Chronicles of Myth Volume One: Twisted Daydreams

Scene Fifty-one

"You're loved and that's what matters in times like these". I followed the voice through the blizzard, I blended in with the wind patterns of the snow; stepping lightly I walked to a ruined shrine, were I saw her in meditation: my will to fire was replaced by a desire for pacifism, I holstered the revolvers in my hands and sat in front of the woman, she raised her palm and stopped the storm in place effectively freezing out a window of time. "That's impossible". "There is no such thing as the impossible, though there is the extremely difficult; I am Faith". "What's your name"? "Astoria", I brushed a snowflake with my finger and saw it rotate out of its original space, "What are you"? "I'm trying to answer that myself". Faith said sadly, she scooted forward on the snow and touched my forehead; she shook her head and smiled: clapping her hands, I saw the ground rumble awake; mannequin limbs scattered the forest floor, the once silent greenery was replaced by a vacant and decrepit factory, I walked with her kicking the limbs out of my path, "Golems shouldn't be friends for a girl like yourself". "But I know you're not going to listen". She made an army of empty mainframes, "You know, your heart wants something entirely different than what you're thinking of". "Be honest with yourself, you know what you want more than anyone else". I followed Faith, What do I want, doubt... insecurity, all of the things I hate still define me, I depend on the people around me more than myself... why, do I keep doing this? "We will answer that, soon enough; as for now prepare yourself". "For what"? "To die". Faith snapped her fingers and the mannequins came to life, reassembling themselves into lost fragments of memory; I heard the moans of countless souls never allowed to an end for their lives, this was an eternal limbo for all lost people. "My army is one that seeks hope for rest from this torment, your precious friend is amongst them; you want to speak to him, to beg him for forgiveness, find him in this ocean of memory". "How do you know Nikolai"? "He is an artificial life, like all other golems; therefore he ended up here". "How can that be, Galahad said he was his son"? "Ever hear the tale of Pinocchio". She said with a chuckle, "An AI doesn't know if it's a real soul or not, either the boy learned to dream or he gave up like so many others and lost himself in his agony". "They grow hungry, your doubt attracts them like moths to the flame: you are a beautiful light who hides in the shadow of others; now it's time for you to shine before you are destroyed completely... face me, face yourself with every intent to kill". She drew her weapon and we stood toe to toe, with the clamoring around us growing louder, the mannequins hungered for my soul; for a moment the rumbling ceased, all of the puppets stood there; leaving Faith and I in an enclosed moment of time, "Tell me: what do you want"? I pulled out my revolver, "Let me decide my own truth, let me change reality". The mannequins collapsed, into a growing tide of plastic and metal; the floor was empty leaving us standing on the cold metal ground, "Reality... why would you want to be a part of such a horrid thing"? Faith dashed forward punching the ground, I stepped back into a delayed explosion of shrapnel; with a backflip I missed the blast and landed on my feet, I aimed my pistols: pulling the triggers, I watched the bullets bounce off her skin leaving a small graze. Holstering my pistols, I caught her fists as she lunged forward; I let go of her hands and snaked around her, she fell to the ground leaving an imprint of her body, I watched her stagger to her feet, she stood back up and shot forward; turning my back I stepped out of the way and caught her arm throwing her over my shoulder, on impact I saw her armor start to crack apart. Faith spun on her back, going on her hands; she bent her elbows to launch into a spring kick, with a running start I bent my knees and went into a slide, dodging her kick; I reached up as we met face to face, I grabbed her arms and slammed her skull into the ground; falling flat on her stomach, I watched her stagger back up. I pulled out my revolvers, I saw the two wounds I made on her skin more clearly; seeing a blue glint near her heart I unloaded the now active nitrogen rounds into the center of her chest, I emptied out the cylinders and loaded in sixteen AP rounds, Faith staggered back as I ripped off chunks of her shell; at safe distance away from me, I clicked the triggers and watched her body freeze from the inside as the liquid nitrogen ran through her blood stream; I holstered my revolvers and took a breather to think, I saw under the ice that she started to regrow her shell from the source of the wound as a grey liquid coated her body; I saw the second layer of defense, with the cold it instantaneously hardened over with a black coat; that black glossy shell, where did I see it before... its carbon, can be soft and brittle or hard as diamonds, but this shell is different, its more liquid than anything else... could it be mercury. I saw the ice start to crack on the inside, I threw down a gas pellet at the nearest edge on the base of her prison; on release the pellet formed a bottom layer of dry ice foam around her cage before becoming oxidized, as the hardened foam started to sublimate I saw the blue mist permeate into the ice: I saw her body stiffen and it resealed the cracks inside, her cage grew larger and embedded itself into the ground; I saw dusty red fumes inside the ice, coat over the black skin suit, her body figure started to glow white: I saw her palm extend out and her fist held above it as her body slowly gained its movement back, she touched the base of her fist against her palm, the ice shattered apart in an explosion of dust. I raised my cloak and felt cold breeze against my skin, the room we were in was now covered in white; I could hear the sound of rustling trees around me; Faith rushed forward out of the fog, I directed her movement into the tree behind me, with her arm stuck; I ran away inside the blizzard to cover my tracks, I walked into an open clearing and stood at the center of the frozen lake. Faith sprinted toward me, clearing out a path of destruction in her wake; we faced each other at the center of the lake, from her sprint she cracked the thin surface and I glanced around looking for the load bearing point, I walked to it keeping Faith's eyes trained on my body; just a little more and I'll be able to end this. We stood dead center on the frozen lake, she lunged forward and I jumped into air, as she crashed into the water; I saw the ice around us break apart and shoot into the air, I ran up the suspended blocks keeping the water molecules inside them locked in place, standing at a hundred feet in the air, I looked at her body sinking in the water; she dropped her shell and rose to the top, I let go of my grip on the ice and bombard her with a few tons of frozen water, I landed on the water and glided around pulling up tides, I circled them around me into a whirlpool and targeted Faith as she stood the surface ledge; I formed a tidal wave behind me and released it forward, it swept her up and I walked on the water particles forming a pathway into the maelstrom; I faced Faith inside the storm, "All my life I was told I couldn't achieve anything". I ripped off her shell as she approached me on the catwalk of water, "This is the monster they have awakened, are you terrified"? "There is a monster sleeping inside all of us, I'm scared by you or others like us, in fact I want to befriend them; the demons that make us who we are, our imperfections truly shape us into wonderful people". "Despite how you feel, people have always loved you and I'm jealous of that". She approached closer, "People are scared of us, because we are immortal; but do you know why that is"? I was embraced, "Our curse allows us to withstand blow after blow, death after death; they are afraid because we can come back again and again, but each time we do; the more empty we feel, as if a part of us dies with our bodies, and rots in hell as we were supposed to in the place of whatever was taken from us; to me this is a blessing to live, and be happy a thousand time over; no how matter times it takes I kept going, now I'm here with a family that loves and accepts me". "You're look for a place to belong, just like anyone else, you want to be loved and accepted for what you are". I felt a tear stream down my cheek, "Then tell me what I am". "A girl who'll has grown into a beautiful young woman, just understanding what it means to live". I fell on my knees, "This power inside you were always afraid of it, you swore never to cut loose because that would mean death for those around you; but don't reject this piece of you... embrace the monster inside of you". I looked at Faith and for a moment saw Nolan, "You always know just what to say". I let go of my hold of the water and dropped the lake back where it belongs, Faith took me in her arms and floated down back to earth; I was put back familiar arms as Faith stood firm on the ground, "Miss me"? I heard Nolan; I opened my eyes and saw him wink, soon after I heard the sound of footsteps crunching through the snow; "It's been one hell of a day hasn't it"? I asked Nolan as we walked onto the main road. He smiled and put me on his back, "Let's go home Astoria".

