Hello all, King Of Hearts here. So this will be my first attempt at a story here on the site after a very long hiatus from posting. I hope everyone enjoys the story.
Also before anyone can comment on it, this story was inspired by Engineer4Ever's story Unrelenting Frozen Seas.
With the help of my editor and co-writer, Ethan, I'm hoping to keep similarities between this story and Unrelenting Frozen Seas to a very minimum. Also the length of this chapter will hopefully be the norm for this story.
So without further delay please enjoy the first chapter to Violet's Playlist.
Chapter 1
Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
Early November, 1990
It was a cloudy and cold Sunday morning in November as Elizabeth Pendolton was making her way through the crowded Manhattan sidewalks. She was a woman in her late 40s early 50s with graying hair just peeking out of her white winter hat. If you had seen her as she made her way to the homeless shelter near her apartment, you would have seen her dressed in a grey pants, an AC/DC shirt, and worn, but cared for, boots and a brown coat. Normally her youngest daughter, Jessica who was 16, would accompany her but she had been up late studying for an exam that was fast approaching. So, it was that Elizabeth was making the walk alone this morning. As it was, had Jessica been with her this morning, she might have missed the cries that she now heard as she passed by an alleyway. Elizabeth, as a volunteer to not only a homeless shelter but also at an animal shelter, stopped and listened more closely to the cries. What she heard made her heart break. It was not an animal as she had first assumed, because no animal could mimic the cries of a baby. She hurried into the alleyway, and began to search around for the child. After only a minute, she found the child. The baby was wrapped in what appeared to be a nice purple blanket that had been soiled by the water runoff from a nearby dumpster.
"Oh you poor thing." Elizabeth murmured as she picked up the child. She fished out her phone carefully, while trying to soothe the child, and called her boss Marcus. "I found an abandoned child in an alleyway, can you get someone to get some stuff ready to clean the child up?" She asked her long time boss. She winced as she heard yelling over the phone. "Marcus, I'll answer your questions when I come in, okay?" She quickly said, as she turned her phone off, and began to make her way, at a quicker pace, to the shelter. Her mind was only on one thing, as her jacket absorbed the water and filth from the blanket. She knew she had to get this child to the shelter. It was only a mere five minutes before she was inside the shelter.
"Marcus!" Elizabeth called as she spotted the man that had opened, and oversaw most of what went on in the shelter. He turned, and started walking towards her. She quickly went over to a table, and gently laid the child on it. As she gently took the blankets off, Marcus called out to the volunteer at the front desk, "Hey Alice, can you get some hot water and a towel, then check if we have clothing for a toddler?" She quickly scampered away, looking for what he had asked for. The child, who after having the soiled blanket and clothes removed, was revealed to be a girl with a head of black hair and an odd lightning bolt shaped cut upon her forehead. Alice quickly brought a bowl of warm water, and towles of multiple sizes, and said"I'm going to start looking for clothing now, if you need anything else, Josh should be coming in, in a few minutes." Twenty minutes later, after that they had her clothed in, with some clothes that they had at the shelter, they went to Marcus's office, where the girl was drinking formula, greedily out of a bottle.
"You found the girl in an alleyway near a dumpster?!" Marcus nearly yelled after Eliabeth had told him how she had found the girl.
"Yes, I don't understand how any parent could do that to a child." Elizabeth replied. "Especially as she looks to be older than most children who are abandoned."
"Yeah, that's true. You would think they would give the child to an orphanage, just to avoid the legal problems, so I am slightly surprised that you just found her in an alleyway." Marcus sighing, as he said that. He looked to the girl in Elizabeth's arms. Now that her face wasn't scrunched up from crying her heart out, he could see that in addition to her black hair and slightly dark skin she had a pair of beautiful green eyes. "Well we will have to take her to one of the orphanages and give her to them." He said with a slightly heavy heart.
Elizabeth knew that would be the best course, and most likely the course they should go with. There was no reasonable way to have a baby girl to stay at a homeless shelter that catered to families and single was no way that they could ask anyone, at the shelter to look after the girl, as they had their own issues to deal with, without the addition of another person to care for. But a tiny whisper in the back of her head told Elizabeth not to let this beautiful baby girl go into the system. "This child is destined for greatness, help her, nurture her. Make her the best she can be." The voice said.
