Palindrome
Ophidian

The man let a ghost of a smile pass over his wrinkled face. “There are boundaries to how long I can be alive and make it plausible. I fake my death with regular intervals, I have “died” in this town four times now. You get the hang of it after so many years.”

I couldn’t begin to fathom the things he would have seen and lived through. He was the first Beast, born of a woman, the son of a God, conceived by the Holy Bonfires at Beltane, before it even became Beltane. Benjamin and Belinda fell to their knees when they realised who he was, and he put a trembling hand to their heads bowed before him.

Samuel looked at him with terror in his eyes, “How can you still be alive? Are you truly immortal?” Ophidian, Mr Pevensy, shook his head slowly. “No, we die. But I am half divine, and thus my lifespan is almost never-ending. You youngsters will perhaps reach 1000 years. But that will be enough, no man should ever live as long as I have.”

Bridget made a coughing sound and took a sip of her coffee. Ophidian leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Well, Bridget here found me and asked for my help. Now, I am to blame for all this mess. I was the one who started the Witch-hunt in order to make my Eve immortal. To see her die slowly before my eyes, and the sorrow in her eyes as she got older, and I stayed the same… It was heart-breaking. I knew we could slow her aging with the fruit from the Tree of Life, but we were all banned from the Garden of Eden. I should have though about when we lived there, but how was I to know that I would fall for Eve?”

I hated to interrupt him, but he had said he wanted to help. “Sorry, but I have to ask, how can you help us? The zombies, who I thought was going to be the problem, are put to rest again. The main issue is your son, Noah. He wants to kill all of humanity, just keep some women to breed.”

I saw the pain in his eyes when I said the word “son”.

“Yes, something went wrong. Along the way we got high on ourselves, starting to think we were Gods among humans. Noah took it a step further, and wanted to rule the world, by killing half of the population. And now he wants to do it again, but with a potion made from the Tree of Life. Mix the fruit with the blood of a witch and the semen from a beast, and you will have a poison ready to kill. It will be so potent; you can use it for almost anything.”

I froze, thinking of the mix. I was the potion. I had the blood of a witch, I had the semen from a Beast inside me, I had the fruit from the Tree of Life in me, since Noah broke the vials and tore me open at the same time. But I also had the fruit from the Tree of Mercy, of Good and Evil in me. What did that do to the mix? Was it what made me the half Goddess I had transitioned to? Then I stopped, the full impact of what he said hitting me.

“So you knew the recipe to the potion all along? And you let them torture all those poor innocent souls for so long time?” My voice got louder and louder, until it boomed in the small kitchen. I saw the light pour out of me, making Bridget smile wide in wonder, it being the first time she saw me go all golden.

He raised his hands, “No, no, let me explain. It was only recently I discovered the mix. You know how our kind has felt about witches, we`ve abhorred you. And still, there has always been a pull. Eve was a witch; people just forget it.” He glimpsed over at Benjamin and Belinda, “Your Father was madly in love with Ana, that`s what became their end. His current wife saw it, and jealousy took over completely. She killed them.” He used his arms to move the wheelchair closer to me, I could smell him. It wasn’t unpleasant, it smelled like dust and a faint whiff of the wild scent which followed William as well.

His eyes drilled a hole in my face. “I can feel your bones, they are singing. No wonder the kid couldn’t stay away. You are like a magnet.” He shook himself, like he wanted to wake up. “George cried over the body of your mother, when he found her dead in the car. Your father was still alive, but George didn’t care about him. I watched from a distance, but I visited the place later. And there, where his tears mixed with her blood, a flower. More beautiful than anything I have ever seen in my thousands of years on this earth. Growing from the mix. There`s where I got the idea, and I have been researching since.”

No one said anything, my head was spinning. “So this was supposed to happen?” I gestured to myself, and he looked at me with a fanatic glare. “You are the perfect result of experiment. I sent George back here, I knew about you, and I knew William would fall for you, it was inevitable.”

“You said you were going to help us. Was it all a game for you?” I curled my fingers into hard fists. Ophidian looked hurt that I would think that of him, “My dear, I am here to help. But I want something in return. I will tell you how to kill Noah. He is like a dog with rabies, he must be put to sleep. In return, I want you to bring back Eve.”

The door smashed open, and a vile creature flew in, taking pieces of the wall with it. It landed elegantly in front of me, wings folding in neatly as he straightened and looked around with his mouth open in a growl that made the floor reverberate. My knees weakened, but I ran to him before they could give in.

“William.” My voice was raw from need. To my horror, he held me at arms distance while his purple eyes glowed at Ophidian. Was he talking to him? Did he know who he was? Benjamin and Belinda had pulled back, both standing in front of their loved ones. Natan looked annoyed, but proud. I didn’t know what to do.

Ophidian said something in a foreign language, his voice much deeper than it had been before. Whatever he said, it made William roar in anger. In a flash, he turned to me and ripped me into his arms, embracing me violently. Even when he hurt me, it was ok. I was in his arms, I was his.

That was the last though I had before he smashed through the kitchen window, raising fast to the sky.

I leave you for a few hours and you manage to invite the one person who can kill us into the house.

I tried to frown, but I was too happy. “What do you mean, only one?” The air was chilly, but William was warm. I nestled closer, feeling at home in his hold.

Instead of making me yell the words to him in a conversation high above the ground, he started descending, feeling safer away from the house. Once again, he had brought us to Lady`s Dwell. It wasn’t until he`d changed back to human, I realised it probably was because his clothes where here. My shallow mind watched with glee as he stood bare in front of me. He yanked on the jeans with angry movements, swearing when it didn’t go as fast as he wanted. The moon lighted up his body, the silvery shine making him look etherical. I walked slowly to him and put a hand to his heart.

“Do you remember the first night? Under the Full Moon?”

His face softened, and I took the chance and touched the strand of hair falling in front of his eyes.

“I remember it.” Somehow the night seemed to take us far away from everything. Not like when we had been in our own little world, I was still aware of the things that needed doing, but what was love if we couldn’t take the time to show it? He was only partially dressed, but I stopped him from getting his shirt. “William, I need you. You say my bones sing to you. Well, your heart sings to me. Your blood is calling me. William…” I had to pause, emotions threatening to destroy me. “William, I have to kill Noah. I must.”

He let out a harsh breath. “Hannah, my Goddess. My Palindrome. Immortal queen, love of my life. You can`t.” I was about to dive into an explanation, but he hushed me. “The Beast that died in the fire, they fought each other to get out alive. The only thing that can kill a Beast, is another Beast. I have to be the one to do it.”

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