Suddenly, a light appeared beside him. It faded to form a young, beautiful woman with dark red hair, fair skin, and the green, swirling eyes of a goddess. He knew her instantly.
She was Mnimi, the goddess of memory. He'd seen her likeness countless times in temples and on scrolls.
She held an old-fashioned oil lamp in her hand as she studied him closely.
"Where am I?" Styxx asked.
Her voice was faint and gentle, like a breeze whispering through crystal leaves. "You are in Tartarus.
"
Styxx swallowed his outrage. When he had died aeons ago in ancientGreece , he had been placed in the paradise of the Elysian Fields.
Tartarus was where Hades banished the evil souls he wished to torture.
"I don't belong here."
"Wheredo you belong?" she asked.
"I belong with my family.
"
Her eyes were tinged by sadness as she regarded him. "They have all been reborn. The only family you have left now is the brother you hate.
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"
"He is not my brother. He wasnever my brother.
"
She cocked her head as if listening to something far away from them. "Strange. Acheron never felt that way about you. No matter the times you were cruel to him, he never hatedyou .
"
"I don't care what he feels.
"
"True," she said as if she knew his innermost thoughts, as if she knew him better than he knew himself.
"Honestly, I don't understand you, Styxx. For centuries, you were given the Vanishing Isle as your home.
You had friends and every luxury known. It was as peaceful and beautiful there as the Elysian Fields, and yet all you did was plot more vengeance against Acheron. I gave you memories of your beautiful home and family, of your peaceful and happy childhood to comfort you and instead of gaining pleasure from them you used them to fuel your hatred."
"Do you blame me? He stole everything from me. Everything I ever hoped for or loved. Because of him my family is dead, my kingdom gone. Even my life ended because ofhim ."
"No," she said softly. "You can lie to yourself, Styxx, but not to me. It was you who betrayed your brother. You and your father. You let your fear of him blind you. It was your own actions that condemned not only him, but yourself as well."
"What do you know of it? Acheron is evil. Unclean. He defiles everything he touches."
She danced her fingers through the lamp's flame, making it flicker eerily in the darkness of the small cell.
All the while her eyes burned him with their intensity. "That is the beauty of memory, isn't it? Our reality is
always clouded by our perceptions of truth. You remember events one way and so you judge your brother without knowledge of how things were to him."
Mnimi placed a hand on his shoulder. The heat of it seared his skin and when she spoke her low tone sounded evil, insidious. "I am about to give you the most precious of gifts, Styxx. At long last, you will have understanding."
Styxx tried to run, but couldn't.
Mnimi's fiery touch held him immobile.
His head spun as he rushed back in time.
He saw his beautiful mother lying on her gilded bed, her body covered in sweat, her face ashen, as an attendant brushed her damp, blond hair from her pale blue eyes. He'd never known his mother to appear more joy-filled than she did that day.
The room was crowded with court officials and his father, the king, stood to the side of the bed with his heads of state. The long, stained-glass windows were open, letting the fresh sea air offer relief to the heat of the late summer day.
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"It is another beautiful boy," the midwife happily proclaimed, wrapping the newborn infant in a blanket.
"By sweet Apollymi's hand, Aara, you've done me proud!" his father said as a loud jubilant shout echoed through the room. "Twin boys to rule over our twin isles!"
Laughing, his mother watched as the midwife cleaned the firstborn.
It was then Styxx learned the true horror of Acheron's birth, learned the dark secret his father had hidden from him.
Acheron was the firstborn son. Not him.
Styxx, who was now in Acheron's infant body, struggled to breathe through his newborn lungs. He had finally taken a deep, clear breath when he heard a cry of alarm.
"Zeus have mercy, the eldest is malformed, Majesties."
His mother looked up, her brow creased by worry. "How so?"
The midwife carried him over to his mother, who held the second-born babe to her breast.
Scared, the baby wanted only to be comforted. He reached for the brother who had shared the womb with him these past months. If he could just touch his brother, all would be right. He knew it.
Instead, his mother pulled his brother away, out of his sight and reach. "It cannot be," his mother sobbed. "He is blind."