Messina — My Wretched Destiny

Some people would be truly rattled by an anxious, quiet girl heading to the Straits of Messina all by herself, so I must’ve looked suspicious. I only made it worse every time I glanced over my shoulder.

No one’s following, Skai. There was no way I could believe that.

I couldn’t discern the voice in my head from the distant one insisting that I get out of this fog and go home. I check again, glaring through the fog. A shadowy figure shifted into sight. My cold breath catches. I forced myself to look away.

The intense trembling in my dry palms made it hard to slip my headphones on. It’s hard enough to be normal, let alone look normal. It seemed like all my life I’d been faking it to make it. Telling everyone I was fine with growing up with just a mom and her greenhouse had bittered my life. I guess that explained why I became entranced by this wild goose chase and left my livelihood behind.

Paranoia and my dying best friend’s last words plagued my sanity.

“Go immediately to our special place back home in Italy. Skai. . . don’t forget your promise to me.”

I hadn’t felt the need to worry about her back then, though all this blinding mist reminded me of her grisly smoking habits. She didn’t die of any cancer and she hadn't looked sick. As she had fallen unconscious in my arms that dreadful day, her eyes had been hopeful. I’d been the only one crying. Why had she told me to come to Italy immediately? How did she know she wouldn’t survive?

I sprinted. These worn sneakers just needed to get me to the edge of the land. I slipped my backpack off and shut my jacket. Slipping and sliding on the sand catapulted me forward. I couldn’t worry about stumbling. I slung dreads out of my eyes and gasped for air. The cold lingered in my lungs, making every agonizing step worse. I tried holding my breath but it made everything move in slow motion.

Shivers shot down my back as a hand gripped mine. I stopped and screamed. There was a fragile voice telling me to turn back. My wrist jerked crazily until I got free. I pressed forward. Just gotta keep moving. 

A storm seemed to be stirring. Aggressive flurries and flutters shrouded the silence. The layered beating noises made me look about, then my shoes filled with water. I crouched and winced through the rush of wind on my wet clothes. Shoving the hood over my head didn’t help. I shut my eyes. What else had she told me?

“Skai?”

“Krissy, I don’t get it— what’s wrong with you? Why are you d-dying?”

“It’s my destiny. And it’s yours, too. You must find the answers in Messina’s waters.”

Like a hundred tsunamis creeping on me, the whooshing of the wind peaked and I was sure that I’d been caught in the middle of a snowstorm. As I froze in fear, a flock of birds slammed me face-first to the ground. Exhaustion threatened to make me surrender. Blistering curiosity decided against it. I managed to get on my knees, hacking sand in confusion. Stupid migration. I took another torturous breath and hid my running nose in my coat’s collar. Only a few more steps forward and then. . . then. . .

A large hand touched my shoulder and I tore it off. I turned around. There was a hazy silhouette standing over me. The human figure had surreal broad shoulders and had to be more than 12 feet tall. I scrambled backward. I couldn’t look away though my heart felt like it would burst. I knew someone had been following me since I got in Italy, but I’d seen plenty of strange figures trailing me as a little girl. Was this confrontation my destiny?

“Vattene!” I yelled, and it stepped closer.

Its bulky arms relaxed and its satisfied sigh gusted my hair. Skai, you’re seeing things. Get to the water.

Hauling myself, panting, rushing— I just had to enter the water. I dove, my senses going out temporarily as waves crashed on top of me. As biting as the water would be, it didn’t affect me. Opening my eyes slowly, I twirled beneath the surface. The currents served as my orbit. A dance, round and round. . .

It’s been so long since I’ve been in the water.

I nearly drifted to sleep, but Krissy’s words began to guide me.

“Don’t consider this the end of our friendship, Skai. Sicily still awaits.”

Wondering what it all meant, I rode the current further and further. I’d longed to jet through the sea at rocket speeds since I was little, but the sports and public pools never filled that void. Floating in the depths of the strait felt like flying over the world, or being united with a long last family. Do I really feel at home here?

