The Dark Goddess

Chapter 3

Somewhere in the city of New York

Ami's first incident had occurred two months after her fifteenth birthday;

(Usually on her birthdays she usually had one parent with her for the whole day to take her anywhere she wanted to go and get her whatever she wanted, they did that as the only form of celebrating the birthday for her,

To Ami, it was the only day of the year she really felt like she had parents, and of course she would always spend her birthdays with Sandy just as Sandy always spent hers with Ami as well).

This particular year they went mountain climbing then camping at the top of the mountain, all through the day Ami didn't feel herself, 

It started as soon as the winds of the mountain started blowing and touched her, from then on it felt as if those winds were aimed at her to make her miserable throughout the climbing / camping experience.

Then about two months after, Ami was in her bathtub having a particularly lazy start of the day,

She just stayed neck deep in the tub, staring off at nothing in particular.

Then she noticed the water she was in was turning red, blood red.

She freaked out immediately and rushed to a sitting position, just as she did a loud popping sound with no apparent source sounded accompanied by the feeling of something tearing or breaking from within her, and then the water suddenly started bubbling as if she was in a hot water tub although it wasn't hot, then it became stormy like miniature ocean waves.

Skipping the freakish occurrence with the water her mind then reminded her that she had been expecting this for a while now;

Ever since Sandy had her first menstrual period last year, she had been expecting hers as well,

And now here it was turning the whole bath tub red.

'But why is the tub stormy?' She pondered.

She got out of the tub and it stopped totally and remained calm, but then all around her things started shaking with a low rumble,

And unless she was hallucinating, she was sure the water on her skin was in fact a couple centimeters away from her skin rather than sticking to the skin.

"Ok, maybe I'm seeing things, maybe this is a side effect" she said to herself somehow unable to freakout anymore.

But something was seriously wrong because even as she dressed nothing touched her skin, everything was always a few cm away, the lotion peeled off and remained close to her skin and her top floated around her.

Then she looked in the mirror and almost had a fit,

Her eyes were violet!!? And on top of that had a soft glow about them.

Ok up till now she had been trying as much as possible to maintain a calm composure, 'it's just a period isn't it? It could cause anything the first time around right? Or is it?' was her thoughts.

But see glowing eyes tipped all that off and she gave a short scream.

At the scream it seemed as if she was a bomb and exploded outwards (only she was still whole), but the mirror shattered, her clothes ripped and some of the items close to her was flung away.

"Ok what the hell?" She said really freaked out as she looked around at her room that now looked as if it had been visited by a mini tornado,

The she saw herself in a piece of glass from the mirror on the floor, she knelt to take a closer look and when she saw her eyes, they were their normal brown once again,

Now the only evidence that anything freakish had happened was her ripped clothes as well as the broken mirror and the displaced items.

Then the door to her room opened and her dad poked his head in, Mr McAfee; brown hair, blue eyes, square jaw and a stubble of hair on his chin to pass for beards, he still looked hot for his late thirties age status.

"You ok honey? Your mom said she heard a scream and someone or something falling or so" he said to her and actually managed a look of concern (she was sure it wasn't real).

"Yeah.. Um, I tripped and fell" she answered as she stood up from her kneeling position.

"But baby, your clothes... and the mirror, what happened?" He asked again.

"Dad I said I fell ok?... The clothes must've tore in the fall and I must've flung something to the mirror while flailing around" she replied irritably,

"Ok dear.. Um.. Breakfast is ready, come have some before going to school, mother is also preparing something special for your lunch, we'll have someone over to clean the mess just be careful and don't get injured".

"Oh, ok dad, I'll be down in a moment" she replied now suddenly feeling bad she'd snapped at him, curse her weak conscience,

And with a smile he was gone.

She always wondered why with her parents sometimes it was good and all other times it was just bad,

Why can't they be all good or even all bad, at least then she would be able to react to them without feeling bad about her actions.

