Selene sat curled up to Jason on the train, arm laced through his, head on his shoulder.  She was having sweet dreams of being back home, back before electricity, back before cars and towers. Back when her home was simple, full of people who knew her and her brother. Even her brother was in her dream, leaning against their favorite apple tree that she was sitting in.

“I’m sorry, Selene.”

“For what?” she asked, dangling upside down.

“For not being able to protect you.”

“You can’t protect me from everything.”

“I should have protected you from him at least.” Eris nodded forward, and Selene sat up to stare forward down the dirt road. Walking down it towards them was Pietro with a shadow so big it extended to the sky, blocking out the sunlight, submerging them in darkness with each step he took.

“Maybe if I had,” Eris continued, “we wouldn’t be this.”

Selene looked down at her brother, whose skin was dull and lightless. Looking down at her own reflection in a puddle in the ground, she screamed and lost her grip on the tree. Falling into her brother’s arms, she held him tightly. Sadness filled his jade green eyes. Shoving him away, Selene landed on her feet with the grace that befitted her kind. Thunder and lightning filled the darkened sky, and rain began to fall. Spinning around, she stared at Pietro, wondering why.

“Pietro! Why? Why did you do this? Why did you follow the darkness?”

Confusion filled his face. “Pietro? Selene, are you all right? It’s me, Jason.” Her breath caught, and her long, sharp dagger was suddenly in her hand. How did it get there? Trapped in ringing thoughts as her mind screamed no over and over again, her grip on the cold handle tightened.

“No, not you too. No!”

“What are you talking about? Selene, look at me!”

“She speaks of your shadow, Jason,” said Eris, standing close to her side. “It darkens and thickens. You’re falling towards damnation.”

“To hell with you, Eris! You’re the only one in darkness.”

“Not the only one,” Eris looked at her, a sad smile on his face. “Selene, you know what you need to do. You need to save the lost souls. You need to choose and sacrifice one. Selene, it’s all right, use Nuri’s Shadow, use your light.”

Selene shook her head, trying to ignore her brothers’ gentle voice. His shadow was not as dark, not as thick, did not shroud the world.

“It’s your choice, Selene. I will not fault you,” continued Eris.

“No! Damn you! Damn you both and She of the Dark!” screamed Selene before plunging the dagger into her heart…

Selene jerked out of her seat, startled by her dream that had started out beautiful before turning into a nightmare. Looking over at Jason, who was still sleeping soundly, Selene slipped her arm from his, moving to the seat across from him. He wasn’t Pietro, she told herself over and over again. He will not spell out my doom, she thought repeatedly. It was just a dream, a nightmare, nothing more.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, trying to sort out her thoughts before finally deciding that she needed a drink. Taking one last look at Jason, she made her way to the dining cart.

***

“Dammit!” swore Eris, nearly breaking the crystal globe swirling with amethyst smoke. Blood from his hand dripped down the side. Jeanette wiped it up, giving Eno a look to calm him down. Eno stepped up to his side, gently touching his shoulder. A wave of calmness fell over him.

“Didn’t it work?” asked Jeanette.

“Yeah, it worked. I made the connection. The dream went damn fine until she killed herself!” Eno’s grip on his shoulder tightened.

“Do you think the warning got to her at least?” asked Blake, who was leaning against the wall on the far side of the small room.

“I hope so. Too hard to tell. Good news, she didn’t hate me that much; she just scolded me like always. I gave her the option of killing me; she didn’t.”

“That’s great news!” exclaimed Jeanette. “That means there’s hope.”

“Hope for what, Jeanette? You know, Selene, it’ll take her forever to admit that, deep down, she doesn’t want me dead. By the time that happens, I might already be dead. Thanks, but no thanks, but I would rather not rely on hope.”

“Will the dream connection work again?” asked Damien, standing behind Jeanette. She nodded.

“As long as there is blood, pure blood,” she added, staring squarely down at Eris, “then we’ll be able to re-establish the connection. Until we get some of her blood, only Eris will be able to connect. The rest of us will have to wait.” Her long blond hair fell over her face as she turned to look away from him. Eris knew exactly what she was thinking.

“We’ll keep trying, I’ll keep hinting. I’m not going to give up, Jeanette. I’ve made too many mistakes, and I’ve wronged her too much to give up. As long as you have hope enough for both of us, we’ll be fine.”

She looked at him briefly, then nodded, smiling softly. “Very well then, I’ll hope.”

***

Selene sat in a booth of the dining cart. The table was made of granite and covered in glass. The seats were made of black leather, comfy and cozy, stitched together in all the right places. As she waited for her order, her feet on the chair in front of her, she stared at the passing scenery.

“Hello, Selene.” Selene stared at the seat, at the shadows as they swirled upward, forming none other than Negal. Her hair was longer, her cheeks more sunken, making her appear as a wraith of her former self. Her eyes were black pools of nothingness, no joy, not even a sardonic chastising smile on her face.

“Negal, what happened to you?”

“Hello would have been a more polite greeting.”

Selene ignored her. “I haven’t seen you in Gods know how long, and now I finally do, and you look older. Not physically, but in here.” Selene touched the area above her heart.

“Maybe because I’m upset, Selene. Everything has been a dirty little trick, all to harm you, all to hurt my brother, to drag him back to darkness. But you, you are the blessed child. In a way, I think you’re her daughter. A gift and a curse, I guess.”

“Stop speaking in riddles. I hate it when people speak in riddles. Just say what you mean. What was a dirty trick?”

“Pietro, Nivette…everything. Anyone close to darkness either helped her or was deceived and manipulated by her. Eris included.”

Selene’s anger flared. “What are you talking about?”

“He was manipulated by Shira, but that was my fault; I was tricked.”

“How was it your fault?” asked Selene, struggling to keep her voice down.

“Eris asked me if Jason was born of the Light or Dark. I told him nothing when I knew the answer.”

Selene took her feet off the seat and stiffened in an attempt to contain her rage. “You knew? You knew, and you said nothing! You could have prevented all of this!”

“There is no guarantee of that.”

“Yes, there is!” she almost screamed, fighting to keep her voice down.  “I know my brother. Had you only told him what you knew, none of this would have happened. Innocent people wouldn’t have died!”

“I was tricked—”

“Bullshit, that’s not an excuse. You’re immortal; you have been alive since the beginning. You know your goddess, your mother! You should have seen this! You should have suspected something. Anything!”

“Selene, calm down—”

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down!” Selene felt her eyes begin to water and tried to push them back, but the more she thought about it, the stronger they came. “This is all your fault. Everything.”

“Selene—” Selene pulled away from Negal, stepping out of the booth. “You should have said something. Eris is many things, but if he had known Jason was Jason, everything would have been different. He wouldn’t have killed all those people. He wouldn’t have hurt me.” Selene looked at her once again before storming off, shoving past her waitress who had her drink. Suddenly, she wasn’t that thirsty anymore.