The people of Olympus were usually kind, hard working people, but their way of life was startling different than any Elia had seen before.
That was most likely due to the possession of Auxils.
Auxils were unique to Olympus. Giving those who resided in the land enhanced strength, speed, and endurance as well as an individual power in relation to a Patron God. Most never awoke their individualized Auxil, but those who did were known as the Awakened and were revered and elevated in status.
The island's way of life took those Auxils in mind.
The people on the Island were split into large collections of extended families, who often shared similar individualized Auxils. Of each family there was a clan head who represented them as a member of the ruling council. And for each family there was a patron god.
The ruling council, ensured that views that the families wished to voice were all shared. Within a specific family a patron god usually embodied certain traits that the family held in high esteem.
For example, the Demetriou family, whose patron god was Demeter, were meant to respect all life, and were generally farmers who were known for their kindness to all. Or Zag's family the Angelis who valued Order, were the upholders of the law.
Of course outliers like Della who was a member of the Phoebus Family, a family typically expected to enter a medical profession, had decided to open a bakery, but most members of a family adhered to their Patron's virtues.
Elia wasn't any of those. Her mother said that they had once belonged to a large family, filled with cousins, aunts, and uncles, but time had taken that away until only Elia and her mother were left.
When a family fell into a decline they became one of the faithless. They lost claim to a patron god, and were typically absorbed into another family. The faithless were mostly viewed as lesser, and while no one on Olympus was outright cruel there was an unspoken distinction in class that separated the two.
When Elia had been younger most children avoided her. In part it was due to her overly curious and blunt nature, but her status as a faithless definitely played a role.
She'd never actively sought out company, but it did still sting the part of her that was still a 6 year old girl when others would ignore her outright.
Of course that all changed. It had been a few years back and she and her mother were sitting on a hill overlooking the field where many kids would play. Weaving daisy's in a chain she watched the other children play a game of soccer with a perfectly spherical rock. Despite the weight and density that would have broken a normals child foot on contact, the Auxil enhanced bodies of Olympus children made it no different than a regular soccer game.
As she hummed a song under her breath a pale looking boy and a beautiful look woman, who must have been his mother, approached the group playing soccer. Elia had seen the boy in town a few times, and she'd heard the whispers and rumors that followed him and his mother as they went to the marketplace.
They belonged to the disgraced Angelis family. Maria Angelis and Zagreus Angelis the respective wife and son of the infamous Ixion Angelis the former head of the Angelis family.
She'd heard the tale from Della. How Ixion Angelis had once been a stunning young man, known for embodying his family virtue of order as the chief of police. He had a lovely wife, who had once been regarded as the most beautiful woman on the island, and he was greatly respected by the people.
Then one day he awakened his individual Auxil battling a pirate crew that had somehow managed to land on the island. His Auxil granted him the ability to manipulate shadows which he used to defeat the invading pirate crew. He was hailed as a hero, but something changed within him that day. Della claimed that it was the shadows that drove him to madness, but regardless of the reasons, after that day Ixion became obsessed with order. He chased after minor criminals dealing out harsh sentences to pickpockets, swindlers and eventually against normal citizens who he believed had the potential to disrupt the order of Olympus.
Not long after this he demanded to be made King of the Island, claiming that in order to maintain peace, harsher laws and a firm ruling hand were required. When his request was denied, and he was stripped of his title as clan head as punishment, Ixion turned upon the people of Olympus. Attacking the village and the council, killing many before he was struck down by another Awakened.
His actions disgraced the Angelis family who in turn cast out his pregnant wife in an effort to save face. Alone and abandoned the woman had given birth to Ixion's son the very boy that stood on the edge of the playgrounds.
The little boy looked nervous glued tightly to his mother's side, as he stared out at the soccer game with a childish wonder that made Elia giggle.
"What's so funny little light?" Her mother asked.
"Oh nothing mother, I was just watching the kids play."
Her mother's soft smile turned sad, "Don't you wish to play with them little light?"
