The child stood as tall as she could, at a full height of 3 feet, she could barely see over the counter, her tiny little 3 year old fingers pressing into the counter top eagerly. "Mama, how can you cook if you can't see?" She asked, her small voice peeling like a clean bell. Her long crimson locks curled around her small pale frame.
"Simple," Her mother replied, "I can smell the food." She then wrinkled her nose as if to prove this fact. The raven haired priestess kneaded the dough with her smooth, large hands.
"But why make so much? Is there a celebration?" The child asked out of curiosity, rocking back and forth on her little heels.
"We will have a guest soon. He does not know he is coming, nor why, but he will be here soon." Her blind eyes seemed to gaze forwards, blankly at the dough she was kneading with her hands. "His name is Acheron, and he is a very special warrior. Please prepare the blankets."
"Okay, mama!" The child ran out of the room, into a room down the hall in their small shrine. She pulled several large, fur blankets from the closet. Her small white dress matched the cold snow that continued to fall outside. Then almost as if on cue, once she had lay the blankets out on a wooden bench, a loud knock resounded from the door at the front of their shrine. The child stumbled to the door and opened it, only to gaze at the large, muscular, black clad legs of a very large mountain of a man. Her mouth hung open, eyes wide. "Whoa… You're huge!"
"It's not nice to say that to people," Her mother said, stepping into the room. "Good evening, Acheron. You have traveled far."
"How do you know my name?" The large stranger asked, his eyes wide open.
"I know many things; I am a priestess of Kolterra." The mother replied, smiling. "We have been expecting you, forgive the coldness, my child is not old enough to cut wood, and we must save our chopped wood for making food"
"Oh, it is kind of cold here," He said, shivering.
"Hello!" The little child said with a crooked smile on her face. She then held out her little hands, before she made a slight dance by shuffling her tiny feet.
"I have a secret I must share with you," The priestess said, looking at Acheron with deep, blind eyes. Her face held an expression of sadness and regret. The child was doing her chores, out on the porch of the shrine where she couldn't hear the adults. Acheron turned his head to look at the female. "I am not this child's mother, in fact, she is more of my maker than I am her's."
"I don't understand." Acheron said, looking at the woman.
"This child's name is Kolterra. She is a human that was once a god; the god that I worship. However, she had a falling out with the rest of the Territhian gods and is now my child until she is older. Hopefully she will grow into her powers and gain strength. She must not know as of right now." The priestess said, tears in her eyes. "She is so young, I fear for her."
"She will be fine. I'm a god, you know." He replied, reassuringly. "I can help her."
"Thank you, Acheron. I must ask something of you, by the end of today, I need you to take her far from here. Please, I'd prefer you go now." As if on cue, there was a loud banging on the door.
"Lady! We know you're in there! Bring out the brat and you won't be harmed!" The voice demanded.
"Please, Take her, protect her. You must vow this to me."
"I vow to protect Kolterra." Acheron said. "Until her powers have taken route, and she is safe, you have my word that I will protect her." He then stood up and walked towards the back where the child was obliviously washing the deck.
"I will hold them back as best as possible."
Acheron lifted the little child as best he could, hearing her heart wrenching cries for her mother, she reached out towards the small shrine.
"Come, we have to go. I'm sorry, but you have to be quiet. There are big and scary men chasing after us, and your mother needs you to stay quiet."
"Mama wants me to be quiet?" The child asked.
"Yes," Acheron then put his fingers to his lips almost to cement his point to her. She then nodded and stopped struggling.
"Wait! We have to back for my moomoo." She said, turning to run towards the wooden structure.
"No! We can't!"
"We have to! I can't sleep without my moomoo!" Acheron then looked around the woods where they were currently hiding. He spotted a tree with a large enough hole for a little child to crawl into and some nearby sticks and brush.
"Alright, you stay here, okay? I will be back." Acheron said after ushering her into the little hole. "Remember, stay quiet." He quickly threw the sticks and leaves over the hole, hiding her from the view of the outside.
Though he was only gone for a few seconds, she couldn't help herself but crawl out from the hole and follow the male's large footsteps back to the shrine. There, she crept through the crookedly open backdoor, to the room her mother had been in last. There, she saw a horrifying sight. Her mother lay on the floor, gown torn, blood running from a hole in her stomach,
"m-mama?" she whispered softly, leaning down.
"Silly child, you were to stay hidden," her mother said, with a half crooked smile. "Remember, my precious. Always treasure humanity, because even when they commit evils, they do it for their loved ones. Always remember that." Then, the light in her mother' dull eyes grew dim, and she exhaled her last breath. The child's eyes widened before large trails of tears began to form. She then let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain. Air gathered around her body and blasted around her. She held onto her dead mother's hand, her head falling back as she let out a loud wail of pain. From her tiny body, crystals began to form, pressing outwards. Three large men that were not Acheron came from different doors. Immediately, they were impaled by large spike-like crystals, the blood moving from their bodies to the center. A bright light then erupted from her tiny body, blinding them in their last moments of life.
"Shit!" Acheron exclaimed before doing the only thing he could do. He wrapped his arms around the tiny girl, attempting to calm her down. Around the front of the shrine, the crystals began to form a doorway; Acheron looked around before trying to pull the girl away from her mother's body. The light then faded from her tiny body, however, the crystals continued to form, pressing outwards until the entire shrine and surrounding area had been covered in the diamond-like surface. Acheron let go of the child and placed his hands on the ground, using his powers to see the future of the land. It was crumbling away faster than what he thought an entire world could, all the way, the rest of the world had gone missing, save for the forest which was covered in diamond.
"We have to get out of here, we have to stop this!" He exclaimed, looking at the child near him.
"It can't be stopped…" another voice, Appolymi, said within his mind. "I am sorry, m'gios, I tried to kill those men, but in that world, I have no jurisdiction. The pantheon is dead, save that little child. If you bring her to our world, there may be some hope for her." Acheron then lifted the tiny child in his arms and carried her through the crystalline doorway, in a black, vast space.
"You cannot bring this god to another world." An emotionless, female voice said. There stood a Chthonian, one that Acheron had never seen before. "Not as she is. She is still a god, but her powers are too weak, and you will influence her to destroy this world."
"I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe; I made a vow to her mother." Acheron insisted.
"Very well, I will be sure she is always protected. However, there will be a price."
"Anything, take my body, my blood. I will not break this vow."
"Very well, I will sever the memories you two share. And your destinies will part. But she will always be protected, for her death, will end the world." The female said, eyes empty and devoid of all unkindness. "It is better on you both." The female then took the child, and held her close. The little girl then curled into a ball, and began to shrink before she became nothing but a tiny orb of light. "This is your payment. When you step foot within this world, she will be born Eons before, as the goddess of the moon, twin of another. You will protect her, but you will despise her. From now on, the name Kolterra means nothing to either of you, for she will be Artemis."
"what are you doing in my temple?" Artemis asked the human, a slight tingle in her body told her they had met somewhere before. However, as he was just a human and she a god, she didn't pay any attention to the thought.