Page 36 of The Other Side

“No,” Cypress whispered. I tried to look at her, but she only stared at Tuft, her flames surging white. “Tell me this is not true, Pegasus. Tell me she did not drink it!” He didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted my body to his and cradled me away from her. Cypress’ power and my magic, tangled together, began to swirl in my stomach and make me sick. My fingers clawed my body away from him as I rolled to my hands and knees and began to gag on it, choking it back.

“You,” she growled, moving away from me. “You did this!” The ground shook as Cypress shouted at her brother. The skies became fully drenched in darkness as a thunderstorm approached, blue lightning crackling along the sky with her anger. I began to vomit, hellfire and burgundy magic pouring from my mouth onto the platform, draining me of everything.

“Pronga to, Cypress,” Ozias spoke. “There are humans present. You cannot—”

“Silence!” Her fire surged from her body as it fully surrounded her. “I do not give a damn about your precious humans!” Lightning struck throughout the crowd, causing them to scream and scatter. “Not even this one.” She glared at me with hatred, her voice altering as her darkness took over.

No. Cypress, this isn’t you.

“Cypress,” I groaned, trying to stop her, weakened by the absence of both my magic and her power, heartbroken by her words. “Please.” I tried to stand, but Tuft caught me before I could fall. Bastien grabbed his shirt with his jaw and pulled us away as we helplessly watched the two gods challenge one another.

I failed.

Cypress fumed with anger and pain as she stepped towards her brother, her storm striking the bayou, killing any who dared remain. Ozias stood his ground, clutching his fists, as if trying to restrain himself from using his power.

“I have waited far too long to take back what is rightfully mine. And now, just when it was within my grasp, you stole it from me!Again! Soul or not, I am done playing by your rules. If I must die to kill you, then so be it.” Her mouth widened and stretched in the most unnatural way as her true form began to crawl from within it, fully formed and beyond anything my nightmares could’ve imagined. We’d experienced glimpses of her true form but never the full thing. Not until now.

The giant shadow demon stood, lightning and hellfire wrapping around its limbs as her arms snapped and grew, stretching far. Sharp, menacing claws grew from her fingernails resembling an animal. Tentacle-like limbs burst from her protruding spine as her face twitched and resembled that of a devil, serpent tongue reaching from within her opened mouth. Icouldn’t help but cry as I looked upon her true form, the feeling of death dripping from it and soaking my heart. She extended her jaw wide, hundreds of sharp teeth exposing themselves as she released the most soul shattering and unnatural screech.

“Cypress,” I cried out softly.

By taking her potion, I thought I would solve everything, thinking that by removing her power from my body and dissolving our deal, it would end this madness. That somehow, I would be enough for her. But I was wrong. Instead, I broke her more, pushing her over the edge as the very monster she fought within herself clawed its way to the surface. Cypress was gone. All that remained was the infamous soul eater.

Cypress lunged towards Ozias. He stomped his foot, transforming within the blink of an eye into a living embodiment of the sun. Tuft and I flinched from the exposing brightness, shielding our eyes as we tried to watch. He resembled a marble statue, only he consisted entirely of sunlight, blazing brighter than the sun itself as flames of golden fire flickered from his body. He grabbed Cypress’ jaw, their impact creating a deafening thunder as she tried to consume him, the two grappling with one another. Cypress snarled and pushed back as she clawed into the platform, the wood breaking beneath her weight. Ozias remained firm, holding her back as he flourished a burst of light. Ozias may have been the second born, but without her soul, Cypress was weaker than him, and it was showing.

Cypress ripped her mouth from him, her tongue wrapping around his body like a snake, squeezing him tight as he grunted, trying to wiggle free. His light burned her darkness, smoke seething from her tongue as she screeched, determined to not let go.

“You cannot defeat me, sister. Without your soul, you are bound to lose. Tanpri! End this madness!” he screamed, his lightpeeking through her shadows as she continued to let it burn her, too stubborn to release him.

