1 Chapter 1

Lochlann Bertram stood at the altar next to the priest, awaiting his bride, Jozie Elpidio. Lochlann was a rather wide man, with short brown hair that he liked to keep up in a point near the front of his head. His black suit looked very clean, an almost mandatory thing to wear when he was working, but this wasn't work. He was finally to be married on Friday the 17th. Their honeymoon was planned for the week after the wedding, they had two tickets to visit Fiji, which would be much colder than their American home.

Cem was standing behind Lochlann. They had grown up together in Tyrphilia, and Lochlann and Cem had grown very close. Today, Cem was Lochlann's best man, just as they had promised back in grade school together.

And Emma Minkov was standing in the bridesmaid position, awaiting her friend, Jozie, to show up for the wedding. Emma had grown up in Washington D.C., but moved to Tyrphilia to pursue a job in surveying land and writing up blueprints for future construction projects.

After the wedding march began to play, Jozie walked up, her father's arm interlinked with hers, her long dress trailing along the floor behind her. She truly was a beautiful woman, her long blond hair always somehow kept straight down her back and her green eyes always seemed to be looking for the next big news story. That's what made her so good at her job, her crazy talent at being able to see where the next big story would be without receiving any tips about it. When she finally reached the altar and her dad had left her, she smiled at her soon-to-be husband and he returned the friendly smile. It truly was a beautiful day.

The ceremony was rather quick, they said "I do" to each other, they ran down the aisle together and to the doorway so they could say their thanks to everyone as the onlookers exited. The people filed out peacefully until only the priest, Jozie, Lochlann, Cem, and Emma remained still at the church. The priest ushered them out, wanting to get home, and they decided that they would go to Lochlann's house to talk about their future plans together.

Lochlann's dog, Kai, greeted them at the door, wagging her tail happily at the sight of her owner and three other humans. Lochlann patted her head and Cem scratched her ears happily. They continued into the kitchen to celebrate with a few bottles of beer and a few hearty slices of rum cake.

As they were enjoying their quasi-meal and making new memories for years to come, Emma began to feel strange. It wasn't the alcohol affecting her, she knew that a single bottle of beer, a few sips actually, wouldn't have this kind of an effect on her. It had to have been something else. She hoped Cem wouldn't have drugged her, they had been friends for too long, but she knew he wanted her. As she stumbled into the bathroom, Cem followed closely, keeping a watchful gaze on her. His wide grin revealed that he definitely had to have had a hand somehow in distorting her senses.

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, her world tipped and swayed until she found herself on the ground, hugging the toilet to keep her from moving any farther. Cem locked the door behind him and set his bottle of beer on the counter before crouching down to Emma's level.

He ran a hand along her face and she swung her hand at it in an attempt to slap his hand away. It was futile however, her senses were so distorted that she ended up putting her hand on his shoulder. She wasn't sure how this had happened, she had been under the influence of drugs before in controlled environments, but this was a completely different feeling, everything she felt was wrong... off somehow.

Cem moved his hand a bit farther down her body, running over her shoulder, his grin only growing wider as Emma grew more scared. She tried to call for help, but instead, a pair of humans appeared in the small bathroom, replacing where a wall had been standing, light shone from their backs, making them look like dark silhouettes, but their genders were still clear; one male and one female, holding hands and staring down at Cem. As the light faded, so did Emma's vision, blacking out completely. Cem was temporarily disoriented and completely unaware of his surroundings.

Once Emma had blacked out, Cem thought he had won. He reached his other hand towards her breast, but the two new people grabbed his hand, stopping him from commencing his heinous act. Cem gasped and turned to the two people, each one grabbing one of his wrists. His grin had switched from one of bliss to a grimace of terror, but these new people weren't here to harm him. They dropped his wrists and disappeared in a bright flash of lights, leaving Cem temporarily blinded.

