Introduction
It was rainy and cold, the light had vanished. I was standing in front of a horde of men, all looking at me with a sense of lust in their eyes. I was soaked down to the bone, my hands tied behind my back. I could see the sea behind the men, and as lightning lit up the sky, I saw the most awesome structure in front of me up the shoreline.
I didn't know how I had gotten there, or what was happening, all I knew was that I was in trouble, and Dravin was nowhere to be found. He had left me, and I was left to these men. As one man grabbed me, forcing a sword to my throat and drawing blood, a loud screeching noise entered my ears, causing me to scream.
!
I shot up in my bed, screaming, quickly grabbing my throat where the sword was. I took deep breaths and closed my eyes, taking my hands away from my throat and slamming one of them down on my alarm clock. A laughter hit my ears, and I cracked open my eyes to see Dravin, my best friend laughing at me. He shook his head, causing his shoulder-length black hair to fly into his face, "Zollo, that was an impressive display!" His face suddenly went white though, and his emerald eyes showed fear, "Zollo, what happened?"
I shook my head, confused, "What are you talking…" I stopped dead as I saw my hands. Both were covered in blood, and my white sheets were blood red as well. Dravin quickly ran over to me, grabbing me and carrying me into the next room.
He kicked the bed in there, "Darcie, get up now!" My friend Darcie moaned as she rolled in her bed and finally sat up, her long blond hair a tousled mess. Her crystal blue eyes went wide at the sight of me. She wasted no time as she grabbed the phone by her bed and dialed 911.
"Dravin…" I whispered, afraid of what was going on, "Dravin, what is…"
"Shush, save your breath, we'll get you an ambulance and get you to the hospital." Dravin mumbled, smiling down at me as best as he could. With that sight and words in my mind, echoing, my eyes closed and I lost consciousness.
I awoke to the voices of Dravin and Darcie. "What are you saying, Doctor?" Darcie mumbled.
"I'm sorry Darcie, but I don't understand how Zollo got this way. We really can't explain any of the wounds Zollo has. All we can tell you is that she has lost more blood than she should have." I heard our doctor's voice.
"But what can we do, doc?" Dravin's pained voice hit my ears, "What can I do to help her?"
"Pray, Dravin, you can pray," the doctor mumbled. I opened my eyes as I heard footsteps coming towards my bed, and the doctor smiled, "Zollo, I am glad you have regained consciousness."
I blinked my eyes, feeling around my throat, and then frowned. Bandages were around my neck, and now that I was awake enough, I noticed my hands were wrapped in them as well. I moaned, "By Apollo! What the Hell is going on here?"
Dravin came over and wiped my caramel hair out of my face, "Zollo, when I saw you this morning, your sheets were blood red and you were badly bleeding at your throat and hands." He leaned down and kissed my forehead, "What happened, Zollo?"
I blinked my eyes, remembering the dream. I shivered and answered quietly, "I had a dream, Dravin. I was held at sword point. They drew blood." I looked up at him, seeing my reflection in his eyes. My golden eyes held fear, "I don't understand, Dravin. How could my mind make it real?"
Dravin grabbed me and held me close, "Everything is going to be fine, Zollo, don't worry. I will keep you safe."
Darcie looked at the doctor, "Can we take her out of here?" The doctor nodded, but said nothing as he stared into my eyes. Darcie then turned to look at me, "Zollo, how about we get back to the house, eh? What do you say to that? We can get back to natural life."
I nodded, "Yeah, Darcie, that sounds wonderful." I then sighed, "What is happening to me, really?"
!
I sat down at the table, sighing. Our "natural life" as Darcie called it consisted of bounty hunting for the military. The doctor we had gone to was a military friend of ours, everything was free of charge.
"Hey Zollo!" I heard Darcie yell from the living room.
"What?" I screamed back at her and then hissed as it hurt my throat.
She poked her head into the room, "Sorry to disturb you, but where is Dravin?"
