Riding a griffin was the most amazing experience in Isra's young life. They flew high into the sky, taking cover behind some clouds. Abelard and Heloise were ecstatic to be free once more.
As Heloise started flying towards the Waystation, Isra felt a tingling in her mind. Something wasn't right. Leaning forward, she whispered into Heloise ear, "I know you have to lay your egg Heloise. But we need to stop and check you over. I think they might have done something to you in captivity."
Heloise squawked in protest. She was determined to get back to the Waystation as quickly as possible. The female griffin kept her course. A few seconds later, she felt Isra pulling on her scruff.
"RAWK!"
"Please Heloise, I don't want anything bad to happen to you or your egg," Isra begged, her eyes watering up.
Heloise relented and started to fly in the direction of their hunting grounds, at Eagle Creek State Park. Abelard called out to his mate, wondering what she was doing. After a short conversation, he followed her.
"Where are we going? The Waystation is that way!" Apollo said, pointing in the opposite direction of where they were going. He tugged on Abelard's scruff and squeezed his legs, trying to get the animal to turn, but Abelard wouldn't heed his commands.
A few minutes later they reached the state park and the griffins nosedived into the thick tree coverage. The griffins were surprisingly agile, maneuvering around the tree branches and avoiding large boulders. At last they came to a hidden lea and the animals settled into the grass.
Heloise allowed Quieta and Isra to dismount safely. Meg helped Calypso down, before Abelard rolled over, squishing a sputtering Apollo. Meg pulled him out from under Abelard.
"Why are we here instead of the Waystation? Britomartis will not be happy if we keep her waiting. You don't want to be caught in her version of a mouse trap," Apollo snapped at the girls, while trying to look dignified.
Isra stood as tall as she could, which wasn't very much. "Something is not right. I have a hunch…"
"Oh a hunch? You interfered with our rescue attempts, which caused us a whole lot of trouble and unnecessary chances to die easily, because you had a hunch? Humans, you always think you know best when you…." It was like someone hit the mute button because his mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out.
Quieta had used her limited abilities to silence Apollo for a short time. Nodding at Isra, she went over to help Calypso out, taking the first aid kit with her. Meg, seeing her slave unable to talk, approached Isra. She appeared to be a bit wary of her. At the same time she looked like she was impressed.
"Your friend is pretty good at shutting up annoying guys," Meg remarked, adjusting her diamanté cat eye glasses. "She a demigod too?"
"I don't think so. She told me her godmother is Hesykhia and she was blessed with a small bit of power," Isra explained to Meg. "I'm fully human by the way. My adopted mom is Aletheia goddess of truth."
"That's interesting, so what's got you up in a tizzy?"
Isra explained her feeling and she wanted to check the griffins over, to see if Commodus's soldiers had done anything to them. Meg thought Commodus was too dumb to think of something so smart, but nevertheless, started checking the griffins out.
Heloise and Abelard, screeched as Meg approached them, not trusting her at all. Isra talked softly calming them down and gestured for Apollo, who still couldn't talk at this point, to help her inspect the griffins.
Meg and Apollo checked Abelard over, careful to avoid his massive paws and sharp beak. As Isra started to check over Heloise over, Quieta was helping Calypso up.
Isra called out over her shoulder."Calypso, if you're feeling up to it, can you sing a lullaby for Heloise? She needs to relax a little, so I can check her over."
The former sorceress nodded and softly sang, while Quieta kept her sitting upright. Every few second, Calypso would take a sip from an energy drink that had been packed in the first aid kit, surprisingly.
Isra concentrated checking the skin under the feathers and fur. I'm not sure what I'm looking for, but I'll know it when I see it she thought. Then she spotted it, near Heloise's rump, there was a tiny thin cut, and looked like it was just starting to scab. The cut seemed to perfect and precise. Someone had done something to Heloise.
"Heloise, do you remember if the vets at the zoo did surgery on you? Did they put something in you?"
