Star Beings: Dawn

First blood

"The children's mother was the most extraordinary woman I've ever met in my extremely long life. I truly think I loved her. That was the biggest issue. Creation doesn't particularly love anyone, not like the way I loved Mila. But love, like many things, can be very destructive. All three children were born without the rest of the pantheon's knowledge, and because of that they grew up in relative peace," The god says, staring out the window.
"However, that all changed sometime around Cain's fifteenth birthday. I had made their mother basically immune to her children in order to avoid any accidents when they were young, but I didn't quite think it all the way through. When an animal attacked the four of them in the woods, the children couldn't heal their mother and she died. After that, things quickly went downhill. Cain refused to leave the cabin, and ended up going into what was essentially an angst coma until the end of the war. The other two you already know about thanks to the little crow himself. It was a tragedy, and it broke me. I blamed myself... I still do."
"I'm not listening to your little fucking pity party, get to the damn point."
The god clears his throat, sends a glare my way, and continues on with his story.
"The children are all mine and all different. Cassius, as you've seen, is rebellious yet timid. He fears his sister's wrath and his brother's disappointment. Cain, bless his soul, isn't the brightest, although he truly cares for his siblings above all else. He knows what Corinna is doing is wrong, but he doesn't want to lose her. And Cori... she's angry. Angry at me, angry at her brothers... She's angry at the world. She used the excuse of "this is what destruction wants" in order to ruin lives. She wants to watch worlomands crumble to ash and doesn't care if she goes down with it. She's the epitome of why demigods aren't allowed to exist. Corinna uses her heritage to justify her actions and, no matter how horrific, people fall for it every single time."
I stare at the god. Does he want sympathy? He's not going to get it. He can't complain about his daughter when she acts like how I used to. He can't complain about what his daughter did to herself when it's exactly what he did to me. She made herself a weapon. Destruction and my father both made me a weapon for their war. How blind can he be not to see that?
"If you want me to feel bad for you, you're failing miserably. You're nothing but a hypocrite. So, if you've got nothing else to say," I stand and rush the god, grabbing him by the neck and dangling him about a foot off the ground. He looks more shocked than fearful, but I don't care. I've caught him off guard, and that's all that matters.
"Get. out."

Destruction vanishes from my grasp and my room, leaving me alone once more. In a fit of what feels like rage, I grab and hurl my daggers at the wall, their points tearing through the expensive wallpaper. I look down at my shaking hands and, for a split second, my palms are black as ash, the infection spreading through my veins, devouring my hands, and crawling up my arms. Then I blink and it's gone.
"Oh gods I'm hallucinating," I sigh, pulling my knives from the wall and laying down in bed, both mentally and physically exhausted. I stare up at the ceiling, painted a deep blue with dim, glowing dots representing the constellations above. My eyes begin to slowly shut, the anxieties of the day melting off of me.
"So... tired...."

A day passes with no answer from Leigh. Then a week. Before long it's been almost a month without a single word from her. I spend most of my time around Cori, supervising military training and strategizing for the first true battle of this war. At night, I forward Natalie the plans as well as the sort of fighting style the soldiers seem to be taking on. One day, Corinna bursts into my room bright and early.
"Wake up sleepy head! Get your armor on, because it is murdering time!"
Oh gods she's in character.
"Of course, Corinna," I say calmly, getting out of bed and heading towards the closet. The demigod doesn't leave. Nope, she just stares at me. I turn and glare at her.
"Have you never heard of privacy, your lordship?"
"Oh, right. I'll leave you be..."
She still doesn't leave, much to my displeasure.
"You know... what I said back at the Lunar Gala still stands. About getting drinks sometime?"
I stop dead, gripping on to a sleeveless black turtleneck for dear life.
"Just think about it."
"Of course, Cori."
She finally leaves, and I breathe for the first time in five minutes. I don't want to... but what choice do I have? If I refuse, who knows how she'll react. Not to mention the closer she is to me the less likely it is she'll kill me sooner rather than later.
Once again, I don't have a choice.

