Val’s father had died. Matal, king of the gods, was no more, and she was now being punished for his death.

  “Val’Halun, goddess of the night and the realm of magic!” Anatos, the god of justice, shouted. “You are guilty of the crime of murder against our ruler, Matal. What say you in defense?”

  Val was on her knees, still stunned from the recent events. Her father, dead. And her younger brother, Saro, had killed him.

  “I still don’t know why I am here! I didn’t do anything!” Val cried, her voice breaking as she began to realize how helpless she really was right now.

  “Precisely! When Saro confided in you of his plans to kill your father, you did nothing! You did nothing when you could have killed Saro and you did nothing when you could have at least told another! You did nothing, so now we have no ruler and the mortal realm is in disarray!” Anatos moved closer, imposing on Val.

  What he said was true. Val didn’t do anything. But what did anyone expect her to do? Kill the brother she loved? The one who she never could expect would kill his own father. But Matal was Anatos’ father too, and in justice’s eyes Val had killed him as well.

  Anatos circled around Val, who was still petrified and on her knees. "Your punishment for this heinous act is exile!”

  Exile. Val looked up at Anatos in horror.

  “No no no no no no no no no…” Val tried to stay calm but her body betrayed her.

  “Exile. Exile to the mortal realm.” He said it cold this time. Not the angry shouts like before, but cold and heartless. Anatos, her own kin, maybe her best friend, hated her with his entire existence.

  “Please!” Val began to tremble, “Don’t do this, I can’t leave!”

  “Silence! Justice is speaking and you are at its mercy.”

  Val couldn’t leave. She couldn’t leave the ones she loved. Her sisters, her friends, her mother, and… it was all too much to bear, too much to feel in such a short amount of time.

  “Punish me in any other way, please!” Val moved to be in prostration of Anatos as she pleaded.

  “I said silence! Keep talking lest I strip you of your divinity.”

  “Let me say goodbye,” Her voice delicate as she tread carefully around Anatos’ threat.

  He stopped circling her, now standing still in front of her. His chest lowered and his intimidating stance faded. Anatos let out a grunt of disapproval, of himself?

  “I give only a moment, now go” A fleeting moment of mercy.

  Val stood up and looked around. She couldn’t care less of her surroundings a few seconds ago.

  She was in clearing in a forest, some part of the Divine Plane that Anatos found suitable to practice his judge, jury, and executioner role.

  The clearing was a perfect circle, surrounded by pristine and healthy pines. And along the outskirts of the clearing was something that Val didn’t expect.

  Every single deity that inhabited the Divine Plane stood there in a neat way along the edge of the clearing. Val didn’t know why she didn’t notice or anticipate this, in retrospect she should’ve realized as it was a given of her situation. Anatos always needed an audience for his work.

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  “Go I say, the scales of justice are in your favor for but a moment.” He gestured toward the scale he held in his right hand, made of a divine gold. Instead of the left pan dipping down, seemingly to represent Val, and the right pan hanging up like it had before, the scale was now swinging between both sides. Up and down and up and down.

  Val did as he commanded, not wanting to waste whatever time she had. She ran towards the edge of the clearing, her shadowy form distorting from the rapid movement.

  She didn’t fully look where she was going and bumped into someone, knocking them both to the ground. Whoever it was let out a short yelp, Val recognized the source immediately. It was Malren, god of fishing and a bit of a wimpy one to be honest.

  Val bounced back from the pain, getting her bearings back swiftly. Malren, still on the ground, groaned in pain, rubbing his forehead. Val crawled over on top of Malren, her hands on either side of him.

  “Hey, I’m real sorry Val. Personally I don’t think it was your fau-” Val cut him off,

  “Cousin, do you know where Anrea is?” Val said panicking.

  “She’s over there.” Malren pointed a bit down on the left of the clearing’s edge.

  “Thank you,” Val scrambled to her feet, probably further injuring Malren in the process. She didn’t care to pay attention to him or anyone else though, she couldn’t.

  Val ran faster than she ever had before, going in the direction her cousin pointed to. She passed by tens of familiar faces, some family and some not but only one mattered. Only one soul here mattered to Val right now and that was Anrea.

  Oh, she could see her now. Her beautiful beautiful face was the only light in this moment of darkness. Tears ran from Anrea’s eyes, she smiled though, smiled at Val, and Val smiled back.

  Soon Val was near, and she wrapped her arms around her lover. But her grip faltered as she melted into Anrea, it dawned on her that this might be the last time she ever held her close.

