Chapter 33:

“Hello, child,” Helia heard the familiar voice of Lachesis.

“What do you want now? Haven’t you done enough?” Helia was in no mood for this and just wanted to be left alone with her troubled thoughts.

“I am sorry that you are struggling with your feelings, but you must understand that it will all make sense soon,” Clotho informed.

“The only thing making sense right now is that my life is ruined,” cried Helia. “I finally had a home, a mother who loves me without a doubt, but it all is about to be ruined because my birth parents finally decide they want to be a part of my life. Why? Why now?”

“It is because she needs you or will need you. They both will.”

“Who?” Helia questioned Atropos.

“Your mother, she already needs you, but she will need you and your father more than ever now.”

“Why should I help her? She hasn’t done anything for me.”

“Oh, sweet child, but she has; she has done more than you could ever imagine. You will see,” Lachesis told her.

“She hasn’t done anything except cause heartache for me. She and my father abandoned me, and now you are telling me that she needs me? I won’t help her. I don’t want anything to do with either of them at this point. I need to mend the relationship with my true mother, Hera.”

Helia was about to ask to be ‘awaken’ from this dream, but they stopped her.

“Wait, Helia, there is something you need to see first,” Lachesis called to her.

“What is it now?” Helia just wanted to go to her mother, apologize for hurting her, and hope that she would be forgiven.

“We want you to see your past, the one that has haunted you for so long.”

“I just said I no longer care about them, and I don’t care about my past. I need to get to my mother.”

“You will wait and see what has to be shown to you. You will not defy us,” Atropos commanded. Helia had never seen either of the Fates upset. She was afraid to piss her off even more than she already had and decided to do what she was told.

“Okay, what do I need to do?”

“First, I want you to remember the advice that was given to you by your grandmother. About how there is healing in truth,” Clotho reminded.

“Okay, is that all?”

“No, also remember that they did what they had to do to keep you safe. Do not be angry, for they cared for you and your safety above all else,” Lachesis said.

Helia nodded her head, and before she knew it, her body had jerked, and she felt like something was pulling her into another dimension. When she had stopped moving, she felt sick, like she was about to pass out, and so she fell onto her hands and knees. She only looked up when she saw a glow from a white door catch her attention.

After she felt like she could move without vomiting, she rose to her feet and walked slowly towards the door. She was afraid of what lies behind it but knew she had no choice but to go through with it. So, she took the handle into her hand and turned the knob to enter. What she saw was unlike anything she had ever seen before. She was in a different room that was black and red and warm. She seemed to be in some kind of liquid protectant. She could hear humming and even feel it vibrate through her; the song being hummed sounded familiar. She couldn’t remember where she had heard it, and before she could reflect on it further, something was starting to happen.

Everything around her was starting to shake, she wasn’t sure what was going on, and she didn’t have anything to hold on to. The only thing she could do was try to brace herself if an attack was about to happen, but everything calmed. She could hear voices. One of a female yelling, she couldn’t make out what exactly was being said, but she knew it wasn’t anything good. She heard another female voice, which sounded more calm, relaxed, probably trying to calm down the other female. She could also hear the voice of someone else, but this belonged to a man. He was talking lightly and calmly, assisting the calm-voiced female with the other person.

She wasn’t sure how long she had been in that room and was beginning to lose hope of ever being freed when suddenly there was a slither of light that started to show throw. She inspected it closer and could see a hand reach for her, she tried to run away but she couldn’t. When the hand grabbed her, it wasn’t forceful. It was gentle, in fact. She relaxed at the soft touch. It strangely reminded her of her grandmother and, in recent months, her mother.

She could hear the voices more clearly now, so she listened for any information to help her find out who these people were.

“Come on, Hera, you can do it. Just one more push and she will be here.” Was that Hades’ voice? Why would he be telling her mother to push?

“Do not tell me to push...”

“But sweetheart...”

“But sweetheart, my ass, do not tell me what to do, for you are the reason I am in this situation!!!” Hera screeched as a contraction passed through her again.

“Hera, honey, I need you to focus. I need for you to push once more so that we may meet your beautiful baby girl.” Was that her grandmother? What is going on?

“Fine, fine. Arghhhhhhhhhhhh......,” Helia heard her mother scream once again, but this time, something happened to Helia. She was fully out of the darkened room and into a brighter space that she was accustomed to. It was her grandmother Rhea’s bathroom. She could feel a blanket being wrapped around her and looked into the face of the person holding her; it was Rhea. She was confused as to why she was seeing her grandmother. Was she in someone else’s body reliving their memory? Helia didn’t have time to answer her own question when she saw another person approaching and then saw Hades face come into view.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening? Someone, tell me something!” she heard her mother yelling.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, nothing is wrong, she’s fine, see for yourself.” Hades answered as he gently took Helia into his arms, cradling her close to his chest. She was brought over to Hera when she heard Hades’ voice again, “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? She looks exactly like you.”

She saw her mother’s face and saw her tears. “Yes, she does, though she has your hair color and dimples,” her mother said to Hades with a smirk. Her mother… Her mother and her father!

Before her mind could completely grasp what she had witnessed and learned, the feeling of being tugged somewhere came back, and she was in the presence of the Moirai once more. She cried, wept even at what was revealed to her. Hera was her mother and Hades, her father.

“Do you understand now, child? Why your parents had to leave you?” Clotho asked.

“Yes,” she continued crying. She felt even worse for the things she said to her mother, her mother. She needed to get to her and tell her that she knew that she knew the truth.

“I need to go to my mother,” she urged.

“Go to her, child.”

“Wait, why are you just now telling me the truth?”

“You are the key to saving your mother and all the realms. You are the prophesied one that will one day rule Olympus. It was time that you know so that you can begin the journey of becoming just that, the true ruler.”

Before she could delve into more questions, she woke up back on Olympus in her bed. She was in total shock. Hera was her mother, and Hades was her father. With more tears flowing down her face, she jumped out of bed and ran to her mother. Helia had gone to check to see if her mother was in her bedroom, but was saddened when she was met with an empty room. She then went outside to check the gardens in hopes of her mother being there, but there was no such luck. Helia was beginning to worry that her mother had left Olympus all together when remembered what her mother said before she left the dining area. Having renewed energy and determination Helia ran to Hera’s home office hoping she would still be there. She ran past her other siblings on her way to the office, who were shouting at her, asking where she was going and why she was running, but she had no time to stop and answer; all she could do was yell over her shoulder that she needed to get to her mother.

She had turned the last corner that led to her mother’s office at the end of the hall. She ran like her life depended on it, and when she reached it, she just burst through the doors. She saw her mother wrapped in her Godmother’s arms and her brother’s head in her lap. She saw that her mother was crying, and Helia wanted nothing more than to tell her that she was sorry and that she knew, and that’s exactly what she did.

“MAMA!!!” she yelled and ran to her.

Hera saw her crying daughter running towards her and immediately left the comfort of Aphrodite’s arms to welcome her daughter into hers. She kneeled down to catch her distraught daughter, wanting to know what was going on, but before she could say anything, Helia opened her mouth first.

“I’m so sorry, mama, I’m so sorry. I should’ve known that you were my real mama, but I know now; I saw it, I saw everything,” she sobbed into her mother’s shoulder.

Hera was shocked at what her daughter told her, but she didn’t care, she had her daughter back, and that’s all that matters.