Crysis

Run... run... run...

It is all that races through Crysis' head. His furry pads of his paws pushed him to breeze through the forest. The moon was placed high up in the sky, its body only visible as a crescent. When did things get so bad for this man? Perhaps it had started with the person had allowed him to live.

Father...

January 27/ 525 B.C

A man whom appeared of 25 years rushes from the dark temple's gates. Sweat traces his wild brows as the sky began to darken around Hades' temple. The man rushes away from the scene, a wrapped object in his hands. Silently, the God watched as the man runs off with his temple goods. Anger seethed from his skin as he began to chant his curse.

"You will dread the day you defiled my temple and ran from your punishment. I will curse thee to have only one child. Your child will be cursed for a life of misfortune and despair until your child takes your life," Hades hisses.

The curse had been set and the man's wife soon becomes impregnated with a child. Within the nine months of being pregnant, his life seemed to become more and more fortunate. No misfortune at all. His son was born in October. Immediately, misfortune took place.

During the birthing process, he had been trapped in the womb backwards. The strain of having to be cut open to free the baby killed the mother. The father, full of grief, began to become suspicious of the death. He had heard the curse Pluto had left upon him and now it looked as if the spell had worked.

Five days after his birth, more horrors befell his father. Disease had ensnared his livestock, killing and poisoning them instantly. After watching the last of his crops die, the father had cracked. He went to the child's crib, where Crysis was playing with a tiny wooden toy. Within the father's hands lay a butcher knife. He held it above his head and brought it down, intending to finish off the child forever. But as the knife neared the child's heart, the knife was deflected and flew off behind them. Encircling the child was a black barrier, a sense of Hades' power surrounding it. Before the father's eyes, he watched as the child slowly drifted into the air, before dissolving in the roof and disappearing.

October 29 - 20 Years Later

For twenty years, Crysis grew in the wilds of the forest. He never knew what manner of beast he was, but all he knew was wolves that had found him those many nights ago raised him. His hair was a shaggy mop of brown, his skin covered in a dark shield of dirt. He did not know if there were others that looked like he did. He considered himself a freak of nature. Especially because he always seems to find bad luck.

One warm night, he was out on the hunt when he heard an unfamiliar sound. A sound like a noise he created when he felt happy. The noise would involuntarily explode from his mouth. Except this noise was much higher pitched than his. Carefully, he grasped his crafted spear and nudged away some brush. His life flipped upside down as he stared upon a group of females splashing about in a pond. Had he at last found creatures like him? Little did he know among the graceful nymphs was the goddess Artemis.

Full of complete shock, he staggered from the brush and all play halted. The nymphs looked to Artemis immediately. Her eyes already burned furiously at Crysis, mistaking his strange stare as perversion. Artemis stood and readied her bow, firing the arrow's deadly point at his heart. He shouted and dodged the flying arrow. He threw his spear blindly and the sharp tip pierced a nymph; killing her instantly. It had gone straight into her left eye, breaking out in the back of her head. He ran immediately back the way he came. Artemis was on his tail, but instead of killing him, she tossed at him a curse he could not understand.

"You have committed a crime and now you must be punished. Every night, I will hunt you and you will be reborn in the day. With the rising of the moon you will change into the beasts that have raised you. You shalt be the wolf, to forever be on the run from my bow. So it will be!"

Crysis dived through the trees and bushes, heading back to his small handmade hut. He had heard the curse Artemis placed on him, but he could not understand what she had said. He knew no language, only body language due to being raised by wolves. And Artemis' body language screamed anger at him. Huddling into the corner of his shabby abode, he shivered with fear. Many wonders went through him. What has that? Am I one of them? So many questions, but no answers. One thing was certain though. He needed to find others like him.

.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´
.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´

As the sun rose upon the horizon, he crawled out of his hut and went to a nearby stream to clean his face of grime. He stared upon his reflection for a while, wondering if the others will look exactly like him. With a deep breath, he clambered up and started to walk into a random direction into the forest, hoping dearly that he was going the right way.

