Awaken (29 page)

              It was surreal in its majestic appearance.  There were no words to accurately describe the beauty of what stood before us.  Its massive trunk was the thickness of four Cape Lookout Lighthouses pushed together, and stood at least twenty stories high.  Only the bottom portion of the canopy was visible to us standing so far below, but the mass of branches and lush green spread out for one hundred yards on all sides.  It emitted a brilliant inner light, spreading throughout its entire length, down to each leaf.  That’s when it hit me.  I had seen this tree before.  In Nadia’s mind.

             
It was the last image I had seen when I accidentally accessed her memory.  It was mesmerizing in her mind’s eye, but it was beyond belief in real life.  As with everything else, it had a metallic quality to it.  The trunk was a dark copper and the leaves, although green, shimmered with an effervescent frosting.

             
“The Forbidden Tree,” Phoebe whispered as she studied the pocket size map of the Underworld.

             
“Is that where the entrance is?” I inquired.

             
“It looks like it,” she squinted at the paper, “but I can’t tell exactly where.”

             
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” I smiled and took the first step towards the Underworld.  We carefully made our way across the river and over several boulders before reaching the bank.  The white I had seen was a soft layer of silt that shimmered and blew around our feet as we walked toward the Forbidden Tree.  It was extremely soft and reminded me of the sand on the Fortunate Isle.

             
It didn’t take long before we were almost beneath the massive branches looming high above.  The only sound was the river at our back and a slight humming that seemed to be coming from the tree.  Along with the humming, the tree smelled sweet and intoxicating.  I took a deep breath.  It was a cross between sweet mint and basil leaves that filled your senses and lifted your spirits.  I tilted my head back and scanned the lower branches for any fruit, namely pomegranate; but I only saw foliage.  I was hoping that this wasn’t the only tree might grew in, considering how high up they would be.  Despite Natasha’s warning, I had every intention of taking a pomegranate back with me.  I couldn’t let Finn throw his life away.  If I had to eat it to convince him of that, then so be it.  We would worry about the nuances of my being-trapped-in-the-Underworld-forever at a later date.  There had to be a way around it.

             
We painstakingly tiptoed around the trunk; anticipating that the ground would split and swallow us whole at any moment.  The white silt beneath our feet had turned to a dark rust color as a large forest of trees came into view up ahead.  Far from the massive size of the Forbidden Tree, they were much smaller in stature and more like the trees back home.  The only difference was the same metallic tones that were becoming a common theme.

             
“Does everything look metallic to you guys, too?” I asked.

             
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Carmen agreed, nodding her head.

             
“It looks like somebody spray painted everything with Rustoleum,” Phoebe added. 

             
“Maybe we should do that to our suite when we get back,” I smiled at them as we continued toward the forest of trees.

             
“We’ll start with your bedroom,” Carmen smirked at me.

             
“What’s that?” Phoebe was pointing up ahead, “It’s not on the map…”

             
“It looks like…a bridge?” I strained my eyes to focus on the odd shape up ahead.

             
“I think it’s another river,” Carmen guessed, “and the bridge is how we cross.”  Unfortunately as we continued, it became painfully obvious we would not be crossing a river.  We stopped several yards away and gawked at each other in disbelief.  A wide chasm divided the terrain we currently stood on from the land on the other side of the bridge.  The gigantic fracture was about one hundred yards wide; straddled by a bridge no wider than three feet. 

             
“Stay here,” I instructed as I gathered my courage, “I’m going to go take a look.”

             
“Not a problem,” Carmen retorted without taking her eyes off the giant crevice.  I walked ever closer; sweeping my eyes along the landscape just in case.  As I approached the edge of the divide, a bout of vertigo swept over after I peered down below.  There was no end to its depths.  The bottom was not visible, so it eventually faded to nothingness. I looked to my left and right, searching for a different route, but it stretched for as far as I could see in both directions.  The bridge was our only option.  Feeling defeated, I jogged back to Phoebe and Carmen; a full blown panic attack building in my stomach.

             
“What did you see?” Phoebe squeaked as she bit off what was left of her nails.

             
“It’s so deep I couldn’t see the bottom,” I sighed, “and our only option of getting across is the bridge.”

             
“That bridge?” Phoebe squeaked again and glanced over her shoulder at it.

             
“That bridge,” I confirmed solemnly.  Her fear was definitely warranted.  The bridge looked miniature in comparison to the massive black hole it crossed.  It also had no support beams or suspension cables, even though it reached so far into the distance.  I was hoping they were invisible.  That’s what I told myself anyway.

             
“Do you think Persephone will be on the other side of it?” Phoebe struggled to read the map. “Those trees should be part of her grove.”

             
“Let’s just concentrate on not falling to our second deaths for right now,” Carmen wiped her forehead and looked at her wearily. “We’ll worry about Persephone later.”  Phoebe tucked the map away and nodded her head in determination.

             
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered.  The shakiness in my legs increased with every step I took. And that was
not
conducive to crossing a giant crack in the earth on a tiny bridge.  We slowed as we reached the entrance of the bridge and Phoebe and Carmen shot each other a terrified look.  I stepped up first, but as I noticed the large gap in between the wooden slats that made up the bridge, my feet were having second, third, and even fourth thoughts.  A strong wind blew continuously from below and I pulled my hair back in a pony tail. 

             
“Just hold on really tight,” Phoebe suggested gently.

