A New Day

Chapter 21

Athens sat, rocking on her knees. While she had always preferred isolation, to some degree at least, this new feeling of aloneness was making it difficult to even function. She phased from place to place. She found herself on the tops of mountains, on deserted islands, in jungles, and even on glaciers, but she always found herself coming back to the spot where her mother had died. While there was some hope there that her mother was inside of that shell somewhere, trying to figure out how to reach her kept putting Athens up against dead end after dead end. She had chosen Revos over her, but then again, she had chosen Revos to save her. She had killed the last remnants of her family just to prove a point, but then again, she had killed the last remnants of her family to prove her loyalty to Revos. She spent the rest of the day meandering through dualities of thought, trying to find a way to justify what her mother had done. In the end, she couldn't make any more excuses for her. Her mother...A'launa...had done what she had chosen to do. If she had just told her what she was planning on doing, Athens would have done whatever she could to find another way. She had all of this power now, surely the Deity would have helped her somehow. But A'launa hadn't. A'launa is not her mother. A'launa chose Revos. A'launa is a murderer. A'launa is the enemy, and as a result, she must be dealt with, so that her mother could be freed. Athens knew her light could wound her, but she wanted to do more than just wound A'launa. She wanted to kill her.

Athens stood up and wiped her eyes. There would be no more tears. She would pack away her emotion until it was safe to feel again. Thinking about all of this death and senseless destruction would only weigh her down and destroy the peace that she needed in order to battle in the right way. She closed her eyes, as her mother had taught her to do, and did her breathing exercises. She had been hoping that the Deity would come to her again, and provide a blueprint for how to proceed. Instead, she was startled from her meditation from the sound of threatening voices coming her way. When she opened her eyes, there was a great mass of Terrors coming her way. Their black suits and black eyes gave her a start, but then her anger at everything that had happened to her...her family, and her people...pushed any fear aside. She quickly formed the Lumen just as the Terrors were surrounding her. They opened their hands and forced their fingers toward her. Their tendrils of darkness began snaking along the ground toward her feet. Athens swung Lumen toward the ground, and a burst of light flew outward along it, disintegrating the approaching tendrils. The Terrors all pulled back briefly in pain, before a few broke ranks and came at her. She sidestepped the first before thrusting the Lumen into the chest of another encroaching from the back. Then she spun deftly and beheaded the first who had attacked. Watching their comrades be destroyed to quickly gave a few pause, but most of them ran at her together. She swung Lumen freely, sending waves of light at the group, either paralyzing them by bathing them in light, or slicing them in half. She watched as their numbers decreased, but she was getting tired, and there were still more than she could kill by simply having Lumen on her side. Then an idea came to her. Closing her eyes and focusing on the energy required to created the great sword, she began to "see" two swords in her mind. She could feel the weight of them in both of her hands. She noticed that her hands began to burn slightly. She was also aware of the screams of the onrushing Terrors, but her focus had totally shifted now. As the burn in her hands became more and more intense, she pulled her hands apart slowly, feeling strong resistance. What she was attempting to do was insane, but it had to work. She grunted and renewed her strength, pulling against a great weight to get her fingers apart. Soon, the resistance vanished, and she felt energy radiating from both of her hands. She was also aware that the screams of the Terrors had ceased. She opened her eyes and and almost had to shield her eyes from the two Lumen swords in front of her now. She inspected them, and while the sword had been split in half, each shone with a very impressive light. She swung both of them in order to see how well their weight transferred, and was delighted to feel how nimble they felt..a perfect extension of her hands and her power. The Terrors in front of her were perfectly still. Their eyes showed no emotion, but she could feel fear emanating from them. She took one step forward, swords ready. Then another step. By the third step, they had begun phasing front-to-back. Soon, not one was left, and Athens stood there, pleased with herself.

Revos watched the happenings with a very concerned look on her face.

"She has grown more powerful, my love," he said soothingly to A'launa, "and you told me that she would break into pieces."

A'launa phased in at the mention of her name and grasped Revos' hand. She stared at Athens, wordlessly taking in the transformation that she had helped bring about when she had petitioned the Deity on her behalf. In the same moment, pride rushed over her, but it was accompanied by regret.

"If we are being honest, Revos", she said, "Those grunts you sent were just a tester. There are far more formidable Terrors in your employ. Send more. Show her who she is up against."

She ran her hand over his chest, and laid her head on his shoulder. She felt such comfort beside him. it astounded her how much she loved him in such a short period of time, but it also revulsed her how much she knew that she needed him. They were bound now. Joined. There would be no going back. His fate was her fate, and if he wanted to survive, then she would help him until she breathed her dying breath. She stared at Athens and anger burst forth. It was her fault. She had been forced to make this sacrifice because Athens was weak. A'lan was weak. All of them were weak. She had known it all along, but been too afraid to say it aloud, for fear of the ramifications. She had known they were weak when they had fled their planet instead of staying and fighting. She hated weakness. Her mother had raised her better than to be weak. All of them were weak, but not her. SHE was strong, because now, she had Revos.

Sensing her thoughts, Revos reassured her by squeezing her hand.

"You know that you will have to kill her, don't you, my love?" he asked.

"I will do as you command, my love.", she answered, and they both phased away.