Please, forgive me for not updating recently. Evil computers and viruses and stuff. growl. Anyway, this is Aubrey's chapter, the goddess of ensembles and gansta lingo. I had a lot of trouble writing this as I don't see Aubrey anymore. (Damn homeschooling on her part), so it's not a very good chapter. This version is different than the one on my fictionpress site in that Aubrey's love interest is different. Don't ask.
Some things to know:
1) Helios: god of the sun that drives it across the sky
2) Arachne: girl who was changed into a spider by Athena. There's a whole myth with that. Don't ask.
Aubrey woke up pleasantly to 10 guys surrounding her bed. "Why hello." She said in a sultry voice, not the least bit surprised to see them. "I didn't expect you this early." The one on her left gave a lopsided grin and leaned over the ensemble goddess. Aubrey gave a silent squeal and sat up for a kiss, when
WHAM
something ran into her window and woke her up.
Jumping out of bed with a curse, Aubrey flung a robe on and stumbled over to her huge glass window. With all her strength, she managed to fling the window wide open. In stumbled a cherub, wings fluttering, face pale and sweaty. Aubrey waited impatiently as the little cupid struggled to his feet, gasping for breath. Finally he turned to face her, and uttered one sentence before falling over in a complete faint.
"You have fans."
Five seconds later, a very bubbly Aubrey came bursting into breakfast, blinding all with her orange morning dress. "Hallo!!!" she yelled. The goddess was met with a few greetings, and many more glares. A sleepy-eyed Megan threw a pillow at her, and Colleen let out an ugly snarl. Apparently not all were as wide awake as Aubrey was. Shrugging, she stuck her nose in the air and floated into the food room.
After piling up her plate, and helping herself to a huge handful of food, Aubrey went to sit down in the lounge area. Lauren and Katie were talking about how cute guys would be in pink, Nicole and Colleen were arguing over the discrimination of green chickens, Liz and Megan were looking at everyone strangely, and Sonomi was busy playing patty-cake with one of her bears. It was all a blissful and tranquil scene. Aubrey squinted, then frowned at Megan. "You're dress is a little tacky darling." She said kindly, exercising her powers. Megan gave a small glare at the ensemble goddess, and five seconds later, Aubrey was frantically running out of the new goddess complex, trying to avoid the dangerous cattle prod that her fellow goddess was wielding.
Once safe outside, Aubrey gave a small sniff, snapped her fingers into her daily work outfit, and summoned her sedan chair. In a few seconds, the mahogany carrier was visible, being carried by a bunch of well toned, muscular slaves, all looking to be about 17. Aubrey took a mental tally as they approached. First there was Falcon and Flamingo, carrying the front of the chair, and Duck and Goose pulling the rear. Pelican walked along the side, holding a large gold tray full of grapes and wine. Chickadee perched on the special seat attached to the chair, holding a large ostrich fan. Aubrey smiled, thankful for Lauren's willingness to help her. Of course, Lauren got complete outfits out of the bargain, so it wasn't a totally one sided deal.
The sedan chair stopped right in front of the ensemble goddess. Aubrey gave each of her slaves a pat on the head, then hopped into the chair. Imperiously pointing a finger in the direction of her building of worship, she commanded, "Run". And so they did.
The sun had just finished rising when they had gotten to the temple, and Aubrey was sick from too many grapes. She signaled for her entourage to stop. They obliged, then fell over, some just exhausted, others dead. Aubrey climbed out of the sedan chair shakily, and reached into her pocket. She brought out a small tin of ambrosia, which she proceeded to feed to all of her slaves. They were soon as good as new, and escorted Pelican as he carried Aubrey into her temple.
The reconstruction on the building was almost complete now. Crow, the main architect, hopped down off of his ladder and greeted the entering goddess with a bow. Aubrey smiled in return, and seated herself on the velvet throne in the center of the building to oversee the end of the repair. It soon became very boring to the goddess however, and she tipped her head back and fell asleep; small strands of drool decorating her chin.