The sun was in the midway sky when he noticed the forest becoming less dense. He saw that the dirt was outlined and appeared to be used often. He crouched and studied the prints in the ground, unable to decipher what kind of creature could have made them. One was shaped oddly, about as long as his bare foot. The other was in the shape of a crescent moon. He decided to follow the prints, in high hopes of finding his people. As he walked along, he could see very odd shapes in the distance. They reminded him of his little hut, except these looked more structured and towered in comparison. He drew closer, a strange sensation tingling in his stomach. That's when he saw them. Creatures the resembled him. They had weird cloths draped around them, some sitting upon large breasts; the creatures that left behind the crescent shapes. He watched as some people stopped and stared at him, some females making light giggling noises.

An uncomfortable feeling washed over him. Listening to his primitive instincts, he ran away into the city, crashing into wooden carts, ignoring shouts from his people. He finally reached a part of the town where there was more space, and soon found himself gazing upon a large building. He staggered around it, being in a complete state of awe. On the side of the wide structure was a balcony about two floors high. Standing there was a female. Her hair was of honey, let free around her heart shaped face as she stared at his homeland. He watched her, basking in her presence. The feeling of peace settled into him and he immediately wanted to get closer. He placed his hands on the rough edges of the building and attempted to scale it. But his grip let loose and he fell back to the floor in a five foot drop. The crash startled the female as she backed up and stared his form lying on the floor.

"Are you alright?" she shouted to him in thick Greek.

He could only stare back at her, unable to speak and unable to understand. It was then that he felt his head get hot and sticky. He gently touched the back of his and head and saw his hand laced with blood. He heard the girl gasp before running inside, screaming for her father. And that was when a comforting darkness over took him.

.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´
.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´

When the darkness had finally cleared, he discovered himself lying upon a futon, a warm blanket draped over his form. His eyes darted around as he sat up, staring at the unfamiliar area. A door opened and in came the female he had seen earlier. Immediately the tenseness in his body relaxed. Following closely behind her was a woman with what appeared to be food. He stared at it as the woman laid it in front of him. She went to the female and asked something. He, however, wasn't paying attention for he was sniffing the food before him. Carefully, he nibbled on it and quickly wolfed it down, his stomach gladly accepting the warm treat. The woman had left and the female sat watching him curiously. She bent down on the futon and stared at him. He stared back uncomfortably, unsure of what to do.

"Who are you?" she asked quietly.

He stared at her. He could not give an answer to a question he could not understand. Instead, he tilted his head to the side slightly, hoping she'd realize he doesn't understand her.

"Can you not speak? Well, my name is Princess Chrysilla. Chrysilla," she repeated.

He swallowed and expelled a cracking 's' sound from his mouth. Chrysilla smiled tentatively and repeated her name.

"Chy..." he mumbled slightly, surprised by the sound of his own voice.

"Chrysilla."

"Chrysilla," he mimicked. A grin grew on his face at his accomplishment. She started to speak to him again.

"Seeing as you don't speak, my father can't find out why you were climbing my wall. The least we can do is get you bathed and put into some clothes."

Again, he could only blink at her, which made her smile. She got up and Crysis immediately followed suit. She called for a maid to prepare a bath and get some clothes from her brother's room for him.

.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´
.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´

After being properly bathed, had his hair cut just below his ears, and given garments, he was shown to a dining hall where Chrysilla, her brother and parents sat. A woman pulled him over to sit across from Chrysilla, next to her brother. Chrysilla saw her father about to complain about why the stranger was still here so she immediately intervened.

"Father, this man here cannot speak or understand us. I don't believe he has had much contact with people. One of the maids told me that some people had seen him come out of the woods before panicking and running our way. Father, what if her is a gift from Dēmētra? Or possibly even the great Zeus?! I think we should let him stay with us," she said eagerly. She flashed a smile to him, making him freeze from wolfing his food. Her father rubbed his temples before sighing.

"You should learn to hold your tongue, dear daughter. A week. We will watch him for a week and then decide if he is from the Gods," he said grudgingly.

As the meal continued, Crysis glanced up and saw the sun was almost gone from the sky and the moon was starting to rise. A burning sensation rang through him, causing him to shout in pain. The King and his family stared at him as he leapt from his chair and ran through all the doors, dodging surprised guards. When he finally reached the main doors, he was covered in brown fur. His bones ripped and pulled, transforming him into a wolf. He darted straight into the woods. His mind screaming at him to run. Run. He knew Artemis was trailing him. He could hear her laughter.

In the morning, he awoke on the futon again. He groggily sat up and looked about. Near him Chrysilla slept. She cracked an eye open and wave a relief befell her.

