'Everything is a mess. Wait. Stop. Where are you going?'
'They're taking your children Artemis. You need to fight.'
'No please, not my children'
'They are all I have left'
'Fight them, kill them'
'Kill them Artemis'
'You need to kill everyone'
"ARTEMIS!!"
Standing with her blood drenched coat and a rifle on her hand with her eyes clouded with anxiety and uncertainty, Artemis was now unrecognizable.
Khel who fell in love at first sight could barely recognize her now. He couldn't move, it was like his feet were stuck with glue.
He, Sol, Helios and Zephyr and some other men from the bunker helped them infiltrate the haven. They received a message from the inside sent by Magnus and Marvyll, instructing them what they should do and how they should do it.
It was the first news and communication they got from the kids so when Khel and the others received it they were doubtful of the information. But when they arrived at the Haven, they were shocked to see Artemis being surrounded by multiple soldiers all while Artemis herself held a gun.
He never saw her with a gun. No, he never saw her being so violent. This was the first time.
"Khel?"
"Intruders!! Shoot them down."
Artemis looked back and saw Chaos giving orders to shoot down Khel and Zephyr and many others who came from the bunker.
How they infiltrated the haven, she didn't know, nor did she know of how she got here in the entryway of the Haven. Or how she got herself a rifle and why she was drenched with blood.
With bodies of scientists and soldiers scattered near her feet, she had this vague sense of familiarity.
Like she intentionally did it, she intentionally killed everyone here.
"Artemis, we need to run."
Khel dragged Artemis out of the center as some of the volunteers with them along with Zephyr shot the soldiers.
An exchange of bullets could be heard all throughout the building. Its echoes reach Maia who is now busy playing with the young Maki as the twins watch over them.
Maia looked up at Maddin and Maddox who were busy playing cards. Maddox, who seemed to be winning again, grinned at his twin sister as she grimaced.
"Ate"
Maia called quietly but neither Maddin nor Maddox looked at her.
"What's the matter Maddin, you getting cold feet?"
"Ughh shut up."
"ATE!! KUYA!!"
The young Maia who was ignored the first time she called couldn't wait to be ignored the second time as she shouted as loud as she could.
The twins jumping out of surprise causing their cards to scatter all over.
"Damn Maia, why are you shouting?"
"Hey don't curse in front of her"
"But she just shouted at us"
"Guns"
The twins stared at her wide-eyed.
"What?"
"I hear guns"
After saying that, Maia pointed in the direction where she heard the guns.
"We need to tell Kuya"
"Maddin take Maki, let's go to their room."
Maddox stood up and carried Maia while Maddin carried Maki off and both of them ran out of the room.
What Maia said sent Maddox off the edge. He knew that his sister wouldn't lie, she would always tell what she just heard. And if she said she heard guns then it probably meant that what Magnus told them about Khel rescuing them from here had already started.
After passing through two rooms, the four finally reached the room where Magnus, Marvyll and Makoto were staying.
Maddox reached for the door but before he could open it, it swung open, and Magnus stood before them.
"Maia said she heard guns."
Magnus didn't let the shock reach his expressions, instead he looked around and saw that besides them there were no soldiers in the area.
"Alright, we're going to make a run for it"
Maddox and Maddin silently nodded at Magnus. Silently the seven children walked down the hallway leading to the exit. The haven was called a haven for a reason, its buildings were built near the mountains and the forest.
It was at the center, and it almost seemed like the forest and mountains were hugging it.
A place that would later be called the Front house.
"Will grandma and uncle Helios be waiting there?"
"They need to be there, or else we wouldn't be able to get out of here."
Magnus had used what the scientist taught Marvyll and sent an instruction to Khel and the others on how to infiltrate the haven.
The plan was to use Khel, Zephyr and any other volunteers as a decoy who would storm the haven upfront. While the soldiers and Chaos are too busy focusing on the intruders, Magnus and everybody else would run to the exit located at the back where Sol and Helios would be waiting for them.
They then would be waiting in the forest until the opportunity to save Artemis and Phoebus arose.
At least that was their plan.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Magnus, Maddox and Maddin all stopped. In front of them stood Artemis with an unconscious Khel beside her. It seemed like she was waiting for the children as she stationed herself well on the exit.
"Mom"
"I am asking you, Magnus, where do you think you're taking your siblings to?"
Magnus felt his blood grow cold as he stared at the blood like eyes of Artemis.
"Red eyes were a sign of mutation, Mom how did you."
"No one leaves this building can you not understand that?"
Magnus placed Makoto and Marvyll down as Maddin and Maddox both took them behind Magnus.
"We don't belong here Mom, let's leave please, I'm begging you."
For a moment a sense of sadness washed over Artemis' eyes, but it changed.
"Your mother is trying to keep you safe; can you not understand that?"
The sudden change in Artemis' voice all sent a shiver down everyone's spines. The voice belonged to a man but the one standing before them now was in fact their mother.
"Who are you."
Maddox frighteningly asked as Marvyll and Makoto both cried upon hearing the tone that couldn't belong to their mother.
"I sent your mother to sleep, I am Apollo, I am in a way your parent too so why don't you be obedient and just do as I say."
