揑t抯 not,?I said. 揝he was the mother of Medea and Absyrtus. She抯 been watching over our family from the beginning with the help of the Fates.?
Hermes was struck silent. 揑 thought the power of the Heart was due to the great Circe抯 involvement. She was a goddess, daughter of Helios himself. But I never thought 厰 He trailed off, his eyes glassy, his thoughts somewhere far away.
揑抳e seen Hecate with my own eyes,?I said.
Hermes turned to look at me, his jaw slung open. 揑t isn抰梚t cannot be. If she were still in existence, she would be the oldest among us by more eons than you can possibly fathom. She was born from the night itself.?He fell into a contemplative silence.
揟he last piece of the Heart is on Aeaea,?Circe said. 揥e have to get to it before Karter and the others. Did you梔id you tell him who you are? Does he know??
Hermes shook his head. 揑 told them nothing.?
Persephone stood at Circe抯 side. 揥e need a vessel,?she said. 揂nd we need any information you can tell us about Aeaea. If the Great Eye can抰 lead us to it, then we have to figure out another way to get there.?
Hermes rolled his head back and sighed. 揑抳e been there many times. When Circe was in exile there, when Odysseus and his men came upon her and she turned them to swine. But the sirens guard it now.?
揝o you can help us??I asked again. 揧ou can show us how to get there??
揥hy should I??he asked. 揑 don抰 dabble in the lives of mortals. It抯 forbidden. There was a time when gods and men were intertwined, but that time has long since passed.?
揗rs. Redmond桲arter抯 mother梱our descendant梜illed my mom,?I said. 揌ecate said I could bring her back if I could reunite the pieces of the Heart. I need the piece that抯 on the island to do that.?
揝he said this to you??He was dumbstruck. 揥hy??
揧ou don抰 have anybody in your life that you love, do you??I asked.
Persephone gasped. 揃riseis棓
I faced Hermes. Fear settled in the pit of my stomach, but I had something to say and this man梩his god梬hatever he was梬as not going to stop me. 揧ou抮e not concerned with the lives of regular people like me and my family. Fine. But I care. Hecate cares.?
揟hen where has she been??he asked. 揝eems she could have helped you at some earlier junction. She抯 let you travel across the world and offered you no help. This is what you fail to understand. Those of us who remain are so far removed from mortals. We do not burden ourselves with your troubles. We can抰。？
I hated that he had a valid point. Hecate hadn抰 intervened in all this time. But something had changed. Something had driven her to step in and offer me this chance to get my mom back, and I wasn抰 going to allow this dude to pretend like that didn抰 matter.
揧ou sleep in that bed,?I said, measuring my words carefully. 揧ou got this fire goin? You live in a lighthouse and the people in a few towns over think your name is Mr. Herman.?I almost laughed. 揧ou抮e doing all of this, putting up this front梖or what? You don抰 seem to mind if people around here think you抮e just the caretaker. I抦 pretty sure you don抰 need a fireplace to keep you warm or a bed to sleep in. You抮e a god. You could be or do anything, and what you chose is to act like a regular person. If you抮e so disinterested in mortal life, why do you do it??
Hermes sighed, and I braced myself for his reaction.
揃ecause I am numb, Briseis.?He removed his hat and set it on the arm of his chair. He ran his hand over the top of his head, a gesture that struck me as uniquely human. 揟he lives of mortals begin and end in a breath for me. But you love and grieve and suffer and are joyous. Your lives burn so bright and yet so brief. You burn with the light of a million feelings, longing and angst, elation ?love. What I have is despair. Unending hopelessness.?
Persephone shifted where she stood.
Hermes glanced at her. 揧ou have only begun to taste what eternity will offer you梐 bitter fruit.?
揘ot tryna be disrespectful, but you sound a little jaded,?I said.
揑 am,?Hermes said. 揟here is no shame in admitting that.?
揥e find purpose in the way we help others,?Persephone said. 揑抳e been helping my mortal family for generations. There is meaning in that. I think that抯 what Briseis means when she asks you if you have someone to love, someone to care for.?She nodded at me. 揧ou have so much time and you spend it hidden away? Doing梬hat??
揑 should find love??Hermes huffed. 揝o that it can be snatched away from me in the blink of an eye? So that their presence can fade from my memory like they never existed to begin with??Hermes raised an eyebrow. 揅ome find me when you抳e wandered the earth for eons, after everyone you抳e ever known or loved or cared for is in the underworld. Tell me how much purpose you find in that.?