Just a Myth

“The Truth?” the Devil spat at Sophia, “you've spent thousands of lifetimes not even knowing who you are. What can you claim to know about Truth?”.

Sophia was unshaken by his words. Her Original Self now restored, she could see an overview of the bigger story, one that was previously out of reach of her understanding, but was always meant to bring her to this point. To make her who she was now, as opposed to who she started as. Each forgotten life had left her with a lesson learnt, carried through each incarnation by the essence of her soul.

She stood over the Devil, sword in hand, ready to strike. It was now or never, she told herself. Having the King of Hell himself at her mercy was a scenario unlikely to present itself again, yet she found herself hesitating and couldn't fathom out why.

But it only took that one second, the Devil swept his legs under Sophia's heels. She fell backwards into the air, a scream of surprise stuck in her throat as she lost her grip on the sword. The Devil, quicker than her, caught it mid-air and launched himself towards his son, fully prepared to drive the sword straight through his heart, the way he had initially intended.

Sophia knew it was impossible to get between Lucan and certain death in time. She had failed, and the pain of that realisation ripped through her, and tore her heart apart. A bestial sound shuddered from her petite frame, and with it a green mist arose around her.

Lucan felt Sophia's scream resonate in every fibre of his being. Her pain was so intense it became his. He struggled to push himself up on one knee. Blood seeped from his chest where his father had stabbed him, Sophia's intervention being the only reason his heart had not been pierced.

He saw the blade coming for him again as if in slow motion. He saw Sophia doubled in half as her strident shriek created a force field around her like none he had ever seen before. He watched as the green mist and the tip of the sword came at him simultaneously.

Then, he saw nothing.

Sophia sobbed into her hands. If Lucan was gone, there was nothing left for her to do but die herself. Permanently this time. The Devil had won. She waited, head down and eyes closed, for her inevitable end.

“Sophia?”.

She heard her name whispered in the distance. It wasn't the expected boastful tones of a victor of war, but the faint plea of a broken man barely holding on.

“Sophia” she heard him call again. She looked up from her tear-soaked hands and saw Lucan lying on a dirt floor a few feet away from her.

“Lucan?!” she sprinted towards him, and placed her hands over his chest as the flow of blood continued to drench his shirt.

“I told you we always ended up back here”, he coughed with difficulty as he tried to chuckle.

Sophia looked up and saw they were no longer in the lower realm known as Hell, but in the old barn where she used to watch her father work. She shook her head silently, trying to understand, when it dawned on her, “the place I was happiest”, she whispered under her breath, “my safe place”.

“It was always you who conjured it up. Every time you felt I was pushing you too hard, you retreated us both here”, Lucan imparted, “The only way I knew to get us out was to go back in time and start again” he said apologetic as he coughed a splutter of blood.

Sophia snapped into action and undid his shirt to inspect the damage. There was an agape wound in the centre of his chest, “it hasn't pierced your heart” she confirmed hopeful, despite the out-pour of blood staining her hands a darkened crimson red.

“I know, but”, Lucan directed Sophia's gaze towards his hand and turned his palm upwards.

It had started as no more than a thin paper cut, his skin caught on the edge of a crystallised flower petal. But now it had turned into a gapping sore, the poison of which was quickly spreading through his veins and towards his heart.

“You're supposed to heal! Why aren't you healing?” she lamented in desperation.

“The marigold flower” Lucan breathed heavily, “it's from Above. There's nothing we can do”. A cut from such a higher-bound object made his flesh vulnerable, unable to heal, its energy so high it only served to kill someone of his lower nature. But Lucan accepted his fate, if his death only achieved setting her free, then he was happy with his purpose in the retched land of opposed energies.

“We are the First born” Sophia hissed, anger taking over her earlier grief, “there is always something we can do” she stated categorically.

Sophia gently released her grasp around Lucan and bolted to the front door of the barn. They swung open by command of her thoughts, and as she stepped outside the confines of the faded wooden panels, she was faced with a sight she hadn't seen since the very beginning. Trees of varying shades of the light spectrum speckled her vision and a warmth of divine provenance infused her heart. Yes! her insides bounced.

