by JJ King
Ceto cocked her head to the side and raised a delicate eyebrow, "And what exactly do you know now that you didn't back then?"
Em looked at her mother, so beautiful and kind, and realized that Selene's revelation about the details of the curse could not only set her and Poseidon free, but heal the wounds she and her parents shared as well. She crossed the room and sat next to Ceto, feeling the need to touch and be touched. "Hecate told us about the curse, and what we'll need to break it, but before we left, she told us the details of Athena's request." Em took her mother's hand and squeezed gently, "Athena wanted us to be separated, to feel despair and be alone. She wanted me, Thea, and Eury to think you and dad had abandoned us, and for me to think Poseidon wanted nothing to do with me." She glanced over her shoulder. Poseidon was watching them with gleaming eyes, "She also wanted Poseidon to think I was dead."
"So, all of this, being separated for two thousand years, this was all part of her punishment?" Ceto gaped at Em as Phorcys and Thea cursed like sailors behind them.
Em nodded.
Colour rose in Ceto's cheeks until her face was flaming red and her eyes were dark with murderous rage. Em recognized the signs because they were hers as well. She pulled her mother into her arms and hugged her brutally hard, giving her mother an anchor to hold onto. It was the only thing that ever helped her, the only way she and her sisters had survived the early years.
Phorcys moved to sit behind Ceto and gathered her in his arms, taking Em's place. Freed, she rose to her feet and turned to look at Poseidon who was watching intently, taking in the family interaction. Her heart ached to run to him, to let herself be swept away in his arms so the pain in her heart would fade away for good. Instead she turned, and rushed to her sister, wrapping her arms around Thea and holding on fiercely.
As much as she loved Poseidon and as happy as she was to have found her way back to him, her priority was still her family.
Thea began to cry, quietly at first but then growing louder as sobs heaved from her chest. With each shaky breath, Em felt her ever-present guilt begin to rise. They could rage and scream against Athena, coming together as a family to hate the bitter goddess, but in the end, Em knew this was still all her fault. She had been the one to break her vow to Athena by falling in love and choosing Poseidon over her goddess. Yes, the punishment had been extreme, more so now that they knew the extent of it, but none of it would've happened had she stayed true to her vows.
Thea pulled back after a few moments and wiped her eyes, then pressed her lips to each of Em's cheeks. "It wasn't our fault," she whispered just for Em's ears, "she didn't want us to know."
With a sad smile Thea went to join her parents, pulling each of them into a hug one at a time. Em watched feeling like an outsider, separated from the rest of them by the guilt that pressed at her soul. She felt detached as she watched Poseidon cross to stand before her, his brows furrowed and his lips drawn thin.
He snagged her hand and tugged gently, "Hey, come with me for a second." He pulled her after him, out of the room and down a set of stairs that led to the courtyard. Em saw the beautiful outdoor space through a foggy lens, taking in the delicate greenery without appreciation.
She fought against the weight, recognizing it for what it was, self-pity. This wasn't the first time she'd felt it, nor the first time she'd been sucked under by it, but mixed in with all the good was the newfound knowledge that Athena's curse had not only dammed her and her sisters, but also affected their parents and her lover. Athena had aimed below the belt and her blows had hit home.
She'd been so wrapped up in trying to find a way to save Eury that she hadn't even allowed herself a moment to think about the fact that her parents had been imprisoned all this time. She hadn't wanted to think about it, because to think about it was to know that it was her fault, and to feel all the pain again. It was hard enough knowing that her sisters had been cursed because of her, but now, knowing that that curse had spread further than she'd ever known, it was too much. The weight was too heavy. Em felt like she was being crushed and she was just too tired to fight back.
"Talk to me," Poseidon brushed tears from her cheeks and lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
Em closed her eyes and wished that it was her lying on the bed inside.
"Medusa, I can't help you if you won't talk to me." He reached for her hands and brought them up to his chest, laying them over his heart.
"I don't deserve help," she whispered, hating the fragility of her voice. Em winced, knowing that her self-pity was leaking out, and that no one, not even the man who loved her, would want to know how she was drowning even now.
Poseidon growled, the sound coming from deep in his throat, "That's bullshit."
"Is it?" Em pulled back, freeing her hands and turned away from him. "I mean, none of this would've happened if I hadn't been a silly little girl who thought it was okay to abandon her vows." She whirled around and threw up her hands in frustration, "Let's not lie anymore, Poseidon. I knew my place in Athena's temple, I knew the second I saw you that I should walk away, but I didn't. I was stupid and full of myself, and I just kept saying it's innocent, just a conversation, but we both know there was nothing innocent about anything between us. Every look, every word... I knew, deep down I knew, and I did it anyway."
"Medusa..."
"Stop calling me that!" Em yelled, balling her hands into fists that wanted to beat her chest or his, it didn't matter. "My name is Em."
"No, it's not.” He grasped her by the shoulders and shook. “Your name is Medusa, and I was there, I was just as much a part of this as you were. There was no decision, no weighing the scales to see if we should be together or not. It was fate, plain and simple, and there was nothing we could have done to fight against it."
