Divine Intervention: Of Thrones and Thorns

Chapter 5: Loris

"Loris... Loris where are you going?" Hakeem asked as he followed me while I barreled through one of the palace halls.

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"You don't belong here."

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"Why is he here?" I shouted to no one in particular.

Hakeem continued to levitate next to me, though my pace was starting to slow down a bit. "Loris, will you stop."

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"You're Pantheon is the reason my mother is dead!"

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"No! I can't..." The walls of the hallway felt like they were twisting, like I was in the center of a giant snake made from wood and stone. My balance shifted and I stumbled into a display with a pot I had filled with soil and a sapling weeks ago. It shattered on the floor and dirt went flying in all directions as I tried to keep moving forward.

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"I will never forgive you! I will never forgive your Pantheon!"

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"That's enough!" Hakeem yelled and my body was enveloped by a gold and pink aura. My muscles froze as my body stopped mid-stride. Hakeem floated towards me, his hand was outstretched, and his fingers were splayed out. Pink and gold magic glimmered from his hand as he held me in place. "Now, I'm going to let you go. And when I do, you're going to take a deep breath and calm down. Blink if you understand."

There was a moment of hesitation, but I did as he asked, I blinked twice.

"Good." He lowered his hand and the magic around me dissolved, allowing my body to move again. "Are you okay?" Hakeem asked as he floated closer to me, the cloth from his robes shifting in the air behind him.

"No Hakeem... I really don't think I am."

"And that's okay. It's okay for things to feel overwhelming. This is a big deal. I'm not going to take that away from you."

The air around me felt charged and everything weighed down on me. I fell back on the wall and slid down until I was sitting against it. "The illness, my Pantheon, my father... and now this? Is God testing me? Is he trying my faith? Why? Why is all of this happening to me?" I buried my face into my hand, the darkness of my palms was soothing in a fleeting sort of way. I felt Hakeem sit next to me and place his hand on my leg. It was grounding in a way I couldn't explain. Like he was reassuring me that I was real, and this was real, and everything that was happening was real.

"All things considered; you're holding up pretty well. When I was in that boat I decided to go on a murder spree." He smiled at me, and it was something so genuine, like the breeze on a spring morning.

"You know my whole Pantheon is still afraid of you right?" I said, lowering my hands and wincing from the sudden light.

"That means I did my job." Hakeem pursed his lips together and looked forward, there was a moment where I swore, he looked unsure, even hesitant, but then he spoke. "When my mom died, protecting me and Casteo... All I felt was anger. I'm still angry but... I don't know. I wanted to take it all out on you, I wanted to be jealous of what you and Casteo made with each other. I wanted to blame my mom's death and my city's attack on you, but I just couldn't. Because I saw your thread, the one that connected you to Isaac and it was so frayed... Frayed and tattered and loose but you held on to it."