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The lost one shall change what is before; Chained to death’s soldiers, becoming evermore; Or Titans will inherit the earth, and there will be nothing but war.
Dark possibilities tasted bitter on my tongue, and I felt the paths forward in the marrow of my ancient bones.
The future hinged before me on a razor-sharp edge: apocalypse and peace were two sides of the same coin. It could tip either way.
There has been no great wisdom without an element of madness.
I was the only thing standing between the rise and fall of Sparta. Kronos save us all.
Humanity turned on their gods.
“At this century’s turn, all of Sparta applauds; The federation falls, to the exposer of gods.” —Fate, 2050
Someone needed to take care of his mental health the cheap way—hit him over the head with a shovel
It was like a gentle hug. At least, I assumed that was what an embrace would feel like. I’d never been hugged. Not yet.
“Want to be friends?” I’d never had one.
Eternal damnation was surprisingly complicated.
Beasts didn’t scare me. People did. That was how a thirty-pound invisible poisonous snake became my closest companion. Yes, I befriended the first monster I’d ever met.
I’d started the day with zero friends. Now I had two. Things were looking up.
The federation kept civilization running, but everything that wasn’t a necessity fell through the cracks. Charlie and I were below the cracks. We were in the dirt.
After a lifetime of pain, the brain learns how to suffer. I knew how to stay conscious through a beating. I’d had years to perfect my technique.
A haunting melody started playing in my head. Only I could hear the music.
“You lazy, ungrateful whore, threatening us after everything we’ve fucking done for you...” A loud ringing cut off her words (a shame; she was making some intriguing points).
He dragged me back into the kitchen (hell) and threw me toward Mother (a demon from said place).
She screamed in my face—I screamed back. Oh, look, we’re harmonizing. Mozart would have loved this.
Evolutionists were wrong; humans hadn’t evolved from primates—we’d devolved from them.
I would have cried too, but I was too amped up on adrenaline. Also, I had felt nothing in eleven years. So, there was that.
The foster parents had won; they’d made a murderer out of me.
“Kids, help—quick...something is hurting her!” I stilled. What had he just said? Had he just asked us for help? The ones he was planning on killing? This man cannot be serious right now.
With a deep breath, I hummed a classical tune and focused on the positives—a few feet away, Mother was being zipped into a body bag by people in white hazmat suits, and Father was outside in the snow arguing as he was questioned. Good times.
Outside, Father started shrieking obscenities about killing me (greedy, if you ask me, since he’d already had his shot), but a car door slammed shut and he was silenced.
The three of us were alone. It was a dream come true; it was a nightmare.
I smiled. My abusers were gone. I was free.
In those early hours, I befriended the second monster I’d ever met—myself.
That was the thing about living in dark times—life got progressively worse. Always.
Hot take, you know what’s uncivilized? Forcing homeless children to starve because they have no ability to provide for themselves.
Yes, the bar was set abysmally low. The fall of civilization would do that.
No matter what I did, I was just the dirty homeless girl who stuttered and smelled. Humans sucked.
Yippee, torture and death. Go sports.
My peers (enemies)
Was I the only person in the world these days who respected math?
Discreetly, as all teenagers are known to do, I banged my invisible homicidal snake best friend against the desk to stop her from crushing me to death because I wouldn’t let her murder my classmates.
They were onto something when they started murdering humans.
I debated if I should strangle myself now or later.
“The devil has a pretty face, and humanity is going to hell for worshipping it.”
“Stop worrying. He smells weak. You have nothing to fear,” Nyx said with a hiss. “But... I will bite him to death for you because I’m generous and helpful. You’re welcome.”
Wait. He wants the two of us...to do it. I shook my head in horror. I’d rather die. Gruesomely. Right now. Here in this very hall.
Dorean was the type of woman I aspired to be. Strong. Bold. Intimidating. Able to verbalize her intrusive thoughts.
“Kid, I’m not a babysitter. I’m a full-time nanny, without any of the benefits of getting to kill people. My life is tragic.”
“You can’t just shoot people,” I whispered (I wasn’t built like Dorean). Nyx hissed, “Sorry I’m the only one of us actually trying to problem-solve.”
“If I had opposable thumbs, the things I would do,” Nyx said. “The sexual moves I would try out, the positions I would—”
Also, Carl Gauss proved the fundamental theorem of algebra at twenty-one, and I haven’t discovered anything new in mathematics yet. How embarrassing.
Somewhere in the afterlife, Carl Gauss waited for me (I was delusional).
“Welcome, initiates, to the Spartan War Academy’s initiation massacre. If you survive, you’ll have the honor of participating in the crucible—the most rigorous test of intellect in the entire world. This initiation massacre is a sacred privilege.” My eyes widened. What had happened to a good old-fashioned welcome lunch?
The crowd (bloodthirsty monsters) cheered louder and clapped in cadence with their stomps.
I debated raising my hand—What do we do if we have no powers? Can we opt out of the massacre?
