Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
“I could tell things were a little different, yes. But I did not know why.” I didn’t know what all of this had to do with the current situation, but I still had to listen to what they were saying.
“There is still one more gift that we can offer you, Riviana. One more thing aside from blessings that will allow your friend to live.” Nehalennia was crouching now, almost kneeling before me so that she could look me directly in the eyes.
“What? What can be done? Please, I don’t want to lose my family.” There was hope and heartache both filling my voice.
“We can give our children all an equal share of immortality.” She added as she looked at me.
“The Magic users.” Thoth knelt next to her now, looking at me with his hand extended toward me.
“The Fae.” Danu knelt on her other side, her hand extended and laying on top of Thoth’s.
“And the shifters.” Nehallenia put her hand on top of Danu’s.
“How? What will this mean?” I asked them, confused and uncertain.
“They will all be immortal. They will all live lives like the Fae have experienced. They will cease to age normally when they reach adulthood, and they will stop aging altogether when they hit a certain point. Their lives will be eternal, just like that of the vampires and the Fae.” Thoth was the one to start the explanation.
“This may be a burden on some of your people, and they may not want it, but it is not something that can be taken away without them ending their lives.” Danu added.
“You need to make this decision here and now, Riviana. Make this decision for your people and we will save your friend.” Nehalennia spoke forcefully for the first time since she had arrived here.
“What else will happen?” I knew that they hadn’t spoken the complete truth to me. There was more to it. There had to be.
“We three will cease to exist.”
“WHAT?” I couldn’t believe what Nehalennia had just said to me. “How? Why? That can’t be.”
“We will not be truly gone. We will reside inside of you, Riviana. You will take our place. You are part of all three of us. You are a child born from all three of us. You are the one being that can, and has, united all of our people.” She tried to sooth me, but I was still reeling. I didn’t understand any of this.
“Will you accept our offer, Riviana? Will you take on the role as the new Goddess?” Thoth asked me, his voice firm.
“Will you lead and protect our people?” Danu’s voice was firm now as well.
“You will no longer be the human extension of me, Riviana. You will now be a true Goddess. You will have the power to do what we can do. You will just need to learn to navigate that path on your own.”
“I..I..I’ll do it.” I hesitated just a little bit. However, in the end I knew that I would do it anyway. I knew that I would take their offer and protect Vincent, even if it meant changing my entire life again.
“Then take our hands. Place one of your palms against my palm, and the other on the back of Thoth’s hand.. Grasp our hands at the same time and take our power.”
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Riviana
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Hesitantly, I did as I was told to do. I took my hands off of Vincent for the first time since I had taken his hand in my own. I released him and reached toward the hands of the three celestial beings that were extended toward me.
The moment that I took their hands and held them between the both of mine I felt an immense surge of power. The lights that had previously radiated from each of the three Gods were back, and they were growing more intense than they had been before.
The clearing was instantly filled with a bright, intense light that I knew would be blinding to anyone looking directly at it. I was thankful at that moment that time was currently frozen. I didn’t want this to harm anyone that was around me.
As that light blazed on, I saw that the three beings before me started to fade. Their eyes looked serene and calm as they smiled at me. They weren’t worried about the fact that they were disappearing. They weren’t concerned by the fact that they would never again see another day.
They were willingly giving their lives, their essence to me. They were making me stronger. They were making me more powerful. They were making those that I loved and cared about stronger. They were giving new life to those that were possibly at the end of theirs. And they were doing all of this because I had asked them for help.
Why? Why would they do this for me? Why would they give up their lives for a selfish request of mine? I needed to know.
“Wait! Before you leave, please tell me why? Why did you do this? Why give me your power? Why end your lives?”
“We are not ending our lives, Riviana. We will live on as the power inside of you.” Danu spoke first.
“We have seen many millennia. And these years away from our loved ones have been hard on us.” Thoth nearly sounded like he was crying when he spoke next.
“With this decision, we will be with you every step of the way. If you ever need to call upon the knowledge that we possess, it will be inside of you, Riviana. Our memories, our wisdom, none of them will be gone from this life. We are simply passing them onto you.” Nehalennia was giving me a bittersweet smile. “We have all been looking for a worthy candidate to pass our essence onto. We have all been longing for a new way to interact with this realm. The three of us have found that person in you.”
“Does that mean there are others? Other celestial beings that want to return to this world?” Their words confused me for a moment. I wasn’t sure what it was that was starting to run through my mind, perhaps it wasn’t even my thoughts but theirs.
“Yes, Riviana. There are many more. Maybe you can find the worthy candidates for them. Maybe you can help them to return to this world. Maybe you can help them be reborn like we are.” Nehalennia smiled at me and leaned forward.
I felt her lips press against my forehead. She was barely there, nothing more than a shadow image inside the light that was her power. The others leaned forward as well. They each leaned in and kissed me on the cheek in the same manner that Nehalennia had.
I felt them there, the phantom touch of their lips pressing firm but ever so softly against my face. The feeling of that, the sensation of being loved and trusted by them completely, it made me cry. Only three tears. That was all that my body shed. One for each of them.
With the first tear, Danu disappeared. She had been the one that I had most recently met and who was the first to call me family. With the second tear, Thoth disappeared. He had been kind to me from day one and welcomed me as his Queen instantly. And finally, with the third tear, Nehalennia disappeared. She was the first to help me, the first to guide me, and the first to accept me. For years now, she had been close to my heart. She had been the one that I had felt the closest to.
