The Cry of the Flowers

Echo touches her throat, her fingers gently skimming over the skin. It burns so much, after all of the yelling and screaming. All of the yelling and screaming that was silent, no matter how hard she tried. The yelling and screaming that pierced her own heart into countless, shattered pieces.

All that the nymph did was to keep her friend’s secret. Yet, why? Why did the queen of the gods curse her, instead of them? Now she can only repeat the words of others, and she peeks at the gorgeous man that had captured her heart from behind a tree, wondering if she has any way of communicating with him, much less a way of letting him know of her existence.

~

Nemesis crouches in the shadows, her feathers ruffling impatiently. This Narcissus, this beast that called himself a man, this monster that dared call himself a gorgeous man. The goddess of revenge let a black wisp slip from the crevices of her clenched fists, and it twirls through the air, ribbon-like, graceful before it disappears into the residence of Narcissus.

Too many people have been hurt because of him. Too many have been hurt, but they never seemed to be able to get what they lost back. And from this day onwards, Narcissus will pay the price of what he does.

~

Why had Narcissus never seen himself like this before? He had tried to take a drink from a small pond that had seemed clear and clean enough from the return of his hunting trip, but he now sees the reflection of him staring right back at himself.

Narcissus had sharp cheekbones, his lashes long. His eyes were a kaleidoscope of colors; all mixed and blended together, neither only one color nor the other. His hair was as curly as those depicted on statues of the god Apollo and as black as the ebony darkness of the night.

His fingers creep slowly towards the water, trying to touch and feel the masterpiece itself. As his finger came into contact with the surface, a faint ripple spread outwards on the pond, and Narcissus flinched back. He had almost destroyed this gorgeous, flawless piece of artwork.

~

Torrents and torrents of rain batter the muddy ground as Echo sits soaking wet next to a considerably dry Narcissus who was staring soullessly in front of him. Perfect…me…gorgeous… He keeps on muttering nonsensical words while Echo is silent, tears lost to the rain, her eyes puffy and red. Echo agrees with him, and she repeats in agreement. Perfect. Gorgeous.

There is a temporary fort shielding Narcissus. Echo’s hands are sore and her palms are red from weaving all of the usable twigs and branches together. She loves him, even though he doesn’t acknowledge her, even though he doesn’t love her. Echo can tell a godly curse when she sees one (after all, she is a nymph; there have been many of her kind put under spells on numerous occasions, a lot of which are by deities), and Narcissus was cursed to be like this.

Echo believes that with the curse gone, Narcissus won’t keep staring at himself in the pool; and when he doesn’t, perhaps he will finally see her affections for him. Echo wants to free him from this curse, and she wants to heal him.

She is willing to sacrifice everything for him.

≈

Stupid girl. Stubborn girl.

Nemesis only looks on in pity from above as Echo cares for Narcissus, day in and day out, her patience for him never wavering. It has already been two years since Nemesis cursed the man, and two years since Echo has stayed by his side. Nemesis had only wanted justified revenge upon Narcissus; she had never wanted to put a burden upon the already wrongfully cursed girl. (At least that was what she believed Echo to be.)

Nemesis shoots out another glowing strand of power like she did two years ago to Narcissus, yet this time it was golden, unlike the previous inky black. It doesn’t twirl in the air gracefully this time. It shoots fast out of the goddess’s palm and hurls straight at Narcissus.

It doesn’t happen at first, but after a while, the magic takes effect.

~

Narcissus feels a slight push from behind, and he almost falls into the pond. He balances himself upright, determined not to fall headfirst into the water and ruin the perfect image of him. He has already forgotten how long he had stayed there since he came back from his trip. What trip was it anyways? Narcissus wonders, but he shakes it off because it is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter to him; the only thing that does his beautiful self.

He giggles with glee for a moment, something he hasn’t done in what had seemed like weeks. Was he even there for that long? But as he said, it was irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was his beautiful se-

The reflection in the pond has changed, and he can feel himself changing as well. But he can’t stop it. He feels the world expand, or is he shrinking? Narcissus trembles and he leans even closer than ever before to inspect if his reflection was any different.

