Page 31 of The Other Side

“To spread the word that the great witch of the bayou, Iris-Marie, will be summoning the goddess of death all by herself!”

And end this fucking nightmare.

Chapter

Fifteen

TUFT

“Tonight only! Bayou witch to summon the goddess of death! Come see the infamous Iris-Marie as she conjurors the keeper of souls herself! Yes, that’s right, the goddess you all know and fear: Cypress, the soul eater!” I shouted. I had spent hours handing out colorful flyers to the inhabitants of this measly bayou town as they passed Iris’ shop. “Feast your eyes upon the soul eater of this world! Tonight only!”

The shop bell rang as Iris stepped into the street, watching Bastien and myself proclaim our plan. The beastly alligator had a stack of flyers in his mouth, hissing at those who refused to take one. They would jump and screech at him, reluctantly taking one from his teeth before rushing away. It was entertaining to watch, especially since I knew he was mostly all bark and no bite. Mostly.

“I really wish you wouldn’t call her that,” Iris huffed as she crossed her arms.

“What? A soul eater?” I made a face, handing a flyer to a small child who rushed to show his parents. “Isn’t that what she is?” Iris frowned.

Things between us had been different since her return, but despite our differences of opinions, I was determined to do all I could to help gain our freedom.

“Look, sparing Cypress’ feelings isn’t exactly my priority right now. Our plan is. And before you say it, I’m not saying these things to upset you either. You humans know her as a heartless soul eater, you said so yourself. What better way to lure everyone to the bayou than to use that version of her from the stories you all hear as children. That fear and curiosity is exactly what we need to draw everyone out, including Ozias himself.” Iris exhaled at my words, knowing I was right.

“You’re right,” she sighed. “I just—”

“It’s fine. Once you summon Cypress and expose her to everyone, how do you plan to get Ozias to drink her potion?” She adjusted her grip on her walking stick, tracing the smooth surface of the hellfire crystal.

“I’d be lying if I said I had it all figured out.” Iris pinched the skin between her eyes.

“Iris,” I groaned as I dropped my arms. “You are performing for the entire towntonight, summoning the god of death, and yet you don’t even know how you’re going to get Ozias to drink the potion?” Fuck me.

“I have ideas, okay! I just…I just need a moment to think!”

“Well, the clock is ticking, witch! It’s all happening tonight! We don’t have time for you to decide things on a whim! Ugh! Just go and do whatever you must to figure this out. And remember, if this plan fails, both our souls will end up in the Abyss. I’ve spent far too many years trapped in the Underworld. I’ll be damned if my soul resides there for eternity.”

“You don’t need to remind me.” Iris flared her nostrils, muttering something else under her breath as she snatched the shop door open and rushed inside. I knew she was trying herbest, but after seeing her with Cypress, something felt different about her, and that uncertainty scared the shit out of me.

Bastien grumbled, dropping a few flyers as he glared up at me.

“Relax. She’s fine. We’re fine. And soon, one way or another, this will be over for all of us. Now, stop dropping flyers! Humans have destroyed this world enough. We don’t need to litter it with paper.” The alligator rolled his eyes, snapping his jaw as he secured his grip on the stack. I watched him, eyeing the passersby, pitying how he ended up here.

“Do you miss it?” I asked him. The beast simply grunted in response. “Way to stay brave. Just think, if Iris succeeds, weallget to go home.”

IRIS-MARIE

“Where is it? Where is it?” My eyes frantically scanned the cabinets beneath the shop counter, searching for the very thing I knew I couldn’t lose yet somehow did. “Fuck!” My body twisted and turned as I moved throughout the shop and examined every shelf and cabinet, knocking over displays and destroying the shelves in a frantic desperation. “Where the hell is it?” My heart raced as my brain ached, trying to scrape through my memory to recall where I had left it. “Where is that fucking vial? I just had it, and now it’s gone! Vanished!”

Fuck, fuck, fuck!As if I wasn’t stressed enough, now this happens.Tuft is going to kill me.

An odd, golden light that resembled sunlight began to glow beneath the floorboards of the shop. I wasn’t sure what was stranger: seeing light glow from beneath the wood, or thefact that it was so bright. I bent to my knees and placed my hands against the floor as I leaned close, peering through the highlighted cracks. The near white beam seared my irises, causing me to pull back and flinch, grabbing my eye as I groaned in pain.

“What the—”

The floor snapped as my body dropped with it, falling into an endless hole of sunshine and golden light. I tried to cover my eyes, but it was no use. The light only grew with my screams the further I fell. Despite falling down in the direction of the earth, I somehow ended up in the sky high above it. Clouds began to appear and form, one of which caught me as I bounced about like a rag doll. My heart was pounding with absolute shock and petrified fear, unable to move. Before I could even process what the hell happened—or even blink—a familiar voice greeted me.

“Bonjour, Iris-Marie.”

I whirled around the cloud to find myself not only seated in the sky, but in what I could only assume was the very heavens Cypress longed to return to. It was as if a grand and elaborate city of gold rested on a blanket of clouds and sparkled in the sunlight as celestials of every shape and color fluttered about. Every surface of the kingdom glistened in platinum and gold, the sky painted in warm and vibrant tones of bliss. For a moment, it took my breath away.

“Pronga to mon cher. These clouds are not made to hold humans.” I glanced over to see Ozias, sitting on his own golden throne perched from another cloud. Only, he did not appear as his mortal self like he did before in my shop. He was much more built, his dark skin plastered in golden flakes and jewelry. His eyes burned like the sun, his entire appearance only heightened and somehow even more beautiful than before. He had this eternal glow that emanated from his body as glistening sunlightsparkled around him like glitter falling from the sky. He smiled, warmth dripping from his godly essence as he spoke.

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