Chapter Text
It has almost been a year since I have been bound to this palace. During this time, Achilles has grown. He has even started walking, running even. He is more developed than any child that I have ever known. There is no question that his fast development is from the divine blood that runs in his veins. Sometimes, I believe he is a God.
As I open my bedchambers, I see Achilles running towards me, reaching for me. I grin at him and pull him up into my arms. I safely cradle his head in my arms and make my way to my balcony. I specifically chose this room, for this balcony is the closest to the sea, close enough that I can smell the salt when I breathe.
I sit Achilles down on my lap and gently smooth his bright fair hair, softly sing ancient songs. I whisper heroic stories that I once remembered hearing from my mother Nereus, the Sea Goddess. He coos softly and twists his fingers between my black tresses, tugging lightly. They tickle his nose and I chuckle lowly as he sneezes.
Through my coddling, I had not seen the wasp, had not even heard it. By the time I had seen the threat, the damage had been done. Achilles was wailing, tears running down his face, snot dripping down his lips. As I started to rock back and forth, attempting to calm him down, my stomach twisted. Panic and dread swirled in my head. I was doused with a startling realization.
My son was mortal
Achilles was mortal and he could pass. The divine blood that I had gifted him would not prevent his death. Yes, I had known this all along. But it was only now that I was faced with the reality of the fact. My son would die, he would leave this realm, and he would leave me.
Fear started to constrict my body. Achilles had reluctantly calmed down; exhaustion from the excitement had resigned him to a nap. Mercifully, he could not feel my trembling hands. A son should not see his mother quake, let alone a godly one.
Swiftly, I decided that I could not let our story end like this. I will not allow my son to be ripped from me by the Fates. I will not allow myself to feel so helpless. My brain scrambled to come up with a plan, anything. Suddenly, I remembered a legend that I had heard the younger Nereids recite. The girls had spun a story of a demigod who had unexpectedly fallen into the River Styx, and when he arose, glowing, he became near immortal. I was never one to believe in such silly, made up, fictions, but I had no choice.
I journeyed to the edge of the mortal realm, Achilles swaddled tightly in my arms. After a perilous couple of days, I reached Pluto’s gate. Yet before I could cross the gate, a stony figure appeared.
“What is the meaning of this?”, I asked the stone guards. They were tasked to warn mortals from crossing the gate to their doom. But my flesh was not so easy to harm, it was divine.
“Kind maiden, we can not allow you to cross these gates. Only death and despair will await your soul, and your child’s,” the snake-shaped guard stated. A three-headed dog panted miserably behind him. I scoffed, disgusted by their confidence to stop me.
“Do you know who I am? I am Thetis, Goddess of the Sea, eldest daughter of the Sea God Nereus and Sea Goddess Doris. And this is my son, Achilles, and he will soon be a God. We are NOT some weak mortals who will cower at your pathetic warnings. You do not have the power to stop or question me. Get out of my way!”
I speak with a god-like authority, something I know these foot soldiers are afraid of. I know my eyes are a glowing, menacing red, my hair blowing in a wispy trail behind me. I have grown long, dark, black wings right out of my backside, making me seem larger than life.
The guards flinch at my words and tremble at my appearance. They resign to humbly step back and bow their heads as I glide through the gates, transforming back into a maiden. I approached the river, grimacing at it's muddy impression. It was nothing like the sea. Where the sea was a clear, charming blue and filled with life, this river was dark and misty, with dead fish washing up on the shores. My sea gleamed and reflected light, but here, the water absorbed darkness, mortal hopes, and dreams.
I carefully unwrapped my son, careful not to disturb his peace. I held him in my arms and slowly crept down the river bank, to the soiled water. I dip my toes in the river and feel a biting cold. I clench my teeth to stop myself from shivering. Stubbornly, I persist the numbing river, till the water reaches my waist. When I look down at Achilles, I find green eyes with swirls of gold staring curiously back at me. I feel a twinge of guilt, a reminder of the dangers of this idea, but I fiercely push it aside. This is for him, I reason with myself. This is so my son will stay constant.
“Be brave Achilles,” I whisper in his ear. I press a firm kiss to his forehead and bump his and mine together. His small fingers cradled my face.
Now, I must be swift
I grabbed the boy by his ankles and dunk him underwater. He thrashes and struggles, but I hold on vigorously, careful to observe that all of him was held below the water. I held back tears as I watched his small body attempt to win against me, to survive. Abruptly, all of his erratic movements ceased. Alarm began to dwell inside me and I feared that I had ended his sentence. I grabbed him by the armpits and brought his chest to my ear, desperate to hear the familiar beat.
But he began to glow. I gasped as I watched his previously fair skin start to reflect a beautiful golden light that even Apollo would be jealous of. Shortly, Achilles starts to sneeze, coughing up all the water he had consumed. I laugh and hug him close to my chest, quickly so that he doesn’t see the joyful tears streaming down my face. I silently thank the Fates for permitting me to accomplish this ludicrous plan.
As I voyage back to Phthia, I find myself absurdly relieved. I had done it, I had found a way to make my son near immortal. No harm would easily come to him now. He would not so easily part from me.