I kept following the path, my feet finding their place in the dirt naturally as I kept my eyes forward. The air became dry, suffocating, the path ahead turned into a dirt road with buildings on both sides of me. I looked down at myself to see myself in an outfit you see in those old western films that were made so close to The Wild West that a few of the actors actually lived it.
"Is that you, Neptune!" I heard a voice call out. I turned on my heels fast to see a man in all black clothing, hand on his hip and murder in his eyes.
"Mr. Reaper," I called out. "Long time no see, I've been looking for you."
"I know, used up all the wells of information until they dried out. I used the same tactics to find you, so what say you Bounty Hunter? A duel to the death?" Reaper smiled, lifting his hat up slightly.
His smile put the fear of the gods in me, but I couldn't turn away now. Before me stood a dangerous Gunfighter, a ruthless outlaw who put many men six feet under and made many women widows. Even if I lost the duel, Reaper could not be allowed to leave.
"Challenge accepted, Reaper," I put my hand on my own sixgun.
I could hear window shutters slam closed and the quiet shouts of people trying to hide from the Grim Reaper and the next fool he'd gun down. I watched as he stood straight, turning his body away from me, the gun on his hip facing me. I moved my leg back, ready for the drawing moment, ready for his gun to clear leather.
We stood in silence, the sun beating on my back hard and burning me in the same hellfire I'd send Reaper to. Reapers hand twitched and I drew my gun quick, but not quick enough. Reaper turned his whole body, in the opposite hand from the one he showed me was his six-gun. I fell to my knee, breathing fast and hard, hand over my chest where I was shot. My gun had barely left my holster, barely been drawn, and not a bullet fired. Reaper stepped forward and crouched down infront of me, a lunatic's smile carved on his face. He threw two coins down infront of me and stood up without a word, he began to walk away as hate burned my heart.
I lifted my arm, shakily, I used my other hand to strengthen my arm and steady it. I fired one bullet, the gun leaping from my hand and landing next to me in the dirt. Reaper stopped dead in his tracks, he turned to face me as blood seeped out of his clothes. I watched him fall dead on the spot as my life left me, I felt a hand on my shoulder I turned left to see Jack Silver there.
"One outlaw to another, it was a good clean shot on a very bad man," Jack crouched down picking my revolver up from the dirt. "One gunfighter to another, you'll burn in hell next to him."
Jack drew a simple single action revolver from his holster and fired, the world went dark faster than I could process. I fell on the dirt path infront of Circe's palace, I stared up at the moon as my back burned as rocks picked and prodded my spinal cord.
"Sara! Sara are you okay!" I heard Andromeda shout, hearing her footsteps draw close.
"Yeah….no," I groaned out, my back desperately trying to escape the ground.
Andromeda helped me sit up and looked at me, her eyes glowing a dull black. She checked every inch of me she could, trying to see what went wrong. Andromeda shook her head and just stared at me briefly, she opened her mouth then turned away as if another thought came to mind.
"How long have the slips been happening? How long have you recalled information you shouldn't or couldn't have known?" Andromeda's voice turned grim, as if her own mind couldn't comprehend the danger we were in.
"I think our last day out in San Fran, I remember seeing the hat and thinking it looked familiar. Then it got worse on Polyphemus' island, much worse," I responded, looking away as well.
Andromeda's eyes shot back up, staring into a soul of many lives. "Were you cursed with someone else? Is your curse bonded to another soul?"
I nodded slowly, "Zeno. Zeno Neptune, Usurper of Atlantis, The man who killed Atticus. The man who murdered me, he was cursed with me."
"Some way and some how Zeno has awoken, that's what's causing the slips and the knowledge of your past lives. Your curse has truly activated, and it's giving you knowledge you shouldn't have to fight back and close the curse once and for all. Zeno must die first this time, or your curse continues," Andromeda's voice became ethereal for a moment, unreal and spooky.
I shook her a bit and she snapped to, "C'mon Rose, don't leave me now."
"Sorry sorry, Moon Magic under a new moon," Andromeda rubbed her eyes, this is the most awake I've seen her in awhile. "You and Zeno are linked to a tragic day in Atlantis, one that you miraculously saw. Zeno always gets seen and recognized by a higher power for his potential and kills his brother which sometimes is you. Your soul gets picked for a position you never asked for, but you excel at it, so much so that your own ambition becomes your noose."
"How could you know that? I barely do!" I shouted, watching as Andromeda rolled up her sleeve over her shoulder.
"I'm not named Andromeda Rose because I was abandoned, or because I'm a favorite Child of Selene, I'm named Andromeda Rose because I am— WAS her," Andromeda showed me her shoulder revealing a smaller Mark of Zagreus burned into her pale flesh. "I was drawn to you because I knew you had it as well, same reason I know so much about it. Same reason I recognized Jack's feather pen in the shop, Volpe must have left it there after all these years."
"No…that would mean.." My mind failed to wrap around the possibility that she was telling the truth. It burned with the speculation that she could remember everything, and I nothing.
"It would mean I knew exactly what your curse was, exactly when you got it, and exactly why you have it. It would mean I knew where we were in this realm the entire time and said nothing, it would mean I lied to you all these years, because Mater thought you couldn't accept the truth. I'm sorry, Sara, I tried to show you all I could so you could understand the depth of this curse," Andromeda looked away, messing with her fingers.
I lunged forward and pulled Andromeda into a tight hug, squeezing her as hard as I could. Andromeda's arm instinctively wrapped around me in a similar fashion. I should've been angry, I should've wanted to yell for not telling me sooner, but I wasn't. Not at her anyways, she was as much of a victim as I was in this situation. All I could think to do was hug her, and make sure she was ok. In a similar fashion, Andromeda returned the sentiment.
"Look at us, a couple of cursed girls bound together for an eternity," I couldn't help but laugh at the circumstances of the situation.
"Yeah, whatever will we do, under Hekate's moon?" Andromeda smiled.
"We could dance when we get back to the ship," I looked up at the darkened moon still high above.
Andromeda stood up and helped me to my feet, "but what will the neighbors think, Pearl?"
"They'll think we're lesbians, Rose," I smiled a bit.
"And what if we are?" Andromeda giggled, swaying slightly.
"Then I'm definitely the lead," I answered completing the same exchange about the neighbors and dancing under moonlight we've rehearsed since we were 13. It was silly but it cheered us both up when we needed it. I forgot what started it, but it was easy to change when circumstances called for it.
Andromeda gripped my hand and led the way back to the ship, we were coming up on the halfway point of our adventure but the danger had just begun. Sirens, Pirates, and Troy were laid before us as we continued our adventure. Gods help us.