MINERVA

I saw Nezha trying to reach for her falling hand, with Stolas’ men grabbing him by his shoulders.

‘’Wait she can’t’’He screamed with Petbe trying to find a way to get down below. And then, Stolas caught her by the shoulder.

‘’Let me go’’She screamed.

I tried to get free from Ghost but it was impossible as he kept covering me with his body.

‘’Do not worry, boy’’Stolas said to Petbe, pushing her to the bars. So did the men to Nezha.

Ghost finally let me free and I moved to the bar. I faced Nezha but he seemed like he could not look at me. None could. But I could see Mara standing on her knees, facing with a pant at the giant machine.

‘’If she survives she is going to be a good asset.’’

Nezha barked. ‘’You slimy mother-’’

Stolas Halted him and took out a remote.’’Of course, Ao Bing, had to fail me’’He rolled his eyes tired.

One button, one single button created a lawful sound that emerged from the machine.

Mara stood up, her body was trembling as the sound was louder than any time before.

‘’You have to help her’’I whispered to Ghost, knowing that he was right behind me.

‘’I can’t.’’

‘’You are a warlock’’I turned to the shadow around me. ‘’Surely you can do something.’’

No response. He did not speak even when I gave him the middle finger.

Back to the ground, Mara tried to find a way to climb back to the bridge. The machine kept walking with steam pouring out of it.

The first arm moved to her and she dug it fast and climbed on the metal like a cat. Eyes darting up and down and legs shaking. A wet cat.

The arm moved higher as she was still hanging from the metal.

‘’Shit’’She screamed.

‘’What is she doing?’’ Petbe asked with a pant.

Her left hand slipped from the combined metal, found a chain with a steel hook, and let herself free from the monster.

I could see Stolas frowning. I grinned at the irritated look of him and turned to Petbe. If I didn’t know any better, she wanted to jump. To save her from the monster.

‘’Why are you doing this?’’ Petbe turned to Stolas.

He frowned deeper, rougher. ‘’I am a businessman, child. Collecting assets and testing them is what I do.’’

‘’If anything happens to her’’Nezha broke from Stolas’ guards. ‘’Mammon will have your head.’’

‘’Mammon would have shit if it wasn’t for my help making his place his.’’He explained. ‘’He liked torturing his assets, I can make mine better.’’

‘’She is not yours’’Petbe argued.

The twitch of his eyes again grew bigger.

Petbe stood tall against him with her hands spread wide open, trying to protect anyone behind her. Or trying to stand taller than she looked.

‘’We will see’’Stolas shrugged and kept his fingers to the remote. If I could take it from his hands… If Ghost didn't try to stop me from doing anything,

The machine cracked with its red eyes turning to Mara who was now jumping from chain to chain. Her hair seemed to slowly get untangled by the ribbon and her eyes were darting even more than before.

The last chain was now close to the wall. Her eyes found the machine whose hand was ready to stab her.

One.

Two.

Three.

Just three seconds before her skin could get impaled Mara fell to the ground, letting the machine hit the flat wall.

There was rumbling before making a hole in the wall, a crack small enough for a person to walk on the other side of it.

That was when Mara started running to the other room.

Nezha laughed out loud, cheering for her. Petbe was grinning like an idiot and I was still trying to understand how she could still walk from the falling. It was more than twenty feet away. She could have at least twisted her ankle, she could at least shout from pain but she did not.

Stolas grunted and walked away, jerking to his men to take Petbe and Nezha with them.

I was ready to go too but I saw a shadow near the table. Ghost was searching for something.

‘’What are you doing?’’ I asked him, moving on his side.

He did not reply as he faced back at me and walked beside me.

‘’Let’s get moving’’He ordered.

‘’Tell me’’I stopped my pacing.

He turned to me.

‘’Tell me who the fuck are you?’’

‘’Your questions must wait.’’

He kept walking and in the end, I did too.

Mara finally got out of the hole with everyone staring at her with shock.

‘’You have to go’’She echoed behind the glass.

Each one of them turned to the glass, staring at Stolas whose thumb was still pressuring the remote to make the machine get out.

‘’Get her’’He jerked his head.

All of them got to her, drawing their guns and knives. Mara sighed heavily and lifted her hands to her head, showing her surrendering.

Everyone stopped and looked at each other. And then a smile appeared with Mara’s sleeves revealing two dark daggers that fell to the closest of the guard’s heads.

