Chapter two (Memories)

The rain pours down on the earth making the forest damp and empty. Thunder breaks the silence and lightning reveals what is hidden in the dark. Three souls run for dear lives, shouting, praying that anyone would hear but in a domain created by unearthly creatures only they can hear their cries.

Maria ran along with two little girls in each arm. She staggers while enduring a deep wound on her side. She no longer wishes to be saved for what she wants now is the salvation of the two young children in her arms. They hid in an old warehouse behind a forest. She tries so hard to catch her breath, but her wound makes it hard to breathe. Maria looked at the two unconscious girls, one of them is her own daughter while the other is someone that they found hiding in a bush. She can’t remember how they got into a forest when they were supposed to be entering a park. After being sent to this godforsaken place, a huge ax hit her side sending them both flying to the shrubs. Her daughter lost consciousness due to the impact, but she realized that she was wounded. Whatever had attacked them must be closing in so with all her strength, Maria picked up her daughter and ran as far as possible. They took a sharp turn to avoid a chasm and on their way she heard a girl crying. The wound was very painful, but she still tried to find where the crying was coming from. She was, a young girl no older than her child was covering her eyes crying and calling for her mother. Maria came close to the child and tried to calm her down.

“Hey..Where is your mommy? Are you lost?”

“Mommy said to wait for her in the park but when I looked behind, all I can see are trees.”

“You know it’s not safe here. Why don’t we find your mom?”

“Mommy said not to talk to strangers when she is not around.”

“Don’t worry. I’m your friend so let’s go and find Mommy.”

“O-ok..”

The little girl reached for Maria’s hand, but a big impact sent them flying again. She tried to keep conscious and get the girls but when she held her head high, there was a huge monster staring down at them.

A Minotaur is a beast known to the Greeks as the child of King Mino’s wife. A cursed beast that was born from the unholy union of a human and a bull, it is also known as the guardian of the maze that kills anyone who gets lost in its territory.

Maria wanted to scream, but her mind was set on keeping the girls alive, so she got up and grabbed the two unconscious girls. The monster let out a roar while chasing them down. She could feel not only her strength but also her life fading away as they run. Now she is certain that if she gets caught it is not only her life that will disappear but also the young lives of the children she is carrying. The rocky terrain made it hard to run, but the rain started to go down and the mud stuck to her feet added some weight to her already heavy load. She saw a roof from a distance and darted towards it hoping, there are people who will help them. They entered the huge warehouse, but all they found were big crates, she went behind the boxes and slumped down keeping herself from making any noise. It is clear that no one will help them, but she is desperate to save the girls.

The tall gate of the warehouse crashed open and the Minotaur looked around. Not being able to find anything it started to go berserk destroying any nearby crates. Maria is terrified as the monster gets closer, so she made a one last desperate attempt to save the girls. Maria hid the children under a pile of boxes. She plans to distract the Minotaur and lure it away from the girls but before going out, she kissed her daughter one last time hugging her so dearly while saying sorry.

Before the Minotaur can smash another set of crates, Maria shouted and revealed herself. The monster gave chase but as Maria turns her body went numb. She lost too much blood and she no longer has the strength to even stand, but it did not keep her from trying to get the demented beast away from the children. She closed her eyes and wishes that her body will satisfy the hunger of the beast but all of a sudden she heard a cry, it was her daughter calling for her.

“Mama! Where are you, Mama?”

“No don’t come here!”

The girl looked at her and found that her mother was lying on the ground bloodied and pale. She did not even pay any attention to the monster and ran toward her dying mother. The Minotaur took an interest in the young child and headed toward her. Maria desperately called the monster to keep it away from her child but it was no use and with one last try she screamed to the heavens for help.

The entire warehouse turned silent even though the rain kept pouring down, the Minotaur halted and seemed to have noticed something. Maria was surprised that the bloodthirsty beast would stop and look behind. Black smoke appeared from all the corners of the warehouse and even the crying of a child can’t be heard. The world lost its color and Maria noticed an image with a pair of glowing eyes appearing from the shadows.

It was another nonhuman being, but its size is only comparable to a person yet its appearance looks less human. The creature has wings, a tail and wears a red mask that covers half of its face but the lower part of the head that is not covered easily reveals that its head is a skull. The armor is bloody red. Shoulder guards were shaped like human skulls and the body armor that protects the torso is clearly a nonhuman skull. It walked as it opens and closes the clawed hands. Tapping sounds can be heard while it steps closer and its tail sways from left to right synchronizing the body’s movement.

