Page 42 of Song of Memories

Eurydice put those thoughts aside as the world around her started to glow. Far off in the distance, no bigger than a pin prick, she saw it—a tiny, warm ball of light.

The sun! Eurydice practically shrieked in her mind, keeping her lips tight together. She couldn't make a sound.

She started running at a full sprint, pushing herself until her limbs were on fire. Eurydice could only think of Orpheus's arms, of collapsing into his chest after so long. Her feet were torn to shreds. She wept as the air whipped at her face, but she kept running. The ball of light grew larger and larger until Eurydice could begin to see some of the outlines of distant trees. Soon! She would be in the warm sunlight, running with Orpheus through the grass, brushing her fingers through those golden curls while he wrote verses praising her beauty above all else's. What it would be like in a few mere moments to kiss—

"Eurydice?" Orpheus's voice cut through the still darkness like a knife. It ripped through Eurydice's exalted visions and stabbed her directly in the heart. She tripped and went flying, barely avoiding smashing her head on a massive boulder lining the path. Eurydice scrambled to her feet, her pulse racing, trying to make sense of what happened.

There was Orpheus, standing at the mouth of the massive cave system they were in. His blonde hair was dripping with sweat, and he had a dismayed expression on his face.

"Orpheus!" Eurydice gasped. "What have you done?" Eurydice was so horribly confused. "I was right behind you! How could you not believe me?" Her voice increased in pitch as the sensations in her body started to ebb away; her fingers and toes were already going numb.

Eurydice was dying again.

"Orpheus!" Eurydice screamed, her voice cracking. "O-Orpheus, save me! Please!" She tried to stand up but collapsed back to her knees, crawling towards him. She scraped her body across the ground as her legs stopped working. Eurydice watched in horror as Orpheus took several steps back from her, his face as pale as a ghost.

"Orpheus?" she gasped. Her entire chest threatened to cave in.

"I'm sorry." Orpheus shook his head. Eurydice watched in horror as he turned around and sprinted for the opening of the cave, the bright light of the sun enveloping him as he disappeared completely.

"Orpheus..." Eurydice whimpered, collapsing to the ground as her arms gave out. She closed her eyes and started to sob, vaguely aware of Thanatos as he picked her up in his arms and carried her back to the Underworld.

21

Eurydice came back to consciousness screaming. A million memories flooded her mind. Everything she left behind in the river of Lethe smacking her upside the head.

"Eurydice? Eurydice!" Hermes's voice broke through the chaos that occupied her mind. Eurydice turned around and saw Hermes sitting next to her on the chaise in Orpheus's main hall.

Orpheus was standing behind Hermes, a concerned look on his face. He was pale. Everything about him looked muted. Eurydice's memories settled into her body like it was a physical muscle memory. There was a roaring in Eurydice's ears; she could see Hermes's mouth moving, but she couldn't hear a thing he was saying. She couldn't stop staring at Orpheus. The only thing left in Eurydice's body was rage.

Unadulterated, uninhabited rage.

All the love she had once felt for Orpheus was still there in the remnants of her mind, but it had no power over it, no potency. The only thing she could see in her mind's eye over and over again was Orpheus's face as he turned away from her and left her to die again in that cave.

"You," Eurydice growled. Rose thorns started wrapping themselves around her arms and legs; vines began creeping in from the garden outside. She stood up slowly, raising her hand and pointing a single finger at Orpheus. Hermes's eyes widened, and he held his hands up in mock surrender, jumping over the back of the chaise and taking several steps back.

"Hermes!" Orpheus hissed, staring at the god. "What the hell have you done?"

"He did exactly what he needed to," Eurydice growled, her voice dropping into a lower register. Her body was practically vibrating in holy anger. All the deceit and hurt from her relationship with Orpheus was itching under her skin like insects. Orpheus looked around the room anxiously, making a panicked, squeaking sound when he realized the room was already half overgrown with plants and vines in the matter of a few short seconds.

"Eurydice, my love," Orpheus held up his hands, "I didn't want you to know! I wanted us to have a fresh start. I thought..."

"I don't give a damn what you thought!" Eurydice snapped. Her heart was pounding, but her voice was as cold as stone. "You are a cheat and a liar, Orpheus. You thought you would just arrive in the Underworld and pick up our relationship like your betrayal never happened? Like you never left me here to die?"

"Technically, you were already dead..."

"You made me crawl up from hell to be with you again! For what?"

"She has a point." Hermes shrugged nonchalantly, suddenly very preoccupied with examining his nails. Orpheus scowled and briefly turned his attention to Eurydice.

"You fucking look at me," Eurydice snapped. Orpheus's eyes nearly bugged out of his head, and he almost broke his neck turning his attention back towards her.

"I don't even know what to do with you right now," Eurydice hissed, stepping closer to him. She was practically vibrating with her fury, but her voice remained steady. The vines creeping in from the garden were practically at the ceiling of the massive room, giving the entire house the appearance of a home that had suddenly been abandoned fifty years ago. It had an eerie effect. Orpheus swallowed thickly, and sweat broke out on his brow as he watched Eurydice step closer to him.

"Let's forget the past," Orpheus tried lamely. "I-I know I fucked up, but we were young!"

"You were a grown man," Eurydice countered, "and I was on this earth for a hundred years before you were even born."

"Good point." Orpheus looked around nervously. "Can we even try? I mean, I have been putting up with your moods ever since... Oh god." Orpheus stopped himself short, pinching the bridge of his nose as he realized his slip up.

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