2) From Dark To Light

"How can you prove whether at this moment we are all sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?"

-Plato

Well, hello there.

My name is Maya Havoc.

I'm sure you're wondering what happened to me and all that. Well, let me answer you.

A lot.

Too much.

But, here I am, writing this anyway. I don't know why. I got Rhiannon to do the beginning because she actually knew about all that stuff and she did it all dramatically so I hope me taking over at this point isn't awful or something.

Rhiannon just told me that last sentence was extraordinarily awful.

I knew this would be terrible.

Anyways, let me start from where she left off.

The last thing I remember is someone standing in front of me and then white hot pain. It was the sort of feeling you don't forget - white hot, searing pain coursed through my body and even though that was fourteen years ago I remember it like it was yesterday.

Yes, I still have the mark on my neck.

Anyways, I woke up when I was twelve years old. My Grandma (Minerva) had been told several times that I was as good as dead, but she wouldn't pull the plug and then one day she walked into the room and I was sitting up and asking her where the heck I was.

Losing ten years of your life is really, really hard.

I was a twelve year old girl with the mind of a toddler for a while, but I was forced to learn fast, and learn fast I did. I didn't go to school. Minerva (she hated being called 'Grandma.' Said it made her feel old) told me exactly what I was - I was the combination of four Souls, and I had been marked for something unexplained to me. She said she didn't know either; every time I went out in public (which wasn't often) I'd have to cover up the burn to make it look like some gang tattoo. If asked, I did tell people I belonged to a cult.

I often wished I was normal. I mean, Minerva told me that when I turned sixteen, one of the two camps (either Greek or Egyptian) would come get me. Then the other camp would realize that one of their own was missing, and then I'd be taken there or something, effectively starting a Civil War.

I wasn't even normal in the world of "not normal."

So, in short, I spent those four years training with Minerva, fighting cardboard cutouts and learning names of weapons and all the different gods of Greek and Egypt. I was taught how to go through society in a normal way when I had to, to make people believe that I was just a human.

And, oh, right. I had nightmares.

Wow, that sounds so cliché. Like, I don't want it to, but every single time I fell asleep I would always have nightmares. Minerva knew about them, but it's not like she could help. They were always the exact same, too, mirrors of the one I had the night before.

It always started in the dark. Then my neck would start to itch, right on the spot where I'd been branded. I would just keep standing there, unable to scratch my neck. It would be a while before I would realize that I couldn't move. That was when the fear would set in. Paralyzing terror would take over my entire body and I'd find myself screaming, and things would start hissing at me and then I'd be falling.

That was when the weird part happened - something would be pressing in my mind when I started falling, if that makes sense, and a voice would start to slither inside my brain saying things like "Just give in, let me win, you can't beat me."

I would always wake up before I hit the bottom of the abyss.

I didn't know what happened if I stopped falling, or if I let the voice in.

I didn't want to know.

But, anyways, now that you know the just of who I am, I'm going to jump to this year. I was sixteen at the time, patiently waiting for one of the camps to take me.

What else could I do?

The thing that gets me every time was that it was broad daylight.

Maybe that's why I wasn't expecting it - the monster literally jumped me in the morning, when the sun was at its highest, as if it would somehow get the advantage of surprise.

Oh, damn. I'm going ahead of myself.

There's a few things I need to talk about first.

I lived in a small house Minerva had moved us to, still fairly close to the city, but just close enough to the outskirts so we didn't have any neighbours that would wonder about all the weapons and ancient artifacts.

On that particular day, I woke up, opened my window to air my room out, stretched, and then listened to Minerva's screaming.

She didn't…me and her didn't really get along too well. During our training sessions, it was fine, but when I just needed to talk to her, to let her know exactly how I felt sometimes, she was never there. She always told me not to rely on anybody, to be my own person, and just to harden up.

It was good advice, of sorts, but I was only a teenager who was destined to destroy the world. Maybe I'd accepted my fate, but I still needed some support. Sometimes, it's only healthy to need someone.

"Maya! Get out here! You've overslept again! Do you seriously think the demons will let you sleep in and then attack? Get out here now before I go in there and drag you out myself!"

Sometimes I wondered why she didn't pull the plug on me during those ten years.