A loud clanging awoke the goddess with a start. She turned groggily to see what the noise was about. It was one of her priests, banging on a brass gong. Aubrey fixed him with a glare that caused his robe to fly up and tie his arms together. "No more noise." She hissed. Startled, the priest turned to the goddess, bowing frantically.
"Forgive me for eternity." He gasped. "But there are worshippers here." Aubrey let out a delighted squeal at this news, and ran to the offerings area, leaving the poor priest to untie himself.
The line outside the temple was moderate. It consisted mostly of young women, but there were a few older ones, and a few gay males as well. They all wanted fashion advice from the fashion guru; the new goddess in town. Aubrey politely took their sacrifices, shook their hands, kissed babies, matronly stuff. Everyone loved her. Some, more than others.. .
It happened right after Aubrey had blessed a set of twins. Suddenly she felt an arm snake around her waist. She whipped around, about to give who ever was so bold a slap, when she met two eyes. These weren't just any eyes. Aubrey felt herself falling deep into their ebony gaze, nearly drowning. She tore herself away from the gaze to get a good look at the man who was stealing her heart. He was tall, muscular, with short brown hair, and a sensual smile. Letting go of her waist, the stranger bowed low, kissing Aubrey's hand. The entire temple had fallen silent, waiting for this man to speak. Finally he did.
"Hello ma'am. My name is Calix. I hope I haven't offended you in any way, but I find your beauty too seductive to resist. Please have mercy on this poor mortal soul." The stranger said. He slowly stood up, taking a step closer to Aubrey, his intense gaze locked onto her. Aubrey fought back a blush as his arm replaced itself against her waist. Calix leaned in close, whispering sweetly into the goddess's ear. "Might we go somewhere a little more private where we can talk?" he asked tentatively.
Aubrey cracked a grin. "Of course!" she exploded. She grabbed his hand, grinning like a fool, and led him to the steps that led to the upper chambers of the temple. Suddenly she stopped, frowning. "Hold on." She said. Then she snapped her fingers, changing into the ribbon that she had deemed as her "date costume". "All right." She said seductively, motioning to the stairs. "Shall we?"
I know it's all on your minds, but NO, no one loses their virginity in this story.
It was lunch time, but only Megan, Liz, Katie, and Sonomi were currently there. Lauren was off with Ares doing God-knows-what, Colleen was just "taking a stroll around the garden" with Dionysus, and Nicole hadn't shown up yet. The single women weren't terribly heart-broken though, as they had just realized that they could bewitch chess pieces, making them act like real people. Megan and Liz were currently playing, but Megan was losing sorely. This was because she had made all of her pieces guys and was taking delight in seeing Liz's army flatten them. She was having so much fun with this, that she deliberately put her pieces in harms way, cackling hysterically when one was plowed over by Liz's over zealous playing technique.
Liz was just about to capture Megan's queen, (who looked a bit like Jason) when Aubrey came in through the doors. Romantic ballads played in the background, and pink rose petals began falling from the sky. Sonomi and Megan looked at each other with a knowing grin, and ran to play in the petals. Aubrey gave a sigh and turned to Liz and Katie. "Guess what?!" she shrieked. Liz and Katie exchanged looks.
"You got laid?" guessed Katie.
Aubrey tried to look disgusted and amused at the same time. "Ugh. No way. But I did meet this hot guy who I made-out with." As she was relaying all the juicy details, Nicole stepped into the hall.
"Hi guys. Woa, lots of petals." The brunette remarked. Stepping over them lightly, she shot an odd glance at the duo who was chasing the pinkness, then turned to Aubrey, Liz and Katie. "What's up?" she asked. This of course, set Aubrey off again, so Katie and Liz decided to inconspicuously slink away to the lunch table and await the others. Sonomi and Megan joined them presently, bored with the petals. Nicole came running in a moment later, a wild look of panic on her face. Aubrey followed the brunette, her mouth still running.
