The very next day, I set my plan in motion to break the cycle.
After finding the creek once again, I stripped and bathed in the cool stream. Even though I had a whole dimension of privacy, it felt a little weird being naked outside. Being a woman of the wild was a hell of an experience.
As I scrubbed my body with banana leaves, my jaw dropped in disgust as I watched the water turn brown from all the dirt and mud that had been caked onto my skin. It was difficult to bathe regularly here, so I tried to cut myself some slack. I scrubbed and scrubbed until the water ran clear once more. Ridding my hair of all the soil, sand, sticks, and leaves was the most difficult part of the whole ordeal. Then I rubbed some sweet smelling plants against my body, but that was as close to soap as I could get on this sucktacular island.
After air drying by the fire, I redressed in a new set of Island Wear: Spring Collection. It was just another set of grass frond clothing that I'd weaved together, but I was trying to keep my sense of humor alive and well. I fiddled with the simple grass tunic I'd designed, staring at my reflection in the creek with judgmental eyes.
"With this hem line and this seam work?" I asked myself in a butchered British accent. "Oh, darling, you'll never make it in the fashion industry! Go back to flipping burgers, my dear."
I sighed when I realized I was just distracting myself from my most difficult task yet. How was I going to break out of this dimension? What if the owl was right? What if it really was impossible? What if I was doomed to be trapped on this island forever?
As if sensing my distressed thoughts, Goldie appeared by my side in the creek's reflection. I stroked the sword's hilt and felt its warmth that seemed to radiate even more than the sun. I imagined that if Goldie had a face, it would be smiling reassuringly right about now.
"Yeah, you're right," I said to the blade with a caress of its warm metal. "I can do this... Will you watch my back?"
The sword twirled in the sunlight as if to say "girl, you even have to ask?"
I sat down crosslegged on the grassy forest floor. Goldie flew around my body protectively, and I trusted that the blade would defend me. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and welcomed the darkness behind my lids. With my sight gone, my hearing began to heighten. I heard the nearby creek trickling along the rocks. I heard the wind rustling the leaves, and the morning sounds of birds chirping in the air. I could hear my own thoughts buzzing around my ADHD addled brain. There was noise all around me, but I willed myself to block it all out. The task was easier said than done, but eventually all of the sounds around me faded into nothingness.
Nothing happened the first few days that I meditated. I fasted, abstaining from consuming the giant animal corpses that began piling up around me. It appeared that Goldie was just as busy as I was during this time. Instead of eating, I sustained myself on water alone. I read somewhere that fasting can help one achieve enlightenment when meditating. Okay, fine, I heard it somewhere— but my point still stands.
Eventually, I got the breakthrough that I was looking for. I'd been meditating for hours one day when the darkness behind my eyelids shifted. In my mind's eye, I saw a tiny fleck of golden light. When I focused on the light, it flickered briefly before growing brighter and stronger. I visualized myself venturing toward the light, and it grew larger as I approached.
By the time I reached this light, I could see that it was more than just light. It ebbed and flowed, like a living form of energy. The center was golden, yet the tendrils that swirled around it were all the colors of the rainbow. I pictured myself reaching out and grabbing the energy source. When I touched it, the light grew impossibly brighter before being absorbed into my body. I felt an insane rush, as if I'd just taken fifty pixie stix straight to the dome.
I opened my eyes with a sharp inhale, and every one of my cells felt like they were humming with powerful energy. The sky was littered with stars, and the full moon bathed the small clearing in a milky white aura. How many hours had passed during my meditation?
I bent over the creek and gasped in awe at my reflection. My hair was glowing with a bright golden light. When I went to look at my arms for goosebumps, I realized with a shock that even the fine golden hairs on my arms were glowing with a supernatural golden light. Chills ran up my spine.
The power within me was waning by the second, I could feel it. If I'm going to act, then it has to be now. I know what I must do.
I stepped over a huge, decaying parrot corpse and willed Goldie into my hands. The sword flew with a flash of gold into my palms and began to glow brightly as well. I took a deep breath and planted my feet, gripping the hilt with purpose. The magic inside of me was flowing wildly, and I had to focus in order to hone it to a fine point.