Maddox shivered more; he had read something like this before. A persona who will inhibit another person. A mental illness termed as dissociative identity disorder or multiple personalities disorder. If their mother did have this illness, then that would have explained the many inconsistencies they brushed aside over the years.
The moments where Artemis would suddenly black out and where she said she couldn't remember certain happenings.
It was because it was the Apollo persona that was present then.
"Grandpa told us before, that the reason the government knew of Mom's research were because of a certain Apollo, was that you too."
It wasn't a question, Maddin and Maddox noted, Magnus was a matter of fact stating something that was true.
"See, you are a smart one yourself. That's right I sent her research. Artemis is a scaredy-cat; she was a natural born genius that was blessed by the Seven Lucky Gods. She would and she could change the world, all she needed was the right environment."
"Blessed by the Gods? What are you talking about"?
Apollo laughed menacingly.
"She was given seven offspring, was she not?"
Magnus' eyebrows creased as he tried to make sense of what they were just told.
"What does that have to do with it"
"A prophecy child"
This made them stop.
"The seven blessed children would bring either destruction or hope to this world. The seven offspring of an egotistical human would be the end and beginning of a new world."
"That could mean anyone, we're not the only family with seven offspring."
Maddox shouted defensively, he couldn't trust what this man was saying, and he wouldn't. He refused too.
"I would give you only one reason why it is you that the prophecy was pertaining to. Your gifts and talents, it matches no one else's."
Magnus didn't want to believe it but somehow deep inside him, he knew that it made more sense. He and his siblings were definitely not normal and that they were far different than any other kids.
"Let out mother out, we want to hear it directly from her"
Magnus stared directly at the eyes of the person standing in front of them.
"Oh why are you so doubtful, in a way I am your parent also, my dear first born."
"Kuya, guns, it's near"
Maia's short words made them all look back at her. Magnus shifted back his gaze at the person standing in front of them.
"Move, we're leaving, we're taking dad with us too. You and mom can stay if you want to"
"Hey Kuya!"
Maddox protested. He didn't trust this persona but he couldn't possibly leave his mother, she was after all their mother.
"I'm sorry dear child but I am afraid that you can't be allowed to go out. If all seven of you leave this place now, what Artemis and I had been building would crumble. So no, you cannot go out"
Apollo's skin slowly turned green as he showed them his long nails that turned to an almost claw-like hand.
"I hate misbehaving children the most, you should be punished"
And that was the last thing that Magnus could remember. When he woke up Zephyr was right beside him, a large wound on his right cheek and no siblings to be found.
He went back to his hometown only to see Artemis with Khel and with Maia and Maki laughing happily as if nothing was wrong. As if their other children weren't gone.
Everyone acted that way. Even Sol, his uncle Helios and aunt Eos, were smiling happily as if they didn't lose anyone.
Magnus went mad, and the only person who was right beside him during that time was Zephyr. But he was still anxious, what happened to everyone, Maddox, Maddin, Marvyll and Makoto. Where were they?
He tried to go to the haven again but found that no one else was there now. New soldiers were starting to form there and new buildings as well as prison cells were being built.
He spent years searching for his lost siblings, praying that even if it's just their bodies that remained, he wished to see them. But fate was cruel to him, he grew depressed and anxious as he tried to remember something that happened from that day. Just anything that would tell him what exactly happened during that day.
More than that, years later the government who had placed themselves as colonizers had announced a Herculean tournament. A tournament where they would be sending children to an arena to fight for their survival.
As soon as this was announced, a mutiny who called themselves the SDC rose up and there Magnus was once again reunited with his mother.
Only, she couldn't recognize him.
Magnus was angry at her and yet he missed her so much. There were no signs of Apollo resurfacing, but he couldn't dare to tell her himself that he was her first born.
And now, 16 years later, as he stares at the monitors that were reopened during his recent reunion with Maki and Zephyr, Magnus had a thought.
That the prophecy Apollo told them might be true. That the reason why he hadn't seen any of his other siblings besides Maia and Maki was because fate was trying to keep them away from each other.
He let out a sigh as he turned off all of the monitors.
"Even if we all meet together, the prophecy won't happen anymore won't it? Afterall Maia is now dead. Still…
I do wish that everyone is living well"
Now, as Artemis breathed in her last breath, she inhaled her daughter's scent and sent a message to Apollo, her alter ego that she sent to sleep years ago.
"The prophecy you told them wasn't the truth Apollo.
The seven blessed children would bring hope and peace back to the world.
The seven offspring of an egotistical human would be the end of all suffering and would be the beginning of the new world.
The vessels of the seven Lucky Gods would always find their way towards one another.
They are bound to be together for no one could cut the invisible strings that had tied them together.
And the egotistical human who had opposed the Gods would be killed by one of her own.
I told you didn't I? I didn't need your protection. All I wanted was for my family to live happily the way it was supposed to be"
As Artemis closed her eyes, she felt her insides burn. Maia's aura purified every last mutation and abnormality in her blood. It was the cure and it was the answer that she had failed to acquire years ago.
Now, as she lay there dying, she could only wish that she could see each and everyone of her children.
But that was a wish that was about to be fulfilled.
For the fates will start the real work. They will pull each of the seven lucky stars together again. For them to meet again after so many years had passed.
For the beginning of the prophecy was only starting.
And the real war is just about to start.