Chapter 21
When Fay opened her eyes and looked around everything was as it was before. Irritation burst like a solar flare within her, sparking a burst of frustration, kindling that familiar stubbornness within her. She’d looked properly at Tartarus and she saw him for what he was, so she knew she had the power within her. That wonderful, terrifying power that she was only starting to grasp. She had barely scratched the surface of what she knew she’d be able to do.
So, she looked at the square again, reaching out with her mind to pierce the veil that cloaked the world. A strange warmth suddenly blossomed within, reaching up through her until it filled her mind. Her eyes felt warm and her vision grew hazy. She blinked, trying to clear the fog that gathered there, when she opened her eyes again, and the world burst into dizzying clarity. Only, it wasn’t like before. A thin haze clung over the world and spectres of shadow flitted about. Ribbons of white light snaked here and there, piercing the gloom with their vibrance. Drawn, she walked over to one and reached for it. As her fingers brushed the glowing ribbon a whole other world burst around her, rapid snapshot memories firing off around her, blurring together in dizzying colour and sound. She yanked her hand back with a gasp, steadied her racing heart, then tried again.
The rush flooded through her but she held on and slowly, the memories faded, and one stilled around her. It was the same village but full of people, of bustling activities; markets flush with wares to sell, with women holding baskets atop their heads and others in shimmering finery. Men strode about with arms laden with intricate markings, wearing fine uniforms and swords fastened at their hips. Some of the people even had horns that jutted from their forehead, others with extra arms or blue coloured skin. One lady in gold had an extra eye in the middle of her forehead.
Yet all the people seemed slightly hazy, like they were out of focus, and the only sharpened figure was none other than Cerberus. He cut a devastating figure in his lean uniform, one hand resting on the pommel of his sword, as he looked around with a carefree smile…and lingering at his side, little more than a faded spectre, with eyes just as wide and alight with joy, Andromeda. He glanced at her every so often and a smile nearly split his cheeks. It was dizzying to watch. Especially how Andromeda looked back at him, her eyes just as warm, full of yearning.
Eventually, they faded away into the crowd and the memory bled away into the ancient ruins of the village. Fay swallowed hard and saw dozens of other ribbons snaking through the village. Was each one a collection of memories? Or just one, that they were all really one linked life, and wherever she grabbed showed her different times in Cerberus’s life. As nice as the idea was it didn’t seem to offer her a way to Andromeda…
There had to be something she was missing, so she knew she had to keep looking. What she really needed was a broader perspective…Her eyes flew upwards to the rooves of the buildings and an idea formed in her mind. She hurried over to the stalls of one and willed out her hellhound claws, then dug them into the stone walls. She scrambled up the wall and dragged herself onto the roof, peering out across the village. It seemed to spiral out endlessly, replicating like a beehive. Ribbons of light snaked through the village, hundreds of them – no, it was more than that. They were all one, like a spiderweb, drawn to something in the middle. An orb of pure light.
The ribbons were tendrils of a soul, just one. Cerberus. The whole village was his prison, a never-ending torment of his past, of the failure to save Andromeda. They were in his own personal hell.
Eris hadn’t gone to it for Fay. She’d gone after Cerberus, one of the last things that Andromeda still cared about. Eris was determined to break Andromeda by tearing she loved apart…whilst Andromeda was still too weak to beat her. Because if Andromeda was at full strength then she’d be able to beat Eris.
“That’s it,” she said and hurled herself off the roof, landing with a roll and shifting as she rolled up.
On all fours she was faster and sprinted through the village, following the closest ribbon of light. Not close enough to touch, though whispers still flooded her mind. Voices of people she found…familiar.
The village shifted around her. In sections it appeared whole, pristine and full of ghost-like people going about their lives. In every one she passed she saw Cerberus, always with a ghost-like Andromeda at his side, smiling. Every so often she saw them in heated arguments, others with Cerberus alone as he stared up at the stars. What he saw, she didn’t know as she raced onwards, past more ruined villages and Cerberus cursing the stars, screaming Zeus’s name in anguished fury. She shook her head and pushed on until the orb loomed. Finally, she slowed into another village square where the orb, a several feet tall, hovered. All ribbons fed into it and Fay had to linger back to keep out of their way.
