The God & The Shadow

Chapter 53

PERSEPHONE

Demeter was already on the other side waiting for Persephone when she stepped out of the portal with Brie and Azura in tow.

The goddess was wearing an extravagant green dress, somewhat far grander than Persephone's own wedding gown, with blossoming flowers at the bottom.

Persephone glanced away to avoid the taunting of the flowers, only for it to be replaced with a worse fate.

The entirety of the realm looked dead, to say the least. It was the least visited place after the Dark Angel King's death, now home to the infamous rebel angels.

What once was a prosperous kingdom now stood as a dark and barren nightmare. Houses stacked on top of each other perilously, their materials slowly deteriorating.

The tall withered trees scattered around looked like something Persephone could have caused, but they weren't. Everything looked like she'd laid siege to the entire kingdom with her powers, but she hadn't even set foot in this place before she had now.

She turned again, and behind her stood the largest and grandest building in the Twelfth Realm, The Cathedral.

It looked everything the town it was encompassed in wasn't. Regal, clean, and new. Looming behind it were a few buildings that turned blurry from a great distance, but are easily discernible with its unique structures and large buildings.

Mansions littered the faraway lands, no doubt homes to the rich and prestigious angels that didn't care about the town just below them. The people that could've actually done something instead of waiting around for a prophecy like her.

Demeter snapped her fingers, stealing her daughter's attention, and smiled as she secured the satin gloves Persephone already had on and handed her the bouquet of flowers.

Before they'd left, Brie had handed her a bag. At first, she thought it was another gift, but was confused when she saw gloves instead.

"Demeter wants you to hold the flowers she'd made for you without you... you know." The witch had explained with disagreement in her eyes.

For the life of her, she didn't know why Brie was around in the first place. Sure, Azura stayed to ensure the prophecy was fulfilled, Nixon to wed her, but Brie? She didn't know anything except the fact that her mother held some heavy power over the witch for her to obey her orders no matter what.

And the pieces of satin were just the testament to that.

"You look beautiful, my dear." Demeter reached out and stroked Persephone's cheek, her mother's touch cold.

She felt a chill in her spine and tried masking it with a smile. "When does the ceremony begin?"

"Now."

"Now?" Persephone sputtered.

She thought that she would probably get some time alone to prepare herself, enforce some kind of reassurance in her head to go through this without any regrets.

But how could she continue when her mind was all over the place? She still had doubts, reasonable ones, and it felt wrong to carry them with her. It felt as if they'd be permanent if they weren't going to fade away any time soon.