Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]

Electra's POV

I don't think I've ever been this nervous in my life, and that's saying something, considering I've basically been dying for the past few weeks, and I've been dealing with a lot of nerve-wracking situations.

Azaryon had already disappeared, the smug bastard. He'd said I had to go the rest of the way alone, like this wasn't some kind of life-and-death situation. A proper bastard. He'd dragged me across realms, dumped me here in this floating city in the sky, and now left me to deal with an ancient judge himself—my supposed grandfather.

Apparently, he was one of the most powerful deities in existence, but no pressure, right?

The final steps led to a pair of giant doors, carved with markings that glowed, and as I reached the top, the doors opened on their own, just like in those movies where the poor, clueless girl is about to walk into her doom. Great, very reassuring.

I swallowed hard, pushed my shoulders back, and stepped inside.

The room was nothing like I imagined. It was huge, which was expected, but oddly silent, like the kind of silence that comes before something horrendous happens, but the most surprising thing?

Sitting on a high throne with his posture casual and his expression unreadable was a man who didn't look anything like the wrinkly old grandpa I was expecting to meet. He looked young, like, maybe late twenties young, with long white hair that fell past his shoulders in smooth waves.

His eyes, however, were the dead giveaway that he wasn't anything like Azaryon and the rest. They were glowing with embers, literally, and each time he blinked, it was like watching sparks crackle.

This was him? This was the mighty ancient deity Azaryon had made sound like some terrifying force of nature?

I stopped a few feet into the room, unsure what to do. Should I bow? Kneel? Curtsy? The guy didn't exactly scream 'Grandpa,' and my knees weren't about to hit the floor unless someone made me.

Before I could decide, his eyes locked on mine.

"You look like her," he said, his voice calm and deep. "Solara."

The mention of my mother made my stomach twist. "So you knew her, huh?"

He nodded slowly. "Well, she was my daughter, which I guess makes you my granddaughter."

"Right," I muttered. "Glad we got that confirmed."

He stared at me in silence for a moment, and I stared back because if this was a test, I wasn't going to flinch first. I might have been nervous, but I wasn't about to let him see it.

After what felt like an eternity, he stood up and walked down the steps of the throne platform toward me. His presence was… intense. The kind of intensity that made the hairs on my arms rise even though I didn't feel scared. It was more like my entire body was aware of him in a way that didn't feel natural.

"You have her stubbornness," he said once he stopped a few feet away. "But you also have his arrogance."

I tilted my head and asked, "Whose arrogance do I have, exactly?"

It was a genuine question, but the way his eyes narrowed, like I'd just pulled a knife on him, made me wonder if I should've just kept my mouth shut.

The man—this deity, this ancient, powerful creature who apparently shared blood with my mother—smirked as he began to walk. Not just walk—he circled me like a hawk, with his eyes sharp, observant, and judging.

"Your father's arrogance," he finally said. "The one who calls himself a king."

My stomach twisted, and I didn't need to ask who he meant.

"You mean Vale?" I asked, already scoffing. "Vale isn't my father. He's a thief, a liar, and a murderer who stole me from my mother after she gave birth, and then he—he killed her."

I stared at him, expecting some kind of nod, some sign of confirmation. I'd heard enough from Jella and Vale's conversation to believe I wasn't wrong, but my supposed grandfather only laughed. A low, dry chuckle that sent chills down my spine.

"And who told you that?" he asked, stopping right in front of me, his glowing eyes piercing through mine like they were searching for something.

I blinked. "What do you mean, who told me? That's what happened, isn't it? I mean, I heard it myself just a while ago from the woman who raised me as her daughter, and I'm pretty sure—"

"No," he said flatly, cutting me off. "Don't be sure because you're wrong."

He said it with such confidence that it made my chest tighten.

"Which part exactly?" I asked slowly. "The part where Vale took me from Solara? The part where he killed her? Or the part where you're claiming he's my actual father?"

He stopped circling and just stood there in front of me, taller, steadier, and calmer than I could ever pretend to be in that moment.

"Most of it," he said. "But especially the part about him not being your father, because he is."

My brain refused to process it at first.

I stared at him. "What?"

He didn't flinch. "King Vale is your biological father, Electra."

