103. A Pull
A Pull
I tried to occupy myself
within the palace to appease
Styx. One of the clay pots
in the kitchen
could be used to summon
anything I desired and I made it
summon lavender and irises,
roses and mugwort so I could
keep making my potions.
Once I poured a concoction
onto the floors and turned
the onyx into pristine marble.
Pallas laughed, but Styx
was not pleased at all since
she did not like my experiments.
She thought they would draw attention
from the strange things
that occupied this realm.
The trouble was I was restless.
I still thought of my parents.
The cruel fate of my mother.
The sad eyes of my father.
I had made a promise when
I saw him in Tartarus.
I would free him.
And it was a promise
I intended to keep,
but I could not do that from here.
Palace walls spoke no answers.
And it was not long
before I found myself
walking back into Asphodel.
As I walked that day
through the meadows,
the scent of lavender
mixing with mist.
I heard the sound of
reuniting families.
Brother meeting brother,
sisters together again,
fathers seeing their sons,
but the pull I felt most
was towards the women
still waiting for their loved ones.
Women who were all alone
but, like the North Star,
shone like celestial bodies
in these grey fields.