Athena sat, thinking in the snowy pools. Wren was sitting on her shoulder, tail flicking back and forth. One in a thousand portals. One in a thousand ways home.

  Ares had been helping her try to find the right one. All dead leads so far.

  Athena didn’t know how they would reach home, she just wanted to be back. Ares was a couple feet in front of her, sticking his head in a portal.

  “I don’t think we should be doing that-” Athena murmured.

  Ares waved his hand dismissively. He pulled it out. “Oh nonsense!How do we know what is bad before when we know nothing at all?” He snickered.

  He moved along to the next one. He stuck his head in. This one was different. It made a distorted sound, like a warbled cry. It bled light, and shuddered. It got smaller, and smaller. Almost pulling off Ares’s head.

  Solar let out a sharp cry, and Wren yowled with fear. Athena ran up to him and pulled him back. But the portal wasn't letting go. She tried to open the portal with her hands.

  But it wasn’t working. Solar and Wren tried helping. Nothing was working.

  Athena concentrated her powers. Thorny vines of roses covered her arms, an ebony black. Midnight blood pulsed through her veins. She used her strength, and ripped the portal in two. The now, dead and ripped-in-half, pieces of the portal lay on the pools. Ares gasped for air, clutching his hand on his throat.

  Athena blinked, the vines were gone, her blood was normal. Ares picked up the two pieces of the portal. And tried to put them back together, but it didn’t work.

  He began to hyperventilate, and was shaking.

  Athena felt a shock of fear flooding her body. “Ares-” She shook him. “Ares!” She yelled.

  He looked at her with glassy eyes.

  “Tell me that wasn’t the way home. Tell me that wasn’t MY home!” She choked out.

  He shook his head. “No, but-”

  Athena nodded with anticipation.

  “-I saw Octavia.”

  -------------------------------------------------------------

  Ares sat beside Athena, knees pulled to his chest and was trying not to choke on his breath.

  Athena looked at him. “What do you mean you saw Octavia?”

  Ares looked at her with wide-eyes. “I mean I saw her.” he looked back down. “She looked about 5, identical to you..”

  Athena tried to imagine Octavia. A kind little girl, a brave kid, a fearless heart.

  She then remembered how she ripped the portal in half.

  “-She was in the garden. Admiring a little patch of roses. Mother and father were watching her from afar, smiles on their faces. You, were nowhere in sight. Neither was I.” He clenched his fists. “She looked at me like I was a monster. Mother ran to her, and Octavia whimpered to her, ‘Is that the monster you told me?’.” He stared blankly at the ground. “-And when you tore it in half. You killed them. They fell beneath their feet, the ground swallowed them whole. Everything in that universe was killed, like it was a blackhole.”

  Athena looked down at her hands. She tore apart a universe?!

  She swallowed stones. “I told you we shouldn’t stick our heads into things we don’t know.”

  She stood up and walked past a portal. Warbled images ran past it. It seemed like two young girls. Ares was looking away, and closing his eyes, like he was trying to get sleep. With the time she had, just for now, she looked in.

  She saw two girls in a garden. One had a wild rose in her hair, who was splashing water on a girl who played alongside her. She was the girl, the one being splashed with water. And that was Octavia. A young care-free girl. Who’s mother wasn’t cruel, who didn’t lay the guilt and blood of her mistakes upon her infant children. The ‘monsters’.

  The girls stopped their playing and looked at Athena. Curiosity in their eyes.

  “Hey look!She looks like you, Athena!” Octavia cheered, running closer.

  Young Athena staggered closer. “Where did you come from-?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Athena stared, with glassy eyes and her thin hand. She ushered her younger self closer. Young Athena followed. Athena cupped her younger version's face.

  “I come from a world of war. Of hatred and blood. You must make me a promise-Athena. To protect your loved ones at all costs. No matter the blood it takes. Or the battles you fight.” Athena smiled.

  Young Athena looked up with fear. “Who are you?And you still didn’t answer my question!” She huffed.

  Athena looked down. She exited the portal for a split second, and grabbed the fireplace-poker from Ares’s pocket. He must have taken it from the universe.

  She used it to keep the portal open.

  This time, when she entered, she went all the way in. She sat beside the girls on the bench.