"Omega Blade," I called into the night.
The sword began to grow and grow until it was well over ten feet long with a curved end, almost like a super-sized scimitar. Ancient Greek and Latin scriptures glowed in a rainbow aura on the blade's surface in stark contrast to the sword's own golden glow. The weapon was uncharacteristically heavy, and a bead of sweat rolled down my temple at its weight when I lifted the sword above my head.
But was it the weight of a weapon with the power to slash through dimensions? Only one way to find out.
"Dimensional Cut!" I cried and sliced through the air.
What happened next could quite possibly only be described as a ripple in time and space itself. All of the colors of the rainbow could be seen undulating from the sword for a split second. The wind howled, ripping leaves from the trees and uprooting blades of grass from the earth. My knees buckled underneath me. I collapsed to the ground and blacked out.
When I regained consciousness, all was still. The moon was still hanging high in the sky, so it was safe to assume that I wasn't passed out for too long. Goldie was twirling by my side, seemingly happy that I was back in the waking world. The blade was back to its normal size— no strange glyphs or weird glowing or anything like that. Was that a good thing? I crawled to the creek and examined myself closely. My hair wasn't glowing anymore either.
"I— wha..." I took a sip from the creek and splashed some water on my face for good measure. "Did it... did it work?"
I used the sword to help myself up. There was a bit of a wobble in my knees, but I was starting to regain my strength with each step I took. As I ventured through the forest, I looked for any sort of hint that I'd succeeded in slicing out of my previous dimension. I still wasn't sure. The air smelled different, sweeter somehow. But the trees looked the same. The sky looked a little different. Maybe?
"Ugh, my head is pounding," I grunted and leaned against a cedar to get my bearings.
My brain felt like someone had just used it to play pinball. Meditation brings inner peace, they said! It clears your mind, they said! Just as I was about to swear off all yogis for the end of my days, a delicious scent filled my nostrils. It was savory and flavorful, like nothing I've ever smelled on the island before.
"Is that..." I sniffed the air again, and my mouth watered. "Beef stew?"
But that's impossible, right?
My stomach, suddenly remembering that it's only had water for the past few days, urged me to follow the aroma. The scent led me towards the beach. Just before the palm trees sprouted from the sand, I heard voices, but they were too far away for me to make out what they were saying.
Part of me didn't want to journey out into the open from the banana tree I was hiding behind. What if it was just more talking animals? I might have full on break down if I was still trapped in the sexist animal dimension after the immense strain I just put my body through. My belly roared defiantly, as if to say "who cares, we can just eat them!"
"Yeah, you're right," I whispered to my hungry tummy. "Let's just rush 'em."
I snatched my sword from the air and raced onto the beach. My feet had only taken a few steps out onto the sand before I stopped dead in my tracks. The sword slipped from my grasp and flew around my head in confusion, or perhaps in response to my sudden spike in emotions. I wished that my eyes were deceiving me. I prayed that this was just an illusion. Seeing a hundred sexist animals probably would've been better than seeing this. Maybe a thousand sexist animals would've been better.
There was a picnic blanket spread out across the sand near a cozy campfire that sent orange sparks into the sky. A wicker basket was bursting with goodies, including the beef stew that I'd smelled all the way from the woods. Strange, but nothing too crazy, nothing that'd fill me with the homicidal rage that was currently bubbling inside. Just a few yards further near the gentle waves— that's what had my stomach twisting in knots so tight that I wondered if I'd ever be able to eat again.
And that's saying something, because that stew smelled damn good.
Two people. The first people I'd seen in what felt like months, years on this stupid island. One of them was a girl with long, cinnamon brown hair that flowed majestically in the ocean breeze. She wore a simple white tee with light wash denim jeans. Her milky skin was the same color as the moonlight that shone down on her as she locked lips with the boy. The boy with curly hair and elvish ears. The boy whose features I couldn't shake from my psyche even if I wanted to.
