Chapter 11

The Guardians' Abode. Library.

Eugene looked at me for some time, hardly blinking as I gathered my thoughts and tried to decide which question to ask first.

In the end, I decided to start with the strangest one,

"I thought it was randomly drawn with a pen when I first noticed but it keeps getting bigger..." removing the hair back, I turned slightly to the side so Eugene could see the tattoo on my neck.

As soon as he saw the image, he jumped up from his chair and rushed up to me. He grabbed my chin with one hand, turning back and forth to better examine the pattern, and followed the contours of the image with the fingertips of another hand. After a few seconds of this hypnotic action, I completely forgot about the question. Eugene's face was so close that I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck.

"It's amazing... It just can't be true..." he was whispering.

"That's what I thought. What other races are also marked by tattoos?"

"Only Guardians!" he exhaled. "Darsy, it's identical to my tattoo."

He turned his right side to me, and I noticed the same mark on his neck. It was clearly outlined, while I only had a sketch.

"What does it mean? What does a tattoo mean to a Guardian?"

"It enlarges with the number of our victims. The more you kill, the bigger your tattoo becomes. The size of the image sometimes depends on the power of the enemy."

"Oh..." apparently, he killed a great number of creatures because he was al covered with tattoos except for his face and his legs, or rather those parts of his legs that I saw when Cerberus was killed.

"Why did I get a tattoo? Am I becoming a Guardian?"

"That's impossible. It's like a dog becomes a man..."

"Eugene, can you stop comparing me to a dog?" I broke out of his grip. He absently put his hands into his pockets.

"I'm just making analogies to make it clear. Maybe, it has something to do with the fact that you're my ward, which has never happened before... We should ask Tol. He may know the answer to that question."

"Will it disappear when this is over?"

"I don't know the answers. Let's try to find something in the books..."

And we began to study volume after volume, scroll after scroll. An hour later, I knew everything or almost everything about the Guardians. It should be noted that there was not much information about them. Their mission and a standard set of skills were mentioned everywhere. But I still found something interesting – only their Commander could communicate with gods. Apollo was the mediator in this communication at all times. Personally, I did not understand the choice but there was no escaping the fact that Tol received all orders from Apollo and the Elders. There was nothing else interesting to read.

Eugene found the same.

"Do you ever eat?" I asked. My body had one peculiarity – when I was studying I had to have something to eat. It's not that I got a voracious appetite but it helped to process the information. In short, my habits differed from ordinary human ones. And this habit was so strong that I needed to have a snack now to comprehend what I had just read.

"Sure," Eugene laughed.

"And what do you eat?"

"Same stuff as you... But we don't have any delicacies. We eat only for energy but not pleasure."

"What a boring life you have! I need to buy you pizza sometime so you know what you're losing because of your stupid rules. Where can I get food here?"

Eugene went in search of food himself and returned with a plate of fruits just a few minutes later. He said it was all he could find at the time. I must say it was not that bad: figs, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, and some weird fruit I did not know the name of.

I began to devour fruits greedily, stopping only when I heard a chuckle.

"What?" I mumbled with my mouth full.

"You look funny when you eat... Take your time. I'm not going to take your food."

"I'm not gonna let you. Besides, we can share it because I'm not used to eating alone. I'm like an alcoholic but regarding the food."

Eugene looked at me with confusion. I slapped myself on the forehead: he might be unfamiliar with this habit of our society. Sometimes I forgot he was not a human.

"People say that only good-for-nothing alcoholics drink alone. The rest is looking for company. I don't know why but people believe that one shouldn't do it alone."

"You have strange customs..."

I took an exotic fruit with hesitation. How did they eat this? I decided not to ask Eugene, who was watching me closely. I shrugged and bit the bright fruit. Its juice splashed in all directions, and now I was splattered from head to toe but the taste was delicious.

Eugene burst out laughing. I mercifully shook my head, trying to suppress the approaching laughter but nothing good came out and I burst out laughing myself a minute later. We were laughing impetuously and for a long time, we had to hold onto the table not to fall on the floor. I could not remember the last time I was laughing like that.

"Having fun?" we heard Tol and instantly went silent. He frowned. "It was easy to find you. I just followed the noise," he said with dissatisfaction.

"Is something wrong?" Eugene got down to business.

"I have something for Darsy. Zeus himself ordered to give this reliquiae to you."

Tol handed me a small pendant with symbols on it. Eugene's eyes widened.

"You must be kidding..." he whispered reverently.

"I wish but no. Some old man gave it to me just a few minutes ago and disappeared without any explanation."

"Apparently, things go south if Zeus himself gave one of the oldest and most powerful reliquiae to the human," Eugene frowned.