Just as Aubrey was finishing the sentence of "Then he showed me this really preverted trick-", Lauren came waltzing into the dining hall, much to everyone's relief. Megan immediately rushed up, sobbing, and gave a very confused Lauren a huge hug. This, unfortunately, drew attention to new prey, and Aubrey immediately attacked Lauren with a summary of her excursion. Lauren looked shocked.
"You mean you made-out with a MORTAL?" the blonde gasped, spitting out the word as if it were something vile.
Aubrey scoffed, offended. "No! Of course not!"she cried, "I made him immortal first. Besides, he was a REALLY good kisser."
This was all too much for Megan to bear. She let out a howl like a wounded dog and raced into the kitchen area. A series of small thuds was heard, giving the goddesses the impression that Megan was performing a Colleen against the wall. Their hearts went out to her. But first, Lunch.
Soon everyone was talking and laughing over a small feast of scallions and shrimp with mushrooms. Colleen had eventually entered the scene, and had engaged Lauren in a fierce competition of "who loves who more" which ultimately ended in a draw. Aubrey decided that Colleen should know about her dealings today, but after being hit in the face with a sticky shrimp, she sulked into silence. The rest of lunch was pleasantly uneventful.
After lunch break was over, Aubrey leaned back, belched, and summoned her sedan chair to take her back to her temple. Then she made a farewell bow and hopped into her chair, quickly leaving the glares of others behind.
The temple was curiously dark when it's goddess arrived. Aubrey slowly climbed out of her chair and walked in cautiously. "Hallllllllooooooooooo" she called. All that answered her was the faint echo of her own voice. Not a single person was anywhere in the temple. All the lamps had been extinguished, even the ceremonial fire that resided by Aubrey's huge ivory statue of herself. "Where is everyone?" the ensemble goddess demanded. "I'm all alone!"
Suddenly, nostalgia hit the blond like a tidal wave. Sinking to her knees, Aubrey let the tears flow. "I'm alone. I'm all alone!" she sobbed, over and over. Her sedan servants came in nervously, not quite knowing what to do, but wanting to comfort their master. Aubrey wailed and howled like a wounded dog for five minutes straight. Finally she reduced to sniffles. Standing up wearily, she brushed herself off and made an important decision.
"We're going to Athena's place."
Sonomi and her mentor were busy playing a game of Greek checkers when there was a knock on the palace door. Smashing three of Sonomi's pieces, Athena stood up and walked over to see who would be there at this time of day. She opened the door and let out and ear-piercing scream.
"Nice to see you too." Aubrey growled, hands on her ears.
Sonomi came over to the door and smiled. "Hi Aubrey. Are you coming for lessons now?" Athena glared at her teddy bear student, but Sonomi took no notice.
Aubrey grinned thankfully. "Yea, I think I'll crash here for a while." she said, pushing past the speechless war goddess and into the hall. "Is this my room on the right?" she inquired. After a moment of silence, she lifted her skirt and walked on, saying "Well, of course it is". Soon, crashes and the sound of things breaking could be heard from within the room. "What is this thing?" called Aubrey. "With all the string? Whoops!"
Athena paled. "My loom!" she screamed, and ran in to save her weaving room from total destruction. Sonomi just sighed and went back to the game.
By the time the gray pigeon flew in for meditation, Aubrey had learned how to dye cloth, cause one to speak in "gansta", and that you should get in between a red-head and her possessions. Damn right Lindsay had commented as Aubrey stumbled out of the palace, her hair singed and her dress a sickening shade of yellow.
Shut up. The blond goddess huffed. Straightening her hair, she flounced off to Hestia's. She didn't flounce very far though, after suddenly remembering that she had a sedan chair and she could be as lazy as she wanted. Summoning that, she made it to meditation in record time. Of course, some people had already beaten her there. Aubrey glowered at Megan, who was chatting happily with Hestia, and Liz, who was having a great time sparring with one of Sonomi's teddy bears. Soon the stuffed animal goddess herself arrived, followed by Nicole, Colleen, a flushed Lauren, Lindsay, and finally Katie.
