Chapter 59: The key
The throne room remained silent after Poseidon’s words.
Liliana slowly made her way to the edge of the dark pool, wincing as she put pressure on her injured side. The Oracle, who had stood silently by her side the entire time, didn’t need to be told he could go now.
Poseidon watched her from his throne, watched both of them.
"Mortal Oracles of Olympus foresaw three versions of things to come," he said.
Athena’s face remained fixed as if she knew everything, and Hermes stopped pacing back and forth, his eyes wide, listening to his uncle.
Even Ares, the only other person to have actually listened to Poseidon throughout the entire conversation, was seated with his eyes fixed intently upon the sea god.
Liliana narrowed her eyes. "Three?"
Poseidon slowly began to explain, "Yes. Three lines of fate, three endings of the same moment, three ends of the war against the First Refusal."
The surface of the pool changed, swirling as if swept by an invisible hand.
"In the first, Amon fights alone," Poseidon continued as he waved his hand and the surface of the pool changed.
Liliana’s fingers gripped her sleeve at the edge of her pant leg.
A battlefield appeared in the water.
Golden-lit hair moved wildly as the golden-eyed man with blood-stained clothing stood in the midst of total devastation.
Huge cracks in the torn and bleeding sky above revealed dark and dreadful spaces far beyond the end of the earth.
Something stood opposite him. Something the vision refused to show clearly.
"Is that really Master?" Liliana whispered.
In the midst of destruction, he was smiling. Not the happy kind. Then he disappeared beneath a wave of black.
And then golden light erupted, taking the whole of the First Refusal’s darkness inch by inch until he was vanquished entirely.
Liliana’s breathing stopped.
The vision vanished, and the water came back to normal once more.
"In that future, the First Refusal is stopped," Poseidon declared.
Liliana looked at him. "And Amon?"
Poseidon didn’t answer immediately. The silence was enough.
Her jaw tightened.
"He dies," she whispered.
The Oracle looked down, a part of him already knowing the possibility. Liliana’s eyes remained fixed on Poseidon.
"You...you said there were three. Tell me, show us the other two."
"There are."
The dark water moved again.
Olympus stood against the background of a golden-skied world. The gods of Olympus stood side by side with the forgotten god Amon.
There was Athena, her hair and armor spattered with blood, waging war against an army of abominable creatures.
On the other side of the battle, stood the red-finned, crimson-irised fish of the deep, their scales glistening in the bright light, as Poseidon used the waves to do battle with the forces of corruption.
For a moment, it looked victorious. Then the vision changed.
The Second World was gone. There was no mountain. No more villages. No more sky.
Nothing.
There was nothing, only a huge black void where the world had once existed.
"...the second future saves creation, but not the world you are standing in," said Poseidon as the Third and First Worlds began to fade away.
Liliana stared at the empty water.
"And the third?"
Poseidon looked directly at her.
His expression changed. For the first time since she had entered Olympus, Poseidon displayed something like pity when he looked at Liliana.
"Actually, the third future is the only future in which the Second World survives."
Liliana stepped closer.
"Tell me. What happens? All I want is his survival."
Poseidon raised one hand. The water showed her a mountain. Then a battlefield.
Then three figures. Amon stood in the center. Liliana stood beside him. And behind them was another figure, the Second Incarnation, a dream Liliana and the Oracle shared.
Amon was standing with large wounds on his body. In front of him, Liliana was standing with her darkness having formed arms around her.
However, they were no longer consuming her. Her arms were straight and still. Behind the two of them stood the Second Incarnation of Amon. He was holding out one hand towards the cracks in reality.
Together, they faced the First Refusal. The vision shook. The three figures moved.
The world literally screamed. Then the image disappeared.
Liliana stared at the water.
"That...is the future?"
"Yes. One of them."
"There should be more. I...I don’t understand. I saw myself, that’s it."
Poseidon didn’t answer. Silence reigned once more; he only stared at her, his gaze answering everything.
Liliana’s eyes slowly narrowed.
"What is the price?"
Poseidon looked away.
"You don’t need to pay any price, girl. You don’t need to do anything. If you just accept the first fate I showed you."
