THE SAINTS HAVE FALLEN: CHAPTER 29 (Part 2)

The Saints Have Fallen is a YA Dark Romance Fantasy Novel written by Celine Mahadeo.

Novel. Fiction. Genre (Dark Romance Fantasy).

By Celine Mahadeo.

BLURB

After being stripped of his title as a God and turned into a demon in the presence of his brother, Yuri was banished to earth to live amongst the humans whom he hates. 200 years later, a young girl shows up at his doorstep holding both his life and death in her hands whilst not having any idea of the power in which she possesses.

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Chapter 29 (Part 2)

Ana.

“It’s cute how you sneak looks at him and think no one notices,” Claude let out a soft laugh, breaking me away from my thought.  

“You shouldn’t leave,” I said suddenly.

He arched an eyebrow at me as I continued, “If it really bothers you that he abandoned you then you should tell him that. Friendship is healthier with communication.”

“What are you? My therapist?”

“What did you do after he was banished?” I asked, brushing away his question.

“Specifically after?” he tilted his head trying to remember, “I don’t know. There was a long period of time after he was banished and turned when we finally met. When we did, we killed. A lot. It’s where he truly got his title. Demon-God. He hated it but I thought it was pretty amazing how so many feared him. Then we met Roseil and things got even crazier from there, the killing spree through the hells I meant. It was like we were invincible, the three of us.”

“Who’s Roseil?” I asked. He mentioned her earlier. It was the one who chopped his toe off if I recall correctly.

He frowned, “Someone you should probably stay away from. She’s a demoness, a warrior.”

“If she chopped your toe off, she can’t be that bad.” I teased.

Claude shifted and propped himself by the elbow up, deepening his frown, “I’m serious, little dove. She isn’t your friend.” He looked over to the window where Yuri was, parted his lips as if he wanted to say something but shut it back instantaneously when his eyes fell back to me.

“Tell me about the hells.”

His lips twitched, surprised by my question, and sat up in amusement.

“Grandpa only told me stories, but I never understood the Worlds between the Gods and Demons. I always thought there was only one hell and one highland.”

“You’re not wrong about the Highland. There’s only one. The Gods preferred not to divide it due to unequal power, so they kept it as one. It’s ironic how they call us demons the less civilized when they cannot even make collective decisions.” His eyes scanned towards my bag, “It’s better if I sketch it so you can understand the hells.”

Before he could rummage through my bag and observe the book, I quickly pulled out a pen and a folded piece of paper stuck in one of the pockets. “Here,” I said, eager to learn about what he was about to say.

Claude sketched quickly and pointed as he explained. “This is the Highland,” he said as he tapped the pen on the top of the sketch where he wrote the word HIGHLAND in bold and framed it in a square. Below it was a circle with the word earth written within and many other circles to its left and right. Other planets, he explained. At the bottom of the collection of planets, he called the Otherworld. Yuri had explained to me what the otherworld was, but Claude briefly explained it to be the transitional place between the Highland and the Hells, the place where souls pass through. I studied the shape of the Otherworld, a U-shaped, hugging around all the planets and just stopping at the Highland.

“And these are the fifty hells, each governed by a senator,” he pointed to the fifty dots he made just below the Otherworld. Five rows of ten dots each. Each dot, a different hell. If he hadn’t explained with a sketch I would have probably been confused, “The five rows, as you see, are also called the Five Line Territories. Each line territory is ruled by a King. So, five Demon Kings. Yuri killed a senator and army of Sinderians, along with one of the King’s sons serving under the Sinderians’ residence, that’s what led to his banishment. Why the Gods were so pissed off.”

“He killed an army… by himself?” I blinked.

Claude smiled. “Yes, and that’s why you shouldn’t test him so much. Although, I must admit I enjoy it when you do. No one has the nerve.” His eyes fell back on the paper, “It’s a good thing he hadn’t killed the King himself.”

“Why’s that?”

“When you kill a King, you become the territory’s King.

“I’m surprised you didn’t attempt to.

He chuckled, “I’m not stupid. I like power, not responsibility attached. Besides, I’d be a terrible King.”

“Because you’ll want to kill everyone?”

“Precisely.” His dark eyes sparkled a bit as I said that. “You’re beginning to understand me well, little dove.”

“What’s this?” I asked, noticing the line of x’s just below the fifty hells. He raised his eyebrows and grinned, “The gateway to the deepest hell, where there are creatures, demons, and monsters beyond anything you could ever imagine.”

“The deepest hell,” I muttered to myself feeling an odd sort of familiarity.