As soon as everyone settled down, Hestia detailed the day's lesson. "Today we are going to do something very different." she began. Suddenly the floor disappeared, and the goddesses found themselves in a deep, dank cavern. Hestia was no where to be found, but millions of bugs were everywhere. "Where am I?" came the hearth goddess's voice. "Or rather, which bug am I?"
Nicole turned an odd color of green. "This is disgusting." she murmured
"It's not that bad!" laughed Liz, who had just been squirted with purple dye by one of the bugs.
Lindsay snatched up a handful of the critters and popped them into her mouth. "Mmmmm. Delicious."
"Don't do that!" Aubrey screamed. "Anyone of them could have been Hestia!" Lindsay made a face.
"Oh. Right."
Megan gave a sharp whistle to get everyone's attention. "Hestia doesn't like the cold, so she's not going to be a blue bug." she mused
Now you're starting to think straight. came a voice.
Lindsay grinned and began harvesting all the aqua creepies. "Alright, anyone else have an idea?"
The nine goddesses finally found Hestia as a red (for her hearth fire) spider (for her agreement with Athena on Arachne) sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cavern (for the entrance to her home). The goddess changed back into herself and congratulated the goddesses on their effort. "Once you start working together, it's really not that bad." she said, wagging a finger at them.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Spare me the lesson for the day. And next time, NO BUGS!". Everyone agreed whole-heartedly, except for Lindsay, but she had already disappeared back to her island and therefore did not count.
As Helios waved his final good-byes to the earth and drove his blazing chariot home, the goddesses trouped home. Aubrey lagged behind, contemplating the day, when she felt a feathery touch on her shoulder. Turning around, she met those deep mysterious eyes she had grown to love. The ensemble goddess smiled.
"Hello Calix."
It was quite late by the time Aubrey came into the new goddess complex, but she didn't care. It felt like day to her, with the birds singing, and the winds whistling cheerfully. Her smile lingered as she settled into bed and fell asleep.
Some things to know:
1) Helios: god of the sun that drives it across the sky
2) Arachne: girl who was changed into a spider by Athena. There's a whole myth with that. Don't ask.
Aubrey woke up pleasantly to 10 guys surrounding her bed. "Why hello." She said in a sultry voice, not the least bit surprised to see them. "I didn't expect you this early." The one on her left gave a lopsided grin and leaned over the ensemble goddess. Aubrey gave a silent squeal and sat up for a kiss, when
WHAM
something ran into her window and woke her up.
Jumping out of bed with a curse, Aubrey flung a robe on and stumbled over to her huge glass window. With all her strength, she managed to fling the window wide open. In stumbled a cherub, wings fluttering, face pale and sweaty. Aubrey waited impatiently as the little cupid struggled to his feet, gasping for breath. Finally he turned to face her, and uttered one sentence before falling over in a complete faint.
"You have fans."
Five seconds later, a very bubbly Aubrey came bursting into breakfast, blinding all with her orange morning dress. "Hallo!!!" she yelled. The goddess was met with a few greetings, and many more glares. A sleepy-eyed Megan threw a pillow at her, and Colleen let out an ugly snarl. Apparently not all were as wide awake as Aubrey was. Shrugging, she stuck her nose in the air and floated into the food room.
After piling up her plate, and helping herself to a huge handful of food, Aubrey went to sit down in the lounge area. Lauren and Katie were talking about how cute guys would be in pink, Nicole and Colleen were arguing over the discrimination of green chickens, Liz and Megan were looking at everyone strangely, and Sonomi was busy playing patty-cake with one of her bears. It was all a blissful and tranquil scene. Aubrey squinted, then frowned at Megan. "You're dress is a little tacky darling." She said kindly, exercising her powers. Megan gave a small glare at the ensemble goddess, and five seconds later, Aubrey was frantically running out of the new goddess complex, trying to avoid the dangerous cattle prod that her fellow goddess was wielding.
