Retribution → Harvey Kinkle [CAOS]

i. hell on earth

HELL ON EARTH
CHAPTER ONE

This world was unbearably cold. Eons of flame and ruin were all she'd ever known, the stifling humid air pressing in on her in a way that was at once comforting and unnerving. Now Alecto felt exposed, vulnerable. There was no warmth here, no screams, no roars, only deafening silence.

Thick lashes fluttered open to soft moonlight trickling through frost-tipped branches. A puff of white clouded above her as she exhaled. Crisp winter air nipped at her nose and cheeks. Groaning, she turned her head to the side. Looming thick trunked trees surrounded her, the bark scorched and darkened to a charcoal black. Tendrils of thin smoke swirled into the air from piles of ash, but it was all so cold. It felt as if every bit of warmth that might have lingered was swept away as further punishment for her transgression.

She'd been to Earth on many occasions, but never alone. The legendary Furies, the trio of punishers, the Goddesses of Vengeance. There were now two, and Alecto was one. For the first time since her creation, there was no one by her side. Her arms trembled with effort as she pushed herself up to sit. Blood pounded in her ears, bringing a sharp pain along with it. Reaching over her shoulder, she pawed at the bare skin of her back. Sharp shoulder blades stuck out through pale skin. Her heart sank as her fingers brushed along the bones and notches of her spine, smooth and unmarred. Her wings were gone. Here she sat in the middle of a darkened forest, freezing and undeniably mortal. Her lips curled in disgust at the thought.

Her armor was in tatters. The leather and metal that was once a symbol of power and justice were ripped to pieces. Her braided blonde hair was matted in dirt and ash, the golden locks barely recognizable. And as she stared down at herself and looked around and the ring of ash and desolation, she was reminded that it was all her fault. It was her choices that led to this.

A branch snapped to her left, and her head shot up in a flash. The branches of a thick pine tree shook and swayed. Alecto quickly scrambled back, her hand instinctively reaching for her blade, Deianira, but that too had been taken from her. Even her thick coiled whip, which always rested on her hip, was gone. She swayed as she stood, and her vision blurred to the point that when the source of the disturbance finally pushed their way into the clearing, all she saw was a human-shaped blob of red and black. Gripping her head, Alecto watched as whoever it was stepped forward until her vision cleared, and she was able to see the girl standing before her.

"What the Heaven are you supposed to be?" She was barely more than a child. Platinum blonde hair pinned back by a black headband brushed lightly against her shoulders. Her shoes stopped just outside the ring of charred ground as if she knew instinctively that this was not of earthly origin. An inky black cat sat itself down at her side, its ears perked and its eyes watched Alecto with strangely human intent.

"We felt the tremors all through Greendale. I thought maybe... It doesn't matter what I thought. Who are you?" The girl eyed skeptically. "Are you an angel?"