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A boy sat on the floor and cried. His mother was gone, missing. He looked around the whole house for her, but she wasn’t there. It was too much for his small mind.
He tried wiping his tears with his sleeve, but they fell too fast. “Stupid tears. Stupid Orpheus. Stupid, stupid Orpheus! Can’t even keep my mother safe.”
He started to choke on his own sobs. They rang through the house. He started to pull himself together.
“Happy thoughts. Happy thoughts.” He muttered. “She’s not even dead. Just, not here. I should find her. Yes! I should find her.”
He gathered himself, stood up, and walked towards the door. He carefully put on his shoes and his coat and opened the door. The winter air was cool against his face, but he moved through the snow quickly.
“Mom?” He called. “Mom? Mom!” He walked through the market, getting strange looks from the few people outside.
He shivered in the cold, his light jacket not providing much warmth. “Find her. Just find her.” He muttered.
The cold took over. He found himself in an alley way, struggling to get warm. He put newspapers over himself, and hoped someone would find him soon. “Mom? Mama?” He called quietly.
The tears soon started to fall, as much as he tried to stop them. They were cold against his face, feeling like burning.
A young girl soon walked into the alleyway. She couldn’t have been more than seven, just a year older than Orpheus himself. She was carrying a stuffed doll, and a woman followed behind her. Orpheus hid himself more into a corner, trying to discreetly cover himself with more newspaper.
“Are you sure this is where you heard the crying Eurydice?” The woman asked. The girl, Eurydice, nodded.
“I’m positive. They’re around here somewhere.” Orpheus was confused. Not scared. He doesn’t get scared. And anyone who says different is a liar.
Orpheus held his breath as he heard the footsteps get closer to his mound of paper. A sudden gust of wind blew a newspaper off of his leg, and he panicked. He reached to grab it, but a hand grabbed his.
“See mom! I told you! There is someone in here!” The girl gestured wildly to her mother. “Now, to see who you are.”
“Orpheus!” A voice called from outside the alleyway. “Where are you kid?” Orpheus could recognize the voice any day.
“Mr Hermes!” He said, jumping to his feet. He sprinted to the outside of the alleyway, and into the mans arms.
“There you are child. What were you doing in there?” Hermes wrapped his arms around the small boy.
“I was looking for mama. Where is she?” Orpheus looked at the man, who wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Uh, she’s gone kid.” Orpheus’ face fell.
“What do you mean gone? Will she come back?”
“No.. but she left this for you.” Hermes handed Orpheus an instrument. A lovely one, made of wood. A lyre, or so it had been called. “Thank you for finding him.”
“It’s no problem. We were just worried for the kid, but I think we scared him.” The woman said, gesturing to the boy hiding behind Hermes leg.
Eurydice approached the boy, not noticed by the two adults, who were happily chatting. “Do you want to come play with me? I’m good at making snow men.” Orpheus nodded happily, and the two ran to the field.
The two played for a while, at first abandoning the idea of making a snow man, and having a snow ball fight, but eventually turning to make a huge snow man. “This is gonna be the biggest snow man in the world!” Orpheus exclaimed.
But alas, when it came to lifting then head onto it, the ball of snow was too heavy for the two kids. “We’ll just get the grown up’s help. Once they’re finished talking. If they finish talking.” Eurydice sighed, looking at the adults who had been talking for the past half hour.
“Alright, well I think we should probably get going Orpheus.” Orpheus, of course, did not hear him. “Orpheus?” Hermes looked around him, panicked. “Oh god, only had the kid for a few hours and I’ve lost him twice.”
“Relax,” Eurydice’s mother said. “They’re both in that field.” She pointed to the large, incomplete snow man. Hermes gave a small sigh of relief, and walked over to the field.
“You ready to get going kid?” He asked Orpheus, who shook his head.
“We’re not done our snow man! We need help putting on the head.” He nodded towards the snow ball sitting on the ground.