Maria is fearful because now a new predator had appeared and in her mind it might also want to devour them alive. She summoned all her power and tried to crawl toward her daughter, but the Minotaur prepared to attack not the smaller creature but the child who is trying to get to her mother.

The mighty ax came crushing down on the child and a thick amount of dust flew into the air blinding Maria. She saw the attack and even if she tries to deny it, nothing can come out alive from such destruction. She cried calling her child’s name but to her surprise the girl whom she thought was dead is crying.

The Minotaur is still trying to put more weight into its weapon, but the armored creature was stopping the giant ax while keeping it away from the girl under it. Maria has no words for what is happening. The creature that suddenly appeared seems to be protecting her daughter. It tried to lift its ax once again, but the armored monster held it in place. When the Minotaur tried to pull it away forcefully, the blade of the ax shattered like glass from the immense pressure of the armored monster’s claws. With its ax broken, it attempted to grab hold of the girl but the Minotaur’s head pointed upwards in an instant because the red armored monster attacked it with a powerful kick to the jaw. It lost its balance falling and missing Maria by only a meter. The beast stood up and charged towards the girl, but was immediately intercepted by the armored monster using a dark blast that blew it out from the warehouse.

The battle continued under the heavy rain. The Minotaur is catching its breath while the armored monster stood at the gate. The silence continued for a short time but from the dark smoke that appeared with it the armored monster manifested a weapon that it now holds with both hands. The red scythe glimmered in the light reflecting the image of the Minotaur on its blade. With its last attack, the Minotaur charges forward once again. It will try to impale the armored monster with its long horns, but the armored monster countered the attack with lightning fast slashes that chopped the Minotaur into small pieces.

The one-sided battle between two monsters has now ended. It looked over its shoulder and saw the little girl crying while holding her mother’s hand. Maria still can’t figure out what has just happened but calmly touched her daughter’s face and told her not to cry anymore.

“It’s ok now. Mama is just going to sleep, but we will be together again I promise.”

“Mama! Let’s go home. Mama don’t sleep here. Let’s sleep in our bed mama!”

“I’m sorry. But mama is the only one who will be sleeping. Can you promise mama something?”

“Y-yes..”

“Always be happy. And no matter what, be a good girl ok?”

“I-I promise mama. So let’s go home!”

Maria felt cold, but something still kept her from succumbing to the darkness. She looked to her left and she saw the armored monster staring at them. It is not showing any signs of hostility. If it wanted it could have killed all of them along with the Minotaur but instead it protected her daughter and even if it didn’t make any sense she talked to it.

“I don’t know what you are but if you have no plans of killing us then please, take the girls somewhere safe and in exchange you can have my body.”

The armored monster kept quiet, but it showed its sign of agreement by nodding its head once. It came close to the mother and child then kneeled down facing the crying little girl. It held its claws on top of the little girl’s head and everything went black.

The little girl opened her eyes and saw another child lying beside her in an ambulance. She could hear people shouting and there were flashing red and blue lights where a man and a couple of police officers were talking.

“What happened here?”

“I have no idea, sir. When we got here, me and my wife saw them lying in the middle of the road. Maybe they got hit by a vehicle or something.”

“Well from the looks of it, you’re maybe right due to the bruises and wounds that the woman has. I’m just thankful that the two girls survived.”

The little girl stood up and took a peek out of the van and she saw the body of her mother lying on the road.

Mayumi woke up from her deep slumber and found herself on a bench on top of their apartment building. She wiped her face with her hands and noticed that her eyes were wet. She was crying in her sleep again. Mayumi stood up and was baffled for the last thing that she remembers was that she was walking home after getting out of school. She heard some scratching behind the door and opened it to see what it was. Her pet puppy named Midoku greeted her with moaning noise, so she picked it up.

“Hey, there. How did you get all the way up here? Aren’t you supposed to be waiting for me in the room?”

She looked around thinking what her dream was but decided to think no more of it before going down the stairs.

Thanatos manifested from a cloud of smoke and appeared in front of Mayumi’s apartment building. He had stared at the window before the lights went out. The god who had wandered the world for so long now decided to stay in one place to determine whether the girl that he had saved is the one that will help him with his mission.

End of chapter two.