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Castrum Kremnos was a kingdom built on glory and honor through battle. They fought for glory and what they believed in. Their Titan Nikador was a powerful warrior and the reasons Kremnoans fought so valiantly. Mydeimos was the crown prince and heir to the Kremnoan throne before the kingdom fell into ruin due to his father’s rule and Nikador’s fall to the Black Tide. He and the remaining Kremnoans sought refuge in Okhema and that’s were Mydei had met the famed Deliverer.
Phainon was both everything and nothing like Mydei expected. He was a skilled warrior with the temperament of a playful puppy. He was protective and sweet, always putting others’ needs above his own. The Kremnoans liked Phainon’s battle prowess, and Mydei found himself spending more and more time with him.
No one was surprised when Meli was born. A perfect mix between Phainon and Mydei. She had Mydei’s blonde hair and her eyes were amber with flecks of blue. She had Phainon’s smile and couldn’t never stay still. When she was born, Meli didn’t cry. Phainon had taken her to Professor Anaxagoras for fear something was wrong with her.
Meli couldn’t feel pain. She didn’t cry whenever she accidentally bit herself or when she’d fall or bump into things. Despite that, she was always running around when she learned to walk. The times she did cry where the times Mydei and Phainon would have to leave on missions to defend against the Black Tide and Nikador’s Titankin or when she’d have unexplainable nightmares about destruction and flames.
Krateros babysat Meli most of the time, his distrust of the other Chrysos Heirs evident. He’d claimed only a Kremnoan could train Meli and help grow the spirit inside of her. Meli’s first weapon she ever held was a wooden sword. She wasn’t good with it at first, but she’d train when her parents were gone. Though, half the time when Krateros wasn’t looking, she’d wander off to look at the many bug-like nymphs in Amphoreus.
Meli loved going to the Grove to look at all the different types of nymphs and bugs. While she explored the grove, she’d found a fuzzy blue spider with black and white markings. She smiled brightly and picked up the spider, deciding to keep it. “Momma would love you,” she told the spider. “I think Papa would be scared. He doesn’t like bugs that much, especially spiders.” She felt a call to name the spider Kevin.
Although she was young, Meli wasn’t ignorant of what was going on in Amphoreus. She knew of the Black Tide and the danger is posed against the people of Amphoreus. She’d seen Aglaea talk with Lade Tribbie and her parents all the time. When Cipher was around, she’d hear the trickster demigod talk about how far the black tide had spread. (And she’d bug the trickster for different stories about her travels.)
There were people in Okhmea that Aglaea and Krateros kept her away from for her own protection. The few being the Dawncloud Council and Elder Caenis. Caenis hated the Chrysos Heirs and believed they were failing Okhema. Meli had only seen her when she’d attempt to threaten Aglaea. The other was Lygus. Something about him rubbed Meli the wrong way. She felt shivers run up her spine whenever he was around. Even Kevin seemed on edge.
“You’re not supposed to be here, little one.” Meli froze upon hearing the mechanical voice of Lygus. She’d sneaked up the the Dawncloud council to find Aglaea. The antikytheran tiled his head down at her. “A lost child like you shouldn’t be up here. Come, I’ll bring you to where you’re supposed to go.”
Meli swallowed thickly, everything in her telling her to run, that this man was dangerous. Kevin was on her shoulder, hidden in her hair. It had grown out since her parents had left and she didn’t want to cut it yet. “Okay,” she murmured, quietly following him.
“Where’s Meli?” Mydei demanded, bursting into the Heirs bathhouse where Aglaea was resting. Phainon was behind him. “She’s not with Krateros. He said she was going to find you. And she’s not here.” The little gremlin wasn’t anywhere in the bath houses. Phainon had checked.
“Lady Aglaea,” Phainon spoke up. “We’re just worried. She’s never been gone this long, and we all know she wouldn’t disappear when she knows we were coming back today.” Normally, their daughter would have been glued to them the moment they stepped within Okhema’s borders. And this time, she wasn’t there. It was as is she’d vanished.
Aglaea raised an eyebrow. “I was under the impression she was with you two. She never misses when you get back.” She frowned, reaching out with her golden threads. “Odd,” she mused, “I can’t sense her anywhere in the city.” She stood up from the warm, almost golden water. “I’ll ask Teacher if she’s seen Meli. We all know how she can get into spaces no one expects. Perhaps she’s with Cifera.”
