Melantha (meaning dark flower) had an older twin sister named Adria (meaning the dark one). These two sisters did everything together, since they were best friends. They were the daughters of King Hades and Queen Persephone of the underworld, but unlike their parents, they loved their dark home. They played with Cerberus, their favorite pet dog, they played in the Elysian Fields with the other happy souls, and even stuck out their tongues and blew raspberries at Tartarus, where their evil grandfather Kronos lay forevermore.
The sisters, although getting along, had different personalities. Adria was the mischevious one in her family. She had the ability to use dark magic and actually get away with it. The only friend who was dear to her was Melantha. The other "friends" that she had were played with as toys: manipulated, cheated, and thrown away when they became broken. Melantha, on the other hand, was the confident one. She used magic as well, but not dark magic like her sister. Melantha was also a bookworm and had very good grades and made her parents very happy. Knowing this, it wouldn't be surprising that Hades and Persephone favored Melantha over Adria.
Despite this, Adria and Melantha both expected that Adria take their father's crown when the time comes, such as is tradition that the oldest child of a royal family is the heir or heiress to the throne. They kept playing about when Adria would be crowned, Adria's marriage to "Prince Charming", etc. When they turned 15 years old, the proper age a girl should marry at the time, both sisters were called to the throne room.
"This is so exciting! This is when you will become the heiress to the Underworld!" Melantha exclaimed excitedly. Adria nodded with a smile, but the smile dissappeared when she asked,
"You won't be jealous, will you Melantha?" The younger sister shook her head and explained,
"No. You'd be much better at ruling the realm than I would. I'm content with just being by your side during your time of rule." Adria smiled and thought to herself,
Oh yeah. Definitely a royal vizier. When they entered the throne room and bowed before their parents, they stood as Hades proclaimed,
"Girls. Princess Adria and Princess Melantha. As you know, you are now 15 years old, the proper age a girl should marry at this time in history." Both girls nodded excitedly. Hades continued, "However, this is the age when one of you girls will be defined as 'heiress', while the other merely stays as 'princess'." Both girls grinned even more widely as Hades stood and claimed, "The heiress to my throne will be...Melantha."
"WHAT?" screamed Adria.
"Huh?" asked a confused Melantha. Adria was shocked completely as she complained, "B-bu-but, I'm the oldest of the twins! I deserve the crown because I am the oldest! Have you not forgotten the order in which Melantha and I stand? I cannot tolerate this! Ever!" She was going to continue, but she was cut off by her father in a loud "SILENCE!" Adria backed off with tears in her eyes. Persephone, seeing the tears, went over to her daughter and tried to soothe her.
"I'm sorry Adria...truly I am. But you must understand. Melantha has the talent and the confidence of a ruler. You have the talent and confidence of a royal vizier. I'm sorry you're so upset, but please try to understand." Adria wiped some tears from her eyes and pulled away from her mother.
"No. No, I can't understand. All our lives, you and Dad have favored Melantha over me. In fact, you have favored her so much you forgot all about me. I've worked just as hard as Melantha but who gets the credit? Miss Goody-Goody over there." Melantha gasped at Adria's name for her and tears started to well up in her eyes. That was when Adria turned on Melantha. "All our lives, I've been jealous of you. I'm the oldest, I should be the smartest, the most respected, the favored one out of us. But those titles seem to go to you instead. Yes, I called you Miss Goody-Goody. And I won't stop. Not now, not ever! Consider us done for! I don't want to see your butt-ugly face ever again! In fact, I don't want to see any of your faces ever again! I'm leaving, and nothing either of you say will change that!" With that, Adria stormed out of the throne room and eventually left the underworld, vowing to come back for revenge.
Melantha couldn't stand it. How could Adria suddenly hate her so much? They were best friends their whole lives, she can't just walk out on her like that. The tears flowing from her eyes became too much and she too stormed out of the room as well, but to her room instead of from the she cried, suddenly her tenderness and love for Adria vanished into thin air. She became mad...very mad. She turned to the window and said silently to herself,
"So, the little spoiled princess didn't get want she wanted, huh? Well, then, I'll just make sure she doesn't get what she wants ever again."
And that is how the rivalry between Gwen and Heather really got started.
Next chapter: Zenina, Daughter of Zeus