I thought I wouldn't ever see the fleeting shadow again. Just us we got further into the Long Island Borders; I caught another glimpse of a glinting dark figure. It moved so fast that I barely distinguished it. It moved towards a lone narrow street lined with urban housing.
"Hey," I began. They stopped on their tracks and looked quizzically at me.
"What?" Sabrina asked impatiently, she wanted so bad to leave. We agreed that they would only lead me to a forest near the camp, I could follow the rest of the trail. Her almond eyes squinted further at me.
"Can we just check that street over there?" I pointed. "Just need to make sure we aren't being followed," I said in a low voice.
Celine understood since I had been telling her about the uneasiness I felt since we left the pizza place. She thought that it could possibly be weariness acting up after the fight. Regardless, both of them followed me as I crossed the street.
No one was there, only street signs and pedestrians seemed to occupy it. Houses did not have the dark gleam I saw, just lights that punctured through the uniform floral curtains.
"There's nothing here, witch boy," Sabrina said in irritation, enough to even call me 'witch boy'. The nerve of her!
"Will you quit calling me that? Calling me 'witch boy' doesn't make sense. It's not even right by all means," I retorted.
"I would, if you stop asking us to look at every street you see!" she shouted as she trudged off.
I felt anger boil within me. I was ready to turn her into a horrible beast if she was so insistent that I knew magic so well. Before I could go after her, Celine placed a comforting hand over my shoulder.
"Please do be easy on her. She just wants to get through this matter quickly, I'm sure she didn't mean to say that. Sabrina does have a rough personality, but she is a good person. Believe me," she said gently. My shoulders tensed then I exhaled.
"Alright, but if she does it again… I don't even know where she got that stupid nickname. It sounds so absurd and wrong. I mean how could a witch be a boy?" I added the humor to ease her worries. I felt it was unlikely for me to do such.
She laughed, a gentle and sweet sound. "You've got a point there," she said as we followed Sabrina towards the fields, surrounded by the lapping waves of the sea. The glade glinted gold against the setting sun. Violet hues danced along the orange horizon.
"That's your destination," she pointed to a hill across a forest. "Will lead you to a safe trail we know. Then that's the end of the deal, fair on both ends," she said it with so much finality. She was truly determined to leave. As much as I hate her, I wanted to know what made her bitter towards me, despite my attempts to talk to her.
Celine motioned for me to follow them into a rough path patched with soil and hewn on the rightmost side of the field. The sea waves crashed with the grey rocks of the shore, dispersing drops of water on our faces. I wondered if I was in good terms with the sea god, Poseidon (glad I remembered, but it didn't pop up easily, mind you), or if he too hated me so much that a sea sprinkle of saltwater would be much better than getting a full ocean wave slap. Then again, if the Olympians hated me that much, I wouldn't actually be here trying to pull my laced boots from mud.
To my relief, we reached the forest. The path diverged into another side, towards a creek. Sabrina and Celine followed the rocks that lined the banks. We emerged into a new clearing, surrounded by the ruffling leaves. Birds whistled all around us. Shadows casted leaf shapes on the ground. I could hear cheers and shouts coming from the hill where the demigods reside.
Sabrina darted towards another trail, leading to the left side of the hill. We followed in silence. All I could hear where sticks breaking under our feet and chirps that echoed through the canopy. We were almost there, I could see the pillars that said my destinations' name, Camp Half-Blood. I was left to wonder if I was welcome there or will they dismiss me for the mistake I have done before, which I didn't even have the slightest clue about except for the entire redeeming thing.
My worries were cut short. A sound reached my ears, it was like a whisper, an exhale. "Stop," I uttered. Sabrina glared at me, "What now? We're almost there"
"Shhh…" I raised my index finger towards my lips and motioned for her to stay silent.
She was adamant about this. She must have had it with me stopping them to pay attention to the strange things I see or hear. "Look here, witch boy, if you're going to pull this off again, then we better leave you here bes-" the last part of her sentence turned into a scream. A mossy skeletal hand emerged from the ground. It grabbed her ankle, pulling her off her feet. She tumbled onto the ground, clawing at the soil as the hand pulled her into the ground.
