I have never felt so uncertain than in that moment. I eventually found Sonia. I followed her in silence moment that felt like forever. After a moment we arrived at a giant house, that had all sorts of weird machinery inside that I have never seen. In front of me were vehicles, weapons, anything I could name. In the middle of the hall there was even a giant lying robot with a strange cabin on its back.
We stopped at a little corner where there was a giant wardrobe. Sonia pointed at a small stool next to it. When I sat down on it, Sonia herself started to climb the shelves wildly high. She looked like she was weightless, but probably her climbing skills was due to her boots. I could see some sort of weird gas that came from on the bottom.
I looked around. I was sitting next to a table that was labeled "need to be fixed". It had two guns. one bigger rifle that had the name "Bonnie Darling" painted on it. Smaller was a small pistol, that had a textbook that read "What wrong with this? Tests show no difference. What happen then?". One that wasn't a gun was a weird tube that was made few parts. Behind it was a drawn picture where a blue energy came from the tube, like a shield like energy.
After a moment, Sonia climbed back down gracefully. She had a dozens of clothes in her grip that she drew to me.
I got up and tried put the clothes on the stool but stopped when Sonia looked at me. When Sonia took the coat on top of the pile and gave it to me, I finally realized that I needed to put these on. Sonia took a rainbow colored shirt and white pants and walked away to somewhere.
I touched subconsciously my head where i had buttons that would made my glasses appear, if my mom wouldn't have forced me to leave them back home from the party. I didn't have an ounce of fashion sense without it. Mom would have probably tracked me if I had my glasses with me, but I could have managed that for a fashion help.
After a long debate I picked out blue pants that were the most beautiful piece of fabric i have ever seen. One of the pant leg had a forest in a daylight, and one in midnight. I also picked a black blouse with it.
I never usually dressed... like this. This was the first outfit in a long time I picked for myself. I had never felt this powerful before.
After some waiting, Sonia came back. She had the rainbow shirt and white pants on it. She looked at me up and down, gave me a approving nod and then she walked behind me.
Oh yeah, I forgot. My hair was a mess. Edan had cut my hair weirdly. I'm glad I couldn't see it. "It's bad, isn't it?"
Sonia pulled me on top of the clothes to sit on. Before I could say anything, Sonia had scissors on its hand. I closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes, a giant mirror was in front of me. I touched the side of my head. I only had hair on top of my head. When I turned my head around, I could see rose patterns Sonia had made. I... I looked really good. Different, but good.
I noticed on the corner of my eye how Sonia looked at me. I wished I could talk to her. She patted me on the back and walked in the other direction. When I looked after her, I saw that the sun was setting.
Sonia told me to follow her and I did, what else could I do. When we walked out, Tartaros had changed in the couple of hours we were inside the weird hall. There were floating lights around us that changed color every so often. I have never seen anything like it. As I looked at the ground, my steps left a glowing footprint on the ground for a moment. I would also swore that the murals were moving. Tartaros… This was like something out of a fairy tale.
When I followed Sonia deeper into the city, we arrive in the middle of a giant group of people. Party clothes for people of Tartaros were even wilder than their normal clothes. Some of them were only dressed in underwear and shoes. I saw couple of people in old time-y tuxes that were colored rainbow. Sonia had to drag me forward so I couldn't just stare at people.
When we're arrived in front of a house I never had been before, Serena adn Evalyn waited for us. Evalyn was dressed in a small pink dress and a blue fur coat that was too big for her. Serena was dressed in giant heels that mixed into black tight pants. She also was in a tight turtleneck that was hidden behind a similar fur coat than Evalyn's.
"Andy darling, you look amazing. Milo has some cool outfits, let me tell you." Evalyn tapped me on the shoulder, trying to make sure she wouldn't mess with my outfit. Serena tapped on her arm that was glowing.
"Where's... Milo?" I tried to remember all the real names of the Gorgos. I tried to be nice and not to think about the things i was taught about them.
"He's talking either to O'hara's, who are in charge the hospital wing, or Samuel", Evalyn said and walked up to a giant door. She opened it dramatically and walked in. "Real party couldn't start without you."
When we walked in, everyone on the other side gave us space, even tough the whole place was cramped. When we walked more in the middle of people, I could see their faces that were glowing pure admiration towards the two women in front of me. It was just amazing.
