Layton / November 29th

Maybe karma was real after all. Scratch that, it had to be looking at the current situation I was in.

When I awoke, I was in a dome-shaped cavern resting in a thin layer of water, half-submerged. I got up and noticed that my suit had been taken off, but most of my injuries remained, causing me to collapse and fall to my knees.

This reminded me of where I had left a certain billionaire after our fight. In fact, it was almost identical. The only way I knew this wasn't the same place was the white flowers surrounding my the small lake I was in.

Additionally, small fish swam around, frogs hopped around on the surface, bees extracted nectar from flowers and there was even a salamander that seemed to be minding its own business.

"Where the heck am I" I muttered

A red and blue orb came out of wristbands and Rubrum and Caeruleum appeared, resting on their respective shoulders.

"You're back in Greece from the looks of it" Rubrum said

"But how did I get here?" I asked

"Perhaps you don't remember, but you used Instantaneous movement to escape Majin Kai's attack" Caeruleum reminded

"That would mean I locked onto someone here" I pointed out

"Yes, I can sense a presence nearby" Caeruleum said

Either I could be in for some luck, or I'm screwed, because I was in no fighting condition. At the same time, the water was seemingly healing me. Even the broken bones I had attained were mending back together.

"You've finally awaken" A gentle voice said

I sat up and turned to my left to see what I could only really describe as a goddess. She wore a white sleeveless dress that touched the floor and her blonde hair was tied up into a ponytail. Her eyes were a forest green color, but they also seemed a bit bright, unlike any I had ever seen.

Around her, flowers blossomed as she walked and the animals all turned their attention to her.

"The goddess of nature?"

She giggled. "I appreciate the compliment, but that wouldn't be me. I am often mistaken for her though. I simply have a strong connection to nature"

"You're a demigod" I stated

"Perceptive. My mother is Demeter" She answered

"I've got a lot of questions to ask, but I'd rather not bombard you, so I'll just push them to the side and be on my way" I said

"But you're in no shape to fight. In fact, when you first appeared here, you almost squished that frog over there" She pointed

I turned and one out of the fifteen or so frogs had their eyes narrowed at me as if they wanted some kind of payback.

"You collapsed into my arms and I placed you here in the lake that has magical healing abilities beyond even the capabilities of Apollo's children" She explained

"So do you live here, or...?"

"Not necessarily, I come by here once a week to visit the animals, but it seems today was your lucky day"

"Ok then. How long until I'm healed? I need to get back out there as soon as possible"

"I assure you that you should be in no rush. Majin Kai has been contained within the lamp again"

"Huh? You know about what's going on?"

"The creatures told me. All wildlife has gotten the word of the Majin's awakening. During his first genocide centuries ago, he mostly targeted nature, and the myth has been passed down ever since"

"So how did a daughter of Demeter end up talking to living creatures? And you seem to know some kind of magic too"

"I read a few spell books when I was younger, but I'm not too experienced" She replied. "The kind of magic I've been accustomed with it more spiritual"

"Spiritual..." I repeated and there were a few moments of silence while I looked around

"I don't believe you remember me. My name is Ava, if that helps"

I studied her closely until I focused in on her eyes, her one distinctive feature. It was a shade of green that I had never seen before, except for one girl I had met a few years ago.

"You're the flower girl..."

Around four years ago when I was fifteen, after Percy had retrieved Zeus's master bolt, I had stumbled across a girl my age who was picking flowers and talking to someone.

I tried hard to find who she was talking to, until I realized that the frog croaking in response to her words was it.

Hesitatingly, I approached her and she jumped back when I was a couple of feet away.

"Who are you?" We both questioned each other

"My name is Ava, what are you doing so deep into the forest?"

"I could ask you the same thing, it's not safe out here"

"I know it's not safe out here, so you should go find your parents"

I frowned and muttered, "Not all of us have that kind of luxury"

"So you're like me then..."

"That might be the only thing we have in common"

"I don't think that's true for anyone"

"So... you talk to animals?" I pointed to the frog and it croaked

"Yes, I do. It's a natural gift, and I like it a lot. The animals are nice, or at least to me. They help keep me company"

"Well, nice to meet you and all, but I have to get moving"

"Where are you off to?"

"I have to... find someone"

"Maybe there's something I could do for you?"

"You can't help me. I need to find this person, or else..."

"Or else what?" She took a few steps closer to me and that was when I really noticed her beauty

"You wouldn't understand. Even I don't really get it..."

"Then let's fix that"

"What do you-"

My vision tunneled and I entered a dream state where I replayed the three targets I had already eliminated so far. It was painful to watch but when I came back, Ava had her hand on my forehead and she looked confused.

"You're cursed by something extremely evil"

"What'd you see?"

"I didn't see anything but I understand your being forced to do something you don't like. Your soul is stained"

"Stained?"

"Maybe I can help you. If you just stick around then -"

"I can't. You can't help me, and you don't know what did this to me. Plus I'm unable to stay in one place for too long anyways"

She blushed. "It won't take too long"

"I appreciate the offer, really, but it's only a waste of time"

"Only if you say so" She muttered a bit disappointingly, and she went back to picking flowers

I continued to move like nothing had happened, and over the years, I had forgotten about that encounter, until now.

