Memoirs of an Immortal (The Immortal Series) (11 page)

There was a man that was twice the size of an average person. He had long white hair, which was held back in a ponytail. His beard was white as well. I looked at this giant of a man, who was muscular, with large arms and legs. He ignored my stare and began to take off an outsized breast plate, which he placed on the floor next the throne, underneath he wore a simply chiton, which was all in black.

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, but I was preoccupied with something.” He said while sitting himself down onto the huge throne.

“Argh!” He cried out. “I’m so tired!” He yelled as he stretched his body. “Now that you are here, things will be getting much easier. I’m glad that you will now be part of our world.”

A sudden pain surged into my head and I dropped to my knees. I could hear faint whispers, some were louder than others as they overlapped and began overwhelming in my mind.

‘
Where are we? What is going on?

I knew that voice, which was filled with anxiety and fear. It was Eva.

“Young one, are you ok? Should I get Asklēpiós?” He asked in a concerned tone. I was scared, lost in my mind.

“What is this place? Where are we? Where are my sisters? I know they are here. I can hear them. Why can I hear them?” Every question I asked beckoned an answer.

I felt anger and fear. My face was burning, but before I could get a response I doubled over again. This time the large older man came next to me.

“Get up! You do not have time for this now, get up!” The man’s voice was full of irritation. “You are fated for great things. At least, that’s what I was told. But all I see is this young child, who is crying before me and here I thought I would have been impressed, but I see that maybe we were mistaken.” His voice roared throughout the room.

“Father please, be patient. She still does not know our ways. Even Asklēpiós said it will take time.” Aegle pleaded.

His eyes did not wonder from me. He merely picked me up and continued to stare.

“My name is Zeus. I am your teacher, your mentor and your father. I am the final say in this world and you will do as you’re told.” He ended his statement and looked for an acknowledgment from me, I barely nodded.

“There are two ways to achieve immortality. One way is given by the oracle to someone who is deemed worthy, the other, given by birth. Those who are graced by this gift are truly fortunate. You and your sisters are of the latter. Long ago, a prophecy was told to Apollon by his oracles, that a great shift in the war will happen with the birth of five daughters to a great hero and that their birth will rein in the age of the great Hesychia. You, Psykhe and your sisters, will bring forth a time of peace and prosperity that we could not achieve. Our world is vast and complex and everything will be explained in more detail as your training begins. I realize that you are scared and feeling a sense of loss, but all will be, but a mere memory, which with time will all become lost. I say this to you as a father to his child. This is the only true human life experience that I can offer you.” His words were soft as was his expression.

My eyes shifted from his face. I could hear someone approaching, there standing in the doorway were my sisters. All four stood wary and quiet, huddled together, holding each other’s hands. A few more like Aegle had appeared around them, all smiling and reassuring them.

Upon seeing them, I felt like I could breathe for the first time in this new life. Our eyes finally met. It had been few years we hadn’t seen each other. They looked older and wilder than before. I leaped from Zeus’ hold and ran towards them.

Eirene’s stoicism was melted with our reunion.

Agape could not stop crying.

Zoe’s quiet demeanor was replaced by tears and Eva was always Eva, was loud.

We hugged each other tightly, maybe hoping we weren’t dreaming of each other.

“Are you alright?” I asked my question muffled by my hug.

Before any of us could say anything to each other, a loud clap came from behind us.

“How touching!”

Eirene released me and I turned to see that there was a young man. His hair was a blond like sand, he was lean and tall, his face chiseled, his cheeks sunk in, making his jaw line stand out. His eyes were a piercing blue. His demeanor was completely arrogant.

“What a sweet scene, ah and their crying…” He continued.

“Enough Apollon, you’re being annoying, even more than usual.” An even larger man came from behind him. He was quite the opposite of the young man before him. He had black wavy hair, which was long enough to tie with a fairly large beard that was braided. He wore armor that I had never seen before. It looked heavy. The armor did not only cover his chest but part of his arms and legs.

