⁰¹⁵ | Stakes Higher Than Hell

Mass release: 1/17

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🎧 The Grudge by Olivia Rodrigo

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"She won't fucking understand," he yelled, really pissed at me.

I mean, I did piss him off purposely, but damn, not this much. "I'm many things, you arrogant bastard, but dumb is not one of them."

"Oh, yeah? It ain't showing," he used my words against me.

Seems like he holds grudges like I do. "Tell me what is it."

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, the only ones who knows this are the three of us and Rose, because we judge her magic will also be necessary for this, given how strong she is, plus the humanity interference in both of you, and the top 5 students here," Dove sighed.

"Not even the Kings and Queens?" I blinked.

"Nobody with a deal with the God of Death knows," he hissed.

I rolled my eyes, "Does any of their kids knows?"

"River," Cat sighed, "only him, but he's different from the others."

"Doesn't change who his parents are," I hissed annoyed. "So?"

"There is a reason why the God of Death has to be in our realm with his full power, hence why he needs Ravenna," Dove clenched her jaw, still between me and the bastard. "There is a war coming, a Divine war, one that will happen between the 10 Gods, and given how the God of Death doesn't seem to be the most friendly, 7 of them are against him, and only 2 are on his side. To win the war, that will probably take place in the surface, he has to be on his full power to fight them. For that,"

"He needs Ravenna," I swallowed hard, uncomfortable.

"Do you get it now?" He hissed, exasperated. "If we don't get her, he won't be on his full power, and if he's not on his full power, he will not win this war solely with two God allies, because he only has the Moon God and the Night Goddess on his side, and they are not the strongest, but he is and they need him. Ravenna has a part of his magic in here, now that he cannot get it back, he at least needs her at his side, all the time."

"What? Like some kind of pet?" I gasped.

"Why do you take things to the worse meaning of all?" He cursed.

"Maybe because I expected the worse of things from your God?"

"This is not about Ravenna Devika Wintergrave, Davina, damn it. This is about the God of Death, this is about a Divine War that is coming our way and only him can save this Empire. That's the reason for all this. It is why we have to prepare everyone that could make a difference in the fight like you and the girl who stole your ring. Because the Kingdom of Raem, the Kingdom of Khais, and the Empire of L'ordine have all side with the other Gods, against us. Against the Empire of Wintergrave," he snapped.

Well, that is not good. "I still have nothing to say about Ravenna."

"I told you, she won't understand," he yelled at Dove. "Senseless little thing, you're putting your entire people into danger. They will all die. Everyone you tried to protect will die, and when they are done with the fae, they will go after the humans, and your little family will die too."

"You sound very scared of death for someone who worships a God of Death, for someone who worships death itself," I scowled bitter.

"I am not scared, I am angry. Angry because you know Ravenna's whereabouts and you won't tell me, you won't tell anyone, even though this is much greater than anything else, much greater than any lowly hatred you and her may feel for the Kings and Queens who usurped the Imperials. Was she not raised to be the Empress of the Wintergrave Empire? Where is she when they need her?" He yelled.

"Where were her people when she needed them?" I yelled back. "I don't see why this is all her fault. And you know what? She was not resided to be an Empress, because they killed her parents way before they could even raise her properly for that fucking duty," angry, I pushed all the stuff covering me and forced myself to stand on my feet, hating how all of them are so much taller than me, him in special. "This people call the usurpers who murdered her family, Kings and Queens, with no kindness to her.

"Now you want her to come here, be faced with all of your shit, just so she could become your little foolish God's pet? What does she has to do with his war? What is her role in starting it? I think none is the answer to that, so why should she put her neck on the line? She may not be able to be murdered or lose her life, but we both know there are worse things than death waiting for her. Everyone who she thought to be an ally, turned out fake and didn't even fight for her or her family, and now you expect her to fight for those same people?"

I got so close to him, I could hear his heart hammering above me, in his sculpted chest, as I glared up at him, after passing through both Cat and Dove. He kept his head high, but looked down on me, meeting my eyes, arrogance overflowing from every pore of his delicious body. "I don't think so," I hissed. "If she wants to help, she will come, if not, I'll do nothing."

"And you said you answer to no Lord," he hissed.