Heloise and Abelard both made the same high pitched screech. Someone had put something in them, but they were unable to describe what it was. Whatever it was, they needed to remove it immediately.
"We can't do anything until we know what's in them and where it is exactly. I wonder," She reached into her backpack and carefully, removed the Mirror and held it in her bandaged hands.
Quieta eyes widened upon the sight of the Mirror. She snapped her fingers, both to get Meg and Apollo's attention, and give the mortal god, his voice back as well. She furiously wrote something on her notepad and handed it too Calypso.
Calypso read it and looked greatly concerned. "Isra! Is that really the Mirror of Truth? One of your mom's sacred symbols?"
Looking in Calypso's direction, she nodded. "Agamethus put it in my backpack without my knowledge. I used to help Quieta and me, enter the area with the mythical creatures."
"You're extremely lucky all it did was burn your hands. Didn't your mom explain the dangers about using it?" the former Titaness inquired furiously.
Isra nodded and explained to the group about her mom was going to train her to use it, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. She had taken a gamble using it before being trained. It had worked once before, when they needed its help. Why not use it again to help her griffin friends?
Quieta took a back her notepad and wrote something down before showing it to her friend. You should not use it again, until your mom shows you how to use it safely. My godmother, Hesykhia, she stayed with us for five months to help me with my blessing. She visits us every few months, but she's not going to be back in town for another month or so.
"I understand Quieta, but if we don't learn what type of surgery was performed on the griffins, taking them back to the Waystation could have deadly consequences."
Meg held up one of her swords. "I could cut open the incision, then we could just pluck whatever it is out."
"NO!" Calypso and Apollo said together. Both Abelard and Heloise screeched in agreement. They didn't want anyone else operating on them, even if they did have the right equipment to do the job, which the group didn't have.
The human teen bit her lip. She knew they had to get to back to the Waystation soon if Heloise was to lay her egg safely, but they couldn't just leave without finding out what was inside the griffins.
Calypso, shakily stood up. The sudden burst of magic, she had created the air that had blown the net over Lityerses, had left her very weak. The former Titaness swayed on her feet before walking the few steps over to her friend.
"You're right about needing to help the griffins, but the Mirror of Truth's power is obviously too much for you to handle alone," Calypso told the girl as she held onto her shoulder to stay up. "However, we have a former god and Titaness, a demigod, and a blessed child. Perhaps together we can use the Mirror without getting hurt."
Apollo protested loudly, saying he didn't want to look at his flabby human form. Quieta rolled her eyes in annoyance and Meg stomped over determine to help.
"Get your gluteus over here Apollo," Calypso managed to state firmly, her voice almost normal. Reluctantly, he joined them. Each person had a grip on a different part of the Mirror. The Mirror sent a tingling sensation through their hands, reminding them of its power.
Isra took a deep breath. She needed to figure out a way to activate the Mirror's powers. Truth dispelled lies, uncovered secrets, and freed people from burdens. She just needed to word her question right.
"Show us what was put in our friends, without their consent." The Mirror reacted differently than before. Instead of heat, it was freezing cold. A burst of icy light shined on the griffins, which revealed a tracking chip embedded in both griffins' rumps, and they were transmitting.
The Mirror deactivated and everyone fell back a few steps. The Mirror of Truth was a powerful artifact indeed. Isra swayed a few seconds before stuffing the symbol back into her backpack.
Tracking devices, they wanted us to rescue the griffins and take them back to the Waystation. To find its location so they could raze it to the ground. We have to disable the devices somehow. "Anyone got an idea of how we can get the tracking devices to turn off for a bit or perhaps forever?"
Meg offered again to cut the devices out and once again was shot down. Neither Calypso nor Apollo could sing in a pitch that would destabilize the devices. Quieta's face scrunched up as she tried to think of an idea.
Isra looked at the griffins again. I wonder if we can generate an EMP. A small localized one, might take out the trackers. She tapped her feet trying to figure out something. "Does anyone know how we can make an ESD?"
