Chapter 2

"Ria, slow down or you may fall again," a woman calls exasperatedly, struggling to catch her breath.

She is strikingly beautiful, with long tresses of dark hair that hang past her waist and honey-brown eyes that worriedly watch as a small girl runs wildly throughout a sunlit courtyard. Loud, booming laughter is heard from behind her, and she turns to scowl as the silhouette of a man emerges through a giant stone archway. Large with a muscular build, curly blonde hair, and grey eyes that crinkle at the sides when he smiles, he is comparable to a large teddy bear. The man envelopes the woman in a loving embrace, slightly lifting her into the air at the same time.

"Santos, put me down!" she chastises, batting his hands away and kicking her feet slightly. "Just look at our daughter. All but six and no bearing of a lady at all! The gods must have made a mistake allowing her to be born a female. She takes after you!" she says, smacking him on the arm so he sets her back down. Santos snorts, relenting and setting her on her feet again.

"Well, I think she is the perfect mix of the both of us, with your beauty and my spirit! I dare say by the time she is eighteen, the world may just be looking at the first female general in history!"

"You jest, husband. She is just a little girl!"

"Then let her be so, Leonora. As you said, she is only six years of age. A child. As she should be."

Just as she starts to respond, a squeal is heard as the little girl launches herself at Santos, smiling ear to ear with joy. "Papa!" she yells happily, her grey eyes shining up at him.

Suddenly the joyous scene dissipates into smoke, a new scene replacing it. This time, the little girl lies in bed, long gauze-like fabric cascading down from the ceiling, wrapping around her. Leonora sits on the bed by her side, rhythmically patting her belly. A lullaby is heard, soothing the child as she falls deeper and deeper into sleep.

The moon is bright

Guiding our way home

The Goddess prays beneath it, staring at the stars

Beauty, strength, and love

A mother, a daughter

A gift from above

Let us never separate

But if that time shall come

We draw power from the moon and stars

And our mother Goddess up above

As Leonora repeats the lullaby a third time, thick smoke starts to rise, the smell of burnt flesh and blood wafting through the air. Leonora's body begins to disintegrate, but before she is completely consumed, she leans down and kisses the little girl's head, tears spilling from her cheeks. The little girl opens her eyes abruptly, only to find that her mother's tears weren't tears at all. It was.....

...............................

"Blood! Mother!?" Asteria startles awake, eyes wide with fear and horror. She lay there for what seemed like hours, taking deep, shallow breaths as her heartbeat slowly returns to normal.

Six years, Asteria thinks. Six years and the nightmares never cease to haunt me.

In the beginning, the nightmares suffocated her. She would wake up every night without fail, gasping and crying incessantly. Calling out for help that never came, and people who no longer existed. All she had left were memories, but even those made her feel as though someone was cruelly ripping out her heart every time she recalled them. After a year or two, the tears stopped coming, the dreams became less frequent. Asteria didn't know if it was because her heart had become numb, or if it was because she no longer possessed one. But it didn't matter either way, did it? Her mother, father, elder sister, and younger brother....they were gone. All she had left was her elder brother Aries, and revenge.

Asteria got up from her bed and put on her sandals. Walking over to a small table a few feet away, she grabbed a match, lit up a candle, and proceeded down a long hall to her left. She walked until she reached a large wooden door, grasping its cold metal latch and opening it. Once inside, she continued to walk around and light more candles, until the entire room was illuminated in a warm, yellow light. The room wasn't big or grandiose by any means but appeared cleaned and taken care of. Against the far wall at the opposite end of the room, an alter was meticulously laid out, candles, fruits, nuts, and dried meats adorning every inch of it. Every dish was made of pure gold, intricate symbols carved on every inch of them. Asteria approached the altar, lighting four candles before stepping back and looking upwards.

There, just above the altar, hung four portraits. That of a man in his late forties, a woman about the same age, a young lady of about twenty, and a boy no more than ten. None of them smiled, but their eyes seemed to radiate energy that made you feel as though they were.

After a few minutes of silence, Asteria spoke.

"Father, mother, Sapphira, Leo. I've come to say my farewells. We are going back, Aries and I. I don't know for how long we will be gone this time, or if we will survive this trip. But I promise you, the blood debt we are owed will be paid. Tenfold."

The Spirit Kingdom, Asteria thinks to herself. That's where you are hiding. I will find you, no matter how protected you may be. Even if I have to burn the entire world into ashes, myself along with it, I won't rest until I send you down to the underworld, where you can beg my family's forgiveness in person.