Disclaimer: In this chapter, I own Marie and the voice, anything that is not Marie and the voice is not mine
Chapter 4: Visitors
Bran and I spent the next day wandering though the village of Huntercombe, it was dark enough that we could do so; we talked with a few people and got Bran introduced before we headed off to a small wood to talk freely. We were half way to the woods when that voice spoke to me again,
'They are here.'
I stared at the wood as it came into view then I put my arm on Bran's shoulder to stop him temporarily.
I could feel two presences in the wood, a male and a female, they were young but powerful. But I did not feel threatened by them in fact I felt drawn in.
"We're going to have company." I warned Bran.
He nodded. He knew something had been going on with me and guessed that whatever had been going on was tied in with whatever was about to happen.
We entered the woodland and headed towards the center of it. When we got there we saw two figures there as if they had been waiting.
The girl was about thirteen and was Petite, with an hourglass figure and a pretty heart shaped face. Her long hair was dark blond with highlights and was pulled back into a ponytail and her skin was a healthy light peach color. She was sitting down on a fallen tree trunk with a light jacket under her so she wouldn't get wet from the dew. She looked up at us as we came into the small area and both of us caught our breaths, her eyes were a chocolate brown with a small hint of jade green in them.
The guy also turned to look at us. He was also about thirteen and was slightly bigger and taller than the girl; he had olive skin and shaggy black hair. His eyes were dark brown and had a wild side to them. He was leaning up against a tree across from the girl in a protective sort of manor.
Then I noticed what they were wearing. The girl had on a knee length black skirt and a purple v-neck halter top. She also had on a leather belt which held a small dagger and a small pouch on one side. She also wore a necklace that glowed blue and said Μαριε it took me a couple of seconds to recognize that the letters were Greek and spelled out Marie.
The guy was watching us warily; he wore black jeans and a black T-shirt. He also had a belt but his had a sheath that held a sword, his hand was hovering near the grip of the sword, the hand had a skull ring on it and both the ring and the sword radiated death.
I didn't have to be told twice that this guy was a demigod; he had to be a son to an underworld god as well from what I could tell he trusted us but wasn't taking any chances. The girl, whose name appeared to be Marie, looked at the unknown guy and he made eye contact with her, they seemed to come to a silent agreement, then she stood and turned to us.
"I assume that you are William Stanton?" Her voice was clear and sweet but had an edge of command, one that could not be disobeyed. I nodded. She turned to Bran and looked him over for a moment and then smiled softly "Your Guinevere and Arthur's' son aren't you?" her voice was careful as if trying to convey that she meant no harm "Your Bran."
The question caught Bran off guard but he seemed to realize, as I had, that these two, however much they radiated the power of darkness, were not evil, nor did they wish any harm on us.
"Yes," Bran said after a moment "I am."
She nodded and then said "My name is Marie Valentine, my companion," she nodded at the young boy, who still looked wary of us "is Nico di Angelo."
Bran asked before I could even open my mouth, "Not to seem rude, but what are you two?"
Nico's eyes narrowed ever so slightly but he made no other sign of offense. Marie on the other hand seemed to have been expecting that question to be asked. She smiled at Bran again and said "Demigods, I am a daughter of Aphrodite and Nico is a son of Hades."
"Are you from the dark?" I heard myself ask before really thinking it through.
She simply smiled again and said "Why, Sign Seeker, do you ask a question of which you already have the answer?" I said nothing in reply and Marie nodded slightly as if she understood "Yes Will, I am the dark, I am the one who controls the dark and fights against the evil that swarms within it, and I am the part of the dark that is shadows and night."
I knew that what she was saying was that she was the mythical princess of the dark that had been born to the Greek god Ares and the goddess Aphrodite. It was in the book of Gramarye, the myth of the three immortal daughters of Aphrodite and how they had died in battle after their lovers had fallen in the battle against evil and chaos.
I knew that she had to be telling the truth for she had spoken the words of the book:
I am the light, I am the one who controls the light and fights against the evil that lives in the hearts of those in the world of man, and I am the part of the light that is life and day.
I am the dark, I am the one who controls the dark and fights against the evil that swarms within it, and I am the part of the dark that is shadows and night.
I am the balance, I am the one who controls the balance and fights against the evil that fights its way into the minds of children, and I am the part of the balance that is protection and twilight.
Nico then spoke for the first time, "You don't remember yet, do you Will?"
I looked at the son of Hades and asked, "Remember what?"
Marie's eyes widened for a moment and then closed in a kind of silent horror, as if I had just pointed out something that she had not thought of and did not have the time to fix.
Nico's eyes looked sympathetic but also worried, like he had been counting on something and it didn't go as planned.
Bran's eyes looked confused, like he had been following the conversation and had no idea where it was now.
And I... well I just felt completely lost.
A.N.: I have been having some writers block issues, hopefully that will go away soon but either way it may be a short while before i update this story since i'm going to try to focus on this one, my crossover, and two new stories that will probably come out tomorrow at the latest. but i will update within two weeks... if all goes well.