"Sabrina," Celine shouted in fright. She looked at me as if wondering if I finally decided to set my revenge in place. When she realized that I was as confused as she was, she quickly ran towards Sabrina. She grabbed her hand, trying to pull her free. Celine fell to the ground in her struggle to set her friend free. Before she could pull herself up, another hand shot from the ground and gripped her wrist so tight that she lost the strength to stand up.
"Za-zagreus," she struggled to say. I was too shocked by the scene to even move. I felt numb that all I waited for was a hand to grab me and pull me into an abyss.
Destroy, the voice formed a word now in my head. Destroy all of them, it said with much conviction that I gripped my sword. I appeared to be in trance for a while, trying to find the owner of the voice whispering in my head. Sabrina immediately broke that off, "Zagreus, you idiot! Get us out of here" that might have been enough for me to let the abyss swallow her whole, but their pleas made me angry towards the voice instead.
"Who do you think you are?" I shouted at the voice, though, Sabrina and Celine looked confusingly at me. "Stooping so low as to set traps. Show yourself!" call me crazy, but I sort of remembered enough of my old domain to know that slicing off the skeletal hands wouldn't do good for our situation here. It would only lead to more hands, and I didn't have the strength to slice through it all.
I was internally wishing that there were not many bodies buried around here. The fleeting shadow confirmed my worries even more. I saw it again from the corner of my eye. It swooped around me, circling until I was dizzy. I tried to strike it with my sword (great idea by the way) but it vanished, only to appear right in front of me.
A mortal would have screamed and ran away as fast as he can upon seeing what I saw right in front of my face. The shadow was barely a figure, it had no legs of sorts, only shadows that seemed to fade onto the ground. Its hands were long and thin like talons of an eagle. Its abdomen appeared to be a skeleton, or at least a shadow of one. I couldn't describe its face properly. It was like a mixture of swirling dark images, that formed into hollow sockets and a vain scowl.
Weirdly, it breathed heavily. Its breath was a mixture of acid and the smell of rotten fruit, making my nose wrinkle. It happened all too fast. I squinted at it as if remembering its name. In a matter of nanoseconds, it said "Boo!". I blamed my disorientation afterwards because I didn't react fast enough on that stupid trick. The ground rumbled more skeletal hands popped from the soil, sending me off the place I stood as it caused a wave, bringing me far away from my comrades. Instantly, I grabbed my sword, slicing through the skeletal hands like they were tall grasses that needed trimming. Despite my efforts, it kept popping back. It gained skin and remnants of tissues whenever it appeared back.
I tried to reach Celine and Sabrina, but the intensity of the pull from the hands was enough to bring me to my knees. I struggled to get up as they tugged my feet and legs. My sword wouldn't even cut through the bones. They were emitting the same energy as the shadow. They were gaining strength at every minute. I was overpowered.
If I knew its name, maybe I could have some power over it – which was an impossible thought seeing my state. I do not even know if the Underworld would side me much less controlling these skeleton hands.
"Submit to us, former master, and we will duly bring you to him," the voice came out as a whisper again, yet all of us could hear it. Sabrina and Celine managed to look at me incredulously again as they struggled against the pull of the hands. I really did not have a clue of what the voice was talking about.
"Him? Who is he?!" I exclaimed. The shadow did not answer my question. It began to emit a stronger aura. Its formed swirled, until a new one materialized. The shadow boded in with flesh, forming a ghoulish hunched body. Its hide was a mixture of blue and black, glistening like the eyes of a fly. Its mouth now opened into a wider scowl, saliva dripping off of it. Black greasy vulture feathers wrapped around it like a cloak.
"You must know him. He is within you. Come with us and we will provide answers to your deepest desires," he said in a hoarse voice. I was pretty sure it was not used to talking, more of shrieking was its expertise.
"No," I said decisively. I wanted answers, I truly wanted it more than anything, but I was not going to trust a vulture ghoul to give me that. I stared at it even further, trying to remember its name. I was sure I was going to know the name for this one faster than the dracanae's since it was a creature of the Underworld.
"Is that what you really want, former master?" he asked tauntingly. I could gradually remember its name… it was a Eurynomos, the corpse-eating daimon of the Underworld. Their claws could inflict diseases upon mortals, causing them to degenerate and die. They would rise again as undead warriors, 'zombies' if you will.
