Chapter 4

If you've never been to a party on Mount Olympus, then you have no idea what you're missing! Take the rowdiest collage party you know and multiply it by 100, then you might get an idea of just how crazy it was. There were minor gods flying everywhere throwing around whatever they could find, satyrs and nymph where walking around holding trays full of ambrosia and glasses of nectar, the music was blasting so loud that it's amazing no one on earth heard it, there was even this weird cow serpent thing dancing in a floating orb of water. In the midst of it all was me, and for the first party I've ever been to, I think it was going pretty good.

I made my way along the streets of Olympus, dodging hyper active dancers and what looked like water balloons that seemed to appear out of thin air. As I walked I ran into a couple of the gods and goddesses who were now all down to normal size. First was Athena, the goddesses strode up to me, her grey eyes never leaving my face. At first I was afraid she was going to yell at me or something but when she reached me she simply looked me over quizzically.

"So you are the newly claimed Daughter of Hermes?" she asked. Besides my father she is the first god/goddesses I've actually spoken to.

"Yea I guess so." I said with a slight chuckle, Athena did not seem amused.

"One should never guess." She me a look that gave me the feeling I didn't make a great first impression, "One shall always be certain of their words before they speak." Ugh, I forgot she was the goddesses of wisdom, I thought to myself. I was already bored and I haven't even been talking to her for a full 3 minutes!

"Yes ma'am… goddesses." I said hoping that this conversation would end. And thankfully she was called over by someone else.

"I will be seeing you again child of Hermes." And with that she walked away.

After my little chat with Athena some of the other gods found me and wanted to talk. I talked with Hephaestus for a little but I'm not really sure if he was listening to me or just trying to figure out how I worked. Every so often he would answer with a "yea" or "hmm" as he studied my every move. Then Poseidon started telling me something about water and fish, but the whole time he held his great three point trident close to his body and eyed me wearily, I'm guessing he thinks I was going to steal it being the daughter of the god of thieves. The next goddesses who came up to me was stunning. She had long curly brown hair and sparkling teal eyes, both of which were a different color when I saw her in the throne room. Her make-up was done perfectly and, even though I never thought of my appearance, I was a little jealous.

"Well hello there" the love goddesses smiled at me

"Lady Aphrodite" I said "Hello." She looked me up and down frowning from time to time, she finally met my eyes and smiled.

"So you're my brother's daughter?" she said curiously "What's your name dear?"

"Um… It's Rose" I answered quietly feeling a little intimidated by her stare. She looked at me and her eyes went wide.

"…..Rose? That-is-sooooo-CUTE!" She squealed loudly and grabbed me into a hug. Others looked over to see what the noise was but went they saw Aphrodite they just looked away like she did this all the time. "Oh my gods! Your my new best friend! Hey whenever you need someone to talk to or your having some….love trouble," she gave me a wink "Just remember your auntie Aphrodite is here for you girl!"

"Oh…Um, Thank you I'll remember that." I responded politely, and with that she glided away to go smother the next party guest.

I was sure that I talked to almost everyone at the party when I suddenly remembered….Oh my gods! I was so focused on my dad I totally forgot the other reason I wanted to come! A sharp realization hit me, he was there in the throne room but I only looked at my dad! Oh gods! His throne was right next to my dad's, how didn't I see him?! I frantically looked around, I realized I had no idea what he looked like, but I kept looking! I had to find him! Then there was warmth, pure comforting warmth spreading through my body. There was a hand on my shoulder and for some reason it was emitting outstanding heat.

"It's Rose right?" a voice came from behind me. I turned around to see the owner of this voice smiling at me waiting for an answer. "Hey, I'm Apollo."

I stood there staring at the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He looked to be about 17, my age, but I knew he was much…much older. His eyes were a startling electric blue, hiding behind his shaggy golden surfer hair which had to be at least a shade brighter than the sun itself. His skin was glowing…I mean it was literally glowing. A golden glow was reflecting off of his perfect even tan. He was gorgeous, oh my gods he was gorgeous! He made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy, if he hadn't just said my name I'm pretty sure I would have forgotten it. He was still watching my waiting for a response, I must have been blushing furiously because he had a slight grin tugging at his perfect lips. I knew I had to say something, but what? I finally managed to choke out a few words.

"Uh…Um…Hi.." I said stupidly immediately looking down at my feet. Apollo laughed lightheartedly and gave me a smile.

"So your Hermes girl, huh?" he said, never looking away from me. His look was painful yet beautiful at the same eyes, even if I wasn't looking at him I knew he was softly gazing at my face.

"Oh, Um…Yea I am." I stuttered, this time turning to meet his gaze.

"Cool" he said with a smirk "Your dads a pretty cool guy, I mean when he's not trying to steal my things!" he said with a laugh, but he then slipped his hand in his pocket, probably making sure his keys were still there or something. He looked up into the sky and his face turned to a look I swear was disappointment. "It's time for me to start heading out," he sighed "But hey, I have a feeling we will see each other again really soon."

"You do?" I said blushing even harder.

"Well I am the god of prophecy" He laughed. As he turned to leave he stopped and looked me straight in the eye.

"See the setting sun

Even though it's beautiful

You are more so Rose"

"Huh?" I asked thoroughly confused

"It's a Haiku, I'm also the god of poetry" he replied simply

"Oh…but what does that mean?" I questioned. The sun god let a small chuckle pass his lips and form into a mischievous grin that would put even Hermes to shame. He came in extremely close so his nose was nearly touching mine, which made my heart leap out of my chest. I could feel the heat of his breath on my face when he whispered,

"It means I think you're pretty." And leaving me with that he turned and dissolved into a shimmer of golden light, but not before he gave me a playful wink.

Oh my gods, I thought to myself, I know why I loved watching the sun so much now, I know why I felt like I had some sort of connection with him, like he was going to be someone big in my life, because he was. I stood there not moving, trying to convince myself I was wrong, to talk myself out of it. But there was no denying it…..

I was in love with the Sun god.