“I think I can help with that.” Hermes chuckled, and grabbed the snow ball. He stacked it on top, and the kids cheered.
It was not even close to being bigger than Hermes, who wasn’t super tall, but the kids were impressed none the less. “It’s taller than me!” Eurydice cheered.
“Alright guys, I think it’s time Orpheus and I go home.” The kids saddened. “You guys can play together again soon. I gave you mom the address of the bar, and you two can visit any time you’d like.”
“Okay,” Orpheus said reproachfully. “Bye Eurydice.”
She gave him a small smile. “Bye Orpheus. I’ll see you again soon.” She skipped over to her mother.
Orpheus took Hermes hand, and realization hit him. “Mr Hermes?” He asked.
“Yes child?”
“Is mama really gone?”
@-@
It didn’t take too long to see Eurydice again, she was back that night.
“Eurydice!” Orpheus said, running over to his friend. He was glad she was back, didn’t think anything of it.
“Hi!” She said with a smile. She also didn’t think anything weird of her mother pushing her out of the house as fast as she could when her father got home. It was normal. She was just glad they ended up somewhere warm this time.
Hermes, however, did see something weird with it. “Iris, are you alright?” Her face was tear stained.
“I’m alright,” she lied, a fake smile on her face that Hermes saw right through.
“Seriously Iris, you can tell me anything.”
“My husband was already drunk when he got home. I didn’t want Eurydice around when he got messy.”
Hermes face softened. “You know you can always stay here. We have some spare rooms, and I’m sure the kids would love to have a sleepover.” He offered.
“That would be great, thank you.” They both smiled.
“Do you want to see my room?” Orpheus asked Eurydice. She nodded, a bright smile on her face.
He led her up the steep stairs to his room. He walked down the hall, and opened the second door on the left. “Here it is!”
Eurydice’s eyes went wide. “It’s so cool!” She exclaimed. Orpheus rubbed the back of his neck.
“You think so?”
“Yeah!” She walked through the room, looking at the painting and drawings scattered on the wall, most of which were of trains. She looked at the cluttered mess of pencils on the ground, and the lyre on the stand in the corner. “It’s really cool!”
“Thanks. I just started moving things in from my old house, with mama… with mama.” He saddened. “With mama…”
Tears started to form in his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Eurydice asked. “Did I do something?” Orpheus shook his head.
She was worried for her friend, so she ran downstairs to Mr Hermes.
“Mr Hermes!” She called, startling the older man, and the patrons of the bar. “Mr Hermes!”
“What is it dear?”
“Orpheus, he’s crying. I don’t know why, I don’t know what I did.” Tears started to form in her own eyes, out of sympathy for her dear friend.
“Oh my. You stay here with your mom, I’ll be back soon.” Hermes started up the stairs, at a relatively quick pace. As he approached the door, he slowed down considerably. He knocked gently.
“Who is it?” He heard a small, shakey voice ask from inside. His heart wept for the small boy. He’s gone through so much, at such a young age.
Many people believe losing a parent when you’re very young is the worst. Some say when you’re in your teens, or early adulthood, is the worst, as you’ll realize how much you need them, how much you love them. But, I think early childhood is the worst. Too young to understand what’s happening, too old to forget what’s happened.
“It’s Hermes, Orpheus. May I come in?” He asked quietly. He didn’t want to scare the poor boy.
He heard slow steps coming towards the door, so he waited patiently. The door opened to reveal Orpheus, with tears running down his cheeks.
“I miss her.”
#-#
Once Hermes got Orpheus slightly calmed down, he brought him down to the bar, where Iris and Eurydice were. “Are you alright, Orpheus?” Eurydice asked, and Orpheus just nodded.
Eurydice knew enough to leave people alone when they don’t speak back. Usually it means they’re tired, or drank something to make them silly, but she knew Orpheus hadn’t drank anything silly. Her mom told her those drinks were only for grown ups. So, she figured, he must be tired.
