I couldn’t even hear what Virgil was saying. His voice was raspy and thin, and quiet. But all I could hear was ringing in my ears, as I looked at the yellowed photograph.
I was three, just before my fourth birthday. It was cold then. I was wearing a long white dress and thick woollen cloak, my hair out and wavy. Hugging my grandfather’s leg was a little boy. He was wearing loose pants and a loose top, along with his own cloak. He looked nervous and Papa and I were smiling ear to ear. That little boy.
“Cujo…” I whispered under my breath. He was going with his parents on a trip to Canada. Atlas told me they never came back. It was the last photo we took together.
“I’m sorry?”
“Nothing. My grandfather…” I said, trying to sound normal, but my voice was strained as I tried to focus and not let my mind wander back to that day.
“He wanted me to tell you he loves you very much. And the one who killed him is close to your father… does that mean something?”
It did.
“No.”
I pocketing the photo. “Go home, enjoy the new year…”
‘you have a home to return to’ I murmured as I turned on my heel and dissolved into water letting myself melt away.
The snow fell gently down to the city below. I let my feet dangle over the buildings side. An office building. I heard the door to the roof open behind me.
I knew who it was. She didn’t say a word just came to sit by my side. Fair cool skin, long split hair, the right side was neon green, and the left was black. There was a long-jagged scar on her left side, from her untimely fall from a cliff in our homeland. Her purple eyes were dull, and dark like amethysts her pupils were white, and my sister was dead. Well, almost. Her heartbeat was low, if not for that which inhabits her she’d surely be dead.
“By the gods’ sister, do you wish to stand before the judges of the Duat so soon?” She said, placing a coat around my shoulders and sat by my side.
“No… just wasn’t cold,” I said staring at the photo Virgil had given me. I rubbed my thumb over his face, my hair spilling over my shoulders and blowing in the wind.
There was a silence. She stared at me with her amethyst eyes. They were dull. I found the Ankh pendant around her neck humorous. A champion of Anubis who cannot die, nor can they fully live. She put her icy hands on mine and smiled. Her mouth filled with sharp teeth.
“Pandora, something is troubling you isn’t it?”
I nodded and handed her the photo. She stared at it. “papa… he looks so happy, aww look at you; you were happy too,” she smiled, wiping her eyes devoid of tears. I didn’t know if she could still cry. “Oh, and Cujo; you three would always play hero’s mum, got so annoyed when you’d come home covered in dirt.”
She gave the photo back to me. “What happened that night wasn’t your fault you know,” she whispered.
“Yeah… but everyone believes that it was and going home would be suicide.
Mariana wrapped her arms around my shoulders. She was so cold. We just both sat in comfortable silence. We don’t need to say much to each other. We are family and that’s enough we are all the other has.
The day we were reunited she wept and held me so tight I swore she broke my ribs. I didn’t complain. I held her just as tight and cried. Four days she didn’t let me go, she stayed close just in case I disappeared again. Finally, Grimm convinced her to let me be. To let me have some privacy.
I wished I got that chance with the others. My sibling back on homeland. To give them all a big hug and never let them go. I held Mariana tighter.
“I miss home…” I sighed.
“So let go,” Mariana said. I let her go and stared at her.
“You’re kidding right? I go home I die! I’m wanted for murder!”
“That you didn’t commit Panni!”
“You think that will stop them?”
“No… but we can try. You can see home again.”
“Mari…”
“Please let me take you home, you won’t even know it name I promise.”
I wanted to say no, but her puppy dog eyes were too hard to deny. I sighed and smiled.
“Fine… take me home.”
The wind picked up, and Mariana’s smiled became unnerving. Her face ripped; and seemed to be cover in static. She looked like she was burning from the inside out; with the colours of a super nova. Her eyes became completely white, and the world around me shifted into a cold one, filled with sand and grey clouds. As soon as it had arrived it was gone, and we were sat, on a beach, the water soaking our clothes.
The night here was warm, and I could hear Scada’s buzzing in the trees. Behind up there was the lights of a city. It was beautiful. The architecture was ancient; and the entire place was lite by fire.
