Past

Archon was awake from sleep by the sound of Agapa and Chara calling him. He sat up. The sudden movement disturbed Apollymi, who was lying next to him. She stirred but he ushered her back to sleep. He got up and went to see what his daughters wanted. He flashed to the woods they were residing in with their mother and Mintha. As soon as they saw him, Chara and Apaga crowded him.

"She's gone!" cried Apaga.

"We can't find her!" said Chara.

"What are you two talking about?" He looked pass the girls and Meliae to search for Mintha as he automatically did. A cold chill touched his spine when he couldn't locate her.

Archon reached out to grab Meliae. She was pale and shaking in terror since he arrived. "Where's Mintha?"

"I-I don't know!" stuttered Meliae. She shook her head in denial. "It's not my fault! I-I did nothing wrong!"

Archon released her. When she dropped to the ground, she wrapped her arms around her and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Mintha was supposed to tell mother about you and um... your marriage." explained Chara.

"And?" he pressed.

"She didn't get the chance to tell her." Apaga said cryptically.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

The girls flinched at his tone.

"We don't know." they said in unison.

Archon pulled Meliae from the ground. "You did something to her."

"This is your fault! You ruined our friendship!" Meliae accused him.

"What you two had was not friendship. You despised her because she was superior to you in every way. We all know it." he nodded toward their daughters.

Chara and Apaga remained silent.

"It wasn't like that in the beginning. I loved her. You came and tempted me. You made my feelings for her change."

Archon probed Meliae's mind. Mintha and Meliae first met when Mintha saved her life. She developed a fascination with Mintha since then on. She did love her as she had claimed but that was before he entered their little world. Meliae grow envious of the attention Mintha was receiving from him. It didn't help that Mintha was unaware of her own appeal or Archon's attraction to her. Meliae started treating Mintha indifferently whenever he wasn't around. When she gave birth to the twins, Mintha was there to help her raise them. She'd hurt Chara and Apaga physically, believing they loved Mintha more than her, like Archon did. She'd tell them lies about him and blame them for him not visiting often enough. He saw everything leading up to her selling Mintha to the stranger. Furious, he grasped her throat and squeezed. She resigned to her fate without resisting and kept her eyes open, wishing for him to be the last image she saw.

Archon stopped reminiscing about the past. He spoke about Meliae to Mintha earlier to get her out of the way. He assumed Mintha would have already sensed that Meliae had died. Nymphs couldn't live as long as them. Let her think it was a natural death. Chara and Apaga are too frightened of him to confess to Mintha that he murdered their mother in cold blood and lied about the origins of their birth to everyone. Those who know the truth are long dead, except for Mintha but he doubt she'd tell anyone. Their secrets will remain between the four of them.

Archon waited awhile until Chara and Apaga walked Mintha to him. They gave him a dutiful bow before turning away. He could breathe easily now that the woman in his heart was here. He had spent thousand years in silent pain because of her. His heart was broken after she went missing, especially since he was the cause. He searched across the world for her but couldn't locate her whereabouts. As the years passed, he met and loved many women but she had always lingered in the back of his mind.

He assessed Mintha's form and had to asked, "Why are you a child?"

"I woke up like this." she said. She didn't know the reason herself and could only give them that answer.

"This is not your body." He observed. The person who crafted this form for her was skilled but he knew it wasn't her original body. Could this was the reason he couldn't locate her before?

She looked up at him with watery eyes that pierced his chest and replied, "My body was stolen."

"We'll find it." he promised.

Archon was aware that Mintha was not human, not a god, nor a demon. He didn't know what sort of creature she truly was but one thing's for sure. She was special to him. If only Mintha showed interest in developing a romantic relationship, just a little, things would have been different between them. Unfortunately, it was clear she had no feelings for him other than platonic friendship. But that was in the past when she was a pure being, unaware of the outside world nor did she comprehend relationships. It was ironic how in her adult form, Mintha was usually calm and detached. She was blank-faced and indifferent toward others. Yet, in her child form, she had matured mentally. She was displaying emotions and speaking more than he had ever witnessed. It was refreshing.

Mintha thought of the conversation she had with Chara and Apaga before she came to Archon. Their words were cryptic but she and Melinoe understood their meaning. The sisters more or less told them to leave. It was not safe in Atlantis. Mintha heed their warnings to leave Atlantis but not before speaking with Archon. Even then, Apaga advised Mintha not to speak with him for too long, while Chara plead with Melinoe to watch over Mintha. Melinoe was secretly hiding nearby. She didn't trust Archon and wouldn't let Mintha be alone with him.

"Thank you for your offer but there's no need for your assistance. I'll find my body on my own. Besides, you must have more important matters to attend to." said Mintha.

"You are important to me, Mintha." Archon waved his hand in the air and Mintha's adult body appeared before her.

Mintha's mouth fell open. It was a marbled statue of her adult version. She circled around the statue, touching the smooth surface, and taking in the details of her likeness. She felt a light push on her back and her vision went blank. When she opened her eyes, she noticed two things. Archon was standing eye level to her and her younger version was lying lifelessly at her feet.

Archon pulled Mintha into a kiss as she registered that she was inside the statue. Their kissed broke when they heard Melinoe shouting Mintha's name.

Melinoe appeared from hiding place and flashed beside them and was shaking Mintha's younger form.

