Leviathan's Daughter
By GoldenEagle
Chapter One
Nine Years Later
Groups of knights and witches and princesses ran around, screaming and laughing and having a ball. Persephone sighed, watching what she thought was one of the oddest things that had ever crept into mankind's head. Halloween. She didn't really have anything against Halloween, she contemplated. Well, there was the fact that she had never really participated in the event, not since she was three or four years old. That was too long ago to remember. The only things that stuck in her mind between the ages of five and six were the things she didn't want to remember. Mostly pain, physical and emotional. Also there was the rejection. Persephone sighed heavily. She had avoided friendship. She had a natural fear that once a person got to know her (not that they ever tried), they would be too scared, and she would be hurt again. She refused to be hurt again.
Persephone tilted her head to the side slightly as she heard the door to her room squeak open. She threw a cautious glance at her three sleeping roommates. She let a bitter grin cross her face. She hadn't even bothered to learn their names in the six months she had shared this room with them. After a quick inspection to see if they had heard anything, Persephone stood and looked to the door, waiting for the person she knew was there.
She saw their silhouette against the light in the outside hall as the person stood in the dark stairway and fumbled with a bag at her side. The intruder jumped when she glanced up and saw the seemingly primal reflection of light in Persephone's eyes. "Shh! Keep your mouth shut, Goth Girl, or you're gonna get your ass kicked tomorrow, you hear?" A voice hissed out below a whisper.
For a moment, Persephone let a small amount of rage boil up in her. The intruder took a step back. She did know this girl's name. She knew it because Meredith Tushon was the leader of a large group of girls who had a famous reputation for causing trouble. Persephone let her rage fade into indifference, not noticing the way Meredith relaxed a little bit after the red glow had left Persephone's eyes.
"What do you want?" Persephone whispered coolly, trying not to wake the other girls.
Meredith shrugged and a person could feel the nonchalant attitude flowing off her in waves. "It really has nothing to do with you."
"It's my dorm."
Meredith sighed and the last look Persephone could catch on her face was one of total annoyance as she closed the door and the room was once again shrouded in darkness. "Duh. Your window is the only one that opens to a tree on this side of the Home. Plus, you always leave your door unlocked." The Home. The orphanage. Just another word, another piece of the fiery girl's past that showed how rejected she was.
"You're sneaking out." Persephone said indifferently.
"Uh, yeah." The pride seeped through Meredith's voice. "They won't even let us out on Halloween. I feel like I'm in a freaking prison. What loser would intentionally stay at home on Halloween." She looked up at Persephone suggestively before she pushed up on the window, struggled, and the fell backwards with a loud thump as the window flashed open quickly. She threw a quick and nervous glance at the sleeping girls, but one of them only stirred, a contented snore escaping her throat.
In the moonlight, Persephone could now see Meredith's costume. It looked as if she were going as a movie star or something, her makeup too dark and bra obviously stuffed. Persephone smirked cheerfully as she saw the girl's dress tucked into her hose. Persephone said nothing. As Meredith crawled out the window, she glanced harshly at Persephone. "Don't tell a soul, you hear? And don't you dare follow me!" With that, she was gone.
As she leaned out the window to catch the smells and the sounds of laughter, Persephone looked up to the stars. A red tinge flashed through one and caught her eye. It made her frown slightly. It made her want to go home, wherever home may be for a child who has lost everything at a young age.
Something stirred within her as the cool, harvest breeze of October floated into her lungs. Perhaps she should go out and have fun... Perhaps she would meet people she could relate to... People like her-
Persephone laughed bitterly at the though. Like her? No one was like her. Sometimes she felt like more of a demon than a human. She brought her head in and rested her hands on the window pain when a movement caught her eye. She looked up and saw a girl staring back at her. The girl and sad, blue eyes and a pointed nose, full lips, and amazingly long, fiery red hair that stood out against her pale skin. She was gorgeous. She was the reflection of Persephone.
