hiraeth

twenty-four

a/n: ayo this chapter serves nothing but I need it

xxiv. Nia

Mnemosyne's pool is a monstrous black hole, murky waters swirling around like a witch's concoction. Bubbles froth in clumps, clinging to the edges of the cauldron-like cavity encrusted in the dry soil. Nia can see lava spewing out from craters in the distance, the flaming orange bright in the dark.

on the other side of the chasm are a lineup of dead people, taking turns to drink the liquid in order to cease the transmigration of their souls.

She crouches near the rim. "it looks like Coca-Cola but worse"

"Watch it actually be soda," Enne says to her left.

"that would be nice, but I bet it tastes disgusting."

Nia leans down and copies the spirits, cupping her hands with the intention of drawing water.

"how many people have put their hands in there?"

"ew, don't ask that. I don't wanna know." Nia inhales nervously, looking up at Enne. "Well, here goes nothing."

Just as Nia is about to touch the water, a white light flashes out of nowhere, and a beautiful woman appears in the air, hovering over the pool. Jet-black hair cascades down her shoulders in thick waves, and she's wrapped in a shimmering gown, flowing gracefully around bare ankles.

"Yet another mortal seeking remembrance," she observes. "Pray tell, what is your name?"

Nia stands up and dusts off her shorts. "My name's Nia."

The woman nods to Enne. "And you are?"

"Enne."

"Do neither of you possess last names?"

Nia makes an unintelligible noise. "eh, the author didn't make up any so..."

"Very well, then, Nia and Enne." She lands next to them and looks out at the deceased. "I am the guardian of this lake, appointed by the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne herself. I have come to draw your attention to the rules of this sanctuary."

Oh, great, Nia thinks. What was the problem now?

"These waters are not meant for the living, but the dead," the guardian informs them. "As such, you will not be able to drink from the pool."

"What'll happen if we do?" Enne asks.

"All your internal organs will be set on fire in addition to the onset of a skull-splitting headache for all eternity, and you will be trapped in that state, neither alive nor dead." The guardian smiles sweetly.

"Huh." Nia blinks. "Hades failed to include that part. Isn't there another way to get our memories back? Let us see Mnemosyne. Please."

"I'm afraid she is busy at the moment."

Nia groans. "Put us on the waiting list then."

"I cannot."

"Why?"

"She is busy."

"Doing what?"

The guardian sighs in resignation. "The truth is, Mnemosyne can be quite hard on the living who do not remember. She expects everybody to have good memory, and sees no reason as to why one would forget anything."

"Uh, we have amnesia."

The guardian regards them sternly. "And Mnemosyne would respond by telling you this: anything worth remembering, be it the cause of great happiness or sorrow, is never truly forgotten. I suggest both of you try harder to recall your past."

"We have been!" Nia exclaims. "What do you think we've been doing?"

"Oh?" The guardian gives Nia her undivided attention. "Let me tell you what I think. I think you have been afraid-"

"Listen here, lady-"

"Afraid to search deeper. To dwell on the pieces you've collected over the nights you dream, because you are a coward." Sharp wind blows over the land, dry and suffocating. "You are scared of what you will find if you take a closer look, and I guarantee you, young heroes, that you will never find the answer if you avoid the question."

Nia frowns. "What question?"

"That is up to you," the woman replies. "Listen for it when the time comes."

Nia is having none of this, numb to her speech. "We don't have time for riddles. Just give us a solution and we'll be on our way."

Enne looks nervously at Nia, but she ignores it. "Nia, maybe we should-"

"Very well," the guardian amends, silencing Enne with a glance. "If you are so keen on using external methods, you have one choice. You must take turns dying."

ahaha her ears must not be working properly. "Excuse me?"

"It is a tricky process few have been able to go through with. One of you must die, become a spirit, and drink from the pool to prevent the process of reincarnating into another body. From there, the other must find a way to resurrect the dead person."

"you're saying I need to murder my bestie and then revive her, but not right away so she has time to drink this Coca-Cola ripoff?"

"You asked for a clear solution," the woman says.

"Nothing about that was clear. Or safe!"

"Then you must stop avoiding the question and answer it honestly," she says. "Your choice."

"For the last time, I don't know what that means," Nia retorts, grinding her teeth together.

Enne appears dumbstruck as she feels.

The guardian suddenly looks up. "Ah, I must get going now. Mnemosyne is calling me. Mark my words, Nia and Enne, It is all in your mind."

With that, she vanishes with another pop and blinding flash of light like an annoying fairy godmother.

"that's just insulting to amnesiac patients," Nia grumbles in her absence. "Okay, you know what? Get a container, fill it up, and then we can decide if we want to do the whole revival thing later. We're not killing each other if there's no defibrillator or hospital nearby."

Enne scrunches her nose. "you actually want to go through with it?"

"Nope. I wanna give it to peter"

"Nia, that's just an excuse to kill him"

"I see no problems here"

Enne scoops some of the murky water into a reusable water bottle and caps it. "Welp. Guess our memories will have to wait. what do you want to do now?"

"probably regroup with him," Nia says. "I hate to admit it, but we could use extra help finding Edmund. and we can ask him more about Narnia."

Enne nods. "Alright sounds good. but how do we get out of here?"

"I literally have no idea"

"same"

"Uh I can try teleporting again?"

"What did you do last time?"

"nothing?"

"so we're just gonna stand here?"

"here, grab my arm, imma try some voodoo magic." Nia closes her eyes and tries to envision their destination.

"not the voodoo magic," Enne laughs, clinging to her forearm.

"shh, I'm visualizing"

"visualizing what?"

Peter.

"Las Vegas," Nia says instead. She pushes Peter out of her mind. "Hold on, I feel something happening"

A surge of power courses through her, and the pain in her head returns. She hears Enne's frightened squeal and tells her to also shut her eyes.

The ground slips out from beneath them, but this time, they don't fall. instead, nia is yanked forward and they accelerating at the speed of light into nothing.