A scream broke with the accompaniment of the guns. But no bullet dared to touch Mara’s face or body. Each of the flying deaths that tried to catch her had the defeat of Mara dodging them, moving her body left and right. She was short, she was heavy and she was faster than any of them to avoid death. Her hand found her weapons from the bodies and with her gritted teeth she pulled them away from the flesh.

‘’How can she do that?’’ Petbe asked an amused Nezha.

Nezha began whispering. ‘’Mammon gave her a choice. Survive or die. I never understood why but she took the first choice. Meaning she would do anything for it.’’

‘’This is half the truth ‘’Ghost whispered to me as Mara had now pulled the daggers out of the men’s bodies.

The rest of the workers got out from the hole too, with the hesitation to either fight or run away. And then I saw Mara's movements again. She was not fighting. her legs were faster, her hands were trembling. She was trying to run away.

‘’What is the rest of it?’’ I asked Ghost.

‘’That's the only thing that she can do’’He made a long pause and looked at Mara’s cold gaze as she stabbed someone’s eyes right behind her.

‘’Like a virus, she will do anything to survive. To adapt.’’He even spoke with disgust about it, studying the way she fought, now with no daggers but by her fast feet avoiding every other giant that was coming across her path. Making them fall to the ground or the cliff.

‘’She is a beast,’’ Petbe muttered.

‘’Half the truth’’ Ghost said again.

Only twenty men were now standing against Mara, trying to surround her as the machine was trying to get out, making the nearest building shake.

But she did not attack. She did not attack as she saw there were boys younger at her, holding knives and their lives on a string. She looked at her hands and then down to her daggers which she kicked away with her legs and her dark eyes faced the glass terrified. It was just kids. Then again what were we? Why did she stop? We were all dead after all? She stopped and brought only destruction after that.

There was a smile carved on Stolas’ face. ‘’That is interesting even more.’’ There was a button near the glass and pressed it softly.

His voice started echoing on Mara’s side.

‘’Is it your choice to give up?’’He asked. ‘’Because I did not order them to stop. And..’’His head turned over to Petbe, grabbing her face roughly. Nezha tried to move but the guards grabbed him tight once more.

''I think that you wouldn't want your audience to stay disappointed.’’

‘’Let her go’’Mara yelled at the glass and covered her mouth.

‘’Her?’’ His eyes opened wider and looked at Petbe once more.

‘’Let..’’ Petbe tried to fight, to move away.

And I swear I saw Stolas licking his lips.

‘’I will give you one more choice.’’He shouted to Mara. ‘’Reshape, survive or I will find more beautiful ways for your friends to break.’’

Mara narrowed her gaze and screamed when a bullet found her left shoulder. One of the boys pulled her braid back, making her lose her balance. Other men kept their force on her body, holding her down until her body stopped shaking. There was one more bullet behind her leg. I wanted to scream, to make it stop, to plead to fight...I wanted to kill him.

The machine was almost out of the wall.

‘’You will ruin this place.’’ Nezha tried to stop him.

‘’When you have enough assets, you will learn that buildings are easily replaceable.''

Mara found one blade and with all her strength she cut her braid till her nape and the pin of hers fell to the ground. Her hair went free so did her head and now her hands and her back could move once more freely as she stood up and started running with her knees again. Crawling like a pathetic animal. And then...

‘’No’’She hissed. And then, everything collapsed.

The machine opened the wall entirely making parts of the ceiling fall to the ground. I heard screams, I could see dust. I could listen to someone asking for help. But in all that dust I could see the last one standing from all this blood as she covered her surprisingly sharp long ears.

‘’What is…'’ Nezha panicked.

‘’I told you.’’Ghost said to me as I tried to hold my scream. ‘’She is a half-monster.’’

Her nails were sharp. Sharp enough to replace them for daggers. Her teeth were sharp like a cat’s and her eyes were red. But not red enough as her pupils were still dark like night.

‘’So that is why Mammon kept you’’Stolas shouted amused. ‘’I only read about creatures like you in scrapbooks.’’

Mara did not even try to look as if she was still swimming in a pool of blood. The noise, the screams kept her ears in pain. She could not move from the fear.

Blood that did not belong to her. Blood that she caused.

‘’She is a hybrid,’’ Ghost said. ‘’Half human, half demon.’’

‘’How is that possible?’’