I pointed at the game room, "In there, why? Do we have another phone call?"
Darcie walked right past me, into the game room, lowering her voice in hopes that I wouldn't hear her. "Dravin, the head man is on the phone."
I grabbed the phone from the receiver beside me, listening in. "Raven, how is Zo doing? I heard about the incident."
"She is recovering, why?" I heard Dravin's voice.
"Is she healthy enough to go on another mission?" I smirked as I heard the president.
"It depends on the mission, sir," Dravin mumbled, his voice holding emotions in it.
"We have a crisis on our hands. Dravin, I need your group to infiltrate an underground base and destroy it, along with the madmen running it."
I hung up the phone, knowing that Dravin had already figured out that I was listening. Two minutes later, Dravin came walking into the room, hefting the phone from one hand to the other, "Zollo, are you ready for it?"
I stood up, staring him straight in the eyes, "When haven't I been?" I nodded, "Let's do this!"
"Zollo, are you sure? We are being sent to destroy Kraven. Do you have what it takes?" Darcie nodded.
I took a step back. Kraven, my hometown, my sanctuary underground. Yes, I admit, before Dravin got to me, I was nothing like I was today. But that was seventeen years ago. The raid they did killed me.
They had figured a way to bring me back to life, but had never been able to fully bring my memory back to me. I had been transferred to their side, under Dravin's care, and care for me he did. He made sure that I was safe, that I followed orders, and that my body didn't overheat like others had. Something with my body had changed. I was constantly needing to cool down, by means of ice, freezing water, or cold air, it didn't matter, just as long as I stayed at a certain temperature.
Dravin had fixed that for me. I no longer needed to cool down. He had saved me so many times before, but whenever someone brought up Kraven, the fabled and dreaded Kraven, something inside of me snapped. I could only remember tiny bits and pieces, but I knew one thing for certain. That one thing was that Kraven was not the place I wanted to go back to.
I finally nodded, sweat dropping down from my face, "Dravin, I will go anywhere they want me to."
Dravin walked over to me, grabbing my heard with both his hands, kissing my forehead, "Good girl, I knew you would be strong enough."
I nodded, "Yeah."
Dravin smiled at me and shook his head, "Let's see about those bandages, what do you say?"
I sighed, "Yeah, let's get these things off of me, they are starting to bother me in a way that could kill me."
Dravin shook his head as he started to undo the bandages around my neck. As he did this, I stood perfectly still, closing my eyes and hoping that the memories would not return. "Done," Dravin's voice filled my ears two minutes later.
As I opened them, a mirror appeared in front of my face. My eyes went wide as I saw that there were no scars or anything, "By Apollo!"
Darcie's voice caught my attention, "Yeah, that reminds me, for all these years that you have been with us, not once have you believed in God, and you keep chanting Apollo, the Greek god's, name. Why is that?"
I blinked my eyes, memories washing back. I grabbed my head, remembering the feel of a steel rod slamming into my body, hearing the name Hades screamed into my ears constantly.
I fell to my knees, "He was my only savior in that Hell hole!" I then glared up at Darcie, "They tortured me, put me in the darkness, and for what? Just so I would call his name instead of Apollo's!" I slammed my fists into the ground, shattering the tiles below me, "I will not call out his name, ever!"
Dravin grabbed me and held me strongly, "I tried desperately to block out those memories, Zollo, but it seems they continue to come back to haunt you. But right now we need to get this mission over with."
I pulled away from him looking away, "Yeah, let's get this thing done."
!
I slammed into the ground, darkness consuming and packing in around me. "Call his name! Say his name, Zollo, and then we can stop!"
As I felt a metal rod slam into my back, I screamed, pain riddling my body, "Apollo! Please spare me!"
"Yell his name! Call Hades' name!" I looked in front of me, and in the darkness, I could make out a man's frame. He grabbed my face, pulling me close, letting me see exactly who it was. His golden eyes held anger in them, and his face held a frown, "I can't believe my own daughter would call that god's name!"
