Author's Note: Welcome one and all to the first part of the two part finale of season 2! It took me a long time to get here, but I'm glad I took the journey. I've certainly learned a lot about the way I write. Anyway, hope you enjoy! See you in the next part!

Maya's Half-Life

Episode 51 – Vindictive Viper Part 1

With the truth Zero is now desperate to find both Maya and Virility before it is too late. But first before he can get any further, somehow he is found out and therefore is forced into fighting for his very life.

I stumble out of the antechamber almost sick to my stomach, which rarely happened. What I learned in the archivist's mind is revolting, yet a revelation none the less. I must warn Virility and Maya, they need to know about this. And even if they don't want to help they at least need to know what's going on so they can get off this planet as soon as possible.

I force myself to move forward baring against the pain. After I stumble around some I finally get the sense to disappear and do so just before a door opens and an entourage comes flooding into the hallway. At the helm walks a mercenary, I could tell by the simple fact that the hatred in her eyes was one of a kind – and it was exactly how I got when something serious was happening. What was ironic was that she would never get to see the comparison between the two of us, she would never see my face before she died.

I stood in a shadowy corner of the room waiting for the right moment, but unfortunately one of the men accidently turned his light on right where I was hiding.

"Hey! What – who are you? And come out here where we can see you!" The man shouted, and by his gruff scarred tone of voice I could tell that he was a mercenary as well.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here boys! Fresh meat!" The woman said and raised her hands. Suddenly the blood of two of her mercenaries boiled and their entire bodies began to change before my very eyes. The sound was horrendous, bones snapping in on themselves, tendons tearing and muscles squishing along with the sloshing of blood going every which way.

The entire hallway and the mercenaries were pained in hot sticky blood as the two stricken mercenaries finally, and mercifully, exploded and died. The explosion of blood temporarily blinded my visor so I couldn't see but I could still hear and I hear her coming toward me, but I tried to dodge. Unfortunately that didn't work so now I'm pinned to the ground under an absolute tone of weight.

Something long wet and sticky slides heavily across my visor and low and behold there sitting directly on top of me is a monstrous abomination. Behind it the woman laughs and says, "Ha! All those foolish dickhead mercenaries! They never thought blood magic was a good idea, but now they're all literally together!"

I knew what happened just now in an instant. The woman, whoever she was, had just done something with a Siren power she wasn't supposed to have. It was rumored that a certain Siren had the abilities to manipulate flesh at will, even rumored to be able to bring the dead fully back to life. However this was millennia ago.

When humans, such as this woman mercenary (really need to find out her name), try and get Siren powers of their own through any other mean than simple birthright they end up with what is called 'magic'. This art is very dangerous, and despite the abomination of 10 fused mercenaries currently pinning my down I could still see the effects of using such magic without Siren tattoos was about to swallow the woman whole.

I had to do something and quick or else all of Acheron, and possibly the universe, will be swallowed up by whoever the hell Handsome James is.