Reyna.


Reyna walked away from Caleb, angry about everything, especially at him.

Gods! Why did I have to meet that...thing? My life okay before I met him...I mean yes I had pretty much lost everything and was starting over...but really? I've known him for one day and I'm in the middle of this forrest, hiding form that other thing!

Stupid demon.

Maybe I should go back to New Rome...get far away from that thing as possible.

Stupid...stupid...stupid...stupid demon...

Reyna chanted, as she put distance between herself and the demon. In reality she knew she would never be going back to New Rome; but hell, she was tired and frustrated, just once, it would have been nice to not have to deal with this aspect of her life, and at certain points, the lowest of the lows, she'd wonder what point there was in all of this. her thoughts turned darker and darker by the second as she mentally countered the times she felt lonely, the ways she felt let down by people who supposedly cared for her.

She stopped walking and stood shaking; a mixture of cold and fear had her heart hammering heavily in her chest, her stomach into intricate little knots.

She bit her lips and looked around. She had put too much distance between her and Caleb, and the darkness of the forest was beginning to devour her.

She backtracked a few steps and then stopped. There was a faint light coming from behind her, with voices drifting towards her. Familiar voices that she thought she'd never hear again.

Slowly she turned, and saw her first home. The island of Circe. It was as beautiful as she remembered it.

In front of her sat Marianne and Beth chatting and laughing loudly. In the middle of them was a 12 year old Reyna.

Reyna watched as the younger version of her face sat happily, with a smile that barely left her face for long.

For a few seconds both Reyna's, the one of the past and the one of the present, caught each other's eyes; and in that second, the Reyna of now remembered exactly what was going to happen next.

There were screams and saw smoke coming from the main living area. Women were running away, running form something, stones were being thrown and fires being set. Hell was breaking loose, and the Present day Reyna stood, shell shocked as the pirates attacked and destroyed her home; killing her friends and loved ones again.

The present day Reyna attempted, but failed, to raise her sword and put a stop to what was happening to her again.

She stood and watched as one of the pirate started to drag her younger self away, and her sister, Hylla intervened and killed him. Watched as Beth and Marianne were captured, their screams echoing in the air and her head.

Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and Caleb came to her side.

She stared at him, wondering how the hell he had entered into her nightmare; because this had to be a nightmare, had to be a dream because there was no way she would willingly re-live this event in her life.

"What..."

He began to ask, his sword appearing in his hand, but Reyna had grabbed on to the shirt covering his chest. He stared at her, confusion and worry lighting his features. She didn't know it, but her eyes were dazed and confused, fear reeking from every pore on her. She found herself thanking all the known gods that he was here, that he was real.

She went closer to him, her head resting on his chest, her hands circling his waist tightly. She closed her eyes and hoped that he would flash her away from here. Yet there was a bit of her that doubted he would, that doubted he would care that she didn't want to relive this.

She felt an arm come up around her back, and the other held her head, holding her closer into his warmth, to his protection. This soothed her in ways she did not expect. She had no longer believed that the rhythmical heartbeat of one individual could drown out the pain of the past. That belief died months ago.

But how foolish she was so lose faith so easily.

She felt the movement of his upper body as he bent slightly to speak in her ear. His warm breath caressed her as he spoke.

"This... what is this?" he asked

She snuggled closer to him, not wanting to talk about what was happening around her; but he persisted, and she found herself sneaking a peek at him.

"Is this...your fear?"

She gave him a merit-less smile "I've lost too many people for it to really be a fear anymore..."

"But this is where it all began..." he persisted.

She nodded, confused as to why it mattered. she watched him, his eyes suddenly cold and calculating, yet his touch was the same.

"Shit"

Caleb raised his head, scanning the area.

"What?" Reyna asked, sensing that this was only a small part of something else.

She was still snuggled up to him, so that she felt his body raise and fall when he breathed in a deep breath and released in. That single movement did things to her body and mind that she did not expect, especially given the current situation.

Reyna looked at his chest, and slowly backed off, as though his body was something deadly. She dropped her hands limply at her sides.

Caleb, ignorant of her actions and her emotions, clasped her head between his palms, and forced her to look him in the eyes.

"Listen to me...this...this isn't really happening..."

"I know...I think...I thought it was a nightmare, but with you here...it something else isn't it?" she asked, and was rewarded by a hurried nod.

Caleb licked his lips and Reyna swallowed hard.

"It's a demon..."

"One you can't beat?"

His gaze became hard. "No...I can beat him, but not on his turf...and only if he plays fair...he doesn't...and we're in his turf..."

Reyna's mouth fell slightly open.

Seriously? Are the unicorns and leprechauns going to do a number tonight as well?

"So what..."

"His name is Agrabadon he dwells in the darkness, and feeds off of fear...nasty little critter. He usually goes back to our first incident of fear, to the incident that always affects you the most, and then works his way up to the most recent. All that while we stand fighting off unreal enemies, and trying to save dead loved ones."

"Dwells in the darkness...got a torch?"

Caleb sighed. "Great...I'm stuck with another comedian...I don't mean it like that. He is the darkness."

She stared at him blankly and he sighed again.

"The darkness. Notice how it's really dark, almost impossibly so?"

She nodded.

"That's because of him; because he is the darkness, get it?"

After a few seconds, she nodded.

"So how do we beat him...?"

Caleb sighed. "I don't suppose to know how to close your mind?"

Reyna opened her mouth to comment, but shut it without saying anything.

"He feeds off the memories that are open to him, so if he gets into your mind, we're pretty much powerless. You have to close your mind to him."

"I didn't even know he was there..."

"I know...sneaky little bastard..."

They smiled wearily at each other.

"So how do I kick him out?"

I'll help you with that..."

Reyna cocked an eyebrow at him, causing him to smile wickedly.

"Nothing serious, I won't interfere with anything other than what is necessary..." he said seriously, but his lips still held a faint smile, resulting in Reyna placing her hand on his chest in warning.

He grinned and she reluctantly allowed him to.

"Okay, when I do it, I need you to keep your mind blank, think of nothing, absolutely nothing that is big bad and scary. Sing a song, say a riddle or something as simple as that, and stay focused on that. Don't let your mind wander. Got it?"

"Yes Mr demon...now will you just get the fear feeding demon out my head now?" she asked in mock innocently.

Caleb growled low in his throat, and Reyna felt oddly happy at that.

When he started, Reyna began to wonder why she had mocked him, it most certainly wasn't like her to mock someone, especially someone like him. She then looked around, and saw her memory in action. She and Hylla were hogtied and being loaded into the pirate boat. Their dressed were torn and dirty, and one of the ugly smelly men, Jon they'd call him on the boat, had leaned down and spoken in Hylla's ear. By the expression on Hylla's face, Reyna knew the words were nasty and vile. He then put a hand on the back of an unconscious Reyna.

Reyna tilted her head, and wondered idly how this could be her part of her memory if she had been unconscious.

She watched as Hylla fruitlessly tried to attack Jon, and as Jon started to laugh at Hylla's attempts, Reyna turned her head away, the beginings of 'Mary had a lttle lamb' echoing in her head.

She didn't want to remember anymore; and, for what it was worth, she was glad he was with her.


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