Persephone sneered at the girl staring back through the glass at her in light purple pajama pants and a silk shirt that came up to her belly button. She thought her ugly, a horrible, retched creature with no real past and a very horrible future. Laughter was carried in by the wind and her attention was drawn outside again as children played and asked for candy. With a large bit of reluctance, some part of her taking over she didn't know she had, Persephone grabbed a large trench coat and tennies and pushed out the window into the cool night atmosphere.
No one saw her leave. No one saw her come back. In the morning, they realized Persephone had disappeared... She never came back.
Chapter Two
Persephone was starting to wonder why she had come out at all. She felt out of place around so many people. So many people would stare up at her for seconds at a time as she passed. She could feel their gaze lingering on her, and on her snow white scar in the shape of a delicate feather. She thought they stared at her because they thought her strange and awkward, maybe even revoltingly ugly. But the opposite was the truth. They stared at her in awe. But no one said anything to make her aware of her beauty. No one ever did.
As Persephone rounded a corner, her head low, a body barreled into her and almost knocked her down. She blinked slowly a couple of times in front of her before looking down at the small girl before her. The girl wore the costume of an angel, a cheap halo dangling by wire above her head. She was scrambling to grab the candy that had fallen out of her bag. Persephone knelt down beside her and helped her grab the sweet treasure scattered across the ground. A few kids looked greedily at the riches on the side walk, but all thoughts of sneaking off a piece was snuffed out as they saw the tall, somehow powerful girl leaned over helping the child.
The child looked up with surprised eyes, her mouth elliptical. "I'm sorry." She muttered. Persephone smiled sadly, which was the only smile she knew. The mature and pained look intimidated the small, blonde haired girl. She could have only been seven or eight years old.
"Don't worry about it." Persephone said as they stood, all the candy intact. She laid a sisterly hand on the other girl's head. I was once like her, she thought, quietly. Once upon a time...
"Hitomi! Where have you been!" Persephone stepped back as the girl's mother rushed forward and scooped her child up, placing a warm kiss on her forehead. A strange pain shrieked through Persephone, like the gods were toying with her.
The mother glanced up at the strange girl in her pajamas and marched her daughter off, glancing back ever so often to make sure the redhead didn't do anything creepy or offensive. The small girl watched her as she left, giving a final wave as her and her mother turned a street corner and disappeared. Hitomi, a part of Persephone's mind mused. Immediately her memory devoured the name and face. For some reason, I need to remember you, child, Persephone thought, slightly confused.
Persephone sighed and leaned against a small picket fince. "Do you have any candy, lady?" A little kid dressed up as a pirate asked. She shook her head in the negative and the child passed.
"Hello." The voice startled her and Persephone glanced up. The boy before her was her age, maybe a little younger, and his height was short of hers by a few inches. His hair was grey, until the light hit it and it turned a startling shade of white. He smiled to reveal straight white teeth. His attire was quite impressive, and Persephone found the costume he wore to be of much better quality that the others that had been roaming the streets. And every once in a while, when the wind blew and ruffled the boy's garments, Persphone could catch glimpses of something like what she saw in movies. The things that a person may pull a sword out of in times of peril. Persephone raised an eyebrow as a strange, sinking instinct rushed through her.
"If you're looking for candy or something, I don't have any." She said, thinking the boy was a little too old to be trick-or-treating. She turned her back away and began to walk in the other direction when she felt the boy's hand on her shoulder. She turned around, startled.
The boy removed his hand before speaking. "Let me introduce myself. I am Dilandau. You must be Persephone, am I correct? Good. Now we can do this the hard way... Or the easy way." He shrugged indifferently to indicate niether way bothered him.
A small tremor traveled through her and prey instincts clouded her brain as she realized, with the skip of a heartbeat, that she was being hunted. Without a word, she turned around and ran, turning the street corner at full sprint. She chanced a glance back and saw that the boy was just standing there, a small smile playing across his face. When Persephone looked back to where she was going, she only caught sight of a shirt of rough material and the flat end of a sword before she was down. Dilandau smiled as he rounded the corner.
"Well done, Queto. Let's go back home."
Author's Note: By the way, if you're wondering who Leviathan is, he's not really a character in the book. Leviathan is a Biblical creature, much like a dragon. It's supposed to spit flames and is supposedly invincible. But, anyways, just thought I'd say that.