"I'm not familiar with that term," Calypso admitted. The others also looked a bit clueless. Apparently being a student of life sciences came in handy.
Isra explained that an ESD, (Electrostatic Discharge), is the sudden flow of electricity between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an electrical short, or dielectric breakdown.
They could happen naturally or be man-made. Natural occurring ones happened all the time, such as when you walked across a rug really fast or rubbed a balloon on a sweater. Man-made ones used sparks to create the disruption between the electrons, like spark plugs or Tesla coils.
"If we can produce a strong enough ESD, we can disable the tracking devices without trying to cut them out."
"It's a good idea. You know how you're going to pull this off?" Meg asked. She was rubbing her shoes across the grass, trying to make some static electricity. It was a good idea, but to small of a scale. The charge had to be big enough to short the devices, but at the same time not hurt the griffins.
"It would be a nice time for Zeus to hurl one of his lightning bolts on us," Apollo moaned.
Isra snapped her fingers in delight. Lightning was the biggest natural spark! Hurrying over to the griffins, she whispered something in their ears and used her hands to demonstrate her plan to them.
With a loving screech, the two griffins launched themselves back into the sky, climbing higher and higher before darting in and out of the clouds. The faster they went, the bigger the static electricity grew.
The clouds started to get darker. There was the slight smell of ozone forming. Just then, there was a spark of light in the clouds above. Abelard and Heloise came back down, there rumps smoking a tiny bit. A swat from their tails cleared the smoke away.
Abelard nuzzled his mate, who was starting to look even more exhausted. Both griffins waited patiently as Isra checked them over. It seemed the electric discharge worked, the trackers were no longer transmitting.
"We can go now. The transmitters are disabled. Abelard, do you still have enough strength for three people?" The male nodded his majestic head.
Heloise nudged Isra, asking her to get on her back. Mama griffins are tough, especially when it came to getting back to a safe place for her egg. The teen helped Quieta get back on Heloise.
Once everyone was safely secured, the griffins launched themselves back into the air. They were flying a bit slower than before, having used up a lot of energy to create the electrical discharge.
As they traveled towards the Waystation, everyone kept a sharp eye out for aerial attacks. Commodus was an attention seeking emperor. He would love to spot the group in the sky and shoot them down for fun.
I hope the Mist is strong enough to hide us. We're all drained from this rescue and the griffins are nowhere near strong enough for another fight Isra thought to herself.
She tightened her grip on Heloise's scruff and tightened her legs around her body a little. Heloise tilted her head back, giving her a relaxing bird smile. The mother to be understood being scared at time like this.
The Waystation came into view, the mating pair circled Union Station twice before entering through their roof access and into their nests The small group dismounted, giving reassuring pats to let the two of them they were safe.
"It's about time you got back. We were getting worried about you. Oh my! What happened and who are you two?" Leo asked as he and Josephine came to check how the group was doing.
The sight of two new girls temporarily distracted him from noticing his girlfriend was teetering on her feet. Her hair hung limp and her eyes seemed to be dulling. She panted a little and gave a lopsided smile to her boyfriend.
Leo grabbed her arms to steady her. "Whoa mamacita," he said. "Are you okay?"
She blinked sleepily. "I'm fine. Don't fuss. And don't call me…"
She crumbled against Leo, who struggled to keep her upright.
He glared at Apollo. "What did you do to her?"
"Not a thing!" the former god protested. "I believe Calypso performed some magic."
As he and Meg told the duo what happened at the zoo, Quieta tugged on Leo's sleeve. He opened her mouth to ask her a question, but she handed him her notepad.
He read the message. "Over extended herself? You mean using magic caused this? But, that's never happened before."
Isra pointed out Calypso was mortal now, so her new body wasn't use to channeling that much power. Josephine told them to get Calypso to the infirmary, while she stayed with the griffins to help them settle back in. Together the trio managed to get Calypso down from the nest so the two teen girls could take her to the infirmary to get her checked out.
"Steady, even with the Waystation making it easy to get to the infirmary, we need to be careful," Isra warned Quieta, who nodded.
