So once again this is slightly shorter, but the next chapter will be a little longer, don't worry. And just one more to go then the epilogue!
Again, thanks so so so so so much to those of you who reviewed, followed or favorited. It is always great to know you like reading this.
This time, as requested by many, some Cullen interaction. Then there will be more in the next chapter of course!
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Twilight and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, including the characters and the settings are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Rick Riordan respectively. I've just applied my imagination. (Also, The Little Mermaid and Hercules do not belong to me either. I am not trying to insult those movies (I love them myself) I was only pointing out some inaccuracies (if they can be called that.) Just covering all my bases here.)
Vampires scare some fish
Time passed just as it always did. Reconstruction went well everywhere, although father was still pissed about the games room. So was Triton, for that matter. Oh well, at least it will give them something else to do for the next six hundred years.
Camp Half Blood got its new cabins – even I got one, along with Hestia, Nemesis, Hebe, Hecate, Iris, Janus, even Morpheus, as well as everyone else. I did visit the demigods a couple of times since Percy managed to get Zeus to change the law.
I did spend most of my time in Atlantis helping to rebuild as well as keeping up with all my responsibilities as a goddess, though I stayed true to my word and Apollo and I kept to our 'usual' schedule – in other words, reporting to Apollo's house on Olympus for a couple of hours every so often. We may have had our responsibilities, but that had never stopped us before and it wasn't going to now.
I went back to Forks after only a couple of months. Honestly, it almost seems like I'll never be rid of that place. But I went back for Charlie's wedding – Aphrodite was the one who told me it was happening. I wanted Charlie to know that I was there, so I went as Bella Swan. Charlie seemed to have invited the entire town and La Push – although that was expected as he was marrying Sue Clearwater – so I was very thankful when Apollo came with me to ward off the people, even when he insisted on using the name 'Fred'. Still, Mike Newton's face when he saw us together was worth that. While we were there I heard that the Cullens had left town immediately after graduation. I didn't particularly care, as it meant I didn't have to see Edward glare at me, though I had been hoping to see Alice again.
Four years later I attended Percy and Annabeth's wedding, and so did my father. We took a leaf out of Apollo's book and went incognito, although, if I do say so myself, our names were a little more original than 'Fred'. The demigods still figured out who we were, though, and the bowing caused the mortal guests just the slight amount of confusion. But oh well.
A little time after that I headed into the mortal world again to visit Renee for her and Phil's daughter's first birthday – I was informed of that one by Hera.
But the visit from during that time that I will always remember the most came during one summer's day, about five years after my punishment ended. Funnily enough, it was practically on the exact day my punishment would have ended if it hadn't been shortened. I was in Atlantis at the time, having a debate with my brother dearest on the type of seating available in the games room – the construction of which was progressing a lot faster than it had the first time round – when I heard a small voice in my head.
… just want to talk to you, it won't take long…
You see, contrary to popular belief we do actually hear when people pray to us. But most of the time it's boring, or something like please, god, don't let me fall over on this date or whatever. As such, after the second it took me to determine that it wasn't a demigod and nor was it Charlie Swan, Renee Dwyer nor Sally Jackson, I tuned it out and returned to my argument.
"What are you on about, Triton? We can't have bean bags, it's way too undignified…"
But the voice didn't stop, even though I tried to repress it. It seemed almost… stronger than the normal mortal prayer. Though, I haven't heard a mortal prayer in a while, and the demigods generally don't try to contact me. They think of Poseidon for everything sea related.
No, Alice, you're doing it wrong. Oh, Isiobella, Goddess of the Tide, Waves, Deep Sea Currents and the Island of Rhodes, we request an audience!
Wait a second, I know that voice…
You said we'd know where to find you. I tried, but I only realised recently… please. I want to apologise.
"… more comfortable? Look, if you let me have bean bags, I'll give you your sofa at the back of the room."
"Triton, I have to go."
"Does it mean I get bean bags?"
"You and dad are just the same. Whatever, I'll see you later."
"Yes!"
I swam through the window and then pinpointed the location of the prayer – a small island off the coast of Brazil, not too far east of Rio de Janeiro. Then, not bothering to swim, I teleported myself over to that point.
It was just as I thought it would be. On the beach were two vampires, standing knee deep in the water, attempting to get my attention.
Alice and Jasper.
I watched them talk for a bit longer, but after a few minutes decided to put them out of their misery.
"Would you two mind stepping back onto the land? You're terrifying every water-dwelling creature within a ten mile radius."
