Percy POV
I was floating in the air. Everything was pitch black, couldn't say a thing. Then suddenly I heard a woman cry out in agony. I looked around but still couldn't see anything.
Then suddenly a white light faintly glowed.
The woman cried out again.
The light grew brighter and I saw what was happening.
The woman was golden and laying down on a bed. There were two golden men. One standing beside her, the other standing at the foot of the bed.
"Can you save the child?" The man next to the woman said. He was dressed in golden royal armor, and had a black cape. "I think so, my liege" the other man said. He was dressed in a golden coat, golden doctors scrubs, and golden surgical mask and cap. "Well hurry up!" The other other man said. He looked down to who must've been his wife "How are you my love?" She grabbed his armor and clenched it tight. "Agh-" the man chocked out of shock. The woman let go.
"I'm sorry, my love" she said "No no no" he said "It's ok. You must be in a lot of pain" "You have no IDEA!" She screamed the last word.
"Ok, my lady" the doctor said "One more push"
The woman screamed once more.
Then I heard a baby cry.
"It's a girl" the doctor said. The man in the armor smiled proudly. The doctor brought the child over to the woman "Here you go my empress" he said. The empress? I guess she looked a little like her but... no it couldn't be.
"What are you going to name her?" The doctor asked. The empress and emperor looked at each other and nodded. The empress took a deep breath and said "Natalia"
Then the scene shifted.
I saw two children running in a luscious green field.
One was golden. The other was light blue.
They must have been playing a game of tag because the boy was chasing the girl and they were giggling.
Eventually they both fell down and looked up at the beautiful blue sky. "Oh Cal" the girl said "Your my best friend" "And your mine Natalia" Cal said.
Who is Natalia? What are the fates trying to tell me?
The scene shifted again.
This time Natalia was about twelve and standing in front of her father holding a sword. "Ok Natalia" he said "Stand at the ready" Natalia did as she was told "Ready?" He asked "Yes father" she answered.
The scene shifted again.
The Emperor and Empress were sitting on their thrones. In front of them stood a man in a blue uniform with tons of medals. Natalia ,who must've been thirteen, was hiding behind a pillar.
"What's the status of the trade dispute?" The Empress asked the general "The situation is getting increasingly out of hand" the general said "Several riots have broken out across the border. Some initiated by our people, the rest started by Edonians. I'm afraid if things continue the way they are, The Cygoian empire and The Edonian empire will have to go to war"
Natalia came out from behind the pillar. "Go to war?" She said "With Edo? But that's where Cal lives!" Her parents looked at her "Listen, Natalia" her mother said "We are not at war yet. You can still attend the Royal Academy for Future Leaders" "That's not what I'm worried about" Natalia said "Don't get me wrong I'm glad, but isn't there a peaceful resolution to this?" Her father sighed "Natalia," he said "You are too young to understand the situation at hand. We are trying to find a peaceful resolution. But, peace is not always possible" "But-" "Go to bed" Natalia's mother interrupted her "You have school in the morning" Natalia sighed "Yes mother" she turned around and the scene changed.
This time Natalia was with Cal and another guy and girl. They were walking down a hallway. They appeared to be fifteen "You did not" the girl said in disbelief "It's true" Natalia said "No its not" Cal said "Yes it is" "Prove it" the boy said.
Natalia took out a device that looked like a phone. She pulled up a picture and her friends mouths dropped. "By the nexus" Cal said "I told you" Natalia said "I can't believe you climbed to the top of your palace" the girl said "Come on, Phoebe " Natalia said "When have I ever lied to you guys?" "Multiple times actually" the boy said "Oh shut up Oswald" Natalia said. The group laughed and I got a good look at them.
Oswald was tall, skinny, and had glasses. He was purple and had white markings under his eyes and his ears were pointy like an elf's. Phoebe had no hair on one side and had long hair on the other. She had colorful beads in her hair that went down to her shoulder. She looked like a normal human
Other than that they were dressed pretty much the same. In academy school uniforms
The scene changed again.
This time it was just Natalia and Phoebe. They sitting in Natalia's room. They looked like they had been crying.
"I-I still don't believe it" Natalia said "No one can" Phoebe said. "The last time I saw them was only two days ago" Natalia said between sobs "And now I'll never see them again" "No one could have predicted this would happen" Phoebe said "I should have been there" "They were assassinated by professional killers there's nothing you could have done"
The scene shifted.
This time it was just Cal and two other people. "DO YOU THINK IM AN IDIOT!!?!" He yelled "I KNOW YOU HAD NATALIA'S PARENTS KILLED" The man who must've been his father stood up "DON'T SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY!" He yelled "ENOUGH!!!" the woman screamed. Cal and his father looked at her. "Listen to me Cal" she said calmly. She must've been Cal's mother. "We had nothing to do with Thomas and Annabelle's death"
A man in police uniform approached them "Your majesties" he said "We found this at the crime scene" he pulled out a piece of cloth "It's the calling card of The Followers of Death" On the piece of cloth there was a red rose. With the red dripping like blood.
