An American soldier walked through the carnage of the aftermath of a battle forged by her brother. Her dark hair blowing wildly behind her. Her boysenberry eyes scanned the area in admiration stepping over the corpses of her "allies." She took a deep breath smelling the battle's nostalgic odor of gunpowder, blood, and feces. She smiled to herself,"Best one yet. Bet I can make one even better."

She heard the crinkling of paper under her foot and stopped. She backed up looking down at her feet. There lay a torn and mud ridden photo of a family. She frowned picking it up. A blonde woman holding a newborn baby. A redheaded girl looked over her mother's shoulder at the camera. All four had blue eyes.

She sighed looking across the battlefield finding a man taking his final breath. When she arrived she placed it in his pocket. He was green eyed and he too was a redhead, however one was an empty eyesocket. She examined the socket and eye noticing the regret in it and smiled.

"Shame. Leaving your children behind for your country. How will they feel now? Abandoned? Maybe with a little discord in their lives? All because papi went to war," she pat the pocket with the picture.

"If ever they do end up alone because your wife wasted away due to your passing. I promise to look after them. Cross my heart and hope to die with a bloody eye. You took that a little too seriously, eh soldier?" The man only looked at her with an unblinking eye and used his final breath to ask,"Who?"

With a maddening glint in her eye she responded,"Eris, nice to meet you."

She looked up at a hill. Someone stood there staring at her and she stood and stared back. The person held his arm in greeting and called,"Eris! Hermes here! Have a message!"

She scowled,'Not this idiot again.'

She walked up the hill,"What."

Hermes stared at her with a gleeful eyes that annoyed her. He flipped a scroll in his hand, one with a golden ribbon and smirked at her,"Hey, toots. Watcha doin'?"

"Hermes. . You. Want?"

He gave her a scroll,"From your mother. Wants you on Olympus pronto."

"Hera? What does she want me for?" she looked at the scroll in her hand. Hasn't Hera heard of text messages?

Hermes shrugged floating on his back midair arms behind his head,"Don't know. Don't care. But by the tone in her voice I'd say to go now."

Eris eyed him,"Why would she ask you to give me this instead of Iris?"

He stopped floating and faced her with defensive eyes,"Hey, I only send the messages. I don't know what they're about."

She gave him a lazy stare. Yeah, he was hiding something. She shrugged it off. It was easy to interrogate Hermes besides if Hera wanted her Eris wanted to know why. Years of being neglected by the Olympians made her bitter against them. Curiosity got her wondering what was so important that the prideful queen of the gods wanted to see a lowly, minor goddess.

She gave Hermes a drachma and walked off opening the scroll. Reading her mother's handwriting made a bittersweet feeling in her chest rise. She scowled and shoved it back down and began to read:

Eris,

I know we've had our tiffs in the past and we aren't on the best of terms now but I'd like to speak to you. It's important to me you being my daughter. Maybe you no longer see me as your mother but none the less I need you. If by any chance you refuse to come, I understand. But if you do I'll be in my garden near the fountain. Thank you for your time.

Best wishes,

Mom Hera

Eris scoffed. How awkward must it be not knowing if you could write the word mom on a letter to your own child? But there was something in the letter that drew her attention. Hera usually demanded an audience with someone but here she was giving Eris a choice and she'd be fine if she said no. She even admitted it. She needs her.

Eris looked up from the scroll with a raised eyebrow. Exactly what was Hera doing?