Ashes of Love and War - TodoMomo

||Chapter 17 ~ Part 1||

Momo opened her eyes to the roar of a raging inferno. Suffocating heat surrounded her, stinging her nose and throat.

Coughing, she covered her mouth and stepped back. Smoke filled the air. Ash and cinders swirled around her like scarlet fireflies, flickering brightly.

Momo squinted through the fumes. The houses lining the street were ablaze. Crackling, bright red flames licked off of their wooden roofs, painting the moonless night sky a deep crimson.

Despite the searing heat, Momo felt a cold shiver pass through her.

Where was she?

She straightened and looked around, but the street was deserted. There were no signs of any of the inhabitants.

She was alone.

Her chest tightened. Momo swallowed thickly and wracked her mind, but she couldn't recall what had happened or how she had come to be there. It was as though she had drunk from the river Lethe and lost all her memories.

Behind her, there was a sudden groan. It began as a creak caught in the wind which crescendoed into a roaring cavalcade of wooden embers as the roof of the nearest building collapsed.

Momo shrunk back as searing heat and sparks sprayed out, stinging her skin. Her heart stuttered. She couldn't stay there. It wasn't safe. She needed to get away.

Turning, Momo fled down the street, hoping the path she followed would lead her to safety.

The thick cloud of smoke grew denser as fumes billowed out of the doors and windows of the houses she passed. Her chest rattled as smoke tainted her lungs and stung her eyes.

There was something about the burning city that felt horribly familiar. Momo felt she should know why — but she couldn't remember that either. Every time she reached for the memory, it was as if haze shrouded her mind.

Unease curled in Momo's chest. She pushed herself harder, willing her legs to move faster in search of shelter from the suffocating heat. She needed to find a safe place to rest, collect her thoughts, and figure out what was happening.

Momo continued down the empty streets and back alleys. The city was eerily quiet; aside from the crackle of burning wood and flames, there were no voices of panic. No sounds of frightened animals or crying children. It was as if Momo was the last person in the city.

"Hello...Is anyone there?" Momo called out, her voice rough from the smoke.

There was no answer.

Anxiety crawled through Momo as though tiny spiders were scurrying across her skin. It was as though the citizens had simply vanished, whisked away by the gods, leaving Momo behind.

Alone.

Her heartbeat quickened. Why had she been left behind? Had she done something wrong?

She didn't want to be alone.

Momo stopped in the middle of the street. Biting her lip, she swallowed back a choked whimper and dropped her head. Covering her face, Momo squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the dark thoughts of terror seeping through her consciousness.

She needed to get control of herself. Now wasn't the time to be panicking.

Momo took a steadying breath. The sting of the smoke burned her lungs, lessening the anxiety coursing through her, somewhat.

If she calmed down and thought about the situation logically, nothing made sense. No god — even Zeus — was powerful enough to whisk an entire population away. Which meant that there must be a reasonable explanation as to why no one was around. And, even if everyone had decided to leave of their own will, she wouldn't have been left behind. Tokoyami wouldn't have left her behind...

Tokoyami!

Momo jerked her head up, throat tightening. Where was Tokoyami? What if he'd been hurt and needed –

Her thoughts broke off.

She was no longer standing in the middle of a deserted street.

The world had morphed.

A grand plaza lay before her. At the other end, a large limestone temple burned brightly. Even as flames danced off of the roof, the structure was impressive. Its scorched pillars, once white, stood as tall as eight grown men standing on top of one another's shoulders. At the top pediment, gods and heroes had been sculpted into great scenes of battle.

The hair on the back of Momo's neck stood on end as it dawned on her where she was. This was the temple of Apollo.

She was back in Troy.

Momo curled her hands into fists at her side. She must be going insane. How was it that she was back here? The city had been destroyed by the Greeks. Momo had seen it burned and plundered herself, so what was she doing back?

Her breath caught in her throat. Momo clamped a hand over her mouth as suddenly the memories spilled back through her mind like a ferocious wave.

Overhaul.

Phobias.

The God of Nightmares.

Momo swayed on her feet as realization struck her. This must be a dream. The God of Nightmares had cast some sort of magic to trap her and keep her docile so that she couldn't cause trouble as he lured Todoroki into battle.

Todoroki...

Momo swallowed thickly and dropped her hand to curl over her chest at the last memory she had of the Spartan. His startling heterochromatic gray and blue eyes had been wide and terrified, promising he'd come for her.

'This is all your fault.' A sickly sweet voice hissed.

Momo whipped around, raising her hand to strike.

But no one was behind her.

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. Momo dropped her hand and stepped back, scanning her surroundings.

The voice had been horribly familiar, like one of her sister priestesses who had subjected Momo to abuse back in Troy. But that couldn't be possible; everyone was either dead or captured. There was no way any of the priestesses could be here, in this dream.

Momo licked her lips, and she forced herself to straighten. The voice must be a side effect of Overhaul's power, something to distract and control her from interfering with his objective.

She drew in a steadying breath. In truth, even though Todoroki had promised to come for her, Momo knew it would be difficult for him. The large stymphalian who had attacked earlier were the Teppodama Hassaishu, the alphas of the stymphalian. And with the orphanage under attack and in need of assistance, they didn't have time to wait.

It was up to her to find a way out by herself.

'Conceited girl. What can someone like you do against a god?' A rough voice sneered behind her.

Momo's eyes widened, and she spun around.

But once again, there was no one there.

'It's because of you that everyone is in danger now. If you hadn't let your guard down...'

Her body trembled. Momo grit her teeth to stop herself from quivering. She couldn't let these voices affect her. They weren't real. What she needed to focus on was breaking Overhaul's spell.

All magic, even the kind that was cast by a god, had certain conditions. If she could figure out the God of Nightmare's weakness, she could escape.