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.

I doubt there will be a gathering of every god and goddess unless our livelihoods were at stake like with

passed down through the humans from one generation to the next. How would the human mind handle the prospect of

goddess of the hour has arrived!” Dionysus bellowed, his golden eyes landing on me. “You

seat between Hekate on my left and Amphitrite on my right, being cautious to not bump against her golden trident. “Care

of the world has tipped.” He slurred, somehow regaining his sense

speak, the doors from beside the gathering table were

deep voice resounded through the assembly hall. “At any other time, it would be a joyous celebration for us to be together, but

Unbreakable – Prologue

of concern, Lord Ra?”

missing

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

was unbecoming of me to show my fear, but this was

asked the golden question we’ve all been wondering. “Wouldn’t Osiris or Anubis have sensed of disappearance before you did?”

the ones who informed me,” 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

thought. “You know the monster better than we do,

to the 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 he has not fully escaped. However, I’m

“Are you

traitor among us?” Oshun

but it is possible. Or he somehow escaped under his power, which is

his cheek with an irritating smirk resting on his lips. “He lost his avatar, did he

ago,” Amphitrite added with a huff. “What relevance does

The wine god grinned. He turned his attention to me, burning his eyes into mine. “Isn’t that right, Selene?

bone in my body demanded I punish Dionysus for his insolence. I gritted my teeth, casting a glare in his direction 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 empire, and it was through him he wreaked havoc. For the evil to not persist, my avatar

Unbreakable–Prologue

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

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

dark avatar had done, but we cannot ignore the ageless effects of his death!

“Osiris, the lord

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

he remains in that realm, there is no need to worry. But I agree the lords must

his mountain is a threat to us all. Chaos will happen sooner, rather than later. But, if he escapes to Mother Gaia’s green earth,

one to defeat him.”

Dionysus!” I shouted, rising out of my seat. “Never! I

not? 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

talk.” Vayu chortled in his seat, leaning back against the spine like he was enjoying the altercation. “None of us are strangers to bending the laws of divinity by a

forget you’ve brought back yours after he was savagely murdered, or how Brigid brought theirs back

I gathered you all here. I’m extending a warning to you all. There is no 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 their affairs, but it helps to know that

spoke, who was quiet the entire time. “Apophis cannot attack

their world. That same rule applies to him as well. Let us not quarrel amongst each other and focus on

are safe, for

Unbreakable–Prologue

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 Dionysus had