The vampires spun around quicker than most creatures would be able to, and then they both gasped. They looked like they were in shock. I huffed, and crossed my arms.
"I'm serious, you know. If you don't get out of the water immediately, I will have a moral obligation to turn you both into fish."
Thankfully, that got a response out of them. Jasper quickly stepped out of the water, an action I approved of. Alice came running towards me, an action I didn't approve of so much.
"Bella!"
I sidestepped her, and she stopped moving. Then she frowned, confused.
"Bella, I… I thought you'd be happy to see us!"
"Why?" I asked, frowning. "I've been happily living my life, but you haven't tried to contact me once, until now, when you see fit to interrupt a wonderful argument I was having with my brother dearest. Now, I want you to tell me what you wanted to so desperately, and then I'll be off because-" I paused. "-Oh my gods, did I actually agree to having bean bags in the games room?"
"Um, Bella-"
"Lady Isiobella." I corrected my name automatically, still fretting over Triton's decorating skills.
"Lady Isiobella, then," said Alice. "We wanted to talk to you-"
"Yes, I got that bit… oh Hades, if the walls are lime green when I get back-"
"Can you stop complaining about some stupid games room and just listen?"
"Excuse me?"
Her eyes widened. Yeah, that's right. You just yelled at a goddess, missy.
"My Lady," said Jasper, stepping forward and speaking formally. "I would like to apologise on behalf of my wife."
My eyes narrowed.
"Oh, you would, would you?"
Jasper nodded.
"You do realise that was the main reason I didn't like your brother, right? Because he treated me like I was a fragile piece of glass unable to make her own decisions?"
"I'm sorry, I-"
"Yeah," I scoffed. "Sure. Now, if you don't mind, I have more important places to be." I turned to Alice. "When I said that you could talk to me if you needed me… I meant it. But you've just called me away for no reason. Do you think that all I do is worry about my father's palace and what model of TV we're going to end up getting? No, I have plenty of responsibilities. I'll let you off this time, vampire, but only because we used to be friends. Don't expect me to be this accommodating next time... if there is a next time."
I began to walk into the waves, but Alice called me back.
"Wait, please B- my Lady. I wanted to talk to you so I could apologise. I just got angry because you weren't listening to me!"
"It's a bit late," I said, but I stopped walking.
"I know," said Alice, "And I was going to talk to you before, but… I didn't really understand. I do now though. Please, just let me have a chance."
I sighed, and turned to face her.
"If I do this… what's in it for me? Remember, I am possibly sacrificing my eyesight every time I walk into the games room."
"You'll get to keep your friends and family," said Alice, clearly meaning her friends and family. I narrowed my eyes once more and she seemed to understand that what she'd said was completely wrong. Luckily for her, she quickly corrected it. "I'll never step into the ocean again."
"That's a hefty promise," I said, my eyebrows rising. "But, I doubt you'll be able to keep it."
"Oh, I would," she said.
"Hmm."
"Really, I – I'll swear on the river Styx. You consider that as the strongest oath possible, don't you?" She looked so frantic.
I smiled at her.
"There'll be no need for that. I believe you would be truly willing, and for me that is enough. I am not as cruel as some. Now, what was it you wanted to say?"
She seemed to sag with relief, and then began to talk.
"I want to say that on that day, on Olympus, we were all taken by surprise. I mean – I don't know about the others, but I definitely was. I was touched that you still cared for me, but I was so angry about how you treated Edward. But then, afterwards, Hermes and Dionysus were talking and they explained some things. I understand now… and I just wish we could go back to how we were."
"That can never happen, Alice," I said, frowning at her. "Back then, I was pretending to be a pathetic little mortal. That wasn't me."
"I think it was, on some level."
"You think I am pathetic?" I asked, eyes blazing.
"No, no!" said Alice quickly. "What I meant was, even though you were acting, some part of you shone through the façade."
"Perhaps," I said, "But that does not change the fact that I am a goddess. I can't stay in one place and I can't keep in contact with mere mortals."
"We aren't mortals, though," said Jasper.
"No, you're not," I said. "What you are is in the category of monster."
"What?" gasped Alice. "But-"
"You are very nice monsters, though. Like Percy's pet hellhound Mrs O'Leary."
"Oh," said Alice.
"Look," I said, "Perhaps we can have some form of contact in the future – you are very long lived, after all."
"We're immortal," said Jasper.
"No, you're not."
"Yes, we are actually."
"No you're not," I insisted. "I'm immortal – you can't kill me. You could seriously injure me, but it is physically impossible for me to die. You on the other hand… I could chuck a match on you right now and you'd be off to Tartarus."