He walked right passed us and nodded acknowledging our existence. He chose to sit at a bench near the large windows, towards the opposite side of the room, near the marble tables and chairs. He took his weapon, which looked like a large club, but was made of metal and placed it down, making a large thud, that echoing throughout the room.

Apollon didn’t bother to acknowledge him. He too carried a weapon. It was a bow that was made of pure light. It was bright enough to blind a person. As he held his bow, he turned his wrist and it disappeared.

“He’s right brother. Is this how you want to act?” It was the woman who took me. She had the same bow as her brother. She too, flicked her wrist and the bow she carried, vanished the same way as his.

“Yes Artemis, this is how I want to act. Do you know how humiliating it is to have to wait for these little girls to bring peace? Are we not gods? Are we not great enough? I have Zeus’ blood in me. I know I am truly great. Why can it not be me, who brings harmony to this world? Argh!” He yelled. “This makes me so angry.” He slammed his hand on the throne, Artemis only smiled at him.

“Very nicely done, brother! With your attitude now we know why that we are not that great to bring forth peace. With our power, we should think of the people, not of our egos.” I was so surprised, how can a god especially, Apollon think so selfishly?

Eirene grabbed my hand and mouthed
‘don’t’
.

But I couldn’t sit back and allow him to continue.

“How can you be this selfish? You are a god with great gifts. How can you not want to be selfless and desire the peace for our people? My father always said that to fight in a battle is not to one’s own self, but for the sake of those who cannot fight and for the freedom that was given to us.” My voice echoed through the hall.

Zeus smiled and walked away. Apollon however was not impressed. “HOW DARE YOU, SPEAK TO ME, AS THOUGH WE ARE EQUALS. YOU ARE NOTHING AND WILL BE NOTHING, YOU INSOLENT LITTLE GIRL!” He roared so loudly that it resonated throughout the room. Within a mere second, he was two inched away from my face. I felt fear, but I wasn’t about to show it. I dug my feet into the ground. I could feel my body changing like it did before with Asklēpiós. I dared not look away for him.

“Enough!” cried Zeus, “This was a long day for all of us. You five will start your training tomorrow. Aegle! You will take them to their rooms for tonight.”

Apollon had not moved from his stance. I could feel his breath on my face. His nose was flaring, his eyes digging into me.

“Enough I said” Zeus now was getting angry. Only then did Apollon stop. He glared back at me as he walked away. I could not take my gaze off this man’s face. How can a man, who was so beautiful, be so ugly?

Aegle had taken us away from the large throne room. We huddled together, as we were ushered silently down another corridor as before. We walked for quite some time. The large windows letting us peak into the world that we were now part of.

I could now see a large forest dominated the other side of the palace. When Aegle finally stopped, she smiled and extended her arm in front of a wooden door.

“Here is your room.” She sang as the door opened on its own.

Skeptically and quietly we all entered. The door closed behind us as we looked around. It almost looked like our room back home, however, the furniture and the linen were a lot more luxurious and the room was at least twice the size.

There was large fire pit that was in the middle. The pit itself was big enough to have our beds circled around it. As we stood quietly, a bright red flame erupted, lighting up the room.

The moment I had seen the bed I wanted, I walked up to it and sat. It was next to the window, which looked out into the vast garden. For some reason I felt that I needed to be near a window, near fresh air, so that somehow, I wouldn’t feel so trapped.

Even though I was happy that I had my sisters by my side, I could not stop the dark emotions that still lingered inside me.

Leonidas’ death had stained my soul and my life seemed incomplete. I wanted to be left alone. I sat in the middle of my bed, my knees to my chest and my arms wrapped around them looking outside. I tried desperately to remember my last moments with him. I was lost in my memories trying the feel the last place he touched, it was on my back. I remembered him caressing me, holding me, it felt so real, it was. I was startled to find Agape had sat next to me. Touching me where Leonidas had, she was crying silently, tears staining her dress.