"I could take her in, you know." She said after a minute. And she could. While she wasn't the wealthiest person in Manhattan, she was definitely well off. While she was widowed, her deceased husband had left her his federal pension as well as a hefty sum of money through investments he had made over the years. On top of that her eldest son worked on Wall Street, and while he didn't expressly give her money, he doted on his youngest sister and his aging mother. In fact her other two children were also well off or at least keeping themselves in a decent lifestyle. So while it might be slightly hard taking the girl in, she knew she wouldn't have to worry about money, if she took the child in.
"Elizabeth, not to sound rude, but you are starting to get a little old. And don't you still have Jess to look after?" Marcus said in response to her statement, which seemed slightly out of character for her.
Elizabeth took slight offense to that statement. "I would definitely say look after is a strong way to put it, she is sixteen years old and she can take care of herself for the most part, and I will have you know that while I may be getting older I can still keep up with the younger people who help out here." She said, with a tone of vehemence.
"That's true, but are you sure this is the right decision. Jess might be able to take care of herself, but will you be able to take care of yourself with all that you do at your job, and here? Marcus asked, "And plus, do you even know how to adopt a child, especially an abandoned child?"
"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. And plus, it can't be too hard to adopt a kid anyways, especially one that was abandoned." She said, with some certainty in her voice, and confidence surging through her. She knew the voice had never lead her down the wrong path. Maybe a path with difficulty ahead, but she knew she was making the right decision.
Marcus stared at Elizabeth for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything. Eventually Marcus sighed and brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. "Fine. I know a few people who will be able to help you out with the adoption process. Though beyond that it's all on you to have everything go through." He said finally.
Elizabeth's smile got brighter and brighter as he finished his sentence. She seemed to hold the girl a little tighter. "Thank you, Marcus." She quietly said, hoping not to disturb the little girl in her arms.
Marcus gave a small smile as he shook his head. "Don't thank me yet, you gotta make sure the bureaucrats over at social services are happy with everything, and you'll have to fix up your house some, with that little tyke running around." Elizabeth just continued to smile at both Marcus and the child in her arms.
Late June, 1992
Elizabeth was awoken suddenly in the middle of the night as a scream pierced through her 3 bedroom apartment. Elizabeth sighed softly as she sat up, and rubbed her eyes open. This was the third time this week that this had happened. She glanced at the clock. 3:12am. She slid out of her bed and into the slippers she kept at her bedside. Looking out the window, she saw lightning and heard thunder quietly roaring through the sky. The thunderstorm predicted for last night had finally arrived, early in the morning. She grabbed the dressing gown that hung on the back of her bedroom door, as she quietly trudged towards her youngest daughter's room. . With the little light in the hall, she glanced at the pictures that hung on the wall. The pictures in the hall held some of the major moments in her children's lives. Eric's, her oldest son, at his wedding back in January. Sarah, her oldest daughter, walking across the stage at graduation from medical school in May. Brian, her youngest son, standing in front of the Eiffel Tower as he and his band toured Europe this year. Lastly, Jessica, her now second youngest daughter, and her graduation from high school just a few weeks ago. Of course there were also photos of her youngest daughter, who she successfully adopted after fighting CPS for months, in the hall, little things that the family celebrated with their newest sister. Though after a few moments she was in front of her youngest's door and was about to knock and open it when she heard talking coming from the room.
"Come on Vi, it's alright, nothing here is gonna hurt you." She heard Jessica say inside the room. Vi, being Jessica's personal nickname for her younger, adopted sister Violet. Elizabeth had chosen that name for the girl she had found that November day, after the color of the nearly ruined blanket that had most likely saved the girls life.
"But the man with no nose," Violet said with slight hiccups. It was clear that after waking up with a scream she had begun crying.
"He's not real Vi, so you don't have to worry about him, I promise." Jessica reassured. This wasn't the first time in the two years that Violet had lived with them, that Jessica had beaten her mother to the punch and found herself comforting Violet after the girl woke up from a nightmare. "Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Jessica asked after a minute of soft sniffing and shushes. Violet didn't answer verbally but Elizabeth could imagine that she nodded her head at that suggestion like she did when Elizabeth asked that same question. "Alright come on munchkin." At this Elizabeth quietly made her way back to her own room with confidence that Jessica would handle anything else that would come up during the night. Elizabeth would talk with her in the morning, as she usually did when Jess comfoted Violet in the night.