The village was a cacophony of voices and roaring wind, of battles and Cerberus’s voice, cursing Zeus. It made Fay dizzy. She swayed – and struck a ribbon. A whole world exploded into light around her, growing soft and quiet as quickly as it had come, revealing the village square once more – only, she saw a forest in the distance and above, a jewel-blue sky with soft clouds. Fay heard soft voices nearby, children laughing. Cerberus was pacing in the middle of the square, smiling but anxious.
Calypso appeared nearby, striding over to him in a shimmering white dress.
“Cerberus!”
He spun around and his smile faltered. “You’re not – what happened?”
“Zeus. You have to run. You have to go. He’s coming for you, for us all,” said Calypso anxiously. “Lupus has already retreated to his forest but…I don’t think it’ll hold Zeus off.”
“What has he done?” Cerberus snarled.
Calypso’s face twisted with sorrow. “It’s Andromeda…She…She’s gone. I’m sorry. She killed herself when she came through. I tried to help but I only saw through the storm. I-I couldn’t get there fast enough. I’m so, so sorry.”
The rage in his face became grief and Fay watched as he crumpled before her eyes. He slumped forward and Calypso caught him, holding his shoulders steady.
“She-“
“Sacrificed herself. Zeus stole her family and he would’ve had her too but she killed herself, splintered her soul apart so that he couldn’t have her. She may be gone for now but she’ll be back. Don’t you see that?”
He looked up, hope and confusion in his eyes. “What?”
“Her sword is the key, Cerberus, but if we die then everything is for nothing. We saw the imbalance that would occur if he reigns, if he takes the throne of Olympus – the darkness he will create. Andromeda is the future and she’s secured us some time. We can’t help her though if we’re dead, if you’re dead. So, go! Run!”
He stood up and nodded seriously, then turned to run but thunder split the sky – and a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of them. Zeus appeared – and his bolt of lightning had plunged into Cerberus’s chest.
The world spiralled around from Fay as Calypso’s screams filled the air.
Fay staggered out of the ribbon, a scream choked in her throat, with a face burnt from tears. She hurriedly wiped her cheeks and swept forward, dancing as ribbons twisted close, then advancing as gaps appeared. Within reaching distance of the orb she realised it was actually a man, the ribbons that became chains wrapped around him.
And he was screaming out in pain.
Something inside of Fay, buried right at the core, broke.
Her hand suddenly burned hot, pain lancing up her arm. She looked down. A sword was in her hand and Andromeda crying out in Fay’s mind.
Set him free!
Fay’s hands tightened on the blame. A scream tore from her mouth as she swung the blade down over the chains, throwing every bit of magic she had. As she did, she saw someone else on the other side of the orb, a sword in their hands but unlike hers. Their face was hidden by the white light.
The blade came down, struck the closest chains –
And the world exploded around her.
There was only a green field of grass, stretching on until the horizon, set beneath a bright night sky. The full moon hung above, painting the world in a silvery glow. A warm breeze filled the air, sweet and crisp. It was paradise. Fay stood there, looking out alone, unsure of where she was or what was going on.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”
Fay spun around and Cerberus was there, smiling at her. “You!”
“Yes, me. Thank you for releasing this part of me,” he said gratefully.
“It was nothing, really.”
“It was more than you know. Now I can find the other parts of me – wait, there was one that was with you when you freed me.” Cerberus closed his eyes for a moment. “I can’t sense him now. He’s woken up and he can’t sense me anymore. I think he’s caught the trail of the third piece of us, though.”
Confusion flooded Fay’s face. “What are you talking about?”
He shrugged. “Something Andromeda said her sister told her to do. Andromeda gave me a mark,” he said, lifting up his sleeve to show a small mark on the inside of his wrist. “I didn’t know what it meant until Zeus killed me. It activated the mark and splintered my soul into three parts. Two parts became trapped in Tartarus; one to roam…and I was imprisoned. The third was taken – or escaped, I don’t know. I didn’t know that until after though. By then, I could only hope the third piece of me would find us – or Andromeda. Imagine my surprise when I found you.”
Fay cocked her head to the side. “You say that like you know me?”
“I don’t but you are familiar in a way. My mind isn’t whole, so you may have been a Goddess in a past life – or a demon, perhaps?” He shrugged again. “It doesn’t matter. You saved me…and now I can start to find my way back to Andromeda, help her become whole, too.”
“I saw the vision when you, well, what Calypso said? That she splintered her soul?”
“Andromeda split her soul into three parts and until she is whole, she cannot reclaim her future,” he said solemnly. “Until then, the balance she was born to create cannot happen.”
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