Paradise

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

"There's the crystal," I said.

Daphne smiled. "The crystal as well as the satchel with all its spells are in this dimension, yes, but you won't find them here. If your friends followed you through the portal, and I'm sure they did ... it will be with them. The last spell transported us onto a path of my choosing-- here, but without the crystal and spells. It was really the only way I could be sure we would have no disturbances."

"What do you want from us?" I cried. "I just want to go back home. Why can't I go back home?"

"Penelope, darling, what have I already told you? There is nothing left for you there? Your destiny lies here, with us ... with Robert."

"Robert," I echoed, feeling my heartbeat speed up just at the mention of his name.

"Yes, Robert will evolve into our siren leader and you will join the sisterhood," Daphne said.

"Your siren leader?" I cried. "How?"

"It is a simple procedure," Daphne said. The rolled sheet of parchment floated up, to my hands. I didn't let it fall back to the floor. "You will sing the spell, and the spirit of our siren leader will merge with Robert's body."

I wondered, briefly, if this was how Daphne had come to be. Maybe she'd been as I am now: standing here in this palatial cathedral, with the sun shining through the entrances all gloriously ... looking like Heaven, itself, each beautiful, lyrical word spoken by her beloved siren leader beating her down more and more ... until she was finally brainwashed enough to accept this fate.

The idea upset me more than I could bear. I pitied the girl she used to be, the one who was undoubtedly lost inside her cold, siren heart. At the same time, I pitied myself and Robert. I couldn't bear the thought of us losing our humanity, losing what made us ... well, us. Especially Robert. The thought pained me more than anything I'd ever known. Yet ... with no end in sight, no way of escaping the siren's clutches, I gave in-- once again-- to my tears.

If only they could pity me.

"But," I said, lips trembling. "Robert's mind-- his spirit--"

"Will evolve," Daphne said. "Then we will become one with him and he will give us immense pleasure," she said, clasping her hands over her chest. Her eyes fluttered up into her head, her lashes clasping as she smiled. "Oh, Penelope, the songs he will teach us. We will learn to sing like the winds, and like those winds we will be pure and full of beauty. Imagine it, Penelope, feeling beautiful-- truly beautiful for the first time."

"Nothing can compare," Odine said, her eyes taking on a dreamy, faraway look. "Nothing at all."

"I don't care about any of that!" I cried. "I just want to go. Please, please ... just let us go."

Daphne's eyes snapped open, locking on me. "But isn't this what you've always wanted, Penelope? To worship Robert and have your affections returned? The old Robert-- he's really nothing special. He is only a boy. Not this knight in shining armor you've envisioned for yourself. He cares nothing for you. He cares only for his adolescent desires. Just like all boys his age. He will ultimately disappoint you. But the new, evolved Robert will live up to your every expectation and more. He will astound you with his kindness, his understanding and most of all, his love. He will love you, Penelope."

I hadn't expected her to say that he would love me....

I looked down at the roll of parchment in my hands and a sob caught in the back of my throat. It didn't matter. None of it. If he couldn't truly love me of his own accord ... then I didn't want it. No matter how wonderful it sounded.