"Can someone tell me what's going on and what's this?" I uttered when the shock of what I had heard passed. Zeus knew about my existence... It's awesome!!!

Eugene stood next to Tol and they both frowned. Instead of the answer, I watched two men exchanging glances with indecision.

"I'm still waiting!"

Eugene stared at Tol, encouraging him to talk. The Commander finally gave in and said,

"This reliquiae is unique and one of a kind. You must wear it everywhere, even in the shower. In pursuit of souls, it turned out that very powerful demons and demigods went searching for what's inside you. And the more abilities you absorb, the more they want to get the prize. You are still vulnerable, naive and weak. Your mission is too important so Zeus sends this gift to make sure you are completely safe and nothing threatens the Balance," Tol finished.

Everything seemed pretty reasonable but Eugene kept looking at the Commander. It was difficult to understand what he wanted to say by his ferocious look. Tol did not react at all and with a devil-may-care expression on his face somehow squeezed out a smile. Charming! I knew they were covering things up but I was not sure if I needed to know those "things". I had many flaws. But I was smart enough to realize that something terrible was going on and I was involved in this or even played a key role.

"Can I talk to you?" Eugene interrupted the flow of my thoughts, addressing Tol.

He nodded, and they moved to the other end of the hall, remembering my supernatural hearing. But I could hear them. However, it did not help me much because they spoke some strange language, and I could not understand this gibberish. Eugene sounded irritated and impatient, Tol was steadfast and uncompromising.

Then the Guardian sighed heavily and spoke again. I realized what it was this time – he asked Tol about the tattoo that I got after killing demons. Now it was Tol's turn to be surprised. He looked at me. His face expressed boundless shock. He did not know what to say for a moment, rubbing his chin and scratching the back of his head, but neither the first nor the second helped him to find an answer.

I was looking forward to getting at least some information but there was none. The Commander of the Guardians was clueless. The last thing he said was in English,

"I will ask the Elders but I cannot guarantee you any positive result."

Eugene spoke in his language again but I was no longer interested.

"Darsy!" I heard an echo. It was quiet as if I heard the echoes spread by the wind.

I looked around but I did not see the source. It was clearly a woman. When I already thought this was my imagination I heard the voice again,

"Darsy!

"Who's that?" I whispered.

"Go to Italy. We need your help... Hurry up..."

Then the images burst into my mind with infernal pain. I screamed and fought hysterically, barely withstanding the changing images. It was terrible: death, pain and ruin everywhere.

"Darsy! Darsy!" Eugene rushed to me and shook me by the shoulder but I could not move captured by visions. I could only grab him by the hand.

And now he saw what I saw. His hand strained. Eugene clutched my elbow as much as I did, and he felt everything I did. The visions stopped as quickly as they had begun, bringing relief.

"What's happening?" Tol asked. He looked down at us with his arms folded across his chest as we sat on the floor on our knees.

"We need to go to Italy..." Eugene just said.

Tol nodded.

"Go. I'll gather backup for you and come to the rescue."

Eugene opened the portal, and we instantly got inside the tunnel.

"What was that?" I asked Eugene.

"I may be wrong but I think it was the Oracle. You never know who she'll contact next."

"Does she always do that?"

"No. The Priests usually interpret her visions. But now it's impossible."

"Why?"

"We're almost there. Get ready."

He dodged the question but I kept it in mind. Something was going on and, for some reason, no one wanted to fill me in. It's one thing if it was classified and none of my business, and quite another thing if he kept me in the dark on purpose.

When the portal opened, we saw a striking picture, which gave me goosebumps. It was morning in Italy. The time difference with Boston was six hours. I had no idea what city we arrived at or how it'd looked before those creatures did that to it.

Everything was laying in ruins. The screams of victims were horrible to hear, and the smell of blood, ashes and rot mixed into a disgusting stench in the air. Hundreds of demons, Nefarious and Murky Shadows were destroying the city with remarkable speed. The incredible number of dark souls covered the sky with a black veil. The ground was completely cracked, buildings were almost destroyed and it was impossible to understand how they looked before the monsters appeared.

The examination took us no more than a minute. Our backup began to arrive. Tol, Milena, and other Guardians.

It took me a minute to put aside the suffering of the dying people and their appearance before me. I needed to stop reacting to the dead people and focus on more important things.

I could not wait for orders from the Commander but rushed to the battlefield, driven by pity for the victims, literally being torn to pieces.

