Back to the Past
Gods and Goddesses, humans have assumed that they were of a higher power. Humans have worshipped these 'higher beings' for thousands of years, given them gifts and prayed to them. What if these beings simply lived among the humans? have bumped shoulders with them? talked with them? In this universe, these what ifs were probably more true and false and the same time.
The gods and goddesses were very uncommon in the streets nowadays, especially in New York City. The so-called unnatural beings that roam the human inhabited Earth is more common than any human would have thought, so it would be no surprise that the Divines are also among us living the same as us.
These Divines are capable of 'dying'. Their bodies can heal greatly but they can only do so much. However, It is only their physical body that dies, their spirit remains with memories from their previous experience, roaming the mortal realm seeking for their next physical body. Most of the times, the people reborn as Divines have a striking resemblance to their Divine reincarnation. The host is unaware of course, and most of the Divines -few are opposed- would not force the host to live as an immortal being.
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Rain in New York City were frequent. Grey clouds rolled over above the skyscrapers and rain dropped upon the city. Bustling crowds on the streets carrying umbrellas, placing unfortunate bags over their head and shielding themselves with their jackets from the watery doom.
Maya Hart was used to this, all she had to do was ignore the rain drops landing on her umbrella, the sound of the impact was all her ears could receive. One pale hand covered the handle and another stuffed within her jacket pockets, clutching an object inside.
"Hey Maya!, didn't figure that I would find you in the art room." The brunette giggled at her own joke. The blonde rolled her eyes with a grin as she continued to finish what she was painting.
The brown-haired girl laughed at Maya's reaction to her joke, the blonde smiled. "Whatcha doin'?" the brunette asked while twirling a maple leaf around her hand.
"Just painting a masterpiece." Maya slyly smirked at the brunette. The latter squeaked and blushed at the comment and made an attempt to cover her red face. The blonde laughed.
The 18 year-old blonde sighed then ran her previously pocketed hand through her golden mane while descending down the subway tunnel. Her mind occupied by her past, her once bright past. Now, grey clouds blocked the sunshine from ever reaching to her.
Her phone buzzed. Taking it out of her pocket, she opened the message. It was one of her friends, Farkle.
FarkleKnowsitall: We're at the coffee shop. You going to be okay?
MayaBadassHart: I'll be fine
With the umbrella under her arm, phone in one hand, her eyes gazing at the screen while her other hand clutched at the bouquet of flowers in her pocket. She waited for the subway train to come by so that she could get this over with. The blonde girl gazed around the platform, catching a glimpse of the underworld guardian stalking off unnoticed by the people around them. The guardian looked over his shoulder as if he had sensed her gaze, then smiled genuinely at the blonde before stalking off into the crowd, disappearing.
Maya's gaze remained at the spot where he had disappeared, the sound of the train making her tear her gaze away from the spot. The train approached the platform, slowing down to a stop. After it had halted, the doors slid opened with a hiss, passengers exited the train and the people from the platform entered.
Maya kept her umbrella tucked under her arm where people would not get stabbed by the object, her hand in the pocket still gripping on the flowers as if it depended on her life. She held onto the pole as she felt the train beginning to move. She kept her eyes trained on her shoes -or floor- refusing to lift up her head, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She gripped the pole tightly, tears threatening to spill. She shouldn't be showing her emotions in public or else it'll end up badly.
"RILEY?" Flames licked at the edges of Maya's skin, keeping a strong grip on her spear, she had hoped that the brunette did not get hurt. The others had not been badly hurt and were now out of danger, but she had not seen the brunette since the start of the attack and her mind had come to the worst conclusion.
Blue piercing blue eyes narrowed as she spotted a shadowed silhouette behind all the smoke that had been clouding the area. The blonde wielded her spear and stalked towards the shadow, what she had expected was the attacker standing there, just waiting for the flames to just burn everything. What Maya didn't expect was another silhoutte appearing, except this one was lying on the ground, unmoving.
The blonde's heart seized, hoping the lying figure wasn't who she thought it was. Maya gritted her teeth and cautiously approached the standing figure, who was towering over the unmoving one.
