TW: attempted suicide
Andy's P. O. V.
I frantically glanced around me as the hole started getting darker. The sun was going down. Aphrodite would show up soon.
I froze in fear when I heard a screech. The creatures had returned. I stared at them, frozen in fear. Their oily skin glistened in the moonlight and their sharp teeth were dripping with drool.
They slowly approached me, makings triumphant noises. Where was Aphrodite? Did she forget about the deal? Was this how I was going to die, eaten by these horrible monstrosities?
They were only inches away now. Their breath carried the stench of death and made me gag. Not knowing what else to do, I prayed. I prayed to Aphrodite to come and save me from her monsters. But she was still nowhere to be seen.
I screamed as one of the creatures grabbed my arm. Another jumped on my back, I felt its teeth sinking in my shoulder. I yelled out in pain as more of the creatures started attacking me, ripping not only my clothes, but also my skin. The hole filled with their screeches and hisses.
And then, out of nowhere, the white light appeared again. The monsters made dissapointed noises and backed away, leaving me wounded in the dirt.
Aphrodite kneeled down and lifted up my chin. "So you're still alive huh" she scoffed. She glanced at my wounds. "Those impatient bastards" she cursed.
She signed something in the direction of the creatures. Minutes later I heard them scream in agony before going completely silent. Did she kill them?
My wounds suddenly started to sting even more than they already did. I looked at my arm. Slowly the wound was closing up till it appeared as if it my skin was never torn open in the first place.
I hesitantly placed my hand on my shoulder, where one of the monsters had ripped out a chunk of my flesh. The skin was smooth and healthy again. The only evidence that I was attacked were my ripped clothes.
"T-thank you..." I stuttered.
Aphrodite rolled her eyes and looked at the seeds in front of me. The creatures had completely scattered the once neat piles around. It looked even more chaotic than before the task had even started.
"Since you almost died I shall give you the benefit of doubt on whether you actually completed the task. Moving on!" she said.
She sounded like she couldn't care less about what happened. In fact she seemed annoyed with me.
The ground below my feet suddenly opened up and before I could even react I fell right in. I didn't expect where I'd land, but a patch of grass was the last thing I would've thought of.
Yet here I was, groaning as I tried to sit up. Strangely it was mid day now. The sun was at its highest. Next to me was a river, peacefully flowing by. On the other side was a field with sheep.
"Do you see those sheep?" Aphrodite pointed at the sheep in the field. "Their wool is made of gold. I want you to collect it. You have till sundown to do so"
And with those words she was gone again.
I stared at the spot she had stood, not moving. I felt so tired. And my body... It was like I was a bystander witnessing myself as I struggled. The only emotion I felt was pain.
I didn't want this. I wanted to end it. If Aphrodite was going to send me to the tartaros I might as well get there before she could make me.
I crawled to the river. The water was clear and calm. I slowly dragged myself inside the water till I stood in the stream up till my neck. I exhaled for the last time and lowered myself, feeling how the water closed above my head.
I sank lower to the bottom of the river as bubbles of air fled out of my body back to the surface. I closed my eyes, waiting till I'd run out of oxygen.
I snapped my eyes right back open when I felt the stream pull me upwards again. In a splash I was tossed back onto the land. I coughed aggressively to get the water out of my system and stared at the river in confusion.
In the middle of the stream was a young lady. A naiad. "Please don't drown yourself in my river. Your corpse would pollute the water" she said.
"But what's the point in living anymore" I sighed. "I already lost everything"
"You have to complete Aphrodites tasks. If you do so you'll gain back what you lost" the naiad said.
I thought of the times I spent with Rye, how he made me smile and the beautiful house. The naiad was right, I had to go on.
"Beware of the sheep" the Naiad said. "They're very violent to strangers. If you wish to collect their wool, I suggest taking the pieces of wool that got stuck in the thornbushes over there" she pointed at some nearby bushes.
"Thank you" I said.
"It was a pleasure to help" the naiad smiled, and dove back into the river.
I turned around and looked at the thorn bushes. Chunks of golden wool glistened on the branches. Feeling grateful for the naiads advice I got up and walked towards them. After collecting about enough wool to knit socks out of I returned to my spot on the grass.
The second task hadn't even been that hard. I felt hopeful again. Hopeful that I'd be able to win from Aphrodites challenges and see Rye again.
I layed back on the grass, deciding to enjoy the silence for as long as it lasted.
Authors note
So ehmmm... This was kind of a challenge to write. I'm usually a bit reluctant to write about topics such as self-harm, suicide, depression, etc because I have never experienced any of these things myself and writing about it feels wrong to me and I'm afraid I'd depict it in a completely wrong way. But the suicide attempt in this story is kind of essential to the story bc this is how he gets the advice on how to complete this task. I kinda hate the ending of this chapter because he seems too happy right after that which I don't think is actually realistic but as I said at the very start: it's a Greek myth, emotions are amplified x1000 and nothing makes sense.
In short if Andy trying to drown himself did upset you, I am sorry. Next time of I write about something like this I will do research first instead of going in blind bc I admit, that was stupid.
School has started again. I survived the first week yay. In Latin we're kicking off the semester with a story about a gay shepherd who's in love with a slave called Alexis. When the teacher was explaining the story to us me and the girl next to me said "I ship it!" in unison and then just looked at each other like 'whooaaaa'. It was funny 😂
Also, TYSM FOR 1K on this story! 🎉💕
Have a great weekend everyone, palsyotfs!
-Manon