Elia shook her head, "Of course not. I'd much rather spend more time with you!"
Blonde hair similar to Elia's own tossed back delicately in the wind as her mother laughed brightly. Elia found herself watching intently awed once again by her mother's beauty. In her old life Elia had remembered a plain looking girl, with dark brown hair, a nose just a tad too large, and small watery eyes.
Gifted with the looks of her mother in this life, Elia made for a very cute child. With her blond hair that curled in soft waves bright blue eyes, and delicate features. She knew that in this life she would be considered beautiful when she'd grown up, but her mother was already full grown and completely gorgeous.
Elia turned back to her task humming a little tune as she weaved in another Daisy. A loud shriek caught her attention. Below the ball game with the children had stopped, A boy had fallen on his butt and began to cry.
Immediately his mother rushed forward checking her son's well being before turning to the Angelis boy who stood frozen in the middle of the game field. Elia narrowed her eyes dropping the daisy chain as she stood up.
"Is something wrong?" Mira asked her as she started to walk down the hill.
"Oh it's nothing mother, I'll be right back." She answered with a small smile.
She made her way down the hill her eyes focused on the scene unfolding out below. Apparently the Angelis boy had somehow managed to harm the other boy in the soccer game, and now he cowered as the boy's mother began to yell at him. Other parents began to follow suit gathering their own children behind them as the pale little boy trembled under their anger.
Elia made it to the edge of the field. Without stopping she made her way toward the center, grabbing onto the Angelis boy just as the yelling mother had raised her hand in anger.
"What!?" The woman called out in surprise as Elia clutched onto the boy's arm.
"Hi there! I'm Eliana."
The boy startled, "...Za...Zagreus." He stuttered back taken aback by her wide smile.
"Wow that's a long name. Is it okay if I call you Zag? You could call me Elia." She offered.
He nodded in reply, eyes still wide with shock, a look that reminded her of a startled deer. His big eyes even had that shimmering quality present in those woodland creatures, He looked adorable and she resisted the urge to wrap him in a hug and start cooing.
"Eliana!" The woman who'd been scolding Zag said sharply. "Do you know who this child is, you shouldn't be talking with him."
"Why not?" She screwed her face into a frown, "I think he's cute!"
She ignored the woman's spluttering turning back towards a slightly red looking Zag. "Hey Zag! Do you want to see something awesome."
Not waiting for an answer she dragged the boy up the hill back towards her mother who looked at the both of them with a small amused smile.
"Oh Elia, who's your new friend?"
"This is Zag!" She said proudly pulling the boy closer ignoring his startled yelp. "Zag this is my mother. She's the best!" Elia announced proudly.
She let go of Zag's hand to pick up her finished daisy chain. With a wide grin she placed the completed circle on top of the boy's head who instantly looked up in a vain attempt to catch sight of the object.
The cross eyed look he wore made her giggle and she couldn't help but squeal inwardly at the cute reaction.
"Do you like it?" she asked watching Zag reach up to touch one of the daisy flowers.
"It's pretty." Zag answered quietly, wonder shining in his eyes as he looked up at the flowers. When he caught Elia staring at him he flinched back drawing his arms closer to him and shying away like she would reach out and hit him.
Her heart hurt at the very idea of hurting the child before her.
"You can have it, but only if you become my friend." She announced crossing her arms before her stubbornly.
Zag blinked at her, long lashes fluttering over chocolate brown eyes. Slowly his mouth curled up in a toothy smile, eyes oddly shiny.
"Okay!"
-o-
By far the most important building in Olympus was the temple. While each family possessed a small shrine to their patron god in their compound. The temple was an offering to the whole pantheon. During the holidays the temple was filled to the brim with villagers.
It was an important place in the heart of the people, especially the Faithless who had no family shrine to worship. It was common for Elia and her mother to visit the temple, where she could marvel at the beautiful mosaics that decorated the walls.
