Athena watched the shimmering diamond beads of sweat glisten as they fell from her head. Her heart raced with adrenaline. The image flashed in her mind. Its unhinged jaw, its hollow soul-lit eyes. Andrias’s dead body, scarred and sliced open. Ochi’s dead body, ripped limb from limb. Everything was coming at once. Ochi’s screams, Andrias’s touching words, the horrifying howl and shriek of the Nightmare.

  Nightmare.

  The word sounded sour on her tongue. That's what it was! Not a nightmare, a Nightmare. Three days since the first occurrence, every night at exactly when the moon is above the river shining down upon the fish and rocks. But it felt familiar of sorts, like not just three days, but centuries, eons.

  She dragged her bare feet from her bed. The crystal beads dripped down her chin, dropping like tears on the floor. She wore a nightgown with a bow in the front.

  As she exited the castle, her breath began to exhilarate. Her eyes widened with fear, she began to hear her heartbeat echoing in her eyes. It felt like her heart was a pair of hands pounding on a wooden door about to burst and snap. She fell to her knees in front of the river, how far had she walked?

  The water lapped at the edges of the bedrock of the beach. Little waves crashed before her hands. Everything became blurry, a blurry soon bloody sight. Blood began to drip from her nose. Her ears rang out loud. Like the sound of the bells from..nevermind. She raised a shaky hand and wiped the blood. Athena didn’t know how, but after she did that, she needed to breathe. She inhaled sharply, before exhaling with a shaky voice. Her veins pulsed a faint black before flickering. She stared in bewilderment at her arms. Athena sweared for a second, she saw a Nightmare. And Gods she hoped she hadn’t. Not in this state, when she was...like this.

  Its hollow eyes beamed at her like lanterns. Its jaw was still intact, for now. It trilled curiously, tilting its head.

  “No, no, no, no, no, no...NO!” Athena screamed, lunging for the Nightmare.

  Instead, she fell stomach first into the river. She had one of those moments, where they say, your life flashes before your eyes, but it doesn’t. At least not for her. She remembered everything. Everything promise she made with her mother, every adventure she had with her father. But one memory stuck out.

  The medic pressed two fingers to younger Athena’s chest.

  “Breathe in, and out.” The female medic instructed. “Very good, your majesty.”

  She walked out to speak with Athena’s father.

  Athena remembered that one. She never heard what they were discussing. A mystery to be left unsolved. The black water encircled around her. Bubbles fizzed up to the surface to burst. Athena spun upward in the water. Until she was facing upward at the night sky hidden by the abyss-like water. She batted her lashes, finally accepting. It seemed as if every movement she had, it was in slow-motion.

  She lifted a hand to the moon, before tightly squeezing her hand shut. A voice whispered in her ear.

  “Caught in between two threads, tied little rabbit.”

  Athena snapped awake suddenly, before struggling to reach the surface. Her face began to go purple, yearning for an exhale, a breath. Her white nightgown swished around like a headless koi. Her hand broke the surface, the ties. She gripped the surface of the water like it was a wooden board. She broke the glass shield that felt like water. Athena coughed black water, and some blood. Though it was spring, the water was freezing nipping at the edges of her feet.

  “T-two threads..?” She shivered.

  Athena leapt out of the river. Feeling like an encircled rabbit. What truly was at the depth of that river? She turned slightly, loosening her grip on her elbow from her shaking hands.

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

  Athena walked through the courtyards, in search of Fylakes Glysínis. She needed to warn them. Tell them about her nightmares, the river, the Nightmares!

  Her hair had been done in a neat braid with her bangs crossing over her face. Her eyes darted everywhere in desperate search of them.

  Then she noticed them, sitting near the training grounds.

  Ysmara smiled.

  “Athena!There you are, Orion was just loo-” She was cut off by Orion.

  “WE. I mean,” He cleared his throat. “We were looking for you.”

  Athena didn’t listen; she needed to tell them. “We need to go to the library real quick. All of us, hurry!”

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

  Raven nodded as he listened. “So-” He looked straight at Athena, as if trying to understand what she meant.

  “You think Hubris has more puppets, Nightmares, you call them? They have hollow, glowing soul-lit eyes. And can have an unhinged jaw that can widen to kill/eat, a whole grown adult?” He questioned.

  “Yes.” Athena nodded.

  Ysmara was beside Raven. “Athena, are you sure that maybe it's just a nightmare? ”

  Athena opened her mouth to protest, but then she hit a realization. They didn’t believe her. Everyone stared at her with uncertainty. Even Orion looked worried.

  “Wha—” She scoffed. “Are you guys serious?!”

  Threyn murmured, looking down. “We know you took Andrias’s and Ochi’s death hard. We all accept grief in our own ways–”

  “I’m more upset that you think I’m lying!” She hissed at them. “I can’t believe this!” She screamed. “I do accept the fact that Ochi and Andrias are dead! I KNOW THAT!FOR GODS SAKE I KILLED HER!” She yelled at them. “I would never lie about actual danger!” She stormed off, tears dripping from her pale face.

