BOOK TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Sasha shielded her eyes from the light. The world around her froze. “What happened? Why did it stop?”
“Masters One and Two died, and I lost any sensory connection to the physical world.”
“They died?! They’re both dead!!”
“They are.”
“No, you’re wrong. You must be wrong. This is just you showing me my biggest fear.” Sasha blinked and found herself once again in the battle ring covered in blood, laid out on the ground before her were all her friends, slain by her hand. She screamed, and Zeus laughed from the other side of the arena. She ran at him, ablaze with rage, but he batted her away no more effort than one shoos a fly. She hit the wall, and landed with a thud. Pain took over her existence, clogging her lungs and spilling out her eyes. Physiological expressions of grief found their way to her even without a body. The world disappeared, only blackness remained.
“No, there must be something we can do…” Sasha shouted, panicking. “Isn’t there something we can do?”
“I will do whatever you command me.”
Sasha thought. “Send me back. Send me back to before this so I can stop her.”
“Very well.”
Sasha found herself in the moment right before the Queen sent her to the North Star. The thunderbolt that started Chrysanthia’s transformation distracted the guards restraining Sasha just enough for her to sweep their legs and escape. She ran to the Queen, kicked the diamond from her hand and ripped the sword from her grasp. She raised it to stab her, but settled instead for knocking her unconscious. The Prince, who had retrieved the North Star, shouted, “Come on!” and the two of them ran for it. Sasha sword-fought their way out of the temple, and when they reached the outside they ran as fast as they could never looking back. They found an abandoned cottage in the forest, went inside, and fell asleep holding each other. In the middle of the night, Sasha awoke with a start. The North Star ghost sat at the foot of the bed.
“That didn’t really happen, did it?”
“No, not the way you mean.”
“Just wishful thinking,” she lamented, touching the Prince’s sleeping lips with her fingertips. She kissed him tenderly, and when she stood up she was once again in the temple looking at Zeus and his daughter standing over a room of bodies.
“Am I dead, too? My body, I mean.”
“No. In here you were protected from Zeus’s action. I can return you to your body when you desire it.”
“What about time? How could so much time have passed? In my last visit, hours in here were mere seconds out there.”
“It took much time to…reorganize you.”
“How much time has passed since they died?”
“I have no way of knowing.”
“What will I come back to, though?” Sasha needed only imagine and she was there, in the temple, surrounded by dead bodies. “Maybe I could…” she wracked her brain. “Maybe I could use your power on Zeus the way the Queen does. Take control of him, get him to…raise the dead, maybe. Can he do that?”
“No.”
“How do you know?” The North Star took the form of a man Sasha didn’t recognize.
“Only Hades and Persephone have that power.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have been in Hades’ head. I know what Hades knows."
“But they have to obey Zeus don’t they?”
“No.”
“But surely he can coerce them.”
“Unlikely.”
“You’re not being very helpful right now.”
“I disagree.”
Sasha thought; an idea came to her.
“What about you?” she asked. North Star didn’t answer. “If you know what Hades knows, then you know how to raise the dead.”
“In this vessel, my scope is limited to the one plane. A dead body has no mind to which I may connect.”
“But with a different body, you could? You could save them?”
“A connection to the physical world would open many possible uses of my power.”
“What about a human body? What about me?”
“Masters One and Two died, and I lost any sensory connection to the physical world.”
“They died?! They’re both dead!!”
“They are.”
“No, you’re wrong. You must be wrong. This is just you showing me my biggest fear.” Sasha blinked and found herself once again in the battle ring covered in blood, laid out on the ground before her were all her friends, slain by her hand. She screamed, and Zeus laughed from the other side of the arena. She ran at him, ablaze with rage, but he batted her away no more effort than one shoos a fly. She hit the wall, and landed with a thud. Pain took over her existence, clogging her lungs and spilling out her eyes. Physiological expressions of grief found their way to her even without a body. The world disappeared, only blackness remained.
“No, there must be something we can do…” Sasha shouted, panicking. “Isn’t there something we can do?”
“I will do whatever you command me.”
Sasha thought. “Send me back. Send me back to before this so I can stop her.”
“Very well.”
Sasha found herself in the moment right before the Queen sent her to the North Star. The thunderbolt that started Chrysanthia’s transformation distracted the guards restraining Sasha just enough for her to sweep their legs and escape. She ran to the Queen, kicked the diamond from her hand and ripped the sword from her grasp. She raised it to stab her, but settled instead for knocking her unconscious. The Prince, who had retrieved the North Star, shouted, “Come on!” and the two of them ran for it. Sasha sword-fought their way out of the temple, and when they reached the outside they ran as fast as they could never looking back. They found an abandoned cottage in the forest, went inside, and fell asleep holding each other. In the middle of the night, Sasha awoke with a start. The North Star ghost sat at the foot of the bed.
“That didn’t really happen, did it?”
“No, not the way you mean.”
