“But why? Why did you have to go? You hurt her, Serena. She was never the same after that.” Her jaw clenches, and I nod, taking the blame for hurting someone dear to us both.
“It was because I hurt her that I had to go.” I sigh and rub my thumb, my stomach churning. “How much… what do you know about me?” I lift my eyes back to hers, and she shakes her head with a shrug.
“Not a lot,” she says, and her eyes harden as they roam over my face. “But I think I deserve an explanation.”
I suck in a sharp breath as my eyes move back to the moon flower and its glowing petals. “I was five when Nyx found me. I lived with my parents, both human, in a small cottage that abutted the woods. One night, there was a break-in. I don’t remember much about what happened but… all I remember is the word ‘run’ being screamed at me. So I did. I ran out of the back door and into the woods.”
Hazy image floats through my mind, threatening to pull me away. I grab a trowel from the side and run my finger along its sharp edge. “I don’t know how long I’d been running for before I collapsed in a small clearing, bathed in moonlight. I was tired and so scared.”
My goddess’s ethereal face drifts through my mind, Her eyes green beacons of hope against the night sky. “I lay there, spent of tears, hungry, and dehydrated, until the third night following the break-in. That’s when She found me, and She gave me a choice: death or life. And obviously I chose life.” I lift my hands. Professor Ariella’s eyes remain fixed on me, watching me. “But in order for Her to bring me back, She imbued some of Her primordial essence inside me… making me both human and primordial.”
I glance down at my hands as Ariella squeaks, “Y-you’re a God!?” the sound bringing a wince to my face.
And this is why I don’t tell people. At least, not everything, anyway. But the tension in my chest seems to loosen with the confession, and it’s almost like I can take my first true breath. “Not really,” I say. “I only inherited her powers. I am the Daughter of Darkness and Chaos. The heir to Her primordial throne. A child of curses.”
I am everything Nyx wanted me to be, but more. My eyes find Ariella’s, and if this was any other time, or I was speaking to someone else, I would laugh at the emotions revolving through her eyes. Fear, disbelief, awe, and back to fear.
I pick up the end of my braid and play with my hair. “For five years, I spent every waking moment with Melia; she taught me about your kind, your beliefs, and how we all fit into the natural order of the world. It was incredible. Every day was a new adventure, until…” I trail off, steadying myself.
“I was ten when… when it happened. I’d been playing in the garden, waiting for the flowers to bloom, but I was so impatient. I cursed them to grow faster. But I was still learning to control my powers. I ended up cursing not just the patch in front of me, but every plant of its species.” I clear my throat, but the blockage developing there doesn’t shift. I carry on regardless.
“I nearly destroyed an entire species and a few villages because I was impatient… impulsive… And that’s when Nyx told me I was to be sent to the Academy of the Dark to be with the other half of myself, to learn who I truly was.” The age-old anger burns through me, and I hiss when my finger slips on the trowel, creating a small cut. I watch the blood bubble up for a moment before Ariella hands me a tissue, which I clamp around my finger.
“But I knew it was because I was dangerous,” I continue. “My powers were showing, and I couldn’t control them. I cried and begged for days when She told me I had to leave, but She wouldn’t budge, saying this is what destiny had in store for me.” I roll my eyes at the bullshit excuse, my love and hate for Her swirling inside me.
“She said that She would always be there for me, and that much was true—for a little while, anyway. I spent the next ten years at the Academy of the Dark, and here I am. Twenty years old and still no closer to knowing who… or what I am.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes before Ariella gains the courage to speak again. “That…” she begins with wide eyes, the vines in her hair flicking around her body as she shakes her head. “I knew you were special to Nyx, or else She wouldn’t have asked me to come here, but I didn’t know—”
“That I’m Her daughter? Yeah, I try not to tell people that… like ever.” I laugh, and she nods, exhaling a deep breath.
“I can see why. It’s a heavy burden being chosen by a deity as all of the other students have been, but to be their literal child? To be Her legitimate heir? That’s rough. Even for full deities.” Her eyes meet mine, and I can see the questions swirling within them. “So you’re a demi-god? Well, not quite. Nyx is—”
“Primordial.” I lean back on the desk, resting my hands behind me as I stare up at the ceiling. “Born from creation itself.”
Ariella nods with wide eyes as she lets out a deep breath. “Jesus… I don’t even know what to say.” She walks toward her desk, pulling out a bottle of purple liquid emitting a soft glow, and beckons me over. “So, you’re a demi-primordial god…” she says as she unscrews the lid to the bottle and takes a deep swig before passing it to