When we walked to a railing, I noticed the hole in the middle of the room, it had stairs going around it towards a bottom. Have they drilled a hole in the mountain?
"We need to talk to Samuel before our big speech. We will see you after that next to the stage. Sonia knows where to go. Have fun! Get to know people." Evalyn fixed her coat and looked around. "Sonia. Do you have your bracelet-"
Sonia wasn't next to us. I was going to be left alone in a room full of people. Oh no.
"Sonia is... Sonia. I'm sorry, kid. She will warm up to you", Serena said and put her arm around Evalyn, "Just stay close to the railing, and you will probably find her soon." Before I could say anything else, both women were gone. Family trait, disappearing into thin air.
Before I went into a full panic mode, I heard Milo's voice behind me: "Andy, what's up kid? I want you to meet some people."
I didn't realize that Milo meant that i spent hours just talking to people who Milo said worked with him and other Gorgos. He introduced me as his niece, as a family member. People smiled and welcomed me into Tartaros, my new home. I felt giddy every time someone said that. I could have been longer with them.
One girl, whose name I didn't remember, pulled me into the stairs. I glided towards the bottom, dancing with a group of girls same age as me. I was so in tune with a music, i didn't even notice how close one of the girls danced with me.
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Out of no where, Sonia grabbed my elbow and dragged me away from dancing. She didn't stop until we were right in the bottom of the hole.
When we arrived down, I could see a giant dance hall where music blared louder than on the stairwell. There were hundreads of people, maybe almost thousands. They were dancing and laughing without any structure.
Dancing stopped only when a giant screen flashed before us out of nowhere, with a picture of a Serena and Evalyn on it.
"How's it going people?" Everyone around me started a thunderous applause. It reminded me of home.
"Happy anniversary to everyone", Serena yelled.
"15 years, 15 years have passed since the day that changed our lives completely", Evalyn's gaze became serious and her gaze blurred for a moment, "We lost friends, family members, loved ones. Some of us lost everything but the power to continue living.” The image expanded. They both stood on a giant stage, behind them were a group of people who just stood. They were concentrating on the two women's speech quite intensely.
“Before we start the proper partying-” An eager shout was heard from all around me. I quickly glanced in Sonia's direction, who was still pulling me deeper into the crowd. Me and her, we seemed to be the only people who weren't completely hyped.
Evalyn put her finger over his mouth, silencing the whole eager crowd in a second. The women looked at each other for a moment, then Evalyn continued: "-We want to remember those we have lost."
“All of us have lost someone to war, we have too. Medusa's sisters, Stheno's sister, Mine... None of us are strangers to loss.” Serena grabbed Evalyn's hand. Evalyn's gaze had wandered, but returned to earth as soon as her partner's skin touched hers. They smiled a little at each other and continued talking with wide smiles.
"We are here because of them. It is because of them that we are still fighting. ” The women's smiles widened as the audience began to shout enthusiastically again. “Now, let's remember the past so we can move forward into the future.”
The women walked off the stage as a giant image appeared where the women were before. Soon, a list of names and pictures had appeared in their place, which changed every couple of seconds. The rhythmic dance music turned into a longing melody that made many cry as soon as the first note hit their ears. Two young people next to the text began to sing gracefully.
Just as suddenly, Sonia stopped. Her body tensed. I looked ahead. I only saw it for a second, but I could clearly see that the image on the screen was of a beautiful woman with smooth looking hair. Sonia and the Woman had similar angular faces that looked equally serious. I didn't have time to see anything else before the face changed. It was replaced by a man in his sixties who was as white as a ghost.
"Your mother was beautiful", I said, even knowning she couldn't understand me.
I was about to say something else, but the picture changed again from a round-faced old lady to a dark-skinned, slightly overweight, man with black dreadlocks in a ponytail wrapped around his neck. Father. Then I understood why Sonia didn't want to pay attention to her mother. It was too much.
We soon got right next to the stage. We walked up the stairs next to the stage until we got to Serena and Evalyn who were just walking towards the center of the stage. The last character appeared on the screen, and the women started talking again.
"We will keep them all in our memories." Evalyn pressed one hand to her heart. "But now, we can't worry all day. None of them would want that. We must celebrate their lives and their legacy to this city. Let's celebrate as much as we can!”
