Into Darkness
Tan hands wrap around her from behind as Menoetius says, "To be fair, though, she did leave my brother because of you… But it looks like she just couldn't resist seducing him a second time."
"Oh, please," Calliope says. "Don't kid yourself, Menoetius. You were never even an option for me. In fact, you were not even on the back burner of my mind. I didn't think about you at all. Ever."
"You stupid bitch!" Menoetius yells, pulling her backwards by her hair. He moves around to her front, keeping his face menacingly close to hers as his dark brown eyes turn black and his thick black ram horns start to grow from his head, curving over and down toward the back. "You might say that you never thought about me, but let's be honest now, whore. I was the only demon you were ever scared of, and we both know why that is. We both know that if it hadn't been for my brother walking in on me three years ago, you wouldn't have been able to stop me from doing whatever I wanted to you." He flashes her a sinister grin before continuing. "If he hadn't walked in, you would've died that night… After I had my fun with you, of course."
"Oh my gods, shut the fuck up, Menoetius. We get it–you're this cool, edgy demon and you do bad things because you enjoy hurting people. I know daddy didn't give you enough love when you were younger, but-"
Before she can finish, Menoetius pulls her back with the hand that's holding onto her hair. "Shut the fuck up!" He yells at her, then slams her down. Her head hits the hardwood floor with a loud—THUMP!—and bounces up again. He slams her down once more, holding her there as she lets out a pained groan.
"As much as I would love to watch you beat the shit outta my sister—I mean, she did leave me stuck in the Demon Realm for three years—I'd like to get what I came here for first," her brother says. He steps forward then, and she can see the hatred and anger in his eyes. "You left me to rot, dear 'sister.' You knew that I didn't have powers like you. After all, how could I? I'm not female, so I didn't inherit our mother's powers. Yet you didn't even try to help me."
"I didn't know… for a long time," Calliope replies. "When I finally found out, I left. I thought it was too late to help you."
"No, Calliope. That's bullshit. The truth is that you often don't think of anyone but yourself. You're selfish just like every other siren. You're not capable of caring about other people. The way someone else feels only matters to you if you can use it somehow," he tells her. Hatred spews out of his words like venom. "I thought that you would help your own brother, at least," he scoffs, squatting in front of her as Menoetius grabs her hair again and yanks her into a sitting position. "But you didn't. I was powerless, and you left me. But I'm not powerless anymore. The moment my powers appeared, I started working with them–learning how to use them. I've perfected my abilities now. I'm not weak anymore, and I never will be again. In fact, when I finally take your powers, I should be just about as strong as the father who wanted nothing to do with us. And I should finally be able to take him down then as well."
"But why?" Calliope asks. "I get why you came after me, but why him?"
"You mean the guy who decided he didn't give a shit about us?" He asks. "I needed a father to teach me things that men should know. And I never had one."
Calliope notices now that he's holding the Compendium of Supernatural Abilities in one hand. She can see the whole book starting to shake as Raiden looks down, upset.
Menoetius seizes the back of Calliope's neck, making her bleed when his nails dig into her. He leans up close, and his lips brush along her earlobe before he whispers, "You probably could have used one. Who knows? Maybe you wouldn't be such a slut if you had ever had any discipline."
"I am so sick of your shit, Menoetius," she says, groaning. "You're just mad because I'm the only woman that'll tell you no."
She hears a metallic sound ringing out behind her. Menoetius laughs and wraps an arm around her waist from behind, holding his knife at her side. The bronze blade is pointed toward her eye. She looks toward it, also noticing that there are siren scales on the hilt. "See this?" Menoetius whispers in her ear. "This knife was made just for you."
In front of her, Raiden scoffs. "Yes, not only would your wounds never completely heal if you got cut with this, but they would be agonizing. The pain would never end."
"And I personally can't wait to test it on you," Menoetius says.
"I'm so sick of him. Come on, let's fight!"
Ember yells inside Calliope's mind, and Calliope thinks, You're right. Let's do it. She leans her head forward a bit and then slams it back into Menoetius' nose. The shock causes him to release her, and she slams her forehead into Raiden's nose in front of her before either man can react.
"You little bitch!" Menoetius screams.
Raiden makes a grab for her as she rushes forward, but she's faster. She dodges him and moves to put some distance between her and the men.
She's stopped in her tracks when Menoetius suddenly appears in front of her; however, she isn't able to stop fast enough, and the enchanted dagger stabs deeply into her shoulder. She grunts from the pain. Menoetius laughs as he pulls it out.
Sparks dart between her fingertips as an agonizing pain shoots through her shoulder. The lightning travels up her arms as she grunts in pain, and thunder rumbles outside right before a horrendous screech sounds out and Thora flies in. Wrath flies in after while flames shoot high off her wings.
