The Marks that Define Them

Chapter 1:

The Marks that Define Them:

Chapter 1:

Astraea:

The poisoned chased after her. Wanting to bring her down. They envied her for soaring above them. That envy turned into hate. The hate fueled their chase. She was running. Not stopping, not taking breaths, and not looking back. Seeing without her eyes. They were soldiers for the one with her eyes purposefully closed; she led the poisoned. The poisoned were blind, thinking the darkness was sight. The leader prayed on it, using it to her advantage. She watched them run after Astraea. They chased her, but she was soaring to fast. Until her fell.

The ground underneath her vanished. Replaced with air until water soon took its place. She was under the water, able to breathe, and able to see the poison falling down to get her. She swam to the edge until she found land. Then began running again. She had a lead, she never stopped, only slowing down when these recurring eyes appeared. They were green, flashing in the mist before vanishing seconds later. It flashed over and over, craving her eye's attention. It wanted her to look at it, to know of its presence.

The poisoned did not see the eyes, only her. Astraea still ran. Trying to get away from them. The eyes sprung in front over bringing her to a halt. They stared at each other. Studying her. Studying the eyes. The poisoned took this as an opportunity to get her. Catching up to her, they pulled her down the dirt. Their hands roaming her body, clawing at her skin. Scraping away her skin, in search for something else. They wanted her to be blind like them. Trying to move her eyelids down, to cover her eyes. But she refused to close them. She didn't fight against them, though. Astraea just watched the eyes. Never diverting them from the green eyes, not blinking. In her peripheral vision, she could see a dark figure watching them.

The poisoned tried drastically to get her to close her eyes, but she refused to take her eyes off the eyes. She wanted to be free. Free from everyone and everything. She wanted the poison filled being that were assaulting her to regain their sight and to stop and also be free. Like the eyes knew what she wanted they changed their look.

They blinked. And everything stopped. She was alone, in a different place. No longer in the forest but a beach. The poisoned were gone. The ocean called to her. So she began walking into the sea. Her feet never left the ocean floor. She walked on and on. Something had possessed her, forcing Astraea to onward into the sea. The only thing on her mind was free. But the water stopped flowing, turning into molten rock. This didn't stop her, with her body numb to the external world she continued her walk. Passing by volcanoes.

Then she was met with smog. She closed her lids at the dust in the air, but she could still see. She turned to see a temple to the right of her. Climbing the steps of the temple. At the top, she overlooked the ground below. Astraea stepped to the highest point of the temple. Bare feet against the cool stone. With firmly planted feet on it, she looked down, seeing nothing.

And then she jumped. Leaving her physical, visible self-standing there while her invisible self-feel. It floated for a while until it fell through the ground. Her landing was hard. She did not hit the ground of the smog land. But of the land of the forest.

Getting up and moving to the right, she heard footsteps. She saw them, the poisoned they were coming for her. Looking at what she was wearing, Astraea noticed it wasn't the same thing she wore when she was at the temple, but the clothes she started with. So, Astraea ran, looking for the green eyes. Playing the game again. She would play it again and again until she got it right and won. So Astraea ran. Letting the games begin.

She awoke with blindness and an unawareness to the world that she loved. Astraea woke with a pounding in her head as she rolled out of bed. Getting up she paused at her window that overlooked the city. Astraea pressed her hand to the cold window wanting to feel the outside. The light was nearly blinding but she enjoyed it as it shone in her ocean eyes. One day I'll be out there and out of here, she thought. But that day would have to wait. Her desire to explore had to put on hold for now at least.