Chapter Three
The brightness of light piercing through her lids brought Lashrina out of her sleep. When did she fall asleep? She thought. And where was Hercules and Iolaus? she wonder as she sat up. She was in a room that was pure white. She looked around until she saw her own reflection in a mirror that had gold trimming around the edges. She saw that she wore a long white dress with sheer sleeves that reached her finger tips. Her hair cascaded down her back and had tiny white flowers in the shape of a crown in the middle of her head. For the first time she thought she looked beautiful.
"But how did I get here and where is here?" she said outloud as she looked away from the mirror.
"You haven't gone anywhere." a voice said
"Who's there?" she asked as she stepped toward the voice and saw the only god she had ever trusted." Apollo you put me a sleep again didn't you?" she questioned. He had done this the first time he wanted to tell her that her life belonged to him if she wanted it to.She told him to pledge her life to a god would be to betray her mortality and that was something she couldn't do then.
"Well, it's the only time you're not ranting on about how badly us gods treat you mortals." he said
"Yeah well, have you even bothered to check on your follower or any of the mortals?" she asked
"Why should I? They're nothing to me." he said
"Yeah, well, think about this if all mortals stopped believing in you gods or goddess' you would cease to exist." she said
"Yeah, but no matter how badly we treat you mortals you always come back begging us to help you." he said
"Yeah unfortunately we do. That's our weakness for being mortals." she said softly as something caught her eye." what's this?" she asked as she walked toward it. She could see Hercules and someone she couldn't quite see clearly, but it was a woman. She looked back at Apollo questioning
"I know you have feelings for Hercules, but I also know that you have feelings for me somewhere in there. You trust him with your very life and yet you loath us gods. He's half god to you know?" he questioned
"Yes, I am aware of that." she said softly
"What you see is Hercules' future. He will get married one day and that woman right there will be the one he will pledge his undying love for. Her face is unclear because the fates have not yet chosen his soulmate, but they will soon. I'm telling you this because you need to be prepared." he said softly as he put a hand on her shoulder
"In case I'm not his soulmate." she whispered softly" You know I love Hercules with my entire heart and there's nothing I would not do for him. If I am not the one he shares the rest of his life with then that's fine just as long as he is happy." she said sincerely
"And I know that you really mean that. Don't you see that's why you would make a perfect goddess. You have compassion. Unconditional love and loyalty. Understanding. Why can't you see that you'd help those mortals including Hercules' future wife better by being a goddess than being a mortal? As a Goddess you'll have power and immortality. As a mortal you'll have nothing and you will eventually die." he said
"You don't understand Apollo. As a mortal I can be there with them through everything they go through. I can listen. I can try to understand. I can give them comfort, compassion, love, and loyalty. As a goddess I can only watch from here because we both know that gods nor goddess can interfere on a regular basis with mortal lives." she said softly as she looked into his eyes.
"So you'd turn your back on what we could be for something that might never happen with Hercules?" he asked
"No, I'm not turning my back on you nor am I hopeing to have a life with Hercules. I just want to have control over my own life. Don't you understand that much of mortal lives." she said
"Fine I'll let you go back, but only if you'll seriously think about all we've talked about." he said
"Apollo I love you of course I'll think about it seriously." she said as something flashed to her right and she turned to see Hercules and Iolaus in some sort of temple." What's going on?" she asked
"Your friends decided to get my attention by destroying my temple." Apollo said calmly" and this is why you chose to be a mortal not a god." he said
"Apollo please don't hurt them." she pleaded
"I can not touch Hercules because of Zeus." he said
"Iolaus is Hercules' best friend." she said
"But not under Zeus's protection." he said
"Apollo they're only doing it o save me don't you see that." she said, but then he was gone and she was opening her eyes only to see Jason. Immediately she shot up, but he gently pushed her back down on the cot." Let me go I've gottat help them." she struggled weakly.
"Easy you're going to be okay." Jason said as he got a wet cloth and put it on her head." You gave us all quite a scare for a while. We didn't know what happened to you." he said
"Where's Hercules and Iolaus?" she asked
"They left, but they'll be back soon." he said
"Jason they are going to destroy one of Apollo's temples and he's going to hurt Iolaus since he can't hurt Hercules." she said trying once more to get up, but Jason gently pushed her back down.
"Don't worry I'll help Herc and Iolaus you just rest. You had a pretty high fever for two days and you've been awake off and on. Just rest I'll find Hercules and Iolaus. I'll bring them to you." he said
"I've been sick?" she asked confused, but fell back asleep before she heard Jason's reply of a 'Yes'. Jason left to find Hercules and Iolaus so that LaShrina could see that they were indeed okay and that Apollo wasn't going to hurt them in anyway.
