First chapter: 2753 years later

ZoëPov

I was exiled, no longer with my sisters and my father but in all honesty, I deserved it.

I helped him; he said that he would take me away from this place if I just help him in his quest.

I agreed, but could you blame me this place is almost as bad as being stuck in Tartarus.

So I agreed I helped him trick my father so he could get an apple from the tree.

When he found out, he made my sisters release Ladon; we ran away and hid by one of the thorn bushes.

I still remember that day as vividly as though it happened yesterday.

Flashback:

I was running, running for my life. I was pulling him along with me.

"Hurry!" my voice was hardly my own anymore, it was coated with fear."He will find us!"It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. Normally I would walk through this garden admiring the flowers remembering him—

NO! This wasn't the time; I was trying to help him run away from Ladon.

"I'm not afraid," He didn't understand Ladon was too powerful.

"You should be!"I said, and then I resumed pulling him along with me. We raced up the side of the hill. I led him to a thorn bush and we collapsed from exhaustion. I was already listening for the telltale signs that Ladon was coming, but I was cut from my reverie.

"There is no need to run," He said. His voice was so confident I almost believed him, almost...

"I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," I said to him. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father, it is the only way."

"I don't trust your father," He said.

"You should not," I agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die!"

He chuckled, like he found something funny.

"Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I...I am afraid. I admitted." Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out...they would disown me."I really didn't want to lose my family. They're all I have left.

"Then there's nothing for it."He said. Then he stood up, rubbing his hands together like he was getting ready to tackle on Ladon. Wait, he was getting ready to tackle on Ladon.

"Wait!" I said to him.

Should I help him or should I leave him to the mercy of Ladon.

I immediately slapped myself for that thought. I'm not like my father who is merciless.

So with trembling hands I slowly reached and plucked a beautiful white brooch from my long hair."If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, a sea goddess, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

I breathed on it as a blessing and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," I told him."And make of it a weapon."

He laughed."A hairpin?"Disbelief creeping into his voice. 'How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?'"

"It may not," I admitted."But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

He finally surrendered and took the hairpin from my hands, and as he did the hairpin grew longer and heavier in his hand, until he was holding a perfectly balanced 3 ft. long blade of deadly celestial bronze.

"Well balanced," He said "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos, I said with sadness seeping through my tone. 'The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea.'"

Before I could wish him luck however, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss that sounded like air escaping a tire."Too late, he is here!"

Immediately he turned around and dodged Ladon's sharp jaws coming at him. He turned and shouted for me to run.

So I ran, I ran for what seemed like hours but in truth were just minutes.

I finally stopped by the side of a eucalyptus tree; these grew in abundance in our garden.

I was catching my breath when a voice spoke by my side.

"Sister." The voice turned my blood ice cold. I turned to my side and saw what I dreaded the most.

"My sisters were there gazing at me coldly, their eyes sharp with distrust and their mouths drawn in a straight line.

"Sisters w-what are y-you d-doing here."I stuttered

"We are the guardians of the golden apples are we not? And this mountain is where it is located.

"We have guarded the apples for all our lives and we are instructed to set Ladon to those who try to steal them." By this time a pool of dread has already formed in my stomach.

"But you sister, you have helped an intruder get one of the sacred apples when you are told not to." Please no! Tell me their not thinking of that...

"So from this time onward you are forbidden to go inside the garden or even show yourself to us lest we will set Ladon upon you." I couldn't hold it anymore, tears form from my eyes but they show no hint of sadness or regret in putting me in exile.

"Leave now." Those were the last words I would here from them in more than two millennia.

I leaned on the tree crying my eyes out for what seemed like hours. But then a thought brightens my current mood.

I could search for my brother, apologize for getting him exiled.

That one thought strengthens me physically and mentally and I begin my journey down the hill. I pass the place where Ladon is usually stationed, but he is nowhere in sight.

I walk on and on down the hill with the current intention of finding Heracles, until I trip facedown on the muddy ground. I was so absorbed by my thoughts that I didn't notice the uprooted tree in front of me. It was also burnt meaning Ladon and Heracles passed here. I continue walking until I hear a triumphant scream.

I run to the scream's direction to find Heracles standing at the side of one of Ladon's heads; a spoil of war although he wasn't paying attention to that, he was busy looking at the golden apple in his hands, he had a strange glint in his eyes and he was staring at it hungrily.

"Heracles!" I called him, and the glint in his eyes disappeared.

"Why, you are here pretty one, I thought you stayed atop the mountain?"

"I was forced to leave by my sisters, I was exiled."

"I am sorry."He said, but there was a strange tone to his voice.

"Could I go with you? I have nowhere to go now that I am forbidden to come back to my garden."

He frowned "You cannot travel with me, I am going to my next labor and it is too dangerous for you." Normally, I would be flattered for that type of concern but something was wrong here.

"Alright then, But could you at least help me travel to the nearest town or village?"

"No, I cannot I am making haste for my next labor and would like it to be finished as soon as possible." He said. But his voice was already getting impatient.

"No?' I asked incredulously' but this is all I ask of you, surely you will help me after what I have done for you.'"My voice had gone dangerously quiet but he took no notice.

"I have no time for talking or to listen to your woes nor do I have the time to escort you to the nearest signs of civilizations." He said half-impatiently and half-coldly.

I was shocked by the sudden change of his attitude. This was not the man I had known back at the garden.

I was speechless at his sudden outburst even though I struggled to speak I couldn't like someone had cut my vocal chords.

He must have mistaken my silence for agreement because he said:

"I am leaving." He turned around walking through the forest and maneuvering away from the thorny plants and flowers.

I tried to call him but it was too late. He was already gone, I sit down and lean against a random tree and try to think about everything that has happened.

I wanted so badly to cry because everything that has happened, I lost my family and get abandoned in the middle of the forest by him, Heracles.

But I didn't cry, I wouldn't cry. I was stronger than that.

It was fast approaching dawn and I lay there against the tree thinking of where I should go and where I will find food, water and shelter.

While I was there thinking of my plan to survive I didn't notice the agile figure creeping up behind me until she grabbed me herself.

I tensed when the mysterious figure grabbed me and got ready to struggle when the figure spoke.

"Do not fret νεαρού πατρικό I am here to help you with your...predicament."

The voice had a calming and reassuring tone, but that didn't mean I trusted the voice already.

"Who are you?"I questioned her. I tried to sound brave but my voice had a hint of fear.

This could be the last moments of my miserable and unrewarding life.

"That I will tell you in the morning, but for now sleep."

As soon as the words left her mouth my eyes were already closing against my will and then the world was in pitch darkness.