I broke through the water’s surface and gazed up at a miniature island. Turning all around, I observed the area. Waves pushed me back from the lone plot of land. Something about this place felt familiar. Swirling water expanded out from beneath the island, pulling me into a rapid circulation. I stared at the strange mist that engulfed the island and its fig tree. The anticipation wore down on me. My skin tingled.

A whirlpool grew, gripping me and spinning me around. Another dance — this is Krissy’s presence, just like her dream of performing water ballet.

I gasped as my tears blended with the strait. “Krissy?”

Yards of rock raised me to the sky. I tumbled. Krissy’s presence grew stronger, like she had been standing right beside me all along. I said her name again. The ground pulsated. I inhaled as the realization hit me. Running my hand across the ground, I wept.

“Krissy?”

“Skai, we’ve been waiting.”

I wanted to understand, but couldn’t ask a single question. Her human voice reverberated, syncing with layered screechy tones. I pressed my face to the ground and caressed it. What’s this she’s been reincarnated into?

“There’s no time to waste,” said a husky voice.

I looked up slowly, blinking tears. It was the large figure that had been following me. Glowing, gold eyes studied me. His long, gray hair fell over his broad shoulders in waves. His muscular limbs bulged and he held an intricate trident.

A soft gasp escaped me. I had an obsession with trident toys as a toddler. Krissy even had trident tattoos in high school.

“My name is Poseidon.” The man walked closer and my fears immobilized me. “Skai, do you understand?”

It took all my willpower to respond with a head shake.

“I am your father. Krissy is your older sister.”

Why is he dropping bomb after bomb like that makes this any better? Wait, Krissy isn’t just a friend?

I swallow. “Krissy. . .”

“It’s true.”

I had too many questions. I shook aggressively.

Krissy groaned. “Neither of us remember our births. You can thank Dad for that. But he told me the day I graduated who I really was — Charybdis.”

The whirlpool shrank and snatched us down. I floated in one place, all alone, then Krissy spoke again. I turned around and looked straight into the mouth of a monster. It had wrinkled gums lined with serrated molars and fleshy remains. Tentacles wriggled around, trapping me in the space with. . .

Krissy. . . Charybdis.

“So, you’ve been reincarnated into. . . into. . .”

Poseidon maneuvered past Krissy’s slimy arms, nodding. “Charybdis was slain by Hercules long ago. But she wasn’t the only one.”

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Skai,” he swam to me and our eyes met, “you are Skylla, counterpart of Charybdis. Your rightful domain is on the opposite side of this channel.”

So it wasn’t a coincidence that she and I had so much in common and found our way to each other? I looked at Krissy again, then grabbed my hair.

“But. . . I’m human.”

“So was I.” Her voice had become croaky.

I had the feeling the real Krissy was slipping away from me.

Poseidon squeezed his trident and I avoided the intensity in his eyes. “Skylla is your destiny, Skai.”

“What do you mean? What if I don’t wanna be a monster? And wouldn’t I have to — you know — die just to—”

“Yes!” he thundered and zapped me with his trident.

I screamed. It wasn’t painful, but I couldn’t lift a finger. I fought against him as he forced me into his arms, though I inevitably succumbed to his embrace. I sobbed hard.

He stroked my head. “Skai, you should be happy to be reunited with your family.”

“Family?” I gritted my teeth. “I came here because it was Krissy’s last request, not to see you. You abandoned us, and Mom— she didn’t even know she had a second daughter. Krissy was adopted. How could you put us through that? How. . .” I wept more, “how could you?”

“All that matters is that you’re back home. This is where both of you belong.”

He hugged me tighter and I shut my eyes.

I died that day, but I returned. I had to accept my role as something I never wanted to be. I started to think that Krissy and I had paid a hefty price so that we’d be inseparable forevermore. No. I became confined to the opposite end of the strait, never to see my sister again. Poseidon never came to see me. So there I stayed in Italy, unleashing all my pent-up rage and wrath on passing sailors’ for eternity.

Home — I’ve never felt more unwelcome in both of my lifetimes.