

    The gates to our underground refuge camp booms, as if to acknowledge Rhea's previous statement. I rush out of the tent, moving with a gracefulness I had only ever seen in Axel, as fast as a snow leopard and as nimble as one too. I shield my eyes as the blinding rays of sunshine seep through the cave gates. A gust of wind seems to project through the camp and I revel at its cool sensation. In the distance, Axel's familiar frame moves swiftly toward us, dragging an unconscious man with him. Men file in from behind him, all bloody and battered from whatever horrors they had to face. I touch my neck, shivering at the memory of Frieda's cold dagger ready to spill my blood. Squinting my eyes, I desperately try to make out who Axel's captive was. I go utterly still in shock.

    "Dad?"