Memoirs of an Immortal (The Immortal Series) (30 page)

“I don’t want to hear it.” He forced the words out. A quiet smile appeared on my face, I waited as he still held onto me.

“What happened doesn’t affect me anymore, but losing you... it destroyed me.” I whispered. He opened his eyes. His deep green eyes held such sorrow.

“You have not lost me, I am here.” He pulled me into his arms and held me. My head nestled onto his warm chest. I could hear his heart beating.

“I have lost you. What happened tainted everything. The look you give me now, it’s full of pity and sadness. I know you well enough to know that you blame yourself and that you’re angry. This has changed everything. We can no longer be.” I said ruefully.

As I spoke I could feel his grip growing lighter. I released myself from his arms, my body ached, protesting what I was about to do.

“Psykhe, nothing has changed, my feelings for you have only grown.” He said in a hushed voice.

I walked over to the window. I stared out to see the starry sky, the air thick with heat from the hearth. “I want you to go now.”

A long time had passed. I could sense him still in the room, until he finally began to move towards the mirror. I looked over my shoulder to see him as he was about to walkthrough. He waited, his head hunched over.

“The portal, I will leave it open. Whenever you feel you need me, I will be waiting.” He quietly murmured. He then was gone.

I took a shallow breath and finally allowed my tears to come. I was broken again. I was so angry at Apollon for taking away the innocence of the love that Hephaistos had for me. I was even angrier at myself for not being strong enough to fight. I lost everything in one night. Not even Leonidas would want the me that existed now.

Erysikhthon

Days turned to months and our close watch of Erysikhthon and the Diavolis only made us grow even more suspicious.

“Father?” I called out in the great hall as he sat on his throne.

Next to him was Dio. At the foot of the throne was a large vat of wine. Zeus was enjoying Dio’s new batch. Watching the gods at their leisure at times was too much for me to stomach.

Zeus knew what we knew because I kept informing him, but honestly I never understood why I bothered.

“What is it child?” He looked annoyed. “Do you not see that Dio has brought me his new wine? The grape is from the Far East and I’m very much enjoying it.” He said as he took another sip. My eyes were fixated on him. Zeus stood up and placed his golden kylix down as he walked over to me.

“What now?” He bellowed. I finally had his attention.

“The movements of the Diavolis are now too frequent. We have been busy trying to curb their attacks, but something tells me that they are just toying with us. Something big is about to happen and we must attack now, now that we may have the upper hand.” I lifted my hand of the Eisoptro. The large mirror moved and the water rippling, once the liquid settled, it showed Erysikhthon on his horse. Erysikhthon never looked the same, as he ate at his own flesh. It seemed that even the horse had suffered the same fate as its master. He was commanding various Diavolis in their language. The Eisoptro didn’t show us everything, but only showed that in which it could see. Finally, after a few minutes of watching Erysikhthon, we watched him as he reached and grabbed a part if his horse and began eating it. The images ended and the Eisoptro placed itself back onto its pedestal.

Zeus stood for a long while. “I was interrupted for this?” He scoffed “I had to watch a mad man eat his horse?”

I was astounded. “But father we need to fight now!” I yelled. He patted me on the head and walked away.

“Dio do you think you will have enough wine for our guests tomorrow?” He ignored me and continued with his testing.

I stood defeated. As time passed I grew more and more cynical, when it came to the gods and our lives. I was born just so that they wouldn’t have to fight. Does that mean that an even greater power knew we were needed? I was about to storm out, when Zeus called after me.

“Do not forget daughter of mine, tomorrow we entertain foreigners so prepare you voice and your music.” I walked out and slammed the door of the great hall.

I finally reached home walked into the courtyard and made a b-line for the olive tree. I punched it hard. The small olives that had started to grow began to rain down onto the ground. I then kicked the chair that was next to me, breaking it completely.

“I was going to ask how it went, but I guess, I don’t need to now.” Eva stood in front of me with an amphora filled with wine and two small cups.

