Page 83 of Grave Consequences
My heart pounds in my chest as her words settle around me like an ominous fog, nerves making my body tense up. Nefta shakes her head as she looks at her cup, and I can still see that she’s battling within herself about telling me.
“I think we’re past the point of safely keeping me out of it,” I interject, willing to share the burden I can see her struggling with. I suspect I know where this is going, and although I don’t relish the thought of it, there’s nothing that can really be done about it. This is my life, and my time as a human is long over. “Morax knows, and in order for me to try and protect myself, I need to know more than he does.”
Nefta nods hollowly, as if she’s shoring up her resolve, and her eyes flick back to mine as she pushes away her thick braid of purple hair over her shoulder.
“We’re Annuli, Delta,” she tells me bluntly, and I can see that the word is some sort of curse to her.
I go still, waiting for the truth of what I am to come over me like a warm wave, or maybe it would be a cool shock, but nothing happens. Nothing in me recognizes what she just said. I look to the guys, but they appear to be just as confused as I am.
“Okay... Is that a fancy word for Gatekeeper? Am I a Grim somehow? I mean, I’m not ferrying dead people around, so I figured that would be a solid no, but what do I know, right?” I ask on an awkward chuckle, leaning in conspiratorially, because I don’t get what’s going on.
“No, you’re definitely not a Grim or one of the long dead Gatekeepers. An Annulus is very different. We are far rarer and more powerful. It doesn’t surprise me that your mates have never even heard the term. That’s how well the secret of our existence has been protected.”
“But what about the scythes?” I ask, perplexed and maybe a little in denial. I thought for sure all of this was building up toyou are a Gatekeeper.
“Not only Gatekeepers use them, Delta,” she tells me, and I have to stop myself from arguing that I was told otherwise.
Shut up, Delta, and listen!So this isn’t going exactly where you thought it was, move on already.I take a deep breath and get my head back in the game. “Okay, an Annulus...what does that mean exactly?”
“Well, the easiest way to explain it is that you can reset souls. Among other things.”
“Reset?” Iceman asks, and I instantly feel better that I’m not the only one struggling to get it.
“When you scythe someone, you aren’t killing them in the mortal sense and moving them on to the next stage of their existence. You are either resetting their spirit back to its genesis—as though they’ve just been created—or you are completely erasing a soul and wiping it from all the realms, never to return again. Though that is much harder to do. It takes several Annuli to execute it, but nevertheless, these abilities were what Annuli were created for.”
I stare at her and simply blink for a moment.
“We were created to be neutral, to be a safety net that could ensure that no matter what, balance between both sides would always exist. If Heaven gained too much power, it was the responsibility of Angelic Annuli to deal with it. The same was true for Hell and the Demonic Annuli. Balance is key.”
“So all of the demons I’ve been killing…” I begin, trying to tamp down the worry filling up my voice.
“You’ve been resetting them,” Nefta finishes, in a tone that indicates she blames herself too for what’s been happening. “Sending their souls back to where they were created.”
“Well, shit,” Crux comments, leaning back into the couch and running his hands through his blond hair as the magnitude of all of this sinks in.
“Lucifer needs to bless you with a different Hell weapon to use, and you’ll need to learn to fight with both, as I do. The scythe will tell you when and how a soul needs to be dealt with. You and I will start working on that right away,” Nefta starts in, like aligning our schedules and working on training is suddenly the most important thing.
“Wait,” I say, completely overwhelmed. “So if I’m not a Gatekeeper, why would Morax...the Ophidian...whatever he goes by, want me?”
“Because he figured out something I didn’t know was possible,” she says, her purple eyes hardening. “You see, in the realms, we all have our duties. We go about doing what needs to be done, and we serve our purpose. But Morax was never okay with it. As kids, he loved to play God and ruler of all, but everyone just thought it was play. Morax “died” before he had to choose Heaven or Hell, and although it was sad, I never thought his passing was suspicious. It seems his play was so much more than we ever thought, and if he figured out how to create a new realm, then he’s been corrupting abilities for a long time.”
“Is that how he can override my brain like he does?” I ask, bewildered. “I thought we all had free will and choice, and that could never be messed with, but I don’t think he got the memo,” I point out.
“Morax has definitely corrupted something to enhance and alter what his bloodline was created to do. His ancestors were Impels, which were beings tasked with spreading the word of the Gods. They relayed important information about realm events, Job openings, Choices that were available to us, and so much more.
“They were blessed with the ability to amplify their voices, to be heard by a large crowd for instance, as well as to coax people into paying attention to the messages they were required to deliver. It was their responsibility to ensure all citizens of Heaven and Hell were aware of the right information, hence their gift to help citizenswantto listen.
“Morax has altered it somehow. Distorted the gifts he was blessed with and tainted them in a way that’s allowing him to violate our most sacred rules. He shouldn’t be able to control, and yet, that’s exactly what he did.”
Nefta sets her cup and saucer down and rubs at her face. If we had a different relationship, a different past, I might have gone over and hugged her. But we’re strangers, even if we look so much alike and I have her blood flowing in my veins.
“I should have seen it coming. I don’t know how I missed it…” she says, more to herself than to me.
“Missed what?”
“The Demonic Annulus line was wiped out. We didn’t know how or why, and then the Angelic line came under attack. We hid and did everything we could to survive, but our line was purged too. I’m the last one left. The same happened with the Gatekeepers. Until now, I thought they were separate, unrelated issues. But I think Morax figured out a way to use us. He could, in theory, make a realm by taking several Annuli to create a neutral ground for himself, as well as resetting demons, mortals, or angels to populate it. Combining that with the skill of the Gatekeepers, he would’ve been able to make a portal to that plane and come and go as he pleased.”
“Fuck,” Jerif declares, and Nefta nods at him.
