Remember the letter that you see I am he The one that you love That told you that you are strong from above. But you cannot heed the words that be

I love you, dear one Please listen to my words as you look out into the ocean, Peering at me through my invisible eyes Letter in hand.

But even though the veil separates us We band together You and I Future and past Like a boat crossing water through hell

Be brave Behave for Alequin knows best And as the waves return to the sea, so the words give way to silence.

Zaia had seen this woman on the streets. It was the very same woman that was attacked by Steam, except now she was adorned with tattered Ruby Sari and a dirty torn green cloak.

She used to be a middle class citizen from the looks. That moment, Zaia felt pity as he watched her wander about, clutching her stomach as if out of hunger. He watched her as she wandered about, yelling something unintelligible, most likely begging the festival merchants around to give her some food.

She wandered in a sea of people, but Zaia still spotted her, since she had the longest braid out of the crowd.

He watched her as she stopped towards a fountain, and plunged her palm deep in the water.

Zaia let go of the broom that was in his hands, letting it plummet to the ground, and jumped out of the balcony where he stood, sweeping dirt.

There was no way he was going to let the Genies invoke their wrath upon the kingdom of Anyura, or even the woman herself.

He landed on a smaller building, which was not Lilith’s palace. Pain erupted in his feet, his ankles, which vanished, thanks to his Nephilim heritage.

He kept his hands on his head, keeping the strong gust of desert wind from blowing his cloak away from his face, which of course, would mean that he would be imprisoned very much like his twin sister, Marina, once they found out his racial identity.

As soon as he climbed to the peak of the roof, he slid down, jumping to the ground and ran after the woman who just now parted ways with the fountain.

“No!” He screamed. “Give it back!”

She turned around, eyes wide, shocked.

“H-hi?”

Those words made Zaia stop in his tracks.

By the time she said those words, soft gentle chimes echoed in the air and people around Zaia and this unknown woman began to dance as if romantically. Children began to run around laughing, fire-sticks in hand.

“Hi.” Zaia said, now blushing.

“Would you care to put whatever you found back where you found it?... I’ll pay for your food and drinks. You know Genies can become vicious around these hours.”

The woman gulped and nodded, handing him four gold coins.

“W-who are you?” She asked.

“I am Zaia.” He said, his words clipped. There was no way she was going to find out he was the guy who saw her getting harassed weeks ago. “I am a servant.”

She laughed. “How did you get all the way down here.”

“I jumped.”

“Really?”

“Yea. Now come with me, you must be starving.”

“Sure but after we dance.” She smiled.

The words stunned Zaia and slowly, he put the money in his pocket and grabbed her hand, grinning.

I spent my days, flying, wandering about.

I was bored, and there were no criminals found; not now; not that I knew of.

I was perched on top of a building, a coffee shop.

I saw him.

He an ordinary man, one with braided dark hair and a white t-shirt and jeans. There was some charm, or from what I gather, grace from his gait.

I fell in love. I didn’t know who this man was. But as my thoughts continued, he went inside the coffee shop.

He was about my age, 19 years old, or looked to be anyway.

But still, I can not be with him. And yet I needed to know who he was. He was probably some man taking a trip from the Navajo Rez nearby.

There were a lot of people that take trips here from the Navajo Rez, I thought to myself as I raked my fingers through my coarse dark brown curly hair, putting it up into a puffy tail upon my head.

I looked at the sky. It was getting late, and my roommate was probably dying to know where I was.

I faded into the darkness and flew home.

There was no way I was going to be with that guy, to get to know him, I would scare him, knowing that I am the Mistress of Shadows.

Everyday I would wait, same time, perched upon that same building.

And everyday, he wasn’t there.

Great, I tell myself. I lost him.

I was just about to give up.

Until one day he came back. I nearly jumped in down in glee, but remained composed.

What was I going to do. I can’t lose him. I said this to myself again. Surely, I had to do something.

I faded into the shadows, zipping through the shadow realm until I found myself in the alleyway between the coffee shop and the gym, now in ‘normal people’ clothes.

I rubbed my left arm with my right.

What if? I thought to myself. What if he will hate me?

I thought back at the days of elementary school, where I nearly killed a bully with darklings. I remember the days where every single kid called me a monster because I was blessed with a gift, one which seemingly was blessed upon me from Hades. I was so hated that I couldn’t take the loneliness and begged mom to homeschool me, which she did.

A tear rolled down my cheek, which I brushed away.

And I took a deep breath.

I can do this. I told myself.

“....Hey! Give it back!” A man yelled to my left. “Come back here.”

My ears inch towards the sound. I saw a man run away, one which was dressed in dark clothing.

And I zipped into twilight, and faded into existence, pushing the stranger down with such force that knocked him into the road, it wasn’t the man that caught my attention, but the stranger, one which burgled the man and stole their wallet.