"So laugh, dance, drink, do whatever you think is the best way to celebrate those who are gone." Serena and Evalyn raised their hands, holding each other's hands at the same time. At the same time, the audience burst into a roar of a applause. I didn't even notice it at first, but I clapped along with the other people. I only stopped when Sonia pushed me in front of Serena and Evalyn.
"Andy! Good that you came. Before we went on stage, we were just talking about you." Evalyn smiled eagerly, glancing back and forth between Serena and me.
“How long did you plan to be here? When did you plan to go home?” I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what else I could do. “We just thought that if you're here longer, you might be interested in visiting my classes. Evalyn needs to check your level and tell you something about the rules, but otherwise…” I bit my lip to keep from smiling strangely. I'd probably get my ass kicked at the Tartaros school, but I didn't care at that moment.
"Yes-Yes, I want to try." I nervously twirled my hands. I wish I could be as sure as Edan. My confidence was probably the worst Tartaros has seen.
"Brilliant! I'll see you tomorrow in the training room around morning." Evalyn clapped her hands excitedly. "It's the biggest house in Tartaros, Sonia can show you the place." I swallowed the panic that had just surfaced back into my guts. I couldn't show that I already knew the place. I had to look cool and casual for Medusa, my aunt, my real aunt.
I wanted to ask something else, like how I should prepare myself, but just at that moment, the bracelets on Serena and Evalyn's hand started flashing blue light. Serena grabbed her wrist ring and looked in the direction of the audience. "I don't know where Samuel is... Do you want to stop celebrating now?"
"Duty calls." Evalyn became a professional in seconds. They started walking away. Sonia tried to stop me from following them.
They were suprisingly quick for wearing high heels. I tried to keep up but it was hard. We walked outside the big hall and into the small streets. Soon we were in the same place I had been this morning.
I ran fast to hold the door open without the women noticing me behind them. All I could see through the crack in the window was Serena and Evalyn walking into the same hole I just came from today. Soon they came back up followed by a young looking boy. He was shaking and close to crying.
"Sweetheart, Do you want to tell me why you were here all alone." As soon as they were in the open, Evalyn kneeled in front of the boy. After not getting a reaction, Evalyn stood up. "You know, tell me one fact about you, and we will take you to get something to eat, something really good. I know so many good cooks, like my wife. I also have some of my son's old toys. What do you say?"
"Mom said I had to come here." The boy spat the words out of his mouth as if he was told to not to say it. His head immediately went down. If I looked closely, I saw that the boy was trying to hold back his tears. Evalyn raised her hand towards the boy again. This time the boy clung to Evalyn.
"Where is your mother?" Serena asked cautiously. She crouched down next to the boy. Serena tried to touch the boy, but she lowered her hand as the boy flinched. "I can understand if you are scared. You are alone in a completely unknown place. It can be scary.”
"Mom said that people were accusing her of stuff so we had to run before they could hurt us like they did auntie." Serena and Evalyn looked at each other. "Mom told me to run as was as I could and not look back and just stop when I saw daddy. Daddy is here already."
"What's your name?"
"Miguel Ramirez", boy said proudly, "My mommy and daddy do space ships."
"What does your mother or father look like?" Evalyn's tone became more serious. Evalyn moved closer to Serena's ear and she whispered so loudly that I could hear it too. "Take a sample of it. I think this is one of Milo's helpers son, but I can't be sure."
"Mother has black hair and glasses. She is very pretty, but very tired." The boy didn't care at all about keeping women secret. He smiled widely and looked at the women. "Is mother going to die? Mom said it's dangerous to come here. The man in the screens hates this place because the snakes are breaking places.”
The women looked like they were wordlessly trying to decide whether to tell the little boy about the harshness of the world or lie to him. The boy was so young. He wouldn't stop crying if he knew his mother would never come back.
“Did you ever have siblings? There are many children your age in O'hara's family. They would definitely love to meet a new playmate.” Evalyn quickly changed the subject. The boy seemed to perk up a lot when he started thinking about new friends.
"Do they like trains?" The boy pulled Serena's coat excitedly. He rocked from side to side, almost bouncing. They slowly started walking towards me. I didn't have time to do anything but get up when the women opened the door and found me on the other side.
"Very excited to learn, aren't we?"