"Tartarus?" asked Alice. "Don't you mean the Underworld?"
"Nope," I said, "The Underworld is for mortals – you know, those with souls. Monsters go to Tartarus. Most reform and come back to life, but from what I've been told, vampires don't. Probably recompense for being mostly indestructible while you're alive."
"What about the other creatures, then?" asked Alice, looking kind of horrified. "Like animals and fauns and things."
"They all get reincarnated."
"Of course…" said Alice. Do mine ears deceive me or did she sound slightly sarcastic?
"Don't mention any of this to Edward," said Jasper sternly. I snorted.
"Like you could stop me from doing anything, and it's not like I'm going to be seeing Edward any time soon."
Jasper looked at me in disbelief.
"It's alright," I sighed. I finally stepped back out of the water and sat down on the beach. The other two, surprisingly, followed my lead, settling on the sand in front of me.
"So… what now?" asked Alice.
"Now," I said with a smile, "I am going to spend some time on this cute little island before I have to go back home. I know Triton will have done something horrific, and I'd like to put off seeing what it is. Maybe I'll just go back to Olympus tonight…"
"When you say Triton, do you mean the guy from The Little Mermaid?" asked Alice. I burst out laughing.
"Oh, man!" I laughed. "I completely forgot about that! The movie came out two years after I was exiled, you know, and Renee let me watch it when I was a kid. I found it hilarious and told myself I would tease Triton about it when I got home, but I've been so busy lately I forgot! Thanks for reminding me!"
"Wait, so Atlantis doesn't look like that?"
"No, Alice, not in the slightest. But seriously, can you imagine Triton with white hair? Ha! Oh, and don't even get me started on that Hercules film. I mean, seriously? Apollo with purple skin? I don't think so! I'm not even going to mention what they did to my father. Plus, a blue Hermes? Please! And what the hell was with the whole lovey-dovey family?"
"I'm confused."
"Wait," said Jasper, "Triton is Poseidon's son, right?"
"Yep, he's my brother," I said, rolling my eyes.
"And he's redecorating your games room?"
"Yeah, I was quite surprised father let us do that, actually. He spent six hundred years decorating it the first time, and then he just lets us do it now?"
"So you actually do live in Atlantis? With Poseidon and Triton and mermaids?" asked Alice.
"And mermen," I said, rolling my eyes. "Don't be sexist. And all the fish and sharks and stuff, and you can't leave out the Cyclopes. Oh! And my mother. There's no way you could forget her."
"And your mother is Amphitrite, right?" asked Jasper.
"Yep."
"Hey, can I ask you something, My Lady?" asked Alice.
"What is this, Twenty Questions?"
"Um…"
"Whatever, go ahead."
"Why is it that all your friends call you Ella? I mean, none of the other gods have nicknames, not even those with really long names like Aphrodite."
"Trust me, her name is not long compared to some."
"But you get my point."
"Yes. Let's just put it this way – I am younger than most, even Dionysus, and not as proud. Most of them would consider it demeaning to be known as anything less than what they are, hence the use of name calling to insult people, such as when Athena refers my father as 'Barnacle Beard.' I, on the other hand, think it is much easier for people to call me Ella rather than Isiobella – although it is still respectful to use my actual name when you aren't close friends or family. My older sister liked a nickname too… I mean, I feel quite sorry for her. Who would want the name Benthesikyme? Poor Kimmie… What were my parents thinking?"
"But why not 'Bella'? It has the same number of syllables, and it has a deeper meaning."
"Seriously?" I looked at her in disbelief.
The two vampires seemed a little confused.
"When I was young they called me Bella… but then the Italian language evolved. Do you really think it would be good for my health to go around with the name 'beautiful' when there are the likes of Aphrodite, Hera and Athena around the place? Have you not heard the story of the Judgement of Paris? And by the gods, surely you've heard of Andromeda!"
"Oh," muttered Jasper. "I guess that makes sense."
"And Ap- I mean, Lord Apollo calls you Elle," said Alice.
"So? You call Jasper 'Jazz'. Are people not allowed pet names? Besides," I winked at her, "I reckon Apollo is just too lazy to say the extra syllable."
Alice smiled sheepishly.
"Why do want to know all this anyway?" I asked.
"We just want to get to know you, my Lady," said Alice.
I smiled softly at them.
"I suppose… there's a chance we can make this work, what with you guys not aging and all."
"Really?" asked Alice.