Elizabeth woke around seven, as she usually did, even after waking up at three by Violet's scream. After once more putting on her dressing gown, she made her way to the kitchen where she found Jessica already awake and holding a cup of coffee in her hands. "Good morning Jessica, sleep well?" she asked, walking to the cupboard to get some breakfast for herself. Jessica looked at her mother as she walked in, and gave a slight grimace at her question.
"As well as could be when you have a three, almost four, year old in the same bed as you." Jessica replied, as she took another sip from her coffee.
Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at that. "You know you were just as bad when you were that age." she said to Jessica. "In fact, I can clearly remember that time when you were four and-"
"Please don't finish that thought, mom." Jessica said, quickly interrupting her mother, with a mortified realization of what story her mother was about to bring up.
"You sure you don't want to hear the story?" Elizabeth said, in a slightly sing song voice, as she found the cereal she was looking for, Raisin Bran.
"No, No, it's fine. I have to go and look at how Vi is doing anyways." Jessica said quickly, hoping that if she left the room, her mother would drop it. Right as she got up to leave, Violet walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes.
"Great, now I have another audience member." Elizabeth joked, as Violet walked in. Jessica sat down, slightly dejected. "How did you sleep, my little princess? And what would you like for breakfast?"
"Mommy, there was a scary man in my room after I went to sleep. He had no nose. He was really scary." Violet said, almost animatedly.
Elizabeth simply nodded, and when Violet finished, she said, "Well, there is no man in this apartment at all, and we can go room by room to show you. Just us three, and we're all sitting right here at the dining table." as she started hugging Violet and rubbing her back. "Now, do you want a super awesome breakfast at the Candy Shop diner? I'll even let you pick out some Candy, and we can forget last night happened." At hearing this Violet nodded her head vigorously. Elizabeth smiled at the girl. "Alright then let's go get you dressed and we can go, ok?" She then looked to Jessica as Violet quickly left the kitchen to go pick the clothes she wanted to wear. "Would you like to join us, my dear daughter?"
Jessica looked at her mother, then looked toward the hallway that Violet had disappeared down, and gave a smile of her own. She sighed and quietly said, "Yeah why not, I mean we won't have too many more chances like this when I head to school in September. I'm really going to miss you and Violet when I go to college. Who's gonna mess around with her, and keep the monsters out of her closet?"
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh a bit at that. "Jessica I'm a mother of five, do you really think I couldn't handle a few monsters in closets?"
"Psssh, mother of five, what do you know?" Jessica said jokingly, "So old, it hurts to put your slippers on each morning. Anyways, I'm gonna go get ready for the amazing Candy Diner." Jessica finished off her cup of coffee quickly and put her mug in the sink. `
"Don't diss the diner, young lady, it's where your father and I met." Elizabeth said in a mock accusatory tone.
"Yes Mom. We all know the story," Jessica responded, as she walked down the hallway to her room.
Elizabeth shook her head, as she finished her coffee. She rinsed both cups, and put them out to dry. As she walked to Violet's room to check on her, she felt a chill go down her back. Like someone, or something was watching her. She kept that feeling in the back of her head, but pushed on as if nothing was wrong. The rains from last night had finally stopped, it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
Early September, 1995
The sun was shining lightly through a layer of clouds as Elizabeth helped Violet with get ready for her first day of first grade. However, Violet was giving her trouble, just like all her other kids, when it came to first grade.
"But mom I don't want to go, I want to stay with you. What if the man with no nose shows up?" Violet whined as Elizabeth finished getting her backpack together.
"The man with no nose is just a dream, Vi. He will not show up. And I'm just five minutes from the school, if anything happens." Elizabeth said. "Besides don't you want to make new friends?" After Jessica had decided to study art at the University of California, Los Angeles, Violet had become rather shy around others, especially kids her own age.