‘’I told you, she is a virus. Something that wasn’t supposed to exist.’’

‘’You don’t’’I panted and stare at the creature whom I called partner, roommate, an annoyance. She was never one of us and yet I did not understand that my words were literal.

‘’She was supposed to be a blood demon, to manipulate blood or minds. And yet, her demon side rejected her completely, giving her nothing more but those mere characteristics you call monstrous.’’

The blood kept growing, her legs started moving back away from it, far from the machine and close to the red keep.

Her lips parted, breathing loudly with the noise not giving up. A few people were trying to get out of the mess but it slowly collapsed in the end.

‘’Did you break completely now?’’ Stolas asked.

The Ghost sighed with disappointment.

‘’She is such a disgr-’’

‘’Shut your mouth.’’I hissed back at him, white rage holding me on my legs. ‘’She is nothing like a disgrace.’’

He tried to speak but I caught him. ‘’You have no right to talk to her like that.’’

She began muttering, Muttering as she could see her death coming near with a machine walking to her side.

Nezha still tried to get out of his restraints but it was pointless. I turned to Ghost but he was now gone. I could not see him and none could see me. My eyes were now in my bag. At my poison.

And then, a scream snapped. ‘’Don’t give up’’ Petbe screamed with fear. ‘’Mara please don’t.’’

Stolas’ glove found her neck and electricity began towering her.

And then, Mara’s body was down as the hand of the monster fell to her chest.

Silence. Absolute silence. Blood came out of the sharp blade as Mara slowly slid from it and fell to the red pile of stones as if she were a piece of garbage. A disgrace, a monster, a hybrid.

Nezha started panting. Petbe stayed silent with tears falling from her eyes. And I stabbed Stolas in his nape four times.

He screamed and I realized that the incantation was broken when he returned a strong slap at me.

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‘’Minerva?’’ Nezha cried.

I kept my screams and tried to stab him again, even deeper for the poison to work harder and then he grabbed my face with his naked hand.

‘’Do you think that Ao Bing did not inform me about you? Do you think I wouldn’t be prepared?’’

My eyes opened wide as he pushed me far from him. ‘’Maybe it will get me dizzy but your poison won’t kill me.’’

I bit my lower lip and turned to Nezha who had finally managed to kick the man's foot and got free and then I found Petbe holding a pistol, aiming for Stolas.

‘’You will pay!’’ She screamed. ‘’You will..’’

‘’How exactly little girl?’’ Stollas turned to her. ‘’The army is on my side, the people are on my side,.’’She kept aiming for him with her shaking hands.

‘’And let’s just say’’He said with arrogance. ‘’You manage to kill me and not shoot my leg, then what?’’

Her eyes flinched.

‘’Someone else is going to take you and use you and might be cruel to you’’He looked at all of us. ‘’Maybe, I might spare you...After I take every part, every I take control of the entire area, I might think of letting you alone.''

Petbe held her breath as Stolas turned the other way. And then a bullet struck a few breaths away from Stolas' head. Petbe took the chance. Tears started staining on her face. In the end, her light. The light in her eyes that she once had, the lgiht of innocence that she was carrying…had vanished like a candle flame.

Stolas turned slowly back at us and he just stared at Petbe before grabbing her face with his electric glove. The thought of her face being wounded, no her life being ended came to my mind and her whimpers escaped her mouth. Her hands shaking with the pistol. But in the end, Stolas just grabbed her face even tighter and pushed her back to the wall, making her lose her conscience.

We looked at each other. We held our silence and looked at Petbe being passed out, Stolas smiling with pride and then, laughter snapped from the graveyard. A heavy insane laugh escaped the graveyard.

‘’It was gold’’Mara’s voice echoed with a figure rising from the red crystals. In one hand she was dripping red crimson in the other she was holding a red crystal.

Stolas looked at her stunned. No. He looked at her terrified.

‘’What…’’

‘’You’’Her voice kept sighing with the smoke all around her.’’I might have to thank you in the end.’’Her voice…the tone of hers…

‘’How are you …’’Stolas gasped.

She is a virus. She survives. Her demon side rejected her but her human one kept her alive. Her mortal side could turn her into a warlock. To a monster.

The remaining survivors were pieces of shadow that they kept following Stolas’ orders. To kill her. But when I saw her shadow being the only one remaining I knew. That everyone was now dead.