"Mintha, wake up!" Melinoe desperately plea.

"Melinoe, I'm here."

Melinoe carried Mintha's younger body in her arms as she stood up. She studied Mintha's adult face and compared it to the young version she was familiar with. There was no doubt about the resemblance. Mintha was incredibly cute as a child. As an adult, she was captivating beauty unlike any Melinoe had seen. She understood Mintha when she said she was taller. Mintha was impressively tall compared to Melinoe. This must be the version of Mintha that Archon was fixated on.

"Archon pushed me in here." said Mintha.

Melinoe shook out of her trance to glare at Archon. He had his arms wrapped around Mintha without a hint of letting go. She made Mintha's young, empty vessel disappear to free her arms.

"Let me look at you!" said Melinoe.

Melinoe brushed Archon's arm off Mintha and inserted herself between them. Archon shifted to the side to make room for her. Melinoe caught him studying her in amusement and lowered her head to avoid his gaze. The smirk on his lips made her wonder if he might have recognized her or was he appreciating her beauty.

Melinoe and Mintha exchanged looks, debating internally on what to do. They smiled brightly as an idea hit both of them at the same time. Feign ignorance.

"Let's find Chara and Apaga-" said Mintha.

"To show them your body!" finished quickly Melinoe.

The two women flashed out of Atlantis and back to Melinoe's bedroom in the Underworld. They didn't fear Archon. They only didn't want his attention on Melinoe. She had a knack for attracting relentless suitors. Calamity would befall on her during their pursuit for her hand. The first one abducted her from her home, activating the prophecy that foretold of her demise. The second one also abducted her while she was in the human realm. She was certain that he was responsible for her losing her sanity and going on a murderous rampage that ended in her being chased down and exile.

Melinoe had received a second chance in life as a goddess demon hybrid. This was a new beginning for her to create her own destiny and to be free of a doomed prophecy. She desired peace while she familiarized herself with the alterations her body had underwent during her absence. She wasn't going to let Archon or anyone else interfere with it.

Mintha spoke first. "We might be exaggerating about this situation with Archon. I tried to eat him when we first met and he didn't seem to mind. Perhaps, he wouldn't mind what you did too."

Melinoe is usually unfazed by anything but Mintha kept surprising her.

"You tried to eat him? Do you mean as in his flesh?" Melinoe asked as she saw Mintha in a different light.

"Yes," answered Mintha.

"How much of his flesh?"

"A bite."

Melinoe gasped in disbelief. Mintha must have caught him off guard like Melinoe did. From what she had witnessed, Archon truly was attracted to adult Mintha. He couldn't keep his hands or lips off her.

"You tried to eat him and he became obsessed with you." Melinoe thought back to that moment in time when she encountered Archon. "He had that same smirk on his face when I stabbed him. Not to mentioned he's married to Apollymi, a well-known deadly goddess. Mintha don't you see, he's attracted to strong women."

Mintha grasped the dangerous situation Melinoe was in. A feeling of dread overcame her. She couldn't stop but think back to the chilling encounter she had with Meliae's Shade. While she was impersonating Melinoe, she had met with Meliae's Shade in the Underworld many years ago. She recognized her old friend wondering in a path and went after her. When she accidentally touched the Shade, she witnessed Meliae's last memory, her death. She was murdered by the man she loved. The disturbing memory was the only thing that flooded Meliae's mind. It replayed over and over again. Mintha had to release the Shade to gather her bearings for she had experienced an emotion that she had never felt before. Sorrow.

In the past, Mintha was not aware of many things nor did she was mentally capable of understanding them. As she lived the life of Melinoe she had learned and comprehended what had happened before. She accepted the truth that Meliae despised her because she had Archon's attention. Even so, she still cared for Meliae and was sadden by how poorly Archon treated her and discarded her.

"What are we going to do?" asked Mintha

Melinoe had taught Mintha what true friendship was. She would never forgive Archon if he hurt Melinoe.

"I'm not going back to Atlantis and neither are you."

"But what about this," Mintha pointed at herself as in the statue she was inside.

Melinoe snapped her fingers to summon the younger version of Mintha's body. The empty vessel grow and transformed into an adult version of Mintha.

"You can possess this one and return that one back to Archon. We have to go back to Atlantis, but it has to be brief, and give it back as soon as possible. He is a sneaky bastard. I have a feeling that if you stay in this statue too long, something unfortunate will happen to you."

Mintha agreed because she trusted Melinoe's judgement. Melinoe tried to remove Mintha's Shade from the statue but it wasn't working.

"He trapped you in it." Melinoe concluded.

They flashed to Chara and Apaga, who were surprised by their reappearance.

"What are you two doing back here?" Chara said in a soft whisper as if she was afraid someone would overhear her.

"Leave now!" Apaga squealed in fright.

Melinoe reacted by grabbing Mintha's hand to go. Archon suddenly appeared on Mintha's other side and snatched her from Melinoe.

"Mintha, where did you go? I thought I lost you again!" he said as he embraced her.

Chara and Apaga sent Melinoe a look of silent plea for help. 'LEAVE,' one of them mouthed behind Archon. The sisters didn't want Mintha there for a reason. Melinoe was trying to come up with a good explanation to separate them but it was too late. He vanished with Mintha.