"But what if they make fun of me for my scar?" Violet asked brushing her bangs over her forehead. The small, lightning bolt shaped scar had always been a bit of a sore point to Violet. Children and adults alike would always ask her questions about it, and at least once Elizabeth had received a visit from CPS after a daycare worker had called them about it.
"Don't you think people would find it cool? Especially since it looks like a lightning bolt?" Elizabeth said.
"No. If I hate it, all the other kids will find it weird too." Violet said, like she was stating a simple fact.
"Nobody will hate it. I think it makes you look a lot cooler, and who doesn't want a lightning bolt for a scar? It's a lot better than some of the scars I've seen at the homeless shelter." Elizabeth said. Though she was trying to reassure her daughter, Elizabeth herself did wonder how such an odd shaped scar had been made. It never sat well with her, because the only ways she could imagine a shape like that being made, was if it was made deliberately by someone. "If there are any issues, I'll be in City Hall, and it just across the park, so you don't need to worry about a thing. And after school, we'll walk down the street to Shake Shack, and get Milkshakes, but only if you go to school, and have a good day, okay?" She said.
Violet nodded, and quietly asked, "What happens if the man with no nose is there?"
"If the man with no nose is there, I will protect you, with my life, before he can hurt you. Nothing will happen to you, while I am still alive, got it?" Elizabeth said seriously. "Now, if you don't hurry up, we're going to miss the train, and if we miss the train, you're going to be late for your first day."
With a dejected nod, Violet realized there was no getting out of going to school. Although Violet was dreading walking through the door of her classroom, she was surprised when her mother's word's rang true, and one of her classmates thought her lightning bolt scar was cool.
"And then during play time this girl Abby was really nice to me and let me play Barbies with her!" Violet rambled excitedly to her mother as she enjoyed the promised shake after her day at school. "Can I get another milkshake after school tomorrow?" She excitedly asked, "Please?"
"No, milkshakes are only for special occasions. What's the special occasion tomorrow?" Elizabeth asked.
"It's Friday. Fridays are always special." Violet said.
Elizabeth smiled and shook her head at her daughter. "Young lady, not all Fridays are special occasions, unless your birthday falls on a Friday this year. Last I remembered, it's Tuesday this year."
Violet looked at her mother, with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Her mother stared her down with a steel eyed glare that could only come from dealing with New Yorkers on a daily basis.
Early June, 1996
The car was idling, waiting outside the school for Violet to come out the doors. They were doing their end-of-school-year trip to Eric and Sarah's home in Bayville. After almost a decade working in Wall Street, Eric was finally promoted to Senior Partner at a trading firm, and Sarah had finished her residency, at New York-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, they finally started buying houses in Bayville, NY. They wanted somewhere close to New York, that could be a getaway from the stressful lives they had.
As Elizabeth was glancing at the clock. It was 1:55. Just five more minutes until Violet came running out, and they could start they summer family week. Every year, Elizabeth tried to force all the family to meet at either of the homes that Eric and Sarah had bought for a few days over the week. Jessica had been missing from them for the last few years, while she was in college, but as she graduated next year, it would be a full house, or full cabin, again. She finally got to the Punk Rock station, and left it on there, while she waited for Violet.
She glanced at the clock. 1:57pm.
In three minutes, Violet would be bombarding her ears about today was the best and worst of her day at school, so she tried to enjoy the next song as much as she could before making the roughly 2 hour drive, just around 40 miles east.
She looked at the clock again. 1:59.
Within seconds, kids would be surging out of the double doors of the school. Elizabeth turned the music down, so that she could focus on spotting Violet, before they set off on their journey. She glanced at the Shake Shack milkshakes in the car. One medium, peanut butter milkshake for Violet, and one medium, salted caramel milkshake for herself.
The clock ticked to 2:00. Nothing happened.
And then, a loud school bell rang. Nothing noticeable happened for almost 30 seconds.
Then, waves of children started surging outside. Classroom, after classroom coming outside, in the hot 84F weather. Elizabeth turned the A/C up, knowing that Violet likes it colder when she gets in the car. With children running around in front of the school, it was a little harder to see Violet. However, after five kids, she had a keen eye for her own children.