  Orion lifted a hand, trying to get her to stop, but she shoved him off. The look in her eyes was something she’d never seen before. Heartbreak. True heartbreak. Her breath began to speed up, her chest heaved as she sobbed.

  “Athena, please!” he called. She spun swiftly on the heel of her foot.

  “Don’t call me!I am Queen Athena!I AM NOT INSANE! YOU WILL TAKE ORDERS, AS YOUR QUEEN AND YOUR MASTER!” She pointed to Fylakes Glysínis.

  Athena turned and stormed off. Her veins pulsing a faint black underneath her Fylakes Glysínis uniform. A tight buttoned black shirt with a white winter covering with tight black pants. Her katana held in its white and red case. They think I’m mad!That my mind is..broken!

  She walked past the river. Noticing the black water. I could prove to them! Athena stood before the river, taking in a deep breath, before falling forward trying to leap in. Before her feet hit the water, someone swept her off her boots and gripped her close.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  It was Orion.

  Athena released herself from his grasp as she steadied herself on the sandy beach. Her icicle blue eyes widened at him. “What are you doing?!”

  He scoffed. “Stopping you from killing yourself!”

  Athena turned around, already beginning her walk away. She pulled on the hem of her covering, before Orion stopped her.

  “Wait!” He called.

  She didn’t turn this time. “What..?” Her voice wasn't angry, just, exhausted.

  He laughed at her tone slightly.

  “I-I was wondering if you wanted to talk in the garden tonight?” He smiled sheepishly.

  She nodded, walking. Her heart dropped, her face flushed a deep pink. Why did she hope he would say something like that? She needed to focus on convincing them that the Nightmare was real. Why wasn’t she mad at him?! She had so many good reasons yet–. She groaned externally, before leaving the royal gates.

  Almost as soon as she left, Ozzie gripped her from the shadows. His voice was urgent. She yelped, ready to yell at him, yet he held a finger to his lips.

  “Athena!I found you at last!” He whispered.

  “What?!Ozzie! Thank the Gods, what do you need?”

  He stuttered, his voice shaky. “T-there-there's something else, other than the BloodRots! Or at least I believe! I don’t know what to call them.Five members of my council have committed suicide.. I don’t know how to describe the creatures really..But they shrill when aggravated, have soulless glistening eyes, and can detach their jaws!”

  “Nightmares..” Athena’s voice was barely above a whisper.

  “What?!” Ozzie asked, the shadows covering his face, but it was easy to see the confused shimmer in his eyes.

  “Nightmares. The-the creature!” She murmured. Her hands shook. Is that why I’m drawn to the lake?If the Nightmares infested his civilian minds, they could be trying to reach mine! As she tried to explain, she got the feeling again. The numbness in her legs, her vision becoming blurry, her shaking hands, her bloody nose, her night-like veins. They reached her again...

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

  Her body hit the ground like a rock, with a hard THUD. Her shaking body lost its control, she was no longer in charge. It seemed like her mind was spiraling down an endless black tunnel, reality growing farther and farther away.

  Voices echoed in her head. Not strangers, hers.

  “They’ll all die in the end!”

  “You’re mad!” One laughed.

  “Where is your mind..?!”

  Athena felt hands, not hers, choking on her neck. Nails pressed deep into her skin. She squirmed and kicked her legs. The blood that once pulsed through her neck had vanished. Her eyes felt like they were about to pop out. Tears dripped down her face.

  She raised a leg and kicked directly in front of her, but nothing budged. With all the remaining consciousness she had left, she used her only idea. She played dead. She let her limbs go loose, and had a pale, dead, facial expression.

  But, then another voice called from behind her.

  “Don’t play me for a fool,” The voice hissed. The invisible hands disappeared and let Athena spin around to see the figure.

  He had pale skin like Athena’s. A thick black beard.Soft blue eyes. And a scar across his face.

  “You're not real,” She hissed, clenching her fist and facing the ground.

  “Really, Red Lily? ”He asked.

  I didn’t have my katana in this black abyss like pool of my mind. So I fought anyway. I clenched my fist and lunged for the figure. He ran back, his moves matching mine. She kept using her techniques, thinking it would hit him, or do something, yet it did nothing.

  “Stop this Red Lily!This is insane!I am your father, what did I do?!”

  Her eyes widened with hatred, her lip curled back with disgust and resentment. A blue flame lit near her eye. Her veins turned ebony black.

  “I am no puppet!I know who you are, you are everything that my father is not!” She screamed.

  Athena slammed her fist into the head of her ‘father’. Her fist went right through. Its flesh surrounded her fist. It grabbed her and slammed her to the ground. Athena jumped back up, wiping blood from her nose. It dripped from her skin into the pool of black bellow. The creature showed to be a Nightmare. It trilled, trying to act innocent.

  “Now don’t you take me for a fool!” She ran for it.

