Year 2019
It was the soft grass beneath his fingertips and the harsh whistle of the air that made Maddox's eyes flutter open. It was the vast blue and white sky that had greeted him. He struggled to sit right up and when he finally did, he saw the wide plains expanding right before his eyes. Hill standing upright, trees and plains all around him, the grass dancing with the harsh winds tune.
And then he realized he was alone.
He stood right up and swayed when the nausea hit him. He bent over and emptied everything that was possibly in his stomach.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember, anything, something but all he could remember was his name, Maddox. That was the name given to him by his mother. Maddox, the great one and his mother. Maddox's eyes roamed wildly as he searched the area for someone, as he searched for his mother.
But, did he even know what she looked like? He couldn't remember.
"Mom"
He tried to shout but the hoarse voice only let out a whisper as he tried, again and again. Until the tears stung his eyes and began to fall drop by drop.
Where was he? What about his family? Why can't he remember? Was the questions repeatedly playing in his head until he screamed and frustratedly let out every pain and fear he was feeling.
He was all alone and he can't even remember why. But he could remember the warmth of his mother, his father, his siblings. He could feel that and that's what kept him going.
To go, walk and find who he really was. Until he realized he had a gift.
He was lucky, and it was his luck that made his life so easier and wealthier. A Western couple adopted him, treated him as their own, moved him away from the country, from the games, from the horror.
But he could never forget the warmth that was in his hazy memory. So when he finally had the power and money, he went back. He searched and searched until Maia's screams brought every piece of his memory back.
Until his mother stood right before him.
A soft smile decorating Artemis' face as her arms opened wide to welcome him. Maddox ran inside those arms and suddenly the warmth that was only in his memories was back.
"Where's Kuya? And Maddin? And the kids? And about Dad?"
He asked in a rush, in a hurry to see his whole family again. That he had forgotten to ask the most essential thing until Artemis looked at him with the saddest look he had ever seen on her.
"I had to do what I did to protect you. You needed to be separated, so He can't use you. I needed you to forget so you won't search for me. I did what I did to save every last one of you from Him"
Maddox couldn't understand, he didn't know what she was talking about or to whom she was referring to.
"Who, mom? Who did you need to save us from?"
Artemis took a deep breath as she whispered.
"Apollo"
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Before he knew it Maddox was tackled to the ground, his wrists bound by Magnus' hand. He stared at his older brother and saw that Magnus was seeing red. He took Maddox's gun and crumpled it like it was paper in his palm. As his whole weight pins Maddox by the ground.
"Maia"
Damian cried out as he cradled Maia's body in his lap. As he held Maia's lifeless body and everything he was afraid of came true again. He was on the verge of losing Maia again. Right in front of his eyes, Maia was losing life all over again. The shot was so clean and thorough that Damian had to cover it up just to stop the blood from coming out.
But Maia wasn't recovering as fast as she should have and that's what scared everyone, including Makoto.
"She's not healing right. Kuya!"
Maki cried out to Magnus as soon as he and Maddin reached Maia. But Magnus' attention was wholly on Maddox. As he tried to read why his own brother shot their own little sister.
"Kuya, Maia first please!"
Maddin pleaded, her eyes decorated with tears and that's when Magnus finally let Maddox go. He pointed a finger at Maddox but said nothing as he walked towards Maia and the group around her.
"I don't get it, she should've been able to heal herself by now, it only takes seconds for her to do that"
Maki rushed, saying as he panicked for the life of his own sister. Because he cannot lose his sister again, not again. But before Magnus could even answer it was Maddox's laugh that caught everyone's attention.
Damian saw red as Maddox laughed and sat up watching them cover Maia's body like that would have stopped him. It won't. Nothing will stop him from killing Maia over and over again.
"Maddox STOP!! Why did you even do that!!"
Maddin cried out as she cradled Maia's lifeless hand towards her chest. Maddox eyed his twin sister before the words left his mouth.
"It'll take her longer to regenerate because it's her brain that I shot. Because the brain is what's responsible for her healing."
He said like it was a matter of fact and everybody else fell silent.
"Because our so called gifts came from our brain's capacity to function, not because we were gifted and certainly not because we were vessels of the Gods"
Maddox spat with full disgust as he watched his siblings including Makoto rally around Maia. None of them said anything because as a matter of fact, none of them knew what they really were.
They could be mutants straight out of the laboratories of scientists or they could be vessels from Gods whom they don't even know if they should worship or not.
"It still doesn't give you the right to kill Maia"
Magnus finally said, his voice deep with fury and pain as he tried to shield his other siblings away from Maddox. The younger lad only laughed at him before pointing a finger at Makoto.
"You would've killed her too. You said she was the reason this whole chaos and doomsday started. If we kill her, then doomsday wouldn't happen right?"
Makoto only shook his head as he stared at Maia whose wound was slowly closing up.
"It doesn't work like that and I wouldn't have killed her. I couldn't. The only reason that you could was because you heard from me that she had killed mom."
Maddox flinched before a sneer left his mouth.
"Well no shit, don't you feel the same? She was our mother and she just killed her. Aren't you angry? How can she be so heartless and just kill her like that?"
"Because I had a reason"
Everyone turned around to see Maia looking directly at Maddox, with tears staining her ruby red eyes.
"Because I had every reason to"