Then Violet ran out the front door, and started looking for her mother's car. After almost 10 seconds, she found it, and started running towards it, hoping to get out of the heat. She thought the weather was around 20F too hot, much preferring spring and fall weather around 60-65f. As she jumped into the car, she instantly gravitated to the milkshakes. "Ooh, ooh, ooh. Which one's mine, mommy?" She asked, hoping to quickly slurp down the milkshake, as they started the drive.
"Relax honey, your milkshake is in the same spot as always." Elizabeth said, "But you can't drink any until you buckle that seat belt there." She turned off the radio, and handed back Violet's milkshake, when she heard the seat belt click into the mechanism. She started to drive away from the school, happy to get out of the traffic that surrounded the school. "How was your day, honey? Anything interesting happen?" She asked, as she drove away.
Two and a half hours later - At the beach house
As they turned on the private street to their home on the beach, the thunderclouds that were predicted for later that night, started to make an appearance. Neither of them took any notice, as they were still a distance away, and they hadn't planned to do anything major for the rest of the night. As Elizabeth looked in the rear view mirror, to check for cars before the left turn, a goat walked across the street, however she took no notice to it, and thought of what to do tomorrow. Most of the activities started when Eric and Sarah arrived with their families, the next day. Eric had one son, that was 3 years younger than Violet, and Sarah was 4 months pregnant with her first child. Violet and Josh, Eric's son, tended to play around on the beach, and on the SNES while most of the adults tended to sit on the porch, just relaxing away from all the stress and traffic of New York City.
Elizabeth parked the car, right to the side of the walkway up to the cabin. Before she started searching for the keys to the cabin, she asked Violet, "Can you please take the trash in the car, to the trash can on the side of the cabin?"
"Do I have to? I don't wanna. I want to go inside, and play Kirby on the SNES. I'm almost at the next level, and I want to get there before Josh gets there." Violet said, almost whining.
"Or if you don't take out the trash, I could take the controllers from you, until school starts again. Do you want to be grounded again for not doing your chores?" Elizabeth said, hoping the threat of grounding would motivate her to do the chores.
"Fine, I'll take the milkshake cups to the trash." Violet said, dejectedly. She quickly grabbed the two milkshake cups, and was about to run to the trash can. The faster she did it, the faster she could get inside and turn on Kirby, and start playing.
"I said all the trash, not just the milkshakes, young lady. Take the empty milkshake cups, and the food wrappers too." Elizabeth said, as she got out of the car, with the house keys in her right hand. With a pout, Violet went back to the car and grabbed the rest of the trash from the car and put it into the trash can. "It wasn't so hard was it?" Elizabeth asked as she unlocked the house.
Still with a pout on her face, "No, it wasn't." Violet said, as she walked up to her mother. Elizabeth smiled at her as they both made their way into the home. It was a rather large home with 5 bedrooms, 2 and a half bathrooms, and a living room leading to the porch overlooking the beach and ocean.
"Alright I'm gonna bring the bags in. You can start playing your games." Elizabeth told Violet, as they got into the house. With a beaming smile, Violet immediately ran into the living room, sat down in front of the TV and started to play on the SNES. As she turned the volume up, the Kirby theme song started to play. With a small shake of her head, Elizabeth went back to the car to bring the bags in. While she was bringing in the bags, the phone started to ring. Elizabeth went to the phone, and answered it. As she listened to the person on the other end, a frown started to form on her face. "Alright Eric, I understand." she said, with a small sigh. "Just make sure everything is fine, and we'll see you in a few days." She was quiet for another minute as Eric said something else, and before she responded a smile had replaced the frown she had. "Love you too, kiddo." With that she hung up the phone and went to the living room to tell Violet what she had just learned. "Violet, I have a little bad news. Eric, Ashley, and Josh won't be here for a few more days. It seems that Josh had a bit of a fall at home, and they had to take him to get it looked at." She said, with an apologetic tone.
Rather than remain in a hypnotized state, as most kids were when playing video games, Violet paused the game, looked to her mother. "I hope he's okay. It will be boring without Josh to play with."
Elizabeth smiled at her daughter. "I hope so too, sweetheart, I hope so too." She walked back outside to check if there was anything left in the car.