“Never!” she hissed, struggling to hold him still. “I cannot lose again! The heavens are mine.Mine! You have taken everything from me, betrayed me the moment you breathed your first breath. I cannot live like this anymore! I—” Cypress screamed, her tongue ripped apart from his fire as Ozias wriggled free. She fell to her knees, her many arms holding her weight from crushing into the earth as she panted, eyeing her brother with a seething hatred. “I would rather die than see you on my throne another moment!” Before she could strike, Ozias waved his hand as sunlight broke through the clouds. The immense light bore down on her and burned her true form, slicing through her shadows like they were simple smoke. She screamed in pain, unnatural sounds filling the night as light surged from the clouds, tunneling into her. It burned away her monstrous skin, leaving nothing but her ethereal form, curled up like a fearful child. Cypress shook and shivered from the exposure to the sun as she stared up at her brother, hellfire dripping from her eyes. She was in pain, miserably tortured by his light.

“This is wrong, all wrong. The heavens are mine, Ozias. Do not make me a villain for defending my right.” The hellfire rolled down her face as Tuft and I watched, taken back by seeing her so battered and broken. “Tanpri,” she begged. “Please.”

Ozias remained in his true form, illuminating Cypress’ ashen face as he glared down at her.

“Mo chagren.” Sunlight beamed from his hand and hit her flesh as he began to torture her. She grit her teeth, fighting back her pain. “I did not make you a villain. You were born one, sister. And now, I will cleanse you of that demon and take away the evil within.” Cypress screamed, golden light filling her veins as she began to burn from the inside.

“No,” I breathed, struggling to my feet.

“Iris?” Tuft tried to stop me, but despite everything, all the pain and torture and even her own hatred, I still loved Cypress, and I refused to watch her suffer anymore.

“Stop it!” I screamed as I rushed to Ozias, shoving him over, his light evaporating as it slowly faded from Cypress’ body. “Leave her be!” He stood, his true form melting away as he returned to his ethereal form. His eyes were widened in disbelief, staring at me.

“Don’t you see? That soul eater isn’t Cypress! That devil you witnessed is the monster you birthed from your own hatred, from all the lies and perceptions you cast into the world! Cypress isn’t the villain here. You think she is a monster, but the real villain isyou!” I pointed at him, weak and trembling. “You think because you are a god, you can do no wrong, but you have doneeverythingwrong. You do not deserve to rule the heavens!” I spat at his feet. “I may be weak and merely human but I will not let you harm her. If you want to kill her, you have to kill me first.” My chest heaved with exhaustion and anger, seething as I watched him step closer. “Go on. Do it! Smite me, Ozias, oh mighty god of the heavens! Show everyone the real you, the god who stole a kingdom and damned his sister to a cave because he knew, deep down, he was too weak to face her.”

Ozias tilted his head in absolute wrath, golden electricity sparking from his body.

“Iris,” Cypress moaned. I turned to face her, tears burning my eyes as she watched me, taken back by my boldness. “Don’t—don’t do this.” She clutched her chest, suffering from the effects of her brother’s power.

“I may mean nothing to you, but you mean everything to me. You have stolen my heart, even if you don't want it, but that’s okay. Because what I felt with you was real. All of it. And if my love for you is the reason I die, so be it.” Her eyes glistened as shestared, baffled by my declaration. “I may be human, but I love you, Cypress.”

“Iris.” Her face softened. “I—I—” Cypress’ eyes bolted past me, widening as her face twisted at something behind me. “No!” She stretched her arm out, reaching for me as she shouted.

I swung around to see Ozias lunging at me, a bolt tight within his grasp. He raised the lightning like a knife, intending to place it straight through my heart. Time halted, the whole thing transpiring in slow motion as I stared up at the white light, nearing closer. My time had come.

“Cypress,” I breathed, closing my eyes as I awaited my fate.

Thunder boomed, time snapping back to normal as something wrapped tightly around my waist and snatched my body backwards. I landed on the platform with a heavy thud, rolling as my body groaned from the sharp impact.

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