“Mama?” She said, tugging on her moms pant leg. “I’m tired, can I go to sleep?” She wasn’t really tired, but she didn’t want Orpheus to feel bad if he wanted to go to sleep.
Iris glanced at Hermes, a questioning look, asking a silent question, not that Eurydice would have noticed. Hermes nodded. “You two can stay in one of the guest rooms.”
“She can sleep in my room.” Orpheus suggested, eyes half shut. Eurydice brightened slightly.
“A sleepover?” She questioned. She had heard some older kids talking about those, but she had never had one before. “Are you sure?”
“Positive.” Orpheus said, probably half asleep by that point. Eurydice was practically vibrating on the spot by that point. Her first friend, and he wants to have a sleepover on their first day knowing each other? How could she be so lucky?
It took a moment to get her settled in Orpheus’ room. They grabbed her a small mattress to place in his room, some blankets, and a pillow.
“Goodnight, love.” Her mother kissed her forehead.
“Night mama!” She chirped brightly.
Orpheus fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, so it was just Eurydice and her thoughts. She called the intrusive ones ‘The Fates’. It seemed like a fitting name for them. They were always right.
They introduced themselves as Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos. They sang most of the time, their melody haunting, the words just as bad. “He doesn’t trust you.” Atropos whispered.
“It’s been told before” Clotho continued.
“You will be no different.” Lachesis finished.
“It’s your destiny.” They chorused.
That’s another thing about the fates. Their messages were always cryptic. Their words sometimes made no sense, and Eurydice made no effort to figure out what they meant. It would only cause her pain.
“Shut up.” She whispered, to no avail. The fates just kept on singing in her ear.
She was up for hours that night, longer than usual, but they had more to say then. They finally went quiet, and she finally got some sleep.
$-$
“I think I’m in love!” A now seven year old Orpheus said out of the blue to Hermes. Hermes almost choked on his coffee, but quickly composed himself.
“I heard love!” Persephone called as she walked down the stairs. She arrived the night before, and hadn’t felt like heading to her mothers just yet. “Who’s the lucky gal?”
“It’s.. Eurydice.” He said quietly, slightly embarrassed that his aunt (not really, but she acted like it) was so interested in his non existent love life. He really only wanted to tell Mr Hermes, but he supposed she could know too.
“Ah, the girl I have yet to meet. When will I meet her?” Persephone seemed desperate to meet the young girl, but Orpheus couldn’t figure out why.
“Probably today, she and her mother come by pretty much daily.” As if on cue, the pair walked into the bar together.
Iris seemed shocked that the Queen of the Underworld was standing in front of her. “L-lady Persephone?” She squeaked out.
“Hello dear. You must be Iris. I’ve heard so much about you.” Persephone said with a warm smile. “And you must be Eurydice. Orpheus has told me a lot about you.” She winked at the girl, who looked towards a blushing Orpheus.
“Aw, you talk about me?” She said with a coy smile.
“Well, yeah? I mean, you’re my best friend, my only friend actually, and she asked how I was doing with making friends and I told her I was doing well, and so she asked about you and I told her, not much though, she’s sort of exaggerating and-“
“Oh yes, Orpheus, I’m exaggerating, I apologize.” Persephone said sarcastically. Orpheus seemed satisfied though.
“Come on, let’s go play!”
&-&
It wasn’t long after Persephone left again that Hermes saw Iris in a place he didn’t want to. “Iris, what are you doing?” He asked her. She shrugged her shoulders.
“Make sure she stays safe. I don’t want anything to happen to her now I’m gone.”
That wasn’t the first time Hermes wanted to turn someone away before they could board the train. He wanted to yell, to scream at her. To tell her she was making a mistake. But a conductor can’t choose favourites. So he watched as she boarded the train, and condemned her daughter to a life she never wanted for her.