             
I looked back at Phoebe and Carmen one last time and gradually placed my hands on the railing.  The first step was the most difficult.  The second and third were slightly easier, but ‘easy’ was definitely subjective in this type of situation.  I did my best not to focus on the black emptiness underneath me, hoping to prevent a misstep or catastrophic loss of balance.  I made it about five yards before calling back to Phoebe over my right shoulder.

             
“It actually feels pretty sturdy!” I steadied myself once again and continued.

             
“Okay!  I’m coming out!” Phoebe yelled back.  I made sure not to turn around and look, for fear of losing my balance.  The other side seemed a lifetime away and my still-shaking legs reminded me of the anxiety that pulsed through me.

             
“Come on Carmen!” Phoebe hollered at her from behind me.

             
Not hearing a response, I automatically looked back to make sure Carmen was alright.  A wave of vertigo hit me again and the entire world tilted sideways, making me dizzy.  I instantly dropped to my shaky knees and placed a death grip on the railing. 

             
“Stasia!  Are you okay!” Phoebe called out to me.

             
“I think so,” I tried to yell back.  Thankfully, I was able to see Carmen stepping onto the bridge before the vertigo hit, so I forced myself to concentrate on simply placing one foot in front of the other.  Not able to see behind me, I couldn’t tell how far I had gone.  I fought the urge to find out as each step seemed to take a lifetime.

             
After about twenty more excruciating minutes, I was nearing the end of the bridge.  With adrenaline moving me forward and fear fixing my eyes on what appeared to be a stone square platform up ahead, a shower of relief hit me when I stepped over the last wooden slat of the bridge.  When both of my feet made it onto the stone platform attached to solid ground, I collapsed to my knees.  The stone sparkled with flecks of silver and bronze; captivating me.  I had to shake myself mentally to divert my attention back to Phoebe and Carmen. 

             
Phoebe was farther along than I had expected, so she made it to the platform not long after I did.  We both watched anxiously as Carmen stalled several yards from us.  Her dark features were pale and when she looked up briefly I recognized the terror flashing in her eyes.  I got to my feet and carefully walked to the end of the bridge.

             
“You’re almost there, Carmen.  Just a little bit farther.  You can make it,” I urged her gently. 

             
“I’m kicking your ass as soon as I make it off this bridge,” she threatened.

             
“As soon as you’re off this bridge, you can do anything you want,” I snickered, appreciating the extent to which she and Phoebe were willing to go for me. “Just keep walking.”

             
“Careful what you ask for,” I heard her say under her breath, but she began to move forward again.  Several minutes later, she extended her hand and I pulled her towards me and the stable platform. Instead of attacking me as she had threatened, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tightly.  I tried to calm her when I noticed she was shaking uncontrollably.

             
“Thanks Stasia,” she grinned at me and winked. “I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.  Turns out I just needed something to look forward to.”

             
“Look forward to, indeed.” We all gasped and twisted around in the direction of her velvety voice.  She was standing tall and regal mere feet away from us on the same platform.  Although there was no sun in the Underworld sky, the angelic woman that stood before us was pretty close to it.  As with the sun, it almost hurt your eyes to look directly at her.  She had a golden, ethereal glow that dulled everything around her in comparison.  Thick golden hair was braided down her back and what looked like actual strings of gold were woven through it.  Flowing white fabric was wrapped haphazardly around her body and secured around the waist with a thick gold band.  Her bare arms were adorned with countless gold bangles and a massive yellow gold pendant hung from her neck.  When I met her gaze, my entire body froze.  She had Nadia’s piercing golden eyes.

             
“Persephone,” I breathed unwittingly. 

             
“It would appear the Day of the Dead is upon us.” She inspected each of us individually; her golden eyes seeing much more than our physical appearances. “You have come to fulfill your essence,”

s
he stated simply, as my heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t been expecting that she would know who I was.  I raised my chin slightly and stood up straight.

             
“Yes,” I proclaimed with dignity.

             
“Antiquity trace,” she commented; clearly intrigued by my newest addition. “Very interesting.”

             
Her curious gaze did not deter the excitement I felt at finding out what my trace stood for.

             
“It’s a pity your parents wanted nothing to do with you,” Persephone provoked with a conspiring gleam in her eye.

             
“You and I both know that was not the case,” I shot back; assuming if she knew who I was, she had encountered my parents when they were killed and came to rest here.  The corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly as if I had passed some kind of test.  I took note that there were no smoky tendrils swirling around her body.  Maybe it was only her daughter who was filled with pure evil.

             
“It still remains to be seen if their many sacrifices were in vain,” she challenged me with a smirk.

             
“I don’t have to prove my worth to anyone,” I held her gaze. “The fact that I’m here should suffice as your answer.”

             
“Stasia…” I heard Phoebe hiss behind me in warning, but I held my stance easily.  I refused to let anyone doubt my integrity, especially not a jaded, bitter queen.  Unfortunately for Phoebe, her warning only diverted Persephone’s intense deliberation to her.  Phoebe visibly squirmed under her powerful stare, but Persephone only smiled.

             
“A muse; so innocent and naïve,” she declared softly; continuing to stare at her; her expression quickly changing from a smile to a smirk as she shook her head in disgust. “Love is such a fickle thing. Don’t expect it to last.  He will inevitably become bored and move on to someone else.  They always do.”  As Phoebe shrank back in horror at her words, Persephone moved her piercing stare to Carmen.