Untouchable by Marii Solaria

Unbreakable – Prologue

Selene

The mortal kingdom upon Mother Gaia’s beautiful planet never ceases to amaze me. How many times have I watched the humans, young and old, congregate under the night sky with the desire for new discoveries? The diamonds in their eyes shined as bright as the diamonds instilled in the night sky, shielding the mysteries that laid beyond the naked eye. A world that many of them will never reach in their lifetime was just a gaze away through their unique technologies and their plethoric records about the mysterious cosmos.

I believe they’ve coined the term stargazing.

However, the mortal eye was limited. Some discoveries of the universe weren’t meant for their minds, human and supernatural alike. Through their fantastical stories of the world above and the world below, the beings of the earth have grown accustomed to the idea of life after death. Time was but a temporary occurrence, minus for the immortals. If their stories had a smidgen of truth, they would have some inkling of what truly laid past the firmament.

But there was a reason their stories could only stretch so far.

There was a world beyond the heavens, but knowledge of its existence belonged to the gods. We each have our individual realms to rule over, but on rare occasions, do we all amass in one dimension to conversate. The world beyond the beyond.

Alas, I couldn’t say I was excited about this meeting.

My footsteps echoed loud under the translucent bridge connecting to the aether. Thick clouds shielded my view of the world below, but they neglected a few spots, granting me the view of humankind. Lights of all shapes and colors glittered and flickered as minuscule dots running to and forth every which way. So Insignificant to a few, but beautiful to me.

A sharp gust of wind whipped past my exposed arms, whirling around me like a disturbed bee before rushing ahead of me. Does it appear Aeolus is of attendance at the holy meeting or was it his brother god, Vayu?

The divine summit opened in my view; a fortified acropolis nestled above the heavens, but below the cosmos. My ears picked up muffled chatter from within the gates while the immense aura of the many gods in attendance consumed my spirit. The babble heightened and lowered in pitch, filled with hints of anger and astonishment. But there was one voice that stood out from the rest.

And now, I’m annoyed.

“Fantastic. The drunkard is in attendance.” I muttered, rolling my eyes. Walking up to the stone doors separated by Corinthian pillars, white light shone through the cracks and gaps before they eased open, allowing me to amble through. The telltale aroma of mead and golden elixir tickled my nostrils as I walked through the elongated halls, with celestial energy billowing through the crevices of the floor as colorless smoke. I passed by hallway after hallway, eyes trained on the large door in front of me that led to the main assembly hall.

“Selene!”

I turned around to see Hekate emerging from one of the many corridors. Her long, coal hair flowed with her

Unbreakable–Proloque

steps, giving off the illusion of her floating as her deep crimson dress swayed with her sashays. She adjusted her triple–moon crown as she came to my side.

“Hekate.” I smiled in greeting. “Fancy seeing you here. You aren’t one to attend these meetings.”

“I am afraid that I have no choice in the matter,” Hekate replied. “It is quite unfair that Hades can skip these assemblies, but my attendance is required. The poor sap prefers to not be anywhere, with Persephone in attendance. He’d be too tempted to whisk her away back to his kingdom, risking an endless winter in the mortal kingdom from Demeter.”

“Couldn’t we have this gathering on Mount Olympus?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What is so urgent that it required our brother and sister gods to be in attendance as well? Who called this meeting?”

“Lord Ra did.”

My eyes widened when Hekate walked ahead of me toward the assembly hall doors. The urgency wasn’t enough to describe the situation if Ra made the trek from his kingdom to assemble us. I caught up to my sister goddess once the shock subsided, nudging the doors open to be blinded by the celestial light of our realm shining upon a large gathering table with about three–quarters of the seats filled with the bodies of different gods across all pantheons.

I spotted my brother gods, Chandra and Iah, sitting on the far corner of the table while Dionysus offered himself another helping of mead. The fool couldn’t sit straight in his seat! Praise be to Oshun, who settled the holy liquor beside her so the grape–harvester couldn’t give himself a second helping. Or fifth.

others hailed from all corners of the world were in attendance as well. I doubt there will be a gathering of every god

the next. How would the human mind handle the prospect of

the hour has arrived!” Dionysus bellowed, his golden eyes landing

I replied, taking a seat between Hekate on my left and Amphitrite on my right, being cautious to not bump against her golden trident. “Care to fill me in, if you can

sense of regality.

speech. A terrible chill gripped at my spine as I recalled the events three human years ago, but before I could speak, the doors from beside the gathering table were nudged open and Ra walked

for arriving.” His deep voice resounded through the assembly hall. “At any other time, it would be a joyous celebration for us to be together, but I’m afraid this matter concerns all of you. I’m afraid it

Unbreakable – Prologue

of concern,

is missing from

Ra’s apprehension from the distance. Something like this has never happened before, but it begs the question of how did that gargantuan snake escape his prison? I hid my hands beneath the table and gripped at my dress, dread hitting my body like an asteroid. However, a cool but comforting hand rested on top of my own. I looked to see Hekate offering me a soft smile. Amphitrite repeated

It was unbecoming of me to show my fear, but

Ira asked the golden question we’ve all been wondering. “Wouldn’t Osiris

Ra answered. “Most of you have noticed the increase in earthquakes on Mother Gaia’s earth, have you not?” We all fell silent. “I thought so. The balance of our worlds has indeed teetered in the wrong direction, but none of you cannot deny that this can and

cannot go unchecked,” Brigid muttered, curling her finger under her chin in deep thought. “You know the monster better than

side of darkness and evil. However, I do not think they’re powerful enough to break the serpent out of his prison. Not even his demons could. He still lurks in the underworld, so

“Are you

traitor among

he somehow escaped under his power, which is unlikely, but Apophis is not to

the serpent was motivated by an external factor.” Dionysus tapped his cheek with an irritating

human years ago,” Amphitrite added with a huff.

The wine god

while the other gods waited for my response. “According to the law of divinity, Apophis must lie below the horizon and cannot persist in the mortal realm beyond Mountain Bakhu. His avatar was his only :angible link to the human

Unbreakable–Prologue

Apophis? And now, he is missing from his prison!” Dionysus crossed his arms and folded one leg over the other. “We are

is not a good sign,” Hekate interjected, folding her arms in her lap. “The serpent lurks underneath the surface and he is angry and

a different perspective. I’m, in no way, condoning what that dark avatar had done, but we cannot ignore the ageless effects of

“Osiris, the lord

his brother God, Hades,” Ra added, diffusing the growing tension in the air. “While the disturbances in the underworld have increased,

that realm, there is no need to worry. But I agree the lords must check up on him to see that he doesn’t

all. Chaos will happen sooner, rather than later. But, if he escapes to Mother Gaia’s

one to defeat him.”

such a thing, Dionysus!” I shouted, rising out of my seat. “Never! I refuse

She got us into this mess and let us not forget your nasty habit of pussyfooting around death. Four of your wolves, including her, have come back to

back against the spine like he was enjoying the altercation. “None of us are strangers to bending the laws of divinity by a slight margin. We invented those laws to keep

us not forget you’ve brought back yours after he was savagely murdered, or how Brigid brought theirs back to keep peace

telling what Apophis might do or what are his next steps. I implore you all to keep extra guard in your realms and watch over your avatars if you have them. We cannot interfere with

the entire time. “Apophis cannot attack our children nor the

we’re barred from entering their world. That same rule applies to him as well. Let us not quarrel amongst each other and focus on the

safe,

Unbreakable–Prologue

my seat and forced myself to sit through the rest of the assembly. Every agonizing minute that passed added to my heartache. I do not doubt Lord Ra or any of his fellow deities about Apophis” disappearance, but