Memoirs of an Immortal (The Immortal Series) (10 page)

“Now you will tell me where you have buried my husband or I will ripe your head off.”

The rest of the ephors gasped, but did nothing for the little man that I had by the throat. He waited to answer me, perhaps was weighing his options, in the end he told me where he was.

As I left to go to my room, I ran into Gorgo, she was every bit the proper Spartan woman. Even though I knew Leonidas loved me, I knew that she would have been a better match. Her beauty was immeasurable. Her very presence spoke royalty, power and knowledge. She acknowledged me and I just stood watching her walk up to me.

“I’m sorry for your husband’s death, but he died gloriously in the battle. You should be proud.”

“Thank you.” I said meekly.

She began to walk off, but I had stopped her.

“Gorgo, you would have been a better match for him. Perhaps if you had married him instead, he would have lived.”

“Perhaps?” She smiled “But would he have loved me the way he loved you? I can assure you he wouldn’t have. To him you were worth having. I was not. He did not impose our ways on you and allowed you to live with him without compromise. He adored you enough to endure the contempt of the
ephors
and of some of his people. To him you were worth that and more. What was he worth to you?”

She left me with that question as it burned itself in my mind. What was he to me? To me he was my world, but I realized that I had been a selfish child, even though I fulfilled my duties as his queen. What had I ever done for him? I felt more guilt that I had cause his death through some unforeseen circumstances, that I somehow incurred the wrath of some god.

As I was in my room contemplating what do to now. I knew that the
ephors were using my presence as their scapegoat for not agreeing to send more men. If Leonidas was no longer here, I knew my presence would be more of a complication, maybe even threatened. I stood staring out my window when the flame of the pit lit itself.

“So Psykhe, what will you do now? I hear that the ephors
no longer want you around? I think that it’s best for you to leave.” He spoke earnestly

“I know I need to go, but where?” I sincerely was asking.

“It’s time Psykhe, its time you meet your true fate.”

“What fate? My fate died and now I am alone. They won’t even allow me to see Cynisca or Eupolia anymore. What I need to do is go back home to my father.”

I was not directly speaking to him. I was trying to work up the courage to do this all on my own. Going home meant seeing my sisters, my mother and my father. I thought that I would be happy at the thought that at least I would have someone, but I still felt nothing. I was numb.

I was on the hill behind the palace overlooking the city. There underneath the undergrowth was a headstone.

Died in battle
was engraved into.

Here lay my husband. I was told that the bodies of all the soldiers were buried in the battlefield were they fell, but he asked that if anything were to happen to him, he was to be brought back.

I collapsed in front of his headstone.

“My love, now where am I supposed to go? Now, that you’ve left me.” Tears blurred my eyes.

“Why? Why did you bring me here, to a strange place, where I could be no true use for you? Did I really cause you so much trouble?” I swallowed hard, my insides burning. “If it meant reliving every moment again I would go through worse for you. Leonidas, my love? I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell at you, call you names, but this is the last time that I will be with you. How could I ruin this moment?” I lied down and I fell asleep crying.

I was awoken with a hand touching my face. I jerked up and produced my dagger, but before I could attack, I realized it was a woman.

She was beautiful, with long sandy colored hair, she wasn’t taller than me, but she was slender. She wore a tight leather breastplate and a lined skirt that stopped before her knees. The bow that she had behind her back, was large then her, taking up most of her body, but I noticed it had no string.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I’ve awoken you? And here I thought I could bring you over without any problems.” She tilted her head and smirked.

“Psykhe get up, we need to go now.” She reached out her hand and waited.

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?” I was scared now. My defenses were down and I was weak.

“Come on, get up, its time.” She pulled me up effortlessly and began to yank my arm, but I pulled my arm away.

“I’m not finished yet.” I yelled. “I’m not going anywhere, especially with you.” I was huffed.

I wasn’t ready to leave Leonidas just yet. I wanted another moment, just one more.

“He’s dead, you do know that right? Sitting here isn’t going to bring him back? Plus I don’t really have much time for this.” she said as she walked up behind me.

I turned my head, my eyes wide. How can someone be so callous?

