The sound of her mother’s voice calling her na reverberated through the space like a distant chi.
"Circe..."
It was strange, the way it sounded so near, as though being whispered into her ear, yet so impossibly far at the sa ti. She couldn’t make sense of it and it unsettled her.
Then she heard it again, only this ti it was softer, a gentle coax as the sound seed to beckon her closer.
The sound had shifted slightly. The change was miniscule, so subtle that no one else might have noticed but Circe did. Of course she did. She had grown up wrapped in the cadence of her mother’s voice, its pitch and rhythm had long etched itself into the very fabric of her mory. Even after eight long years apart, she could still rember exactly how it was supposed to sound. And what she was hearing now wasn’t quite like it.
It was a cheap imitation of the original.
It was like a shroud had been lifted off Circe’s eyes. Just a mont ago, all she saw was nothingness. Now as she looked around, her surroundings were starting to co into focus and the longer she glanced around, the clearer everything beca.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She jerked, startled as full awareness snapped into place, gasping when she recognized where she was. She was back. Back in the cave from her dreams.
She was perched once again atop the sa flat slab of stone, facing the cerulean pool that shimred with an eerie, ethereal glow. The air felt cool and thick with a dampness that clung to her skin.
Her eyes darted around the cavernous space, wide with confusion and disbelief.
She scanned her surroundings frantically, trying to understand... Why?
Why was she here and why this place in particular? This was the third ti she had found herself within these walls, and each visit felt more surreal than the last. Nothing about it felt like a re dream anymore. It was too vivid, too real.
A strange chill assaulted her when the sound of tinkering laughter, delicate, almost musical, drifted in the air. Fear and unease rose within her, more potent than she had ever felt before, spreading through her body, filling her chest and lung, making it harder for her to draw in breath.
A wicked kind of panic grips her each ti she was there. It urged her to hide, to flee. It grated on her senses, causing her muscles to lock up, especially whenever she knew that she was no longer alone there.
She was frozen.
Even with the fear coursing through her in violent waves, she could still sense her companion’s strange presence in the cavernous space. It lood over her like a bad on, causing her chest to tighten painfully.
Circe forced herself up on shaky knees but when she spoke, the firmness of her tone belied the tremors she felt.
"Who are you?" she demanded, her tone steady despite the unease she felt. "Why did you bring here?"
Because she knew now that this dream wasn’t random or even a coincidence. Her presence in the cave was no accident. She had been summoned, plucked from sleep by her subconscious and placed here, ti and ti again. It felt orchestrated and deliberate in so many ways.
But why?
Why her?
Her voice filled the space, her words echoing throughout the vast cavern. The silence that followed was heavy and pulsed with tension.
Then ca the frustration. It rose swiftly, hot and relentless, burning just under her skin. Her anger always lingered just beneath the surface, ready to erupt out of her at any given mont.
She clenched her fists at her sides.
"Answer !" she shouted. "Co out and face !"
Her eyes scanned the darkness as she slowly turned in a circle, searching the shadows for movent. For answers.
"Damn you!" she hissed through gritted teeth.
And still, she did not move from the rock.
She had never dared to venture deeper into the cave. And even now, as fury warred with fear inside her, she couldn’t bring herself to step away from that one familiar spot. It felt like the only solid ground. If she stepped away from it, the rest of the ground might collapse under her.
Then, at last, a voice answered. It was warm, smooth and had a teasing lilt.
"If I knew you would be this eager to see ," the voice said, amusent dancing across every word, "I would have brought you back much sooner."
It was closer now.
Circe spun around quickly, her movents frantic and unsteady. Her eyes locked on a figure standing across the cerulean pool.
A woman. The sa woman she had seen before. And she was still wearing her mother’s face.
The sight of it made Circe’s stomach twist into knots. Of all the things the woman had done, that was what enraged Circe the most.
"Take it off," Circe demanded. " My mother’s appearance isn’t yours to take."
She didn’t know what sort of creature could wear another person’s face like a mask or summon her through dreams like a puppet on a string but she knew this: that face did not belong to her.
The woman had no right to masquerade as Circe’s mother.
The woman tilted her head slightly. The movent was too precise and unnatural, It unsettled Circe in a way she couldn’t explain.
"How do you expect to take it off when this is my face?" The woman said softly.
Circe paused. She couldn’t pick the woman’s words apart. She couldn’t tell if the woman was lying. And that terrified her.
Circe always knew when soone was telling her the truth. She could feel it in their words, sense the truth curled behind their tongues like a second voice. But this... she couldn’t read this.
The realization made her take a cautious step backward. Her voice quivered when she spoke.
"What are you?"
The woman clucked her tongue in what sounded like disapproval.
"She sheltered you far too much, didn’t she?" she said. "Kept you hidden away for so long."
Circe’s composure cracked.
"Answer ," Her words were a plea more than a demand. Desperation seeped into her voice. "Tell why I always end up here."
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