"I shall only call his name!" I screamed as my father threw me down onto the ground once again. "Apollo has shown me the light here, and I shall make sure that I stay loyal!"
"Oh, yes, Musica!" My father snarled as he beat me once again with the steel rod, "Who could forget your wonderful Musica?"
"Father, please, just let me believe who I want to believe. I want to be an individual!" I screamed, tears in my eyes at the pain.
My father stopped hitting me as the door to the room we were in blew open. Two men stood there looking at the scene before them. One man took a step forward, but froze mid-stride as my father slammed the steel rod into my head. The man aimed a gun at us, "Stop what you are doing!"
I screamed in pain as my father continued to beat me with the rod, "No! Stop! I did nothing wrong!"
"I said stop!" The man screamed at my father, "If you do not cease you attempts, I will shoot!"
My father smirked and laughed evilly, "Shoot then, I dare you to, bounty hunter!" The man shot his gun at my father, who in turn grabbed me and used me as a shield.
As the bullets hit my, I pulled away from my father, slamming into the ground. As my father fell to the ground, dead, as well, the man came over to me, checking to see if I was dead. He turned to his companion, "We have to get her out of here."
"Dravin, she isn't going to make it!" His companion yelled as I coughed up blood.
"She is the first one that has survived bullets, Darcie!" The man yelled, picking me up effortlessly and carrying me towards the light.
"By Apollo," I whispered and then winced, awaiting the hit from a steel rod. It never came, and I fell into the blackness of oblivion.
!
"Okay, now listen up," I was brought back to reality as Dravin's voice hit my ears. I looked around and saw we were sitting in a vehicle. "All we are to do is to shut down their security systems and get to Corvin…" He looked at me and then continued on, "Kill him and get out of there, understood?"
I nodded, knowing that I had turned white, "GTR, Dravin, I understand."
As we got out of the vehicle, both Darcie and Dravin turned to me. "Hey Zollo, get us in there. You know this place as well as the back of your hand."
I looked at Dravin with a sense of emptiness. It had been seventeen years since I had been here, and my memory of how to get in was gone. He nodded, "I'll get us in, Darcie."
Two hours later, we were walking the streets of Kraven, listening to the silence around us. A sound hit my ears, echoing through my brain, triggering memories of pain and torture. I couldn't take the sound, I ran toward it. "Zollo! What are you doing?"
"Can't talk now!" I yelled back as I ran towards a building. I kicked open a door, freezing at the sight before my eyes. A man with buzzed gray hair was holding a steel rod above his head, swinging it down onto another man that looked around twenty. His hair was golden and long. I screamed, catching the attention of the other man, "Stop it! Cease your acts now!"
I froze as I saw who the men were. The man with the rod glared at me, "Zollo, is that you?" He snarled, "We thought you were dead!"
"Corvin, I should have figured it would have been you!" I snarled, frozen in my place as I examined the other man.
Dravin and Darcie appeared behind me, and Dravin spoke up, "Wonderful job, Zo, you have found our target!"
I held my hand out, "Don't hurt the other man." I took a step forward, only to have Corvin slam the steel rod into my arm. I turned to him, fazed but not really, "Get out of my way, Corvin, if you wish to live longer."
As Dravin and Darcie grabbed Corvin, I knelt down in front of the other man, looking into his deep colored crystal blue eyes. I bowed my head, "How? Why? Why did you let yourself be captured like this?" I shook my head, "You know they are all Hades…" I shivered at the name, "believers."
He smiled at me, putting his hand on my cheek, "Zollorius, my sweet and faithful Zollorius. You have proven your worth to me."
I cried freely, burying my face into his chest, "Musica, how could you do this to yourself? How could you bare the pain?"
Dravin turned to me, but Musica held his hand out, "Let her be for now, Dravin. She needs time to adjust."
"Who are you to her?" Dravin asked, "Her father was killed in the last raid that we did."
