(ACT 02) The Curse

“My past is an armor I cannot take off, no matter how many times you tell me the war is over.”

—Jessica Katoff

…

William could faintly see his own breath coming out as thick puffs of air as his sister took a deliberate step forward, allowing Thanatos to slowly descend to the writhing mass of shadows at her feet, fully intending to make minced meat of the intruders with her own bare hands before throwing them straight to that bloodsucking bastard, if she has to… wherever he is watching.

Wouldn't be the first time she did.

And William mentally prepared himself.

But before Winters could take one more step and make a slaughterhouse out of their home, the vampire suddenly muttered something under his breath–

“Αναχαιτίζω!”

A bright glow suddenly flared to life on the floor... until it surrounded Winters into a perfect circle, the shadows at her feet disintegrating at the touch of the too-bright light with a sharp hiss that somehow reminded William the sound of a dying breath.

Winters froze.

Then, she blinked, looking down.

Her eyes narrowed.

Instinctively, William tried to reach for her, “Winters –?!”

“Don't come any closer!” Winters all but snapped, not looking at him as she held out a hand as if to push him away—which she immediately drew back with a startled jolt when her fingers grazed the light, “It's a binding circle... frustratingly weak but most likely made from the same thing that Zeus has to keep my father from materializing to the mortal realm.”

William gulped, glancing worriedly at her singed fingers then at the incensed expression on her face, “I d-don't understand... they found a way to restrain a god?!”

“Oh, no… not at all!” the vampire gushed, cackling madly behind his hand, “Immortals of the underworld simply cannot directly interfere on the realm of the living is all… as it should be. Dearest goddess of the underworld, I am afraid you have to sit this one out!”

Winters threw him a murderous look.

At once, the vampire and the Cyclopes charged towards William.

William immediately jumped out of the Cyclopes’ reach before brandishing a silver arrow towards the vampire who was too close for comfort, narrowly missing from nicking an eye.

Damn it, William almost got him!

The vampire snarled.

Meanwhile, Winters spread out her arms, deliberately not touching the faint light around her this time as the shadows formed on all four corners from the ground, writhing and crawling towards at her call… then promptly dissipated before it could even reach her.

Infuriated, she stomped her feet, causing the circle, the very ground itself around her to tremble. But much to her chagrin, it did not break–

Out of the corner of her eye, Winters watched William getting in some good hits on the Cyclopes and the vampire for a moment before focusing on the restrictive circle again, trying to think up of a plan, a solution on how to get out as soon as possible.

She bit her lip, worried.

Despite being so young, William has already established himself as one of her most renowned followers, but this was an unfair battle, and he was clearly outnumbered... while she was confident that he could hold his ground if this was a one on one fight, especially during an assassination, an all-out brawl is out of the question, not to mention, suicidal.

As the vampire let out an unholy screech in pain, one of the silver arrows gleaming brightly against his too-pale cheek, William delivered an impressive roundhouse kick that made her lips twitch in a sudden bubble of pride.

I definitely raised that boy, she thinks, fondly.

He had struck so hard the vampire literally crashed straight into the Cyclopes who both stumbled on a shelf with heavy books promptly collapsing in on them.

She hopes that hurt.

Wasting no time, William immediately turned and dashed to her side, finally garnering enough room to return to her. She sighed in relief.

“Winters... summon the furies,” William told her between labored breaths as he promptly gave her one of his remaining arrows, staring at her meaningfully, “And get the hell out of there!”

A maniacal grin curled at her lips, unbidden, catching on quickly at what he wants her to do while his hand hesitated for a second before it easily passed the barrier between them. Her eyes narrowed in thought. So, the barrier has no effect on mortals, after all…

Meanwhile, the vampire blanched at what could have that possibly implied, “Wait. What? Fuck, no–!”

Settling into the strange familiarity she felt every time she was about to call forth the servants of the underworld, Winters closed her eyes and even the world seemed to held its breath, horrified, as one of her hands splayed open, wrists turned to the heavens as if offering a sacrifice, the floor around her crackling with growing shadows (she ignored how all of them faded on the circle around her) until a chasm large enough for a person or two to fall into began to form.

Without a word, the goddess of shadows suddenly hurled the arrow, aiming for the distracted vampire, aiming straight for his head.

But the Cyclopes, out of nowhere, suddenly brushed the vampire easily aside, tossing him to the other side of the room and caught the tip before it could pierce its chest. William gasped, taking a step back as the chasm in front of them began to writhe then, just as quickly it had manifested... blinked out of existence, almost mockingly, the floor looking just as it had earlier.

No. No way.

His sister... missed?

“–WINTERS!”

And the next thing William knew, the monsters' cruel laughter, breathy and relieved was slurring together amidst his horrified screams.

They echoed on his ears on and on like a broken record as still inside the restriction circle, Winters suddenly dropped to the floor on her knees like a puppet with its strings being torn apart; such is the intensity from the onslaught of her father’s curse.

Gloved fingers clawed frantically on the floor for purchase, one hand on her chest fisting and pounding at her heart, trying to claw out the invisible pain.

Bones grinding... flesh being torn apart over and over again blood, there was so much blood over me, over Winters wait she's not moving is she breathing please stop you bastard let her go you’re going to tear her apart...! William let out a choked sob as he too, fell on his knees, half-crawling to get inside the circle at this point as his arms immediately attempted to wrap around her, trying to ground her back to reality, to make her stop tearing her own heart out of her chest but she just shoved him just as easily aside.

Suddenly, Winters froze, mouth stuck in an expression of panic and pain that he had known better than her laughter... without a warning, she slammed her head on the floor, one time, two times then three four five six—ichor splattering like paint all over the floor, the carpet turning dark—and her fingers clenched as she let out a dry heave, then another as she was still conscious... as golden ichor dripped from her head.

Just as sudden, an earsplitting, heart-wrenching wail, unbidden, was suddenly ripped free from her throat, then another and another–

“So, the King was correct, after all,” the vampire mused as he watched the goddess of shadows break apart, looking far too amused, as though it was some entertaining show.

“…the goddess of shadows has a weakness.”