211. A Final Act
A Final Act
I held my children so close.
Bia wept uncontrollably.
Nike could barely hold her tears
back when I let her go.
Kratos, my sweet boy, whispered,
‘When we have permission,
we will visit, Mother.’
Zelus walked with us
until the gates of Olympus
stopped him from going any farther.
I turned back to look at him,
his sad eyes watching us go.
Pallas and I returned to Oceanus’s palace.
Our chambers felt empty.
After years of children that I had raised
it was only the two of us again.
A wide abyss had been crafted
between us. One made of war.
Broken vows.
Betrayal.
Pallas turned to me.
‘Styx,’ he said quietly,
his voice rough with brokenness,
‘please look at me.’
I looked into his eyes.
He skimmed his fingers
along my jawline.
‘I know why you chose this.
I know now, it was not
just for you. It was for us.
You wanted us to be spared
the fate that… that…’
He could not finish.
But I shook my head bitterly.
‘I failed, Pallas.
He took our children.’
Pallas shook his head.
‘You did not fail.
We are not in cages.’
He pulled me close,
into his arms, and I realized then
my inability to feel anything.
It was as though my love
had curdled. Zeus’s decree
had taken all my warmth
from me. I could only feel
a faint echo of any love I once had.
I had turned into something else.
‘He has made me a monster, Pallas,’
I whispered hoarsely.
‘You should… you do not have to
be with me if you do not want.’
Pallas tilted my chin up
so that our eyes met.
‘I will always love you.
Nymph. Goddess. Monster.
My love for you will remain.’
His lips brushed mine
and he kissed me deeply.
Perhaps hate had not yet
destroyed every part of me,
for I kissed him back with as much
fervour as the first time eons ago.