"I am her guardian," Musica smiled as I looked up at him, "I am Musica, hated down in these depths more than anywhere."
"Musica?" Darcie asked, "I have heard Zollo state that name a few times when she refers to Apollo, but does that mean you are the one who got her started on Apollo in the first place?"
"Got her started?" Musica laughed.
"Darcie, Musica is Apollo himself," Dravin stated, smiling at me as I turned to him.
"Yes, it seems you have known," Musica smiled at Dravin.
"I have helped Zollo through all her problems, I should know about you," Dravin countered, smiling still.
Musica nodded, standing up and pulling me with him, "Yes, and right now you are needed in time."
I looked at him, not really knowing what he was saying. He nodded at me and touched my throat where the gashes had been, "You know what you must face, Zollo."
My eyes went wide, "Alone? Must it be that way?"
Dravin shook his head, coming to stand beside me, "She is not going alone! I will not let her out of my sight!"
Musica smiled, disappearing, "We shall see, we shall see."
Darcie screamed in fright as all three of us disappeared from Kraven. I looked around, sighing at the sights around me. It was the place I had always retreated to when I lived in Kraven. It was my real sanctuary, Apollo's realm.
I smiled a true smile as I saw Apollo's horses grazing, "Nothing has changed, nothing."
Apollo appeared in front of us, his crystal blue eyes shining, "You each have a mission of great importance." He turned to Dravin and Darcie, "I entrust you with aiding the Trojans. You must stop the prince, Paris, from seeing Queen Helen. He must not lay eyes on her."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Dravin asked, "They won't trust us!"
Apollo handed him a silver arrow, "Give this to Priam in front of the court. They will believe you then." He then patted him on the back, "Tell them you are my warrior and Darcie is one of my favored mortals." He then whispered, "Oh, and before you leave, I would like to thank you for watching over my daughter."
I spun in my place, turning away from Apollo's horses. Dravin beat me to the punch, though, "What?" His eyes were wide as he looked at me, "But she had a father! I killed her father in our raid!"
"You killed the man who wanted to be her father," Apollo sighed, looking at me, "It seems he never told you that he had found you."
I fell on my ass, shocked, "So the truth comes out!" I pointed at him, "That is why it was so easy for me to be brought back to life. That is the whole reason I was beaten!"
Apollo sighed once again, "Yes, it is true. Kraven residents knew you to be my daughter, from the markings on your back."
I froze in my place, fear rising in my heart. I had told no one about those marking, the markings that had started my beatings. Darcie, who had been silent this whole time, looked at me, "You have markings on your back?"
"Only believers," Apollo nodded, "If you don't believe in the gods, you cannot see them."
He then handed Darcie a vile, "Pour this into her wine, Darcie. She will instantly fall asleep."
I shook my head, "What am I to do?"
"You are to stay here, my daughter, for now. For I have a different job for you. You will play a big role in the war to come," Apollo smiled at me.
Darcie looked saddened, "Zollo has to stay here? She can't come with us? We actually have to leave her here, alone?"
I smiled a fake smile, "Relax, Darcie, I will be fine. We will see each other once again, I promise you."
Dravin shook his head, "Why is it that I do not believe that your smile is truly how you feel?"
Apollo nodded once more at Dravin and Darcie, "Brace yourselves, warriors, this transfer might be a bit much."
Dravin came over to me, putting his hand on my cheek, "Be careful, Zollo, I won't be there for you. You will be on your own."
I smiled a true smile at him, putting my hand over his, "You be careful, sir, I won't be there to protect you!"
As he opened his mouth to answer me, he disappeared in a fine mist along with Darcie. I looked at Apollo, "Where have you taken them? They are not like me, Apollo! They did not live a life like this!"
Apollo directed me to a pool of water, "Watch, and you shall see." He touched the pool with his index finger. The pool rippled before a picture appeared.
I watched as Dravin and Darcie appeared in a room with many people.