The scene changed again to show Natalia about nineteen years old and holding a golden scepter. Oswald, Cal and Phoebe ,who's hair had balanced out, were standing behind her. Then four monks came through the curtains. "Are you four ready?" The center one asked. They all nodded and I looked at everyone.
Cal was dressed in a red uniform with one of those weird white sash things. Oswald was dressed in purple Japanese style robes with white flowers on it. Phoebe was wearing what looked like Viking armor without one sleeve. And Natalia was wearing a slim golden dress that went down to her ankles. The torso of said dress was decked in medals. Now that I think about it, the all had medals.
The four walked out on a stage. Cheers from a massive crowd nearly woke me up. They each waved and sat in their individual thrones. "Behold!" The monk announced "The new rulers of Cygo, Edo, Ordor, and Galandia!"
The crowd cheered and the scene changed again.
This time the four were twenty three years old and each looked very happy. Oswald and Cal were dressed in tuxedos and Natalia and Phoebe were in white dresses.
Then a piano played music that sounded suspiciously like 'Knocking on heavens door'
Then four people started walking down an isle. Three women in white dresses and one man in a tux.
The purple woman went to Oswald. The golden woman to Cal. The black human man to Phoebe.
(Don't call me out on that)
And the blue woman walked up to Natalia.
(Don't call me out on that either)
All eight people had big smiles on their faces.
Four monks walked up to each couple holding books in their hands. They spoke in perfect unison, the quote 'Sacred words of marriage' they finished it off with saying "In the light of the nexus. And in the name of the gods. We name you Husbands and Wives"
The couples kissed and the guest cheered.
'This doesn't seem so bad' I thought to myself'What happened'
Then I got my answer.
When the next scene appeared the four leaders were in an alliance meeting.
"The Followers of Death have made an unexpected reemergence" Cal said "They committed several acts of terror just last week. With over 150 dead" "I told you we should have burned that city down" Phoebe said "We would have destroyed those terrorist once and for all" "Need I remind you that I was in favor of doing that" Cal said "But I was not king then. It wasn't my call" "Whatever" Phoebe said "If you need help, I will see about deploying some of my military to assist you" "Thank you" Cal said "Next order of business, Natalia how are you doing with that disease outbreak?" "We are slowly recovering" Natalia said "But the stock market crash has left the Cygonian empire broke" "Do you need any financial help?" Oswald asked "No" Natalia answered "I have a plan for that. It's got live entertainment, an enthusiastic announcer, good food, it's affordable for the people, and best of all completely free to put on" "Really" Phoebe said intrigued "What is it?" "Well," Natalia said "Several gladiators fight it out in an arena, and with new experimental magic we can keep our champions alive" "Smart" Oswald said "But how is it supposed to make your empire money?" "Well," Natalia said "I was hoping you guys could give me a couple thousand million dollars each, and I'd pay you back with the money I make from the fights"her three friends looked around "You won't just pay us back" Phoebe said "You'll pay us back with interest" Natalia looked shocked. I mean who can blame her. What kind of a friend would want more money from a friend that needed the money they gave them. "Deal" Natalia said
The scene changed for the second to last time.
Natalia appeared to be twenty eight. She was standing next to a hospital bed. She had a bandaid on her for head and a cast on her arm. Her wife was lying in the bed. She was hooked up to life support and the beeping was getting more and more frequent.
A doctor walked in. He sighed "Your majesty" he said "I regret to inform you that your driver and the driver in the other car died about five minutes ago" he then looked at the woman in the bed "I'm afraid Miss Val doesn't have very long" he said "I'll give you a moment" and he left the room.
Natalia kneeled down and sobbed. "I'm sorry Val" she said "If only I could have helped you" then the beeping went crazy. The lines on the monitor had gone flat. Val, was gone.
The scene shifted for the last time.
A golden man with a wooden staff walked towards the empresses mech. It was smashed and face down. When did that happen?
The man opened the mech and pulled the limp body of the Empress- I mean Natalia out of the wreck.
He said an incantation and Natalia breathed deeply.
"My empress" he said while pulling her to her feet "are you alright?" Natalia pushed the old man away "I am fine" she said. She looked at the bodies that surrounded her "Where are they?" She asked "Where are they?!" A single guard came into the room "My lady" he said "They escaped through the portals. We tried to stop them, but they threatened our families, we had no choice" the old man looked at the guard in confusion . Then his face lit up with realization. "Yes!" He said "They threatened my grandchildren"
Natalia grew more and more angry. You could see it. "They will pay for this" she said. She looked at the destruction caused by the battle, and she apparently believed the two men's lies. "Dearly" she then looked to the old man "How many more souls do we need?" She asked. The old man stood up straight "Exactly 32" he said. "Very well" Natalia said "Prepare the army, and get me contact with the other leaders. We have universes to-"
Then she looked at me. Right at me. She screamed, drew a knife and charged at me.
"AHH!" I woke up, covered in sweat. Rayla and Callum woke up and screamed. "What?" Rayla asked "What happened!?" I took a deep breath and looked at them "It's nothing" I said "You sure?" Callum asked "Yeah, yeah I'm ok"
I looked up at the moon. It must've been 3 in the morning.
Rayla and Callum fell back asleep almost instantly. But not me. I had just gotten a rude awakening.