My source for information on Antheia was encyclopedia mythica. I didn't name all her domains of control because Hera does not seem one to state more than is necessary. I'm pretty sure Hera and Antheia don't have the background that I gave them but for the sake of narrative they know each other very well. Note: I don't own Class of the Titans, though that would be so awesome! Onto the last chapter (unless you review and say you want one more... which would give more leway into a sequel oh noes!)
Another Chance
Chapter Seven: Antheia
Theresa's footsteps echoed through the empty halls of Olympia High. All the students of the normal school had already gone home in a whirlwind of papers and ink, though Theresa couldn't have cared less if someone had seen her fumbling for a gold medallion that happened to fit perfectly into the door of the janitor's closet.
Pressing it into the door, it clicked open and she quickly rushed in, impatient for the sparkling blue wall to appear. She pretended to ignore the woman in her arms, who was not saying anything but was obviously disoriented and confused.
As soon as the wall began to shimmer Theresa leapt through it to the questioning but never surprised face of Hera.
"Hera! We need to get this woman to Chiron!" Theresa insisted, relieved that Hera was there but still overly stressed from her recent exertions.
"Theresa I…" Hera began calmly, but stopped and held a soft hand to her mouth when she saw the person Theresa was carrying. "Here my child, lay her down here and go get Chiron," Hera gestured to a lavishly embossed velvet chaise lounge covered with oversized pillows (retired gods know how to relax). Theresa placed the woman gently and ran further into the rooms to find Chiron.
"Antheia," Hera breathed as the maiden dropped her head on a plush pillow in exhaustion. She sat beside Antheia with her hands folded in her lap and looked at the small woman with the tenderness of a mother.
This was the scene the other six heroes entered upon, with Theresa coming in moments later accompanied by Chiron, when they stepped through the shimmering wall. "Let me see the lady,"Chiron said gruffly, clopping up to beside the make-shift bed and leaning in for a closer look.
"Well, she's no more injured than you all," he stated, including the heroes who had yet to mention their arrival, "but I will bring her something to help the headache she most certainly has, and you heroes should rest yourselves as well." He turned with a swish of his tail and four hoofed feet rang melodically after him.
The teens sat almost in unison on lush sofas and chairs scattered near the bed on which the brown-haired woman was lying. A contemplative silence hung between them until Jay spoke what was on everyone's minds.
"Who is she, Hera?"
Hera sighed and looked to the seven confused teenagers before her. "She is Antheia," she told them. By their faces she could tell that she had explained nothing, so she continued. "She is a Cretan goddess, and a dear friend of mine. This is the last place I expected to see her," Hera said, looking to Antheia and lapsing into fond memories. Cronus should not have been able to find her, to control her. "She is the goddess of vegetation, blossoms, gardens and human love," Hera added.
"Well that explains the killer plants," Herry said, scratching the back of his neck in a sheepish effort to allevitate the serious mood.
"'Killer plants'?" Hera questioned, amused at Herry's choice of words.
Jay almost kicked himself for not telling the queen of the gods what had happened before demanding questions of her. "We," he began, his eyes fleeting to Archie and Atlanta who were sitting on a red velvet couch and looked guilty when they felt his gaze, "found a clearing in the middle of the forest, where Antheia was directing the trees and flowers to attack us. Odie zapped the main source of control after we'd gotten Antheia, but the clearing began to shrink and we rushed here," Jay explained, trying his best to abridge the story.
Hera thought for a moment and looked up, her clear eyes demanding honesty but her stern mouth asking the hardest question to answer honestly: "why were you in the middle of the forest?"
Ten young eyes rested on Archie, waiting for the answer they knew should come, as Atlanta's lowered eyes and raised shoulders showed a shameful guilt. As if she hadn't put him through enough already, he now had to reply to a question whose embarrassing answer was her fault. She couldn't stand it.
Archie looked up and his strained face showed the battle occurring in his mind. How much should he tell Hera? Did he really want to pour out his heart in front of everyone? Was it really 'pouring out' his heart? He opened his mouth but just as he was about to choke out an answer Chiron came in with a small vial of magenta liquid.
"This should cure Antheia completely," he said, resting a hand on Hera's shoulder as if for comfort. He opened Antheia's mouth and poured in half the vial, standing back slightly to watch his creation work. He smiled as two sea green eyes opened and blinked as her head rose off the pillow.
"Hera!" Antheia cried in happiness and disbelief, wrapping her arms around her friend.
"Antheia," Hera smiled, laughing in her quiet way and returning the gesture.
The teens around the two couldn't help smiling as well, if a little in surprise. Hera barely ever showed such affection, especially to someone as seemingly young as the brown-haired woman Theresa had just brought in.
Antheia released Hera from the hug and looked around her curiously at the faces of the teens. Her sweet smile showed she remembered nothing from earlier in the day and Jay took up his leader role again to introduce everyone. Antheia smiled and nodded at each hero in turn before her eyes rested on Hera again.
"Dear friend, we should catch up," Hera smiled, though intending to find out about what Cronus had planned more than what Antheia had been doing for the thousands of years between their last meeting.
Hera turned to the teens and told them to go rest, and they took this cue to leave and headed back to the brownstone. Each one was exhausted and still slightly confused about what had happened, though they knew Hera would explain everything in full to them the next day.
As they arrived at the brownstone everyone filed in and headed straight to their rooms, though before Archie could get through the door he felt a tug on his wrist.
Turning, he saw Atlanta holding him and felt her pull him away from the door and back onto the sidewalk. Suddenly he flushed as memories of the morning came back to him and Atlanta's answer to his dreaded question. He slipped out of hero mode and back into teen mode, and his current inner teen was terribly conflicted. Though his angerhad evaporated, it was beginning to be replaced by shame and sadness.
Before any of his feelings could be physically shown, however, Atlanta spoke up. "I just wanted to apologize to you Archie," she said, taking his other hand in hers so she was holding both and looking up at him, "for everything. I was just…" Atlanta's stomach was twisting and she thanked the darkness for preventing her cheeks from being seen.
Archie smiled and stared into her eyes. Her gorgeous cobalt eyes that shone in the moonlight with hope and pleading and made him forget everything that had happened that day, for a single perfect moment.
"It's okay Atlanta," he said, smirking. "I think I'm willing to give you another chance."
The end! Unless you really want one more chapter, which is just Hera explaining things, though even I haven't gotten some things explained yet --; I hope this fic was enjoyable! I liked writing it, first fic ever! Hurrah! Reviews love
