Gone Girl.¹

𝟬𝟬𝟯. impossible choices

gone girl.
━━━ chapter three

❀

The god of fire walked and Amaryllis followed. She was becoming increasingly nervous by the minute, especially because they were having a walk five minutes now and Hephaestus hadn't said a word yet.

"So. What did you want to talk about?" Amaryllis finally asked, tired of the excruciating waiting.

He grunted. "It's not my place to do this, you know. And before you get any ideas, I don't know anything other than what I'm about to say right now. But you are to leave the island."

Amaryllis looked at the man confused, her heart beating so fast that she almost couldn't hear herself. "I- I don't understand."

"You are free to leave the island, child. He said it's time."

"Who said?" she insisted. If she was being honest, she didn't believe him. It had to be some kind of sick trick. She looked around, half expecting an audience that was laughing at her.

"Ah. As I said, it's not my place to have this discussion with you. You have a choice - you can leave the island or stay." He stopped walking, grunting in pain, perhaps due to his leg injury. "Do you know how long you have been here for?"

She tried to calm herself, even though the intrusive thought of throwing rocks at the god until he told her everything would't leave her mind. She hoped he couldn't read minds. Then again, if he could, she'd probably be dead by now.

"Four years, I believe."

"So you're aware of what's happening in the outside world? I see," Hephaestus said. "Amaryllis Kalomiri, the choice you'll make will determine your fate, the path that you will follow." He held his hand up high to stop her from talking the moment she opened her mouth. "I can't tell you which choice is the right one. I suppose that is something that will be revealed later. All I can say is that... I sense you'll be quite important in the future."

"I can't say I understand, sir. Do you know why I was brought here? Why can I suddenly leave? I-"

"Your questions are valid. Yet, I cannot answer them," he started coughing and it reminded Amaryllis of her aunt Evaggelia, a smoker since the age of thirteen. "If it provides you any comfort, I can say that from my experience, secrets never stay hidden for too long."

She couldn't say that she appreciated how cryptic he was being, in fact it was infuriating that he was just standing there, talking her about her own life like it was nothing that important.

"And what about Calypso?" she finally found what to say. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking at Hephaestus with the audacity of a person who was sure that they couldn't be killed. "She's free too, I assume?"

"You assume wrong." He continued walking, now returning to the table where they left from. "Calypso is still serving her punishment."

"But that's so unfair!" she yelled at him, running behind him like a little child. "I can't- I can't just leave her alone!"

"Then don't leave the island," he replied, after muttering something in another language. She was pretty sure he called her annoying in Arabic or something.