Gemini

Chappter 33* The End of the Tunnel

Chapter 33* The End of the Tunnel

“The funerals are today.”

I hear the voice and nod as best as I can without turning around. I hear footsteps shuffling closer, then stop, and shuffle back out, fading into the corridor.

Standing, I stride to the mirror set on the dressing table and stare into the cracked surface. My splintered reflection looks back at me, pale and hollow. There is an undercurrent of pain in my eyes that has been there ever since we returned from the realm of the gods, dragging one body between us. My cheek is still red from the slap I received. Gemini apologized after, and we spoke and found the same pain in each other that we had in ourselves.

I finger the quaint musical box on the peeling white table. It’s caked with dust, and when I open it the music sputters and dies, but it is still a beautiful thing. Carefully, I use my hands to brush away the dust, seeing the faint glimmer of gold underneath.

We’ve relocated to the nearest village, abandoning the caves in favor of abandoned modern amenities. What’s left of us, at least. Only half of the humans survived the attack on the gods, and those that came back are either severely injured or fractured with pain. Jeremy, at least, has made it back, but he’s lost one of his arms and can’t get up from bed in the makeshift infirmary. Raiders chanced upon a pharmacy in the town with drugs that still had yet to expire, and the medicine is doing well here. But there’s only so much good that can be done for the irreparably damaged.

There is a knock on the door, and a heavier set of footsteps shuffle in. I turn, watching Gemini as he walks to stand by the moth-eaten bed. His back is bowed with pain, and lines are etched into his face. I have not heard his laugh since we returned. He told us his story, of how he found a chip in the wall of his prison and used it to break out.

The fires of his prison have burned away a part of him, blackened it until it peeled away and shriveled up. His threshold for pain is much higher now- all the bars, for every single one of us, have been raised. Only, his and mine have been raised so high that we can’t feel anything.

“Are you going today?” I ask quietly. He shrugs, eyes cast down. His hands shake as he steadies himself on the bedpost, and it sends tremors up his entire body. When he finally looks up at me, his eyes are only pain, too great for tears.

“I… think so.” The words come out difficult. “I- I need to…”

“I understand,” I say quietly. “It’s what she would have wanted.”

“You don’t know that,” he says, and his eyes flash up to meet mine, a hint of anger in them although it dissipates quickly. I feel the backs of my eyes start to burn, and take a step towards him. He immediately slumps, apologetic, and I move forward and slip my arms around his trembling body.

“It’s not your fault,” he says, like he’s trying to convince himself. My cheek burns where he slapped me when he found out. I would take a thousand more slaps, gladly, if it meant both of them were back, healthy and whole. I would do anything for them to be here with us, the four of us just like it was at the very beginning.

“But it is.” The words burn in my throat. I’ve said this before but the words keep coming. “I chose this. Me. I’m sorry, Gemini. I’m so sorry.” Breathing gets a little bit harder. “I don’t know- I just-” I release him, stepping back. “I’m going to see Sam,” I say, even though it is possibly the worst thing to say, and then I flee.

The run to the infirmary is short. It’s a crudely constructed structure in the middle of the town square, next to a dried up fountain. Table legs have been hacked off to serve as poles to prop up the tables themselves, which have been nailed together and tied together to form an unsteady shelter. Beds are moth-eaten mattresses on the ground, with moaning people lying atop them. I carefully tread my way through the skinny aisles, heading for the corner.