*-*
They didn’t see Eurydice after that instance. Orpheus was devastated. His first and only friend was gone, and he couldn’t figure out why.
“She hates you.” A voice whispered in his ear.
“Who are you?” He asked out loud.
“I’m Clotho. This is Lachesis and Atropos. But don’t worry about names. We can be your new friends. How does that sound?” She taunted.
“Okay..”
The Fates stuck with him too, but they didn’t talk to him as much as Eurydice.
Unlike Orpheus, Hermes had a guess as to what happened to Eurydice. The exact thing Iris didn’t want to happen to her.
He asked the fates about her one day, but they were cryptic as always.
“Just tell me how she’s doing.” He pleaded.
“She’s doing how she always is around this man.” They responded every time he asked. He eventually stopped asking.
%-%
Orpheus still struggled to make friends, even months, maybe even a year later. People thought he was weird, that he came on too strong. No one wanted to be seen with him. So he worked with music.
He composed songs, love songs, fun songs, sad songs, whatever he was feeling in the moment, he wrote it.
He started to perform in the bar at just nine. He got some tips for him and Hermes, who usually spent the money on something extra for the two of them to share.
He eventually forgot about his friend. Maybe it was for the best. He didn’t want to miss her too much.
+-+
When the world became too much, as it often did, Orpheus relied on music. No one could understand if he just tried to say the words, so he had a poem for every occasion. Or, at least he tried to.
It felt like his whole world changed when he met her. Penelope, he learned later, was her name. A beautiful name, in his opinion. She was beautiful, and strong, she had to be his soulmate. But, when he approached her with his paper flower, and his love poem he made just for her, she scoffed, and walked away laughing with her friends.
That was the day he realized he was a lot. He always knew he was a bit much, he had been told ever since he was a child, but he never realized how strong her came on, how much people might get annoyed with him. He kept to himself after that.
He was very careful with his love life. He didn’t want to find someone who wasn’t right, someone who might emotionally, or physically, destroy him, before he could find the right person. He also didn’t want to emotionally harm them. He knew he could be kind of needy, always needing physical touch, wanting to spoil his partner with little kisses, or whatever he could give them. Not everybody wanted that.
And yet, when he saw her, all of that disappeared. The look in his eyes said it all, he was in love with this woman he didn’t even know. “You wanna talk to her?” Hermes asked him, with a slight smile on his face.
Orpheus nodded, a little ashamed of how well his guardian knew him. “Go on.” Hermes prompted. Orpheus started to walk away. “Orpheus!” Hermes called after him. “Don’t come on too strong.”
Orpheus nodded quickly, walking towards the girl. He psyched himself up for a moment, before stepping into her view. “Come home with me.” He said, flushing as soon as he said it. He started mentally beating himself up. ‘Really?’
“Who are you?” She asked, and, oh my goodness, if her voice wasn’t pretty, then Orpheus wasn’t Orpheus.
“The man who’s gonna marry you.” The words fall from his mouth before he can stop them. It was almost like a poem, but a very sloppy one, that doesn’t really make sense and makes him seem like a creep. “I’m Orpheus,”
“Is he always like this?” She said towards Hermes, who nodded solemnly. “I’m Eurydice.”
Something about the name was familiar, but he couldn’t place where he knew it from. “Your name is like a melody.” He was in awe of the beauty of the name, wanting to write a million songs with it.
“A singer, is that what you are?” She seemed to be mocking him, but Orpheus didn’t really care. He was just glad the conversation went on for this long.
“I also play the lyre.”
“Oh! A liar and a player too. I’ve met too many men like you.”
“Oh no, I’m not like that.” He tried to plead with her.
“You’re funny kid. Play me a song on that lyre of yours. Maybe then, I’ll think about your offer.” She said with a wink. Orpheus ran off to grab his lyre.
;-;
The place seemed familiar the moment Eurydice stepped in. She didn’t know where she knew it from, maybe she had seen pictures of the train station next door, and her father had stopped by with her to grab some drinks when she was young. Either way, she was weary as she walked inside.