"You know, my offer still stands" Ava said

"Surely you saw my suit, you should know I was talking about years ago"

"I do. You're the assassin that everyone fears will come and take them one day, because you make it look so easily. Ironically, you're not afraid to come out into the day, considering what they call you"

"Yeah, me" I said

"Sorry, not you. You know what I mean. Lunam Miles is what the Romans call your other side, or in plain old English just Moon Knight, because of the crescent you wear on your chest"

"It's just honorary. My powers have always been a lot stronger at night" I replied

"So will you let me try now?" Ava asked

"I guess it wouldn't hurt" I agreed

Ava smiled, pleased with herself, and almost looking excited in fact. She walked over and gracefully stepped into the pond, not worrying about her dress that was getting slightly wet.

She knelt down next to me and placed her hand on her forehead. She closed her eyes to concentrate and I did the same thing.

I entered that same dream state I had before. Over the four years of my curse, I had taken out over two thousand targets. Each finishing blow that I delivered flashed before my eyes, with each less merciful than the last by the year.

I had transitioned from doing the bare minimum to overboard, but recently I favored one single strike to the heart, because it was the easiest. I had gotten a tiny bit of control over myself when I entered my other state, so I preferred to end it as soon as possible then be forced to watch them suffer.

Once I had revisited each death, my eyes open and Ava was staring back at me, still looking focused.

She slowly began to pull her hand back, and it was like she was yanking out my soul. A dark red mist followed as she pulled her hand back, like she was physically removing the curse.

The cavern then shook and some rocks from the roof fell into the lake, making a dramatic splash.

"Expecting any visitors? Boyfriend or anything?"

"Um, no" She blushed. "Whatever it is, it's coming fast and doesn't have good intentions"

Heavy footsteps began to approach, the cavern shaking with it each time. I turned my attention to the entrance to the cavern where Ava had come from.

"Almost done..." She mumbled

A head poked through the entrance to the cave and I instantly recognized what was staring right at us. The body became visible and so did the four other heads that It had.

"Ava, you have to stop" I said

"Just one more minute" She insisted

"We don't have a minute" I shook my head and took her hand, placing it on her knee, stopping the entire process

The hydra's middle head shot acid and I was quick to place a barrier that stopped it.

"How did a Hydra get in here?" Ava asked

"Sorry, they say I have a powerful scent" I answered. "And that thing is no normal hydra, its acid melted straight through my barrier"

The other four heads sprayed acid and I motioned my hand. Water from the lake erupted upwards and blocked the acid before crashing down onto the Hydra, causing it to stumble back a bit.

"This Hydra is much more powerful than your average one" Rubrum said

"Yeah, I noticed"

My sword appeared in my hand and I swung it. The blade extended out and it should have cut straight through the Hydra's heads, but it simply bounced off.

"It resisted Vibranium, impressive" Caeruleum noted

"Did you say Vibranium?" Ava questioned

"Long story" I said

The Hydra sprayed more acid and I shot a column of flames that burned straight through and hit the monster, causing it to reel back in pain.

"That's right, they don't like that" I remembered

Caeruleum sighed. "You can be so forgetful, even when your life depends on it"

"So I've been told"

"How come your dragons can talk?" Ava inquired

"Also another long story"

"It's not that long" Rubrum argued. "It all started six years ago when -"

More acid was sprayed by the Hydra and I waved my hand to put a barrier that reflected the acid back on the beast. It didn't hurt it that much, but it certainly did something.

"I can't use my fire, I've spent too much time in this lake" I muttered

"How about the mirror dimension?" Rubrum suggested

"Not enough energy"

"You could maybe borrow some of mine" Ava offered

"How'd you know I could borrow and give energy?" I replied as I summoned a wave that blocked more acid

"To try and take the curse out, I had to read your soul first so I kind of saw most of your abilities"

To buy some time, I put up a large stone barrier in front of us, but I knew that it wouldn't hold for long.

"Here" I held out my hand

She placed her hand on top of mine and blushed as I closed it. I concentrated hard until there was a glow to show that the transfer had been complete. She exhaled from her nose deeply as it finished.

"It feels like I ran a half-mile" She said

"I didn't think children of Demeter could do physical activity"

"Hey!"

The stone wall collapsed as acid sprayed through it. I couldn't risk having the Hydra break the mirror so I needed a small distraction first, even if it was a couple of seconds.

I made a fist with my hand and the flicked open my fingers. Harmless black roses fluttered out of my hands like a wild bird flock and the Hydra flinched back.

Using that, I sent forth the mirror that hit the Hydra like a truck and then absorbed it in.

"So it's stuck in there now?" Ava asked

"Yeah, unless someone who knows the spell frees it, but there's only two other people who I know of that could do such a thing" I assured

The wasted energy caught up to me and I sat down in the lake, criss-crossed, the water barely touching under my knees.

"I'm afraid now that the process didn't finish, it will take time for your soul to recover before we can try again"

"It's fine, it's not like I had my hopes up anyways"

Ava frowned. "Oh"

"Not that I doubted you, it just seemed to good to be true" I quickly said

"So do you have any people you need to find now?"

"I do actually, and if I'm lucky, they're trying to find me too"