Demi-God: The Lost

Twenty-Eight

"You can't bring that demon child here!" Shouting inside can be heard throughout the entire building. And yet Flynn is sitting outside rather than in there defending himself.

"That child is not a demon! He is the child of Persephone! Not the child of Hades! Do not condemn him for his blood!" Flynn sighs and rests his elbows on his legs and his chin in his palms.

The arguing has been going on since they got here. Flynn wasn't allowed in since he's 'a demon child'. "You got kicked out too huh?" A girl plops down next to him, her legs swinging back and forth.

"Huh?" She's slightly younger than Flynn. Her pale skin flawless with no marks at all.

"Well..You're sitting outside so I kinda assumed you weren't allowed in.." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Her eyes are a really light brown with a speck of pink in them. Her hair is matching with a strawberry tint to it.

"Oh. Uh, yeah. They didn't let me in. Called me a demon child and stuff like that." Her eyes widened.

"You too?" She jumps off the chair, fixing her short flowery pink dress before standing tall with a smile on her face. "They call me a demon child too. It's not very nice but I got used to it." Flynn stares at her, her features are similar and the smile on her face resembles grandpa so much.

"What's your name?" The image of the old man from before filling his mind. The smile on her face gets bigger.

"Marra!" His heart drops.

"Marra Eternalis." Desmos leans close to Flynns ear, "Your little sister." The voice rings in his head. Desmos wasn't kidding.

"What's your last name?" The words are dry in his throat. The little girl, Marra, stares up at the ceiling in thought.

"Ummm, I don't know!" She moves to be between Flynn's knees and kisses him on the cheek. She wraps her arms around his neck and hangs like a child.

"What about your name?" Flynn stands up, Marra letting go and falling on her butt.

"Flynn. Flynn Eter-" The doors swing open and out storms a group. A grumpy old man at the front of it. Once his eyes lock on Flynn he sends the meanest glare he could muster before storming out of the building.

The skeleton from before walks out of the room and over to the two. With a deep sigh he brushes his fingers through his hair. "Well that was somethin'." Flynn looks back at Marra but she's gone.

"Huh? Where did she go?" Flynn looks around for a moment.

"Who?" Flynn looks back at the man. Now that he's in light it's easier to see some more noticeable features. The guy has rough skin, likely from all the years of being in Asphodel, his hair is deep chestnut brown, his eyes a matching caramel.

A scratchy beard has formed along his jaw and the human side of his body is littered with wounds. Whereas the other side of his body is entirely bones. A few stray pieces of skin and muscles keeping them together.

"Um. The little girl." The man looks around and scratches his head. "She just disappeared." Flynn looks at the group of men leaving the building. "Why do they call me a demon child?" He doesn't get a response for a while.

"Follow me." He walks out of the room, a small limp on his dead side. Flynn follows him outside and back towards the bridge.

"You see kid, this wasn't always the world of Asphodel. When I first arrived it was much different. It was more of a neutral place and less of a hell." Once they reach the border, just on the edge of the light he points to the opposite end of the bridge.

"That were the bridge of Wander. This were the city of the Lost, before it was enveloped by darkness. Back then only the Damned was submerged in death. The lost city was somewhere we could all gather an' search for ourselves." Flynn glances down at the road where the light ends. It's slowly moving towards Flynn. It's so slow it doesn't look like much but the end result matters more than anything.

"The Lost city was amazin'. A grand city with life. That bridge connected all of Asphodel, the Damned to the Lost and the Lost to the Redeemed." He places a hand on Flynns shoulder, "That all changed when Hades pulled away. He didn't just abandon Tartarus. He abandoned us all. Left his Nightmares to invade and take our souls." Flynn stares at the bridge.

"Hades is to blame for this. And I'm his wife's kid." The skeleton nods firmly. "That's why I'm called a demon child." Flynn whispers.

"Flynn. You need to know somethin'. It's important-" A scream cuts him off. On the other side of the bridge, a group rushes out of the tunnel and onto the stoney old structure. It's two boys and a girl. Behind them chase a group of Nightmares.

"Please! Help!" One of them shouted. Flynn quickly darts into the darkness, wanting to rush to help.

"No!" The skeleton cries, grabbing Flynn's arm and yanking him back into the light. "You can't!" Flynn whips around and rips his arm free.

"Why not!?" He freezes at the look of pain and sorrow in the man's eyes.

"Because they will die anyway. The city of the Lost is dying, Flynn. It's over. The more people who come the more that will die with it. If you go and fail you'll be devoured by the nightmares. You'll never go home Flynn." The light starts to inch away, darkness slowly creeping up Flynn's body.

"It grows faster with every person who walks in." Flynn glances down at the reseeding light.

"Then I'll fix it. I will fix it!" Flynn pulls his arm away again. "I can't abandon them if there's even the smallest chance that they could survive." Without a response he bolts for the bridge.

"Please!" One of the boys calls as the Nightmares grow closer. The bridge under the female breaks and she crumbles to the ground. One of the boys stops and tug at her arm in a desperate attempt to free her.

Flynn reaches them quickly at the halfway point, the Nightmares now only a yard away. With a deep breath he grabs the girl's arm and with the help of the other boy pulls her out of the hole. "Run!" He shouts, pointing to the city. Both of them hesitate, the screeching of the Nightmares now almost on them.

"Now!" They flinch and bolt for the city. Flynn chases not far behind. Almost at the bridge. They're so close.

The three make it to the bridge, just as Flynn makes it the Nightmare stops at the edge of darkness and light. Blood drips from its jaws covering the stone in a deep red color. Flynn turns around and looks at the Nightmare. While the other ones are leaving that one stays and huffs a bunch of warm air at Flynn.

"That was close. Are you okay?" Flynn turns around, pulling his eyes from the terrifying gaze of the Nightmare.

Everyone takes a large step back, their eyes still glued to the creature. "Why is it still here?" Someone in the crowd a few feet behind mutters.

"Flynn, move away from it!" Skeleton man reaches his hand out to try and grab Flynn. His hand doesn't make it close enough before Flynn realizes the sunlight had been receding faster. And now his back was exposed to the dark.

"Flynn!" He shouts, the Nightmare grabbing hold of Flynn's shirt and yanking him into the darkness. He can't make out a single sound, his throat running dry, his eyes filled with emptiness of black. The sound of his name being the last thing before it goes quiet.