Menoetius' arrogant smile fades as he takes in the scene around him. He starts to back away from the lightning that's darting wildly around Calliope's arms, but stops when he bumps into something. He turns to see Nanook materialize in front of him, letting out a low growl. "Raiden, now might be a good time to take away your bitch sister's powers," Menoetius calls out.
"No!" Calliope yells, throwing her arms out so that the lightning jumps off and hits both Menoetius and Raiden. After the hit, Nanook takes the opportunity to jump and grab Menoetius by the arm, pulling him to the floor. With him down for the moment, Calliope turns to face her brother.
Raiden stands with the Compendium of Supernatural Abilities in one hand and begins reading from it in a language that Calliope can't understand.
"It's probably Latin again."
Yeah, you're probably right, Lyn, she thinks.
Thora and Wrath both swoop in, attacking Raiden with their thunder and fire, though it doesn't hurt him.
"Can your brother steal their power, too? I don't think they should be here."
Lyn is worrying for them, and Calliope stops to think, You're right. If he can steal their abilities, they shouldn't be here. She addresses Wrath and Thora next, thinking to them, It's too dangerous for you both to be here. Please get out while you can.
The birds stop when they hear her, then nod at her in response and fly out.
She addresses her brother then, telling him, "Raiden, stop this. This is insane. You don't have to do this." He just looks up at her as he continues reading. Lighting and fire both start getting pulled from her body. The spirits of the thunderbird and the phoenix are yelling inside her mind. It almost sounds to her like they're in as much pain as she is.
As the lightning and fire get pulled from her, swirling around each other and being absorbed by Raiden, she finds herself being unable to stop herself from screaming as the agonizing pain from it gets worse. Raiden has trouble keeping himself steady as she screams, but he continues reading and pulling her powers from her. Blood starts pouring from his ears as the last of her powers get absorbed.
Calliope falls to her knees and her scream trails off. Raiden walks toward her. She hears Nanook yelp and Raiden looks over her shoulder at Menoetius, saying, "I'm done here. Kill her."
Menoetius laughs as Raiden leaves the building. He moves behind her, wrapping one arm around to grab her throat and pull her to her feet.
Without her fire and thunder powers, she feels extra weak. Her legs are shaking and she has trouble standing.
"I guess it's my turn," Menoetius whispers in her ear, tightening his grip on her throat. "You're such a pretty little thing, but don't worry, I won't touch you. I don't want you anymore, anyway."
"Fuck you," she gasps as she struggles for breath.
He takes his knife and slices a long line across her belly. She grunts loudly from the pain, and almost falls. She's only held up now by his hand at her throat, so he lets her drop to the floor, laughing. He notices her friends starting to wake, and he leans over her. "They can't save you now," he whispers, stabbing the knife deeply into her side. Then he grabs her hair and walks backwards with her as her friends start to rise.
"Menoetius!" Asmodeus yells when he notices them. "Don't fucking touch her!"
The rest of her friends watch in horror as Menoetius replies, "Too late, brother," and stabs the knife into her chest.
She gasps as the knife pierces her heart, then falls to her knees. She hears Menoetius laugh one more time before he disappears.
"Fuck!" Asmodeus yells, running to her.
"No, no, no," Nagaveni cries. She buries her face into Dysnomi's chest.
Dysnomi holds Nagaveni and whispers, "I'm so sorry, Calli. This isn't something I can fix."
Zephyr just looks on sadly without saying a word.
Amarok holds Xena, who's lying limp in his arms after being struck by lightning. He looks between her and Calliope, his face sad as he begins to realize that the only thing he can do for one is to get her to the hospital immediately and there isn't anything he can do for the other. "I…" he starts.
"Go," Calliope gasps, nodding toward the door.
With tears in his eyes, he nods at her and runs out with Xena.
Asmodeus drops to his knees in front of Calliope as the others surround her. He and Dysnomi help to gently move her, leaning her against the bar. "Calliope," he says, reaching out to touch her face. She leans in to his touch, closing her eyes. "Stay awake," he tells her. "Please, abre tus ojos, mi amor."
She forces her eyes open to look into his oceanic eyes. She can feel the sadness in him, washing over him like a tidal wave, consuming him. "It's okay, 'Deus…" she whispers. It's painful for her to speak, but she forces herself to. She looks at all her friends and chokes out, "I love you…" as blood bubbles out from her lips.
Nagaveni cries softly into Dysnomi's chest and he wraps his arms around her, staring solemnly at the floor.
Asmodeus caresses Calliope's cheek as tears begin to fall from his eyes, and Calliope gives him a small smile as her vision begins to go black.
Her eyelids begin to droop and her hands fall to her sides. Her breathing is labored, and the intense pain she feels with every breath begins to subside as her entire body goes numb. She can hear her friends pleading with her to stay awake, but their voices begin to sound muffled as if she's under water.
She doesn't feel scared or upset anymore as she lies back against the bar. She feels at peace for once, as if she has nothing left to worry about. She releases one last breath with a smile on her lips. Then all sounds fade away, her eyes close, and everything is dark.