And then I turn my head, taking in more of the space, and I realize my mother’s kitchen is still full of people and now I notice the women she is with... a pink haired woman with a pregnant belly--it must be her: Harlow. She is crying, wiping her eyes, and sitting across from my mother at the table. Her pale pink hair falling in her face.
And there’s a woman with bright red hair, pregnant also, but she isn’t crying; she looks pissed. And then... then I see her.
Lark.
She hardly looks human... and I know I don’t either, but she looks like a mythical creature more than human. She looks like magic. Her hair is streaked in vibrant colors, her shoulders graceful, her limbs long. She looks almost like some winged creature; like the most beautiful bird, I’ve ever seen.
My heart beats heavily in my chest. The deepest longing I’ve ever known fills my heart, and all I want is to be free of this fucking place and to go see her. The girl who was my best friend before I came to Styx; the cousin who was much too good for me. She was gentle and true and kind. And I was a naughty girl. I had been then breaking the rules, who had stolen the ring--
My breath catches.
The ring.
Eric said Harlow put on a ring and everything changed.
I put on a ring and everything changed too. Lightning fell from the sky and splintered my life in two. Before and after. Earth and Styx. I was carried here by a gust of wind, but even as I think it, it makes no sense.
How could such a thing happen?
The girls are talking in the kitchen, and now I can hear them. I push out the competing thoughts and focus on them.
“She’s got to be somewhere,” Harlow says to my mother. I see my mother’s crystal ball on the wooden table, milky and filled with magic.
“I know,” Mother says solemnly. “I know she hasn’t passed to the spirit world but she isn’t on Earth either. It’s like she’s trapped.”
“How do you know that?” the redhead asks.
“Because, Remedy,” Lark says softly “My aunt’s a witch. She knows these things.”
“Convenient.” Remedy runs her fingers through her long hair.
Harlow looks over at her. Squinting, trying to read her as if they hardly know one another at all. “Are you always this negative?”
Remedy shrugs. “I know I was the one who dragged Lark here, but this is stupid. We’re never going to get an answer unless Gaia shows up to help us.”
“She isn’t coming,” my mother whispers, her fingers resting on the ball. She closes her eyes, focusing the power within the orb.
As a little girl, I watched her do this so many times. Now the memories come flooding back. Mom with clients, reading their fortunes, making them cry tears of joy or pain. Mom always said it wasn’t her choice what message was delivered. She was nothing but a vessel for the future, the spirit world, and the great beyond.
“Are you sure?” Lark asks, sitting down, eyes trained on the ball.
“Someone else must act in her place. Come here in lieu of her.”
“Why?” Harlow asks, her hand on her swollen belly.
“Because she has another task to complete.” Mother nods as if the matter is taken care of. “And she isn’t needed Earth-side. Her duty lies below in the Underworld. But someone else needs to return. And they will.” At that, my mother’s eyes fix on Harlow, and my heart pounds in understanding.
Hating the truth.
Remedy scoffs again. “I am so fucking tired of these vague words. You’re just like Gaia. She’d sweep in, tell us half a story, then disappear.”
“She’s sick, Rem,” Harlow says tightly. “I saw her in the ocean, on my way here. She’s dying. I know Lark’s mates say the world is in peril, and that it’s because Mother Earth is dying. But I think it might be something else...”
“Like what?” Lark asks gently. My own lip trembles as I see her there -- a grown woman, before my very eyes.
“I think things started getting bad when we locked up our fathers. Maybe Poseidon, Ares, and Zeus weren’t meant to be behind bars.”
Rem scoffs again. “We literally just spent months locking our fathers up and now you’re suggested that was the wrong course of action?”
Harlow twists her lips. “I know we’re half-sisters and because of that, I want to trust you all but sometimes I feel like we’re going to be at a standstill forever. And I don’t have forever.” Tears fill her eyes. “I’ve already lost so much. My father killed the man I love. Eric will never meet his child, never be a part of his life. I won’t let his death have been in vain. I’m having a baby no matter what we decide. I just don’t want to waste any more time deciding what we’re going to do next.”