Scrolls Of Shakespeare: Immersed

12 A Glimmer of Hope

Thanastasia opened her mouth, but my eyes would not stay open. The ringing in my wars turned into a harmonious thrum. There was a now familiar pull on my spine, something deep in my spirit wanting to break free. My legs started to have rolling muscle spasms, reaching in between my toes. I felt a painful stinging sensation against my right cheek. Thanastasia used her fingers to pry my eyes opem. I saw her mouth open, but there was no sound to be heard.

"I can't hear you." Her eyebrows crinkled as a perplexed expression spread across her face. She gave a slight nod, gesturing for me to stay still and calm.
She looked into my eyes, and I lost myself in hers. I wanted to understand her, to be in her mind for even a moment. I began focusing on finding a way, any way, into Thanastasia's mind.
I closed my eyes, becoming lost in a world of black. There was a void to one side, a deep pure black my eyes could barely detect. I scanned the room, spinning slowly in circle feeling trapped. I tried opening my eyes, but they were open.

I found something.

I stopped.

I cocked my head at a slight anomaly, a pinhole of virgin white all encased in silver. I felt agony and the deepest sorrow that built the void, encasing everything. Love, curiosity, wonder and hope poured out from the small white pin prick in the center.
I lifted my hand, feeling an insatiable urge to touch the light. Within the light, I faintly saw a man, walking up what looked like a stream towards me. I felt a strange emotion raging through me.
Lust? Desire? Unconditional love? He had a dark beard, and tan flesh across his chest. Hazel gold eyes and dark chocolate coloured hair cascaded down a little past his shoulders. He walked towards me and sat, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I tried to make out the details. I peered deeper into the sliver of silver, but I was physically dragged to the darkest part of the void, and consumed by its jaws of anguish.

Through a black veil, I laid eyes on a young babe, naked and still, she looked like a newborn. The child, who was being carried by a skeletal servant in a well groomed gown, laid the baby on a pink satin blanket on top of a pedestal. My body shook when the babes arm hung limply from the edge of the pedestal, my vision blurred. I felt sorrow, and useless, as though it was my fault the child was dead.
The baby's lifeless arm was brought to its side before it was fully wrapped in the pink blanket with the utmost care. The servant bowed and backed away as I stepped forward. I noticed that my hands were graceful and feminine, a translucently pale olive. With a ginger embrace, I grabbed the swaddled babe and held her close, my body shaking with sobs. I had walked to the river Styx and knelt at the bank. I gave the lifeless babe a gentle kiss upon her head and held her to my chest before I placed her into the river. I stayed on my knees as I watched steam arise from the bundle as she floated down the river.
I dropped down, sobbing on the earth and screaming. I curled my knees into my chest and felt a hand on my shoulder, I turned slightly and saw the same man from the dining table, his cold gaze and foul scowl almost softl, a nearly loving emotion grew within me, yet nothing like that I felt while gazing in the silver light. This mans eyes were devoid of emotion, and his voice the same as he whispered,

"We will have another, Death. We will try again."

I pulled back, astonished by what I just learned. I blinked, staring back at Thanastasia, not believing I had just seen her daughter through her eyes. I was nearly in hysterics. The man who had been watching me at the dinner table was her baby's father. Her husband.

"Eryq, how were you able to access those memories? Those memories have been sealed for more than a millennia. Even Zeus himself was unable to access them, yet you were able to as though it was a nice stroll through a garden?" Thanastasia questioned, her voice filling my mind.

"How am I able to hear you in my thoughts? How are you getting inside my head?" I was still now staring, dumbfounded.
"It is the only way to communicate with you, now how were you able to do that?"

"I don't know. Honestly. I didn't mean to." I curled into a ball on the ground, scared about what my parents had said, and then what I learned about Thanastasia, and what I had just done. My ears were still ringing, so intensely my head felt like it was splitting in two.
Thanastasia lowered herself to the ground, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I hugged her, my head on her chest still and silent, listening to her heartbeat and calming myself to the sound.

"Do not dwell on my sorrows Eryq. They are not yours to bear." Thanastasia's voice was soft in my mind as she stroked my hair. I could feel vibrations emanating from her, she was singing, filling my mind with her sweet voice.
Dare not journey by the river
Or the current will drag you in.
Careful now,
And step so sweetly, don't you dare as much as quiver.
Else this is where your journey ends.
Watch for eyes like a serpent,
A nameless shall become your truest friend.
Careful now on how your words are spent.
Love the eyes that shine like honey,
Hide not what emotions show.
I know you only take this lightly,
But your future now you know." I was still, all was quiet, the ringing still present but faint. Her voice was sweet and velvety as an autumn day. She was the Siren of the River Styx, entrancing me, pulling me into the eye of the storm.