She ran back to Lucan, “we never went outside!” she exclaimed. Lucan's look of confusion forced her to elaborate, “Every time I brought us back to the barn, we never ventured outside of it!” she repeated as she made Lucan put an arm around her and get to his feet, “come on, we haven't got much time” she expressed with urgency.

Lucan tried to carry his own weight but relied heavily upon Sophia for balance. He felt light-headed and on the brink of fading out. But when he saw the expanse of tropical forest before him, the colour, the energy emanating from this beautiful land, he was jolted with memories he himself had forgotten.

“Do you see it now? It was here, in front of us, all along” Sophia exclaimed as she pushed his body weight forward.

“The First Garden” Lucan amazed, remembering the first Garden of Eve, “I thought it destroyed” he wondered in his dizziness.

“Almost” she said, “I think this place is an amalgamation of my most cherished places, somewhere lost between space and time”.

“Well, as spaces for somewhere to die goes, this is the best of them” Lucan sighed.

“No-one is dying” Sophia stipulated with an arrogance she didn't quite feel, “remember”, she took a stronger hold around Lucan's waist, “remember the Waters of Prosperity?” she asked then between deep breaths of exhaustion.

A lightening bolt hit Lucan's mind as he recalled the myth, “the healing powers of the waters of Eden? That was only ever a theory” he stated dubious, albeit in no shape to argue.

“According to most humans in the world, we are only a theory” she pointed out, “It's here. I know it is” she stated, feeling an instinct she couldn't ignore.

As if her thoughts had opened up the thick expanse of forest they found themselves in, the trees parted and left way to a circular clearing, in the middle of which rested a frozen pond. The cold only seemed to affect the body of liquid, as everything around the pond was of perfect summer temperature.

Sophia hurried her pace, “you have to get in the water” she instructed, as he limped beside her, almost unconscious.

Lucan fell to the ground, the blackness in his veins running from the palm of his hand nearing his heart. She took him by the wrists, with no other choice but to drag his semi-conscious self to the edge of the pond.

“You have to hold on Lucan” she pleaded, “I can't do this without you. Not now, not ever”.

Sophia hit the surface of the pond with a closed fist, her teeth already starting to chatter with the cold surrounding her, but to no avail. It was frozen solid. She hit it over and over again until her knuckles were nothing but grazed flesh and exposed bone. Still nothing, not even a crack. In a final attempt, born out of sheer desperation, she dragged Lucan's body into the middle of the frozen surface, hoping against hope that their combined body heat would help weaken the ice.

Hot tears silently fell down her cheeks, “You have to use your power Lucan” she whispered into his ear, “please, you have to set it on fire” she implored with nothing left to give.

Lucan heard her pleas as a faint hum in the back of his hazed mind, but although he couldn't hear her words he felt her sadness, and it alight a blaze inside of him. It stemmed from his gut and spread out into his hands. Cracks etched themselves into the ice, and the frozen pond shattered as if a mirror hit with the blunt force of a hammer. The ice parted and the surprisingly warm waters welcomed both their bodies.

Lucan started to heal immediately, much to Sophia's relief, “see, just because it's a myth does not mean it doesn't exist” she said with a sigh of relief, as she watched the colour return to Lucan's skin. The black veins receded and faded into a closed wound in the centre of his palm. And with that gone, his chest wound evaporated without so much as a scar.

He turned in the water so that he was the one doing the holding, and wrapped Sophia in his arms, “you have saved my life more times than I can repay”, he kissed her gently.

Sophia responded with her entire being. For her, it was their first true embrace in a very long time. One where she actually remembered what is was like to be kissed by him.

They eventually stepped back up onto solid ground, unable to unlink themselves from each other, and stared out into what was once their very first home.

“What do we do now?” Lucan asked, despite knowing the answer. The look of determination that reigned in Sophia's eyes gave him silent confirmation, but he tempted anyway, “we could just stay here you know”, he shrugged and rested his chin on her shoulder, as they both contemplated what could never be, for a brief second.

Sophia turned to Lucan and buried her head into his torso. She stayed there for a few moments, relishing in the short moment of tranquillity, “you know I would love to”, she reluctantly sighed as she pulled away from him, “but this is not where our story ends” she looked up, her eyes tainted with purpose, before taking his hand in hers, “it's only where it begins”.