198. At the Crossroads Again
At the Crossroads Again
It felt like this splitting
was connected to the many
crossroads of my life.
I could not stop when it happened,
the pain of being split physically
reflected the pain of splitting within
and the three of us screamed together,
bodies stiff in the agony
of what was discovered,
and when we stopped,
when we had to stop
because our throats
were so sore that the screams
were nothing more than croaks,
we sobbed and sobbed until
finally I felt a hand on my shoulder.
‘Hekate.’ The whisper was so soft
I knew it had to be Thanatos.
I looked up into his kind eyes,
the same eyes that had recognized me
in his mother’s halls
and then aided me on my journey.
The same eyes that had watched
me break after the crone’s words
in Hades’ throne room
and I realized how much
I needed the truth. Charon stood
beside his brother, his face
marred with worry. I trusted
no one but them now.
But there was something else.
Their gaze was fixed
on something behind me.
I followed it to the direction
of the palace door.
Except there was no door left.
There was only Styx and Pallas
staring at a pile of rubble,
which was the palace they had
built for me. I had done that.
My screaming had done that.
I felt a sharp crack on both sides
of my spine and knew that
the other two versions of me
had abandoned me too.