Emma appeared in Greece, standing atop the Acropolis of Athens, not entirely sure how she had gone from the small, peaceful town of Tyrphilia all the way to the Acropolis. The bright sun shined in the distance, just barely making its way over the horizon. Emma sighed and sat down, placing her head in her hands, trying to contemplate exactly what had just happened to her. The two people appearing out of nowhere, Cem apparently trying to take advantage of her, and then somehow appearing on top of the Acropolis, several thousand miles from her home, unsure on what she should do next.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard a heavy footstep behind her, she turned to see a man dressed in perfectly ironed, pearly white robes that fell around the base of his body. She got to her feet and examined this new person. He seemed to bob up and down slightly, as if levitating or floating and not actually standing. His face was perfect, the eyes equidistant from his perfectly formed brow, his lips a perfect colour, but nearly impossible to describe, similar to a peach colour? The only thing wrong about him was his absence of pupils. His maroon irises were perfectly rounded and the white sclera was also pure white, matching his robes amazingly. He reached out a hand towards Emma and she jumped in shock, seeing his hand was a seafoam green, which didn't match the olive tone of his face. Realising her disgust and shock, he pulled his hand back into the recesses of his robes.

His mouth opened and he spoke in a language Emma couldn't comprehend. She shook her head and said, "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying."

The man nodded and looked as if he understood, clearing his throat, he responded, "I am sorry for that inconvenience. Being in Greece, I expected you to know Greek. But you're British, huh?"

"I'm from America," Emma muttered, once again gazing at this guy, looking for his hands, but they were hidden by his robes, "who are you? And where are you from?"

"Ah, yes. I have a terrible habit of not introducing myself. My name is Hilohr. I am a god amongst humanity." A grin crept onto Hilohr's face, revealing perfectly aligned and perfectly white teeth. Hilohr extended his hand again, and Emma stared down at his green hand.

"A god?" Emma scoffed. "Please, if you were a god, you would have pupils."

Hilohr scoffed back at her and retreated his grasp. "You may be a beautiful land surveyor... but you're certainly not a doctor. The pupils allow light in. I have no need for light in order to see. Simply being in your presence has allowed me to find out so much about you. Emma... Emma Minkov. Back in high school there was a boy–"

"That's enough!" Emma cut him off, and Hilohr smirked back at her.

"What? A bit touchy when it comes to him? He killed himself, didn't he? You vowed never again to get emotionally attached to people. You vowed your hatred towards a society that's so twisted, so dark, and oh so broken. What if I told you I could assist you in your quest of total extermination?"

Emma stared at this man, unsure if anything he had said so far was true or not. "If you're really a god, why do you need me?"

"Why do I need you?" Hilohr scoffed yet again, "I don't need anything. I'm simply here to offer you, a human mortal, a chance to rule over this world. My father and I don't exactly want to rule this world, we've plenty of other places to take over, and I don't exactly want to go through the effort of taking complete control of you. Of your friend group, you're the most powerful."

"What do you mean by 'most powerful'?"

Hilohr stopped for a moment and stared at her, "you mean you don't know how you managed to travel over five thousand miles from your home town of Tyrphilia to Greece?" he gave a short laugh, "All right then. I suppose I ought to inform you–" Hilohr stopped and looked up at the sky, Emma looked up as well, but failed to notice what Hilohr could see. A black portal opened up behind Hilohr and he turned swiftly to face it.

A lady stepped out onto the roof, wearing no clothes and nothing to cover her. Apart from the long black hair from her head, she had no hair. The hair was free flowing, falling all the way down to her hips almost majestically. When she spoke, the sound was delayed slightly and came out as a whisper that both Emma and Hilohr could hear, "Hilohr, you are not meant to be here. Jetzotz has been notified. You and Daosum are not allowed to step on this planet. Nuphine banished you centuries prior, you are not supposed to be here!" This lady looked past Hilohr and noticed Emma for the first time. "And in the presence of a mortal no less!? Hilohr, you may be a demon, but I had seriously hoped you'd stay away from this planet."