By the time the man tried to push me off, several people came and pulled me off of him.

“Y-Your the Mistress. The Mistress of Darkness... What’s her name... Shadows.” A man smiled at me from the crowd. He had a toothy grin, and I grinned back, before swiping his wallet off the ground and handed it to him, and another handed him the phone.

The burglar was pinned to the ground by a strong man with dark skin, while another dialed 911.

“Yes, I am.” I said, though a little uneasiness jolted through me.

“That is so cool. Can I have your number?”

He handed me a thing of sticky notes, several of which were covered in coffee stains.

“Yes.” I said. “Call me anytime.”

I with a shaken hand wrote down my number and handed it back to him.

Aeoliah looked at the palace. She missed the bustling halls filled with servants, the white swirling columns, and the long halls.

Even though she had not yet left to be a slave, even though the palace was a white speck in the distance, Aeoliah still wanted to go back, to be with her regent who liked to sit outside and meditate; who taught Aeoliah what she knew. Nimyalli was her teacher.... and her only friend.

Instead, she stood there, hands bound together in shackles. Her long wavy white hair, matted. Her gown, rumpled and stained. The silver ornate collar around her neck and shoulders pressed against her collarbone, threatening the crush her shoulders. The blue skinned Sarayu slaves, all children, scowled at her.

‘You know you deserve this,’ their looks told her.

‘You are a monster.’

Except she didn’t chose to be queen. She didn’t get to choose to be Half Godspawn. She was simply born that way.

And some part of her wanted to vanish into nothing.

Throughout the multiverse, there was no sign of intelligent life to be seen.

Well, that was about to change when Rayemue, otherwise known as Raye or Raye-Raye stepped foot inside an unknown universe who’s name was forgotten by a race of beings otherwise known as Time Travelers who are capable of slipping through dimensions, universes, and time.

She brought Degrydon with her, who would be considered her husband if he were on Earth.

After countless times arguing over searching for intelligent life outside the Nexus, a home of theirs and a portal to the infinite amount of universes beyond, Degrydon finally caved in and followed her request.

After an century of flying, they came across a luscious green planet, one which looked like a marble of various shades of green and sapphire, that had swirling pink clouds and without a sun to keep it warm.

Or course it had to have intelligent life, Rayemue thought.

“Degrydon, should we dive down?” Rayemue asked. Her long white wavy hair formed a halo around her head as she was suspended in space.

From this view, the planet looked to be the size of her hand if not bigger.

“I don’t know. The last planet you thought had intelligent life didn’t.”

“Aww, come on. Don’t be so hopeless.”

Degrydon frowned, narrowing his slanted, dark eyebrows. “You have been searching forever. Our race is the oldest and the last of two races to exist in this multiverse.”

“Besides, we need to go home. And we are getting far. Before we know it, eons will pass and Assira will become a Shell.”

A twinge of sadness filled Rayemue. “But you promised.”

Then she looked at the planet, grinning, and zipped down at a fast rate. A speck of hope appeared in her being.

“Nooooo——“ Degrydon’s voice faded into oblivion. However the weight of his telepathic bond still was there: connected to her being.

Rayemue smiled, of course there was hope. The fact that there was life here, meant that there might be a potential ally, depending how evolved they might be. If not, then that could be fixed... somehow.

She realized that trees here were green geometric shapes held up by a purple trunk, if it could be called a trunk and part of the ground took an appearance like soft green clouds, a shade lighter than the trees.

She willed her russa that took on the appearance of thin horn-like protuberances extending horizontally from a circlet, latch itself from her aura and fell into her palms.

And she fell into the ground, her russa falling from her hands, into a cushioned surface

“Oof.” She said this muffled as her face planted itself in the ground.

Degrydon floated above her. “This is really not a good decision.”

She lifted herself from the ground, swaying back and forth, her arms out trying to keep herself from falling again. “Your starting to act like Alequin. Come on, let explore.”

“I think I’ll stay incorporeal, thanks.”

“Where is your russa?” Degrydon asked.

Rayemue’s body threw itself on the ground as she stepped on a high surface.

“I actually don’t know.”

“Why did you take it off.”

“To make exploring more fun.” Rayemue said, trying to lift herself from the ground. It has been awhile since she was ‘alive’, so her muscles were struggling to hold her weight.

Now where did that darned thing go, she thought.

“Help me search!” Rayemue said, frantically. There was no way she was going to be stranded in this unknown place. “Deg?”

She came across something silver, half buried in the ground, and quickly swiped it up. “Yes!”

Degrydon raised an eyebrow. “I really think you should—“

He interrupted himself, “Aww maybe this won’t hurt.”

He levitated towards the ground, his verde cloak trailing behind him, and he took off his headpiece.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

Degrydon laughed. “You are still quite slow.”

“So are you!” Rayemue teased, now come.

She wobbled from side to side and she slid towards the ground, which had a fuzzy texture.