“Cipher?” Mydei raised an eyebrow, frowning. “Cipher wouldn’t dare to take our daughter anywhere without leaving some kind of note or obscure message.” His jaw ticked and he clenched his fists. “I’ll ask Lady Castorice if she knows anything.”
“We’ll find her, Mydeimos,” Aglaea swore. “She can’t have gone far.”
But Meli wasn’t found. It was as if she’d vanished. As if she never existed in the first place.
The day the Astral Express Car fell to Amphoreus was the day Meli had finally broken free from the prison Lygus had put her in. Meli shuddered, that prison of wires and red expanse haunting her. The only reason she stayed sane was the fact she had Kevin. He’d managed to siphon off enough power to break her free. An anonmly had weakened the prison, presumably the fallen car in the ruins of Janusopolis.
Meli didn’t know how long she’d been trapped, and she didn’t know where she was. She was taller and her hair much longer. She could hear Titankin in the distance, and the further she wandered, she found armored bodies. She’d recognize Kremnoan Armor anywhere. “Forgive me,” Meli whispered in Kremnoan, taking the armor pieces that looked like they’d fit her.
She picked up a spear, testing the weight. “You’ll do. What do you think?” she looked at the fuzzy spider. ‘It’s better than nothing.’ “Yeah, it’ll work,” she agreed, keeping the spear. “Let’s go home.” She missed her home, her mother and father. She stumbled through the ruins. “Huh?”
Meli heard voices in the distance. She crept slowly, staying hidden. “Mom?” she whispered, seeing Phainon and Tribbie talk with a gray haired girl and a black haired man in strange clothes. Meli didn’t know why she stayed hidden, but she did. She followed the group of refugees to Okhema, keeping her head down.
‘Why aren’t you saying anything, Meli Bug?’
“I’m scared,” Meli whispered quietly, adjusting the cloak around her shoulders. WHen they reached Okhema, Titankin were attacking. Meli’s eyes widened and she jumped into action to save the innocent citizens. All of Krateros’ training kicked in. Meli remembered the hours spent over drills, and sparing with her parents.
She thrust her spear into a titankin’s body. “Go!” she yelled at the priests, dodging an arrow and throwing her spear at the archer. She lunged, grabbing her spear and charging it with lightning. “I’ve got you,” Meli promised a crying child, keeping the lost child behind her as she swung her spear into the a titankin commander, chained lightning going through four titankin nearby.
The battle was over as quickly as it began. Ahead of her in the city, the Heirs had defeated the other titankin. Meli took a deep breath and walked into Okhema. Nothing had changed since she’d last been there. The marketplace was the same. Meli pushed herself to get to the bath house. People stared at her and she fought the urge to hide.
“Are you okay? You’re bleeding,” a child told her.
“Huh?” Meli looked down at her leg. It was bleed. An arrow must have nicked her. “Oh. I am. I’ll…get it taken care of. Thank you.”
Meli made it to the platform that would go up to the Heroes bath. “You’re not supposed to go up there!” she heard a guard shout, but the platform had already activated. Meli sucked in a deep breath, cupping her hands to hold Kevin. She stiffen, feeling pressure all over her body, golden threads sparkling in the light.
“Who dares enter—” Aglaea’s firm tone was cut off.
“Meli?” Phainon whispered, stepping toward her. “You’re…you’re alive! My baby!” The threads let her go, and Phainon hugged his daughter tightly. “We thought you were dead. You went missing. Where? How? Are you okay?” He held her close, cupping her face and checking her for wounds. “Your leg…”
“Mom,” Meli whispered, clinging to Phainon. “I’m okay.” She looked behind Phainon to see Mydei staring at her. “Hi, Dad.”
“Meli,” Mydei murmured, walking up to them. “Where did you go?”
Meli swallowed thickly. “I don’t know. It was all strange.” Suddenly her memories about the kidnapping were getting hazy and almost nonexistent. “I don’t…I don’t remember. I just remember waking up near Janusopolis.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Phainon murmured, pulling her attention back to him. “As long as you’re safe.”
Meli sniffled, exhaustion setting in. She was home.