Prologue: Encounter
Black scorched pillars stuck out of the ash filled ground. The moon was big and bright in the sky, looming down on the catastrophic scene. A few wisps of black smoke elevated from the recently burned building structures.
Lifeless bodies lay in heaps, blood streaming down their agonized faces. Small streams of the red fluid trickled on the dirt.
A lone figure sat up straight in the middle of the decimation, leaning on a lone stone well that stood firm despite the burn marks on rough stone.
She was shaking. With tears streaming down her pale cheeks. She was not badly injured just a few scratches and mild burns but other than that she was fine, physically. She hugged her knees to her chest tighter to stop the shivering. It had receded to occasional shivers but she still seem to tremble in the memory of the recent events.
The girl had been gripping a poorly wrapped small package to her chest, putting it down with a slight shake in her hands she began to untie the strings around it slowly and with care. It was the only thing that mattered in her life anymore, the single thing that reminds her of her past.
With maternal tenderness she plucked open the surface. A sound which does not seem to fit with the setting seem to echo through the poorly lit landscape. A sweet sound yet when a person listens to it closely they can hear the remorse and pain in the song.
Finally the last tunes dissipate in the wind and she was left alone again. Soft thuds of footsteps though made her look up through her long red hair. A black cloaked figure was walking towards her. His or her face was hidden under the hood. The figure finally stopped inches away from her.
Reflexively she had hid the chain in her clothes.
The figure knelt in front of her. A smile formed on his or her lips, a warm and caring smile. Not the snide ones her villagers used to give to her.
"Are you okay?"
Noting that the voice was too deep to be a woman's, she nodded.
"Do you have anywhere to stay?" he asked again.
Again she shook her head.
"Would you like to come with me?"
She might dislike her parents but one thing that they kept putting in her mind was that. Don't talk to unknown strangers especially after an unknown massacre.
"Who are you?" her voice was hoarse and cracked much to her surprise.
"Can't expect less from someone who can survive Cronus and his Nothings' attack," he smirked.
"Who are you?" she repeated once more.
"You'll know soon."
That was the last thing she heard before the enveloping darkness engulfs her.
SIX YEARS LATER
The sun was nowhere in sight. As expected from Damon. Day was like being stuck in a bowl of whipped cream while night was like being trapped in a big dark dome. But the twinkling metropolis lights help relieve the city from it's scarcity in natural light. Not much people wander around the city, most keep their business to themselves. But there was no hustle and bustle of a big city though.
The people here knew no emotions. No love, care or hope. It wasn't as they were deprived of it. They were just that since the beginning, or at least ten years ago.
Persephone walked through the sidewalk of the city. Looking straight forward. Her ochre eyes were rigid and cold, not anything like her usual soft honey eyes that she once own.
"Persephone," a male's voice stopped her in mid-step.
She did not look back, knowing who the speaker is.
"What do you want Thanatos?" she answered back curtly.
"To know why you are so far away from the Quarter."
"None of-"
"Oh yes it is."
"No. It isn't."
Thanatos grabbed her shoulders and herded her to a back alley. Purposefully to hurt her, he slammed her to the brick wall. Persephone cringed but did not loose her expression.
"What are you planning?" he hissed in her ear.
"Nothing. I'm just leaving for a mission. Happy?" she asked staring back at him.
He growled in disbelief but shoved her down.
"Ask Cerberus or Fobos if you don't believe me," she added before disappearing in a black vortex as if nothing had happened.