  Octavia poked at Athena’s arms, looking in awe at her scars. “Sooooo— where are you from again?”

  Young Athena smacked Octavia's hand. “Stop pestering her!”

  Athena laughed. “I’m from a world like yours. But different. Thank the ‘Ancients and ‘wonders you guys are here.”

  Young Athena tilted her head. “What are– ‘ the ‘Ancients, and the ‘wonders’-?”

  Athena corrected her posture straight. Eyeing the younger version of herself. “What do you mean?Don’t you guys believe in the ‘Ancients?You know, the saviors?The pillars of the kingdoms?”

  Octavia shook her head. “Nope. We do believe in the Gods. The three main Gods, y’know, I was named after one. She is the Owl Goddess, the goddess of wisdom and sacrifice. My sister was named after one too!”

  The younger version of Athena nodded. “Yup. I was named after the Rabbit Goddess. The goddess of chaos, heroism, and resolution.”

  “I see,” Athena murmured.

  The portal warbled. Athena ran over to it. “I-I need to go.” Athena pointed to the younger version of herself. “You,” she inhaled sharply. “Promise me you’ll follow what I said, and this too.”

  Young Athena nodded.

  Athena nodded too. “Ok, ‘Where there is light, there is a shadow. To get rid of the darkness, we must rid of the light.’” Athena began to pass through the portal. Before murmuring over her shoulder. “I believe in you, young rabbit.”

  -------------------------------------------------------------

  Athena--after leaving that portal-- sat back again beside her brother.

  He had somehow managed to get some sleep. The fear of losing the thought of home forever kept her from even closing her eyes.

  Losing her sanity, she began to talk to herself. “3 Gods, ha. Weird.”

  She twitched her fingers, before standing up again. She couldn’t sit still. She needed to get her mind off things. Athena began to wander the labyrinth of this curious place, a place where time didn’t exist, only it was the definition of time.

  Time was a curious thing in general. Athena hadn’t really taken it into mind.

  She snapped out of her day-dreams. And stood looking at the portals. Impatiently, she flexed her fingers, skinny and bare. She felt a jolt of anger course through her. Athena raised her index finger, pointing straight ahead. She flicked her finger. A burst of air erupted from it. All the portals she pointed at immediately fizzled out.

  Without even noticing, a sly grin and the maniacal laugh that came from her throat.

  She blinked, and stopped laughing. Athena fiddled with her fingers as she kept them close to her stomach. She picked at the dried blood on her finger nails, like if she didn’t move she would explode.

  Athena didn’t know what to do. How would she escape this paradox?Or would she and her brother be forced here to rot for all eternity? She then realised, she hadn’t checked on Ares, he had been asleep for over an hour now.

  She sprinted towards their little base-site. Hoping to the ‘Ancients she wasn’t too late, and she wouldn’t always be as stupid as now. Athena stumbled, got back up and ran faster. She reached the base, and knelt down beside Ares.

  She shook him gently once. And thank the Ancients he woke up.

  “Wha–huh?Do you need something, Athena?” He murmured, groggily.

  She relaxed her shoulders. “Huh?Oh yeah, uhm, I’m fine.I was just gonna ask. How are we gonna get home?”

  Ares wiped his eyes and corrected his posture. “Well, it's a gamble. Sure we could search every single one, but that would take eons. To be honest, I have no idea, Athena..” he murmured.

  Athena looked down, pain flooding her chest. Until, Ares froze.

  “Every portal reacts to you,

  Not to us.”

  He stood up, ushering Athena to do the same. She stood up, her fingers flexed without thought.

  Ares cheered. “Yes!” He pointed to a portal behind him.

  “Try to focus, where is your home?”

  Athena raised her shaky hands all around her, one on the right, one on the left, her fingers straining with pain. Her veins coursed black blood, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her head was forced down. Her fingertips began to turn black and a faint gold.

  Every muscle in her was screaming. She kept focusing, almost. In a bolt of golden electricity, every portal except one was pushed aside. Ares grabbed their stuff, Solar rested on his shoulder. Athena raised her hands up and slammed them back down. Wren raced to her side.

  The portal was closing.

  Without another thought, Athena, Ares, Solar, and Wren all rushed to the portal. It got smaller every minute. As it zipped shut—