Forever Yours

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The landscape shifted. Trees bent to the will of the air, while dust traveled within small circles of the invisible current; it covered the darkening land. A path, dirt covered but small stones still seen, laid out in front. Flowing trees of bare limbs surrounded either side of it, while flowers of black stood in small patches by it. The sound of crashing waves could be heard in the distance.

Makaria stood there, taking in her surroundings as she wondered where she was. She didn't know this land, it wasn't familiar to her. Looking ahead down the path, Makaria couldn't see anything beyond where she stood. She wasn't confused nor afraid, but curious as to where the path would lead her. Lifting her bare foot, the wind pushed back her long dark hair, making the long red peplos she wore flush against her body. And as her foot touched the stone path, she heard a voice call out to her, urgency in the tone. Turning, she saw no one behind her nor in front.

"Child, do not go down that path." The voice came from beside her. It was soft, gentle; yet the urgency she'd heard from before more pronounced.

Turning her head, her hair whipping into her face; Makaria came face to face with the most gorgeous green eyes she'd ever seen. They shimmered in the dying sunlight, sparkling with wisdom and understanding. Shifting her gaze from them, Makaria focused once more on the path before her.

"I know it calls to you," the person beside her said. "It calls to all...when its their time." Makaria turned her head again, watching as the voice and eyes became more. Soon, a young woman stood next to her, her hair long and fasten up into two twin braids of brown that accompany behind the slender frame. She wore a peplos of silver, the fabric shimmering in the light as she moved. Green eyes stared straight down the beaten path, watching something only they could see. Moving her gaze from the beautiful woman next to her, Makaria took a deep breath and once more went to take a step upon the stone. This time, a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Makaria once more turned turquoise eyes towards green ones, a unspoken question on her face. 

"You cannot travel beyond where we are now," she told her as she removed the hand that was on Makaria's shoulder.

"What is this place?"

"The Land of the Dead." It was a simple statement, but one that had Makaria's heart frozen within her chest. Even now, she couldn't feel it beating within her. "If you go beyond the path, you will be greeted by Charon who will ferry your soul to the other side. You mustn't go any further."

Makaria turned her head, her bright turquoise eyes looking beyond the frozen wasteland around her. She turned and looked behind her. There was nothing there, her time on the earth done. Athena had seen to that. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

The woman next to her nodded her head, the fabric of her gown moving with the wind. "Yes," she said sadly. "Athena killed you where you stood, ripping your heart out and eating it. She's dead as well, although her path to the Underworld is different. There is no 'afterlife' for beings such as we.

"Mortals are special, based on their sins and valors they will be sent off somewhere to continue on, either it be heaven or hell," she continued as she walked around Makaria, the hem of her peplos dragging across the dirt. "Each mortal, each religion has a different view on where you go after you die. But its all the same. However, us Gods just stop being, floating off into the sky as dust. Forgotten as the days of ole."

Makaria listened, her eyes still on the long journey the pathway would take her. "If I'm dead, then how come I'm not to walk down the path?" It called to her, the sound soft and seductive; like a lover wrapping their voice around inside your head. She wanted so much to follow its command.