“Just wishful thinking,” she lamented, touching the Prince’s sleeping lips with her fingertips. She kissed him tenderly, and when she stood up she was once again in the temple looking at Zeus and his daughter standing over a room of bodies.
“Am I dead, too? My body, I mean.”
“No. In here you were protected from Zeus’s action. I can return you to your body when you desire it.”
“What about time? How could so much time have passed? In my last visit, hours in here were mere seconds out there.”
“It took much time to…reorganize you.”
“How much time has passed since they died?”
“I have no way of knowing.”
“What will I come back to, though?” Sasha needed only imagine and she was there, in the temple, surrounded by dead bodies. “Maybe I could…” she wracked her brain. “Maybe I could use your power on Zeus the way the Queen does. Take control of him, get him to…raise the dead, maybe. Can he do that?”
“No.”
“How do you know?” The North Star took the form of a man Sasha didn’t recognize.
“Only Hades and Persephone have that power.”
“How do you know that?”
“I have been in Hades’ head. I know what Hades knows."
“But they have to obey Zeus don’t they?”
“No.”
“But surely he can coerce them.”
“Unlikely.”
“You’re not being very helpful right now.”
“I disagree.”
Sasha thought; an idea came to her.
“What about you?” she asked. North Star didn’t answer. “If you know what Hades knows, then you know how to raise the dead.”
“In this vessel, my scope is limited to the one plane. A dead body has no mind to which I may connect.”
“But with a different body, you could? You could save them?”
“A connection to the physical world would open many possible uses of my power.”
“What about a human body? What about me?”
“Father! Dammit!! Dammit, dammit. DAMMIT!!!”
“Watch your language around me, young lady.”
“What were you thinking?” Chrysanthia screamed.
“If this is your idea of thanks, you have far to go,” her father said, fatherly.
“You act too hastily! You always do this. There were other solutions. May I have my sight back, please?” Zeus kissed his daughter on the forehead, and her vision returned.
“Other solutions have complications. Trust me, Chrysanthia, I know.”
“You should have talked with me first. You never listen to what I have to say.”
“Strangers came here to ambush me, and your caretakers allowed it. The punishment stands for all of them.”
“Something was wrong with them. It wasn’t their fault. That woman, she had something...powerful…” Chrysanthia and Zeus got quiet. They felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. In the corner of the room stood a girl looking at them in a strange manner. They stared for a moment, then looked at each other in stunned incredulity. “Hello there,” Chrysanthia said patronizingly. The girl didn’t answer, instead she looked to the sky and almost fell backwards. “What’s happening? Where did she come from? How is she even alive?”
“Something isn’t right,” Zeus said.
“Agreed,” said his daughter. Zeus raised a hand, but Chrysanthia stopped him. “No, allow me. You’ll over do it.” She rubbed her hands together, and from her palm shot a blue thunderbolt at this bizarre stranger. It tore through her abdomen, but instead of ravaging the rest of her with electricity, she absorbed the energy and dissipated it harmlessly outward. Her body then repaired itself from the inside out, even erasing an old scar from her face. Chrysanthia looked at her father in disbelief, then the two of them unleashed everything they had.
“Watch your language around me, young lady.”
“What were you thinking?” Chrysanthia screamed.
“If this is your idea of thanks, you have far to go,” her father said, fatherly.
“You act too hastily! You always do this. There were other solutions. May I have my sight back, please?” Zeus kissed his daughter on the forehead, and her vision returned.
“Other solutions have complications. Trust me, Chrysanthia, I know.”
“You should have talked with me first. You never listen to what I have to say.”
“Strangers came here to ambush me, and your caretakers allowed it. The punishment stands for all of them.”
“Something was wrong with them. It wasn’t their fault. That woman, she had something...powerful…” Chrysanthia and Zeus got quiet. They felt the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. In the corner of the room stood a girl looking at them in a strange manner. They stared for a moment, then looked at each other in stunned incredulity. “Hello there,” Chrysanthia said patronizingly. The girl didn’t answer, instead she looked to the sky and almost fell backwards. “What’s happening? Where did she come from? How is she even alive?”
“Something isn’t right,” Zeus said.
“Agreed,” said his daughter. Zeus raised a hand, but Chrysanthia stopped him. “No, allow me. You’ll over do it.” She rubbed her hands together, and from her palm shot a blue thunderbolt at this bizarre stranger. It tore through her abdomen, but instead of ravaging the rest of her with electricity, she absorbed the energy and dissipated it harmlessly outward. Her body then repaired itself from the inside out, even erasing an old scar from her face. Chrysanthia looked at her father in disbelief, then the two of them unleashed everything they had.
Sasha awoke in a world of dead bodies, but felt no horror or pity or fear. The North Star had shared its secrets with her, transformed her perception, and she could feel only awe and great, great power.
“When you return, you will not have long.”
Patterns and symbols made up the space around her the way air and ground once did, and all of it was hers to control. She had to do something, but she couldn’t quite remember what, this feeling of unlimited awareness so intoxicated her. She heard/saw/felt an argument emanating from the next room. She moved her body towards it, remembering humorously the time when she would have needed a doorway to pass from one man-made chamber to another.