My supernatural speed made attacking enemies like taking candy from a baby. I sneaked behind them and snapped their necks so quickly that they did not even have time to understand anything. They say it is hard to snap cervical vertebra. Soldiers are trained to do it and if there were options they'd prefer another way of assassination. I found this method more effective than swinging a sword. On the other hand, I had demonic powers at my disposal that allowed me to easily do things that were beyond the strength of the brave soldiers of the US army.

But soon I was noticed. As if by magic several demons headed in my direction. I drew the sword without hesitation and decided to attack before they approached me. The sword was sharpened well and easily beheaded one of Nefarious.

"Cool!" I smiled.

Meanwhile, a vile creature, something between a human and a bear, already rushed in my direction. I threw a fireball at him, and a second later his ash was scattered by a strong gust of wind.

"Darsy, on the left!" someone shouted.

I turned my head and saw a flying boulder. And why did these demons love throwing objects? Dark matter shielded me from the SUV-sized stone. A second of delay an I would have been smashed by it, and my remains would be scraped off the collapsed building for another week. Having waved my hand to the side, I moved a floating stone from the line of my sight. It collided with the wall and split into several smaller pieces. Focusing my new eyesight, I saw a child about several hundred feet away and figured out that it was a skillful trick. It was actually a Murky Shadow, which was confirmed by its predatory grin.

I wanted to be right next to him with all my being, a second later I was inches away from the Murky Shadow.

"Wow!" It just slipped out.

Fear appeared on the child's face.

"Help me. Someone's chasing me," he muttered in a childish voice.

"Nice try, fellow!" but I did not buy it and lifted my arm.

The child put his hand forward and threw me three hundred feet away. I hit the stone wall with my back. Telekinesis... Great ability. My head was pounding but I got to my feet. Reliquiae seemed to be useless. What if amulets had an expiration date too?

I decided to go the other way. I moved behind the little fellow and cut him in half with my sword. A nasty slimy brown substance splattered my T-shirt. Gorgeous! It's not that I had much hope of getting out of the fight completely clean but how I would explain the nature of stains if Jackson saw them.

Thoughts of him distracted me. Now I had to be with him like I promised. And I could not just leave because the Guardians obviously needed my help. Otherwise, the Oracle would not have called me. Besides, it was a great chance to kill as many demons as possible and pay the debt sooner.

I listened out: the noise of battle was deafening, demons kept coming, and something must be done as they were torturing and killing innocent people. I started to climb to the highest point. One wall of the twenty-storey building was still standing.

It was easy to climb on it. Due to the Marker's ability, it was like walking up a ladder and took no more than a minute. The situation looked even more dreadful from the height. The number of demons grew by the minute. Dark souls transformed into new creatures faster than the Guardians killed them. But now they were completely focused on the Guardians and finally left people in peace, who were almost gone from the area of hostilities. I was glad there would be no more deaths and reasons to erase random witnesses.

I tried to find Eugene in this mess, and even my supernatural eyesight did not make it much easier. I could not rest until I saw him in the midst of the battle. And no wonder it was so hard to find him because three Guardians, including Eugene, were attacked by more than two dozen opponents, and half of them were much larger than the Guardians. Tol, Eugene and Milena made some kind of circle, standing back to back. Attack after attack guaranteed new victims. But that was not enough as demons knew how important the Commander was and wanted to kill him at any cost.

It should be noted that the Commander was a skillful warrior no less agile and fast than younger Guardians. But, most importantly, he had no fear for his life. These guys were clearly genetically engineered. How otherwise one would explain that the key person in their army was fighting in the thick of things?

In a split second, I decided to help them, and I was amazed at what happened. Two powers combined and destroyed all demons. The bright pillar of fire and black matter literally swept away all opponents of three Guards, leaving not a single mark on the ground. Tol and Milena were shocked. Only Eugene turned in my direction and looked me in the eyes. He nodded in gratitude, and I did the same.

Next second, the column of water rose in front of me with incredible speed and fell on my head. Having lost the balance, I began to fall from twenty-storey height. And all my efforts to slow down were in vain. Gallons of water were chasing after me, ruthlessly pushing to the ground. Seconds of falling seemed like an eternity. People say the whole life flashes before your eyes when you die. I realized that was not true. Fear paralyzed all thoughts, the head got blank like never before. Only tumbleweeds and the whistling sound of the wind were missing for an absolute song.

I closed my eyes ready to collide. The feeling of fear kept getting stronger with every moment and reached its peak. I exploded, or at least it seemed like that. My back was pierced with sharp pain, and it was not a blow but wings. They tore my shirt but they saved my life. I hesitantly evaded the stream chasing me. And flapping my three-meter wings, I flew higher than a second before.