"Leo?" I whispered.
It was like a car crash. So horrible, so painful, so traumatizing, yet I couldn't look away. My gaze was fixated on the way her hands cupped his face. The face I've been searching for every day, every night. Why wasn't he pushing her away? His hands were on her arms, but they twitched as if he wanted to move them down to her waist. The kiss ended after what felt like forever, and they pulled apart from each other.
Why didn't he push her away?
Leo and the girl shared an awkward smile before his eyes shifted past her. He spotted me. I contemplated running back into the woods, but my feet were rooted to the sand. I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole.
Why didn't he push her away?
Leo's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, and a myriad of emotions crossed his face in just a moment. He sprinted towards me with a grin that would normally make my heart do backflips. Instead it made me want to retch.
Why didn't he push her away?
"Peri!" Leo cried as he approached. "Holy Hephaestus, I can't believe it's really you—"
*CRACK!*
It happened so quickly. I think my body reacted on its own. Leo stumbled to the ground, clutching his face. My palm stung with the force of the slap I'd delivered to him on a shiny platter, but I imagined that his cheek hurt exponentially more.
Good, I thought grimly.
Leo looked up at me with a bewildered expression. "Wha—?"
"I've been fighting for my damn life for months," I managed through gritted teeth, "being smack-talked by every giant animal in the book, sleeping on a bed of leaves— Hell, I'm wearing leaves! And you're having a picnic on the beach with your tongue down this broad's throat?!"
"Hold on," Leo got to his feet with his hands up in defense. "There was no tongue."
"That's what you choose to respond to after everything I just said?!" I shouted, seriously considering slapping the taste out of his mouth a second time.
"Hang on, Peri, I can explain—"
"Leo," the girl called from afar. "Who is this female?"
I held up my hand to silence her. "Sorry, Little Miss Levi's, but this is a two person conversation. I'm gonna need you to shut—"
"I wasn't speaking to you, filth covered wench." The girl's green eyes sparkled like jade. "I was addressing the male."
My jaw dropped, and my eyes bugged out of my head. "Who the fu— Leo, you better get her! She's over there slinging around medieval insults like I won't shove my sword up her—"
"Okay, okay!" Leo got the message quickly. "No, we don't want swords in places they don't belong. We don't want that." He spun around to speak to the girl. "Calypso, can you give us a minute?"
So this was the infamous Calypso, the mistress of the island. The only worthy female, huh? I sized her up with a murderous glower. She didn't look like much to me. Leo searched my eyes, though my face was surely hard as stone right about now.
"Peri, w-what happened?" He asked. "I looked all over Ogygia for you."
"Oh, it's called Orgy Island?" I smiled wryly and nodded my head as another wave of anger surged through me. "Of course it is! Let me guess, you can explain that, too?"
"O-gee-gee-ah," he sounded the word out like I was a toddler.
"Don't enunciate shit to me right now, I'm pissed!"
Leo took my hands into his own and stared into my soul, somehow managing to snuff out some my initial fury in a way that only he could. My eyes glossed over his form. He looked... really good. Annoyingly so. His curly hair had grown out more, and his face looked even more chiseled than before. He was sporting a sun kissed tan that gave his skin an even warmer glow. No, don't fall for it! You're mad at him! He kissed another girl. My scowl returned full force.
"I know you're angry, and you have every right to be." Leo's eyes seemed to drift away from my own and danced across my features. "Gods, I've wanted to see you every day and every night since we've been separated. I thought you were..." He took a shaky breath. "I thought I'd never see you again, mí amor."
And just like that, he leaves me completely disarmed. What is this power that he has over me? Just one look, just one simple touch of his hands on mine, a few pretty words, and I fall to pieces. Even now, as he rubs his thumb in slow circles against my skin, it's more loving and more passionate than any kiss anyone could give to him. He smells so good, too. Just the right amount of sweat and sweet Celestial Bronze. Seeing him, feeling him, smelling him, it was all too much. I wished for this moment each time I woke up on this gods forsaken island. The least I could do was enjoy it. I could always be mad later.