As the blonde moved closer towards the two figures, the black smoke had cleared away, revealing who the two figures were. Her heart dropped. Her eyes turned steel and glared murderously at the attacker.
"Charlie." She whispered, venom lacing that one word.
As if sensing the venom towards him or hearing the whisper, the mentioned looked up with a smug smirk, taunting her. He turned towards her and wielded his flaming sword before dashing towards the blonde, an aura of arogance surrounding him. The young blonde did the same, but her anger and determination fueling her attacks.
Thunder clapped and lightning pierced the once heavenly sky, then the rain arrived in full force extinguishing the surrounding fires. Maya had been winning the fight and she knew that once the rain had started, she had the total upper hand.
The rain had been reduced into a drizzle, the blonde didn't bother to shield herself from the very light pour because she thought, 'It didn't matter that much'. She opened the door to the cafe 'Topanga's' one of the safe places she knows. One of the workers, Katy Hart her 'mother', looks up at the chime of the bell above the cafe door and smiles widely at the sight of the young woman.
"Hello, Maya." she greeted. "Did you get what you need?"
Maya smiled tiredly at the woman, "Yeah..." she said trailing out. She bites her lip before looking at her jacket pocket where the flowers where stashed, she allowed the smile to drop after looking at Katy. "I'm just tired." She then placed her hand on the counter.
Katy looked at her worriedly then placed her own hand on top of the younger one, she comforted the young blonde by rubbing her thumb back and forth. Maya smiled gratefully at the gesture, Katy had always been her mother figure even after all these years.
"The others are upstairs if you need them." Katy said. The younger of the two nodded her head before pulling her hand away then walked towards the stairs.
"No no no no!" The drenched blonde kneeled before the 'dying' brunette and gathered her up in her arms, not caring that she would be covered in her blood. Tears pricked at her eyes, blurring her vision slightly. Charlie had fleed, his ego probably beaten down after defeating him.
Riley coughed, turning into a gurgle at the end. "Hey Peaches... You did it." She gave the blonde a bloodied smile, before coughing again. "Maya... I should probably say this now." She gave her a painful smile. The brunette had a large gash on the right side of her torso, healable but so much blood had already been spilled.
"No no, you're g-going too live through this Riley. J-Just hold on, we're going to get you to the healer." The blonde began to lift the brunette up, not caring about the bloody mess at the moment.
The latter shook her head, sorrow and regret filling her voice, "P-peaches... It's probably way too late for me." This time, her coughing splattered blood on the blonde's armour, Maya didn't care for that though, her beloved was dying. The brunette cupped the blonde's cheek, staining it with her blood. Riley made weak attempts to wipe the tears trailing down Maya's cheek. "I just wanted to say that... I love you Peaches..." Her eyes began to steadily close.
Riley's hand was threatening to fall from Maya's cheek, but the blonde refused to release her hold on it. "No no, Riley. Don't" The blonde's heart racing at a mile a minute. Hoping all of this was a dream, but silence filled the area.
"DAMNIT RILEY...wake up" Her protests carried across the area. Hunching over her beloved's body, she let her all her tears break free. Heart-wrenching sobs were heard throughout the landscape, that was what everyone else had come to when they arrived at the scene.
That was when everyone had felt it. Maya tensed up as she sensed the spirit of the goddess leave the physical body, everyone had sensed it. The blonde clutched tightly on the body, pulling it closer to her, afraid that the goddess would one day never return to her arms again.
Each step was agonizing for Maya, each creak of each step continued to ring in her ears. Tears welled up in her eyes, but before they could fall, she would wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. She glanced down at her hand and noticed that it was slightly trembling. She finally reached the top step and just stood there, taking deep breaths. Walking down the hallway, her eyes trained ahead of her. To unobservant people, they would describe her as brave and strong. If they looked closer to the eyes, they were filled with pain, guilt, sorrow and fatigue. She approached the last door on the left, it was only for 'authority' to enter through, but she was one of those 'authorities'.
Opening the worn out oak door, she was met by an ordinary looking room, couch around the middle of the room, a small kitchen and a small hallway towards left, but she knew better. She stalked down the hallway and opened an intricate designed door. The blonde gulped, inhaled deeply then gently opened the door.