"You're a Eu- eurynomos," I said, finally figuring it out under the strain. The grip was stopping my blood to flow, was that even possible? "If I'm your former master, will you abide to my wishes even for now?"
It chuckled, "You were, yes. You granted us great power. Quite unimaginable, yet you are now empty of that power, even the memory of giving us that power. Our rightful master is providing us with strength beyond what you can think. You know him well. We will bring you to him, he will answer what you desire the most," he said. He was tempting me to come with him, to get the answers to my past; to a huge missing part of my life.
"Z-zagreus… d-don't!" Celine exclaimed. She was trying to reach me. The pull of the skeleton hands. I had to do something, but I clearly did know where to start.
"Hmm… if your incessant about it, my kind would truly want to feast upon the flesh of your friends," as he said that, more shadows appeared, drawing powerful aura around the place. Materialized into ghoulish corpse-eating monsters, only this time, they wore the vulture feathers as loincloths.
"Don't you da-" I was cut off by the sound of people running towards us. They came nearer.
"Over here Black Bird!" a young man shouted. He appeared just in the corner of my view. Before the skeleton hands buried him alive, I saw his appearance. His sea green eyes gleamed against the remaining light of the sun. He had a shaggy jet-black hair, and he wore an orange shirt, similar to the rest of his comrades.
He sliced through the skeletal hands, trying to get near us. The rest of the demigods shot at eurynomoi with arrows, spears, daggers, and glasses of artificially colored liquid. The eurynomoi simply yawned and let the dancing shadows that surrounded their flesh consume the weapons like a wormhole. I was amazed by the power it had. They might have been only corpse-eating brainless ghouls back then. At least, 'might be', that was only a part of a memory, not the entirety of it.
"Percy!" a girl screamed. She had blonde curls and grey eyes. Her run was cut short by another sprouting skeletal hand. Soon enough, all of the demigods where caught in a net of skeletal hands.
Even the boy, Percy, couldn't reach his sword – which flew from his hand when skeletons reached for him. He was completely pinned to the ground. I could see him wrinkling his forehead, as if concentrating very hard on something.
A wave of water from the creek came crashing towards the eurynomoi. They looked at it with wide eyes, then just stared at it - unbelievable. The wave hit them hard, getting us all wet with fresh water. The water was enough to disturb the eurynomoi. But they were not weakened in any sort of way.
They dismissed their state of shock by shaking the water off their vulture feathers. They exhaled, an intense and rancid smell that made us drop even more. The skeletal hands gripped stronger, hugging our abdomens now. I could feel something that tossed around on my belt. It was the bag of bones Hecate gave me. I managed to free my hand with my sword, only to be gripped again by a skeletal hand.
"Foolish boy, with our strength, not even the gods can stop us," he said "I'm getting impatient. If he doesn't want to come with us, then we should at least have our dinner. Finish them off!"
One by one, the eurynomoi jumped with their talon-like feet. They each took a demigod, scooting close to them, exhaling horrid breaths. Either I see them get eaten or be turned into zombies. None of those is ideal on the demigods' part. I summoned every ounce of strength I had. Maybe I still had control over them, if I just tapped into the energy within me. Nothing happened. I was running out of time. The eurynomoi were ready to consume their dinner. The demigods were screaming, trying to reach for their weapons, struggling all they can to fight the skeletons off. The hands continued to rise, they were now burying everyone, pinning them on the ground.
I clenched my fist. I cut through the hand gripping me, providing me time to free my other hand. I hastily fished through the bag of bones. I sliced the hands trying to hold me down as I stood up. I looked at the symbols, trying to jog my memory of magic. Finally, I stumbled upon a familiar one. It was similar to a small letter 'u', which – as far as I remember – meant destroy. But it could also be an 'n' which only meant 'vanish'. I was trying to decide which was it, but I really did not have the luxury of time, especially when the eurynomoi were planting their claws on the ground and opening their mouths real wide.
How do I use this? I thought. I knew magical symbols but couldn't quite remember how to summon the magic from them. But there needs to be a memory of it somewhere...
