Chapter 19:

It had been almost a week, and Helia had been getting used to her routine. She would wake in the morning with Hera cuddling her, and they would just lie in bed for ten minutes talking or just lying in comfortable silence and wait for Iris to remind them to get the day started. She would have breakfast with the rest of the Olympians before heading to the arena for Ares and Athena’s training. Artemis even offered her assistance every now and then, when she wasn’t with the Hunt, to help Helia with archery.

Artemis, being the Goddess of the Moon, the hunt wilderness and more, was stunning and tall. She had long, straight black hair, the total opposite of her twin brother Apollo, that she mainly kept in one braid to the back, like Athena, or a ponytail. Her eyes were a beautiful hazel brown, and she was very athletic, probably from hunting and her training with the Hunters. Artemis seemed a little ‘cold’ at first, but Helia didn’t mind because she didn’t have to guess where she stood with her, which put her at ease.

Hera became more hands-on with Helia’s training and would even spar with her every now and then. After her battlefield training, she would wash up and head to the library to study Ancient Greek, literature, and mathematics with Athena. If there were days the Olympians had a council meeting, Helia would just stay in her room or go to the library to read, which is what she was doing now. She was waiting for the older gods and goddesses to start and finish with the meeting at hand. After the council meeting, she and Hera would go into the streets of Olympus for some ice cream at one of the shops.

“Hi,” a small voice startled Helia, for she thought she was in the library alone, but when she whipped around, she saw a girl around her age standing there. The mystery girl’s hair was as dark as her own, but her eyes were even darker if that was possible. Helia guessed this was Hades and Persephone’s daughter. She had the King of the Underworld’s eyes, hair, and even his slightly pale skin tone.

Not wanting to be rude or make things more awkward, Helia introduced herself. “Hi, my name is Helia. What’s your name?” Helia held her hand out for a friendly shake.

Melinoe wasn’t sure what to do at this point, but she didn’t want to continue on with the awkwardness or come off as mean, so she took the girl’s hand to shake it when she suddenly felt a slight shock; the shock was not one big enough to cause pain but just barely enough to be felt. She wondered if Helia had felt it or if she caused it, but she shook it off instead and introduced herself, “Nice to meet you, Helia. I’m Melinoe. I am Hades and Persephone’s daughter.”

‘Was that a shock? Did I shock her? She hasn’t said anything yet, so maybe I just imagined it.’ Helia cleared her head of the thoughts and went to ask her if she would join her.

“Would you like to join me?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind. I don’t want to interrupt your reading, though.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I don’t mind at all.” Melinoe took a seat across from Helia. The silence that held between the two was deafening, but Helia figured she should try to start a conversation because the awkwardness was getting to her, but Melinoe must’ve thought the same thing because she started first.

“So, where are you from?” She had instantly regretted the question when she saw the disheartened look that was now present on Helia’s face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. You don’t have to answer that or even talk to me for that matter,” Melinoe tried to atone.

“No, it’s fine. I just get a little sad because I do not know where I am from or who my birth parents are.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine, I promise you.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who has raised you?”

“My grandmother Rhea and aunt Tethys, they brought me here to be raised by Hera.”

“Wow, I never really met my grandmother Rhea except for only a couple of times. I bet it was cool to live with her. How is it living here and having aunt Hera raise you now?”

“It’s great. Hera is very kind-hearted, unlike what most people paint her as, and Olympus is nice. There is always something new that I am learning here.”

“Hmm, I guess I never got to see that side of her since I was afraid because of the stories I would hear about her.”

“Yea, it makes me upset that people have already deemed her as this evil being when she really isn’t. I know she has done some horrible things in the past, and I disagree with them, but I just think she did all those things because she was hurt.”

“Oh, I never thought about that. I mean, she only did things after uncle Zeus had cheated on her.”

“Exactly my point, but of course, because he is King, no one would ever call him out on his mistakes, but I will.”

“You really care for aunt Hera, don’t you?”

‘Just like a mother,’ she thought to herself, but she instead replied, “Yea, I guess I do.”