The brightness of light piercing through her lids brought Lashrina out of her sleep. When did she fall asleep? She thought. And where was Hercules and Iolaus? she wonder as she sat up. She was in a room that was pure white. She looked around until she saw her own reflection in a mirror that had gold trimming around the edges. She saw that she wore a long white dress with sheer sleeves that reached her finger tips. Her hair cascaded down her back and had tiny white flowers in the shape of a crown in the middle of her head. For the first time she thought she looked beautiful.
"But how did I get here and where is here?" she said outloud as she looked away from the mirror.
"You haven't gone anywhere." a voice said
"Who's there?" she asked as she stepped toward the voice and saw the only god she had ever trusted." Apollo you put me a sleep again didn't you?" she questioned. He had done this the first time he wanted to tell her that her life belonged to him if she wanted it to.She told him to pledge her life to a god would be to betray her mortality and that was something she couldn't do then.
"Well, it's the only time you're not ranting on about how badly us gods treat you mortals." he said
"Yeah well, have you even bothered to check on your follower or any of the mortals?" she asked
"Why should I? They're nothing to me." he said
"Yeah, well, think about this if all mortals stopped believing in you gods or goddess' you would cease to exist." she said
"Yeah, but no matter how badly we treat you mortals you always come back begging us to help you." he said
"Yeah unfortunately we do. That's our weakness for being mortals." she said softly as something caught her eye." what's this?" she asked as she walked toward it. She could see Hercules and someone she couldn't quite see clearly, but it was a woman. She looked back at Apollo questioning
"I know you have feelings for Hercules, but I also know that you have feelings for me somewhere in there. You trust him with your very life and yet you loath us gods. He's half god to you know?" he questioned
"Yes, I am aware of that." she said softly
"What you see is Hercules' future. He will get married one day and that woman right there will be the one he will pledge his undying love for. Her face is unclear because the fates have not yet chosen his soulmate, but they will soon. I'm telling you this because you need to be prepared." he said softly as he put a hand on her shoulder
"In case I'm not his soulmate." she whispered softly" You know I love Hercules with my entire heart and there's nothing I would not do for him. If I am not the one he shares the rest of his life with then that's fine just as long as he is happy." she said sincerely
"And I know that you really mean that. Don't you see that's why you would make a perfect goddess. You have compassion. Unconditional love and loyalty. Understanding. Why can't you see that you'd help those mortals including Hercules' future wife better by being a goddess than being a mortal? As a Goddess you'll have power and immortality. As a mortal you'll have nothing and you will eventually die." he said
"You don't understand Apollo. As a mortal I can be there with them through everything they go through. I can listen. I can try to understand. I can give them comfort, compassion, love, and loyalty. As a goddess I can only watch from here because we both know that gods nor goddess can interfere on a regular basis with mortal lives." she said softly as she looked into his eyes.
"So you'd turn your back on what we could be for something that might never happen with Hercules?" he asked
"No, I'm not turning my back on you nor am I hopeing to have a life with Hercules. I just want to have control over my own life. Don't you understand that much of mortal lives." she said
"Fine I'll let you go back, but only if you'll seriously think about all we've talked about." he said
"Apollo I love you of course I'll think about it seriously." she said as something flashed to her right and she turned to see Hercules and Iolaus in some sort of temple." What's going on?" she asked
"Your friends decided to get my attention by destroying my temple." Apollo said calmly" and this is why you chose to be a mortal not a god." he said
"Apollo please don't hurt them." she pleaded
"I can not touch Hercules because of Zeus." he said
"Iolaus is Hercules' best friend." she said
"But not under Zeus's protection." he said
"Apollo they're only doing it o save me don't you see that." she said, but then he was gone and she was opening her eyes only to see Jason. Immediately she shot up, but he gently pushed her back down on the cot." Let me go I've gottat help them." she struggled weakly.
"Easy you're going to be okay." Jason said as he got a wet cloth and put it on her head." You gave us all quite a scare for a while. We didn't know what happened to you." he said
"Where's Hercules and Iolaus?" she asked
"They left, but they'll be back soon." he said
"Jason they are going to destroy one of Apollo's temples and he's going to hurt Iolaus since he can't hurt Hercules." she said trying once more to get up, but Jason gently pushed her back down.
"Don't worry I'll help Herc and Iolaus you just rest. You had a pretty high fever for two days and you've been awake off and on. Just rest I'll find Hercules and Iolaus. I'll bring them to you." he said
"I've been sick?" she asked confused, but fell back asleep before she heard Jason's reply of a 'Yes'. Jason left to find Hercules and Iolaus so that LaShrina could see that they were indeed okay and that Apollo wasn't going to hurt them in anyway.