Once safe outside, Aubrey gave a small sniff, snapped her fingers into her daily work outfit, and summoned her sedan chair. In a few seconds, the mahogany carrier was visible, being carried by a bunch of well toned, muscular slaves, all looking to be about 17. Aubrey took a mental tally as they approached. First there was Falcon and Flamingo, carrying the front of the chair, and Duck and Goose pulling the rear. Pelican walked along the side, holding a large gold tray full of grapes and wine. Chickadee perched on the special seat attached to the chair, holding a large ostrich fan. Aubrey smiled, thankful for Lauren's willingness to help her. Of course, Lauren got complete outfits out of the bargain, so it wasn't a totally one sided deal.
The sedan chair stopped right in front of the ensemble goddess. Aubrey gave each of her slaves a pat on the head, then hopped into the chair. Imperiously pointing a finger in the direction of her building of worship, she commanded, "Run". And so they did.
The sun had just finished rising when they had gotten to the temple, and Aubrey was sick from too many grapes. She signaled for her entourage to stop. They obliged, then fell over, some just exhausted, others dead. Aubrey climbed out of the sedan chair shakily, and reached into her pocket. She brought out a small tin of ambrosia, which she proceeded to feed to all of her slaves. They were soon as good as new, and escorted Pelican as he carried Aubrey into her temple.
The reconstruction on the building was almost complete now. Crow, the main architect, hopped down off of his ladder and greeted the entering goddess with a bow. Aubrey smiled in return, and seated herself on the velvet throne in the center of the building to oversee the end of the repair. It soon became very boring to the goddess however, and she tipped her head back and fell asleep; small strands of drool decorating her chin.
A loud clanging awoke the goddess with a start. She turned groggily to see what the noise was about. It was one of her priests, banging on a brass gong. Aubrey fixed him with a glare that caused his robe to fly up and tie his arms together. "No more noise." She hissed. Startled, the priest turned to the goddess, bowing frantically.
"Forgive me for eternity." He gasped. "But there are worshippers here." Aubrey let out a delighted squeal at this news, and ran to the offerings area, leaving the poor priest to untie himself.
The line outside the temple was moderate. It consisted mostly of young women, but there were a few older ones, and a few gay males as well. They all wanted fashion advice from the fashion guru; the new goddess in town. Aubrey politely took their sacrifices, shook their hands, kissed babies, matronly stuff. Everyone loved her. Some, more than others.. .
It happened right after Aubrey had blessed a set of twins. Suddenly she felt an arm snake around her waist. She whipped around, about to give who ever was so bold a slap, when she met two eyes. These weren't just any eyes. Aubrey felt herself falling deep into their ebony gaze, nearly drowning. She tore herself away from the gaze to get a good look at the man who was stealing her heart. He was tall, muscular, with short brown hair, and a sensual smile. Letting go of her waist, the stranger bowed low, kissing Aubrey's hand. The entire temple had fallen silent, waiting for this man to speak. Finally he did.
"Hello ma'am. My name is Calix. I hope I haven't offended you in any way, but I find your beauty too seductive to resist. Please have mercy on this poor mortal soul." The stranger said. He slowly stood up, taking a step closer to Aubrey, his intense gaze locked onto her. Aubrey fought back a blush as his arm replaced itself against her waist. Calix leaned in close, whispering sweetly into the goddess's ear. "Might we go somewhere a little more private where we can talk?" he asked tentatively.
Aubrey cracked a grin. "Of course!" she exploded. She grabbed his hand, grinning like a fool, and led him to the steps that led to the upper chambers of the temple. Suddenly she stopped, frowning. "Hold on." She said. Then she snapped her fingers, changing into the ribbon that she had deemed as her "date costume". "All right." She said seductively, motioning to the stairs. "Shall we?"
