Curse of Sanity Chapter 1, a troy fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Troy or any of the characters involved in the plot. The only characters I own are Narkissa or Nemesis and her grandmother who I have not found a name for yet. This is a fan-fiction I started because I watched Troy one too many times and because I like to mess with original story plots.

Curse of Sanity

Chapter 1: An Offer from a King and a God

Whoever said the Gods were fair did not know the Gods at all. A man once said that the truth of the Gods was that they were jealous of mortals. They were jealous of the mortals because the humans they created were doomed from the start and this made everything in our eyes seem more beautiful. He had it right, for the Gods are not fair and they never will be. They may envy mortals but they do not see them as equals. Hades, protect my soul. I can still hear the cries of the children and the screams of the men and women as they were slaughtered that night…

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The sound of pounding footsteps could be heard through the walls, the stones, and the air. I could hear it all from down here. I could sense it, feel it; even taste the bloodshed to come. The Greek army that consisted of fifty thousand soldiers was on its way to Troy, following the Princes' ship. The prophecies that had been told by the seers were slowly beginning to unfold. The bloodbath that was headed towards us would drown the land and the fires that would erupt from the oncoming battle would destroy the surrounding forests. Everything would burn and be destroyed.

If any of us survived this massacre we would have to run for the rest of our lives. Even with the great Prince Hector commanding the army of Troy, we were all doomed to be received by Hades and his Queen. For they had Achilles, the myrmidon who was the son of the sea nymph Thetis and the myrmidon king Peleus. It would be useless to ask the Gods to have mercy on us. Even Apollo has turned his back on this kingdom and will not help us in this time of need.

The approaching footsteps stopped outside the cell door. I, who resided in the prison, lifted my head slightly but still the chains that were wrapped around me and restrained me from moving clinked together, the sound ringing through the empty cell. Even though they knew I had moved by the sounds of the chains, they still entered the stone cell. The men who entered the small area looked on me with something of contempt; they all held the same look. But one man held my attention, the one in the middle. He got my full attention not only because he was the one who had put me in these confines but also because he was Priam, King of Troy.

"Nemesis," my attention was drawn to the man on the right of Priam. This was Glaucus, the commander of the Trojan army. He was an average man in height but since the last time I had seen him, he had gotten larger around the middle. "We have something for you to do," the red haired man said.

I felt a smirk cross over my lips and scoffed at the older man. "Glaucus, what makes you old fools think I would help you at all. If you want to save yourselves from Agamemnon, listen to Hector and Paris for once in your lives," I said.

"You insolent brat!" the man on Priam's left said. This was Archeptolemus, the high priest of the temple of Apollo. His hair was graying considerably through the years and as his face turned red with fury I couldn't stop the small laugh that escaped me. "How dare you laugh and refuse to help us!"

The King placed a calming hand on the priest's shoulder and looked at me. His whitening hair made the wrinkles in his face look deeper than they were. "Nemesis," he said, "I am begging you to help us. If you do, I will reinstate you to your former position."

My laughter immediately stopped. He had made an offer I didn't want to refuse but knew I had to. I was no longer the same woman I was seven years ago. That long time that was close to a decade had seared the image I had of myself, before the days of my imprisonment, from my mind. I could no longer go back to being the high priestess of the temple of Hades. It was a depressing thought.

A small chuckle escaped from between my lips. "I'm sorry, my king, but I must decline. The woman who had that position was Narkissa, not Nemesis. You yourself killed that woman when you stripped her of the name her parents had given to her," I said with my head bowed. I closed my eyes and sighed. "I cannot help you, Priam."

I could hear Priam let out a heavy breath and waited for the three men to leave. If they left I could go back to listening to the approaching footsteps of the coming war. That was a more calming sound than the old king's gentle voice. It just had a tone that I knew wouldn't disappoint me.

I waited but heard no retreating footsteps. Curious, I looked up and saw that Priam was looking at me with smiling eyes. It was strange and I couldn't suppress the shiver that ran up my spine at the knowing smile spread across his wrinkled mouth. I recognized it immediately and knew that he had come up with something that would have me wanting to help the Trojan's win the war with the Greeks.

"You can hear them, can't you, Nemesis?" Priam asked. "You can hear their ores crashing against the waves and the beat of their drums so that they may keep time. You can hear it all," he said.

Involuntarily, I felt my own eyes narrow at the elderly king. Even if I did help, there would be no point to it. He would heed now warning from me or his sons. These old fools would die by their own machinations. The fates were gradually pulling the strings tight and preparing their sharp scissors to cut through them.

"Nemesis, if you help us win this war, I will let your grandmother go back to being Hades' high priestess and I will release you," Priam offered. "I know that you are useless not only as a maiden of Hades but also as a warrior. All I ask is that you fight with us against Agamemnon and his army."

I glared darkly at the king. "If you want my help then listen closely. Do as your eldest son says and send Helen home," I hissed. "Nothing but death and fire follow her here. Agamemnon does not come for his brother's wife; he comes for his own greed and he will not burn in the fires of Hades until after you are dead and waiting on the shore of Styx for a century." My voice had slowly progressed into a growl and had become demented.

Priam's smile disappeared and his smiling eyes turned hard. He glared back at me but not with the animosity I displayed. "You shall never see the light that Apollo shines down upon us ever again," Priam whispered to contain his fury.

A new smirk spread across my lips. "That's fine. Apollo and I have never really gotten along anyways," I said snidely.

Fuming, Priam turned on his heel and stormed out of the cell before he could lose his temper, leading the commander and high priest after him. The door creaked on its hinges menacingly as Glaucus closed it behind him on his way out. When the door was finally closed, I let my head fall against my chest and allowed the metal chains to support me. I could not sit down, for the chains held me up by my arms, and I could not find a comfortable way to relax. The steel bit into the skin of my arms as I let myself dangle and I knew that shortly I would lose all the feeling in my arms, but I didn't care. All life had left me when Priam had stripped me of my birth name because I had committed one of the most heinous crimes that Troy had: I had told a prophecy from Hades of the coming danger.

The thought of the god made a most welcome presence appear in the small cell. I looked up to see a being that would have blinded me and destroyed my soul forever if I had been less than what I was. I smiled at the being I had worshipped reverently since I was fifteen and bowed as much as my restraints would allow.

"My lord," I said, "I am honored that you grace me with your presence. I am sorry I could not be a better hostess but as you can see, King Priam has me a bit tied up with things." I smiled at my own joke.

One of the god's rare smiles spread across his face. He only ever let himself smile for his most favorite disciples and his own wife. The Lord of the Dead was a hard being to please unless you were one of the two. Luckily, I was in the fore mentioned position.

"I heard the little deal the Fool King tried to make with you," Hades said in a crisp voice. His black robes billowed around him as he moved forwards to stand closer to me. "You did well in refusing it because I have an offer that might interest you more," the god said.

My ears perked up at the idea of this powerful god offering me something. "I'm all ears, my lord," I said with a smirk as I stared up into the pale blue eyes of the god.

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The smell of the blood is still present in my nose, and, on my skin I feel the stickiness of the red life water. The sight of burning buildings and the children being thrown from walls of Troy have been seared to the backs of my eyelids. For me, the horrible night is forever present.