During breakfast that morning though, she got the confirmation that something was really going on within her.

As she was seated and tentatively trying her waffles, she contemplated telling them she had started having her period.

Of course she didn't really need anything from them because Sandy had stocked her full of tampons and sanitary pads since she had started hers;

"Don't be caught unprepared" she had told Ami and ensured she always has one of each in her bag at all times.

But Ami felt she needed to let them know at least, since this morning seemed to have had a good vibe from them.

"So" she started, and although both of them were on their computer systems she knew they would hear her and comprehend as well, they were that good and she was used to it.

"I started my usuals today" she said.

"Oh? What is that honey?" Her father replied around a mouthful of waffles.

"Um... My monthlies" she said again.

"Is that something you and Sandy want to start doing? Like an extracurricular activity or something?"

It was her mom that replied this way and Ami was beyond surprised, 'what is it with these people!!' her head hammered the thought.

It already seemed that the good vibe she had earlier felt from them had stopped because now they heard her but aren't really paying attention to her.

She got angry and slammed her fork on the table;

"MY MENSTRUAL PERIOD!" she snapped,

Immediately following her snapping she felt something within her pop open once again, and suddenly the windows and door flew open and a harsh wind blew in disrupting the peace within the house, papers and other light objects flew about before falling to the ground,

It would have been a totally independent freakish occurrence,

Had her eyes not been glowing, again.

She had dodged her head down when the winds came and from the bread knife in her hand she saw her eyes reflecting back the same purple hue as it had done earlier in her room.

'What the heck!!?' She thought to herself getting really freaked out once again.

Then the winds died down and so did the glow in her eyes, and only then did she raise her head back up.

Her father was moving around closing the windows and muttering

"where the heck did this wind come from, there was no forecast of winds for today"

Her mom was also about, picking up papers and righting fallen items, placing them back where they belonged.

"Honey, I'm so sorry" her mother said to her when she stood up and saw Ami looking at her. 

Mrs Joan McAfee in her early thirties could still pass for a model in the early twenties stage, her brunette hair long and curled, her face perfectly outlined, her body perfectly shaped, her blue eyes always kind of twinkled when she looked at you to speak to you.

"I didn't realize that was what you meant, so let me give you some tips and we'll have a mother-daughter talk" she said but glanced at her computer system as it beeped a notification alert, its just sad that those blue eyes were clueless most of the time staring only at screens.

"No mom, I'm gonna be late for school" Ami replied her (she was sure her mother really wanted to have a talk with her clients on the system more than her 'daughter').

"Oh ok... That's right... Maybe later then when you're back" her mom replied a bit too relieved.

"Do you need anything honey?" Her father asked her,

"No.. I'm fine.. Bye" she said and left not even replying back to their calls of "take care" "be careful" and "we love you"

To the last one she simply rolled her eyes picked up her lunch and left for school.

More concerning and bothersome to her was that something was going on with her, she had felt a popping sound and feeling within her like a lock being opened forcefully.

And she felt a huge turmoil within her like she was capable of doing so much damage,

She had done damaged already twice and it seemed to just be the beginning.

*

A few days after the incident with the misogynistic councilor (as the papers declared him),

All his actions and crimes made it to the press, and after slight investigation all evidence was indeed found to be true.

(Although there was also the arrest warrant for a lady who apparently had a flamethrower and hurt the councilor with it) good luck with that.

It was all out and he was to be tried looking at a lot of serious jail time.

Ami and Sandy felt the need to celebrate; it was their actions that brought about justice after all, so they planned to both get something they've always wanted: Pets

They told their respective parents and after a lesson about how total care, responsibility and monitoring would be up to the girls, they allowed them.

Sandy wanted a parakeet and Ami wanted a dog (her parents also did warn her not to get a large one).

They got to the pet store and almost immediately Sandy found the perfect little parakeet she felt really suited her, but Ami try as she might couldn't find any dog appealing enough so they decided to go to a pound.

