Daughter of None

12.

Chapter 12 – Caly

Her presence rolled through the room like a rising tide—thick, electric, ancient. I’d dulled her for years. Bound her. Blurred her edges. But now, Lex sat in front of me, and there was no mistaking it anymore: she was greatness wrapped in flesh and glowing, searing light.

And she didn’t even know it.

I tried not to fidget as Cas took a long breath, probably wishing he’d stayed a nameless guardian in a trench coat instead of... whatever this was now.

“The world was born of chaos,” Cas began, in his best mythology-for-beginners tone. “Then came the Titans—raw power, untamed, a bit stabby. Eventually, the gods overthrew them and took over. Zeus called dibs on the sky, Hades got the underworld, Poseidon got wet and dramatic, and the rest of Olympus fell in line.”

Lex blinked once. No sarcasm, no disbelief. Just listening.

“So yes, most myths you’ve heard? Pretty true. Just... edited for humans. Olympus still exists. The gods still rule. Zeus is still a megalomaniac with thunderbolt issues, and the rest of us do our best to stay alive in the cracks.”

Cas paused like the words weighed more than he expected.

“Caly and I were part of a rebellion. Tiny. Unsuccessful. Romantic in theory, suicidal in practice. We wanted justice, balance… not tyranny. But we were outnumbered. Outpowered.”

He looked at his hands, his voice dropping.

“Then, 23 years ago, I got a letter. Anonymous. Just a name, a seal from the rebellion, and one phrase: The weapon is forged.”

Lex’s breath caught, just slightly.

“A day later, there was a knock at my door. Infant on the doorstep. Blanket. Name tag. You.”

Her brows furrowed, not in disbelief—but in memory, searching back through time for something that would make it untrue.

I stepped in, arms crossed, voice even.

“I got a similar letter. Said I was to dampen whatever abilities the child might develop. Cas and I arranged for you to be raised among mortals. Ordinary. Unremarkable. And for a while, it worked. You were human. You were... quiet.”

My lip curled slightly. “Wasted years.”

She didn’t respond.

Instead, she looked up—eyes hard, glowing faintly.

“What are you?” she asked, voice calm.

“I’m a sphinx,” I said, letting my glamour slip just enough for her to feel it. “Negator. Manipulator. Living riddle wrapped in ancient claws.”

I gestured toward Cas. “And that sad-eyed fool has been your human shield since the day you arrived. Hiding you. Shielding you from the gods. From the Fates.”

Lex went still.

Cas’s hand twitched on the table.

Then—something shifted.

Cas stood so fast his chair hit the floor with a clatter. His head turned sharply.

“Something’s coming,” he said, voice low. Urgent.

He turned to me. “Caly, hide her. Now.”

I didn’t argue. My aura flared, reaching for hers. “Don’t fight me, child.”

But gods, did she burn.

Her power flared against me like a solar flare against old bone. She wasn’t some demi-god. She wasn’t even Olympian.

She was raw essence, and every drop of it scorched me from the inside out.

Still, I forced my power over hers, trying to dampen the golden inferno.

And then—I screamed.

Mine, I realized. The screams were mine.

Everything went black.

---

Lex

She looked at me—this woman, this creature—and her eyes turned to gold.

Power erupted like a silent explosion. I felt the air squeeze me on every side, like I’d been shoved into invisible stone.

“Don’t fight,” she said.

I tried. I tried to stay still, to let her smother whatever was pulsing inside me. But something in me refused. Not out of defiance. Just... instinct.

Then came the scream. Sharp. Unending.

Hers.

I broke eye contact, and it stopped.

A dull thud.

I looked down. Caly lay crumpled on the floor, smoking slightly.

Panic surged in my chest.

But before I could move—

The door exploded.

Not opened. Not kicked. Obliterated.

Splinters sprayed the room like tiny daggers as a man stepped through the frame. Massive. Dark-haired. Radiating fury.

The man from the club. From my dreams.

Him.

“I can feel you,” he said, voice like gravel and thunder.

I didn’t understand.

“They’ll feel you too,” he warned. “Turn it off.”

I stared.

“Turn it off!” he roared.

I flinched, chest rising and falling rapidly.

Cas reappeared at the door, weapon in hand.

“Lio, step away from her,” he growled.

Caly groaned from the floor. “She’s... new. She can’t control it.”

The man—Lio—was in front of me before I could blink. Hands trembling, breath ragged. He looked scared. But not of me. For me.

“You have to stop,” he whispered. “Or they’ll come. And they won’t just kill you.”

I shook my head. “I—I don’t know how.”

“Then I’ll do it for you.”

And just like that, his hand wrapped around my throat, the other silencing my scream. I thrashed—but then the shadows came.

Thick, inky, ancient.

The world fell away.

His darkness swallowed everything. My light flared in protest, but even that was muffled.

His eyes were the only thing I could see—glowing, blue fire in the void.

“Breathe,” he said, softer now.

I did. Ragged. Shaking. Tears burned my eyes.

“Be silent until it passes. Can you do that?”

I nodded.

He slowly lifted his hand from my mouth—but not my wrist.

“I have to touch you to keep you hidden,” he said.

I gave the smallest nod. My throat burned, my hands trembled, but I held still.

And somehow... the silence became bearable. His grip steady. Protective. Terrifying.

When Cas’s voice pierced the dark—“Clear”—I jumped.

The shadows retreated slowly, like night giving way to dawn.

Light filtered back into the room.

Caly groaned, face pale and eyes dim.

Cas didn’t look at her.

He looked at Lio.

“You have some explaining to do.”