A few hours later
The night was clear and calm, the thunderstorm had just passed just a little while ago. Elizabeth was sitting out on the porch, looking up at the stars as Violet was tucked into her bed, hopefully, sleeping. She had a warm cup of tea next to her, hoping it would help stave off some of the chill that was always present on the coast at night. After a short time Elizabeth got up, grabbing her nearly empty cup and made her way back into the house. While she was rinsing the cup, she heard something that made her uneasy. "Violet, are you still awake?" She asked, as she set the cup down. She started walking towards Violet's bedroom. The sound grew louder and louder. It was almost like nails on a chalkboard, like someone or something was scratching the concrete outside. She got outside Violet's bedroom, and the sound was pretty loud. She slowly opened Violet's bedroom, and as she inched open the door, the window and part of the wall exploded inward. All sense of stealth forgotten, Elizabeth throw open the door, and rushed in, as Violet screamed out. Standing in the wreckage of the bedroom wall was some sort of creature, but Elizabeth couldn't make out exactly what was there.
"Mommy!" Violet screamed, seeing her mother. She began to scramble out of her bed, but before she could reach her mother, the creature charged towards Violet, snarling. While Elizabeth couldn't make out the creature, Violet could clearly see the creature. It had black, leathery bat wings, with a mouth full of sharp fangs, and it's eyes glowed like embers of an unnatural fire.
Grabbing Violet, the creature snarled at the child. "Spawn of the sea, you offend my lord, and so I've been sent to collect you." At this point, Violet, as any seven year old would, lost control and wet herself. Smelling the urine on the girl, the Fury smiled an evil grin. She quietly chuckled, and said, "Your fear will make this all the more satisfying." Raising her hands, tipped with razor sharp claws, the Fury getting ready to end the girls life, when a book hit the side of her head. She slowly turned her head towards the door. The Fury leveled her fiery gaze at the person who would dare to assault her.
Elizabeth stood in the room, her arm extended, and her gaze terrified but steady. "Don't you dare hurt my child." She said in a very slightly shaky voice.
The Fury laughed cruelly at Elizabeth, dropping Violet from her grasp. "You think you can stand against me, mortal?" Elizabeth stood steady as the Fury turned to her. The Fury had to applaud the mortal that now stood before her, as even though she probably couldn't see her form clearly, she still stood tall and defiant. "Very well. For your courage and defiance I will grant you a swift and painful death."
Hearing this Elizabeth's eyes widened. Thinking quickly, she rushed forward and lunged towards Violet, while she managed to evade the Fury. She quickly grabbed Violet, before jumping out of the ruined wall. The Fury was surprised at Elizabeth's actions, and couldn't react quite fast enough. After a few mere seconds, the Fury had burst through the hole, from the room. She quickly saw Elizabeth running towards the beach, and flew after her. Within a fraction of a second, the Fury was behind Elizabeth and with a deft swipe of her talons Elizabeth went flying to the ground. Violet tumbled out of Elizabeth's arms and rolled closer to the sea. A wave from the ocean crashed onto the beach, an arms length away from Violet.
The Fury glared down at the prone form of Elizabeth, the slash wounds on her back starting to show on the back of her shirt, the deep red contrasting against the grey shirt she had on. "Foolish mortal, I was going to let you die a quick death, before taking the sea brat, but now you shall watch as I rip her to shreds." Hearing this, Elizabeth tried to reach out to Violet, but the wounds she suffered combined with her age made most movement from her impossible. Elizabeth's back, and legs bleeding at a rate that would make most doctors nervous. Slowly, almost savoring it, the Fury advanced on Violet, who had sat up. With terror in her eyes, she tried backpedaling away from the Fury, closer to the ocean. She just couldn't move fast enough, and the Fury was on her. Grabbing her up with one arm, and raising her into the air, the Fury lifted her other talon and prepared to end the girl's life. Violet closed her eyes, her tears dampening her shirt, too scared to continue to watch what was happening. Before the Fury could deliver the final blow, a voice rang out from a short distance away.
