The sun was high in the sky and hot on the ground. The spring buds had turned into summer blooms. Children ran and screamed throughout their neighborhoods, chasing each other and playing games. A ball that was thrown too far hit the grass of a field some children were playing in, rolling its way to the sidewalk, only stopping when small hands reached down and grabbed it. The child held the ball to their chest, turning to bring the ball back to the game but stopped, looking down the street.
“HEY! Bring it back!” A friend called out. The child nodded slowly, still looking down the street. Frustrated, the other children ran up to the lone child, one of them about to snatch the ball away but their eyes saw what the other saw.
In the heat waves that bounced off the asphalt, a golden aura shimmered as it made its way down the street. The children stood in awe as the procession of people dressed in linen decorated with gold coins, gold rings, gold tassels. The people were covered in the linen from head to toe, small mesh windows covered their faces. Their faces were also adorned in gold jewelry and makeup, lips glistening like wet gold bars in the sunlight. The taller children noticed that the people in the center of the procession were holding umbrellas as yellow as a sunflower above someone other than themselves. As the procession of maybe fifty people walked past, the taller children saw glimpses of the person in the middle of the umbrellas. One saw a golden set of eyes, another saw lips as red as rubies, the last one saw skin as dark as the universe.
The child with the ball had long since dropped it as curious eyes watched the procession pass, the ball rolling between feet and gently tapping the foot of the person in the center. The group came to a halt when the person in the middle of the procession stopped walking. Like automatic doors, the people close to the children opened up, bowing their heads, their robes jingling as they did so, allowing the figure in the middle to walk through them and to the children.
The children’s awe turned into fearful curiosity as this tall woman approached them, the ball seeming small in her gold tipped fingers. She had hair that went down to her knees, bangs covering her eyes. Her lips were the color of the ripest strawberries, teeth whiter than paper as she smiled at the smallest child, bending down in her elegant attire. She had scars on her chest, small round things that looked like braille, more showing in the dress with a neckline down her to her belly button. She held the ball out to the small child.
“Did you drop this?” she asked, her voice smooth like an ice skater on peanut butter. The child nodded slowly, gently taking the ball from her hands.
“Thank you,” they whispered back, the other children nodding and saying thank you in hushed tones as well.
She smiled more, the glint in her gilt pushing through her bangs. She slowly stood up, her entourage fixing her clothes and covering her back up with the umbrellas.
“What’s your name?” one of the children asked, the brave question shaking in nervousness. She smiled again; her teeth hidden between her lips.
“They call me Sol,” she responded, before disappearing in her procession.
The children watched the group as they continued their walk towards the outskirts of town.
In a dark, cool room, Sol stood in the middle of the room, naked as the day she was born. The scars covered a majority of her body but none on her face. She pushed her bangs back, gold catlike eyes looking at the people surrounding her.
“My beautiful children,” she bellowed, a small smirk dancing on her lips. “It’s been a long time, has it not?” A scream was heard from another room that seemed to get progressively louder. She chuckled, placing a hand on her chest.
“My Solisans, it’s come to my attention that one of you wishes to do me harm.”
The people looked up at her, in shock, mumbling to each other and themselves.
“O Golden One!” a follower called out, throwing themselves at her feet. “We would never!”
“I know, my sweet,” she cooed, like a parent comforting their child. “It was someone who brought you all to me,” she continued. “This person planned to usurp me, planned to take you all away from me, your Comet. But fear not my lovelies, I found the rat who planned to kill me.”
The crowd gasped in horror, some of them sobbing. The screams from before were rolled into the room; a woman in her 40s was struggling against the straps that held her in place on a gurney.
“PLEASE, LET ME GO, IT WAS ALL FOR SOL, MY COMET, MY LOVE,” she pleaded, eyes and face red from screaming and straining against her restraints.
A vicious smile stretched across Sol’s face as she watched her loyal followers undo the straps onto the gurney, tossing the woman at her feet. The woman looked up at her leader, tears cleaning the dirt and blood off her bruised face.
“Stand. Tell me what you planned to do.” The smile didn’t leave Sol’s face, eyes sharper than daggers fresh from a whetstone.
The woman slowly stood up, terrified. Sol towered over her, feeling the leader’s eyes undress even further. Both women stood naked in front of each other. The shaking woman took a deep breath, gathering her composure. As she opened her mouth to speak, her dark eyes grew wide, a small squeak leaving her throat. She looked down at her torso, trying to scream. Sol’s golden fingers to her elbow were covered in blood and viscera. They were at eye level at the moment. The woman looked up into Sol’s cat eyes, a final tear dropping from her cheek as blood started to trickle from her mouth.
“I–” was all she could say before Sol lifted the woman’s body above her head, blood racing down her arm and pooling at her feet. Sol looked up at her, a sound from a beast from hell left her gut, the deep laugh putting fear into her followers. With her free hand, Sol reached up and sliced the woman in half from her torso to her head. Blood rained down onto Sol like a hot shower, specks of meat landing on her hair. She continued to laugh as the blood and meat of her former follower dripped and trickled around her.
“HE WHO DECIDES TO FUCK WITH ME WILL END UP JUST LIKE THIS WHORE HERE. DO NOT TRY TO TEAR DOWN MY LINEAGE, MY LEGACY, BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN ALIVE LONGER THAN YOUR GODS. I WILL END YOUR SHORT LIFE AS FAST AS YOUR FATHER CAME INTO YOUR MOTHER’S WOMB. I AM SOL, THE COMET OF THE APOCALYPE, AND NONE WILL STAND IN MY WAY.“
Robin's Writings 