"Yeah… you know, out of all of you, Jasper was the one I felt the closest to. After you left, I mean."
They both looked dumbfounded.
"Why me?" asked Jasper. I nearly laughed. The expression on his face was downright hilarious.
"I never blamed you, you know," I said. "For what happened during that birthday party, anyway."
He frowned.
"Why? I tried to attack you!"
"You know why."
He stayed quiet, opting to simply stare at me. After maybe thirty seconds, he nodded. Good. It would be very disappointing if the Major Jasper Whitlock that Ares could not stop talking about for a long time did not fully understand not only the way his gift worked, but also the way a vampire body was designed. You can't feed on something that you were not designed to without there being repercussions. I knew this, and so did he.
"Can one of you explain what just happened?" asked Alice.
"I'll tell you later," said Jasper, and Alice's face went blank. A second later she grinned – I guess she saw what he was going to say.
"So does this mean we can be friends?" she asked.
"Perhaps. I haven't been watching you specifically, but from what Aphrodite has told me you guys have changed over the past few years."
"What do you mean by that?" asked Alice.
"Aphrodite has taken somewhat of a liking to watching your coven, what with all the happy couples there." I rolled my eyes. "She thinks it's cute."
"That's not what I meant."
"What did you mean, Alice?"
"How have we changed? Is that a good thing?"
"Yes Alice, it is," I said, sighing. "I will only answer you if I can speak the truth. I do not wish to insult you, no matter what image you may have of me from our last meeting."
"We would expect nothing less," said Jasper, nodding.
"Alright then. Alice, when I first met you, you were living in the future all the time. You manipulated situations so the outcome that you deemed best would come to pass. I know you had no malicious intent in doing this and you believed you were doing what was best, but the cold, hard truth is that you were making decisions for other people and taking away their free will. People have gone to war for less."
Alice stared at me with wide eyes.
"Oh my god," she said. I raised an eyebrow. "I mean, gods. I never thought about it that way!"
"But you have been living a different way more recently, haven't you?"
"I was the one that pushed Edward at you, My Lady," said Alice. "I was the one that ultimately caused his hurt. Jasper explained to me not long after you left that perhaps what I had done was self fulfilling prophecy, so I decided that maybe I should just let the visions come to me and use them as a guide, rather than a rule."
"And your family is in much better shape because of it," I said. She smiled, clearly catching the fact that I had said 'family' rather than 'coven'. "That brings us to you, Jasper."
Said vampire stiffened.
"You didn't particularly do anything wrong, per se. But you are a very strong vampire, Jasper. You saw everything that was going on, didn't you? And yet you did nothing."
"I believed that it was not my place to interfere," he said. I nodded.
"You and Alice are on the complete opposite sides of the spectrum. While she meddled too much, you did not even offer your assistance. However, after I left and your family began to fall to bits, you helped Alice, put Edward in his place and managed to pull everything back together again through just a couple of choice words. You did not meddle, you only helped them see the way for themselves. You spoke up and became a little more of the vampire you used to be."
"I never want to be that monster again," he growled.
"I know," I said, "But you were not born to be a sheep following the herd. Nor were you born to be patronised for merely wishing to adhere to your own nature, even if you don't follow up on the thought. Now you are not a blind follower, but neither are you the feral creature you were before. You have found the happy medium."
"So what your saying is when you hurt us, you were really helping us?" asked Alice.
"I didn't set out to help you," I said with a shrug. "What I said before was true – I was merely curious about vampires. But I also meant it when I said I grew to like you after a little while – all but Edward, really. I can only hope that his experience was educational for him, and that when he finally does find his mate she will not be treated the way he treated me."
They were both silent for minute, clearly processing what I had told them. Then-
"Hey, B- My Lady, where did you get your dress? You know that as Bella you had absolutely no fashion sense – I am glad to see that was a part of the façade at least!"
I stared at her for a second, questioning her sanity. I exchanged a glance with Jasper, but he was just as dumbfounded as me. Then suddenly, I laughed.
"Oh Alice," I chuckled, grinning at her and Jasper's amazed faces. "Call me Ella."
So, what did you think? Accept my explanation as to why they call her Ella? When reading fics where she is still Bella I just thought that considering some of the myths there is no way the other goddesses (especially Hera, Aphrodite and Athena) would stand for it. I mean, like I mentioned, just look at how Hera treated Aeneas just because Paris thought Aphrodite was more beautiful! That judgement pretty much started the Trojan war, too.
Anyway, I hope you liked it and will tune in next week for the final chapter!