I arrive in the planning room about thirty minutes later, my hair in a tight bun. It's grown quite a bit since my little break down. But , I don't want to cut it again. My hair seems to be one of the few things I have control over and I'll do whatever I please with it, dammit.
The three siblings are already there, Cori and Cain both in armor and Cassius in his typical red hoodie.
"As you all know, the troops left a few days ago and should be arriving near the coast relatively soon. They'll begin attacking the port any moment now, and once we get the signal we will teleport over. The goal is to draw out the Star Beings. Once we arrive, go after whoever is nearest to you, whether it be the green one, the blue one, or even the orange one. If all goes well, at least one of the Star Beings will be dead by the time the sun starts to dip below the horizon. Does everyone understand?" Corinna stares at her brothers and I, one eyebrow raised. She responds to our silence with a satisfied grin before rolling up the map that was spread out before her. Then, as if on cue, Corinna freezes and cocks her head, listening to something. I only notice her earpiece when she pulls her hair into a small ponytail, looking far too excited for this fight.
"It's time, friends."

We arrive, and I immediately leap into action, rushing towards the first Star Being I see.
Much to my dismay, that Star Being happens to be DJ.
She swings at me with her hammer, her mouth set in a deep frown. Her eyes give it away, though. She's enjoying this because I'm not her enemy this time. To her, this is more like a sparring session in the gym than anything.
We go back and forth, blocking the other's attacks. At one point, I'm holding back DJ's hammer with my knives, flashing a quick grin at her before someone in the crowd catches my eye. I'm caught off guard, and that gives DJ enough time to promptly shove me on my ass. In a panic, I cover the battlefield in shadow, blinding the majority of soldiers on both sides.
I scramble to my feet and pull DJ close enough to hear me.
"It's a trap, and the attack on the port was bait. Tell Natalie that you ten need to leave, and quickly," with that, I run into the cloud of darkness, searching for that flash of mint green hair I saw earlier.
Where....
"There you are," I whisper, dashing towards a familiar face. I grab the woman and hold her close, relieved that (at the very least) she's alright.
"Anai, let me go."
"I know you're upset, Leigh. Just-"
"I can't do this again, An-" she stops abruptly, looking over my shoulder. She pushes away from me, raising one arm and twisting it slightly. I hear a fleshy snap, and I know all too well what she's done. That's not what's strange. No, what's strange is the fact that Leigh is completely unphased. She isn't breathing heavily, or sweating. She doesn't even stop to compose herself. She doesn't need to.
"How did you do that?"
Leigh freezes, avoiding my eyes.
"Leigh, How did you-"
"I distanced myself from you because I wanted it to hurt less. And yet I still wanted to try and save you. I've started practicing more, gaining more control of my abilities. If I can stop someone from dying, maybe I can cheat death entirely. Maybe you don't have to die! Maybe-"
"Leigh! Calm down!" My friend stops for a moment to collect herself, slowing her breathing.
"Maybe it is better if you keep your distance. You can't escape death, Leigh."
"Hade did! So did DJ, Lane, Natalie, and Damien. Hell, Damien did it THREE FUCKING TIMES!!!"
"Yeah, but there's a fundamental difference there. I'm not a Star Being."
"You're as much as one as the other ten. You're a Star Being.... And you are so much more than that. Don't you get it Anai? I fucking love y-"
Everything goes white, a deafening blast sending me, Leigh, and everyone near us flying.
I open my eyes with a groan, my ears ringing and my entire body screaming in pain. I push myself up, searching for Leigh. The curtain of shadow has cleared, so I find her quickly enough and she is thankfully unscathed. From the look on her face when I crawl up to her, I am not.
"Ani...."
"Are you alright?"
"Just a bit banged up. You however-"
"CALEB!!!!" I hear Damien scream. I look over my shoulder only to see the red Star Being laying face down on the road.
"I think I'm gonna puke..." I mumble.
The sight is horrific. Shrapnel has dug through his shirt and into his back, which is badly burned. His long hair is a smoking mess. Worst of all; his right arm lays about five feet away, the jagged bone sticking out of the end.
Cain beats Damien to the body, standing over with a wide grin on his face.
"One down, nine to g-"
Caleb, who is apparently still VERY alive, jumps to his feet and swings, his fist locking with Cain's jaw and sending him to the ground. I don't realize how strange that is until I notice he punched with his right fist, which is still attached to the arm that is laying limp in the street. Somehow, Caleb managed to regrow his entire arm in seconds. I glance over at Hade in confusion. Is that supposed to be a Star Being thing or a Caleb thing?
"Surprise, bitch."

I turn to Leigh
"Find Hade and leave, now. They can't see me with you."
"But you're-"
"Go!"
Leigh gets up and limps away, leaving me laying on the ground, still partially in shock. I get up slowly, feeling something dig into my shoulder as I do so.
I scan the crowd for Cassius. Instead, I meet eyes with a shocked looking soldier. He saw everything, didn't he?
Fuck.