  It shrilled, detaching its jaw and extending its claws. It raised one to slash her. She grabbed its claws and dragged it beneath her. She kicked its head hard, trying to drown it into the pools. Athena was thrown off balance as it tried to buck her off. She raised her elbow and slammed it into its neck. It shrieked in pain, it grabbed her elbow and hauled her over its shoulder before whipping her a couple feet away. Athena was back on her feet again, already rampaging back towards it. It practically ate her boot as she pierced its jaw with her foot. Its detached jaw opened wider, readying to swallow her whole. She slid underneath it and grabbed its ankle, and threw it. It was surprisingly light. It shrilled, reappearing behind her. She used her elbow to knock it back down. As it tried to slice her she kept pulling up her arms as defensive, though the fabric of her clothing was getting torn. The hole remained in its head as they fought. Athena leapt into the air, flipping and landing on its back. She tried to grab it in a headlock, but it tried resisting by bucking her off. Its teeth began to dig into the flesh of her arm but she continued to try and choke it. But it wasn’t working. She loosened and flew off. Her back hit the water, how was it solid but liquid at the same time. Athena didn’t have time to question it, the Nightmare was already rampaging back. The blood from Athena’s nose stopped dripping, as she devised a plan. She raced towards it. Then mounted it again. It yowled in resistance, trying to throw her off again. But she wrapped her legs tight around its neck, and was actually choking it this time. But she wasn’t trying to choke, not anymore. Athena lowered her back, and breathed in. She flipped the Nightmare over. Its shriek was muted by the gurgling bubbles of the black water. She pinned its head deeper into the pitch black water. As it was almost fully submerged, it grabbed her neck. Its claws pierced her neck. Blood swelled from her pale skin. It dragged itself up from the water. Before flinging Athena’s body around like a limp piece of meat. Her vision began to go blurry, before she prayed.

  “Please, any ‘Ancients or Gods listening, mama, papa, help me please.” She begged.

  She wiped her tears, and swept her blood across her skin.But she got back up. Athena, wasn’t giving up. Instead of a blue flame, her eyes were fully, neon, icicle blue. Her black pupil was like a knife-point, narrowing on her target. She felt her veins pulsing something, not just blood. Without thought, the water rose to her will, it shaped a scythe, ready for battle. Her breathing stopped, and her heartbeat slowed. She raised the scythe, and the black water turned blood red. A smirk raised happily on her face. Blood stained it. The Nightmare crouched, fear shone in its eyes. Athena twirled the scythe, aiming it at the Nightmare. She raised it, and sliced its head clean off. The sound was like a saw-blade cutting cold iron. The Nightmare shot up, racing for its lost head. But Athena didn’t let it. She thundered after it, her boots stomping on the ebony water. Its loose neck was barely turned as she slammed her scythe in it right down the middle. The two loose pieces of the main body collapsed. The claws of the Nightmare curled in agony. Its head began to reduce to dust. She bent down near the head, and murmured in its ‘ears.’

  “Rot in hell,”

  With a sharp inhale and let her body go loose. She began to fall backwards into the inky water. Her back hit the surface like a rock. As her body sank in more, something faltered. Her head was almost fully submerged before she hung loose from a red and black sky. She turned it frantically, where was she? Then, the familiar smell of rotting flesh and burnt wood.

  The BloodRots.

  A whole hive of them. They curled below her. She jerked her head back up, in the black pools of water. Her breathing exhilarated.

  The water wasn’t just the ground. It was a gateway. To test her theory she ran over to another post of water, and pushed her head through. She saw a place she hoped she’d never have to see again. Hell. The grounds of the Sins.

  Athena, full of fear, jerked her head back up.

  One of these pools had to have led to home, right? Athena had let her guard down. Thinking the only monster in this hell was gone, nope. Danger was at every corner, and in every droplet of water. The scythe she held tight in her hand pulsed black again.

  Until it dropped into the water fading out. She pulled out her katana. Something was bubbling to the surface, something hungry.

  A creature with giant jaws and pale blind white eyes. Their hand held close to their face seemed like the jaw of a dog, it had jagged teeth with blood stains. It had blood red and brown hair, covering their chest. It seemed as if their stomach had forcefully been torn open. A red tunic it wore, before panting quietly.

  “Here little rabbit?Where are thou?” She asked.

  Athena was startled, moving a foot back. The figure moved her jaw hand towards her direction.

  “Found you,”

  The figure rampaged towards Athena. Snapping the jaw of its hand towards her. She leapt into the air. Athena grabbed her katana and attempted for a direct blow to the neck. But the figure dodged.

  “Where has thy hidden? That's not very nice–” They turned, sending a blow to Athena’s neck.

  She screamed in pain, before gripping her neck.

  “Who-” She panted. “Who the hell do you think you are?!”

  The figure laughed, their hooded red tunic covering their blind eyes, their feminine shape became more clear, and they clamped the jaw on their hands shut.

  Her body seemed to have been torn open, by her upper chest and lower thighs.

  “Gluttony, and you?” She cocked her head.