Rayemue’s face went slack as she saw something between the strangely shaped trees, a portal, teal and translucent, but then she smirked again as she ran, ignoring the pain, weakness as it radiated through her muscles.

She jumped.

What she saw before her looked odd, ethereal perhaps, at least from her point of view. It looked to be made and constructed by ‘intelligent’ beings.

She put on her russa and the pain quickly vanished.

She lifted herself from the ground into the air and floated inside the crafted tunnel.

And what she saw before her left her even more surprised than before. A shiny, sharp pillar of metal extending from a brown handle.

Rayemue considered it to be a weapon or maybe a toy.

Thought after thought spun in her mind.

She was right all along.

I sat in the attic, writing in my journal.

The attic like the rest of the house was filled with holes, mostly on the walls and loose floorboards.

I nested myself under a large desk, my heart pounding, my body shaking, hoping for the killer to leave the house. But deep inside, I know he’s going to find me, like he did with my mom, my dad, and my sister.

I ripped out the short note from my brown leather bound notebook and placed it in the chest beside me which was a about the size of my foot if not a little bigger. Then I closed my eyes as footsteps made their way toward the attic, waiting for death to claim me.

—-

“Mom, I hate this house. I want to live in the big blue house like I asked for.” I said this, while frowning. There was no way I’m going to live in that creepy place.

“I’m sorry, but that house we can’t afford.”

I huffed. “Fine. Does that mean I still have to share a room with my brother like we did in the last place we lived in?”

“No. You get your own room.”

Some uneasy feeling filled me. I hope this house isn’t haunted. At least I get my own room?

Mother, motioned towards the car, the trunk open with all of our stuff inside. She like I wore a straw hat to keep us cool on this hot summer day where it was bright and sunny out.

“Come help us unpack.”

“Why isn’t my brother going to help?” I said, frowning at the boxes in the car.

“Because he is only three.”

I made my way towards the back of the dark blue van.

“But he can still carry the angel things.” I said, pointing at a tiny porcelain angel, which was nested comfortably in a small styrofoam box.”

“He would break it. Besides, I don’t think Gran would be too happy if she finds out that it got broken.”

Clenching my fist, I let out a soft growl. “Fine.”

For the rest of the day I helped mom unpack, which obviously, I clearly hated. And for the rest of the day, I didn’t talk to her while unpacking. And as for my brother, he spent the rest of the day playing video games in the house with dad keeping an eye on him, from what I know.

And by the time night came, we finished unpacking but there was still so much work to be done the next day and the day after. Frustrated after a long day of work, I declared this house to be the stupid house. I hate it here. I would have loved the big blue house. It had nice large rooms and a big backyard to play in. This house had a tiny ugly backyard complete with a poo colored fence.

Mom led me up the stairs which creaked with each step.

I hated what I saw before me. “Why do I get this room. It looks even scarier than the house.”

“Stop complaining,” mom hissed finally snapping. “We worked very hard for this house. I suggest that you stop being a selfish brat and enjoy what you got.”

“Loser.” I mumbled under my breath, fear filling my body. I don’t want this room. And for a second I wished I slept in a room with my younger brother.

“What did you say?”

“I want to sleep with my brother. I can’t sleep here. There are ghosts in this house. I know it.”

“Ghosts don’t exist. I think it’s time that you go to bed. Night.”

She left me, going back downstairs to join my brother while he was fast asleep on the couch.

Hesitatingly, I stepped into the attic. A musty smell filled my nostrils and a saw a bed with no sheets beside me, sitting parallel to the wall.

The room was slightly dark, and I inched deeper inside as I noticed a small box in the corner of the room.

Curious, I opened the latch and found a bunch of notes.

‘I hope I survive.’

‘Please save me. I’m buried outside.’

And lastly, “Free my spirit before he gets you too.”

I found a black candle and a book of spells and a single amythyst crystal.

This had to be from the previous owner.

And suddenly, a chill went down my spine.

I had to free this spirit whoever they are.

“Look. If you kill me,” I said looking him in his brown eyes. “You won’t get anything out of this”

“How won’t I get anything out of this? I would get the throne.”

“You want the throne because you want power.” I said

He gripped his knife tighter and swung it at me, which I ducked. There was no way I was going to die to my brother. And yet, I had to convince him not to kill me. This was going to be hard.

“If you get the throne.” I said grabbing his arm, twisting it so he dropped the knife. “You could be a respected noble. Would you want that?”

“No...” he bent over, looking for his knife which I kicked away from him. The knife slid and fell underneath my bed: a hard to reach area for a man his size.

“Should have thought about poisoning me instead.” I grinned. He wasn’t the only wolf in this room. And yet, I needed him gone.

With a flick of my finger, I ripped out a knife from my dress and struck him underneath his jaw.

Letting go of the knife, he fell to the ground.