She placed the vase of the ground and sat herself underneath the olive tree. She patted the ground next to her and waited for me. I finally relaxed enough to walk over and sit down next to her. She had my cup ready with wine and handed it to me. I held it as I looked over all the little olives on the ground. I bit my lip knowing that I was sorry for reacting the way I did.

“I shouldn’t have hit the tree.” I said with regret.

“No, you shouldn’t have.” She replied and then took a sip of her wine.

“I’m going to have to get a new chair for Eirene.” I was looking at the sad state of Eirene’s favorite chair.

“Yeah, yeah you are.” She took another sip. Eva finished her wine and started to play with her cup.

“He didn’t care, did he?” She asked almost knowing the answer.

“No, he didn’t care.” I took the last swig from my cup.

“Humans will die.” She continued.

“I know Eva, I know.” I whispered.

The night sky began creeping in, I had given my cup to Eva to refill and we both sat drinking the night away.

“What happened here?” I was awoken by Eirene’s yelling.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Next to me was Anthousai, she held a basin of water and a cloth to wash my face with. I took the cloth and stood up.

“What did you see? Did you see me do this?” I asked nervously, knowing full well Eirene’s third eye couldn’t see everything. Eva was still sound asleep when Bellerophon picked her up and carried her to their room.

“Wait a minute. If you were here last night, you would have known what happened. Where were you?” I asked, as I laughed almost knowing where she was.

Eirene had always guarded her mind when it was things she held private. I waited to see her slip, but she didn’t. I watched her with a close eye. She became red and tightlipped. She no longer was in the mood to talk and had decided to walk into house. I fell over laughing.

“So your premonition came true!” I said teasing her.

“Shut up!” She screamed back from inside the house.

The night air was all buzz about the guests that came to Olympos. Zoe and I walked hand in hand towards the party, which was being held on the nightly shore of Halia. My other sisters had their partners, but it was Eirene that was the most interesting to watch. She walked ahead of Herakles, not close enough to say they were together, but you could see that there was a tenderness between them. I laughed to myself and remembered the vision in which she had vehemently denied would ever happen.

Beautiful bright yellow orbs lit the sky, just like little suns floating above us and musical sounds I was not familiar with filled the air. As we got closer, I could see beautiful women whose skin was a soft colour of brown, their movements were sensual and which made the music come alive. They had little bells attached to their garments that brought your attention to their bodies. I stood in awe of what I was looking at.

At the head table with Zeus sat an older man, his features where different than the rest of his party. His skin was green and he moved very stiffly. His beard was weaved together with golden thread and he wore a crown that was pure white. Next to him sat what looked to be his wife. She was a beauty that my eyes had never seen before. Her skin was the colour of cream. Her eyes were caramel and her hair a rich dark black. She wore an elaborate red silk dress that was almost see-through, but what struck me was the amount of jewelry she wore. It looked like she owned all the gold in the world. My gawking was interrupted by Hermes.

“Little one, to be here you must know their language. They know ours so you must know theirs.” Hermes was not only the god of the crossroads, but also the god of diplomacy and language. He had to be since he was the messenger of the gods. He took pride in the ability to learn and learn quickly, but in all honesty, what he took the most pride in, was his good looks. He knew he was beautiful and he used that to his advantage at every chance he could. He lifted his staff and hit me over the head with it. I looked up annoyed at him.

“Did you hear me?” He asked.

“Yes I did. How do you propose I learn their language?” I said sarcastically rubbing my head. He just smiled.

“Hermes, come here!” Zeus called out. “And bring with you my lovely daughters.” I followed Hermes to the table and stood, as I was being watched by these foreigners.

“Girls, let me introduce you to the Egyptian gods. Here we have Osiris and Isis.” Zeus said as he pointed at them.

My sisters and I bowed to show our respect. We heard of the Egyptians. They were known tradesmen who fighting skills were still unmatched. I was excited to meet them. Isis gave us a faint smile.

