Divine Warriors - Irene the Matron

Scene 14: A Meeting That Decides the Future (POV: Irene + Esmund)

I paused in front of the heavy grand door, trying to anticipate what would be coming next.

Who would be there. Who would not?

The door handle shook, then slowly turned open.

I edged back, eyes wary.

Two magnificent green eyes met mine, full of love, longing, and something more.

"Irene?..." Enki started.

The sight of him sent a jolt through my heart.

It was so long ago, that we had first arrived at Scaleswind, and we had been together, peacefully, happily.

Fear gripped at my heart and my mind blanked of emotion.

Did Enki die, the same way Menphia did?

I imagined Menphia's broken face, in so much pain. Why must I lose the people I love?

Why must they die?!

And just like that, so many years worth of controlling the emptiness was lost.

But I still pretended everything was alright.

Because it was alright, I told myself.

Inside the room

All the Divine Warriors surrounded me with wondrous and delightful gazes, yet I felt stoned beneath them.

Did they know where I was for the past... how many years?

I expected fear to overtake me while I waited for them to speak, but instead my mind felt blank.

Did they even care about me at all, or are just happy to see me fulfil the duties I had abandoned for so long.

Nothing will ever be the same again.

"You are back Irene... finally," Esmund gazed up at me, his eyes curved in a downwards way.

Fake. Fake.

But I would pretend to embrace it.

That's what my world was now, just a lie.

Hyria, Shad, where are you?

And why did you leave me too?

But I ignored all my feelings, as I told my story to them, and theirs to me.

Ten Days Later (POV: Esmund)

I looked around at the Divine Warriors. Everyone was here... besides one person, Shad.

Nodding slightly to myself, I stood up and started.

"Warriors, last time we met, we discussed Lady Irene's loss in emotion, and decided we must do something abou-" before I could finish, Enki put a hand up and stopped me.

"Wait... why is Shad not here?"

I stared at him, contempt filling my mind for some reason, which I quickly pushed away.

"I am about to get to that," I said simply instead.

Enki looked at me with his narrow green eyes, then sat down hesitantly.

"As I was saying, we must do something to prevent Lady Irene from losing more of her emotion." I took a glance at Irene, but she was avoiding eye contact with me.

I continued, "And I believe that Shad... is the reason for her dissipating emotion."

As I said that, immediately Menphia and Kul'zak stood up with fire in their eyes.

"What do you mean," Menphia's sharp voice demanded an answer.

"Hear me out," I said calmly. I wasn't about to lose my battle. This would save both me and Irene...

"Shad, a destructor of worlds. Bringer of chaos. Irene, a goddess, a healer, someone who brings the good out of people, and always supports the righteous side."

Kul'zak spoke up, "So you are accusing Shad, a fellow Divine Warrior, of being the one to tear Irene's emotion apart?"

I stood my ground defiantly, "Yes. Do you really think two people of such opposite behaviors should be in the same world together?"

A voice spoke up. "Shad is tearing Irene apart. She needs to be the good for the world, but Shad is slowly turning her, the more time they spend together, and she is resisting."

I turned, surprised Enki had stood up for me. I wondered if there was some trick he was trying to pull off.

His eyes revealed nothing.

Menphia protested, "No, he is one of us. Irene trusts him, don't you Irene?"

We turned to face Irene, who was still looking at the ground.

Finally she whispered, "If Shad was the problem, what would we do?"

Menphia and Kul'zak seemed shocked that she said this, and stepped back. Enki still held a firm face, expressing no emotions.

I decided it was time to reveal my plan.

"Lady Irene, you can create realms... dimensions, right?"

All faces turned towards me, and I felt a sliver of cold down my back. Where would my idea lead to in the future?

"You want me to trap Shad in a separate dimension..." Irene said calmly.

No one said a word. We all waited for her decision.

She looked up finally, her eyes blank and voidly. "I can do that, for the world, and for us."

My heart thumped once as she said that. Even if she couldn't return my emotions right now, she will be able to in the future.

Once Shad was gone from this world.