It wasn't like I had a choice, though. Trying to muster up any dignity I possibly could, I threw on a loose set of clothes and walked out of my bedroom, almost ramming right into one very ticked off Minerva.

"About time! Do you know what I was about to do?" she sighed, exasperated.

"Drag me out?" I guessed, sliding past her and pouring myself a glass of water.

"Exactly." She sighed again, turning to stare at me with her piercing blue eyes. "You know, the fate of the world depends on you, child. You've got to smarten up."

"Sorry I slept," I muttered, sitting down on a stool by the kitchen counter. "Maybe it's your fault for overworking me yesterday."

"Sending you out on a run is overworking you?" she hissed, stepping closer, but I wasn't afraid of her. She'd taught me too much - I could take her down in a heartbeat. Also, she didn't even have any powers of a Soul anymore; she'd given them up when she gave birth to my mom, like every Soul did.

"No," I said, in between gulps of water, "We had back-to-back three hour training sessions, and then you sent me on a 5k run, which isn't much, granted, but afterwards you made me do an hour of aerobics and even though it was nearing midnight we still had to do the evening stretches."

Minerva didn't speak for a moment, and that's how I knew I was in serious trouble.

"Do you even have any idea the amount of pressure you've been placed under?" she seethed suddenly, only amounting to the anger building in my chest. "You are the only thing bringing the downfall of the world, and thus, you must be the only thing to save it! You have to be ready! Do you have any idea of the sacrifices I've made for you? I've kept you safe! After all this time, do you really think I need-"

"Yes," I said suddenly, not looking at her, because if I did I wouldn't be able to form a sentence. Minerva had that effect on people.

"What?" she snapped, annoyed I'd interrupted her rant.

"I have a very good idea of all the pressure I'm under, seeing as I'm the one under it," I said, in the same soft tone. I wasn't normally like this. I normally shouted at her, screamed at her and then went on a run to cool my nerves.

Maybe I was just tired of doing it day after day.

I've always heard that everybody has a breaking point. You just can't keep doing the same terrible thing and be the same, and maybe that day was my breaking point. I kinda wish it wasn't, because it changed a lot, but all I knew was that I was just sick of fighting with her, of screaming everyday just to show her I needed her.

I still do.

"Stop this," she said, but her tone wasn't nearly as scolding. I think she was just as surprised at me as I was.

"And the sacrifices you've made?" I muttered, my thoughts turning darker and darker. "Yeah, you've had it real hard. Maybe you shouldn't have gotten knocked up by Legend in the first place."

"You're scaring me, child."

I was scaring myself.

We sat in silence for a long time, before she finally said, "Happy birthday, Maya."

Sixteen. I was sixteen. The camps would be alerted to my presence and one of them would come get me, and then I'd start a war. I didn't have a choice. It was just another thing that I couldn't control.

Without a word, I got up and walked to the door of the house. I needed out. I didn't know where, I didn't know how long, but I just needed out.

"Where are you going?" she exclaimed, her voice rising once again.

"Away," I said, looking at her straight in the eyes for the first time that morning. "I'll be back. Soon. Maybe not. I really don't know."

"Maya-"

I didn't want for her to finish. I just left.

Happy birthday to me.

Yeah, it was uncalled for, blah, blah, blah.

I do regret it.

I walked for a long, long time, taking numerous buses and taxis until I found myself in the heart of the city. I still didn't know where I was going, so I wandered into the nearest coffee shop and ordered the largest drink they have with the largest amount of caffeine. The barista looked at me strangely when she handed me my order, but all I said was, "It's been a bad birthday." She nodded then, as if that suddenly made everything else make sense.

I wandered down the street for a little longer before making up my mind. I'd go see Rhiannon.

I think I mentioned her before, and now is a good time to talk about her. We met about two years ago, when I was taking a walk through the city for the first time. It was almost midnight, and Minerva said it would be good experience to kill any monsters (or injure any humans) that jumped me. I'd only killed one monster, a sort of snake creature, when another one attacked.

I would've beaten it - between my fighting skills and the magic I possessed, I definitely could've come out on top. But instead, just as I was about to deliver a blow, Rhiannon stabbed it in the heart, killing it before me.

So, naturally, I tried to kill her, figuring that she was some sort of monster that preyed upon other monsters. The thing was she didn't fight back, not once. She let me pin her to the ground, and just as I was about to deliver the killing blow, she laughed.