"Do you honestly believe that?" Em stared at him. "No. No, that's just a fucking cop out. You know that, right? There is no fate, not really, we make choices and they have repercussions. I made the choice to break my vows and everyone who loved me paid for it."
"You think you really had a choice?" Poseidon blew out a breath and shook his head. "Because I don't know that I did. For me, it was like a tidal wave that hit me full in the face and dragged me under, only I didn't want it to end." He slipped his hand behind her neck and tilted her face up, "Medusa," he blinked, "Em, I believe without a doubt in my mind that fate exists and that you're mine. It wouldn't have shattered me into a million pieces when I lost you if I didn't believe that to my very core."
Em grasped at his forearm, feeling faint from the intensity of his words. They beat back at her guilt, pushing it down, maybe even releasing some. She desperately wanted to believe him, to release herself from the responsibility of having ruined so many lives, but she just couldn't. Fate or no, she should've weighed the odds and made a better choice. What was one life without love in exchange for six lives ruined?
"No," she shook her head regretfully, "it doesn't matter. I might be meant for you and you for me, but I should've taken a hundred lifetimes of loneliness before I put my family in danger.”
"You were just a girl, how were you supposed to know that any of this would happen?" He raked an angry hand through his hair, "I didn't even know, and I'm a fucking god! Plus," he gestured wildly, "the fact that it was me probably made it a million times worse."
Em frowned, "What do you mean?"
Poseidon shrugged, "You know, the thing between Athena and me." At her puzzled look he continued, "The fight we had over Athens?"
Em's breath caught in her chest, but she shook her head and asked again, "What fight, Poseidon?"
He cocked an eyebrow but spoke when she continued to stare are him in expectation. "Well, when Athens was being founded, the people looked to choose a patron god to watch over them, to be their protector and benefactor. I had been watching them, and I was impressed, so I stepped up and offered myself up. What I didn't know, was that Athena had been watching them too and she had decided to step forward as well." Poseidon walked
to one of the lounge chairs and lowered himself down, frowning as he remembered the ancient event.
"When neither of us wanted to back down, we decided that the best way to make the decision was to hold a competition. We would offer the Athenians our best gifts and they would choose. Either way they would win."
"I got the honour of going first," he said wryly, "and I considered what the people of this new city would need to prosper. They used the sea, my sea, to ship goods and to travel, so I thought to offer a new body of water that they could use to travel inland. So, I may or may not have gotten a little dramatic, and thrust my trident into the ground," he chuckled now. "Heavy emphasis on the 'may have' by the way. But when the people of the city saw that the water was salty and not fresh, they weren’t impressed. They couldn't see what I meant when I created it, I guess." He shrugged, trying to look nonchalant, but Em could still hear the frustration in his words.
She took the seat next to him, reaching out to touch his arm, "It was a good gift, thoughtful, and they would have prospered had they understood your purpose." Curiosity piqued, she couldn't help but ask, "And what did Athena offer?"
Poseidon grimaced, "An olive tree. She gave the Greeks olives. Any question of why she won?"
Em giggled, "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but come on, olives!" She couldn't even imagine Greece without olives. "Well, I guess that's why the city was named Athens, then."
"Yeah, she won. They loved her gift so much that they turned on me, practically chased me out of the city while they were praising her." He looked away, guiltily, catching her attention.
"What did you do?" The laughter died on Em's lips and her stomach began to churn.
Poseidon gnawed on his lip for a moment, looking indecisive, which made her anxiety skyrocket. "I was mad, okay, and I know that's no excuse, I'm just telling you what happened." He pushed up and began pacing the backyard, "She was just so fucking petty about it, bragging to everyone who would listen that she'd won the competition, that they loved her and not me. I got pissed," he sighed heavily and close his eyes, then blurted, "and cursed the city to never have enough fresh water for as long as Athena was their patroness." He opened his eyes slowly.
Em's heart stopped. The pain that radiated out when it began again, beating erratically now, froze her to the spot. Her mind swirled, trying to make connections, but she was so weighed down by the enormity of Poseidon's confession that all the pieces wouldn't come together.
They began to click. Poseidon had childishly cursed an entire city, a city Athena cherished, to never have enough fresh water. Having lived in Athens for many years, Em was quite aware of the difficulties the inhabitants had to procure fresh water. It was a constant battle, one that had plagued Athena, and one that Em now knew had been a deliberate attack from Poseidon.
Athena must have despised him, Em realized. Never once before that day when Athena had invited him to her temple to show off the proof of the love of her city, had she ever seen Poseidon anywhere near her goddess. So, when she, Athena's most cherished priestess, had not only fallen in love and abandoned her vows, but had done so with Poseidon of all people…
"She did this because of you," Em whispered hoarsely, "she did all this to punish you." Bile pushed up from her stomach into her throat, threatening to spill, as her head began to beat in a punishing throb. All the guilt and self-pity she’d been feeling was drowned in the tidal wave of pure white rage.
Em backed away from Poseidon who was watching her with widening eyes and a look of horror on his face. "Medusa..." he reached out for her.