The euryonomos with the vulture cloak looked at me. Ready to lunge towards me, he said "Devour them!" he was preparing to plant his talons on me. Before he got any closer, I tossed the square bone in the air on impulse. It did not release magic as easily as that. A piercing pain inflicted my eyes as I encompass all the anger I had towards the monsters, the anguish, the pain, and my remaining energy. I concentrated hard on my target. With one clear cut, I strike the floating symbol with my obsidian sword. A wave of blue energy made the ground shake stronger than before. The hands receded into the ground, some of them completely disintegrating. The eurynomoi did not have the chance to bite into their meals as the wave flashed upon them, turning them into dust. The lead eurynomos barely missed me with its talons, scowling as the energy swallowed him whole.
The wave vanished as instantly as it came. My mind became fuzzy. The pain in my eye intensified, and I felt a new burning sensation on my wrists. I crumpled onto the ground. All I could remember was Celine shouting my name… then all went black.
The void returned. Ironically, I floated subconsciously on its vast emptiness. Like a pulsating light, images began to burst from it, a pain cutting through my skull. I blinked as images began to swirl like ripples of water. They were misty and unclear. Maybe they were fragmented realities of my past or at least, they might be a reimagination of it. The images were too overwhelming, yet, they did not let me submerge into their depths.
As if on instinct, I closed mt eyes. I let the memory find its course through me. I found the earliest memory I could find – the only one I could reach. All of them were vague, but this one memory stood out to be clearer than day. I touched it; I plummeted into that moment, thousands and thousands of years ago.
The blur faded. I was in a large room with a dome ceiling. Echoes reverberated through the walls. I could hear soft gurgles of water from below. The obsidian walls housed several armors that hanged like trophies around the central fireplace. Flames trickled over the coals, giving light to a lone chair at the corner of the room near a large window.
On the chair sat a very beautiful woman. She had a tender impression; her rosy lips formed a smile. Her sky-blue eyes glinted – a look like she knows something and was eager to reveal it. Long and straight blond her cascaded on her back. Her porcelain skin glowed against the dark room. She was wearing a flowy orange dress – the color of autumn – leaves continuously fading in and out of it. A pitchy noise made me jolt and look at the source of the sound. On her lap was a toddler, probably two or three years-old, giggling. The child was wearing a black tunic. He had a ruffled black hair that were quite long and round hazel eyes that stared at the woman fondly.
My heart thumped against my chest. I swallowed the uneasiness as I realized who that child was. That was me, and the woman must be…
"Want me to show that trick again?" my mother, Persephone asked. I giggled again, amused at thought. I clasped my hands, waiting for her next act.
She slipped her fingers at the back of my right ear. She pulled a small red rose bud magically from it. I stared at it in amazement as she tapped the petals to make it bloom.
"You like that don't you?" she gave me the rose. I fiddled with it, curiously smelling it – its fragrance made me giggle once more. My mother lifted me and pulled me closer to her. I was now staring at her hair. The gold strands were mesmerizing.
"It's nice to give life to something, is it not?" she asked me. I stared at her with much puzzlement, but I resolved the thought by smiling at her. "You might even take care of my gardens someday," she added. The idea perked me up but I was much interested in doing the trick, so I reached for her ears, stretching my little arms. I must have thought of the rose very deeply to be able to concentrate like that. I successfully pulled a little white rose bud from my mother's ears, laughing joyously at my feat. I decided to attach both of the rose buds on my mother's hair, placing it like a clip on one side of her hair. I tapped both of the buds to make it bloom and glitter.
"There!" I said, applauding my work.
My mother touched the petals and smiled. "You truly are a gift, Zagreus. You truly are. I wish you'll stay this way. Unchanging," upon those last words, her expression saddened. She embraced me tighter and looked into my eyes, as if she was conceding to something. "I just hope you could"
The scene disappeared. I was no longer in the large room; I was back inside the space of blurry memories. I just floated there, staring at them. I was unable to enter a memory, even the smallest ones. I drifted in and out of my consciousness. I soon floated upon the space, like dreams swirling in and out. Until...
The other scene hit me like a nauseating wave. It was dark, yet flames lined the ridges up ahead. It appeared to be a cave, stalagmites and stalactites jutted from the roof and the corners. The crackling of fire resounded throughout the cave. The scene made every nerve in my body freeze. I could not understand how, but it simply made me scared and angry at the same time. My barely visible form stood there until shapes started to clear out at the center of the cave. I was looking at an entirely new scene.