Narcissus’s body collapses down into something smaller, but his soul no longer inhabits his body, or rather, what used to be his body.

The last words that he hears before his vision goes blank echoes within his ears.

She doesn’t deserve this.

~

When Echo returns to Narcissus’s pond with a pot of broth in her hands, she can’t find the man by the pond. It was weird, since Narcissus had never, ever left his spot before now, until today, apparently. A smile creeps unexpectedly over her lips, and her heart feels free, and she can’t wait to see a Narcissus free from the bonds of the curse.

Her slight smile eventually burst into sweet, relieved laughter as she skipped towards the edge of the pond. Her usual dragging footsteps were now light and springy. There was a single blossom of white petals that she had never seen before sprouting by the lake. Narcissus, she decided was its name, in honor of the man kept captive by this very pond.

Echo kneels down beside the flower, curiously caressing its petals. It was true to its name; it was a beautiful as the man it was named after. A tear of happiness that she didn’t expect makes its way down her cheek. That was when she heard the flap of wings.

“Rise, Echo, and follow me.” Echo recognizes the goddess standing in front of her. It is Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.

“Follow?” Echo questions.

“Follow me, for there is something I need to tell you.”

“Tell?” Echo’s eyes light up, sparkling with giddiness.

~

The goddess feels bad, breaking this girl’s heart, despite it being the only way to stop the girl from falling in deeper. “Yes, Echo. Come and walk with me.”

They are already far from the pond when Nemesis makes up her mind to just break the bad news. There is no better option left.

“I have some bad news, Echo. I need you to understand and listen closely.”

“Bad news?” Echo repeats the goddess’s words for confirmation, tilting her head slightly for confirmation.

“Yes, Echo, dear. Bad news.” Nemesis searches the girl’s face for sadness, but all she gets in return is a stoic gaze set on her. “The flower you were holding. That was Narcissus.”

“That was Narcissus?!” Echo’s voice shakes, her calm, peaceful demeanor gone, suddenly replaced by fear and surprise.

“Yes. He was punished, because as a man he had no shame, for he had no humility. He was loved by everyone, and yet he loved no one but himself. You must understand, Echo,” The goddess lowers her eyes to hers, “This is his punishment from the gods.”

“Loved by…Echo.” The oread struggles to piece the sentence together, pleading for the goddess.

“I know it’s hard for you, Echo, but he was to die.” Nemesis winces at her own words. She hadn’t meant it to sound so harsh. However, Echo steps forward in front of her, raising her chin slightly.

“Echo. Die.” Her two words were loud and clear.

“You want me to kill you?”

The nymph nodded.

“But why? You can’t follow Narcissus, Echo, not when you’re supposed to be reborn into the living world.”

“Follow Narcissus. Echo not reborn into the living world.” Echo’s replies were resolute. Perhaps Nemesis could help out this particular nymph this time, help her into the underworld. It would be tedious, explaining all the whatnots to Hades, Zeus, Pan, and a bunch of other gods who stuck their noses in these matters, but Echo, Nemesis was certain, she would deserve it.

“Are you sure?”

“Sure.”

~

Echo wanders through the Fields of Punishment, looking for the man she had always loved. The gods were shocked, of course, that a nymph would plead to stay in the Fields of Punishment, but they let her stay there, under one condition. That she gives up her voice fully and let it return back to the living world in her place.

Echo hasn’t been in the living world for quite a while, but she has gained enough knowledge from the newer dead about her voice. They called it an echo, and they said that it was a second voice that would repeat what someone had said.

As for Narcissus, she hasn’t found her yet, and Echo knows that she will find him someday, but for now, she is still on her way searching through the vast plains.

#

A/N:

This story was completed with me half-awake, so it probably is super weird and stuff, but it's finally finished!! See you next time~

P.S. Updating on a laptop on this makes my life soooo much easier!