Then the dam broke.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
"All these years," the words started to bubble out of her, spewing from the darkest parts of her, the parts even she’d been afraid to touch for decades, "I've been tormented by the knowledge that all of this," she threw up her hands, "was because of my bad decision, only my bad decision." Atop her head, her snakes writhed, hissing angrily in response to the rapidly growing rage overtaking her. Em sucked in a breath, dismissing any thought of balance, and let the vitriol break free.
"How dare you stand here with that stupid look on your face and tell me a cutesy story about how you cursed an entire city to an eternity of hardship out of pettiness and childishness!" Em's fingernails dug into her palms, drawing blood, but she barely felt it. "Do you know what it did to me to think that all of this was my fault? And all this time," she rushed him, lifting her fists to strike his chest in rapid blows that would have taken down a mortal man, "it was just as much your fault as it was mine!"
Poseidon grabbed for her fists but she dodged him, moving just out of reach. The last thing she wanted was to be touched by him, to be reminded of the connection between them, because connection or not, she wanted to fucking kill him.
"I hate you," she seethed, vibrating from the truth of the words she spat at him. "You're just like her, just like all of them. Petty, jealous," she laughed, hearing the maniacal in her tone but not caring, "and you call me a monster."
"I never called you a monster," Poseidon towered over her.
Em sneered at him and hissed, curling into herself like a snake about to attack. Blood dripped from her clenched fists onto the floor.
"Medusa!" Poseidon strode forward and grabbed her wrists, prying them open to see her wounds. "Hate me, curse me, but don't hurt yourself."
He sounded so sincere and worried, some small part of her thought absently. Then the heat of his hands on her skin registered and she gasped, ripping her hands free from his. "Don't you ever touch me again!" She screamed, scoring her sharp nails down his face, leaving bloody trails to mar his perfect skin.
He didn't fight back, just watched her as she shrieked and mauled him, tearing apart the beauty and perfection that had been her undoing. Her punishment has been the loss of her beauty and humanity, so it seemed only fitting that Poseidon lose just a drop of his perfection.
Em stumbled as fatigue washed over her and she closed her eyes, feeling the sharp edges of her manic rage began to ebb. Slowly, she breathed in and out, then raised her head.
Her blood boiled. His face, still covered in blood from her efforts, was healing right before her eyes. Long slashes of torn flesh knit back together, repairing the proof of her rage, restoring his eternal beauty. She grasped at her chest and curled forward, as darkness and pressure pushed down on her, sucking her into the depths of her darkest despair. Her world went black for a moment then flashed the purest of whites, and when she looked back at her former lover, Em felt only bitter cold.
"I'm only going to say this once," she squared her shoulders and tilted her head to stare at him. He was still Poseidon, still the man she'd fall in love with, the only man she'd ever loved, but now she wanted nothing to do with him. "I never want to see you again. Thank you for helping free my parents and for helping me find a way to save Eury." The words came out crisp and spilled out of her mouth as if someone else spoke them. Not even the sheen of pure misery covering his eyes could chip at the wall of ice she’d once more erected around herself.
"I don't need you,” she said without emotion, “I never needed you. You damned me as much as Athena ever did, and now you'll leave, and never come back." Em turned her back on him and forcefully pushed down the tiny thread of doubt that pressed against the ice. "Leave,” she demanded, “just leave."
She knew the exact moment he disappeared. Her body crumpled like paper, collapsing to the grass in a heap of turmoil and pain. She felt thread bare, exhausted from maintaining her shield against him. Em dragged in breath after breath, praying the next would get easier, but they didn’t. He was gone, again, and she was alone. Only, this time, she knew that it hadn’t been her fault, or her fault alone. She tried to imagine what Athena would have done to her and her sisters if Poseidon hadn’t been the one involved, but the possibilities kept shifting and she couldn’t see it clearly.
Em lowered her head into her hands and let the tears come. There was no point in what ifs, she knew that more than
anyone. She’d spent centuries driving herself mad with alternate endings. She’d gone to the darkest parts of her mind during those years, and she’d promised herself never again.
The pain pulsed with every heartbeat, but now she embraced it. She was alive, immortal, and she’d survived everything the world and the fates had thrown at her. She’d survived him and she’d survive him again.
Em pushed to her feet on shaky legs and pulled her shoulders back. She was far too fierce to be diminished by a man, even if he was a god. She put one foot in front of the other, making her way back to the house. She blinked and found herself in the living room, staring blankly at Thea, who took one look at her and leapt to her feet.
“Em,” she rushed across the room, “what happened? What’s wrong?” Thea’s hands braced her shoulders. Em poured into her sister’s arms and let her fierce shell crack wide open.
“It wasn’t my fault,” she sobbed into Thea’s neck. Her words came out muffled, so she pulled back and stared into her sister’s worried face. Em wiped at her face, brushing the tears away, “It wasn’t my fault, Thea. Athena hates Poseidon.” His name on her lips tasted like acid. She wanted to spit but held herself back. “She’s hated him since the birth of Athens.” Em turned and paced away, pivoting when she reached the fireplace. “He just told me, all fucking casual, as if it didn’t even matter.”