Arriving in the infirmary, Emmie was already preparing to treat her patient. "Oh dear, magic exhaustion. She'll need to be treated swiftly. How long ago did she perform magic?"
"About twenty minutes ago, we gave her an energy drink, which helped for a while, but it wore off quickly."
Emmie nodded and started talking Calypso vitals. Her blood pressure and pulse were a little lower than normal. She was breathing alright and her temperature was normal. Color was reappearing in her face.
Calypso shivered a little, Quieta got a blanket for her to keep warm. Emmie continued her exam. "Reflexes are little slower, but within a normal range. She needs some fluids and something to keep her energy levels up."
"Do you have any licorice root or panax ginseng tea?" Isra asked. Emmie nodded and pointed to a small medicine cabinet in the back of the infirmary. "I'll get the snack ready and we can feed it to her slowly. It should help her."
Walking over to the cabinet, she pulled out what she was looking for. Cutting the licorice root to small pieces was easy, but she had never brewed tea before so that was a challenge for her.
Finishing the task, she maneuvered her way back to Calypso. Emmie was rubbing a potion over Calypso previously broken foot and hand as precaution in case the use of magic hand undone the healing.
Quieta had gotten two seats so the girls could sit by the former Titaness. They propped Calypso up and pressed the tea to her lips, letting her swallow a few drops of the drink. An unconscious person could swallow, as long as it was very tiny amount. They would have to wait until she woke up to give her the food.
A little while later, Agamethus appeared in the infirmary. Quieta was shocked by him being headless and fainted to the floor.
"Quieta!" Isra shouted in panic. She slid off her chair to the ground and felt for the girl's pulse. It was there and a little rapid.
"She's just was startled by Agamethus appearance is all. She'll be okay in a few minutes," Emmie assured her. The ex-Hunter picked her up as if she weighed nothing and placed her in another bed so she would be comfortable when she woke.
Isra felt a coldness pass through her. Turning her head, she saw Agamethus beckoning her to follow him. Hesitating for a few seconds, she followed him. He floated through the halls going down corridors she had never knew about. Above her head, the lights flickered.
She saw doors that popped open revealing; storage closest, sitting rooms, and a surprisingly, a panic room. Why a magical building needed a panic room was beyond her knowledge.
Agamethus kept a steady floating pace as they entered a narrow corridor, which had a single door at the end with a rusty knob. Unlike the other doors, this one did not pop open.
The ghost passed through the door. A few seconds later, the rusty knob squealed as it turned over and the door swung open slowly. It was pitch black ahead of her, the only light being Agamethus himself.
Hesitatingly, Isra followed and stopped a second before she pitched down a flight of steps. Feeling around, she grabbed the rail and slowly descended down the staircase.
Her heart was starting to beat fast. There was no light at all for her eyes to adjust, so all she kept seeing was darkness. Her breathing increased as her footsteps echoed as she continued to descend. A noxious smell filled her nose, causing her to gag and spit. It smelled week old garbage and swamp gas. She took a big breath and held it as she finished climbing down the stairs.
Agamethus glowing body was fading, making Isra very frightened. She trembled trying to keep calm. She screeched when she heard a roar only to realize the room was lighting up thanks to some torches.
She had to blink several times to see properly. What she saw was unbelievable. The room resembled the treasure chamber of King Hyrieus, the one from the "myth" about Agamethus and Trophonius. There was even the escape tunnel.
The ghost was lying in the tunnel sadly. Walking closer she realized that there was a wax head at the top of the tunnel. "Was this what you look like before your head was cut off?"
Agamethus nodded and spread his arms wide, indicating this room, was his. This is where he resided when he wasn't upstairs helping in the Waystation. Why would he recreate the place where he died?
"I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?"
He tossed her his magic eight ball. Flipping it over, she read the dice. "Penance for my crime. The place I dishonored my father, King Erginus. The last place my brother was seen alive."