By GoldenEagle
Chapter One
Nine Years Later
Groups of knights and witches and princesses ran around, screaming and laughing and having a ball. Persephone sighed, watching what she thought was one of the oddest things that had ever crept into mankind's head. Halloween. She didn't really have anything against Halloween, she contemplated. Well, there was the fact that she had never really participated in the event, not since she was three or four years old. That was too long ago to remember. The only things that stuck in her mind between the ages of five and six were the things she didn't want to remember. Mostly pain, physical and emotional. Also there was the rejection. Persephone sighed heavily. She had avoided friendship. She had a natural fear that once a person got to know her (not that they ever tried), they would be too scared, and she would be hurt again. She refused to be hurt again.
Persephone tilted her head to the side slightly as she heard the door to her room squeak open. She threw a cautious glance at her three sleeping roommates. She let a bitter grin cross her face. She hadn't even bothered to learn their names in the six months she had shared this room with them. After a quick inspection to see if they had heard anything, Persephone stood and looked to the door, waiting for the person she knew was there.
She saw their silhouette against the light in the outside hall as the person stood in the dark stairway and fumbled with a bag at her side. The intruder jumped when she glanced up and saw the seemingly primal reflection of light in Persephone's eyes. "Shh! Keep your mouth shut, Goth Girl, or you're gonna get your ass kicked tomorrow, you hear?" A voice hissed out below a whisper.
For a moment, Persephone let a small amount of rage boil up in her. The intruder took a step back. She did know this girl's name. She knew it because Meredith Tushon was the leader of a large group of girls who had a famous reputation for causing trouble. Persephone let her rage fade into indifference, not noticing the way Meredith relaxed a little bit after the red glow had left Persephone's eyes.
"What do you want?" Persephone whispered coolly, trying not to wake the other girls.
Meredith shrugged and a person could feel the nonchalant attitude flowing off her in waves. "It really has nothing to do with you."
"It's my dorm."
Meredith sighed and the last look Persephone could catch on her face was one of total annoyance as she closed the door and the room was once again shrouded in darkness. "Duh. Your window is the only one that opens to a tree on this side of the Home. Plus, you always leave your door unlocked." The Home. The orphanage. Just another word, another piece of the fiery girl's past that showed how rejected she was.
"You're sneaking out." Persephone said indifferently.
"Uh, yeah." The pride seeped through Meredith's voice. "They won't even let us out on Halloween. I feel like I'm in a freaking prison. What loser would intentionally stay at home on Halloween." She looked up at Persephone suggestively before she pushed up on the window, struggled, and the fell backwards with a loud thump as the window flashed open quickly. She threw a quick and nervous glance at the sleeping girls, but one of them only stirred, a contented snore escaping her throat.
In the moonlight, Persephone could now see Meredith's costume. It looked as if she were going as a movie star or something, her makeup too dark and bra obviously stuffed. Persephone smirked cheerfully as she saw the girl's dress tucked into her hose. Persephone said nothing. As Meredith crawled out the window, she glanced harshly at Persephone. "Don't tell a soul, you hear? And don't you dare follow me!" With that, she was gone.
As she leaned out the window to catch the smells and the sounds of laughter, Persephone looked up to the stars. A red tinge flashed through one and caught her eye. It made her frown slightly. It made her want to go home, wherever home may be for a child who has lost everything at a young age.
Something stirred within her as the cool, harvest breeze of October floated into her lungs. Perhaps she should go out and have fun... Perhaps she would meet people she could relate to... People like her-
Persephone laughed bitterly at the though. Like her? No one was like her. Sometimes she felt like more of a demon than a human. She brought her head in and rested her hands on the window pain when a movement caught her eye. She looked up and saw a girl staring back at her. The girl and sad, blue eyes and a pointed nose, full lips, and amazingly long, fiery red hair that stood out against her pale skin. She was gorgeous. She was the reflection of Persephone.
Persephone sneered at the girl staring back through the glass at her in light purple pajama pants and a silk shirt that came up to her belly button. She thought her ugly, a horrible, retched creature with no real past and a very horrible future. Laughter was carried in by the wind and her attention was drawn outside again as children played and asked for candy. With a large bit of reluctance, some part of her taking over she didn't know she had, Persephone grabbed a large trench coat and tennies and pushed out the window into the cool night atmosphere.