My knees almost buckled, but I held myself up. Barely.

It couldn't be true. That… that would mean everything he believed, and everything I heard from his and Jella's conversation was a lie. I didn't even know how to react.

"Then why—why does he think otherwise? What in the world is going on?" I asked, my voice smaller than I intended.

"That," he said, brushing invisible dust off his robe, "is a question you'll have to ask someone else, child. I didn't bring you here to explain your ancestry."

"Then why am I here?" I snapped, anger and confusion mixing in my chest like fire and oil.

He stepped forward again, but this time he wasn't walking in circles. He stood still and looked me straight in the eyes.

"I brought you here to see if you're capable of handling the power that's coming."

That made me pause. "What power?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"The power of a complete being," he said. "If you survive this... if your human and Phoenix halves merge, you'll be more than either. You'll be a hybrid of fire and flesh—of mortality and divinity. A living contradiction."

He paused for a moment, like he was letting his words settle first.

"And with that contradiction," he continued, "comes power. Enough to do great things... or terrible ones."

"You think I'll become a threat," I said quietly.

He didn't deny it.

"You have the potential to become a great protector... or a great destroyer. That's the risk. That's why our kind was forbidden from mixing with humans in the first place, but of course, your mother was too foolish and too weak."

I looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers, wondering what kind of fire might eventually come from them.

I let out a frustrated sigh and crossed my arms. "Okay, fine. What's this big test you've planned? Are you going to quiz me on rights and wrongs or toss me into a volcano? Maybe both?"

I tried to keep my tone light and sarcastic, but truthfully, I was nervous. My mouth was dry, and my heart was pounding like a drum inside my chest. If there was ever a time I didn't want to screw up, it was now.

My grandfather didn't answer right away. He just stared at me like he was studying me, and after a moment that felt like a lifetime, he finally spoke.

"Tell me, Electra," he said, "who is the most important person to you?"

The question caught me completely off guard. My arms dropped to my sides, and my lips parted slightly in surprise. "What?"

He repeated himself. "I asked you a simple question. Who is the most important person in your life?"

Immediately, my brain went into panic mode, and I knew where this was going. Every instinct in me started flaring up like a thousand alarms at once.

"You better not be planning to hurt anyone I care about," I said, my voice low. My jaw clenched as my fists curled tightly at my sides. "Don't test me."

His expression didn't shift much, but there was a flicker of amusement in his eyes. "From what I can see," he said calmly, "the one they call Seraphina, the healer's daughter, is not just your anchor, but your salvation. I hear she's the only one who can save your dying body."

"Don't you dare touch her," I snapped before I could stop myself, stepping forward. "You said you wanted to test me. Fine, but leave Seraphina out of it. She has nothing to do with—"

"She has everything to do with it," he cut in, his voice suddenly sharper and more final. "Your emotions are volatile. That's the problem with those like you, creatures born of two powerful bloodlines. Your potential is limitless, but your emotions, if left unchecked, could turn you into something dangerous. Something the world isn't ready for."

I bit the inside of my cheek, hard. I didn't trust myself to speak. Not without yelling.

He stepped back and lifted a single hand, and the floor under us shifted. The scenery around us began to melt away, with his palace dissolving into fire and light and then reforming into something else entirely, and we were suddenly in what looked like a dense, glowing forest.

"I've hidden Seraphina somewhere within this space," he said, his voice echoing all around me. "You have ten minutes to find her."

I looked around wildly. "What? How? What kind of—?"

He cut me off again, this time with a firm look. "You will find her if, and only if, you can suppress three things. Your anger, your fear, and your desperation. They will cloud your senses, mislead your path, and strip you of your gift, but if you keep them out, the path will open."

I stared at him, my breath stuck in my throat.

"If you allow even one of those emotions to rise, the path will shut you out completely, and believe me, you won't be able to find her, and she will be lost forever."

He turned and began walking away, and I started after him, shouting, "Wait! You can't be serious! This isn't fair—!"

My voice cracked, but then I stopped mid-sentence, realizing I was already beginning to unravel.

Damn it.

I took a deep breath, then another, and another again. "Calm down, Electra," I mentally told myself. "If you lose it now, it's over before it even starts."