Eurydice

10

He went slowly into a cave on the west side of the Underworld, careful to take each step as it grew darker. I followed him, my own steps mirroring his own as I gripped my chiton.

Orpheus's breaths were irregular, shaky.  I could practically feel the anxiety that took hold of him, the itch crawling at the back of his neck to just turn around.

"You're there, right?" he whispered. Then he laughed weakly and wiped his sweaty hands on his tunic. "I know you're not supposed to talk and all, but the gods won't know. Just say something."

I bowed my head, knowing that if I could have cried, a loud sob would have escaped my lips.

"Please?" he said, voice cracking. "Eurydice, they won't know. I promise."

My mouth ached to answer, to shout and shriek his name so loud, Kronos would stir in Tartarus. My hands burned at the thought of reaching out, touching his shoulder or just a bit of his hair. I was happy to be on my way to the land of the living, but this moment was more agonizing than the snake bite.

He led me in silence for nearly an hour, his hand trailing against the cave wall and his feet careful, precise in their steps.

Just like my mind going hazy in Asphodel Meadows, I felt a change in my thoughts. They were as sharp and clear as the day they had happened. I could picture my mother's face down to the minuscule birthmark hidden at the side of her nose. Apollo seemed to be standing right in front of me, every one of his perfect features full of detail. His brilliant golden eyes and orange hair made my eyes sting from their brilliance, but then fear prickled my stomach as a rat-like man slithered into my mind.

Aristaeus' beady eyes lit with hunger, and I could feel his hands gripping my waist and pressing me against him, his breath warm in my ear as I bit back a scream. I felt small and helpless as he held me closer, begging me to love him.

I froze and watched Orpheus go on without me, oblivious to the icy terror flooding my chest.

Aristaeus wasn't here now. I knew that when I was alive again, Orpheus and I would find a way to escape him. We could live in peace, have children, and never see that despicable god ever again.

I shook my head as if to clear Aristaeus' face from my mind, then I forced myself to take another step. My feet began to move on their own as I focused on my husband, soaking up every detail.

Orpheus had lost weight, and his hair had an unusual, greasy shine to it. Something was off about his walk. He moved sluggishly as if wading through water, and his hand on the lyre was trembling. When had he eaten last? Or bathed?

He began to hum, and the sound brought a familiar warmth to my chest. I pressed a hand over my heart, shocked to find it slowly beating, remembering what is was like to be alive.

"That was the song I wrote for you, that day at the meadow..." he muttered, voice thick. "Your body was still warm when I found you. I cried." He forced a chuckle, and its echo made me shiver. "A lot. And when I found the cursed snake that took your life, I killed it with my bare hands. It didn't make me feel any better."

My eyes stung, yet tears still didn't come. I'm sorry. That was what I really wanted to say. The words were lodged in my throat, and I struggled to keep them down.

"I didn't eat for weeks," he continued, voice barely audible. "I couldn't. All I was able to do was sing my grief to whoever would listen, moving kingdoms to tears and rivers to overflow. I tried to take my own life, too, just so I could be with you again. But the rocks moved away when I tried to use them to stab myself, and the river refused to drown me. It would just toss me back on land in a heap." He suddenly stopped in his tracks, leaving only five steps between us. It hurt to have Orpheus at arm's length, where all I had to do was reach. Out.

He ran a hand through his dark hair. "I really don't know if you're there. Hades could be playing a trick on me, and I would be none the wiser." His head tilted to his precious lyre, considering. His knuckles turned white around the instrument. "But regardless of my doubts, we have to keep moving. You might be there, and that chance is good enough for me."