"I..." Gods, why was this so hard? I cleared my throat and tried once more. "I saw your flowers. I never gave up on you, Leo. Not even for a second. I missed you so much."
He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around his body. I still couldn't believe that he was standing here in front of me. I couldn't believe that he was back in my arms. This was right. This was how things were supposed to be. This was my little slice of Elysium. Leo pulled back a bit, his gaze flitting from my eyes to my lips. He started to lean in closer to my face, and my heart skipped a beat. My eyes began to close as I leaned forward to meet him halfway.
"I see you've made your choice then," Calypso said in a hollow voice.
I whirled around to glare at the girl for interrupting a moment I've fantasized about ever since landing on this stupid Orgy Island. Her green eyes shined brightly in the darkness of night, but I waved it off as simply being the campfire reflecting her jade orbs.
"Are you kidding?" I pulled away from Leo and laughed at her ridiculous statement. "Baby girl, I probably would've beheaded the both of you if he hadn't chose me. I'm crazy."
"Wait a second, Peri." Leo grabbed my arm. "Her eyes weren't green before."
I cut my eyes at him. "Oh yea, Leo, what color were her eyes then? What color? Say something else about this girl. I dare you—"
"Every man that I love," Calypso wailed in a voice so loud that Leo and I fell to our knees. "Every single one... loves another. Why Zeus?! Why have you cursed me to such a heartbreaking fate?!"
If the hammering in my head wasn't bad before, it was definitely killing me now. My face contorted in pain as I tried to cover my ears, but Calypso's voice was too powerful. The pitch was unnatural, inhuman. The sound was simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. It was as if she was shouting directly into my skull, rattling my brain like a can of spray paint. I couldn't lift my body up from the ground, like I was being crushed under the weight of the heavens themselves.
The weight of the heavens... It was starting to come back to me. The Titan Atlas, who was responsible for bearing the weight of the heavens as a punishment for leading the Titans in their great battle against the gods. Calypso, his daughter who was also punished for aiding her father, was exiled on an island. The details were still rather foggy, and it was nearly impossible to think clearly with the cacophony of sounds bouncing around in my head thanks to Calypso's screeching.
Just when I thought my eardrums were about to explode, I spotted my weapon just a few feet away. The sword was lying discarded on the sand. I screwed up my face in order to concentrate despite the mind numbing ringing in my ears and brain cells. The blade trembled to life, and I willed it to soar right at Calypso's throat with a plan to slice the nymph's magical vocal cords right out of her esophagus.
"NO!" Leo cried and grabbed my arm, breaking my concentration.
The sword wobbled in the air, like gravity was working overtime to bring the blade to the ground. I tried to refocus, but Leo was shaking me, begging me to stop. He was going to mess up my shot at ending this. If Calypso continued screaming at this pitch, I was certain our brains would turn to mush. Why was he trying so hard to stop me from killing her?
Does Leo have feelings for Calypso after all?
My emotions reached a peak, and the sword flipped and jerked wildly through the air. The hilt bonked her on the head, and Calypso fell to the sand with a soft thud. The pounding in my head stopped, and the ringing in my ears faded away. Leo and I exhaled in unison, and he helped me to my feet. As soon as I was standing up, I shoved him roughly.
"Why did you do that?" I demanded. "I had a clear kill shot, and you ruined it!"
"We kill monsters," Leo argued sternly. "She's not a monster. She's not evil, she's just... heartbroken."
My sword flew to my side. Calypso's voice must've been affecting its flight before, but the blade seemed fine now. It appeared to be pointing urgently, and my blood ran cold when I realized what Goldie was trying to say.
Calypso was standing once more, her limbs stiff as a board. Green smoke trails emanated from her eyes that glowed freakishly like cursed emeralds.
"You ripped my heart out, Odysseus!" Calypso said in a creepy voice. "Now I'll rip out yours."
I looked at Leo with a deadpan expression and snatched my sword from the air. "Not evil, huh?"