The girl kept walking and Stolas gritted his teeth and the machine moved once again, ready to pierce her right from behind. Mara’s shadows stopped walking with the machine cutting the smoke in half, showing her eyes, her short hair, her sharp nails, her long ears, and her smile, waiting for everything to fall into place. For a single moment, it felt that she was the one commanding the world. That she had everyone's string of life on her fingers. The little girl was holding her breath.

A hit of realization attacked me and turned to Petbe and Nezha. ‘’We have to stay back.’’

He nodded but then he ran towards Petbe's falling body and took her with him on my side.

The machine was a life away from Mara and then she turned back to touch her.

I had never felt old before that time. It Was something that brought chills down my spine, something that always was there around me and now had revealed itself. Pale like the snow in picture books. Fragile like glass.

That was the machine that fell into the room. The red eyes shut down and Stolas walked back from the shattering glass, holding his terrified expression.

Another shake from the ceiling made it to the red pile and covered it deep.

‘’No, No, no’’He said to himself.

‘’Is it nice?’’A voice asked from the cold wind. There were calm steps as Mara was climbing the machine to get up. She now stood to the blade by her own two feet.

Her eyes were black and red, facing Stolas with disgust and calmness. Her hair was drenched with blood just like the rest of her body.

‘’Is it nice for something you knew breaks and breaks between your eyes?’’

Her tone….

His eyes opened even wider and turned to his men. ‘’Kill her now.’’

‘’Why are you acting like this?’’Mara asked him with a pout. That pitch in her voice… ‘’You wanted me reshaped.’’ She tingled her nails.

Stolas swallowed harshly. ‘’That is not what…’’

Mara sighed tired.

‘’Do you regret your choices?’’

He started stuttering.

‘’I regret it too. Especially this plan, it ruined my clothes.’’She showed herself and then went back to him. I could not believe…I could not believe she was speaking with that tone.

‘’Kill her now.’’He panicked as the soldiers still stood there. They didn't move or attack. They stood there completely frozen.

Mara clapped her hands and showed a sudden childish tone. ‘’Well, I am going to take my leave.’’

Stolas hissed and showed her his glove. His body was shaking as the lines of his face were now rougher than before.

Mara’s smile faded. ‘’Then what?’’She asked with a tilt of her head.

‘’I was broken once, I will be reshaped again.’’ He explained.

‘’Until you will break,’’ Mara said. ‘’Again and again. You can do this as long as I want. That is the reason it exists. ‘’She arched her brow as she was talking with such a familiar tone. A ton that brought horror in her. She was just like him. That tiny little girl was no human.

She was not afraid of him, she wasn't afraid of the death that might come. She was just insane.

Stolas let his pistol down and his knees gave up.

‘’What do you want? ''Stolas' voice cracked.''Money? I have enough.’’

‘’Had.’’’ Mara corrected him. ‘’Pay attention to the words you use.’’

He frowned deeper.‘’My men will…’’Saliva fell from his lips.

‘’What men?’’She looked behind.’’And I do not need to ask the ones down.’’

‘’You…’’He cried.

‘’As for the ones in five years, I suppose they are far away now. And the stones’’She rolled her eyes.

‘’What did you do?’’ Stolas’ eyes shed fat tears.

Mara grinned at him, making her scar curl.

‘’What are you?’’ That drew her attention, making her jump from the blade and put her hands behind her back.

‘’I am a performer.’’She showed herself with her long sharp nails.

A performer? And then, everything fell slowly into place. Every rushing thing she did to survive on the lower floor. She wanted to go there. She wanted to destroy the pile, the machine. She knew that Nezha would set the women free. She performed her judgment towards Stolas as if his own life belonged to her from the beginning of time.

‘’If you're going to kill me’’Stolas raised his shoulder.

‘’Now’’ Mara pouted. ‘’Where is the fun in that?’’

‘’Fun?’’ Nezha said out loud.

‘’Mortals always know that one day they are going to die’’She kept walking by his side slowly. Her tone, her pitch changed, became something else, something completely different.

Stolas stood fast and tried to run away from her.

‘’But they never expect how they will live with their own failures.’’

His entire charming face shifted to a wild, hideous creature, and tried to find a way to run, to get away.

‘’Running is good too. ‘’Mara pressed her index finger on her chin.

‘’You are a monster’’He cried.

‘’Performer.’’ She corrected him again with a childish voice.

