Tartarus Thief | ONC 2021 [ROUND 2 WINNER]

Chapter 3

Leo laughed. "To eternal friendship." The sound of clinking glasses rang through the café. "So how are your studies going?"

Vita scoffed. "Terrible. Arts doesn't suit me. I think I might quit and find something else to study."

"Oh no! But you're so talented."

"It's not talent, it's centuries worth of practicing," Vita grinned.

"Oh, tomayto, tomahto. It's the same thing for us, isn't it?"

They burst out in laughter. Whether from the wine or spending time with her best friend, Vita felt warmth spread through her body. Her row with Jase – in fact, her whole relationship with Jase – suddenly seemed so long ago. So insignificant.

"Vee?"

"Hm?" She looked up to see her friend with a frown on her face, swirling the wine around in the glass.

"You don't like it, do you? Being a demigoddess?"

Vita lowered her eyes, staring into her near-empty glass. "I like some things about it. It's nice that we get to do it together. But... No. I don't like it. Not really."

"But why? It's a gift, Vee, not a curse. Most mortals would kill to have eternal life."

"We deserve more. We're children of gods, actual gods, and yet they let us rot down here like mortals."

"Oh, please. You like it here and you know it. You'd hate living among the gods. Come on, Vee, tell me the truth."

Vita hesitated for a few moments, watching the wine swirl in her glass as the sound of people chatting filled the space between the two friends.

"Because I lose a piece of myself with every resurrection. Our brains can't handle centuries worth of information, so we lose memories after a few resurrections. This is why I keep my diaries, Leo. That's why I study those stories over and over again so that I can write them down again in my next life. You're right when you say that this life is precious, but so was the previous one. And the one before that. I don't want to forget those. They make me who I am. How can you not be worried about that?"

Leo shrugged. "I don't know what I'm missing. I'm alright with that. It's better to live in the here and now."

"Except it's not! My life, this life, is awful. I don't want to forget the happy times I've had before this. I don't want to forget those few truly good people I've met."

Vita took a shuddering breath and Leo frowned. "Barny."

Closing her eyes, Vita rubbed her hands over her face. "I don't want to forget him. I'm never going to meet anyone like him again."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Even three lives later I still remember how he made me feel. I still know that he was the one for me. How can I enjoy the rest of eternity, knowing I can never be with my soulmate?"

Once again, Leo reached to put her hand on Vita's. "You're not supposed to waste your life looking for a soulmate. You're supposed to just enjoy it with whoever you want. Just because you were happy with him, doesn't mean you can't enjoy another life with someone else."

Vita shook her head. "I just miss him. Leo..."

She hesitated. Leo waited patiently, not bothering to correct the nickname.

"I'm forgetting him lately." Her eyes filled up with tears. "I was drawing him the other day and... I can't remember the colour of his eyes."

It was dark when Leo dropped her off at her home late that night. Vita fumbled with her keys, annoyed at the wine in her system making everything more difficult. The first thing she did when she entered her tiny studio apartment was drink two glasses of cold water. She needed to be sober for what she was going to do next.

Although Leo had pleaded against it, their conversation had only strengthened Vita's belief that Barny had been the only man she'd ever want. And now that she was forgetting him, she knew she didn't have much time to get him back.

She grabbed the matches from the drawer and lit the candles in the little altar in the corner of her bedroom. It was humble, a simple bowl surrounded by four tall, red candles, but it was enough. She sank to her knees and put her hands together in prayer.

"Oh great Eucleia, grand goddess of glory, hear me in all your might and majesty. Grant me the immense blessing and honor of your prestigious attendance. Sublime Eucleia, hear my call."

Repeating the words over and over, Vita felt a shift in her surroundings. Any noises of cars honking and people shouting outside died down. A strange breeze picked up inside the house, although the leaves of her plants and the paper on the desk didn't seem to notice. The lights dimmed and the candles flared up.

"Greetings, my child."

Vita couldn't help but smile as she turned to face the beautiful goddess Eucleia. She was perfect in every way, from the curls in her auburn hair to her full lips. Her movements were refined and serene. She even seemed to radiate light, shining in the middle of the room despite the darkness.

"Hello, Mum." It had been a few lives since Vita had spoken with her mother. She never came of her own accord; only when Vita asked for an audience.

Eucleia looked around the room with a judging gaze as they sat down on the sofa and Vita had to resist rolling her eyes. "I know. It's not much. I haven't got a career yet, so I have yet to make money and make a name for myself."

"Indeed." Even her voice sounded heavenly, like a harmonious melody. "You need help with that, then?"

Vita took a deep breath. "Actually, no. That's not why I called for you."

Long eyelashes fixed themselves on her, and she squirmed under her mother's gaze. "What is it, my child?"

"You see... I met a mortal a few lives ago, who died before I got to spend much time with him." She saw her mother's eyes harden, churning her gut. "Now, I'm starting to forget him. I don't want that to happen. I need to see him again."

"What you ask is unattainable."

In the goddess' voice, the simple sentence sounded elegant and almost appealing, but the words crushed Vita's heart. She shook her head. "You don't understand. I want him back, mother. I would give anything for it, even my immortality. I just need to know how."

"The Fates have decided against it, my child. Forgot this foolhardy notion. It cannot happen." Eucleia stood up, turning as if to leave.

"But it can!" cried Vita, jumping up as well. "It has happened before, hasn't it? Didn't Orpheus bring back his beloved Eurydice from the Underworld? And he wasn't even a demigod."

Eucleia glanced over her shoulder. "If you know the story, you know it did not end well. The Fates cannot be tricked, child."

"But..." Vita sputtered, knowing she didn't have much more time to convince her mother before she'd leave. "But you're the goddess of glory, surely you can do something. What about your father? He's an Olympian god, he could help me!"

An ungodly scoff escaped Eucleia's lips. "Hephaistos is an outcast upon Olympus. They've even started blaming him for the fact that the mortals stopped praying to us. Your grandfather is a useless excuse of a god. He will not be able to get anything done for you, especially not with Hades."

"But..."

"Enough." Eucleia turned to face her daughter, looking down on her with her back straightened. "I cannot help you. Not with this. Your mortal is in the Underworld, where he will always be. But you are a demigoddess. When you die, Hades sends you back to Earth. That is how it is and that is how it always will be. The Fates have decided upon it. You shall live on Earth for the rest of eternity."