Present Day: Quebec
"Who was the snow princess that you were talking about?" Cahira asked.
"Her name is Khione, likes to freeze Demigods and keep them as her home decor." Leo said as they walked through a hiking trail
"What are the chances of her freezing and keeping a synthetic-demigod?" She asked cautiously.
"Pretty big, 8/10." Leo shrugged.
Cahira gave him a hard look and then started heading toward the cave where Caligo was. She looked at the fire map in her palm. They continued silently down the path. People who passed by were staring at her hand in awe or horror.
"You know, Cahira... You don't have the Mist to protect you from mortal eyes. You might want to put that away until we're in a less public place."
Cahira groaned and closed her fist. The pair continued walking until the path that they were following had become very narrow and very steep.
"What is it with First and caves?" Leo whined.
Cahira blinked, she had forgotten and that Leo had met Caligo a few years before.
"It's Caligo, and what do you mean a thing with caves." Cahira snapped.
"Sorry, she didn't necessarily tell me her name before disappearing. Yeah, but when she first came we let her stay in the Big House until she would have been claimed. But one day she went hiking and found a cave and came back and told us that she had found the perfect place for her." Leo explained while kind of winded.
Cahira frowned, and she opened her mouth to speak but no words would come out. They pair continued their hike and then Leo groaned.
"Do you have any trail mix? I just wanna eat the m&ms." He asked as his stomach rumbled.
"No. Use your magic tool belt." She spat.
Leo mimicked her silently and then kept walking. Cahira had her head down on the path in front of her, looking for footprints, but Leo was looking upward.
"Hey Chair..." He whispered. "If First, sorry, Caligo were to be hiding out in a cave. Do you think it would be like radiating darkness and like make you wanna touch it?"
"Yes, Valdez. That is exactly what I think it would be like, now could you be helpful and help me find one?" Cahira asked as she turned to Leo.
Leo gave her an impish smile and pointed toward the cave forty feet ahead of them. There sat a dark cave, ominous yet calming at the same time. Cahira gave a shuddering breath as tears filled her eyes.
"Caligo."
Twenty Six Years Before: The OMS Headquarters
The nursery that the girls shared had been moved from the sterile laboratory to an actual nursery, with three regular beds and toys scattered across the room. Each child had their own personal nanny that was constantly at their side.
"Now you understand what you must do? If First does not prove herself soon we must destroy the test and find a new subject." Nicholas Chermovsky said to Adeline.
"I understand what must be done, but why can it not be anyone else?" Adeline asked with tears in her warm eyes.
Chermovsky gave her a comforting smile and then put a hand to the side of her face.
"You know that this is the only way it will work." Chermovsky whispered to her and then handed her a vial, a poison that she knew would work as her punishment if Caligo did not produce the desired results.
Adeline gave her last strong breath, and swallowed the contents. She turned toward the nursery door and pushed the door forward.
"My Moonbeam, come here." She said, as her voice broke.
Caligo turned, she was holding a piece of paper that had words all over it. A mission report, one that she had to decipher. She set it down and came toward her nanny, her sisters watching. All three were dressed in white dresses, it was their uniform.
"What is it Addy?" Caligo asked as she came over, she knew something was off.
Adeline stood in front of Caligo, the one true gift in her life. She knew what she said was a lie, but she needed to protect her Moonbeam, her Starlight, her Caligo. She gave a look to the two other nannies and they took their girls and left the room. Soon Adeline and Caligo were alone.
"I am very sick..." She said, as tears began to roll down her face. "And I am afraid that you have made me this way."
Caligo looked shocked and confused, she reached for Adeline's hand to comfort her but Addy pulled away. Caligo's jaw dropped and she grabbed her own hand.
"What do you mean?" Caligo asked in a hushed tone so her sisters would not know.
A look of hatred came over Adeline's face, she looked toward the girl who's spirit she knew was breaking slowly.
"You have made me this way, First." As Adeline spoke, Caligo flinched. "Your devil-given powers have slowly killed me. I just wish that my last moments were not spent with you. You are not a human, you were made into this monster. You are a monster, and I realize know what I should have seen the moment I laid eyes on your cursed face."
Every venomous word that left her mouth burned Caligo harsher than any fire Cahira could summon. Adeline said her prayers silently in her mind as she saw the end of her life appear. Tears dripped from Caligo's cheeks and onto the floor. Darkness left her fingertips as easily as rain from a rooftop. It appeared around her feet and approached the nanny. The darkness was beautiful, and it spread toward Adeline.
"Oh Addy. I'm sorry." Caligo sobbed and rushed toward her, the darkness had begun to touch Adeline's feet.
A look that Caligo had never seen cross her beloved Addy's face appeared. It was peace. Adeline dropped to her knees and then the tears that had welled up were falling toward the floor.
"I'm sorry, my Moonbeam. I love you." Adeline whispered seconds before she collapsed and the life left her eyes.
As soon as those words left her mouth, Caligo knew what she meant and the darkness disappeared. Caligo stuck her arms out to hold Adeline's cooling body and an unearthly scream left her. Sobs of insurmountable pain filled the room and suddenly the entire organization.
Chermovsky heard the cries from the hall and a wicked grin crossed his face.
"Let's go, First."
Canadian Wilderness: Present Day
"Caligo." Cahira cried out, hoping her cries would cease the darkness.
"I'm just saying... She is surrounded by sound muffling darkness, why would she be able to hear you?" Leo asked.
Cahira turned toward him and then sighed. She realized he was right and growled quietly. Then she set herself alight, Leo was unfazed. Cahira started walking toward the darkeness. She called out her sisters name, until she was face to face with the darkness.
She sent out a hand of fire to touch the darkness. As soon as the darkness and the light connected, Both were diminished. And Cahira saw Caligo.
"You, my dear, are a very hard woman to find." Cahira whispered as she took in Caligo.
Caligo was sitting on the floor of the cave, surrounded by the bodies of several hikers and animals. She looked around her in horror and then tears welled up in her eyes.
"Get me out of here." She whispered in a broken voice, her dark skin and hair was dry, her bright eyes dull.
Cahira nodded, and for the first time in ten year she touched her sister. Gave her a warm hug. She never wanted to let go.
"It's okay. We're together. It's okay." Cahira whispered and as soon as they were out of the cave the two let go.
"Let's find Malum." They said in soft unison.