Chapter 6- Glao Fís

Athena felt herself landing softly on a flat surface but she was a hundred percent sure she'd gone straight to bed after feeding Bruce and telling him about Serena's owner. He'd been so excited, he hadn't bothered her for the rest of the day. And boy, was she grateful!

So how was she landing somewhere?

She opened her eyes and looked around the room she was in. The walls and ceiling were painted black and there were no windows or doors but a soft light and her heightened senses made seeing possible.

"Well, this is not strange at all..." Athena said as she turned her gaze to her side and shrieked in terror.

"This was definitely not what I'd had in mind when I'd hoped to dream about you." Darren said in a groggy voice as he rubbed his eyes before looking up at her from where he was lying.

"Cute." He said with a sleepy smile and gestured to Athena's batman onesie.

She gave him a pointed look and asked "Do you by any chance know where you are?"

"I'm definitely dreaming about you." Darren answered with a shrug.

Athena face palmed herself and sighed.

"Do you usually dream about girls doing this?" She asked as she slapped the back of his head.

"Hey! Okay, okay. So maybe I don't know where we are, no need to get all hostile." Darren said as he rubbed his head.

"You guys talk too much." They heard a voice say before the yawn came.

"Rainbow?" Athena and Darren both asked as they suddenly noticed the girl lying face down a few feet from them.

"At your service." Rainbow said and waved sleepily before sitting up. "I just want to sleep." She whined.

"Bow, Athena assaulted me." Darren said as he crawled to where Rainbow was sitting.

"Thank you dear." Moira said to Athena. "The boy was born to be annoying."

"Oh. Hey Moira." Darren murmured and folded his arms across his chest before laying down beside her. If Moira was in control, then he certainly wasn't getting help from Rainbow who was probably still asleep.

"Wait. Darren knows about you too?" Athena asked looking from Darren to Moira.

"We grew up together remember?" Darren said from his position on the floor.

"Oh." Athena was just getting really confused by all of this.

"Who are you?" A new voice interrupted her thoughts and everyone turned to where it had come from.

Damon had been listening to them and watching them silently. They weren't demons (they would have been sulfur by now) but they weren't human either. And therein laid the problem. He didn't know what they were. The redhead's form seemed to be changing, he didn't recognize the boy's form and the blonde girl with pink streaks whom he had been staring at for an unnatural amount of time seemed to be possessed by a spirit that he also could not recognize.

"Who are you?" Darren asked in return as he sat up.

"I believe I asked first." Damon said with a raised brow.

"Hey. I'm Rainbow. Rainbow May." Rainbow said with a smile and a wave. Nothing woke her up like caffeine or cute boys. And this guy was on his way to "dangerously-hot" ville.

"Slow down unicorn." Moira said to her.

"And who is within you?" Damon asked turning to Rainbow and finding it difficult to look into her eyes. What was wrong with him?

Rainbow shook her head and said "Nope. Your name first."

"Damon Jage."

"You're the demon slayer?!" Athena exclaimed, eyes wide open.

Everyone at S.I.A had heard of Damon Jage but since he wasn't really a people's person, he never hung around after his hunt. Athena was almost his biggest fan but Dimitri had beaten her to it. He literally worshipped the guy.

Damon simply nodded.

"Sweet goddess! I'm Athena Hall." Athena said with a bright smile.

"The S.I.A's only agent." Damon had heard about some of her work but he'd never had a face to put to the name. As far as he was concerned, she was the only one with a lick of sense in that agency.

Athena was definitely telling Bruce about this later.

"It's nice to meet you." She said.

"Likewise." Damon said and turned back to Rainbow. "Yes?"

"Oh. Right." Rainbow said, snapping out from whatever she'd been in. His voice was so deep. How could his voice be so deep?

"Rainbow." Moira called and laughed at the silly girl. "Scoot over."

"I'm Moira." She said to Damon and knew he was trying to remember where he'd heard the name.

"What are you?" Damon asked as he looked closely at her.

Before Moira could answer him, they all heard a grunt as someone tried to stand up.

"Professor Stein?" Darren asked as he saw the face of the middle aged man.

"Darren Shaw?" The professor was definitely reacting to stress. He'd been going to bed late and had been overworking himself. Why had he waited until it got to hallucinations before he could admit it?

