The Nexus had been scrubbed within an inch of perfection. Gold banners gleamed along the dome, embroidered with Aerion's sigil. White marble stretched underfoot, polished so bright it hurt to look at. Rows of mortals, demigods, and lesser spirits knelt in reverence, heads bowed, their whispers hushed to reverent awe. The Pantheon stood at the center dais, arrayed in their war regalia. Luxor shone in gilded plate, every curve etched with light. Tairochi looked carved from mountains, his stone armor as heavy as his silence. Vitaria draped herself in laurels and silver filigree, Ravina's black thorn-woven breastplate glistened like poison dressed as protection. One by one, each gleamed with authority, the living embodiment of the divine law they so adored.
The doors opened. Every head turned. Every eye blinked. I walked in dressed like a flamingo. Pink silk clung in gaudy glory, feathered cloak the color of bubblegum sunsets cascading down my back in ridiculous grandeur. Rhinestones glittered across my vest, catching the holy light like a disco ball no one asked for. A wide-brimmed hat rose far too tall, rimmed with sequined feathers that bobbed with every step. My shoes, oh, gods bless them, were enameled in blush lacquer, tipped with curled flamingo beaks. And the cufflinks? Embroidered in painstaking thread: Silent. But Deadly.
I said nothing. I wasn't allowed. But my outfit sang louder than any sermon. I strutted forward, feathers swaying in rhythmic mockery, every jewel daring them to choke on their sanctimony. Not armor. Not steel. Not unity. A bird of paradise strutting through a graveyard.
Luxor's jaw tightened, but he turned back to the gathered throng, voice booming with false reverence. "We gather today in honor of our leader, our brother, the embodiment of Valor and Law. Aerion, the shield of mortals, the light of the Nexus."
My teeth ground behind my smile. Shield? More like spear. More like chains. Light? He carved shadows into her flesh, but yes, let's call it radiance.
Vitaria stepped forward, hands folded over silver laurels, voice trembling with orchestrated grief. "Aerion led us through millennia. His hand guided mortal sanctuaries, his wisdom bound us together. We honor his sacrifices. We honor his goodness."
Goodness? You sanctimonious dove. His "sacrifice" was never his own body, it was always someone else's. Including hers.
Maximus, of course, raised a goblet, draped in crimson velvet armor, pretending solemnity even as wine stained his lips. "To Aerion! Who built cathedrals higher than mountains, who drank deeper than rivers, who showed us that Order was not chains but celebration."
I nearly laughed, nearly. A bitter sound lodged in my throat. Chains not chains? Tell that to her scars. Tell that to the Tribunal you all pretend was justice.
Ravina stepped forward last, voice sweet as rotted honey. "He was our law. He was our strength. He was our judgment. May we honor him not only in memory, but in the justice he carried into the world. Justice, lawful and binding."
The words struck like blades, slashing under my ribs. Lawful. Binding. They knew exactly where to twist the knife. My fingers twitched at my side, desperate to snap, to burn the banners down in roaring chaos. Instead, I stood. Silent. A flamingo among statues. The silence they forced on me screamed louder than any outburst. Around me, the gods' voices rose together in hymn, chanting Aerion's name, each syllable striking my bones like hammer blows. The mortals wept, their faith choking the air. I did not weep. I did not kneel. I did not sing. I stood. Pink feathers bright against their armor. A gaudy joke at a funeral. Every jewel a blade. Every feather a middle finger.
Inside, I burned. Fury coiled like storm clouds, chaos pressing against the leash they'd tied around my throat. My silence was not submission, it was venom brewing, waiting. Valor. Peace. Order. Lies. They wanted me humiliated. They wanted me diminished. They wanted me silent. Fine, I would be silent. But one day, I would make them choke on their own hymns.
The hymns still echoed in my ears long after the doors slammed shut behind me. Their voices, their chains, their law parading as justice. I carried it like a weight in my chest, feathers and rhinestones doing nothing to dull the sting. Every jewel I'd worn, every joke stitched into fabric, had been nothing but armor against the silence they forced on me. And gods help me, it almost broke me.
But then, Arbor. Her. The air shifted the moment I stepped back into my own realm. No hymns. No sanctimonious banners. Just wood and light and the soft hum of a house that remembered me. I shed the flamingo feathers at the door, let them dissolve into smoke, and followed the pull of the bond until I found her.