Morgan's POV:
I walked into my cabin. Finding it empty, I sat down on an empty bunk and pulled out a memory. The photo was of a battle scene between two titan-size beings. One was Asteria, in her full splendor. The other was a young-looking boy, with jet black hair streaked with bright blue, and piercing green eyes that flashed with determination. In the background were two preschool-aged girls, with jet-black hair streaked with neon pink, and the same green eyes. The girls were identical, and they were cringing in fear, watching the battle between their mom and brother. I hid away the picture and looked for a different one quickly.
The sight of my brother and sister pained me. I blinked away a tear and pulled out a video clip. This was one of our few happy times... I enlarged it, then leaned back to watch, tears brimming in my eyes. The video showed the following:
Three kids were walking through a green meadow, talking and laughing. There was no mistaking the colored hair, the pale skin, and the bright green eyes on all three of them; but what was unusual was the happy smiles and the light, joking atmosphere. The three of them walked over a bridge above a waterfall, and one of the girls leaned down to touch the water. "Make a diamond flower, Crystal," the other girl said. The first one picked up a handful of water, then swirled it through the air. It sparkled and flashed, then formed a solid jewel. "Here Morgan." She handed it to the second girl. "Here Zeke," Morgan handed it to the boy next to them. He took it carefully, then threw it into the air. It glimmered, then exploded into fireworks. He jumped into the air and flew among the sparks, tumbling and performing stunts. "Show off!" Crystal jumped into the air and started chasing him around in circles, then Morgan followed, throwing handfuls of water at them and laughing.
I let the tears flow freely as I watched the triplets laugh and fly around like crazy, as if they didn't have a care in the world.
"We were seven," I breathed, watching Crystal's and Zeke's faces. We looked so... so happy, and carefree. I put the memory away. The next one was much different.
I pulled out another memory. This one showed the following scene:
"CRYSTAL!" A shriek pierced the dark night. A dark room was shown, and a girl was shown, chained to the wall, being tortured. A girl identical to her was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood, motionless. A tall, dark woman stood nearby, giving commands to the person torturing the girl chained to the wall. "Now, Zeke, stop showing compassion for your sister. Morgan deserves this, and you don't want it to happen to you, now do you?" The torturer turned so his face was visible to us. His white face tear-streaked and blood-stained, there was no mistaking my brother. When he hesitated, the woman jabbed him with an electric spear, and he yelled. Then he turned back to the girl in chains. "Please, Zeke," she begged, "You can't, please, no, AAAAAAA!" The girl screamed as he stabbed her in the shoulder with a dagger. "Please, no! NO! Please! Look what you did to Crystal!! Please, NOOOO!!"
I dissolved the memory with a wave of my hand, the scream lingering in the air. That had been me at age twelve.
I bit my lip so hard it bled as I watched Zeke's pained face. My mom had ruined him. She had mind controlled him so he was forced to hurt us. And then that had led to Maia's end. I pulled out another memory.
At first, the only things visible were blinding flashes. Then the clashes of swords were heard. Some mist cleared away to show all three triplets, nearly fifteen years old, fighting both of our parents. All of us were in our full splendor, standing nearly thirty feet tall and glowing. Then Asteria briefly stood back. "I can promise you, there will be consequences for this," she hissed. Everyone stopped to look at her. An orb glowed in her palm, and a young girl appeared in her hand, around age twelve or thirteen. "Maia!!!" Zeke shouted, "Don't touch her!!!" Asteria threw back her head and laughed. "Not with your recent behavior." Maia suddenly screamed, clutching her chest. Then Zeke collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and yelling. "Crystal DO something!" one of the girls yelled. The other one dropped next to Zeke and held his face in her hands, chanting words in a foreign language. Hades grabbed her shoulder, and she whirled around to meet his blade with her own. Morgan ran to her brother, only to stop in her tracks as he woke up. His green eyes were black. Asteria had taken control again. "Well, Zeke," Asteria said absently, how about you kill Maia for me." Even with the mind control, Zeke froze. "I- I- I can't." "Oh yes you can." He took a hesitant step toward her, then shook his head vigorously."I can't..." he whispered. "Fine then. You are apparently no longer of any use to me." He screamed and collapsed to the ground, writhing on the ground in pain. She looked down at Maia. "Kill them all," she said smiling. Maia shivered, her face panicked, and she transformed into her full splendor. "No," she mouthed, as she watched her own hand draw her dagger. "No, please." Asteria laughed. "Your mind is weaker than theirs, Jade. You can't do anything to stop yourself." Maia had reached Zeke, and was gripping the dagger. She looked at his eyes, which were back to green, and screamed, "NOOOO!!!!" Her hand lifted the dagger to strike him, but she swerved it around- and stabbed herself. Meanwhile, Hades had pinned Crystal against a rock, and Asteria grabbed Zeke by the shoulder. Morgan ran at her, but was thrown backward. She smashed against a rock, but quickly got up and ran at Zeke again. "Maia," he was sobbing, "No, please, not Maia... Morgan no!! Save yourself!! She's gonna kill you!!" Morgan hesitated, then was blasted into the air by a beam of magic from Asteria's sword. She tumbled to the ground, but before she hit the ground, she disappeared.
I dissolved the memory and put them all away. Tears flowing down my face, I buried my face in my arms, silently weeping.