I know it's all on your minds, but NO, no one loses their virginity in this story.
It was lunch time, but only Megan, Liz, Katie, and Sonomi were currently there. Lauren was off with Ares doing God-knows-what, Colleen was just "taking a stroll around the garden" with Dionysus, and Nicole hadn't shown up yet. The single women weren't terribly heart-broken though, as they had just realized that they could bewitch chess pieces, making them act like real people. Megan and Liz were currently playing, but Megan was losing sorely. This was because she had made all of her pieces guys and was taking delight in seeing Liz's army flatten them. She was having so much fun with this, that she deliberately put her pieces in harms way, cackling hysterically when one was plowed over by Liz's over zealous playing technique.
Liz was just about to capture Megan's queen, (who looked a bit like Jason) when Aubrey came in through the doors. Romantic ballads played in the background, and pink rose petals began falling from the sky. Sonomi and Megan looked at each other with a knowing grin, and ran to play in the petals. Aubrey gave a sigh and turned to Liz and Katie. "Guess what?!" she shrieked. Liz and Katie exchanged looks.
"You got laid?" guessed Katie.
Aubrey tried to look disgusted and amused at the same time. "Ugh. No way. But I did meet this hot guy who I made-out with." As she was relaying all the juicy details, Nicole stepped into the hall.
"Hi guys. Woa, lots of petals." The brunette remarked. Stepping over them lightly, she shot an odd glance at the duo who was chasing the pinkness, then turned to Aubrey, Liz and Katie. "What's up?" she asked. This of course, set Aubrey off again, so Katie and Liz decided to inconspicuously slink away to the lunch table and await the others. Sonomi and Megan joined them presently, bored with the petals. Nicole came running in a moment later, a wild look of panic on her face. Aubrey followed the brunette, her mouth still running.
Just as Aubrey was finishing the sentence of "Then he showed me this really preverted trick-", Lauren came waltzing into the dining hall, much to everyone's relief. Megan immediately rushed up, sobbing, and gave a very confused Lauren a huge hug. This, unfortunately, drew attention to new prey, and Aubrey immediately attacked Lauren with a summary of her excursion. Lauren looked shocked.
"You mean you made-out with a MORTAL?" the blonde gasped, spitting out the word as if it were something vile.
Aubrey scoffed, offended. "No! Of course not!"she cried, "I made him immortal first. Besides, he was a REALLY good kisser."
This was all too much for Megan to bear. She let out a howl like a wounded dog and raced into the kitchen area. A series of small thuds was heard, giving the goddesses the impression that Megan was performing a Colleen against the wall. Their hearts went out to her. But first, Lunch.
Soon everyone was talking and laughing over a small feast of scallions and shrimp with mushrooms. Colleen had eventually entered the scene, and had engaged Lauren in a fierce competition of "who loves who more" which ultimately ended in a draw. Aubrey decided that Colleen should know about her dealings today, but after being hit in the face with a sticky shrimp, she sulked into silence. The rest of lunch was pleasantly uneventful.
After lunch break was over, Aubrey leaned back, belched, and summoned her sedan chair to take her back to her temple. Then she made a farewell bow and hopped into her chair, quickly leaving the glares of others behind.
The temple was curiously dark when it's goddess arrived. Aubrey slowly climbed out of her chair and walked in cautiously. "Hallllllllooooooooooo" she called. All that answered her was the faint echo of her own voice. Not a single person was anywhere in the temple. All the lamps had been extinguished, even the ceremonial fire that resided by Aubrey's huge ivory statue of herself. "Where is everyone?" the ensemble goddess demanded. "I'm all alone!"
Suddenly, nostalgia hit the blond like a tidal wave. Sinking to her knees, Aubrey let the tears flow. "I'm alone. I'm all alone!" she sobbed, over and over. Her sedan servants came in nervously, not quite knowing what to do, but wanting to comfort their master. Aubrey wailed and howled like a wounded dog for five minutes straight. Finally she reduced to sniffles. Standing up wearily, she brushed herself off and made an important decision.