Mariana laughed in delight.
“HOME!” she cried and took off running. I was relucted. I looked at the photo of Papa and remembered what Papa told Virgil. His killer was someone close to my Father… I took a deep breath and took off after her.
We stopped running outside a dinning pavilion. I could hear celebrations. A party.
Four people sat at the head table. They were smiling. Around them people sang and clapped at they blew out candles on a cake. It was a birthday party. Two adults gave them a big hug, as the crowd cheered.
“Mum, dad…” Mariana whispered. My heart sank. It was a birthday… our birthday. I turned on my heels and took off running down the streets. They were made of large stones, like the old Roman roads. I didn’t stop running even when I heard a commotion from the direction I had come.
I felt like throwing up. I couldn’t face them, but I could find the station. I turned a corner and ran towards a dense forest. I didn’t stop to look where I was going and tripped falling into a river. I climbed out of the depths and was dragged onto the shore.
I saw a large dark shape loom over me. As my vision cleared I could see it more clearly.
‘you are a fool,’ Aztec chided as I sat up. He licked my face as I sat shivering on the shore. I was regretting my decision to come here.
“Yeah… let’s find Mariana and—”
I couldn’t even finish the sentence before my whole world went black, and I tumbled back into the river…
I hear waves crashing agents rocks, pummelling them, into the sand, and sediment. I could smell the ocean and feel the sea breeze on my skin. The world around me cleared and I could see the room before me.
It was a grand room. A throne room. The ceiling was high and made of clouded stained glass that cast a water look on the polished obsidian floor. It was cold, and the room was dimly lit. I couldn’t see the walls, around me and the only light came from that clouded window, like a spotlight. I felt like I was floating, but my feet were planted firmly on the ground. I looked back towards the door, it was a high archway, and it was just as dark as the rest of the room, blue glowing runes lined the arch making it stand out from the darkness around it.
When I turned to look at the other end of the room I saw a line of eleven chairs. Thorns. On each end, the throne was covered in a black veil. In the centre sat a man. He held his face in his hands and took unsteady breaths. He was muttering something under his breath I couldn’t quite hear.
The man had tanned skin and steel blue hair in a Nordic style. He wore a simple grey tunic and black pants with a black, blood-red cloak.
My father.
I took off running down the hall. My bare feet slapped the smooth floor of the palace. I didn’t remember these halls, but I just kept running. I had to run. I turned the corner and ran into what I assumed was the exit.
It was the armoury. It was filled with many different types of weapons and armour. They were all polished, shinning and well maintained. On the back wall were four sets of armour.
Three were well used and cared for while the fourth was dusted and uncared for. On the breastplate was the symbol of Styx.
There was a loreal crown, a leather battle skirt, arm braces and knee pads. Long black leggings that left the heels and toes uncovered. The breastplate looks more like a short bulletproof vest made of black metal. Around the waist is a belt of red fabric.
Above the set of armour were two swords. There was black and had a curved single-sided blade. They were Kopis Swords. The handles were carved of ivory and looked like dragon heads. The blades looked old and unloved. Dull and rusted.
I grabbed them off the wall. They weren’t heavy, maybe a kilogram each. They were made of Adamantine and hadn’t been used for centuries. They vibrated in my hands and layers of rust and grime fell away, revealing beautiful twin blades.
I ran past so many people no one showed me any piece of mind, like I didn’t even exist. I just kept running towards the river once again. My body felt light, and my back was killing me. The world became watery and vague. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to see Atlas and have her hold me. I wanted to leave this hell and be home in the cold and bitterness of Black Rose city.
Pain seared in the centre of my back. I felt myself sink into a puddle of water and drift aimlessly amongst the waters of an ever-looming ocean. Had I died? Or was I Dreaming?
I woke up back in my bed my back still in pain. Aztec was sleeping on the ground, and soft light was filtering through my room.
Atlas ran into my room and held be close to her as I tried to steady my breathing, Aztec nuzzled my hand and Artic licked my face.
I looked around my room, and in the corner near my more stood two Kopis blades.
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