Disclaimer: Not mine.

--------------------------------------------Hades Beckons--------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------The Awakening--------------------------------------------------

The guardians knew something horrible was happening. Their charge twisted and turned her body flailing over the furry bed. Yet her arms stayed stock still. Red blood was pouring out of them from gashes that kept multiplying.

Fayette was kneeling over one arm trying to staunch the blood. Desteniy was on the other side trying to do the same. Niane knelt over the girl holding down the writhing body with her own.

"It won't stop flowing."

"There can't be this much in her. It is leaking from something else." Three sets of eyes met as realization dawned.

"Her twin."

Later after the blood stopped flowing and the Vortex drifted back into stillness the bloodied caretakers decided that now was the time. There was much to get prepared and obviously not enough time to do it well.

They would have to skip many parts of the ceremony and just pray that they did not matter as much as the old book said they did. The sisters prepared the room while Niane searched for the components needed for the ritual.

"We must purify this place as fast as possible Niane might return at any moment." Fayette nodded at her sister and they began to cleanse the room. Desteniy scrubbed the floor where blood had spilled over from the bed. Fayette lit incense and candles to clear the air from the coppery smell. Flowers were placed around the walls and draped over the door.

The fur on the bed, drenched in the girl's blood, was removed to reveal deep grooves cut into the stone. One ran from the top of the bed to a shallow basin where the girl's head was now laid. The second ran from the left side to underneath the girl's body joining the one that ran from the right. A network of thin lines spun a spider's web under her body.

Runes covered the carved niches shining with a soft blue light. None of the guardians knew what the runes meant, they were far older and had captured Dreamers since the beginning of time.

The girl in all her naked glory appeared unreal bathed in the shining runes. The heavy iron door opened and Niane returned. With her an old woman dressed in rags, a young female dressed little better. They fought on the chains that bound them until they caught sight of the chamber.

In Niane's arms lay an infant slumbering deeply. Desteniy unchained the young woman and held her to the Dreamer's left; Fayette guided the old woman to her right. Niane moved to her head with the child cradled safely in her embrace.

"To you Sleeper I offer this old blood to make you wise and value life." Fayette slammed the old woman's head into the groove. Thick blood ran from the crushed skull, startling the young woman who began struggling.

"To you Dreamer I offer this matured blood to make you strong and capable." Desteniy ended the woman's fear in death. The second groove filled and joined the first, the blood mixed swirling together in a flawless dance.

"To you Vortex I offer this new blood to make you innocent and forever young." Niane dropped the child and smashed her small head. The baby never had the chance to cry. Blood saturated the stone bed and its occupant. Silver white hair turned into dark red as her body sank into the warm sustenance.

The runes shifted in all the colors of the spectrum giving off a faint hum. The three watchers joined bloodied hands and bowed their heads in concentration. Niane opened her eyes and squeezed her companion's hands. Silver eyes stared at the ceiling, they were unfocused and distant.

"Is this a new world?" A quiet voice, husky from disuse broke the silence.

"This is the true world."

"You are the lights."

"Yes." Mercurial orbs fastened on Fayette.

"Where is he?"

Silence.

"We are not sure. Niane found you alone." The steady gaze moved to the ranger.

"Where did you get me?"

"A group of gypsies had you for sale."

"I must find him." She sat up hampered by the chains at her wrists and ankles. Before the three could move the shackles were unsnapped and the girl slid out of the bed, blood streaming from her body creating a macabre path behind her.