“In this body, my power is a hammer for you to wield; in your body, it will be a thunderbolt, a hundred million thunderbolts.”
Before her two beings, one made of mostly energy, the other mostly water, ceased their exchange and turned their attention to her. Their individual temperatures rose slightly, and they spoke to her, but Sasha didn’t understand the language. She surveyed the space, observing with new faculties the constant interconnected movement of all things. Even the corpses around her teemed with creation and development, a million births and deaths repeating ad infinitum.
“Your body will break.”
She counted the heartbeats of the two figures, registered an increase in speed, and absorbed the weaponized energy that came her way, repairing any injury as soon as it formed, amazed at the ease with which she could adjust the universe around her. Why couldn’t she do this before? It was all so simple. Palpable bafflement overtook the two consciousnesses near her. They continued their attacks, but Sasha barely noticed. She considered flying somewhere, but there was now nowhere she did not know intimately, besides she had something to do. What was it she had to do? What matters now? Now that she knows all this?
“For you are not a god.”
“Nor a diamond.”
“No.”
Then she saw him. Him. Lying there. In decay. And she remembered. And she decided to stop it. Stop it all. All the movement. She brought it all to a halt. Everywhere. She didn’t have long with The Understanding. She acted now. It took everything she had. A connection with every tiniest bit of matter. To trace it backwards. Where was it before all this? She commanded every single one to retreat and regenerate, and every fired synapse to retract its impulses. The structure of existence reset itself one moment at a time with one exception, Sasha herself, conductor and witness. The ocean of the sun churned in reverse, the sand rejected the waves, and the hunted escaped the hunter for a little while longer. A birch tree enveloped a girl nearby, a battle came undone, wounds sealed themselves up, bodies sucked up spilled blood.
“Are you ready?”
But something was wrong. The glue keeping Sasha together was weakening. Flowers on the ground formed two people. She couldn’t keep herself separate for long. A girl flew up into branches, then scrambled down a trunk. A fire burned in her head. Two children appeared. She had to abandon this or be lost. A redhead placed a diamond in a cage. And, no longer able to control anything, Sasha let go. She landed in her own repositioned body like an arrow, knocking herself to the floor.
The Twins of Atropos looked at each other and said, “Oooooh.”
“When you return, you will not have long.”
Patterns and symbols made up the space around her the way air and ground once did, and all of it was hers to control. She had to do something, but she couldn’t quite remember what, this feeling of unlimited awareness so intoxicated her. She heard/saw/felt an argument emanating from the next room. She moved her body towards it, remembering humorously the time when she would have needed a doorway to pass from one man-made chamber to another.
“In this body, my power is a hammer for you to wield; in your body, it will be a thunderbolt, a hundred million thunderbolts.”
Before her two beings, one made of mostly energy, the other mostly water, ceased their exchange and turned their attention to her. Their individual temperatures rose slightly, and they spoke to her, but Sasha didn’t understand the language. She surveyed the space, observing with new faculties the constant interconnected movement of all things. Even the corpses around her teemed with creation and development, a million births and deaths repeating ad infinitum.
“Your body will break.”
She counted the heartbeats of the two figures, registered an increase in speed, and absorbed the weaponized energy that came her way, repairing any injury as soon as it formed, amazed at the ease with which she could adjust the universe around her. Why couldn’t she do this before? It was all so simple. Palpable bafflement overtook the two consciousnesses near her. They continued their attacks, but Sasha barely noticed. She considered flying somewhere, but there was now nowhere she did not know intimately, besides she had something to do. What was it she had to do? What matters now? Now that she knows all this?
“For you are not a god.”
“Nor a diamond.”
“No.”
Then she saw him. Him. Lying there. In decay. And she remembered. And she decided to stop it. Stop it all. All the movement. She brought it all to a halt. Everywhere. She didn’t have long with The Understanding. She acted now. It took everything she had. A connection with every tiniest bit of matter. To trace it backwards. Where was it before all this? She commanded every single one to retreat and regenerate, and every fired synapse to retract its impulses. The structure of existence reset itself one moment at a time with one exception, Sasha herself, conductor and witness. The ocean of the sun churned in reverse, the sand rejected the waves, and the hunted escaped the hunter for a little while longer. A birch tree enveloped a girl nearby, a battle came undone, wounds sealed themselves up, bodies sucked up spilled blood.
“Are you ready?”
But something was wrong. The glue keeping Sasha together was weakening. Flowers on the ground formed two people. She couldn’t keep herself separate for long. A girl flew up into branches, then scrambled down a trunk. A fire burned in her head. Two children appeared. She had to abandon this or be lost. A redhead placed a diamond in a cage. And, no longer able to control anything, Sasha let go. She landed in her own repositioned body like an arrow, knocking herself to the floor.
The Twins of Atropos looked at each other and said, “Oooooh.”
The story continues in Chapter Twenty-Three...