A/N

The long awaited update has finally come! This one may have a bit of horror, lots of action and shippers out there, don't you dare!

Hopefully I will be back to a more stable schedule for updating now! 

Enjoy the story! :))))))

Luv, Val

I rushed away from the scene as soon as the guard turned his back. 

Sweat was dripping from my brows as I clutched the golden rim of the famous painting in my arms. My sapphire eyes glistened with concentration as I silently ran out of the building, feet light as feathers. The gust of wind that flowed smoothly behind me was enough to move a sailboat a kilometre. My black hair was floating, even levitating, behind me as I moved, one step after the other, so fast that my movements were a blur.

As I made it to the door, the alarm began to blare, and it locked immediately. I looked back briefly and surveyed the situation behind me, squinting to see in the lack of light. The guard's amber eyes glared at me as he began to stalk towards me like a predator.

I was not going to be captured by a ruffian now, not after I managed to steal that painting right behind his unaware back! I growled. A silver of power ran through me and could feel its rays reaching their way into my heart, and latching on. I took a breath as my right hand began to glow with ghostly light. The guard stopped and stared like a curious schoolboy, mouth gaping, eyes bulging as huge as watermelons.

I tapped into the power of the painting itself, and a mixture of lilac began to mix into the white strings of magic in my hand. I focused and a small circle began to draw itself around my dormant and unmoving body, except for the up and down movement of my chest as I took in huge intakes of oxygen. The circle closed up and the guard appeared to snap into his unworthy senses back to life as he charged at me full speed, like a bull. A white shield knit itself together around me as I opened my eyes, which were now glowing with radiant light.

The painting transformed slowly. It got smaller, and smaller, until it could be a tiny star in an indifferent universe. The universe was indifferent to me, to everyone that I knew. So I would show them what I thought of them.

The guard crashed with an audible bang into my shield, and fell to the ground heavily, smashing his knees onto the marble. He rolled around, groaning with pain. I conjured up a string and casually hung the painting around my neck as the shield disappeared. I towered over the now whimpering guard. He was shaking as if we were in Antarctica. What a wimp.

Angelic yet devilish light poured from my fingers, and the shape of a dagger began to form. The hilt came first, studded with precious jewels and made of black iron. The blade was sharp and gleaming, shining with the tears of my previous victim, from a former heist. The guard began to crawl away, clutching his knees and hugging his head. I walked towards him.

"Remember that I was led astray." I informed him with resignation and satisfaction as I threw the blade into his heart. He spluttered and coughed before his eyes closed. My dagger disappeared along with his body, which unravelled like a poorly knit scarf. The floor was like it was before, as his blood steamed away into the realms of hell. I turned back around to the door, no tears evident in my cold eyes.

With a mighty kick the door shook severely. My legs began to glow white as more silvers of power ran down my veins, evoking from me no shivers, and no reaction at all. I aimed another kick at the door, and the iron splintered as if it was simply wood. Collectedly and calmly, I strode out of the museum and out onto the street.

I walked away into the night, the painting on my neck, many artefacts glittering around my body.

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1 year ago.......

"Clarisse!" A voice hailed me from behind.  

I spun around, and was met by a storm of a person, otherwise known as my best friend Alex. Mischievously, he grabbed the lollipop in my mouth and pulled out, earning himself a light smack on the face from me with a laugh. We walked along to recess together, sharing the lollipop, as others milling about snickered at us good naturedly.

We arrived under a tree and sat down in the inviting shade, which had waved to us from afar. Still chuckling at inside jokes, we began to converse about schoolwork, and Alex began to complain about his maths work. With a sigh, I grabbed his pencil and showed him how to do multiple simple questions, staring at his brown mop of hair as he shook his head at his failure to complete algebra in year 7. His amber eyes glistened with frustration, yet were filled with wonder, as if interested in the work. Alex was a weird one, and that was exactly why he was my best friend.

At the end of recess we parted, and I never realised that I still had his pencil in my shirt pocket.

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I sat at my wooden desk and stared absently at the ceiling. A text sounded from my phone, which I had placed on my light blue duvet moments earlier. With a groan, I pushed myself up, still in my snow white school uniform, and forced myself to walk to my phone. Seeing that Alex had texted me, I purposely leisurely began to type, knowing that he hated it when people left him on 'typing'.

Sure enough, soon another text from him rushed through.

Oh come on Clarisse, don't leave me on typing, you mean weirdo.

I grinned and actually sent my text.

Ok, Ok, chill A! I'm def going to come to the party tonight! Where else would I be???

Oh yay! I assume you were trying to do homework right C

Yeah lol! I define trying as procrastination!

Haha who dosen't! Well see you tonight, you better wear that jumpsuit!

Definitely, and you gotta wear that suit! See you!

I placed my phone on my pillow and fell back onto my bed. The party was in 2 hours, so I may as well get some work done.

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It was finally time to get ready. I yawned and stood up. I heard a slight thud as something fell out of my pocket. A pencil. 

I picked it up and remembered that it belonged to Alex. Gingerly, I chucked it onto my pillow along with my phone, which I had been attempting to ignore for the past hour. My black hair was straight as ever. I swear, it was never really tangled, and that was surprising. I decided that I would return the pencil to Alex later on at the party.