“You are all more beautiful than I expected.” She spoke as she offered a gift to us. Her servants had appeared and had given us golden bracelets. I looked at Hermes, who tried to hide his laughter, I understood her. She didn’t speak our language, but spoke in her native tongue. I said thank you and bowed before excusing myself. Hermes followed.

I slapped his arm. “How did I understand her and how am I able to speak her language?” I said anxiously, not knowing if he had done something to me.

“Relax.” He waved his hand at me. “When I hit you on the head with my staff, I gave you the knowledge of their language. You’re still so new at this. It’s fun to see your reactions. Take your time and listen closely to how they speak. They speak in idioms, by the end of the night you will have mastered their speech.”

The night was filled with both our native food and theirs. I watched as many rekindled their friendships and spent the night laughing and drinking. It seemed that my family of immortals was the newest ones, so we mostly kept to ourselves trying desperately to learn their language. I slowly understood them and was able to speak to one of the musicians that were there. I had asked him if I could try his instrument.

He had a large harp that had far more strings then the ones I was used to, he showed me how to sit and hold it. I sat down and held it in my lap. Unlike our harp that only needed one hand. The Egyptian harp used both hands to make music. Each pluck made an independent sound, which was louder and more flowing. I was able to hit notes that I had never heard of. I allowed the music to take me away from where I was, bringing me to a place filled with unknown exciting sounds. The musician seemed impressed that I was able to pick it up that quickly, but I told him once you are a musician all music comes easily.

I hadn’t noticed, but Isis was next to me with another Egyptian goddess, she had a slender body and was far more humbled then Isis. Her crown was a large sun that had snakes wrapped around it. I quickly tried to get myself up, but Isis held me down with her hand.

“It’s fine. I just wanted to introduce you to Hathor. She was taken by this sound that you are playing. Please continue. It’s not a sound that we’re accustomed to and I must admit I very much like it.” Isis sat down next to me as I watched Hathor dance to my music.

“It reminds me of Ra, a beautiful warm feeling that you cannot help, but allow it to take over your body.” Hathor had said while she was dancing slowly to my creation.

“It reminds you of my father?” Isis asked Hathor.

“For me, I feel it’s full of love and care.” A beautiful winged girl appeared and joined Hathor in her dance.

Isis leaned in. “That’s Ma’at, the daughter of Ra.” Her wings were full of vibrant colors, a sharp contrast to her simple white robe. She had a small golden headband, which held her dark black hair away from her youthful face.

My music had reflected the sheer beauty of the exotic ladies I had seen tonight. When I felt that I had filled my soul with song, I ended my play. I stood up and gave back the harp to its owner.

“Zeus tells us that you sing. That your voice transcends all that he has ever heard.” Isis was still sitting where she was. “Please, I would very much like to hear you.”

She pleaded and I had no real way to refuse, if I had I would lose face. To tell you the truth I was not in the mood for much singing these days. My heart was not into it, but there I stood in front of her, so what choice did I have? I began to sing, but my voice was too melancholy to be joyous. Ma’at continued to dance. I hadn’t noticed, but Hephaistos was there, watching. I didn’t bother to look, but my sad song was unintentionally directed towards him. Upon seeing him, Ma’at began dancing towards him. She slowing reached for his body and began to move hers around his. I was trying my hardest to not look, but her being near him, made it impossible not to. Anger began rising in me, but before I could stop and do anything, Agape appeared beside me and calmed me down. He didn’t make an effort to stop her, nor did he really pay any attention to her either. But the sheer thought of someone else touching him, began to bring in little evil thoughts that only murders and killers should have.

I finished my little song and excused myself. I walked by Hephaistos giving him a glare as I stared at him through narrowed eyes. I took a deep breath and called out Dio for more wine.

“I saw you get upset, why?” Dio said as he poured my third cup of wine. I didn’t bother answering. I finished my cup and waved it again at him.