Tartarus Thief | ONC 2021 [ROUND 2 WINNER]

Chapter 1

1974

Vita opened the front door, her best friend falling into her arms. Laughing, she wiped Leonora's long, ginger ponytail out of her eyes as they hugged.

"Congratulations!" Leonora squealed. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you!" Vita's cheeks hurt from smiling all day, but she couldn't stop. Last night had been magical. Divine. The ring on her finger made her feel like the most beautiful, most loved woman in the world. "Please, come inside."

Vita let her friend into the apartment, as they gushed over the engagement ring, giggling like young girls.

"Where is your future husband? I want to congratulate him too, on making the best decision of his life."

Vita laughed. "I'm not sure, he was supposed to be back an hour ago. Must have been held back at work. I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

"Great!" said Leonora as she entered the cramped living room. Vita had spent most of the afternoon tidying up and making space for the guests she knew were coming tonight, but with Barnabas' classic literature collection and her own love of houseplants, the room always felt crowded.

"Sit down, I'll go and fetch us some tea." The skirt of her most cherished, midnight-blue empire dress swiveled around her legs as she turned.

"Did those flowers come with the ring?" Leonora called through the open kitchen door.

Vita chuckled. "Yes. Purple irises, my favourite. He knows me well."

"Gods," said Leonora, glancing again at the ring on Vita's left hand as she came back into the room. "That must be the largest diamond I have ever seen. Do accountants make that much money?"

"I wish. We would be living a whole lot bigger if he did." Grinning, Vita set down a steaming mug of tea in front of Leonora and sat down on the sofa next to her, sinking back into the abundance of fluffy pillows. "Apparently Barny has been saving up for a long time. He said he wanted to buy an even bigger one, but was afraid I would leave him if he waited much longer."

Leonora sighed. "That man is just the sweetest. I hope you know how lucky you are."

"Trust me, I do," said Vita, leaning over to add milk to her tea. She waited until the old grandfather clock stopped chiming before adding, "He really is perfect, Leo..."

"–nora," her friend added pointedly.

"I'm thinking of telling him."

Leonora's smile froze on her face. "Are you serious?"

Vita nodded, avoiding her friend's gaze. "I want him to know everything about me. Even that." She picked a few of her own long black hairs from the pillows, as they always got stuck, and dropped them on the floor, knowing she'd have to vacuum again later. "I don't want to hide the diaries from him anymore."

"Vee..."

"No, I'm serious about this. Barny is the most wonderful man I've ever met in all my lives and I want to be completely honest with him. Besides, it won't change anything. We don't even have any powers, if you don't count the resurrection."

"Sweetheart..." Leonora leaned forward. "Powers or not, you are about to tell that poor man that you're a demigoddess. You, the woman with the peanut allergy. How big are the chances that he will believe you? Moreover, the mortals really aren't supposed to know about us."

"He will believe me. Eventually." Vita leaned back in the sofa, her fingers wrapped tightly around the steaming mug. "Look, I just... I want to be able to talk to him about everything, you know? About this life, but also about my past lives. And about the fact that if we have children and grandchildren, I can look them up in the next life."

Leonora grinned. "You're planning on having his children?"

Vita snorted. "That's all you got from that, is it? Oh, hang on." She jumped up when the telephone in the kitchen started ringing in its annoying, high-pitched tone. "Must be Barny's mum."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she muttered as she hurried over, the half-empty tea mug still in her hand. "Hello? Yes, that's me."

The next moment the mug crashed to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces. Vita stumbled backwards, holding herself up on the counter. The world spun in front of her eyes. She couldn't breathe, as if her lungs refused to absorb the oxygen she sucked in.

"Vita? Is everything alright?" Leonora called from the living room.

"No," she said into the phone. "No, that can't be."

She dropped the phone when her best friend came rushing into the room. It dangled on its cord. Her hands grasped at her head, as if to tear out the horrible, dreadful words she'd just heard. "Ma'am?" came a voice through the speaker. "Ma'am, are you still there?"

Leonora kneeled next to her as Vita sunk down with her back against the cupboards, unresponsive to the shards of wet ceramic digging into her legs. "Vee...?"

"Barny's had an accident." Her voice came out thick and mechanical. As if she was listening to someone else convey the tragic message. "He's gone."