No one saw her leave. No one saw her come back. In the morning, they realized Persephone had disappeared... She never came back.
Chapter Two
Persephone was starting to wonder why she had come out at all. She felt out of place around so many people. So many people would stare up at her for seconds at a time as she passed. She could feel their gaze lingering on her, and on her snow white scar in the shape of a delicate feather. She thought they stared at her because they thought her strange and awkward, maybe even revoltingly ugly. But the opposite was the truth. They stared at her in awe. But no one said anything to make her aware of her beauty. No one ever did.
As Persephone rounded a corner, her head low, a body barreled into her and almost knocked her down. She blinked slowly a couple of times in front of her before looking down at the small girl before her. The girl wore the costume of an angel, a cheap halo dangling by wire above her head. She was scrambling to grab the candy that had fallen out of her bag. Persephone knelt down beside her and helped her grab the sweet treasure scattered across the ground. A few kids looked greedily at the riches on the side walk, but all thoughts of sneaking off a piece was snuffed out as they saw the tall, somehow powerful girl leaned over helping the child.
The child looked up with surprised eyes, her mouth elliptical. "I'm sorry." She muttered. Persephone smiled sadly, which was the only smile she knew. The mature and pained look intimidated the small, blonde haired girl. She could have only been seven or eight years old.
"Don't worry about it." Persephone said as they stood, all the candy intact. She laid a sisterly hand on the other girl's head. I was once like her, she thought, quietly. Once upon a time...
"Hitomi! Where have you been!" Persephone stepped back as the girl's mother rushed forward and scooped her child up, placing a warm kiss on her forehead. A strange pain shrieked through Persephone, like the gods were toying with her.
The mother glanced up at the strange girl in her pajamas and marched her daughter off, glancing back ever so often to make sure the redhead didn't do anything creepy or offensive. The small girl watched her as she left, giving a final wave as her and her mother turned a street corner and disappeared. Hitomi, a part of Persephone's mind mused. Immediately her memory devoured the name and face. For some reason, I need to remember you, child, Persephone thought, slightly confused.
Persephone sighed and leaned against a small picket fince. "Do you have any candy, lady?" A little kid dressed up as a pirate asked. She shook her head in the negative and the child passed.
"Hello." The voice startled her and Persephone glanced up. The boy before her was her age, maybe a little younger, and his height was short of hers by a few inches. His hair was grey, until the light hit it and it turned a startling shade of white. He smiled to reveal straight white teeth. His attire was quite impressive, and Persephone found the costume he wore to be of much better quality that the others that had been roaming the streets. And every once in a while, when the wind blew and ruffled the boy's garments, Persphone could catch glimpses of something like what she saw in movies. The things that a person may pull a sword out of in times of peril. Persephone raised an eyebrow as a strange, sinking instinct rushed through her.
"If you're looking for candy or something, I don't have any." She said, thinking the boy was a little too old to be trick-or-treating. She turned her back away and began to walk in the other direction when she felt the boy's hand on her shoulder. She turned around, startled.
The boy removed his hand before speaking. "Let me introduce myself. I am Dilandau. You must be Persephone, am I correct? Good. Now we can do this the hard way... Or the easy way." He shrugged indifferently to indicate niether way bothered him.
A small tremor traveled through her and prey instincts clouded her brain as she realized, with the skip of a heartbeat, that she was being hunted. Without a word, she turned around and ran, turning the street corner at full sprint. She chanced a glance back and saw that the boy was just standing there, a small smile playing across his face. When Persephone looked back to where she was going, she only caught sight of a shirt of rough material and the flat end of a sword before she was down. Dilandau smiled as he rounded the corner.
"Well done, Queto. Let's go back home."
Author's Note: By the way, if you're wondering who Leviathan is, he's not really a character in the book. Leviathan is a Biblical creature, much like a dragon. It's supposed to spit flames and is supposedly invincible. But, anyways, just thought I'd say that.