I don't know why her laugh stopped me, but it just sounded so carefree that I hesitated one second too long, and she swept me off my feet and pinned me to the ground.

"Who are you?" I had spat at her.

"That's not a nice welcome," I remembered her saying. "The name's Rhiannon. Spirit of Poseidon, I'll have you know." Vaguely, I realized "Spirit" was the name for Souls that the Greeks had come up with, Egyptians calling their Souls "Sacreds."

It was extremely unlikely that I'd find another Soul in the same city, so unlikely that I hadn't believed her, and it wasn't until she'd started listing off mythology and fighting techniques that no normal person would know that she changed my mind. Then I decided to stop trying to kill her and let her talk in peace.

She was indeed the Spirit of Poseidon, her dad being the previous Spirit and her mom being a regular mortal, just like how it was supposed to go. Back at that age, when we were fourteen, our magical abilities hadn't quite developed yet. I could run really fast and I could see slightly farther than normal, but that was about all. So, when she tried to double prove herself by summoning water out of the air, she failed, and I…

Well, I laughed at her.

After that, I soon discovered that she was a sassy, cocky, overconfident person with a surprising soft side. We understood each others' struggles, and even when we knew we had to part, we regretted doing so. It was nice to be able to just rant, you know?

I told Minerva once I'd gone back home and killed the number of monsters she wanted me to, and before I had even said three sentences about Rhiannon I was told never to go back. Minerva told me that she'd be a "bad influence" and that I needed time to "learn on my own."

Naturally, I didn't listen.

The next time we met each other was when I was doing some shopping for Minerva the next day - I waited in the same alley for her to show up, and surprisingly, she did. Her dad had forbidden her to talk to me, too, because for some reason we'd just be a distraction, a liability.

But both of us knew we wouldn't be able to stop talking. We had too much to share, and she was damn curious about the burn on my neck. So we'd meet up in the same grocery store, the same library, the same street, slipping notes into each others' pockets, reading them in solitude.

She was the only one who knew about the fact I was a "Broken - Soul" and marked by Cronus, and for some reason she didn't kill me. Well, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that she didn't 'cause I didn't really want to die, even if it would've been easier for everybody.

In a sense, what I'm trying to tell you is Rhiannon was my best friend. Always will be.

As I made my way to the outside of the apartment complex I knew she lived in, the thought that it was my sixteenth birthday today replayed itself over and over again in my mind. This might be the end of the world. There was already such a huge divide, and now that they'd be alerted to my existence…because of their fighting, the mortals would receive profound effects in their world. And many Souls would die - and if a Soul died, all of the knowledge was lost. Hell, if I died, then nobody would know how to hunt (I mean animals hunting other animals. Our domains affect them, too. I am totally against cannibalism) or be merciful, be independent or trust. As minor as that sounds, the outcome would be huge.

Maybe that's why I stayed alive.

I gazed up at the twenty story apartment building in front of me. Rhiannon lived on the tenth floor, in room 107, but I knew I couldn't go up there. I just waited in the alley beside the building, hoping she'd see me out her window.

I think I waited there for a solid half hour before deciding I should just leave, when the monster jumped me.

And that is how I ended up being almost beaten by a Manticore.

I know you're tired of me blabbing on about stuff, but I should probably explain about monsters, too. Monsters never died like the gods did. Their only goal is to hunt the gods, and because the gods were gone, they hunt Souls. It's all fine (well, it isn't, but you understand what I mean) except that, when you kill a monster, it doesn't really die. It explodes into a thin vapour, which then spreads across the air for days, weeks, sometimes years before finding a Host.

A Host is a human (normally weak-minded) which a monster will inhabit. It's sort of like possession - the human doesn't want to be a Host, normally; the monster just enters the body and takes over. When the creature wants to attack, the human skin will literally morph into the monster's regular appearance. So, in the case of a Centaur, the human form will jump you, and then the legs will turn into horse feet and horse hooves with no real warning and you'd be able to tell what you're up against.

Some monsters don't even need humans. Charybdis, for example, only needs a large body of water (with angry tides) to form. Panes require an area with dense forestry, and Hippocampi need calm seas or lakes. Most of the time, those kinds of creatures are peaceful, but there are the odd few that still attack you with the force of an element. Hardest to kill, in my opinion.