“I’m so sorry, Psykhe.” Her voiced cracked. I didn’t even care enough to speak.

Eirene was frantically pacing back and forth.

“We need to get back! We can’t just leave father and mother by themselves. They can’t fight against a small army on their own.” Eirene was in a panic.

“What are you talking about?” I had awoken for my trance with the mention of my parents. “What about father and mother? What army?”

“We were in the middle of a battle, when Herakles appeared, the one with the club. He stopped some of the men, but only to get to us. He challenged me and the rest of us and the next thing I remember is that I woke up here. Father was challenged by some arrogant young prince. He even brought an army and then began to negotiate the terms of the battle. Father accepted.” She stopped talking for a moment.

‘
Why would father accept? He would only fight if it were necessary! Why then why?
’ I could hear Eirene speaking.

I just stared at her. I knew she didn’t say it, so she must have thought it. Why can I hear her?

“Don’t agonize on trying to figure out why father accepted the challenge. It’s pointless.” I answered wanting to give her a sense of comfort.

“What are you talking about? I didn’t say anything, I only… what is going on? First, they kill us, then bring us here and say we’re immortal, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?” She was furious.

There was no fear in her. She wanted answers, answers that none of us could give. She looked at me, her eyes full of contempt.

“I haven’t seen you in years. You were living safely with your king and you have the nerve to tell me what father was thinking. You have no clue who we are anymore.” She said bluntly.

My normal self would have attacked her verbally and physically, but I didn’t care.

“You’re right Eirene,” I said softly. I placed my head back onto my knees. “You and I don’t know each other anymore.”

She looked taken aback, surprised at my comment. Agape was still crying quietly next to me.

“Leonidas died in the great war, didn’t he?” Agape barely whispered. I could hear my sisters gasp. I nodded.

“He died fighting the Persians.”

“How did you know?” I asked grimly.

“I could feel it.” She breathed.

“You could feel it?” I turned and faced her. “How?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. I just could.”

I looked intently at her.

“I think I can hear voices.” I blurted out. “Some are muffled, while others are quiet whispers. Only a few times could I really make out what someone was thinking. How about you? Are you hearing things too?”

Eirene collapsed on the bed. She was lying on her back, “I had glimpses of events that had not happened yet, like in the throne room. I saw you speak up and Apollon came at you, but I couldn’t see what would have happened afterwards.” Eirene said her voice hoarse from yelling this whole time. Agape had tensed up still crying.

“I’m like that too. I sensed your grief and sadness. I can feel how angry we all are and how scared we feel. It’s overwhelming me.” She then buried her head into my arms and cried uncontrollably.

I held her tight as she sobbed, trying to somehow shelter her from everything.

“Eva? Zoe? How about you? Is there anything you two have felt or can do?” I questioned them, but neither of them was able to do anything different than before.

As the night progressed the fire grew larger and the room was all aglow. The heat had made us tired and weak. Agape, who was still in my arms, had fallen asleep. I guess I was the only one who could not be taken in by sleep. The whispers had grown louder, I could almost hear conversations. There was no way I could deal with all these changes. What would tomorrow bring? What was next for my sisters and me?

Our Schooling

There was a loud knock at the door. Agape began to stir in my arm. The second knock was louder than before, finally waking everyone up. Eirene walked cautiously towards the door.

“Hurry up and open, already! We need to go, I don’t have all day.” We heard a man bellow from the other side.

Eirene opened the door and there stood a tall man. His hair was short, his built was slender. He looked annoyed as he was leaning on the doorway. It appeared that our knocker was irritated.

“Finally!” He sighed. He then smiled when our eyes met.

“I can finally see you in person.” He stared at me and winked. “I’m so glad that I will be the one to oversee your training.” He said this while walking over to me. He then sat next to me on my bed.