“He was a great king and I was very happy when he prayed to me every day, but the lives of mortals are just that, fleeting.” She said looking at his tombstone.

“How could you say that to me? I would rather die than be without him!” I screamed.

“That” she said “Can be easily arranged.”

I felt a hard punch from behind, all my air escaped me. I looked down at my stomach and could see a large blade sticking out of me. My blood stained my dress. I gasped and fell to the ground, my blood warming my cold body. I could see the woman’s face over me as she shook her head. I reached to touch her face, but I began to see black…

The Dawn of My New Life

My head was pounding making my body feel nauseous and weak. Unfamiliar and strange murmurs filled my mind, making me conscious of the fear and uncertainly I felt. I remember thinking.

‘So this is Haides.’

I tried to focus my mind, but the throbbing in my head overtook everything else. With a heavy sigh, I slowly opened my eyes. My vision was blurred, making all that was around me hazy and distorted. I stretched my arms out and felt the coldness of the hard marble table I was lying on. I stayed lying down and with another deep breath I opened my eyes wider and began to take in my surroundings.

As I lay down on the table, I could see small blue flames suspended in mid air. I was in a small cramped room. The walls around me were made of a dark blue stones. There were numerous small oil lamps that were lit near a table with various scrolls on it. The air around me was thin, but had a faint smell of incense. I could sense a strong presence with me. As I lay still waiting, I could hear hissing and slithering.

“Oh Psykhe, you are awake!” The voice was that of a man’s. “You heal much faster than your sisters I see.”

I jerked, anticipating the pain from my stab wound, but nothing was there. I felt around my stomach, but it had healed completely. As I looked down I realized that I wasn’t wearing the same clothing as before. I sat up. The table was smooth and cool to the touch.

“Its ok.” said the man with his hands out in front of him.

He wasn’t young, but he wasn’t old, his body was broad and well built. He looked regal and knowledgeable as he studied me.

“Ah, you’re wondering who I am? I was sent to make sure that you healed properly. My name is Asklēpiós. It is my duty to ensure to the head of the assembly that you and your sisters are prime and ready for your new lives. I’ll be overseeing your progress. Is that ok?” He was looking at me with apprehension, waiting for my reply. I sat there as my mind was reeling.

“You have my sisters?” My voice was full of concern.

What in Haides was going on here? I was confused and scared. Where was I? Where were my sisters?

“Your sisters were taken after you were brought here. You will see them soon enough.”

My attention was diverted. I could feel something moving around my legs, as I looked down, I realized it was several snakes.

“Do not worry yourself over them, I use their venom for healing, but you are immune to snake venom and from what I see, you are immune to all things. This will be quite interesting.”

I must have looked horrified because he quickly corrected himself.

“I didn’t do anything. I only checked if you had any weakness. Its best we know now then later.”

I picked up a snake that had slithered its way towards my arm. It was green and small and its eyes were bigger than its body. It hissed in my face and tried to lung at me, but my grip seemed to overwhelm it as it lay limp in my hand.

“You must know your strength is unbound now. Try not to kill everything you see. Be gentle please, I actually like my snakes.” Asklēpiós had his back to me, as he was doing something at his table.

“What have you done to me and my sisters?” I was so aggravated at this point my body was trembling.

“Psykhe? Do you really not know?” He waited and when he saw I had no answer he continued. “You are an immortal.”

He was speaking to me as though I would understand what that meant, like it was a normal occurrence.

“What are you talking about?” I asked nervously.

He began to walk over to me slowly, with his hand raking his beard as he began to explain.

“An immortal is a person without death. You were brought to this world with your sisters as immortals. However, to fulfill your immortality you must die in your mortal life. Once that happens, everything regenerates and you become what you are now. Did your father really not tell you? I have a tablet here, which says that your father and mother gave your extensive training. Did you not ask him why?” He raised his hand and the tablet that was on his table lifted up and floated to his palm. He held it, as he began looking at it. I lowered my head. It was still pounding like before, making it that much harder to take in what he had just said.

“This cannot be… this cannot be.” I began to yell, as I yelled I could feel my body changing.