It's a pretty good system, I'll give them that, but there's one catch. Every Host has a Tell. It's a rule. You can't get away from it. Have you ever seen someone who just doesn't look quite right, and maybe they have a deformation that you've never seen? Chances are, they're a monster. The human may not have had this "deformity" to begin with, but they just acquire it the moment they become a Host. Continuing with the Centaur example, those Hosts have trouble walking, and are quite often on crutches. If you can spot a Tell, you can tell what monster is there and kill it or run away before they can even attack.

I knew it was a Manticore that had jumped out of the shadows due to the spiky tail it had already grown (not that I would've been able to tell any other way. A Manticore's Tell is the fact that they can't sit down. Yep, Tells can be that hard) and before I could roll out of the way a spike launched itself from the tail and landed right in my arm. Pain exploded through my body as the Manticore began to change, its upper body becoming a lion and the tail growing longer.

"Shit!" I cried, attempting to roll out of the way of the beast's oncoming pounce, but the spike had gone straight through my arm and into the wall behind me. I couldn't move my arm without a tearing pain slicing through my nerves, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway - I was so naïve I didn't even think to bring a weapon.

Suddenly the Manticore darted forwards, each of its hands next to my face. Both of our breathing was heavy as spots suddenly danced in my vision. "You're different," it muttered, its voice thick and slow, definitely inhuman. "I could smell you a mile away, but up close…"

For once, I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't like it. "I showered this morning," I protested, annoyed at the fact my voice seemed to be getting weaker. Blood oozed out of my wound, but it wasn't that bad…right?

"Ah," it suddenly said, taking one finger (or, claw, I should say) and sliding it down my cheek. I tried to look away from him, but his other hand cupped my face. "Sweet sixteen, is it? I bet this isn't what you had in mind…"

"Kill me now," I hissed, the ache in my shoulder going to a dull throb. I didn't know how long it was before I lost consciousness, but even if I didn't, the Manticore would kill me anyways. There was no way out of this.

Maybe it was better destroying half of the world instead of all of it.

"Is that any way to talk?"

The voice I'd been waiting for echoed down the alley, causing the beast to turn and stare at the source. Rhiannon was casually leaning against the wall of her apartment complex, her favourite knife in her hand.

"Two?" the Manticore gasped, almost giddy. "In the same place? This is a wonder."

Rhiannon just grunted in response. "You know, I really, really hate Manticores," she said as she moved closer, brandishing her weapon. "Always with the flair for the dramatic side. Can't you just keep it simple?"

"I-"

The Manticore didn't get to reply. With speed only a Soul could possess, she threw her knife right at its head and it dissolved into smoky vapour, vanishing into the air. Her knife clattered to the ground, no trace of blood on it. That's the only part that gets me - the no-blood-on-your-knife thing. It's kinda weird.

Rhiannon picked her knife up from the ground and then walked over to me. "You're one to talk about drama," I muttered as she wrapped her hands around the spike, still in my arm.

"Yeah, well, fight fire with fire and all that," she chuckled. "This'll hurt." Without giving me any more warning than that, she yanked the spike straight out of the wall and out of my arm, and then threw it across the alley, letting it roll away. I let out a gasp of pain and relief. It hurt way more than I was letting on, but Minerva had trained me to take control of my pain, and I wasn't going to show Rhiannon how weak I was.

"Thanks," I said, putting a hand on the wall to steady myself. The spots in my vision were growing more persistent but I would stay awake - I couldn't collapse here, in the alley…in front of Rhiannon.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sheathing her knife. "You live incredibly far away. This isn't safe."

"It's my sixteenth, Rhiannon," I said slowly. She looked straight at me, realization dawning in her eyes. She knew exactly what that meant. "Minerva and I…had a bit of a falling out this morning. I can't go back."

"Has your mark done anything?" she asked after a moment of silence. All of her arrogance was gone. Rhiannon was like that - she presented a layer of sassiness to the world, but if you got past that, she was quite soft spoken.

"No," I said quickly. The burn never did anything at all - except show Cronus had a plan for me.

"Well, what happens?" she sighed then, throwing her hands up and turning the other way. "They just come and take you? Just like that? What about me?"