"Why did you try to steal treasure, when you already had money for building the chamber?"
Agamethus pointed to the fake treasure that lined one wall and raised his arms above his head. He was telling her that the two brothers got greedy and wanted to have more gold and recognition.
He lowered his arms and his body deflated. While he didn't have a head, it was obvious by his body language he regretted his choice. He held out his hand for the eight ball and Isra tossed it to him.
He shook it extra hard and tossed it back to her. Flipping it over she saw the longest message he had ever said.
My death led to my brother's never ending pain. We are tied together by our crime. I have repented and accepted the truth. I am sorry for my misdeeds. Trophonius is still angry and blames others. He must find peace or others will continue to suffer from his bad intentions.
Peace? From what I was told about the Dark Oracle, it's been dangerous since its conception because of Trophonius disappearing through a crevice into the cave system below.
"I don't know how to bring peace to demigod oracle filled with hate and anger. At least four millennium have passed, and he hasn't forgiven Apollo for what happened. Why do you think I can get through to him?" she asked, holding the magic eight ball in her hands.
The ghost flashed different shades of orange before mimicking holding a mirror. He pinched his fingers over and over like his hand was talking.
The truth shall set you free. He wants to use the Mirror of Truth to give his brother peace. But, if all he wanted was for Trophonius to realize the truth, why didn't he ask my mom?
The truth hit her like a dart to a bull's eye. "My mom is technically a spirit goddess, but still a goddess. He won't listen to someone with a drip of ichor in their veins, but since I am a normal human, you think he would listen to me. That's why you snuck my mom's symbol into my backpack!"
Seeing the ghost return to his normal shade of orange, she knew she had guessed right. She understood why he took her mom's symbol, as a ghost he was free of the ancient laws about stealing artifacts, but he'd been extremely reckless giving it to her knowing she hadn't been trained to use it.
She walked over and carefully placed the eight ball in his ethereal hands. She knelt down as her right hand hovered just above his shoulder. Her left hand hovered his knee.
"I sympathizes with you and the pain you and your brother have suffered give or take four thousand years. I'll try my best to help. Just don't get your expectations high alright?"
The ghost glowed a bright orange, before floating back towards the stairs. With a last look at the treasure tomb, the petite girl hastened up the stairs and back to the welcoming light of the Waystation.
Back upstairs, she arrived in the main hall, where Quieta was busy cleaning up the area. Up in the loft, Apollo was serenading Heloise to help her lay her egg. Currently he was singing a song by Adele. The griffin liked it, but everyone else in the room didn't enjoy it much.
Quieta wrote something in her notepad and handed it over. Calypso is resting comfortably. She woke up enough to eat the snack before going back to sleep. I thought I help tidy up.
"That's very nice of you. I'll help you out." Isra started sweeping the floor while Quieta dusted the area. After a few minutes, she looked over at her friend. "I know we skipped school to help out, but don't you think you should let your parents know you're okay?"
After a quick scribble, Quieta held up her reply. Parents out of town at a conference for helping improve the quality of life for disabled people. My mom is deaf and my dad is paralyzed from the waist down.
In fact, my parents met Hesykhia at one of these conferences. My godmother splits her time between helping the deaf and mute and dealing with noise pollution. I think it's a great way to use her skills.
"If you're mother's deaf, don't you know sign language or read lips?"
Quieta nodded her head at sign language before writing something else on her pad. At home or deaf community events, I use sign language. At school, I'm allowed to use my cellphone to speak for me. I have found though, it's easier for people to understand me, if I write my thoughts down.
"I guess whatever makes you comfortable." The other girl smiled and they resumed their work, wincing once and awhile to Apollo singing.
After sweeping, Isra couldn't handle the music in the room. She wanted to have a variety of music and she knew something about Heloise that no one else knew. Heloise favorite songs were from movies or TV shows about lions and eagles.
She snuck over to her family car and switched on the stereo. Connecting her music player, she turned it on with a mischief grin. It took a few seconds for the connection to be made and then the music started playing loudly. Apollo fell over in the nest as he was bombarded by a song from Disney's Lion Guard, "Kwetu Ni Kwetu."