The temple itself was a circular building with a large dome covering the top of it. In the center of the dome was a small hole where the stones arranged into a perfect circle that required no cement to hold the structure together. The mosaics on the wall depicted a certain god, and served as a background for the statue of the deity placed before it.
They often depicted images of the gods accomplishing astonishing feats, and she had listened in avid interest when her mother recounted the legends that went along with each picture.
As a faithless, Elia was not bound to a singular God. While Zag and his mother were technically faithless as well they always approached the onyx black statue of Hades first. She and her mother on the other hand were free to choose which god they would pray to that day.
In her old life Elia faintly remembered technology and science that had replaced the need for an all powerful deity. But some part of her in that old world had held some belief in a greater power. In her mind, life and all that surrounded it was just too beautiful to be explained with just numbers and statistics.
She embraced the idea of the Gods and the stories that came along with them. Her favorite Goddess, and the one she often greeted first, was Athena.
In the temple, Athena had a beautiful statue made of white marble that depicted her in full battle armor. Holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other, the goddess made for a regal and intimidating figure
Behind the statue, the mosaic of Athena showed the Goddess in the sky arms spread wide to shine down a ray of sunlight that led a sailor on a raft across a stormy and turbulent ocean.
Her mother had said that the image was from the tale of Odysseus, a wise warrior and King of Ithaca, who was beloved by the grey eyed goddess of wisdom. Due to earning ire from the God of the sea, Odysseus had been forced to travel the oceans, kept from home for a long and arduous 20 years.
Athena had guided her champion home, ensuring that the man would return safely to where he could defeat the suitors who planned to marry his wife and seize his throne.
The story had turned a bit gruesome when Odysseus then killed all but one of the 50 suitors and she was not particularly keen on the fact that the man had slept with almost every other woman he came upon while away from his wife who remained faithful to a long gone husband, but she liked the story all the same. Even the unsavory details had added to the story's appeal, showing that even the gods and heroes were not immune to human fallacies.
In all honesty on Elia's first visit to the temple she had been very taken with the mosaic and Athena's statue that without knowing much about the goddess she still declared her as her favorite. Even after learning of Athena's anger and often toxic pride, she still admired the goddess's adamant will and ability to stand as a powerful and respected figure against the more masculine gods like Apollo or Ares.
The image of Athena gave off a feeling of power and strength. The woman looked like a warrior, but was still beautiful even cast into the cold marble stone, and it was bonus that she was capable of spitting on the patriarchy that dominated the Pantheon of Olympus.
She had once explained to her mother, why Athena was her favorite God only to make the older woman laugh.
Zag had accepted her choice with a shake of his head and sighed, "Only you princess." Which of course had caused her to pout and cling to his arm for five minutes asking him to explain what he meant.
"Mother, who was our family's God?" She asked on the first day of the New year, which meant the whole village would be visiting the temple.
Her mother hummed reflectively, "Well, our family is actually very old so our patron god isn't in the temple."
"Really?" Elia asked. There were almost 50 Gods within the Temple, it hadn't occurred to her that there would be more.
"Yes," Her mother answered. The elegant braids, her mother had made earlier, held her long Golden hair in place as they swung with each step. Her white chiffon dress flowed around her occasionally lifting up in clouds of fabric when the wind picked up. Elia sported a similar set of braids, but unlike Mira who exuded beauty and grace in her New Years outfit, Elia was certain in her small white dress she only passed as cute.
"Our family used to worship Amaterasu, an Old Goddess from the day of Tamakagahara."
Elia startled at that name recalling the strange black rock she had discovered with Zag, and Della's story about Olympians descending from the gods. "You mean the goddess that was Empress Suiko's mother?"
"The very same." Her mother's smile was warm, her eyes filled with unwavering love that had Elia grinning right back. She slipped her hand into the older woman's and beamed as her mother tightened her hand around Elia's smaller one.
"Our family were meant to be protectors." Her mother continued to explain as Elia began to take awkward steps to avoid the cracks in the road. She hummed in acknowledgment her concentration focused on getting around a particularly tricky web of gaps.