“Don’t worry, it’s only a myth.”

“Tell me.”

He knitted his eyebrows and studied me, “You sure are a curious thing. Don’t you know it’s taboo to even talk about?”

“I want to know.” A sudden urgency arose within me.

He smiled, “You’re lucky I’m no Saint. Hundreds of thousands of years ago there was only one Hell ruled by the God of Death. He hungered for souls, whether good or bad it didn’t matter because every soul gave him power, made him stronger, more invincible. He was growing too powerful and even the now Kings of Hells were afraid of him. There was a great divide between the God and the Kings of the lands they ruled. Initially, it was the God who created the fifty hells. If you look at it carefully,” he said pointing at the fifty dots on the paper, “It looks like an army, doesn’t it?

Claude was right, it did. An army protecting its God.

“Well, that’s exactly what it was, as the myth goes of course,” he continued, “The fifty hells guarded the gate to the Kingdom of the Deepest Hell where its infamous God resided. And it was planning an attack and War on the Highland. If he killed the Gods and conquered the Highland, well, that would have been mighty deadly even for me.”

I tried processing all this information. It was a lot all at once. “I had no idea the God of Death was this-”

“Not him,” Claude corrected, “You humans tend to confuse the God of Death with the God of Transmission, Icarus. All he does is guide souls after death to their intended Hell or to the Highland. There is no living God of Death right now. Icarus just likes the title many confuse him with. He’s an imbecile if you ask me.”

“So what happened to the real God of Death then?”

“The Kings turned on him, betrayed him, and sought help from the Gods. They combined both dark and light magic to create a spell to seal the gate of the deepest hell, turning all that remained inside to a deadly slumber.”

My stomach twisted. Claude noticed my discomfort and stopped, “Like I said little dove, it’s only a myth. Told to little demon children so they won’t wander off on their own.”

After leaving Claude, I cozied myself in a little area in the garden away from everyone’s view. I tried to push the story away. Whether it was a myth or not, it was the past and this is the present. I needed to focus on the situation right now. I needed to take the leap and be brave. If Yuri could have taken down an entire army by himself, I can more than write on the page of a magic book that’s supposed to help me. As I opened the book, I noticed the previous pages I touched had all been burnt. I flipped to the next empty page and began writing.

Why did my grandfather send me here? Take me to the truth.

I wasn’t sure what else to write to be quite honest, so I kept it as simple as possible. Pushing the book aside, I waited. For a couple of minutes, nothing happened. Then, the pages slowly began flipping as if it was being blown by the wind. Where I sat, however, was away from the harsh wind. I stared at the book before me when the page I wrote upon began tearing itself out of the book. My eyes widened as the page slowly drifted in the air before me, almost as if it was inviting me to follow. Quickly stuffing the book back into my bag, I followed.

Through the garden, and into the house it went. I blinked as it traveled up the staircase as if knowing exactly where to go. My red satin midi skirt danced around my calves as I ran up the stairs. The paper glided into the library when it planted itself into Yuri’s chest and fell at his feet.

“What is this?” He asked, annoyed. I studied the surrounding where he seemed to have been researching something. Before he could have reached for the paper, I darted to the floor, grabbing it myself. My knees ached from the abrupt impact.

“It’s nothing,” I said firmly, clutching and crumbling the paper into the fist of my hand.

A strong hand clasped onto my wrist as I stood and raised it between us. I tried walking back but my back hit the wall where he caged me in with his other hand. “Where did you get this?” he asked icily.

At first, I thought he was asking about the paper, but his gaze burned onto the bandage around my hand. The nearness of him eerily reminded me of that dream I had. The way he held me close to him. That strange longing I had to fall into his embrace. But that wasn’t real, that was a dream. And the reality was that he hated me just as much as I couldn’t stand him. Why did the paper bring me here? Had Yuri known the truth? No, it wasn’t possible, and it didn’t make sense. If he knew he wouldn’t have threatened me as he did yesterday.

“It’s nothing,” I tried pulling away, but he held on.

“Had I hurt you?” His eyes snapped onto mine and something shifted in me, in my stomach. I shouldn’t feel like this. Not for him. Not after what he did yesterday.

“N-no. You didn’t. I’m fine.”

His expression was unreadable, but his gaze bore into mine. Time faltered at the moment, and there was nothing but us. I could do nothing but clutch onto the empty words between us, strawing for something -anything- more to understand what was happening between us. He parted his lips, about to speak but his voice was replaced by a scorching scream downstairs.

I snapped out of the trance as the women shouted again.

Demon-God!

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