"Hey! Drop the kid, Bird Brain!" The Fury snapped her head around, and saw another child standing atop of a sand dune, a spear held in her hand, its tip glowing in the night. The child was dressed in a jacket and pants that had based on looks alone, seen better days, with dirt, and other grime covering it, and an odor she could smell, despite the many feet between them. Still stunned, The Fury didn't react as the child rushed down the dune and nearly impaled the Fury on her spear. It was due to the child's obvious inexperience that saved the Fury from the fatal blow. Quickly flying back slightly, the Fury finally got a clear scent from the child other than dirt and filth, the crisp clean smell of ozone.
Smelling this the Fury smiled and let loose an evil laugh. "First I find the sea brat, and now the sky brat delivers herself to me, oh what a lucky day it is. My great master will be pleased when I return. " Dropping Violet, the Fury devoted her full attention to the now identified girl. The foolish demigod that would challenge her. "Bring it on, you foolish child. I'll even let you take the first run at me, before I rip you to shreds, and deliver your head to my master."
And so the girl raised her spear. "I'm Thalia, Daughter of Zeus, soon to be killer of hideous bird ladies, and with the help of the gods above, I will end you." With that, Thalia charged forward, spear raised ready to run the Fury through. The Fury laughed and shifted her body slightly. What was going to be a fatal blow, missed by a mere inch. The Fury then raised her talon again and was about to bring it down on Thalia, when there was a sudden crash of waves. Both turned to the ocean, seeing Violet being surrounded by the water that now seemed to refuse to recede from the beach. A figure began to rise from behind Violet. It took the shape of a man, a gleaming trident held in his watery hand.
Hefting the trident the shape spook out in a rumbling voice that sounded like waves crashing violently against the shore. "You shall not harm my daughter or my niece , servant of Hades." With a mighty throw the trident left his hand and impaled the sand in front of the Fury.
Shaken from the trident impacting in front of her, the Fury looked to the figure. "Lord Hades shall hear about this, Poseidon." She hissed out before taking flight and leaving quickly.
Poseidon looked to sky at the retreating form of the Fury. "Hmph, let him hear about it." He then looked to Violet who was still shaking in fear of the events that had transpired. "Child, look at me." Too afraid to refuse, Violet looked up at the watery figure of Poseidon. "You are safe for now, but not for long." He then looked towards Thalia, who had yet to move from her spot, her spear still raised. "Niece, take my daughter with you, protect her and train her. I would be forever grateful to you." Thalia, too stunned at being addressed directly by a god, could only nod her head. "Good," turning back to Violet he said, "Child, take the weapon over there with you, and it shall protect you."
Violet continued to stare at Poseidon and finally she managed to find her voice again. "But, but mommy-" She couldn't finish her statement as new tears began to fall from her eyes.
Poseidon looked up the beach at the now corpse that lay on the beach. He couldn't help the sigh as he turned back to his daughter. "I'm sorry my child, she is gone and you need to leave this place quickly. Otherwise, other monsters will come here for you. Please leave this place, with the other girl, and she can protect you, I promise." Poseidon looked at both of them for a moment, before addressing them both, "Run. Run, hard and fast, and don't look back. Learn as much as you can, both from each other, and those around you, on the hard journey that lies ahead."
Violet's sobs increased but her strength should at that moment as she nodded her head. She started to stand on shaky legs, tears falling freely into the waves and looked at Poseidon and asked the question on her mind. "Who are you?"
Poseidon smiled gently at his child and knelt down to look in her eyes. "I am your father, Violet, and I'm proud of the strength you have shown tonight. Hold onto that and it will serve you well." With that, the image of Poseidon began to fall back into the ocean. Left there, was a final message to his daughter before fading completely. "I do love you my child, never forget that." After all that had happened in the last 15 minutes, Thalia and Violet were finally the only people left alive on the beach, as far as they could see.
Thalia approached her new cousin, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and said "I know it's hard, but we should go now, kid. Let's go back to the house and quickly grab some clothes and food, and get out of here." Thalia then turned and started to move back towards the house.
Violet hiccuped another small sob and nodded her head and started following Thalia, though she stopped next to her mother and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you from the bad bird lady, mommy. I'll be good and I promise I'll see you again. I love you." After saying her final words to her mother, she continued back to the house, picking up the trident, as her tears continued to fall on the beach. Her journey starting in tragedy. What she didn't know was how long this journey would last, and how many people close to her she would lose along the way.