"Rhi," I said, trying to calm her down. "We've both known this was coming…and you're sixteen in two months. They'll take you then."

"Maya," she said seriously, sliding her hands through her glossy hair. "This is serious. You're starting a war!"

"I get it's serious!" I cried, and tried to take a step towards her, but a wave of dizziness passed over me and I had to stop. For the first time, I became aware of the warm blood trickling down my right arm. The air suddenly felt too cold to breathe.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked, narrowing her eyes and taking a step forwards.

"Yeah," I whispered, straightening myself. "Yeah, yeah…I'll be fine…"

"This is new."

A new voice, one I didn't know, rang through my ears and I snapped my head towards the sound, focusing my senses as much as possible. A tall girl was standing at the end of the alleyway, a long bow strapped to her back. Her bright red hair was frizzy and stuck out at every angle, and I could see her blue eyes from where I was standing. She looked casual, like she always approached kids she didn't know in alleyways armed with medieval weapons. Hell, maybe she did.

"Who are you?" Rhiannon called, her hand slowly traveling to her knife. Why had she pocketed it? Why hadn't I brought mine? I was an idiot.

"The name's Isabelle," she said, taking another step forwards. Something about this girl seemed off, familiar, even. "Call me Izzy."

"I don't know if I want to call you anything," Rhiannon protested, taking a step forwards as well. I, on the other hand, stayed exactly where I was. Fainting in front of both of them would be too awkward for even me to handle.

"I came here for Maya," she said, ignoring Rhiannon's hostility. "Although, I didn't know there was another Spirit here. I can sense you."

It made sense, actually. Isabelle was a Soul, sent to collect me on my sixteenth birthday. Since she had called Rhiannon a "Spirit" she was obviously from the Greek camp, and she probably had no idea that Egyptian Sacreds even existed.

"You're…a Spirit?" I asked, coughing slightly. I wanted to say "Soul" but that would've just raised a million questions.

"Pleased to meet you," Isabelle said, shifting her gaze from Rhiannon. "I didn't want to take both of you, but I suppose we'll make do. Can't just leave one of you here."

"Much obliged," Rhiannon snorted, rolling her eyes. It was clear she'd caught on, too.

"And you don't look so good," Isabelle remarked, talking to me once more. I really wanted to know what authority gave this girl the right to act in charge, but I wasn't really in the condition. My head was clouding over and sudden bursts of pain shot through my arm.

"I'm good," I whispered just as Rhiannon came over and grabbed my good arm for support. Unintentionally, I felt myself leaning on her, unable to stand up completely on my own.

"Looks painful," Isabelle commented, digging through her pockets like she couldn't give a care in the world. "Monster attack you?"

"It was a Manticore," Rhiannon shot back, apparently too worried to be sarcastic. "Maya, you look awfully pale…come inside."

"No, I'm taking her to the camp," the new girl interjected, still looking for something in her pockets. "She'll be healed there."

"My place is closer," Rhiannon said, not sparing the time to look at her. "Come on Maya, I know my parents won't like it but we've got medicine…Minerva's too far away."

Finally, with a small "Aha!" the girl pulled a pill out of her pocket. "Swallow this," she instructed, holding it out to me. "It'll help."

"That's unsanitary," Rhiannon objected. "It's been in your pocket, which is probably filled with lint."

"It's not that bad…" Isabelle immediately whispered, looking in her pockets, but then she gathered herself and said, "Trust me, it'll help the wound. Then we'll take you to the camp. I'm sure you've heard of us."

"Spirit of Artemis, reporting for duty…," I muttered. Isabelle put the pill into my hand, much to Rhiannon's distaste.

"Get healed here. Then go to the camp," she kept saying.

"Are you…is Rhiannon coming?" I managed. My vision was tunneling and I knew it was now or never.

"I suppose she has to," was the answer, and although I didn't like how uncertain it was, it was satisfactory.

I could take the pill and destroy the world by going with Isabelle, or I could not take the pill and destroy the world by going with Rhiannon. To be honest, I really couldn't care less.

I swallowed the white pill in one gulp and immediately my vision went black. My knees buckled and Rhiannon's cries of "What have you done?" faded from my ears, and just as I collapsed I couldn't help but wonder if I made the right choice.