Page 44 of Eris

Enzo had a throbbing pulse behind his eyes that he was doing his best to ignore and had a double vision that he was trying to pay attention to. He was getting strange flashes of the places they drove by as if one eye could see the present and one eye could see the past.

Dry, rocky hills were green; the buildings were smaller and more compact, and there were more farms around them. It was wilder and simpler. Every time they were heading in the right direction, he would see more.

"I hate this so much," Eris admitted.

Enzo placed a comforting hand on her knee. "It's going to break your curse."

"I don't want it to break you in the process," she said, her hand dropping to squeeze his.

Enzo knew worrying for anyone was a new experience for her, so he didn't try and tell her that he was fine. He didn't want to lie to her. While he didn't think the palladium would hurt him intentionally, it was determined to get what it wanted.

"Turn here," Enzo said as his vision split to a dirt path and a paved road.

Eris did as he asked. "It will be night soon. If it gets too dark, we might have to call it and try again tomorrow. You mentioned caves once before. We could head over to Mount Ida tomorrow and see if it is what she wants."

"It's this way. I know it is. I can't explain the feeling. I'm seeing the road she wants us to take, but her memories of it are ancient, so I'm doing my best to navigate on the roads now," Enzo said and leaned forward to rest his head between his knees. Nausea clenched his stomach. "Oh, fuck, stop. I'm going to be sick."

Eris pulled over and cars honked irritably behind them. Enzo opened the door and vomited on the dry ground. His vision spun, and he heaved again. Eris appeared by his side, laid a damp paper napkin on the back of his neck and passed him a bottle of water.

"Drink this. It might help," she said softly, running her fingers through his hair. Enzo rinsed out his mouth before swallowing a few large mouthfuls.

"I'm sorry," he groaned.

"This isn't your fault, Enzo." Eris kept stroking his hair and neck, and he leaned into the touch. "Maybe we need to go back for the night. I don't want you getting worse."

An invisible hand squeezed Enzo's chest and tugged him forward. "No, it will get worse if we go back. We are close. We have to keep going. I don't think it's much further."

"Okay, but I don't like it," Eris said, her mouth pressing into a tight line.

"I know. Trust me, we are close," he insisted and got back in the car.

Eris found the plastic shopping bag that their pastry snacks had come in and handed it to him. There were a few more paper napkins inside that he got out in case he needed them.

"Tell me if I need to stop again. I don't care if we piss off everymalakaon this road if we have to," she said and started the car again.

"I promise I will," Enzo said, clutching onto the bag. "Drive slower if you can. I'm going to try and keep my eyes closed and see if it helps with the motion sickness."

They had to stop another two more times in the next thirty minutes. The sun was setting as they wound up the final part of a hill and the feeling in Enzo's chest blossomed like a tiny supernova.

"Here, it's here somewhere. Where are we?" he asked and opened his itching eyes. The sun was setting like a bloody smear on the sky, and a chill swept through him.

"This is Papoura Hill," Eris replied, checking the map on her phone. There was fencing up all around the area, but there didn't seem to be any security guards.

Enzo got out of the car and a sense of rightness seeped through him. "Definitely the place." He drained his water before unclipping the palladium and lifting her out.

"Try and warn me if you start to get another vision," Eris said, moving to the gate. "I don't need you toppling off into the darkness somewhere."

Eris grabbed the padlock on the gate and snapped the chain with a vicious yank. She conjured one of the pale magic lights like she did in the Sibyl's cave and sent it out over the area. The silver light touched the stone and lit the eight concentric circles they made.

"Fates. It's a labyrinth, just as you said," Eris gasped.

Enzo's grip on the palladium tightened. "Eris…I think I'm about to have another vision," he whispered.

The palladium went warm in his hands, and the night changed to a gray sky.

He could taste ash and death as he stepped into the labyrinth. The gods were angry, and he didn't know how to make them stop. He began to dance the path, his body moving in the steps his mother had taught him, and her mother before her. There was no music, just the soft breath he exhaled as he danced deeper and deeper along the paths.

The power of the place, activated by the dance, began to thrum through his legs, his torso, his arms. He was lost in the labyrinth now, and he let it take him, let it be a prayer to the gods to stop the black skies, the waves that had been battering the shores and stealing away whole settlements.

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