"We're going to Athena's place."
Sonomi and her mentor were busy playing a game of Greek checkers when there was a knock on the palace door. Smashing three of Sonomi's pieces, Athena stood up and walked over to see who would be there at this time of day. She opened the door and let out and ear-piercing scream.
"Nice to see you too." Aubrey growled, hands on her ears.
Sonomi came over to the door and smiled. "Hi Aubrey. Are you coming for lessons now?" Athena glared at her teddy bear student, but Sonomi took no notice.
Aubrey grinned thankfully. "Yea, I think I'll crash here for a while." she said, pushing past the speechless war goddess and into the hall. "Is this my room on the right?" she inquired. After a moment of silence, she lifted her skirt and walked on, saying "Well, of course it is". Soon, crashes and the sound of things breaking could be heard from within the room. "What is this thing?" called Aubrey. "With all the string? Whoops!"
Athena paled. "My loom!" she screamed, and ran in to save her weaving room from total destruction. Sonomi just sighed and went back to the game.
By the time the gray pigeon flew in for meditation, Aubrey had learned how to dye cloth, cause one to speak in "gansta", and that you should get in between a red-head and her possessions. Damn right Lindsay had commented as Aubrey stumbled out of the palace, her hair singed and her dress a sickening shade of yellow.
Shut up. The blond goddess huffed. Straightening her hair, she flounced off to Hestia's. She didn't flounce very far though, after suddenly remembering that she had a sedan chair and she could be as lazy as she wanted. Summoning that, she made it to meditation in record time. Of course, some people had already beaten her there. Aubrey glowered at Megan, who was chatting happily with Hestia, and Liz, who was having a great time sparring with one of Sonomi's teddy bears. Soon the stuffed animal goddess herself arrived, followed by Nicole, Colleen, a flushed Lauren, Lindsay, and finally Katie.
As soon as everyone settled down, Hestia detailed the day's lesson. "Today we are going to do something very different." she began. Suddenly the floor disappeared, and the goddesses found themselves in a deep, dank cavern. Hestia was no where to be found, but millions of bugs were everywhere. "Where am I?" came the hearth goddess's voice. "Or rather, which bug am I?"
Nicole turned an odd color of green. "This is disgusting." she murmured
"It's not that bad!" laughed Liz, who had just been squirted with purple dye by one of the bugs.
Lindsay snatched up a handful of the critters and popped them into her mouth. "Mmmmm. Delicious."
"Don't do that!" Aubrey screamed. "Anyone of them could have been Hestia!" Lindsay made a face.
"Oh. Right."
Megan gave a sharp whistle to get everyone's attention. "Hestia doesn't like the cold, so she's not going to be a blue bug." she mused
Now you're starting to think straight. came a voice.
Lindsay grinned and began harvesting all the aqua creepies. "Alright, anyone else have an idea?"
The nine goddesses finally found Hestia as a red (for her hearth fire) spider (for her agreement with Athena on Arachne) sitting on a rock at the mouth of the cavern (for the entrance to her home). The goddess changed back into herself and congratulated the goddesses on their effort. "Once you start working together, it's really not that bad." she said, wagging a finger at them.
Aubrey rolled her eyes. "Spare me the lesson for the day. And next time, NO BUGS!". Everyone agreed whole-heartedly, except for Lindsay, but she had already disappeared back to her island and therefore did not count.
As Helios waved his final good-byes to the earth and drove his blazing chariot home, the goddesses trouped home. Aubrey lagged behind, contemplating the day, when she felt a feathery touch on her shoulder. Turning around, she met those deep mysterious eyes she had grown to love. The ensemble goddess smiled.
"Hello Calix."
It was quite late by the time Aubrey came into the new goddess complex, but she didn't care. It felt like day to her, with the birds singing, and the winds whistling cheerfully. Her smile lingered as she settled into bed and fell asleep.