The feelings were incredible. I had always wanted to fly, no matter what or how, so I liked this ability more than the rest. Thinking of various maneuvers, I completely forgot that I could have wings, which was the only life jacket under the circumstances.

It was incredibly nice to catch the wind rhythm, glide, follow the flow and flap the wings at the moment of calm, being not afraid to be carried away in the wrong direction. That's how it's like to fly. Feelings of euphoria and infinite happiness overwhelm me for a moment, ousting fear, fatigue, pangs of conscience.

I flew into the cloud. It was wet, and I could practically touch it. It smelled like rain. I wanted to fly to the end of the world and never come back. People and places I would have to leave did not even matter now. I realized the changes inside me but did not know if they were permanent. I felt fewer and fewer deaths of people, and this could only mean one thing – I was losing my humanity. I still had some remnants in the form of emotions, and the main one was mercy.

And that's what brought me back to the ground. Having looked out, it amazed me to see things I've never seen before – the area like on TV. People, Guardians, Demons, Nefarious ones, and even souls were outlined in different colors, so I knew where everyone was. I realized it was my new ability. I blinked and focused on the Guardians. Eugene was in the midst of the battle but I could feel what he felt from the distance. He was surrounded. The demon sixty feet away was getting ready to throw several objects like darts.

I landed near Eugene and shielded him with my wings, feeling the darts falling uselessly to the ground.

"Darsy? I thought I was supposed to protect you!"

"I guess I don't need protection now..."

"You saved me," he whispered. It was so strange to hide from this nightmare in a small space, almost touching each other and being hidden from everyone in a small cozy world. "I've never been rescued before. Thank you!"

His eyes lit up with the same warm fire of the hearth, which I first saw in the university hall. It was quite different – did not frighten and did not repel. I found it compelling.

"Your eyes... They're glowing again."

"It must be some glitch..." his voice grew warmer.

Being close to Eugene and feeling his smell made my head go round like the strongest hypnotic charm. It was already my failure – wanting to look in the eyes in this small cozy place.

I made the wings disappear with supernatural efforts. Milena was looking at us. There were so much contempt and hatred in her eyes that I could not help shivering under that glance.

"What are you doing, human brat?" she hissed.

"Wow! You are charming!" I snapped. "You could have thanked me for saving your fiancé!"

The tsunami hit us before she could answer. A huge wave took everyone a few meters back, and I was very surprised that we eventually survived. Having stood up, I saw the silhouette of a man made of water.

"They definitely have problems with imagination," I said. Cerberus was in the form of a man made of lava, and now we met this water bubble.

Milena got to her feet with a wild roar and drew her sword.

"Hold your horses, girl! He's mine!" I exclaimed.

"Get out of the way or I'll cut you in half!" she hissed.

"No, Milena!" Eugene came between us, putting his hands in different directions as a sign of reconciliation. "Darsy's right! You can't do anything to him, and you know it! But she can defeat him! Darsy, he's not immortal."

It's hard to say whom she hated more at that moment, me or her mate, but she gave up and rushed to help Tol.

I nodded in gratitude to Eugene and, without losing another minute, took off to get to the water monster. Flying helped me clear my mind. I already had a plan of attack inspired by the wind. This demon was stronger under the circumstances because my fire was useless against his water. Though, I could kill him but needed to figure out how.

All my active powers did not really work against water. No matter how many fireballs I threw, he remained unharmed. I had killed so many demons in the last hour that I started confusing my abilities. So, I threw metal shells instead of fireballs or flew up instead of teleporting. The water monster was several levels above me, and I could not reach him anyway no matter how hard I tried.

The battle behind my back had stopped. The Guardians were completing their mission and, instead of returning to the Abode, were gathering to watch our fight, or rather my ass kicked in the end.

It's a genetic failure to fit so many abilities in one creature. I could not understand why everybody was so crazy to get Charon's power. In fact, one cannot withstand the transformations after being filled with demonic abilities of all kinds. They are so different and controversial that tear you apart from the inside. I was going nuts. I did not know what was happening. I heard someone else's voices in my mind. All senses got stronger. My feelings were similar to those that overwhelmed me after killing Cerberus but now it was a couple of dozens of abilities tearing me apart. How could one get them into the Vessel?

The monster sensed my weakness and attacked me, drowned me, hit me with gallons of water. His abilities formed a funnel. I was exhausted and ready to capitulate.

I was just laying on the wet ground, waiting for another attack. The water silhouette was approaching. I closed my eyes. Peace. Silence. Darkness. That's what I needed right now – to relax and let them take what they wanted. I should have done it from the beginning to avoid all this drama. I would have died an ordinary human and gone to Heaven that I used to believe in.