Chapter 26:

It was time for Apollo to bring the sun back to Olympus once again, but he was a little slow this morning, unlike the rest. He hadn’t got much sleep the night before because he stayed awake talking to his sister, who had been carrying the moon. He had taken a seat in her chariot as they both discussed what happened at dinner.

Apollo, the God of Oracles, Healing, Archery, Knowledge, Protection of the young, and so much more, was almost a spitting image of his father. Though his hair was a lighter shade of blonde and his muscularly built body was slimmer and leaner instead of bulky, he still reminded people of his father by his features. He even had the same blue eyes, which seemed to be a dominant trait amongst most of Zeus’ children.

“I’m not sure how I should feel.”

“Neither am I, Apollo. I mean, after all this time, we finally understand Hera a bit more, and I feel ashamed for how I acted towards her.”

“So, do I. Hera was right, you know, about the women being willing, our mother included. I’m sure she knew Zeus was married to Hera, and she still slept with him; is it wrong that I partly blame her for who Hera became as well?”

“If I am honest, brother, I blame her alongside our father too. I always thought that Hera should’ve just taken what Zeus was doing to her because she must’ve done something to make him stray in the first place, but after learning that she didn’t even love him nor did she want to marry him, I feel sorry for her.”

“I wonder what happened for her to have no choice in marrying our father. Whatever it was, it would seem that only Hera has been suffering from it.”

“I hate to agree with you,” Artemis started giving her brother a humored smirk, “but I do believe you are right. Hera has been the only one suffering while our father turns a blind eye continuing with his numerous affairs,” Artemis said almost bitterly. “Nonetheless, whatever it was that happened between them, won’t come to us tonight, so how about we let it rest for the time being and move on to another topic of discussion.”

Apollo, who silently agreed with his sister, not wanting to openly admit that she was right, like she had done just moments before, changed the direction of their conversation into a more lightweight topic. After enjoying each other’s presence and being in better spirits, they acknowledged that it was getting late, and Apollo should try to get some rest before his shift started. Apollo had planned to go right to sleep to get some rest before he had to be up, but those plans quickly went down the drain the moment his head touched his pillow. He had been going through the possibilities of what it could have been that Zeus did to Hera to trap her in a loveless marriage all night long, but none seemed right, and by the time he had fallen asleep, it was time for him to take the sky from his sister and start the beginnings of a new day.

***

Helia had woken up before Hera noticing that it was still dark outside and guessed it was still too early for Apollo to take over the sky above. So, she used this time to think about everything that happened, what she guessed was hours before this present moment. It was eventful, to say the least, filled with emotions, truths, revelations, and, most importantly, love. She was glad that she started to open up more and got a brother and mother out of it. ‘Oh no, I called Hera mama last night,’ Helia thought to herself. She was scared and started to panic, believing that she may have crossed the line with Hera last night when she called her mama, not because she was afraid of rejection, but because she didn’t ask for permission. If anything, she would blame it on her tiredness, and having said it as she was half asleep.

“I can hear your thinking from here,” Hera grumbled, “what has you up so early?”

“I was thinking about what happened before we fell asleep and how I didn’t ask you for permission to call you mama,” Helia nervously answered.

“You don’t have to ask permission to call me mama, little one. You are my daughter and have that right to address me as such.”

“Okay, Her… I mean, mama.”

Hera’s smile had shone brightly even under the faint light from the moon shining through the thick curtains of Helia’s room. Hera had lightly bopped Helia’s tiny nose, making her child giggle. She was glad that she could openly call Helia her daughter and would be able to hear her call her mama publicly.

“Now that that’s settled, how about we get some more sleep before Apollo wakes us up? We wouldn’t want to be sleepy later at the playdate.”

“Okay, mama,” said Helia sleepily, and they both fell fast asleep again so that they could be rested for the big day.

Three hours and ten minutes later, Hera and Helia were up starting their morning routine. Hera had finished braiding the front of Helia’s hair and pinning it to the sides so that the back could hang loosely with her wild curls and were headed to the dining area for breakfast.

“Ah, there she is. How are you this morning, cub?” asked Ares, greeting his little sister as she entered the dining area hand in hand with their mother.

“Cub?” Hera questioned as she and Helia took their seats.

“Yea, I mean, two of your sacred animals are the Lion and Panther, and I figured that Helia would be considered a cub, and seeing as how she is the youngest sibling out of us all, I decided to give her a nickname. Hence the reason I called her cub,” Ares explained.

“How do you feel about the nickname your brother gave you?” Hera turned to ask Helia.

“I like it, mama.”

“Little cub, it is then.”

Hera and Helia were too engaged in their conversation to notice that the table was staring at them, but when they saw that they were, they simultaneously asked, “What?”

“Oh, um, nothing, just shocked that you called her mama is all,” Ares answered.

“Why is that a shock?” Helia countered as she thanked one of the servants for bringing her breakfast over.

“Well, I guess it is because you seemed hesitant with affection, but now you seem perfectly fine with it.”

“It’s because I am. I’m sure I will still have some doubts in the future, but for right now, I’m okay, and that’s all that matters.”

They looked at her like she had grown two heads. Never had they witnessed a child, other than Athena, be so wise at such a young age.

“Well, said my little cub,” Hera was proud of her daughter and how she handled the situation.

“So, does this mean you are now our little sister?” Hermes asked.

“Only if you want me to be,” Helia answered.

“Great, I can teach you how to fly and prank people. It’ll be nice to have a protege of mine.”

“NO!!!” everyone yelled at Hermes and his suggestion.

“Hey, why not?”

“Because, Hermes, you take your pranks too far, and I will not have you getting your sister in trouble because of your antics.”

“Yea, Hera’s right,” Artemis added, “remember the time you switched out one of Aphrodite’s perfumes with a gag one that smelled like rotten fish? She was pissed for two months and nearly caused divorces because she wouldn’t let the mortals love.”

“Yea,” Hermes leaned back in his chair with an accomplished look on his face, “that was my best prank ever.”

Everyone groaned for they knew he wasn’t listening, and so breakfast continued as it usually would. There were polite conversations, yelling matches, ego inflations, and so much more and Helia was glad that she was a part of it with her family.

Down below Olympus in the realm of Poseidon, a similar scene was playing out. At the table, Poseidon, Amphitrite, and their son Triton were talking about today’s event.

“But mom, I don’t want to go. It’s going to be all girls, and we won’t have anything in common.”

“Triton, sweetheart, it might be fun. I mean, I understand why you would feel that way, but now you’ll have someone new to play with,” Amphitrite tried to reason.

“I don’t want to! It’s not fair!”

“You’re acting more like a two-year-old than an eight-year-old, son,” chastised his mother. Triton was throwing a tantrum at the prospect of having to hang out with two girls. Yes, they were his age, but they wouldn’t be interested in the same things as him.

“Triton, just try to be reasonable. You never know. You might actually like hanging out with the both of them,” Poseidon said as he tried to help his wife with their son. He knew how hard it could be to handle his son when he got into one of his moods.

“Fine, I’ll give it a try, only if I get to stay up an extra hour tonight,” Triton negotiated with his father.

“Deal.”

“Poseidon!”

“Hey, I got him to want to go, didn’t I?” Poseidon tried to reason.

“Whatever, it’s time to get ready, Triton. Let’s go,” Amphitrite said as she gave her husband a slight scowl, to which he only rolled his eyes and laughed.