Dawn Of Citadel

Chapter 19

"What?" Phoenix shouted. "Wait, what?" Being confused would be an understatement. The chain of occurring through this week has made it obvious that her being eighteen is the reason of all this chaos. "Why are you here, Annette?"

She smiled, one too familiar to the one which Titan always displays. "I am a culprit. You came here to talk to me and later throw me at the wolves." Her smile didn't fade an inch. "I did a great sin and I need its punishment. I deserve it."

Phoenix looked at her strangely. "What do you mean? What big a sin did you commit?" She reached over to her and lifted his chin, her cold fingers making Annette visibly flinch. "What did you do to get punished." She asked again, this time in a softer tone.

"The greatest sin known to man kind." Annette said. "The very sin that helps you die peacefully or live through death which in my case, is the latter."

"You committed a murder?" Phoenix questioned. "Don't be so dramatic. Now spit out the truth!"

"I committed to love, King. And I fell into the deepest corners of love." Annette said. "I loved. And I lost. Now, here I am to get the punishment I deserve. Won't you kill me, my majesty?"

"Are you kidding me?" Phoenix had her eyes wide. "You need punishment because you fell in love?" She asked, sitting down next to Annette. "It isn't a sin, you know. Life with love is a blessing." A blessing she never had.

"Not always, when your loved one leaves you." She said in a low voice. "It hurts a lot, you know. It hurts a lot to live alone." Annette said in frustration. This was the first time Phoenix saw her not smiling, not that she has seen her a lot. "Life has never been easy since she left me."

"You want to talk about her?" Phoenix asked expectantly. "Maybe that could help you from having a possible depression. Staying alone is not all that good."

Annette looked at her with an unknown expression which showed respect. "She was my everything. Still is. But then she left me suddenly with a promise. A promise that she would return soon." She wiped her tears off. "I wish I didn't meet her. My life would have been easier but then, no, my life would have made no use if she hadn't stepped into it."

Phoenix put a hand over her shoulder and pulled her closer. "What happened to her? Did she-" She paused, not knowing if asking this would be wise. "die?" The word came out in a whisper but that triggered Annette a bit.

She shook her head violently. "No. She didn't die. She lost her memory. She doesn't remember me anymore."

"Oh, that must be tougher. Having to live without your love is in itself hard. I can't even think how heart-breaking it would be to live in hope that someday your love will come back to you."

"Do you have experience?" Annette asked her. "I mean, have you ever fallen in love?"

Phoenix shook her head and looked at the ceiling. "No, love is too dangerous for me. Being tied to a mortal and caring about them is just not my thing."

Annette gave her a weak smile. "Why? Are you afraid if someone will leave you later, my highness?"

"Not exactly. I have this belief that if something is supposed to happen, it will at the right time. I don't go searching for love. If it's meant to be, it will be." Phoenix said. "If you're lucky enough, you will meet your love soon."

"I am." Annette whispered. "I mean, I meet her at times, you know. It's just that she doesn't recognise me for what I am."

"What is her name?"

Annette just shook her head in amusement. "Her name is too dangerous to be spoken out loud." Phoenix gave her a questioning look. "My love isn't a mortal."

"Oh." She stated. "Is she a god?" Annette nodded at that. "A god of what?" The pictures of the three off springs of the sun god flew through her mind.

"She is a part of the Great God Grant." Annette responded. "The most powerful of the parts and the most cunning too."

When this news feed on Phoenix's head, she jolted upright and stared at her. "But they were lost in the other earth. Which means you're immortal." She drew her fingers through her jet black hair. "What are you?"

"A part of the Luna Lord Leo." Annette said. "And the one I loved is missing. I want your help."

Phoenix tried her best to not roll her eyes. "This is the second god I encountered today. And for the question, who is your lover?"

"I can't tell her name because the names of gods must never be revealed. But then, she is a part of the Grant God, the strongest among the three off springs of the sun god." Annette said. "You are the only one who could help me. Please, my majesty."

"Is she the god of skies?" Phoenix whispered, though she knew fairly well who the strongest of the Grantinos' were. "The second off spring of the sun god?"

Annette shook her head and whimpered in the softest tone. "The third and the most powerful. The god of death herself."

"But I thought the death god is the wife of the god of living." Phoenix was confused. "Let me ask you again, what are you?"

"She wouldn't tell you a thing." A voice said from behind. "Come, let me help you out."

Phoenix turned to face someone she least expected to find in a locked prison. But she wasn't intrigued by that. What she felt was mere curiosity to unfold the murkiness.

"Darkness is the natural state of everything, living or dead. And everyone is attracted to it, the same way we are attracted to sin." The intruder said. "Leo needs Grant and Grant is missing. We are assigning you to bring them back."

Phoenix gulped. "I repeat the question I have been asking for a while now, please tell me more. Give me information and I shall help you."

"Take a seat and we talk."