Hello, readers. This is a co-written story by three members of Percy Quest forums (Aelia Nightshade, Kelster165, and Chiaro). We wrote this story because we felt that not enough myths included Hestia. We hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!
The goddess Hestia looked down upon the two bickering cities of Kythira and Lemnos from her perch by the hearth on Mount Olympus.
The leader of Kythira was a woman named Aminta Sophia, and the leader of Lemnos was a selfish man by the name of Adhelmar. Lemnos was a lot larger than Kythira, but Adhelmar was very greedy and wished to purchase a large expanse of land from Aminta to expand his empire. But Aminta would not cooperate. This was the only land her people could have. It was beautiful. It had beaches that had sand of gold, trees and plants that helped the people in times of sickness, and animals with fur and scales that glittered in the sun. Aminta was sure there was no other island like this. But Adhelmar would not give up that easily. He had called Aminta to his castle, and stated what he wanted.
"I am a greater ruler than you will ever be, Aminta Sophia!" he bellowed loudly. "My army is much greater than that of Kythira and if you do not cooperate I will take your land by force. Instead of letting you and your people live peacefully in the new addition to my kingdom, they will become slaves to me. I will give you two days to make your decision. Remember this affects much more than just you." Aminta would not show any signs of weakness. She bowed to Adhelmar and left.
Two days to make her decision. She scoffed. Aminta had already made up her mind. Above on Olympus, Hestia was watching over the female ruler. She sighed. Though the girl was wise, she was overconfident. Sometimes, that could cloud over wisdom.
When Aminta returned to Kythira, she called an emergency training session for the Army. She called for anyone who was of age and didn't need to take care of children. The people started to worry, but Aminta reassured them, even though deep down she knew that their chances were slim. Aminta had no doubts. She would stay with her decision. Either her people became slaves, or they fought until death. Her people would not be the puppets of anybody other than their own souls. Aminta chose to shake away all the negative thoughts. Two days passed, and everyone was ready for war. In full battle armour, Aminta made her way back to Lemnos. Adhelmar saw the small army of Kythira from afar.
"So, the choice has been made," he said to himself. He gathered his most loyal servant, Anacario. He sent Anacario to prepare the army for the arrival of the Kythirians. He was ready.
Adhelmar's army stepped out of the castle in a V formation.
As soon as Aminta saw them her head started spinning, but she didn't break her stride. She was leading the smaller army, but she was also leading the better army. Or so she thought.
The fight began and immediately Kythira started losing people. They had trained hard, but so had Lemnos and they were outnumbered. The amount of deaths was increasing by the minute. After only a short time, half of Aminta's army was dead. Many started to lose hope, and some surrendered to Adhelmar. The few left who were fighting were badly injured. Aminta was losing hope as well and soon began to consider just giving up.
Hestia took pity on the girl and decided she should help. Aminta looked up with a look of defeat on her face. She gasped when she saw the goddess.
"Lady Hestia..." she said as she bowed to the goddess.
"I have come to help you Aminta, but I will not be able to interfere directly." Hestia said to the girl, "I will say this, though.
"I am the goddess of hearth and home,
the circle is the symbol that I own,
Look for the circle directly east,
This is the entrance to the beast."
With those words Hestia disappeared. Aminta took her advice and looked to the east. The only thing she saw was Adhelmar's castle. She looked closer though, looking for a circle. When she finally saw what Hestia was referring to, she immediately gained hope.
The circle was a small window on the side of the castle near to the ground. It was one window that did not have any protection on it and was well out of the way of the fight. She headed for the window, and jumped in, unnoticed. When Aminta found herself in a deserted storage room, she headed to the door and opened it with a crack. When she saw that the coast was clear she headed out for Adhelmar's throne room.
Aminta crept down the halls, making sure no one was around. She heard the cries of pain from her soldiers, and a rush of sadness washed over her. Aminta sped up her pace. She soon found the doors to the largest room in the castle, Adhelmar's throne room. She hesitated for a second, thinking about what she was going to do, and then burst through the doors. Adhelmar was stunned for a split second, but then his mouth curled into a devilish smile."Ah, who do we have here?"
Aminta drew her sword, ready to fight, but Adhelmar was ready. He drew a sword of his own. Aminta made the first move, but Adhelmar skilfully blocked it.
Aminta tried many different attacks, but Adhelmar was skilful and blocked all of them. She was getting tired, so she backed down a little bit, making only small attacks and defending herself. She tried to think of a strategy that would successfully put Adhelmar at her mercy, but could think of nothing.
Aminta was losing. She was getting tired, and was having difficulty blocking Adhelmar's attacks.
She was almost ready to give up and surrender to him, when suddenly, a beautiful woman in a fiery cloak appeared in front of her. She recognized the woman at once as Hestia. Apparently Adhelmar could not see her, because he kept fighting without even flinching. Hestia, once again, gave a poem of advice.
"An enemy's downfall may be,
The spot of neck that you can see,
Attack them there they will be weak,
You will gain the reward you seek.
I'll give you a hint."
The goddess disappeared.
Right then Adhelmar gave a small cry of pain as he reached for the back of his neck. Aminta almost immediately realized what it meant. In that small amount of time when Adhelmar let his guard down, she took advantage of the opportunity and took a step behind him. Adhelmar was in too much pain to notice. She put her sword to the back of Adhelmar's neck, ready to make the final blow.
Before defeating Adhelmar, she prayed to Hestia, thanking her. She pulled her sword back and stabbed the tip into his neck. Adhelmar cried in pain. Aminta stepped back as Adhelmar's body fell to the ground. She stood for a moment, and then ran to help her warriors.
She ran outside, expecting a raging battle, but instead she saw the goddess Hestia. Aminta saw Hestia make a gesture. Mysteriously enough, everyone, the wounded and the ones fighting, stopped and glanced at the goddess. At the sight, everyone dropped to their knees. Aminta looked up at the goddess and dropped to her knees as well.
"Thank you, Lady Hestia," she said, as a single tear slid down her face. Hestia smiled, and withdrew her eyes from Aminta's. With a single wave from her hand, the field scattered with warriors burst into flames. Or so it seemed.
After a second or two, the flames disappeared. The wounded were healed, the dead were neatly lined up, and enemies became friends. When Aminta looked up again the goddess was gone, and in her place was a warm feeling that only a hearth can bring. Now that Adhelmar was dead, Aminta not only kept her rule of Kythira, but now also controlled Lemnos.
The people there were forever grateful to Hestia. They even gave her a new name: The Giver of Hope.
A/N: 1,347 words not including author's note. Review if so inclined. Praise is appreciated, constructive criticism is greatly recommended, and flames are accepted.