Chapter 12: The Price of Destiny
The Nymph swings the axe downward, aiming for Rosetta's chest.
Rosetta closes her eyes, hoping for a miracle. She hears a shout.
"No!"
Dimi jumps right into the axe. It sinks in deep, blood immediately pouring from the wound, soaking his jersey.
Each beat of Rosetta's heart feels like a lifetime. Each one rips her to pieces before sewing her up again. This can't be happening. Not again.
"No!" Rosetta screams, reaching out to him.
Dimi collapses to the ground; his blood stands out against the snow.
Rosetta, her body numb, pulls the magic dagger out of her pocket and stabs the nymph. It's just a reflex, a burst of sudden energy that swirls with every cry, every sob, every scream, every death Rosetta has ever experienced. Rosetta realizes she's yelling with all her might, stabbing so forcefully that part of her hand lodges into the nymph's chest.
The nymph looks down at the knife, her face frozen in shock. She disintegrates from the point where the dagger hits and then turns into water that drips onto the white powdered snow.
The dagger disappears in Rosetta's hand. Its power leaves along with it, leaving Rosetta exhausted. Rosetta doesn't care. She could have run a marathon, and it still wouldn't have overcome the pain marring her heart.
She kneels down and sits Dimi up. She checks his pulse. It's still beating, but faintly and slowing with every beat.
"Dimi," she shakes him, her voice soft. "Dimi, can you hear me? Please, Dimi. Wake up."
Dimi's eyes flutter open. They look misty at first, but Rosetta realizes that it's her own eyes causing it. Tears roll down her cheeks.
"Rose." He croaks, unable to say the full name.
Oh gods, not again. Rosetta thinks. His voice reminds Rosetta of her mother. It's the voice of blood building up in the throat.
Rosetta feels like she's six again. It's just like her mother, all over again.
"I'm here, Dimi." She grasps his hand tightly in both of hers. "I'm right here."
Rosetta's heart clenches as Dimi can't hold back. Even her mom had that strength. Does that mean...? Rosetta can't face it. Not again.
"I'm...sorry. " He whispers.
Rosetta tries to stop the sob building in her throat. It doesn't prevent her body from crying, though. Her body rumbles with each suppressed sob.
"Don't be sorry. You have nothing to be sorry for," she says, shaking her head, and sniffling. "You saved my life, and that nymph would kill me if you hadn't stopped it."
"It...it was...worth it," he whispers weakly. A dribble of blood trickles out of the corner of his mouth.
Rosetta wipes it off with the handkerchief that was used to wrap the dagger.
"Don't talk like that, Dimi." Rosetta sobs, unable to hold it back anymore. "You're not dying. Not today."
Her heart tells her that she's lying. Her mom's dying face flashes in her head. There's nothing she can do to save him. Just like there was nothing Rosetta could do to save her.
"There's got to be something I can do," she pleads to herself and any god listening, "I'll... I'll carry you back up the mountain, and Apollo can heal you. Please, hold on."
"It's too late." He tells her quietly. "I am close to...death. By the...time...we get...back up there, I will be...gone."
Rosetta thought she had gotten stronger. She thought the Fates were on her side. So why? Why did they constantly take everyone she loved away?
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