“Calm down now, Psykhe. You are still young and need to learn our ways. You will be driven by your emotions at first. You must learn to harness your new abilities. As each day passes you will become more aware of what you are capable of. Give yourself time. You have plenty of it now.”

There was a knock at the door and in came a small young woman. She was somewhat transparent and glowing. She looked at me and smiled wildly, waiting for Asklepiós.

“We are done Aegle. You can take her now.” He waved his hand in my direction.

“Good! Father is excited to meet her.” Her voice was singing her words.

I could almost hear her murmur something, but I could not make it out. I placed my head in my hands trying to stop the pounding in my head. She glided to me and took my arm, her face all aglow.

“Hello Psykhe, my name is Aegle. I’m sent to fetch you.” She winked at me and began to escort me out of the room. She made me feel at ease somehow, her spirit was kind and friendly.

As she led me through the corridor, I could see rows upon rows of columns lining the one wall, which looked out to what looked like an ocean. I stood looking through the columns, which were nearly three times my size.

I could see the clouds envelop around the palace. They were so close, I felt like I could almost touch them.

“Come on Psykhe, father is waiting.” Aegle reached for my hand and started to walk with me. As we continued, I turned to look at the walls next to us. They had beautifully lined frescos of various gods and their triumphs.

Our way was lit with large blue flames, which hung from the ceiling suspended in mid. I was completely astonished at how beautiful and grand it all looked. I began to feel my eyes burning. I was trying to focus, but I couldn’t. I stumbled to the wall next to me, feeling dizzy.

“I’m sorry, but I need to rest for a minute.” My world, let alone my head, was spinning, as I stood there trying to focus my eyes.

I asked if she knew where my sisters were, she simply said that I will see them soon and not to worry. I remember telling her how worried I was at this point.

“I think it’s my eyes, I’m not seeing right.” I said softly.

‘I think she’s fine. I guess it must be hard becoming an immortal. I hope she’s ok, maybe I should get Asklēpiós, but father will be very angry if he waits too long?’

“It’s alright. There’s no need to go to Asklēpiós, let’s go before your father gets angry at you.”

I wasn’t being truthful. I did want to see Asklēpiós, but I didn’t want to cause trouble for her either.

“How did you know what I… I didn’t say anything.” She sang.

“Yes you did. You just told me that your father would be angry, if we were late.” She was always flighty. She shrugged off the incident and took my hand again.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll take us there faster, ok?” She lifted herself up and I followed.

We flew through the corridor and before I could even say a word, we landed in front of two large doors, almost the same height of the columns, but a bit larger.

My eyes began to focus more clearly now. I could still hear murmurs in the air and the faint incense smell from before, was stronger now. I stood in front of the doors in wonder. My head fall back to take in the splendor. The doors of the grand hall were made of pure gold. They were full of heavy cravings of what looked like Zeus and his adventures. I reached out to touch a craving of him holding a thunder bolt in one hand, when both doors opened wide to reveal an immense room.

The flames that lit the room were the colour of true red, which reflected off parts of the walls, which had gold and silver carvings of the gods and their accomplishments.

There were various seating areas. One area had tables and chairs made of marble. While another had just various sized colored pillows on the floor, it was an alcove lined by large windows that over looked the ocean below. What was the most spectacular was the large throne chair. There were a dozen marble steps that led to it. It was made entirely of marble and it was so beautifully crafted with various etchings and carvings.

As I stared at the throne, my eyes began to wonder behind. There behind the throne, were three large windows that were the height of the room and all you could see was the sky and clouds.

I walked passed Aegle and began to be taken in by all this grandeur. I zeroed into a huge basin, made of stone, in the middle of the room, that was filled with a liquid metal. I began to play with the substance and it created little spheres that began to float in the air.

‘
Oh she’s touching Zeus’ Eisoptro! He hates it when someone touches it.’
It was Aegle again.

“If you are so worried, I won’t touch it again” I said as I still couldn’t help, but reach for it one more time.

“You did it again!” She yelped.

“I didn’t say anything to you. How did you…” Her singing was interrupted by a dominate voice that came from behind me.

“Do not touch, what does not belong to you!” The hair in the back of my neck stood and I jumped.