When they got there, they were informed that they were in luck because the pound had a few new intakes that very day.

After looking through and through without finding the one she felt would be perfect for her, a disappointed Ami decided to head back, but as she was turning away something caught her eye.

It was a black puppy that looked about a month and some weeks old,

Its fur stuck to its body in a sleek well combed manner and its tail was really furry.

It actually looked like a wolf cub more than a puppy dog, but Ami was already in love with it.

"How big will this puppy grow to be?" She asked the handler,

"Oh I believe that's a hound and its just gonna be fairly big" the gruffy woman answered then continued to say "we found it early this morning close to the woods behind town actually and we would be sending it to the pet store soon as we do for puppies".

"I want him, I'll take him, fairly big is not large so its him I want" Ami said with a bit of glee in her voice.

"You finally found one?" Sandy asked coming towards her.

"Yep I definitely did" Ami answered as the pup was being placed in her arms, it lifted its head to Ami's face, sniffed her then gave her a few licks before settling down in her arms.

"Alright" the handler started "paper work is this way" she finished and headed off with the girls and the pup in tow.

"I'm gonna name him 'Aegis'," Ami said as she entered the cab with Sandy to head back home.

Sandy had named her parakeet 'Sally' and she felt she needed to have a first letter similarity too.

On their way home Ami noticed a teardrop shaped white smear on Aegis' forehead,

'Hmm was that there before' she thought to herself.

She reached out with her right thumb and touched it right on the teardrop smear to see if it could be wiped off,

But then white light suddenly flooded her vision and it suddenly seemed as if she could see into another realm,

And in that vision appeared a woman so fiercely beautiful Ami blushed hard.

The woman was dressed like a hunter in tight fitting leather pants and cropped top strap leather of black with hints of purple.

She had a hooded cloak of a very light shade of purple on and her boots were strapped up past her ankles.

Her head was adorned with purple pearls and a single thick braid flowed down from her head reaching her waist.

She was threatening as well as alluring but her eyes were the most startling of all, deeply purple all through with no indication of an iris or a pupil.

She looked really fierce,

" *'Ma beru Omo' I mean you well" the lady said to Ami but she just stared in response.

The lady continued anyway "I know this isn't the way we should have met, but for the sake of peace and balance it has to be so".

She moved closer to Ami and then her weapon became visible; a regal looking longbow and arrows fetched with purple feathers, hunting knives in her boots, and is that a sword?.

"Sooner or later our paths will eventually lead us to meet, by then or before then all will be clear to you but for now you need protection, this *'Olusho' is all I can give as a motherly protection, till we meet again my child" the lady said and the vision started ebbing.

Only then did Ami regain her senses and started to react, but the vision already faded leaving her with all the questions she wanted to ask.

"Hey Sandy did you see anything just now?" Ami asked her friend,

"Hm? What? Where? I didn't see anything, did you see something?" Sandy replied practically oblivious to the events that just took place.

"No its nothing, thought I saw something" Ami responded.

But the vision kept playing over and over in her head, 

she understood every word the lady had said, even the part with the other language which is a language unknown to her but still she understood it perfectly.

Ami looked at her supposed new protector snuggled in her arms and almost laughed,

'I must be going crazy' she thought to herself especially when she now saw that the smear on the pup's head had changed from the teardrop shape to a start burst pattern.

Ami also thought it must have been a sick coincidence that she had named it Aegis which literally meant Shield.

But nonetheless she carried on and headed home as if her whole world wasn't taking a serious turn for the dramatic, event after event, she wondered what would happen next.

The last thought that popped into her head was 'If I wasn't really going crazy then something or some things really bad are on their way, and who the heck is this woman who called herself my mother?'.

Glossary

*'Aegis' - Protection, guidance. Usually used as ‘under the aegis’ because of its origin as protection of the shield of Athena.

*'Ma beru Omo' - 'Fear not Child'

*'Olusho' - 'Guard' 'Guardian' 'Protector'