previous part: https://jordynsaelor.com/2026/01/15/other-side/
all parts: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
I tried to ignore this big question
and instead
scowled at the lightning creature’s head and wide hips
and demanded
my mechanical arm back
and shoes
and dress
but it said
they’d all been repurposed
due to their demonic nature
and I growled, repurposed for what?
and Percy said
that outfit you’re wearing
was constructed
out of all your recycled belongings.
This ugly thing is where my mechanical fingers went?
You stupid–
Percy crackled. Your things were demon made, he said.
That hand wasn’t, I glared,
but whatever,
next question,
Mrflfip said the demon was dead,
yet you said imprisoned–
which one of you is lying?
Yes, well, demons can’t die,
but one of those blankets was a tainted mortal
unsaveable
so it died
but the others
are in my prison network
that not a single demon has escaped from,
and they’re all happy enough there
I think
though
for your mortal understanding
“dead” works well enough.
So you, I whispered,
imprison demons
and keep “saveable” mortals,
but why’d it take so long
for the trees to bring me here?
My guards, the lightning face said,
are careful
about knowing who is who
before they act.
So then I just had the big question left,
but didn’t want it answered.
I stared
at the mountain rains,
ebbing and rising
toward a distant, murky light
high above
and whispered,
“I don’t want to be stuck here.”
And a whisper
came back to me,
inviting me to come see,
come and dream,
let it teach me
and I looked at Percy
and the sand where the clay thing disintegrated
and knew staying
would feel like a prison,
demon or not
so I
ran across the valley
and Percy shouted
that I was going to drown myself
but also didn’t seem to care
what I did or didn’t do
as long as I wasn’t
making his Keep shake
so I ran
crying after my mechanical arm
but not that much;
crying about how stuck I was
but not that much;
heeding the voice in the water
maybe too much
for a shred of hope
to hold me
and
arms outstretched
I ran into the rain.
***
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Jordyn Saelor 