She took her candle out of her bag, and grabbed around trying to find a match. “Anybody got a match?” A member of the band grabbed one out of his pocket. “Gimme that.” She grabbed it.
The struck the match against the rock in her bag. A gift from a childhood friend, that she hadn’t gotten rid of yet. She quickly lit her candle, before the wind could blow out her match. She wasn’t sure how the wind got inside the bar, but it happened.
It soon blew out her candle, so she relit it, and placed a protective hand around the flame. A voice soon came from beside her. “Come home with me.” It sang. Eurydice almost laughed at the paper flower he was offering her.
“Who are you?”
“The man who’s gonna marry you.” His words were sloppy, and anyone could tell he didn’t really mean to say them by the way he flushed after each sentence. “I’m Orpheus.” He continued.
“Is he always like this?” She asked the older bartender, who nodded. “I’m Eurydice.” She said with a sigh.
“Your name is like a melody.” He said, mouth gaping, and she laughed at him.
“A singer.” She laughed. “Is that what you are?”
“I also play the lyre.” He seemed almost proud.
“Oh,” she laughed out. “A liar and a player too. I’ve met too many men like you.” She was teasing him, she didn’t really mean it, but he seemed to get defensive.
“Oh no, I’m not like that.”
“You’re funny kid. Play me a song on that lyre of yours. Maybe then, I’ll think about your offer.” She said with a wink. Orpheus ran off to grab his lyre.
Something about the boy seemed familiar. She just had to figure out what.
§-§
Now Hermes had never been one to eavesdrop, but his godsons love life was always something he liked to hear. Orpheus hardly ever worked up the courage to talk to someone he liked, and when he did, he almost always got his heartbroken afterwards, so you can’t really blame him for wanting to know what happens.
But something about the girl was familiar to him. He couldn’t place it, but that might be because he didn’t know her name.
“Is he always like this?” She asked him. He nodded. “I’m-“
“Excuse me?”
Hermes sighed. “Yes?”
“Can I have a whiskey?” One of the customers asked. He grabbed a cup, and angrily poured the whiskey.
“Here.” He handed them the drink.
When Orpheus left to grab his lyre, he walked towards the girl. “Excuse me Miss, but what is your name?”
“Eurydice.”
And it all came back. Iris leaving, her never coming back, the snowman, the alley way. It all made sense.
“Thank you,” He walked back to the bar, and told no one what he knew.
€-€
The celebration of Persephone’s return lasted longer that year, and Hermes was anxious for everyone to leave so he could talk to her. “Sister,” he said. “I need to talk to you.”
“Is it about our two new lovers?” Hermes nodded. “Got it. I’ll go to the storage room in a few minutes, meet me there.” And she went back to partying.
Hermes walked into the storage room. It was, unsurprisingly, empty. He sat there for a few minutes, when Persephone came down. “Alright, what’s going on with them?”
“The girl is Eurydice.” He decided to just drop the bombshell. “But the thing is, neither of them know they were childhood best friends.”
“Oh crap.”
£-£
“Who was your first best friend?” The two were laying out in the field, trying some ice breakers.
“Ooh, that’s a hard one.” Eurydice responded. “I can’t remember his name,”
“Where did you meet him?”
“In an alley. He was hiding under newspaper.”
Orpheus looked at her in shock. “That’s… where I was when I met my first best friend.”
The two started doing rapid fire questions, but always came with the same answer. “Holy crap we were childhood best friends. This is so cool! I have to tell Me Hermes.” He grabbed her hand and ran inside.
“Mr Hermes! Guess what! This is Eurydice, from when I was a kid!”
“The one you had a huge crush on?” Hermes teased, and Orpheus flushed bright red.
“Aw, you had a crush on me?” Eurydice teased as well.
“Yeah…”
“Well it’s great to see you again, Eurydice.”