As I turned around however, my eyes were suddenly drawn to a strange, radiating white light that had appeared without warning behind my body. As I turned back around, I surveyed my room for its source. I saw nothing out of the ordinary and just assumed that I was delusional after homework. Yeah. I really convinced myself about it.  Little did I know what would happen next as I strode to my bathroom to put on my jumpsuit.

I twirled around in the room, looking carefully at the mirror. My hair was styled perfectly with a side braid and was tied with a simple purple ribbon. My earrings were huge dangling golden loops and my heels were extremely tall, and of a beautiful classic blue colour. What really drew one's attention however was my jumpsuit.

It hugged my body perfectly, and the frizzles of patterns on its sleeves and legs were intricate and attractive. It was a baby blue colour that complimented my eyes, and brought my hair out nicely. I loved it. Alex really was my best friend, and picked my colours well. I smiled and walked out.

Then there was the strange white light again. It lingered reluctantly in my peripheral, and I blinked, yet it would still not go away. It got steadily brighter and brighter until I was squinting in the glowing gloom. I tip toed to where I thought the peculiar, and weird light was coming from. My bed.

I heard a faint buzzing, and watched with amazement as I steadily realised where the source of the light was. It was floating around Alex's pencil, and I believed that I could hear countless whispered and wails sounding around it, if that was even possible. I picked the pencil up curiously while it was still buzzing and debated whether or not to tell someone of this extraordinary event.

As I held the artefact softly, the light started to seep into my hand. I watched with surprise and a little bit of horror as it was absorbed by my fingers, and levitated around carelessly, like a young child. I felt fuzzy and freezing on the inside at the exact same time. Soon the light was gone, and only the faint buzzing remained.

I was about to set the pencil down when a bone shattering wail sounded out of absolutely nowhere. I recoiled and my hand opened forcefully, and the pencil dropped from my clutching fingers. My eyes closed and I shuddered with fear, and barely held back a roar of fright. A strange sense of calmness drifted over me and I reopened my eyes to find the tore pieces of Alex's pencil on my carpet.

I remembered nothing except the icy, freezing numbness that had come over the working parts of my brain, halting them like broken machinery in a factory. I simply walked out the door as if nothing had happened. I could remember nothing at all.

I sat in the black car that was ordered for me by my parents. I had slowly began to realise that I couldn't feel anything in my brain, feel anything, think about anything. I robotically got out of the shiny car at the party.

"Yooooo you've finally arrived!" Alex barrelled into me in his gleaming black suit. "Whoa, you look stunning!"

 I smiled and it was like a dream when I replied : "Oh, of course, thank you, same to you A"

We strode into the party like royalty as others laughed and stared at us enviously. Alex offered to get me a drink and I gratefully accepted.

All night we partied, socialised and danced with our friends, and all of it, to me, was like an illusion, a far away fantasy too distant to reach. Some people even teased me about my name, which came from Percy Jackson. I smiled, and nodded, not talking as much as I would have.

Alex, of course, being my best friend, noticed. He frowned and led me to the side. I felt a buzzing in my stomach and to my shock I saw thin silver white strands coming out of my hand. Alex didn't notice as he began questioning me.

"Hey, Clarisse, are you ok? What's wrong?" He seemed concerned. He grabbed my hands when I didn't reply.

Suddenly he jumped back and clutched his hand in pain. I looked down at my hands and saw not normal skin, but frosting and white ice.

"What-" Alex panted "Monster! You burnt me, you froze me! Monster!"

I was hurt. All the events of the night came back to me in clear and painful waves. I collapsed on the floor, groaning, nearly screaming. The party guests around us sprung back in fear as the ice spread on the floor around me.

Alex rushed away from me, and looked at me with fear. "Get her, something is wrong with her"

My pain was replaced with anger as I rose. I could hear sirens in the distance as my power grew. It coursed through me, and pounded down inside my soul like a waterfall. I glared at him.

"In case you wanted to know, A, all of this came from your pencil, so blame it on that."

And then I extended my hand, and a blinding wave of light came forth, smashing everything around me, throwing all the guests backwards. People began to run out screeching in fear, including Alex, who pointed in my direction as the police streamed in like flies on a hot day. I growled.

I thought there were enough surprises tonight. But I was clearly wrong.

Without warning a wrath of shadows began to form in front of me, spinning, filling the air with smoke, in between me and my enemies. The turning stopped abruptly and I looked up to see a being with the shape of a human impaling the policemen with spikes of blackness. I joined him relentlessly, and threw white, searing spears of my own.

Suddenly the last policeman pulled out his gun and shot at me. On my new magical instincts I felt myself get smaller and shorter, and the bullet passed just above my head. With no effort needed I returned to my normal height and produced a dagger from midair, impaling the man with it. I had no idea how these movements came, they simply did.

The shape of the shadow wrath looked at me. Then it spoke.

"Well, it seems that I have found someone worthy and with motivation."

I looked at him. I was an outlaw now.

"So, shadow man, where are we going?"

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I saw him in the distance, standing still as death, waiting, waiting for our freedom.

I reached him, and passed him the painting.

"Hmm." I waited for him to finish our sentence every time after our raids. A corner of his shadow lips raised.

"Remember that we were led astray."