"Faith is it"? "Nice to meet you, I'm Ragnarok". We shook hands; she stood on the ground and looked at the horizon, "Astoria, I'll remember her" she said to herself: I turned to Viktor and Kefira, I gave Kefira a hug: "Come visit on Christmas". I looked at Viktor "As for you, keep her safe; you're the closest person she has to a brother". "I'll see you then".

We stood in the parking lot of the apartments, "Finally we're back home". I embraced Lex in joy, "Louis, who are they"? I turned and saw Draco, behind him was Galahad and Thane. They waved toward us; I took a deep sigh, "It'll be culinary hell until the new year", "Why do you say that"? "Louis, there is another team coming to crash with us tomorrow". "Who told you that"? "Nolan". I just imagined his face with a large grin, I smiled at the thought; home sweet home.

"Damon, Rachel, Kefira, Viktor, Faith; now that leaves us". I smiled at my friends, we looked at the parking lot from a distance; I put away the telescope, "Delta-2 come in". "Nora speaking, Damon what's the status"? "Negotiations start tomorrow". "Good, everything is progressing well". "And Damon they're coming six months ahead of schedule". "Xi"? "Talk about one hell of a new year". "Alright Nora keep me posted, how are the others holding up"? I looked at my squad mates, "They're doing well at the moment, a little on edge keeping an eye on the radar for their ship". "Start making your way to the complex, it's a three hour run on foot, two and a half if you sprint it". "See you there chief, we're Oscar Mike". "Weapons ready"? I saw my team nod toward me, "Selene recon, Avril right flank, I'll be on the left; Grace watch forward, and Ivy rear support; alright girls, lets kick our asses in gear".