Des Siecles Et Des Siecles 1

Children have the universal skeleton key.  Until they reach the awkward later-teenage years, they can slip in anywhere with minimal fuss and vague excuses.  Two such children were walking amongst men in tuxedoes and women covered in glittering gems and fabrics.  Even though they were dressed in ripped clothes and their faces were dirty, they had been allowed in by begging to use a washroom for five minutes and crossing their legs dramatically.

The little girl had blond hair, in a short, wild ponytail and wide blue eyes.  The boy looked older, had black hair and was bigger and taller.  As they walked, they slipped their hands around the crowd, filling their pockets with whatever they could grab: money, jewellery, candy, phone numbers on receipts, credit cards, anything.

"What are you children doing here?" a drunk woman asked sarcastically as the girl slid the woman's diamond bracelet into her pocket without anyone noticing.

"We're looking for our mom." the boy said.  "Come on, sis, let's go this way."

They walked away quickly, but the damage was done.  People started talking, asking who the mother was, realising things were missing.

The girl pulled at the boy's sleeve.  "We have to leave now, Love."

He stared at her for an instant; Wisdom never said much, but when she did, it was worth listening.

He grabbed her hand and they ran, pushing past the suits and the gowns in an effort to get out of the hall as people started screaming.  They ran into two large men just as they were about to break out of the door.

"Hold up, guys, we have a few questions for you."

One grabbed Love's wrist and held him up, pulling at his shoulder socket.  The other grabbed Wisdom by the hair, yanking at it, almost pulling her clean off the ground.  The girl clenched her eyes shut and the man let go, his hand and her hair smoking and crackling with electricity.  Scared, the first man let go of Love, and the two children ran, leaving the building as fast as they could.

Once outside, they ducked into a metro and jumped over the gates.  They were in the trains before anyone noticed, rocketing off.

They had an hour's ride ahead, but neither fell asleep.  Sleeping was a bore when you couldn't dream and were still conscious.

After half an hour, Nature and War boarded the train; he was thin and blond, sickly looking, and she had black curly hair that fell to her hips.  They joined the other two and compared their days gains.

"We made twenty dollars honestly, and stole one thirty." Nature said quietly.

"Cool.  We have fifty dollars in cash, and who knows how much he'll five us the rest this time..."

"I still think we should threaten to burn him down."  War flashed her lit fingers in front of her face.

"No." Love and Nature answered at the same time.

Wisdom shook her head, smiling.  Suddenly, her face froze and she sniffed emphatically.

The others followed suit.  "Faith!" Nature yelled.  "Do you guys smell it too?"

The doors were barely open when they ran out onto the platform.  Wisdom ran ahead of them as they raced out of the station, slid under and over the gates and out onto the streets.

"Don't lose the scent!" War yelled, feeling stronger as they got closer, her fingers flaring with excitement.

Wisdom's elastic snapped as her hair rippled with lectricity.  Love's eyes began to glow and Nature's fingers to drip water all over the sidewalk as they pushed past people and got to a large, warehouse-like beige building.  They ran near the walls like rats, trying to find an open door which they fell into the moment it was opened.  They ran through corridors and rooms, never noticing anything till they saw a door with faith leaking from under the door.

They walked into a studio and were shocked to see a well-groomed man in a suit speaking to an audience and a few cameras.  All the faith in the room came from him.

"Maybe he's not the only one…" Nature whispered.

"Maybe he'll infect the rest of them!" Love said hopefully.

"Maybe he'll save us!" War half squealed, grabbing at Wisdom's shirt.

Wisdom just shook her head sadly.

"Hello and welcome to The Atheist, I'm Desmond Phillips." the man said over the thin musak. "This is the show where we comfortably shrug off the ancient customs of believing in gods and magical things.  With the world as it is today, who can we really rely on than ourselves?"  The crowd clapped emphatically, and a few people rose.  "First off, we have Adrianna, who had terrible times in her life, and who, when God didn't answer her prayers, relied on herself and got herself out of it.  Adrianna, come on down and talk to the audience."

A woman was clapped down from the crowd.  The children saw, to their horror, that where her faith was supposed to be was a dark, gaping hole that got deeper and deeper the closer she got to the host.

"First thing we do is buy a television from Jimmy." War said softly.  "Wisdom, can you set it up?"

Wisdom nodded.

Nature was paler than usual.  "I'm feeling sick.  We have to leave."

As he said the words, a man with a clipboard turned his head and spotted them.  "What are you kids doing here?"

No sooner had the words been spoken that they were running away, towards the street, the subway, and their home.

--

They lived in a forgotten room, in the basement of a factory.  The only way in was a small window with a broken lock, hidden away behind a flock of dumpsters.  From the inside they had blocked the door with huge, heavy boxes of screws, and bolts, leftovers from the factory's less electronic era.  They had found three old mattresses and lined them up against the wall, to make a communal bed.  It didn't matter who slept with who; they had been lovers and brothers since forever.

Love, War and Nature were laying on the beds, staring at the ceiling, listening to the footsteps above as Wisdom tried to connect the television to the wires she had found in the walls.

"Do you remember the good old days, when we were together, Wisdom?" War asked, dreamlily.

Wisdom grinned, and kept fiddling with the wires.

"The temples they built to Athena were wonderful, and the way we could have a day off once in a while was divine…"

"As opposed to an eternal day off, like this?" Nature said under his breath.  The others ignored him.

"I was prettier as Aphrodite, though." Love said, looking smug.

"Our followers slaughtered yours, remember?  They were smarter and stronger."

"Mine were sexier."

"Not as sexy as you were in that dress."  War started giggling and Love pounced on her, tickling her stomach and making her squeal.  The casual fight had been going on for ever.

She finally caught him in the stomach, and he backed off.  "Aw, I'm getting the hunger cramps again..."

"Did anyone buy food?" War asked, scanning the room for anything edible.

"I'll go."  Nature got up and took a few of the bills out of the pile on the upturned milk crate they used as a table.

"Go with him, Love.  It's too unfair that he gets food without ever eating anything."

Nature couldn't eat anything but the water that dripped from his fingers without being violently ill.  That was why he was so thin and sickly.

"No, it's ok.  I'll go by myself."  He crawled out of the window and disapeared.

Love threw himself on the bed.  "He's probably gonna go sulk in a public park.  You know how he hates them." he said.

"Yeah."  War agreed.  "How's it going sweetie?" she asked Wisdom.

The little girl was staring out of the window where Nature had just disapeared.  "Fine." she said, under her breath.

--