ꜰᴏᴏʟꜱ ɢᴏʟᴅ|ᴘ.ᴊ|②

XV

-CROSSROADS-

   Silence the mind and the soul will speak. Will it come in whispers or gut wrenching screams? A fire is ablaze, burning almost twenty feet tall in the pale moonlight. Chanting can be heard across the sea. An offering is made. They bow their heads as their leaders fluent a prayer. 

   The Titan Army was a band of rejects, yes. But they were a band of rejects with connections. A ritual is in progress tonight. With the help of a greedy celestial, everything should go according to plan. 

   Kaen rises with the fire, takes a blade from its sheath and slices Luke's open palm. Thick, red liquid oozes from the wound. He allows it to drip into the raging flames. It crackles and pops. Like does the same to Kaen's. 

   Together, they speak the tongue of their ancestors and invoke life. 

   Enchantress, akouse mas kathos fonazoume to onoma shu.

   Emis paradidoume to aima mas mé kali pisti.

   Prosferoume ton eayto mas gia ounagennisi.

   Thea don, dexou tin prosphora mas.

   Syndeste to zoi mé to thanato kai to skotadi me to fos.

   The flames burst, setting clothing and demigods on fire. Sparks fly, energy wisps. The air grows so hot and humid that most begin to suffocate. A tiny light, glowing like stardust, emerges from the center of it all. 

   The two boys find themselves captivated. Luke reaches out to touch it, ignores the burn of the flames. His fingertips are almost close enough when it expands. 

   Kaen quickly pulls him away and shields their eyes. It is as blinding as a Gods true form. Bright enough to kill you. Turn you into nothing but a distant memory.

   But there, right in their ears, they hear the mighty thump of a heartbeat like an ancient drum. It makes their skin crawl and their instincts go haywire as something approaches from the shadows. 

   No, no not something. Someone. They stumble over their own two feet, dragging themselves along. From the ashes rises a demigod, battered and bruised with no memory of anything that's happened to him.

   "W-where am I?" he questions, voice broken. 

   Kaen swallows the lump in his throat, "On our ship. We brought you back by order of a God."

   The boy is in a daze. "What happened to me?" he asks. "Brought me back from where, and what God?" 

   There was so much to explain with so little time. The sun would rise in a few hours, a beat would dock. Passengers would venture through an island. Kaen and Luke had a lot to get done before then. 

   They would disappoint too many people if they didn't. One person in particular, though. So, they'd leave the grunt work to someone else. Someone who didn't carry the same burdens as them. 

── 𖤓 ──

   The stars shine brightly in the sky. Evangeline leans against the decks railing, hands swaying and the water mimicking. After a very, very long day, she'd finally found some quiet. Her fingers reach for the whistle tied around her neck. 

   Evangeline presses it between her lips and blows. 

   It is silent for a few seconds, but the familiar found of lathery wings soon cuts through air. There's almost a feeling of serenity when the Fury lands next to her. For Evangeline, Alecto represented her home and all her daily duties she once had. 

   In an odd way, she almost missed the Underworld. Despite the fact that the Styx's energy is draining her immortality, despite any negative that may outweigh the good there, all Evangeline wanted was to prow the Asphodel Garden, to make souls understand their wrong doings and try to bring them somewhere kinder. 

   None of them—not a single soul she's spoken to—has reached Elysium, but she kept trying. 

   "They've sent their regards," Alecto says quietly. 

   "The Gods?" Evangeline glances at her. 

   She shakes her head, "No. The others. They wish for a safe return for you." 

   "Safety is usually a guarantee for immortals. Unless, of course, someone happens to have a stygian blade. But I was the only demigod with one, and it's loyal to only me," Evangeline says. "Did you ever imagine any of this, Alecto?" 

   "Imagine what?" 

   The Goddess gestures aimlessly around them. "Any of it. From the quest for Zeus's master bolt, to us sailing to retrieve the Fleece in the hopes of saving both camp and me. Did you ever imagine I would become a Goddess, or that you and I would work hand-in-hand with one another?" 

   The fury shakes her head once more, sighing, "I suppose not. You were a blinded and naive demigod when I first stumbled upon you. Just a little girl, no hopes or dreams, no idea of what lied ahead. You were much different when you were mortal."

   "And now?" 

   "Now, you're choosing your own path. I cannot tell you if it will make you stronger or unravel you. I am not the Fates. But I can tell you that your former knowledge of the world and self control still reside within. I see it clawing to get out everyday," says Alecto. 

   "It is up to you to choose your path, whether you have a prophecy or not." 

   Those words would become glued to the back of Evangeline's mind. She'd spare a few more words with her protector before sending her off. Before the Goddess knew it, she was laying in a bed, staring up at the ceiling with a million thoughts racing through her head. 

   But when she finally shut her eyes and drifted asleep, that's when it all began.

   Her dream started like this.