Suddenly a light appeared in the middle of the room and as they all turned towards the light, they saw a glowing object floating above them.

"How is this possible?" Damon asked as he looked at an object that was supposed to be a legend.

"Welcome, hope of the realms. It is a great honour to finally be able to meet you all." A voice said from the direction of what seemed to be a golden crystal. The light surrounding it was bright and warm but the power it exuded was staggering.

"What are you?" Darren asked as he looked up, confusion etched on his face.

"The Croí Órga." Damon, Athena and Professor Stein whispered at the same time.

"The what?" Darren asked again, turning to face the three of them.

"The Golden Heart." This time it was Moira that answered. "It's supposed to be an ancient supernatural legend. A powerful messenger of the gods. And legend also has that it doesn't exist anymore."

"Well, my dear, legend has so many things wrong. Which is the main reason I brought you here." The Golden Heart said. "The gods have chosen you. Scrollbharra beo (The living scroll), dämonen jäger (the slayer of demons), coime ádaí an eolais (the one who knows), an ceann atá i seilbh na cinniúna (the one possessed by fate) and an coimeádaí iarmhéid (the balance keeper). You have all been entrusted with the fate of all the realms. Those that exist and those that are to come. I sense the confusion in your hearts and so I shall reveal the part of the prophecy I have been entrusted with."

As soon as The Golden Heart said this, the dark room suddenly transformed to what seemed to be a battle ground.

Athena had never seen so many demons in one place and as she looked on, she noticed who was leading them.

"Isn't that the woman from your painting?" Rainbow asked as she leaned towards Athena.

Athena could only nod.

"You have all heard of the Cogadh Mór but not all of it. As the story goes, Banrion Deamhan was not always evil but the moment she was blinded by her beauty and greed, her heart was slowly filled with a darkness that swallowed up light. She declared war on the gods and as recorded, they barely won."

The brutality of the war that raged before their eyes was one none of them had ever witnessed. As the gods fought with all their might, the demons simply swallowed them up.

"The war went on for years and laid waste to so many realms. The gods finally decided to create a being from all their powers combined. It was their last resort because no one was supposed to have so much power in them but the gods knew there was no other way."

They all saw as the gods stood in a circle and holding hands. The floor was marked with so many symbols and they were chanting in a strange tongue. After a while, a light began to form in the middle of the circle and a baby appeared.

"Why the hell didn't they just create a grown man?" Darren asked with an eye roll.

"The being had to be taught how to use its powers and one already grown would have been difficult to teach. The risk of such power falling into the wrong hands was minimal if the being was still an infant."

"What happened next?" Athena asked. She didn't understand why the image of the baby made her uncomfortable.

"The gods created a realm so small, the demons could not locate it and raised the child there. A hundred years later, the gods took their last alternative into battle and succeeded in defeating the queen. But what was not recorded was that they were only able to imprison her and her demons. Some fled but those captured were sent to the Réimse an Mhaolaithe."

"Hence my existence." Damon spoke up. He'd been quietly absorbing all The Golden Heart had been saying.

"Yes. The gods knew that the demons were going to wreck havoc in all the realms if they weren't stopped and so after the imprisonment of the demon queen, you were forged. A weapon of the gods with a mind of its own. The gods are quite pleased with you, especially the goddess Morrigan."

"Cool." Damon responded.

"Indeed. But a greater task is required of all of you. The gods were only able to contain so much darkness for a hundred years and those years are coming to an end. The Réimse an Mhaolaithe has been fated to release the queen and her demons and you are the only ones the gods have deemed able to finally put an end to her."

"Wait. Hold on for a minute. You're telling us that we've been chosen to put an end to a demon queen. The same demon queen it took the gods over a hundred years to imprison. And we're supposed to end her?" Moira asked and scoffed at the end.

"Her time in the Réimse an Mhaolaithe has weakened her so there is a reasonable chance of victory. The queen feeds on the blood of pure infants. Whatever infant she is feeding on now is not pure and is merely a means to satisfy her hunger but not to increase her power. My sister will also aid you in acquiring this victory but the fate of the realms is solely in your hands. You must prepare for the Oíche gan Ghealach. I will now send you back to your current realm. If any of you seek me, I will be here."

And with that, the Golden Heart disappeared and they all woke up in their different beds with one clear message.

"The end has begun."