"You said Lord as in God, and she's not a Lord, she's a Lady, she's my Lady. If her immortality makes of her something close to a Goddess, than it's her that I answer to, it's her that I worship, it's in her that I believe. In fact, maybe I should start a cult in her name, the Followers of Ravenna. It sounds good, doesn't it? Ravenna, the Goddess of Endlessness, of Grudge and Revenge, the Goddess of Eternity."

His eyes darkened, "That's blasphemy."

"Call me blasphemous if you desire," I countered. "I don't care."

"You lack survival instinct," he said under his breath.

"I feel no danger from you," I scowled.

The bastard, whose name I still don't know and neither will I ask, or he will know I'm interested in it, narrowed his eyes in dismay, searching in mine for a bluff, and his eyes darkened to onyx as he found none. "You really have no idea who you are dealing with."

"It's you who don't know," I countered mockingly. "Again, it's you that needs me, not the opposite. I'm strong, you need my strength, at least for as long as Ravenna isn't here."

"You said you won't help," he snapped.

"I said I won't help getting to Ravenna, because I see no upsides for her in this whole thing, not that I will not help you in this war. I am no psychopath, neither do I feel antipathy for my own race, I just want a very peculiar group of Faes dead, not all of them. I don't want innocents dying."

He blinked again and again, puzzled, "But you just said,"

"I was just trying to piss you off, it's amusing."

His golden skin turned red, "What?" He growled angrily.

Ignoring him, I turned to Dove and Cat, both who were staring at us as if we had grown three heads each. I mean, it's understandable to look at him like that, he does feels otherworldly, but not me, come on. "Anything else you wanted to talk to me about."

"You will be in a separate dorm at the top of the northeast tower of the castle, it's separated in two, your dorm-mate is Rose. We didn't really know if you knew each other, but now it'll make things better. You will be on her year, of course, and your class has 54 students with you. You will be called weekly in here for a check up with Cat, she will be responsible for taking care of your health, and you will have to keep that in mind."

"We need you strong, not weak and fainting," he snapped rudely. "I am getting tired of saving your life."

"You are free to stop it, I didn't ask you to save me," I snapped.

"That is not decided by you," he growled at me.

"Then get fucked," I glared back at him. "Stop complaining when you are doing this because you want. I don't feel obligated to owe you shit. I am way harder on the fall than you believe. Stop underestimating me just because my body is seemingly weak."

"Not seemingly, your body is weak," he scoffed.

"If it was, I would have killed myself in the coliseum," I countered. "Stop butting in, my health has nothing to do with you, bastard," I cut him out and turned back to Dove. "Back to what you were saying…"

She side-eyed him then turned her eyes back to me, "Like he said, we do need you strong, wealthy, we will focus on fattening you up first."

"Hah, great, now I'm like a pig preparing for slaughter," I mocked.

"More like a cat little weak cub, even a pig is bigger than you."

Clenching my jaw, I took a deep breath not to curse him again, "I get it, I need to gain weight, quickly."

"Which is why I'll be taking care of all your meals, they will be a magical type that we don't usually feed the kids, because they don't need the big bust of vitamins, proteins, fibers, and nutrients it causes. It will cause a spawn of sudden strength in your body, and we'll stay on it for a month. During this initial month, you will not attend classes, because that could be potentially bad for you and for the other kids, given how unhinged your magic is. If you use it now, with your body as it is, it'll… fuck you up."

"Again," Cat added. "You not only broke some bones, as you had quite the internal hemorrhage in more than one organ, no wonder you were bleeding by your eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Magic isn't a joke, and neither is it supposed to be taken so lightly, Davina, like you did."

"I don't take my magic lightly, it's not my fault if the anti-magic shackles blocked it, and I had no idea how angry it would get. I controlled as much as I could, and I'm sure none of you would have been able to have held it as well as I did, had you been as physically fragile as I was. So, don't call me weak, because that's something I am not," I snapped annoyed. "And neither do I take this lightly, I did all I could back then."

"You should have told us that you felt difficulties," Cat said.

"My pride would never let me," I rolled my shoulders. "That's not important anymore, it's in the past, isn't it?"

"You turned the coliseum to dust particles, Davina."

I turned to Dove, "I told you I was strong, you thought that was me being arrogant. I warned you, you didn't hear me. It's on you."

"One more thing," he spoke, "I will be keeping an special eye on you, because you're trouble, and unfortunately, I need you."