Epilogue-
Amy Mizuno opened the door to her apartment, stepping inside with a duffel
bag. From within, she heard the tell tale sound of music from her mother's
CD player drifting through the room. There had been a stop at Raye's, in
which Raye had lent Amy clothes in exchange for the Hellenic dress Athena
had given her. Amy had fastened the Medusa brooch to its usual place. It had
felt too odd not to have it there now.
She ran a hand over the outfit she had been lent. Nothing fancy. Jean
shorts. A sea green tank top. Oddly, the brooch didn't look too strange with
it. *Time to shop again. Bunny will be thrilled to go to the mall. She has
to shop for clothes she can wear her brooch with all the time. And I was
going to get some nature books, to learn about herbal remedies, after what
happened to Xeones. But now....*
"Mom?" Amy called out timidly. She knew she looked different. Hours on deck
in the Mediterranean sun had baked her a light bronze. It had lightened her
hair, sending faint streaks of white foam through the azure waves. A month
and a half of bright sunlight will change a person. Hauling ropes and mast
had added lean strength to her arms. Her mother would have to be blind to
miss such things. "Mom?"
Her mother's head emerged from around a corner. "Amy?" Her face contorted
in both worry and relief in the way a mother's would. "Amy!"
Crushed in her mother's arms, Amy felt her shaking. "Mom, are you all
right?"
"Fine, honey, I'm fine. Are you? Amy-chan, are you hurt? Is everything all
right?" Worriedly, her mother was searching her eyes.
Trying to sound convincing, Amy stuttered, "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?
I'm sorry I didn't call, but Mina was having such problems with math, and I
had to help her with quadratic equations and I just lost track of the time
at Raye's...." Becoming aware she was babbling, Amy closed her mouth. "I
spent the night. See? Raye lent me clothes and everything."
She hefted the duffel bag with Athena's dress in it, hoping her mother
wouldn't be paranoid enough to check within.
Dr. Mizuno held her daughter's shoulders. "It's all right Amy-chan," she
said it with such intensity and forgiveness that Amy blinked. *She doesn't
mean about my cover story of not calling, does she?*
"Mom?"
"I know," Dr. Mizuno began slowly, "that you're...special...somehow. You
and your friends," she smiled weakly, trying to convince herself of what she
was saying. "I'm not sure, Amy-chan, what to say. But...I understand. It's
okay. I love you."
"Thank you, Mom."
"That's a lovely pin, Amy-chan."
"A...friend...gave it to me."
Dr. Mizuno gave a brisk nod, as though coming to a decision. "I was
thinking, Amy-chan, that we haven't had enough time together. I know I've
been working late nights at the hospital. I know it's late, but I thought we
could go get some dinner."
"I'd love to, Mom."
"And we don't have to talk about anything you don't want, okay?"
"Can...can I have a minute? To get changed?"
"Of course."
Amy fled to the safety of her room, closing the door behind her. She
dropped the duffel, flipping on the light. A cool breeze tousled her hair,
blowing though the open window. Her curtains fluttered to either side.
Heading to close it while she changed, Amy nearly dropped her bag on top of
a silvery white object on her bed. Setting the duffel aside, she lifted it
up, turning it around in hands. "Hermes," she whispered, smiling and shaking
her head.
Two serpents, eyes made of the finest lapis lazuli, swallowed each others
tails in an endless circle. It was the bracelet she had worn, given to her
by Elissa. With a light laugh, she crossed to the window, holding it in the
moonlight, seeing the gleam of the moon on silver. She slipped the armlet
back on, letting it rest comfortably on her skin.
"Ouroboros and Medusa," she told the smiling moon, then turned and began to
dress for dinner.
(
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