"All I was asking of you was your loyalty," said a tall figure that stood at the heart of the cave. His voice was deep, taunting and hunting. The place seemed to echo his voice, which sounded like it was being drawn back rather than going outward. "Is that even difficult for you to give?" he asked.
I could not see much, but I could barely make out the outline of another figure, kneeling on the floor. "I- please forgive me, I am only doing the duty of… Kronos was…" the other figure said. The name raced its way through my brain. It made my anger boil to a point that I almost forgot that I was within a memory. I wanted so bad to pierce through it – to remember who Kronos truly was and ask these two what they know of him, and who are they to be in my memories to begin with.
The flames intensified, shedding harsh light on the two outlines I was seeing. A pang of shock clogged my throat. My anger was quickly replaced by absolute surprise. For a moment, my heart stopped to beat. I was looking at myself… someone I barely even know.
He was taller and looked much older than me, nonetheless, he was me. I felt so detached to the concept of him being me that I could not fathom calling him 'me.' Power flowed within him, power even I could not imagine. Was this truly me? It kept ringing in my head.
I was there at the very center with a much shorter and cleaned cut hair and a black cloak that wrapped around a glowing silver armor. My face was clean-shaven (as always). My eyes were conflicting colors. The familiar blue flames flickered on my right eye. The iris of my left eye was gold, that looked colder than ever under the dark and infernal flames – like a reptile watching its prey. My features were much sharper and defined. An authoritative bearing blanketed me, giving the entity in front of me a much harder time.
I cackled, a frightening sound that reverberated like mountains cracking in half. "Iapetus, do not try to play me, you coward! You have always been conflicted on who you should side from the very beginning you planned to overthrow your father."
Iapetus… Iapetus, my mind tried to grasp the memory. Iapetus began to shake on his knees. Both of his hands were planted on the ground, beads of sweat dripping from his temples. His lips were trembling as he tried to speak, each word slipping from his tongue like loose strings.
"I-I promise you I'll -" he was cut short by a sudden burst of anger.
"Enough!" I said, the flames were soaring into a high point. The entire cave grumbled. The echoes continued to go inward, like it was the one sucking the air out of the place. My lungs felt corroded and weak.
"Promises are instilled by weaklings who cannot keep such word. I will save you from the pain of breaking one. Perhaps I could be the one now to boil your flesh and feast upon it," my left eye glowed malevolently. The blue flames intensified. I smiled, just enough to show teeth that appeared to be fangs. This is not me, my consciousness told myself. It could not be me. This sinister form was only a dream, it could not possibly be real.
"Zagreus, please, hear me out, I'm - " his please did not made its end. I grabbed his neck, tight enough to make him stand. Iapetus was taller than me. He had a scraggly long beard and silver eyes that were now bloodshot and wide. Wrinkles were traced across his face, placing emphasis on scars that were embedded on his forehead and chin. He was gaunt and appeared to be much frailer than my present self. He wore a tattered purple tunic that was kept together by numerous knots. I could see the callouses on his feet and hands – probably products of constant labor.
"You did not hear me out when I cried for help within these walls. You did not stop and save me when you heard my cries. Now tell me, are you even deserving of my mercy?!" I shouted, shaking the entire place even further. My jaw clenched and my gripped tightened around Iapetus' neck, making him choke and claw at my hands. My stare turned steely and cold, like it was seeping through his soul. Even my consciousness shuddered. I forced myself to focus on the scene and attempted to jog my memory of it.
I felt the anger of my sinister form as dark tentacles sprouted from the ground, just below Iapetus. The tentacles grappled at Iapetus' limbs, pulling his arms and legs into the abyss that appeared on his feet. The whole produced gnawing sounds like it had invisible sharp teeth. The tentacles twisted Iapetus' abdomen, making me release my grip of his neck. Iapetus clawed on the ground helplessly, but it was too late to even try as the vortex of tentacles swallowed him whole.
I smirked, a thin line that wrought my pale lips. "I will waste no time eating your flesh, Iapetus. There will come a time for you to fully respect, and so will they," I looked at the roof of the cave, but my consciousness was sure that that was not the direction of my words. I was addressing a much larger force. I disappeared into the darkness… or rather he did. I was much confused than enlightened when I drifted into the void again where my dreams and my past collided.