"We thought you were dead! We sent a team to find you. You had an arrow sticking out of your back in the middle of the forest. Thank Zeus you survived!" she said in one breath. He nudged her slightly with his nose, like a wold does when showing affection. She calmed and hugged him.

"I will teach you everything you need to know to survive in our world. I promise."

.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´
.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´

He spent the four years learning the ways of humans. He learned Greek, the Gods, and he dealt with getting killed every night. To keep the family from being suspicious, he had told them he needed to be away from the palace at night for he couldn't handle the new life yet. They believed him, seeing as he spent his whole life in the woods. Chrysilla had fallen for him and his strange wolfish ways and planned to wed him. Her father relented and gave his wishes to it, but Crysis refused it. He could not be with her being cursed the way her was. Besides, his bad luck had never left him. He watched the queen die due to a random accident of her tripping on her gown whilst descending the stairs. Riots grew outside the palace constantly. Filled with grief over the trouble he caused, he escaped to Hades' temple. Upon entering, a swirl of anger and excitement surround him. A deep voice whispered into his ear.

"You have finally come Crysis. Now my curse on you can finally be completed. I am the one who cursed you with misfortune. It was placed on you because of your birth father. He had stolen precious offerings to me and ran from his punishment. He was going to kill you when you were but a babe, so I transported you to the forest, so you could live the finish the curse. You must kill you father and this curse will lift. If you do this I will bring back the precious queen."

The demented voice of Hades' had spoken to him. He knew what his path was. He ran out of the temple, running like he has for many nights. Locating his father would be simple; Hades imprinted an image in his mind with a clear path leading to his father. With this sight he could end this horrid curse and make Chrysilla's family happy.

He stared upon the home of the man who gave him life. He needed to make this quick, for the sun was slowly falling away. Bursting through the door, he stared at the aged man sitting near a table. Crysis reached for a knife lying on the counter, as if it was placed there just for him.

He stalked the old man.

"You tried to kill me. You son. You left me cursed and now you will finally serve your punishment. My curse will lift and you will be set free. Tell mother I said hello and I'm sorry I had killed her."

The blade slashed down violently and drove skillfully into the man's heart. His father's eyes lay wide open, shock written all over his face. He released the handle, but left it embedded into his heart. He felt the change occur and soon he stared at the corpse with wolfen eyes. Turning, he padded out of the house and ran. The chase was on, he knew. At least Chrysilla will see her mother again. And again he felt the pain of a blade slicing through him as he ran and again, he died.

.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´
.✫...(⁀‵⁀,)
....✫.`⋎´
(⁀‵⁀,) ✫
.`⋎´

Hades had kept his promise; the queen was back and alive. Chrysilla was praising him and showering him with kisses when she discovered it was him who had gotten the queen home. He felt awful inside though. He had killed a man without a second thought. He has been living a lie to her, the one he loved. And he could not love her. This night, he decided he will leave and wait for Artemis' arrow. He refused to run, just wait and die.

He kissed Chrysilla and waved to the family, acting as casual as possible. He turned and left into the forest and waited for his death once again. Artemis seemed quite surprised to find him waiting, but she shot him down nonetheless. But this night, he was revived early. He awoke to the sight of three powerful Gods standing around him; Hades, Artemis and the beauty Aphrodite. Aphrodite bent over and patted his large furry head.

"I can't stand to see such a lovely couple be separated for the pleasure of Gods and that is why I am here. Hades has returned you your soul early so we may free you. I am hereby cancelling Artemis' curse so love can continue," she said. He couldn't help but notice the way Artemis huffed in frustration at Aphrodite's words. "I want you to be able to live with Chrysilla. Unfortunately, I cannot stop your transformations. But it will only be on the night of the full moon. So go live your life well," she said before he was blinded by a white light and passed out.

And so now he had been able to marry Chrysilla and he only had to leave her side on the full moon; for he would be wolf and had to run in the woods. He had four kin now, but Chrysilla's brother had taken the throne. The good king and queen had passed on together in their sleep. Sadly, at the age of thirty five, Crysis' body was found lying upon a hill with a Venus fly-trap lying across his chest. Although Chrysilla mourned for him, she knew better than to plead Hades to return him to the living world. It wasn't long before she followed Crysis though when the plague had hit the city.

Crysis is now but a memory to most, but his meaning will last forever.

The first werewolf.