The words struck harder than any blade.
Liliana’s hand dropped from her injured side.
"No."
The Oracle turned toward her.
"Liliana—"
"No."
Her voice was quiet.
Poseidon watched her carefully.
"In that future," he said, "the First Refusal is destroyed. The Second World survives. The barriers close. The corruption retreats."
Liliana took another step toward the throne.
"And Amon dies."
"Yes."
Poseidon’s eyes settled on her.
"But you survive. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t that why you are here, Niece?"
Liliana stared at him.
For several seconds, she said nothing. Then she laughed. It wasn’t a happy sound. It was short, hollow, and almost breathless.
"You really are gods."
Athena’s brows drew together as Liliana looked around the throne room.
"YOU SHOW ME A FUTURE WHERE EVERYONE GETS WHAT THEY WANT EXCEPT HIM, THEN CALL IT SALVATION."
Ares stepped forward.
"Careful, witch."
Liliana didn’t even look at him.
"I have been called worse."
Darkness briefly crawled across her fingers while Athena’s hand moved toward her weapon.
Poseidon lifted one finger, and Ares and Athena stopped.
Liliana turned back toward the sea god.
"Then there has to be a fourth."
"There is not!"
Liliana’s eyes hardened.
"Then your oracles are wrong. Only my brother is right. We saw a different future, where we survive and you don’t!"
The Oracle’s head snapped toward her.
"Liliana."
She looked at him.
"I’ve spent enough of my life believing other people’s visions."
Her voice shook slightly. "No more. You will give us the Key. That was why I came, not to save myself, but him!"
The Oracle said nothing, remaining quiet.
Liliana looked at the water again. The image of Amon remained in her mind.
That smile. That peaceful expression. That final moment.
She shook her head.
"Typical that the only reward Amon would get for saving us all would be to die."
Poseidon leaned back.
"And what do you intend to do when you have the Key?"
Liliana raised her eyes.
"Change it."
A faint sound came from the pool.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Then the darkness beneath the water began to move.
Poseidon looked toward it. Liliana noticed.
"What is that?"
"The reason I let you in here, Niece. The reason for your existence."
The sea god slowly stood.
Water flowed from his throne and gathered around his feet. The entire throne room seemed to become heavier.
Poseidon walked toward the far wall. Nothing was visible there, only the solid, glowing stone of the wall.
He placed his palm against it. The symbols opened. Stone moved. Something enormous was revealed behind it.
A chamber.
And in the center of that chamber floated a weapon. The Key of Poseidon.
Liliana stared. It was smaller than she expected.
A small, strange metallic object. The object resembled neither a sword nor a key. Its surface had the appearance of a block of frozen ocean water. Blue light seemed to be moving just beneath the surface.
As soon as Liliana saw the object, the dark part of her started to recoil. The lingering darkness inside her pushed her away from the Key.
Her body jerked. She grabbed her chest. The Oracle caught her shoulder.
"Liliana!"
She pushed his hand away.
"I’m fine."
She wasn’t. Something inside her was screaming. The darkness had never feared anything.
Not Hades.
Not angels.
Not demons.
Not even Amon.
But now it was trying to crawl away from the Key. Poseidon noticed.
"You see it now."
Liliana forced herself upright.
"What is it?"
"The Key of Poseidon."
"That isn’t merely a key."
Poseidon’s expression remained cold.
"No."
He stepped aside.
"It is a judgment."
Liliana stared at him.
"What does it do?"
"It opens what cannot be opened."
She waited.
Poseidon continued.
"It seals what cannot be killed."
Another pause.
"And if necessary..."
His eyes moved toward the battlefield beyond Olympus.
"...it can command the sea between worlds."
Liliana’s heart beat faster.
"Then give it to me. I will use it, change the future you fear."
A pause stretched between them.
"I know you don’t want the Second World to burn away. I know your brothers don’t care about it, but you do."
The silence stretched.
"Liliana..." He finally spoke her name. "The impossible future, where the Second World and your Master are safe and sound, where the First Refusal is tucked away, it doesn’t exist. Do you still want to try?"
"Yes!"
"Then take it."