We gotta stand strong/ All four paws on the ground/ So everyone knows/ We won't be pushed around.
You might have doubts/ We got it deep within/ No matter the odds/ I know that we can win.
And if they try to push us out/Here is what we'll say.
Kwetu Ni Kwetu/Home is where we'll stay/Kwetu Ni Kwetu/ We won't run away.
When we stand together/There's no need to roam/Kwetu Ni Kwetu/ Home is home.
So look all around/ We all know that it's our land/And this is the place/ We've gotta take a stand
And if they try to push us out/ Here is what we'll say/ Ay ay ay
Kwetu Ni Kwetu/ Home is where we'll stay/ Kwetu Ni Kwetu/ We won't run away.
When we stand together/ There's no need to roam/Kwetu Ni Kwetu/Home is home.
Yes, I know it's scary/ But some things can't be ignored/ When there's evil lurking/ It's defeat is our reward
Have courage everyone/Sing with me.
Kwetu Ni Kwetu/ Home is where we'll stay/Kwetu Ni Kwetu/We won't run away.
When we stand together /There's no need to roam/ Kwetu Ni Kwetu/Home is home/Kwetu Ni Kwetu/Home is home.
Abelard and Heloise were "singing" the tune feeling much more relaxed. Smiling, Isra cupped her hands and called up to Apollo, "She really likes music from anything regarding the Lion King franchise! She'll be a lot calmer if you sing something from that!"
"Disney? Ugh, they ruin everything with making it so ugh cute!" Apollo called back. He was disheveled from falling into the hay. "Not to mention their songs get stuck in your head." He clearly didn't enjoy music from Disney.
Isra shrugged her shoulders. Animals liked certain music and there was no changing their mind. "Her favorite songs are: Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Love Will Find a Way, That's All I Need, along with, Your Hero Inside. I can que those up if you want."
The mortal god gave a big sigh and told her to find the instrumental background and bring up the lyrics. He was in no mood to be pecked to death, by an upset mother to be.
As the next couple hours passed by, everyone was busy with their own tasks. Josephine was making a tracking device for tomorrow's mission to sneak into Commodus's palace. Calypso and Leo were helping to make dinner and talking quietly to Emmie.
Meg was up in the green houses making the vegetables grow healthy. Quieta was somewhere in the Waystation cleaning windows. Aletheia, still hadn't made an appearance yet, but Isra knew soon her mom would appear and give her a lecture about the dangerous situation she put herself in earlier.
Until then, Isra was keeping busy as she could, trying to not think about what her punishment would be. So far, she had cleaned the cow patties up and taken them to the green house to become fertilizer, vacuumed any room with carpets, and taken out the trash to a nearby dumpster.
Now she was heading up into the griffins' nest, bringing some water for Heloise to drink. She looked so tired and her fur was starting to get soaked in sweat. Judging by Abelard's behavior, Heloise might lay that egg any minute.
Isra scooched over and tilted the bowl of water towards Heloise's open beak. The griffin snapped her beak shut and started to bear down. She struggled and pushed, over and over, until finally a beautiful jeweled egg lay in the nest.
Both parents curled around the egg and tenderly nuzzled it. Both of them seemed very happy. Isra turned to head down the ladder, when Abelard gently put his beak around her arm and guided her back to the egg.
"You want me to make sure it's healthy?" Being a bird watcher and her interests in life sciences, she could give the egg a full checkup. She asked Apollo if he could bring her the medical bag marked griffon from downstairs.
Pouting slightly, he did as she asked. As he handed it to her he said, "I can perform the checkup myself. I am the god of healing you know." He waggled his eyebrows in an attempt to make her give in.
"Do you know anything about birds or mythical creature's medical needs?" Apollo squirmed a little.
"I know a lot, but Artemis is the expert in animals. She knows about all mythical creatures and how to treat their wounds."