  “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t kill my brother, I’m sorry…” Val shifted her form to something that could express how she was feeling. Her true form of made of an ever changing shadowy mist wouldn’t work for her. She took her human form, something that could weep, something that could kiss. And she did weep, she never had before. Why would a goddess ever shed a tear?

  “I know, I don’t blame you darling” Anrea pulled Val close, her hand stroking Val’s head.

  Darling, that’s what she called her. Val was Anrea’s darling, her little name for her. Val liked that name.

  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Val’s words were near unintelligible with her constant sobbing. This was the last moment to speak with Anrea so she said she was sorry. Sorry for every time she was rude or wrong in any way, sorry for if she was ever a bad wife.

  “Don’t be sorry, just be here” Anrea tightened her hold, strengthening their embrace. Anrea’s voice was soothing, melodic and steady.

  Val began to calm down, Anrea’s warm body and gentle strokes helped. Val looked up at Anrea, her face no longer lost in Anrea’s shoulder.

  The way the sun shone on her face and danced across her elegant skin captivated Val. Anrea, at least to Val, was perfect in every way.

  Val kissed her, hands wrapped around the back of her neck. Anrea kissed back, her arms still around Val, supporting her. This was the last time Val would kiss her wife, the last time she’d taste her lips. Anatos’s power was absolute, no one, not even a god could undo his will.

  Val figured she should stop focusing on the lasts, how she might never do these things again. She focused on the now, how Anrea tasted right now, how her warmth kept Val sane right now, how she loved Anrea right now, how she loved her more than anything.

  Val pulled away, looking into Anrea’s eyes. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, darling” Anrea said with a small chuckle.

  Just as Val was about to move her lips to Anrea’s again she felt a hand press on her back. Val regained her balance, no longer leaning on Anrea, and turned around.

  It was her mother, Qara, goddess of mothers and children. The sight of her scared Val. According to her brother she had killed Matal, Qara’s husband.

  “It didn’t mean to mother, I loved Saro, I couldn’t… There was no way I could kill him.” Val pulled away from Qara, who had then had put her hand on Val’s shoulder. She didn’t know how her mother would react, her husband had died, her son had killed him, and her daughter let it happen.

  “I know my dear, come here” Qara gestured for Val to come closer to her.

  Val, still somewhat cautious moved slowly to her mother. Before Val had even taken a second step Qara pounced on her, hugging her tight and lifting her up off the ground. Qara spun around, taking Val with her.

  Qara came to a stop and set Val down, putting her hands on Val’s shoulders. “My dear daughter, I will miss you greatly.” Tears began to stream from her eyes, it seemed everyone was crying today, “Anatos is angry my dear, he does not understand how hard it was for you to know your own brother would kill your father. Matal’s death has broken him I’m afraid, clouded his judgement, but it does not excuse his actions upon you.” Val’s mother used her right hand to lift up Val’s chin, Qara looked her in her daughter’s eyes with deep longing, “Stay strong my dear, find a way to come back, we’ll be waiting for you if you do.”

  Val wiped her eyes to see her mother better. Qara’s blue robes made her look comfortable; she looked motherly as would be expected of a goddess of mothers. Her face looked tired, so much loss in one day would do that to a person.

  “I will mother, I’ll find way. I’ll stay strong” Val came back in for a hug, embracing her mother.

  “Justice beckons you, Val’Halun!” Anatos was loud, as if he right stood next to her, though he was at least two hundred feet away at the center of the clearing.

  Val turned to see Anatos, his scale back to what it was, the left plate down and the right plate up.

  Val left her mother’s hold and walked towards Anatos. She already said her goodbyes, best not to linger. She looked back at Anrea one more time, who stood strong, once again smiling at Val.

  Val shifted her form back to its original, black mist in a robe taking the vague shape of a woman.

  Val payed attention to the familiar faces this time. Some looked at her in sorrow, others shared the same sentiments as Anatos. She could see her sisters, Malren, her friends, everyone she ever knew.

  Once Val was about an arm’s-length away from Anatos he pulled his sword from its scabbard. The Sword of Justice was a beautiful blade, forged from a glimmering silver. Anatos thrusted the sword into the ground, carving out a rhombus-like shape into the dirt. Once he was finished he sheathed the weapon, the weapon not even a bit scratched from the dirt.

  The outline Anatos carved turned into a void, a gateway between worlds. Through the void now connected the world of gods and the world of men.

  Val stepped towards the edge of the gate, the hole seemingly calling to her and everything around it.

  She peered into the void and gave her final words to Anatos, “You are no brother of mine.”

  “And you are no sister of mine.”

  Val took in the void, and she jumped.