Above her she heard her mother let out an amused huff letting her arm drag along with Elia's erratic movements.
"Amaterasu was ruler of the Heavens and the Sun. Legend said she used to watch over and protect the heavenly and earthly realm." Her mother's looked forward at the temple, wistfulness and longing in her eyes. "That duty was passed down to her descendants. Our role was to guide and protect this world."
The Temple came closer and closer as more and more villagers joined them on the street.
"Why are we the only ones left?" Elia asked finished with her little challenge.
"Time." the older woman answered sadly. "Eventually the old gods were forgotten and when Takamagahara fell, the family just seemed to assimilate with Olympus until all of us were gone."
They made their way up the marble stairs.
"Not all of us." Elia stated confidently
"Not all of us." Her mother agreed with a small smile.
The inside of the temple was filled with soft fire light which flickered constantly changing the lengths of shadows in an eerie dance.
They made their way across the various images of the gods bowing in respect and leaving a small offering that they had prepared beforehand. She stayed before the familiarly daunting statue of Athena for a second longer staring up at the stone features somewhat menacing in the dim light. Caught up in the sculpture's lifeless eyes she didn't even notice when her mother continued to move on without her.
The world seemed to blur around the statue as the fire in the center of the room grew brighter. Elia watched in horror as the statue of Athena began to crumble. Cracks split across the goddesses forehead until the golden headpiece that sat upon her hair fell off and hit the floor in a loud clatter. Her breaths became frantic as a loud boom of a cannon echoed nearby, the glow from the explosion that followed shined light upon the goddess's damaged form. Her ears rang with the sounds of screams and destruction, but even as panic gripped at her heart she couldn't turn away her attention completely stuck to those lifeless eyes which seemed to sink further and further into the stone until all that was left were two sunken holes.
"-ia, Elia!"
An urgent whisper drew her attention away from the statue. Blinking for a moment the world came back into focus. The sounds of cannons faded and the light dimmed once more.
She took in the worried look on Zag's face. "Hi hero." She smiled immediately reaching forward to link her arm with his. She began to walk forward dragging the other boy with her towards the statue of Apollo.
She nodded her head in a bow and besides her a bewildered looking Zag did the same. Apollo the patron god of the Phoebus family was a popular god of Olympus, but personally Elia had never seen the appeal. The man looked too delicate and pretty that she had the impression that he was a flighty and childish god.
The pair continued to walk and she found it harder and harder to ignore the suspicious glances Zag continued to send her, "Are you alright Elia?"
"Hmm, I'm okay. How are you?" she asked eyes darting to the other end of the room. She was desperate for a distraction and she found one in the form of a family dressed in heavy black robes slowly making their rounds in the temple.
Zag followed her stare lips curving into a scowl. It was a morally questionable tactic to use and Elia instantly felt guilty when she caught sight of her friends darkened face as she used his old family as a distraction from her friend's questions.
"I'm fine," He answered sharply.
Elia felt him tense beside her.
"You know they look kind of dumb with those cloaks on indoors." She observed craning her neck to get a better look, "I mean I understand tradition, but don't they get uncomfortable under all those layers?
"They're ceremonial robes of the Angelis family, and there is a big hole in the middle of the temple."
"It is also the middle of summer." She pointed out, "Why couldn't they make ceremonial sandals or t-shirts."
Zag raised an eyebrow a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "ceremonial t-shirts?"
"Ceremonial t-shirts." She affirmed with a nod.
Her friend turned away from her, but by the shaking of his shoulders she knew he was desperately trying to hold back laughter. A warm feeling of success and fondness had her elbowing the other boy until the two of them got into a friendly shoving match that ended in a fit of giggles.
A few elders from other families shot them disapproving looks, but Elia ignored them with the full maturity of her combined years from this life and the one before. She couldn't care less about how she appeared to others, all that mattered to her was that her friend kept on smiling.
