The Gates of Tartarus | I ✓

30. I Am Rejected

So I'm back! I know I said I would be updating more frequently, but you know, I'm a liar. I literally procrastinated this entire week, and now I'm drowning in homework. Also, I have no idea what's going on with my essay anymore. It's all over the place. I have no idea what's happening anymore.

The book is coming to an end! :(

I had so much fun writing this, but honestly, it's taken up so many hours. It'll definitely be at least a few more chapters, but yeah.

Okay, let's just get on with it.

Edit: THE CONCEPT OF SOULMATES FINALLY APPEAR. IT'S BEEN LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS.

Also I was supposed to publish this yesterday so OOPS.

Also there's a really weird transition but maybe I'll fix it later... if I don't get too lazy.

Also hate the chapter title but what can you do?

The rest of the walk was quiet, giving me plenty of time to think about my dreams.

It seemed as though something always triggered them—the Odontotyrannos and Aeternae proved that well enough for Alexander. But Pholus had mentioned someone named Andromeda and I had dreamed about some girl named Airlea. Maybe Airlea had been a close friend of Andromeda or something? And what about that dream with Caesar? What could've triggered that?

And why was I even having these dreams? Sure, I liked history, but I didn't like it enough to have remembered all those details with such terrifying accuracy. The whole issue of my supposed lineage also gave me a headache. How much godly blood did I apparently have? And there was magic in my blood, Apollo had said; magic that had strengthened him.

I turned my mind to thoughts of what Athena had told me, which only made everything seem all the darker. Someone was out of the prisons of the Underworld. I wondered if Hades found the prisoner, if they were still going to be at large when we got back, or even if they had fallen into Tartarus like us. But if they had, they must've fallen in before, and why would they have gone deeper into the prisons they had suffered in? Wouldn't they have done their best to leave?

And Nyx had said they were either our greatest ally or our worst enemy—either way, they were close by. Just the thought of someone dangerous and powerful enough to destroy supposedly indestructible adamantine, yet insane from at least years of isolation in a prison no bigger than a closet, worked a chill up my spine. I found myself sincerely hoping they were our ally. Yet Nyx had answered it with such amusement... It made me wonder what piece of the puzzle I was missing.

"Eden..." Apollo said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Remember when we were in Nyx's realm? What the Sphinx said? Did you understand it?"

"Um..."

I was surprised he asked. I hadn't thought about it much, since I couldn't answer it anyway, but I tried to recall the lines.

"Uh... no, not really. I guess it just meant you were looking for someone, right? For about... ten thousand years? And it always goes wrong?"

"Something like that," was his quiet reply, "but I don't understand how we can always end in tragedy if I've never met them before."

"Wait... are you saying you have a soulmate?"

The idea seemed so ridiculous it was almost plausible, but the words tasted strangely bitter.

"Every century, I think I've found them, but in truth, my desperation for love trumped my logic." His voice turned bitter. "When I first received that prophecy, I thought I'd only have to wait a century, if even that. Ten thousand years, Eden. It's enough to drive anyone insane."