Celestial Guardians: Uniting Dimensions (Celestial Guardians Series, #1)

Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Jamaica's POV

Nel accidentally sliced the figure's mask with his celestial blade. We all stop fighting. The figure was Damien? How of all people? How could he betray us?

The realization hit me like a knife to the chest. Damien. Of all people, Damien.

My ears rang, and my heart raced as I stared at him. His typically charming smile had transformed into something icy and calculated as he stood before us, exposing the man behind the mask.

"Damien? Is that really you?" I uttered the word so softly that no one could hear me. It was as if the floor beneath me was giving way; my knees were weak.

With a shrug, Damien pretended that this betrayal was just a minor annoyance. 

"Jamaica, try not to appear surprised. You can't have failed to notice that I'm anything but average, can you?"

Kevin stepped guardianly in front of me, wings spread wide. "So, Damien, what's this?"

"Hey, what's going on?" Nel was still in shock.

"Why did you do this, Damien?" Kevin demanded aggressively. 

The sound of Damien's laughter was so sharp and hollow that it hurt like glass splinters scraping against my flesh. 

"Oh, my goodness, Kevin. Are you still that innocent?" Jealousy was evident in his voice. 

"You're playing with us all along?" I said, crying this time. I still couldn't believe it was Damien in front of us.

"Did you really think I was sent to aid you by the Celestial Mother?" He expressed his disapproval by shaking his head. "You ought to have been more wise."

"For what reason, though?" I yelled out, my voice quivering with fury and shock. "How come you'd want to collaborate with the Destroyer? In light of all we've been through as friends."

Damien looked directly into my eyes, and for an instant, I thought I caught a glimpse of something—maybe regret? An icy determination replaced it, though, and it disappeared as fast as it had come.

With an ominous tone, he asked, "Do you genuinely believe the Destroyer is the antagonist in this narrative? No one has been telling you the truth, not even the Celestial Mother or the Guardians. Providing you with their interpretation of events. The Destroyer, though? The broader view was illuminated by him.

"Which broader perspective?" A heavenly arrow gleamed in Kevin's hand as he demanded.

Then Damien grinned. "Keep it even, Kevin. Authentic equilibrium—the kind that can only come about when the undeserving have their power. He illuminated the broader view provided to them. As it is, the Celestial Mother is content to keep things as they are. The Destroyer, though? He comes to resolve the issue."

I couldn't believe what I heard and shook my head in disbelief. 

"So you think that assisting him is the solution? Damien, the Destroyer, has ruined lives and turned students into monsters. In what ways can you defend that?"

"Sacrifices must be made," Damien said plainly as if that clarified everything. "Of all the people in Jamaica, you should know that. For the greater good, didn't you give up something?"

I didn't recognize this! I can fury raging in my heart, I yelled out. "Our goal is preserving human life, not its annihilation!"

A chill ran down my spine as Damien's grin vanished, replaced by a frozen silence. 

"You'll never understand," he proclaimed, his voice diminished and intimidating. 

Damien whipped up a dark energy surge that slammed into Kevin and sent him reeling before we could respond. As Kevin's wings fluttered like a dying flame, he crashed hard to the ground, and I screamed.

"Get Kevin!" Nel and I hurried over to his side and attempted to steady him, my hands trembling with effort.

"Hold on!" He said as he fought to stand. Kevin clenched his jaw and shook uncontrollably. 

The sound of Damien's laughter reverberated with an air of foreboding. "Well, that's true. You're not up to the task, Defenders of the Universe! What the Destroyer began must now be completed."

The sky above us grew dark and whirled with an unusual storm as he lifted both hands. Lightning bolts tore through the earth like claws as thunder roared and pounded the area surrounding us.

In my hand shook my celestial arrow, but I stood up straight and faced Damien. In an effort to find a way to stop him and reconnect with the friend I believed I knew, my mind raced.

I pleaded with Damien, my voice betraying my desperation. 

"You don't have to do this, Damien. It is still possible to change sides. You can make things right. You can help us save everyone here."

An expression lightened, and I clung to the faint hope that some part of him might be salvageable.

However, he shook his head, and his expression became more severe. "Jamaica, you are incorrect. It's past the deadline. I can no longer switch sides."

Why he can't change sides? Why?

He then released yet another surge of evil energy.

I was about to fight Damien when Nel stopped me. He seemed to understand that I couldn't fight Kevin so easily with what we had gone through as friends. 

 But it would be better to fight him rather than sacrifice the lives of the innocents. It would be better to sacrifice our friendships rather than let him destroy this world and kill everyone.

"Damien, I am going to give you another chance!" Nel tried to persuade him again, but he hardened his heart even more. 

He laughed as if we had never been friends. Maybe he was using our friendship to control us. We treated him like a friend, but he didn't feel the same way because he had been hiding from us for a long time. He had been working with the Destroyer, whom he believed would fix everything.

"I am not a fool, guardians. I knew why I chose this path; I wanted power." He hungered for power.

That explained everything, including why he just threw everything away, even our friendships. He was more than willing to sacrifice everything for the power promised by the Destroyer, and that was maybe the reason why he's powerful now. 

But with no heart? He's still nothing to us. 

"You really don't have a heart, do you?" I growled.

"Heart? That's for the weak people like you!"

That made me convinced that we can't change him anymore. He decided his own fate, and we needed to fight him for everyone's safety.

I glance at Nel and Kevin. They understood what I meant. 

"For the innocent!" We said in unison.

End of Chapter Forty-Seven