Athena

Everyone born into the mystics knew of the prophecy. The first time Athena heard it as a little girl it sunk into her head like a favorite fairy tale she just had to hear over and over again. That is when the obsession began. Methodically she played out various scenarios and details in her mind while she restlessly would lay awake each night. There was nothing she desired more in the world than to be the one who brought the prophecy to fruition.

It was Ryan, her long standing boyfriend, who pointed out the obvious opportunity that had been neatly presented itself to her. "He's following you around like some pathetic puppy."

Athena laughed, "And you know how much I love to kick puppies. Besides he's not worth the trouble."

"You're telling me you wouldn't fake a romance to gain access to that much power? There would be no limit to what you could do."

Athena scoffed, "The power would belong to the child, not to me. And I hate kids. I'd have to deal with the brat for over twenty years until it was of real use to me."

"Not necessarily."


And so the fabricated love story between the girl of fire and the boy of water began. It was almost too easy. Athena enjoyed the game of making him believe what they had was the real thing. She understood that for him it was real and that was all that mattered. Athena feigned interest when he talked. Gavin was so boring and honest and forthright. Just for fun she would test his limits to see just how far he was willing to go to please her. Gavin became Athena's amusing little play thing. After each encounter she would run back to Ryan and the rest of her friends to laugh about it all. The only part she didn't enjoy was her inability to get real sexual satisfaction from Ryan because they needed to make 100% certain when she did get pregnant that the child was Gavin's otherwise everything would have been for nothing.

The day her water broke Athena knew she needed to put on the performance of her life. All the little lies and deceptions had been mere rehearsals for this moment. With her co-conspirators out of harms way she tapped into her unborn child's power to surround her village with a towering wall of water, then drown everyone inside of it. Because a mystic can never harm themselves with their own power she was protected from the tidal wave. Without remorse she watched everyone around her slowly become empty shells of life. After the water had washed away Athena torched the village. Even her natural abilities had amplified beyond her wildest dreams. The power that surged through her body only made her hungry for more.

Ryan rushed back to help Athena deliver the baby. That was when she received the best shock possible, there were two. Before he made his retreat Ryan reminded Athena, "Make sure she takes the babies. We'll come for them when the time is right."



The very reason that made Athena crave her children was also the very thing that kept her from successfully channeling them. The one that had been born dominantly water had a very weak connection Athena could not fully grasp. Thankfully she had managed to tap into the dreams of the one with fire dominance every night for the past eighteen years, yet the part of him that was water prevented her from completing that connection to track him. This frustrated her to no end. It was important that she got to them before they fully came into their powers on their twenty-first birthday. Nothing would stop her.

Athena looked around at the small revolution that she had started. Her followers were the same type of loyal puppy Gavin had once been. Unfortunately once she gained the power she needed they would no longer be of any use to her. Ryan was the only one she had any plans of keeping around because he was the brains behind everything. There was no love between them and they both understood this. What they had was more of a partnership. When Athena became consumed with her quest for the boys it was Ryan who reeled her back in reminding her that patience would reward her very well in the end.

It filled her with such pride when her fire child caused near death to someone else. Just as she could invade his dreams, there were fragments of his life that entered her dreams as well. The fragments clued her into the fact that they were holding bay in an earth village, but which one she could not be sure. She knew they were still with that bitch Sarah. And possibly the most useful Intel was that there was so much controversythe fire child's judgment was clouded causing his separation from the rest of them. Divide and conquer. Perhaps he would let down his guard to let her in just long enough for her to find him.

As if reading her mind Ryan spoke, "Perhaps you can track down the fire child then use him as bait to lure the other one in. This is where their inherent goodness will work in our favor. One would never leave the other defenseless."

Athena shook her head, "Neither is defenseless by any means. Both boys have experienced the crossover, now each one harnesses the power of two elements. And to call them 'boys' isn't even fair anymore. They are eighteen years old, the same age I was when I had them."

"Since when do you care about what's fair?"

"I don't", then she bites her lip, "That reminds me that I think another interrogation is in order. I know if he would corporate we would definitely find them."

With determination Athena marched into the abandoned warehouse they had all been holding up the past several months. In a small back office he was in the fetal position coddling himself. Covered in burn marks with in various stages of healing his pale blue eyes looked up at her when she entered the room. Athena noticed the fear had left him a while ago. The one thing she could admire about his pathetic existence was the fact that he had accepted his certain death.

"Help me find them and I'll put you out of your misery", Athena's voiced dripped in a false sugary sweetness.

Gavin looked her right in the eyes and repeated the same word response he had given her for the last eighteen years, "Never."