Tartarus Thief | ONC 2021 [ROUND 2 WINNER]

Chapter 11

Hues of green and blue filled Vita's vision as she raced through the Asphodel Meadows once again. She'd been running for what felt like hours. Every time she came across someone, she would slow down to check if it was him. Her legs were getting tired, heavy, as if the wings that had carried her for so long were losing their feathers one by one.

Barny was nowhere to be found.

In the end, she looped back towards the entrance of the Meadows and staggered into the cave where she'd left Gwen behind. Her legs and feet burned from all the running and she struggled to find the strength to stay upright. Despair gnawed at her heart as she stepped into the shadows of the cave.

Gwen jumped up from the ground when she entered. With a frown on her face, she marched over in three large steps and swatted Vita's shoulder. "What were you thinking, running off like that? I saved you from The Sanctuary and this is how you repay me? By disappearing on me?"

Vita held her hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry. I just had to search for him, now that I finally had the chance."

Gwen pressed her lips into a thin line, one hand at the ready to swat her again.

"I don't think he's here, Gwen." Vita took a shuddering breath and sunk onto the floor against the cave wall. "I've searched almost everywhere, even asked some people if they knew him. I can't find him."

Gwen finally lowered her hand. "How did you do it?" she whispered. "How did you run so quickly?"

Vita shrugged, staring at her hands. "It's a blessing, Hermes' blessing. My best friend gave it to me before I came here. Doesn't matter now, though. I think it's run out," she added, rubbing her aching legs. She stood up, holding herself up against the cave wall. "We should probably get going, before the Erinyen find us here."

Gwen grabbed her arm before she could walk away. "Your friend, is she a demigoddess too?"

Her eyebrows knotted together. "Yes, she is. Why?"

"Her name... Her name doesn't happen to be Leonora, does it?"

"Yes!" Vita's jaw dropped. "You know Leo? How is that possible?"

Her eyes closed and her shoulders sagged. "She was my friend." She hesitated, before chuckling darkly. "No... No, she was a whole lot more than that. She was my life. But it was difficult. Girls weren't supposed to be together in my time." She looked up, tears swimming in her eyes. "I heard that's different now. Did she find someone? Is she happy?"

For a few seconds, all Vita could do was stare at her. Then she threw her arms around the redhead in a tight hug. "She misses you. So much."

Gwen let out something between a laugh and a sob. "No, she doesn't. I know how it works; you forget everything from previous lives, right? She can't miss me if she doesn't remember me."

"You don't understand." Vita stepped back and shook her head. "She hasn't been in love in several lifetimes. Every time she gets close to someone, she self-sabotages and pushes them away."

"How would you know that if you don't remember previous lives either? Stop lying to me, Vita."

"I know, because I write it all down."

Gwen looked up hesitantly.

"I hate being a demigoddess and forgetting all my past selves. That's why I'm here. On Earth, I used to write down in diaries everything I could remember from my previous life. We retain our memories for one or two life-times before it fades, so I wrote it all down. Then I would spend the rest of my live studying my diaries, so that I'd remember it in the next life and repeat it all again."

"Really?" Gwen pulled a hand through her crimson locks. "Does that work?"

"Partly. I do miss things every now and then, but I remember a lot from my diaries. One thing I know for sure is that Leo used to be in love somewhere in the 1900s, that I've never seen her happier, and that she hasn't had anyone since."

A sob escaped her and she hid her face behind her hands.

"She misses you," Vita whispered. "She might not remember you, but deep in her heart, she still misses you."

Gwen sniffed loudly, before nodding and stepping out of the cave. Her voice sounded thick when she said, "Thank you for telling me that. We should keep moving. I don't know for how long I've managed to keep the Erinyen distracted."

Vita rushed to catch up to Gwen and they made their way towards the entrance of the Meadows together. "That reminds me. What did you do to distract them?"

"I had some help. This isn't the first time I've butted heads with them." Gwen grinned, though her eyes were still red. "Where do you think your Barny is, if he isn't here?"

"We should probably search Elysium next. If he's not in the Meadows, that seems like the most viable option."

They stopped in front of the charred door and stared up at it.

"I've only distracted the ones by The Sanctuary," Gwen muttered. "How are we going to get through the Hall of Judgement? Without L–" Her voice caught and she cleared her throat. "Without Hermes' blessing it's going to be much harder."

"I guess we r–"

"Vita!"

Arthur came running up to them, waving with one arm and holding two scrolls under the other. Elijah trailed behind him, eyes wide and looking around as if he was seeing the world for the first time.

"You're not leaving the Meadows, are you?" he asked.

"I am. Barny's not here, so I'm going to search in Elysium."

His eyes widened. "In Elysium? I know you love him, but they really don't let many people in there."

"I know, but I'm out of ideas. He was much too good of a man to be sent to Tartarus, so where else could he be?"

"He could be in the Fields of Mourning, right?"

Vita frowned. "What? Why would you think that?"

"You're going through hell and back to find him," said Arthur. "If he loves you half as much as you love him, I wouldn't be surprised if his soul is so bruised by losing you so soon, that he's in a state of extreme mourning."

"But... Isn't the Fields of Mourning only for those tormented by unreciprocated love?"

Arthur straightened up, tucking the scrolls further under his arm. "I used to be a professor in ancient cultures and I've done a lot of research into the Underworld. Some texts say that the Fields are also for those who have been ripped away from the love of their life too soon. You're young, you can't have had much time with him."

Vita didn't take the time to correct him on her age, as her mind raced. Could Arthur be right? Was that why she couldn't find Barny here in the Meadows?

"The Fields are much easier to reach than Elysium," said Gwen. "Much less well-guarded. Your friend has a point. We should try it there first."

Vita nodded. "Alright. We'll do that. There's still the matter of getting in, though..." She gestured with her head towards the door.

"Actually, I think I can help with that, too." Arthur's eyes lit up and he held up the two scrolls. "We've decided to let them take us to where we belong."

"Are you sure?" Vita exclaimed, alarmed. "You said you hid them to escape Tartarus."

"We're sure," he said, with a glance over his shoulder towards Elijah. "Anything is better than The Sanctuary at this point. And while we make a ruckus about this in the Hall of Judgement, you two can sneak into the Fields of Mourning. After all," he added with a lopsided grin, "if I'm going to go to hell, I'd better go out with a bang, right?"