Isra asked him to be her assistant so they could get the checkup done quicker, so the parents could rest after such a long day. The first thing they did was to check the size and weight of the egg. It was within normal parameters.
Next, she wrapped a special thermometer around the egg testing the temperature. While she was doing that, she asked Apollo to shine a specialized flashlight on the egg. Both tests showed the egg was warm enough and that the baby was developing just right.
The last tests they performed were to check thickness of the shell and to ensure air was getting through the tiny holes so the developing chick was able to breathe.
"According to these tests, the egg is healthy and the chick is strong. It should hatch in about a month or so," Apollo commented after reviewing the test results.
Heloise gave both of them a griffin grin and settled down around her egg to keep it warm. After a quick reminder to Abelard to rotate the egg every few hours, the former god and Isra climbed down to give the family a little peace and quiet.
Isra could feel the mortal god looking at her before he switched his gaze to the others. His lips thinned and for a few minutes, he seemed lost in thought. After a minute he shook his head and uttered something under his breath.
"Pardon me?"
"I don't understand why suddenly everyone I know seems to enjoy just being human. It doesn't make sense to me." He pointed to Emmie and Josephine. "I made Emmie a minor goddess and Josephine was a Hunter, both gave that up to grow old."
Next he pointed to Calypso and Leo. "Calypso gave up her immortality and abilities to start a relationship with Leo. I admit he's a clever demigod, but his life will be very short, it's just the way it is with demigods."
He then indicated Quieta, who was just sitting and listening to the world around her. "A very minor D list goddess gave a blessing, which seems more like a curse to me, to an ordinary child. She also had the nerve to become a godparent to a human. Doing that is not normal behavior from a immortal being.
Recently, Hera and Hestia, have vetted interest in twelve normal kids. They chose random kids, who according to them, best represents their domains, to become their Champions and Acolytes. I met them and I still have trouble understanding why Hera and Hestia care so much about them."
Lastly, he waved his hand up and down to indicate Isra. "Aletheia, turned her back on living in Olympus, the greatest place on Earth, to live among mortals and adopt you as a daughter, when she's perfectly capable of having her own children. It just doesn't make sense to me," He told her as he rubbed his hands against his head.
A former immortal god, who had so much power and responsibility is complaining about humans and minor gods interacting? He really is a selfish, self-centered, lazy person.
How is it he doesn't understand the goodness in most humans? Can he not see the beauty of the world and listen to sounds of the Earth? Does he not understand that having a purpose and working towards it, help shape us into who we truly are? That we learn something from our mistakes?
He says he loves everything that he's the god of and the people who worship him, the very people who give him life. Ye,t he is unable to believe that their hardships have a more lasting effect then his current situation? No wonder Mom has to be here.
"Perhaps your perspective is the problem. You are or were a god. You have always been immortal and believed that your punishments were correct, such as when you killed Niobe's kids over a slight," she said, as she pointed to him.
Then she pointed to herself. "From a human standpoint, what you did was wrong and cruel. Niobe was the one who bragged about having more children than your mother. But instead of punishing her, you killed twelve kids, who had done nothing wrong, just to make her suffer."
"She deserved it! She shouldn't have said what she said!"
"Why? Because she was bragging? People brag all the time, but no one kills them over it!" Isra emphasized. She poked the mortal god in the stomach before continuing. "There are other ways of dealing with someone who's bragging. You can explain why it's wrong, set a good example of why they should be humble. Heck, you could even teach someone to recognize when they're bragging so they'll stop. Human parents teach this to their children every day.
From your standpoint, human's bragging is an insult, but its okay for you to brag about yourself because you're a god. That's hypocritical and is wrong. Perhaps the daemons understood this concept and chose to learn not to be so selfish.
I think the reason my mom and I were called to here, was to help teach you to face the truth about yourself. Until you learn that lesson, your perspective about being human, will always be skewed."
Leaving Apollo to contemplate her words, she head towards her mom's office. It was time to face the consequences of her own actions.