''I will kill you. I will kill everyone you care about''He screamed.

Mara kept staying with no emotions in her face.'

Two seconds later, Stolas realized that this was not enough and he let his head rest on the floor, breaking into more tears.

Mara closed her long lashes and then opened them slowly, looking at him from above her tiny wide body as if she was Spirit, A Made One, Lord Death itself.

‘’You were a disappointment ‘’She sighed at him.

The door opened wide with one man crying to Stolas, his hat covering his face. ‘’Sir, the army is coming.’’

‘’What?’’ Stolas panicked.’’Why?’’

‘’For your death’’ Arsu drew his pistol and shot him right at his heart.

Stolas’ men helped us take the body outside as Mara was fixing herself and she finally found her pin making her characteristics turn back to normal. She looked at me once and I walked away. Her smile slowly faded too as Nesha tried to stay away.

And then, Petbe jumped to her and hugged her tight, Tight enough to make her fall.

‘’You are alright’’She squeezed.

Mara’s hands shook as she tried to hug her back. ‘’Can’t…breathe…’’She said breathlessly. With her own tone and voice

She ignored the blood, she ignored her possible wounds and she ignored what she saw earlier. Because she forgot as Nezha said. He didn't even try to tell her what Mara was. But it seemed that it didn't matter.

‘’You actually came. You came’’She cried over and over again.

‘’Of…of course’’She stuttered confused.

‘’I thought you died, I thought you…Don’t do it again.’’

‘’I won’t do it again,’’ Mara repeated.

‘’Swear it.’’ Petbe's tears fell louder and Mara blinked confused.

In the end, she sighed.

‘’I swear.’’

We cleared the room, taking the half-frozen machine out so maybe the army would give us something for our gratitude. But the stones could not be repaired. And none of us wanted them to get out to the sun ever again.All of us remained silent at all the hours we spent there. We could not speak. We had no the power, we had no thoughts.

Everyone was gone and I stayed behind, telling them that I had to think a few things before closing the room, destroying it completely.

Nezha stayed for a while, looking at me confused.’’What will we do with…’’

‘’We will get out’’I spat with fear finally getting out.’’Just please’’I held my tears, trying to remember every tone that Mara used. Everything but her own.

After I heard his steps fading, I found Ghost.

Few rocks remained on the ground and Ghost’s shadow gathered them all.

‘’You were wrong about her,’’ I told him.

‘’Was I?’’

‘’She is not a disgrace, she is…’’

‘’She is a monster.’’

My eyes froze. I have seen countless monsters all this time, greedy ones, lustful Stolas. Mara was nothing like them.And yet, the way she was speaking.

‘’She will take you down with her.’’Ghost informed me.

‘’She saved us.’’

‘’She saved herself.’’

‘’You are acting as if you actually are’’I laughed and instantly regretted it. Because now I could see him completely. Well, not completely as his cloak was dark like the veil, and his mask was covering his face. His white clay mask. His white mask with a smile on it. The same smile Mara had drawn over and over again.

I took out one of my needles.

‘’You are …’’ I said with a pause.

Ghost turned to me.

‘’Time for my payment,’’ He said.

It was everything about her? All about her?

‘’I won’t let you kill her,’’ I said, tightening my hand with the needle.

‘’Your little poison won’t work on me. And…’’ He kept walking to me. ‘’I am not here to kill her. I would never do that.’’His voice shifted to more feminine. Gentle.

‘’Then what is your payment? What do you want from me.’’

He tilted his head to the right.

I pressed my lips and nodded. ‘’When the Lord Death meets you he asks a question.’’

‘’What is your name Owl?’’

I knew the outcome but I had to do it. I slammed him, letting his mask fall far, and pressed the poison to his bronze-exposed neck.

‘’I will not let you hurt Mara.’’I cried.

‘’Again Owl, I am not going to hurt her.’’His voice changed completely and now looking up, I saw a woman. A woman with silky raven hair, her eyes deep red and her horns sharp to her head. A tattoo on her sharp jaw of three wheels.And every feature, even the last detail only reminded me of…

The woman smiled.

‘’She is family you see’’ Her thick eyebrows rose up. ‘’And my dear, the virus needs to evolve for my plan to succeed. For the world to burn in despair.''

‘’Family?’’ I turned back and looked at her sharp smile. A devious smile like…

‘’Mara. ‘’My voice shouted her name. Until the end. I hated her.