It had been a few days since we had passed the man with the house. It was becoming increasingly unnerving to turn off the Eye. Every time I even had the thought of going without it, my body would start to slow down, almost as if the thought of powering down drained me. I remembered the old days, when this happened, and I learned to forget about a life without it. Now, I had completely forgotten what I did.
Then, one day, when I was getting ready to sleep, it wouldn't turn off.
I sat up, startled. I stopped concentrating. It stayed on. I let my exhaustion take over. It stayed on. I turned to him. "My Eye will not go out, no matter what I do."
He smiled. "Yes. I have been waiting for this day. You finally have completely your Eye. There is no stopping it now. You'll learn to respect it, and you will learn every use of it. For now, get some rest."
"You do realize I cannot sleep, right?"
He chuckled. "Simply because you cannot sleep, does not mean you cannot rest."
We spent the night stargazing and pointing out the constellations.
The next morning, we came across three children. The fifteen year old girl raised her arm defensively in front of the eight year old girls. Her startling green eyes shone in the sunlight, while the little ones had the brown eyes of their father. I put my hands up to signify non-hostility. "Hello. What direction is the nearest town in?"
The fifteen year old shakily raised her left hand and pointed southwest, right arm still defensively out. I nodded. "Thank you." I bowed,but then, I heard him again.
Kill them. Kill them, or I will. I shuddered. I remembered missions with him, and his victims. They always survived, screaming in pain, until he got bored, and ended their misery. I pulled out my sword, and hesitantly took a step forward. They are mortal, though. In the back of my mind, I could hear him chuckling. When has that stopped me before? Mortals also have some rather effective materials, and Celestial Bronze and Steel mix very nicely. I gulped and muttered, "I am sorry", watching all three of them stare at the glint of the blade.
It only took three swipes, but the screams made it feel like an eternity.
I crouched and slipped a drachma into each child's hand, allowing them passage with Charon in the Underworld. "Well done." I turned to see him, sitting behind me, smiling. "I did not think you had it in you, to hurt those children. I suppose I underestimated you."
I expected to feel cold. I expected to cry. I expected to feel hatred. What I got instead was a small awakening, deep in my body, laughing, and enjoying the suffering of others. Was this who I really was? Was I really the psycho Ashley had told me I was? Was I really meant to serve Kronos? No. Impossible. I wouldn't entertain the possibility.
"Yes. I suppose so. I am more capable than you think."
"Indeed."
We took their valuables and looted the bodies. Not much was on them, only some money and such. We packed it all up and headed southwest.
Sure enough, just as the girls had said, there was a small town ahead of us after only six miles of walking. There, we purchased supplies without killing everyone(He thought it would draw too much attention) and we camped out that night relatively comfortably. I poked a stick at the blazing fire and sighed. It appeared my new life was beginning, one with the Eye and with Darkness.
"Why do we do this?" He turned. "Why do we do this?" I repeated. "Why do we constantly have to fight others in order to achieve our ends? Why can we not practice peace while also obeying Kronos?"
He stared at me, Eye on Eye. "I will have you know, Brandon, that the world is not all peaceful. Once Lord Kronos is reborn, the world will most definitely be far from peaceful. If you believe that we can solve every conflict with an embrace, then I will have you know that you are wrong. You must be prepared to fight, even when destroying your own allies.
He sighed. "Look, you have a job here. Take it. Bear the torch. We need you in order to resurrect Lord Kronos. It is going to be a rough task, so remain alert."
I looked at the glistening stars above. "Is there an answer, then, other than peace or violence?"
He chuckled at me this time. "Brandon, there are always many answers, but they all lead back to this one. I can see that one day, you will be forced to fight, and to kill, and one day, your peace will all be in vain. You are destined to fall, Brandon, no matter how quickly you may move. One day, you will slip and crash to the floor and remain there for all eternity. Let us hope that it will be in the service of Lord Kronos that you willingly sacrifice your life."
We spent the night stargazing and pointing out the constellations
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If those kids died, then there will be more. Definitely. I walked passed the three corpses in the woods and continued thinking to myself. I guess I really was right all along. Brandon has changed.
