Athena

Chapter 1

There isn't much that has happened in my life that I can say that I'm proud of. I've fought, I've killed, I've tormented which were all necessary evils I have committed in order to survive.

I have only ever had one talent, one thing I can truly say I'm good at, even to this day. . .

The one thing that I have always excelled at in my life, has been the art of emotion, especially when it came to shielding them when necessary. My body naturally remains calm in stressful situations and my expression is almost always relaxed, but that doesn't mean that on the inside I'm not a complete and utter mess. That was the beauty of growing up behind the institution walls with the ability I have.

Though it was gruesome, it taught life lessons that I will never forget. Right now, even with those lessons imprinted in my mind, is one of those times my relaxed demeanor may fail me.

"Please repeat what you said," I tell Erin, a sixteen-year-old aeterian I've appointed a great deal of responsibility to since she arrived here.

She is young and tough, not easily hurt which is exactly what I needed when I first took over this building. When she first came into my life, it wasn't on purpose. Most of the aeteri that come here have been found by polarians and sent to me, but not Erin. She stumbled upon this building, trying to find somewhere to stay beside the streets where she apparently grew up. It isn't impossible that some aeteri never get captured, just rare and that's exactly what she is, a rarity. She is a wild spirit, yet mature and too experienced in the struggles life threw her way. I met Erin a few months after I was freed when she was just thirteen. She has been my right hand since. I can count on her to get things done despite her age and she has yet to disappoint me.

"I said that Garett wants to talk to you about what happened last week. He wants to know why you weren't there." She repeated herself, but even in her eyes, I could tell that she was wondering the same as Garett.

"Of course he does." I pushed aside financial statements and my long list of what I needed to get done today, opening up my laptop, getting the video-chat ready. He joined me in mere seconds meaning that the urgency behind him wanting to talk to me isn't only because of my absence at last week's meeting.

My eyes met with Erin's and she smiled; genuine innocence. I sometimes find myself envying the young girl, wishing I was in her shoes instead of being held against my will at her age. "Please excuse us, Erin." Her smile slowly disappeared but none the less, she exited the office.

I ran my hand along the wooden desk I sat at, recalling a time this office was something different, something darker. This room used to belong to the director, or whoever was in charge until the director returned. There were many "directors", each assigned to a different institute, but it was Randon who was really the head of them all. I remember this room being so different from the olive green walls and wooden floors that have been instilled.

It used to be white walls, tiled flooring, and chairs with painful restraints on them. It wasn't often the director wanted to have one on ones with us, but when he did, he was thorough. He spent hours questioning us, making sure we gave him the right answers. If we didn't, we were put into what was called the den.

I disposed of any thoughts of that god awful place from my mind and focused on the matter at hand.

"Hello, Garett." I greeted, hoping that the bad news I could practically feel wasn't as bad as I think it is. Garett nodded once at me, getting all of his paperwork in order.

As a member of the Polarian Council, Garett runs his own organization, keeping his people safe, just like me. I can't say I wasn't surprised to find out that my childhood aeterian heroes were indeed not just fictional characters that were apart of the stories heard throughout these walls. Polarians are very much real, the only difference between polarians and myself is that they choose who they deem fit to save. An odd and cruel way of living if you think about it, but that's how they've always done things, it's how they've survived.