Hilohr waved his hand and several feathers floated into the air. A sudden silence fell upon Hilohr and Emma, Hilohr turned back to Emma and the feathers froze in place, inches away from hitting the top of the Acropolis. "We don't have much time and, as Cyxdia so politely stated, I'm not exactly allowed to be here." They stared at each other for a moment, Emma was unsure how to react to Cyxdia's entrance through a portal, but she had basically confirmed that Hilohr was a god. "I will send you someone... uh... name will be Roxane. She'll be in Tyrphilia when you return there. She'll explain my vision to you, I swear. This conversation..." he paused and stared at Emma, "you won't tell anyone, I can see that in you. You wouldn't." The feathers fell and the sound of a falcon crying sounded off. Hilohr turned back to Cyxdia and sighed. "I'm ready to return to my father, Cyxdia. One last note, Emma. Tonight is a full moo–" Cyxdia pushed him into another black portal and it shut behind him.

She turned to Emma and brushed a bit of hair out of her face. "What did he tell you?"

"Uh..." Emma looked past Cyxdia's shoulder, but the portal had completely disappeared, "are you going to push me through one of those?"

Cyxdia laughed shortly, a bright and happy laugh. "I only pushed Hilohr through one because he's a god and I cannot kill him. You, on the other hand..." her smile dropped. She took a step forward and Emma attempted to take a step back, but the edge of the Acropolis was just a foot step away. "Jump, Emma... it'll be a short drop and a sudden collision. I guarantee you will die if you jump."

Emma turned and looked down the edge of the rock, scared for a moment. She turned back to Cyxdia and shook her head, "I'm not jumping."

Cyxdia frowned, "Then I'll just have to push you. Despite hating straight up murder, I'm afraid you may be corrupted by such a meeting... I truly wish we could have met under more... pleasant circumstances," she took another step forward, until the two of them were face to face. Cyxdia smiled and placed a hand on Emma's shoulder before pushing Emma away, off the Acropolis. Cyxdia turned away and walked through another portal she had opened.

* * * * * * * * *

(While that was happening...)

Lochlann laughed at his new wife's joke. He couldn't even remember what it was, but he knew it was funny. He looked around the kitchen, but neither Cem nor Emma were around. Jozie noticed his look of confusion and looked around as well, also unsure of where they had ran off to. Jozie giggled again and leaned back, hoping for the counter, but instead fell down to the floor and dropped her beer, causing her to laugh even more. Lochlann joined in the laughter, still unsure as to the reason of why he was laughing.

Cem stumbled out of the bathroom, rubbing at his eyes and complaining about the damn light in the bathroom, Lochlann and Jozie weren't concerned, still on the floor and laughing about whatever. Cem walked into the kitchen and looked down at his friends, hoping they hadn't heard anything about what had gone on inside the bathroom.

"Uh, guys... the bathroom toilet didn't flush. Just wanted to let you know." Cem said, staring down at them. They stopped laughing for a moment and stared up at Cem before turning back to each other and bursting out in another fit of laughter.

Cem sighed heavily and walked away, muttering about how he wished he could be just as care free, running his hand through his long hair as he walked off to the guest bedroom for a long night of sleep.

Around two hours after Cem had fallen asleep, the door shut to Jozie and Lochlann's room, signaling that they were falling asleep after a few more glasses of wine.

* * * * * * * * *

Emma fell from the top of the Acropolis, knowing that the fall would definitely kill her. She shut her eyes and prayed that she would be delivered safely from the fall. She opened her eyes in shock as she landed in a body of water, splashing around, hoping not to drown now after being saved from such a high fall.

She took in a gulp of air, and felt the edge of the pool... pool? Confusion ran through her. She placed her elbow on the edge and rubbed the water away from her eyes before looking around at where she had landed. The school pool was dark, the only light was from the full moon, pouring through the single window near the top of the pool area. The light was barely enough to illuminate the "Tyrphilia Typhoons" poster on one of the walls.

Emma stayed there for a while, refusing to let go of the land she desperately grasped. How had she gone from the bathroom with Cem to the Acropolis in Greece and then to the high school pool that she used to swim in every day after school?

After finally catching her breath, she pulled herself out of the pool, shivering from the cold water and wishing she was somewhere warming. She looked for the door to the locker room and hurried toward it, hoping to find a change of clothes. She pulled open the door and hurried into the darkness, patting the wall for the light switch. She flipped the switch and the lights turned on, illuminating the bank vault in front of her.