Page 19 of Revenge of the Forgotten

Arlet’s face was so warm, her eyes had a way of looking right into Vega’s soul. Arlet smiled at her, eyes going distant while the world of Tolevarre came into focus.

“There are twelve territories. One for each original god.”

Vega twirled her hair with one hand, the other gripping the paper cup like it would jump out of her hand if she didn’t hold on with dear life. Her lips parted with a breath, ready to ask a question.

“Hold the questions for the end. I’ve done this speech a few times and can usually answer all of the questions you’re about to ask.”

Vega nodded, urging her to go on as she pulled herself up on the desk, legs swinging back and forth like a child on a too-tall chair. She was already mesmerized, and Arlet hadn’t even started yet.

“How much do you know about the Roman gods this time around?”

Vega shrugged. “As much as anyone else knows about Roman mythology. That no one likes it as much as Greek mythology.”

Arlet didn’t hide her laugh, shaking her head as she shifted, pulling her legs underneath her. “What if I told you the gods were real?”

“Were?”

“Were. The tales have been misinterpreted here, but to this realm, they aren’t real. To ours, it’s the reason we exist. Remus and Romulus were sons of Mars, and like the silly men they were, they couldn’t agree on where to put the Roman capital. Tragic, yes. How will they ever decide?” Arlet feigned worry, placing her hand over her heart. “Naturally, the answer was to kill the person who disagreed with you. Romulus plotted to kill Remus, but Remus found out. He knew he couldn’t stop his death from happening, but what he could do was be one step ahead of his brother.”

Vega sipped her wine, listening with intent like it was story time at the local library.

“Remus found a way to curse the gods when Romulus killed him, linking his life to theirs. When he died, they all died. Their powers had to go somewhere, and they ended up inside the mortals of Rome. Before the power completely dispersed itself, it created our realm, Tolevarre, a place where people like us can exist without worry.” The fairytale continued. “It’s been thousands of years since the beginning of our kind. We have powers as small as shifters who take the form of a bird, to a select few who can do things like control storms, manipulate what you see, turn into a dragon, or kill you with nothing but the air around you.”

Vega shivered as the squall over Lake Michigan roared outside the motel window. “So who are we in the grand scheme of things?”

As if Arlet knew that question was coming, she smiled. “We’re descendants of the original bloodlines. Our parents ruled the Curia. Our old government, remember?”

Vega nodded, recalling what she’d been told this morning.

Arlet kept going. “Their parents, aunts, uncles, so on and so forth, ruled before that. It’s kind of like our version of royalty. The more power you have, the higher you rank in society.”

Vega squinted. “Sounds kinda like here.”

Without missing a beat, Arlet continued, “Not everyone believes that. There are plenty of us who are fighting against that ideology. But…” There was a slight pause. “No matter how strong someone might be, sometimes they still want more. Marlena wasn’t the first to try and overthrow the Curia, just the first to succeed.”

Vega didn’t know what it was like to have a family, and it seemed she didn’t have one to go back to either. “What happened to her?” That was Vega’s luck—finding out she had a sister, something she’d always wished for, but she turned out to be evil.

Arlet shrugged her shoulders. The oversized sweater she wore engulfed her small frame. Her throat bobbed when she swallowed. “She was jealous.”

“Of?”

“You.”

Vega cocked her head. “Why?” She twirled the new ring on her finger aimlessly. Arlet watched her do it.

“Because you got to live carefree, go and do as you pleased. She’s the oldest, the one who was destined to take over your parents’ Curia seats. Both of your parents held seats from different families, and your sister was going to be the first to hold two. She’s a conundrum because she was born with both of your parents’ powers. Your father was Aeris-born, his power descending directly from Jupiter. He controlled the wind. Your mother was Amora-born, a descendant of Venus. Her power was invisibility. There aren’t many people who get two powers, but Marlena got both.”

Vega tried hard to control the look on her face, the one broadcasting her hesitancy like a billboard on a busy highway. “And somehow she was jealous of me?” Vega scoffed.

“She’s not the only one who got two powers. You did too, and yours outshone hers. You somehow didn’t get an ability from either of your parents. You got the control of lightning, a power our people haven’t heard of in hundreds of years. And even before that, lightning wielders were rare. Later on, everyone thought you got your dad’s wind too, just like Marlena, but it wasn’t just that. You can control the weather—create it. There’s never been a power like yours. But it wasn’t just your powers. You got to have fun, grow up, live a normal life, and make most of your own decisions. She had structure, day in and day out. Her free time was few and far between. Your parents weren’t as innocent as they made themselves seem, but they didn’t deserve what she did to them.”

Vega put the wine down, her palms starting to sweat. “What happened to them?”

Arlet averted her gaze. She was stalling—a bad sign.

She didn’t wait for Arlet to speak, beating her to the punch. “She killed them, didn’t she?”

Arlet looked up apologetically. “Yes.” The word was a whisper.

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