Eventually the two of them made it out of the temple and Elia caught her mother's attention with an exaggerated wave. The older women smiled, face lit up like the sun. Once again she was taken aback by her own mother's beauty. Truly no other woman could compare, and she could only hope that she would grow up to be half as amazing.
She turned to wrap Zag in a hug, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
He nodded in reply.
Before she could turn to leave Zag grabbed onto the sleeve of her dress.
She waited patiently as the other boy seemed to struggle, "Thank you." Even in the dark she could tell that his cheeks were flushed in embarrassment.
"No need," she patted the hand that held onto her sleeve comfortingly, "a princess can't let a hero do all the saving."
With one last wave she ran off to grab her mother's hand. Looking over her shoulder as she left she watched as her friend approached his own mother with a gentle smile and said something that made the other woman laugh.
She ignored the feeling of apprehension that sat in the pit of her stomach like an anchor. She glanced one more time at the statue of Athena watching as shadows from the torches danced on the stone, before turning back towards the road that stretched before them.
-o-
"Mother what are we doing?"
The older woman smiled pulling Elia onto her lap. Encircled by warmth Elia felt herself relaxing into her mother's embrace as the two of them stared out across the sea. Without a family of their own, mother and daughter lived far away from the main town of Olympus.
On the very end of a worn down and weed covered dirt road, their house rested amidst fields of wild grass. The small size and the chipped faded yellow paint on the sides of the small wooden house was made up for by the view that rested behind it.
Growing up had been somewhat difficult in the very beginning. Her mind wrestled with the images, replacing the small wood walled room she shared with her mother, for a teal blue one filled to the brim with bits and baubles of sentimental value. When her mother went into town on her own she would sometimes close her eyes and hear the joyful laughter of a younger boy only to open them and be all alone.
But the ocean outside the windows had been her comfort. The endless blue waves that lightened in the day and faded into a inky dark black when the sun set had been filled with wonder. That horizon where the sky met the sea, had been a promise to herself that there was more to this life than painful longing. It meant new things, adventure and discovery that would one day fill the ache in her heart.
Her mother had caught onto her fondness for the scene outside the back door, and soon it became a tradition for the two of them to walk to the very edges of the cliffs above the water and sit on the wild grass of the fields to watch the sun sink beneath the waves.
"I know you want to leave this island my little light."
Elia's breath caught in her chest at her mother's words, and she turned away from the sea.
"Mother I-"
"It's okay Eliana." Her mother smiled softly, beautiful face tinged with sadness and her blue eyes looked glassy from unshed tears. She couldn't fight down the feeling of guilt that made her want to promise the older woman that she'd never leave, but she knew that it was a promise she couldn't keep.
"You know your father was the same way." Her mother turned to look back at the ocean. "He could never just stay in one place, he had to travel and see all the things in this world."
Mira stroked a hand through Elia's hair gently. The warmth of it let the tension drain out of her as she pushed herself further into her mother's embrace.
"I don't want to leave you."
She whispered curling in on herself as her mother continued to play with her hair.
"Oh I know, my little light. I understand." She rested her chin on the top of Elia's head, and the arms encircling her tightened.
"But you can't stay here. This place will only stifle you Elia. You need more than this little island could ever offer."
Elia felt warm. The love and understanding from the older woman was something she'd never experienced in all her life. It only affirmed her conclusion on her mother's character, and strengthened her gratitude towards the woman.
"I'll miss you little one, but I know you'll be happier on the sea."
The two curled into each other staring across the ocean and at the star filled night sky. Atop the cliff that the waves beat against relentlessly, Elia watched the midnight blue waters wondering what could exist beyond them.
Here we go chapter 2! Expect updates to slow down after this as I am still in school and incapable of not caring about my grades.
Next chapter will have a timeskip to Elia's first interactions with the strawhats and will continue from there with occasional flashbacks to her childhood.
Thank you for reading and please favorite and review!
-Y.H Night