Finally, I have finished this chapter. I'm sorry for the wait. But at least, you have been warned. It was very difficult to write it. I hope you will enjoy it!

Chapter 17: Asclepius

The world had been shaken. The rules had been broken. The powers of the gods had been diminished. Nothing was ever the same again.

All because Asclepius had found the secret of resurrection. A forbidden fruit.

Apollo was sat on his throne, waiting and plunging into a deep reflection. The last issues were too serious to be ignored. Anger boiled in his blood. Worries grew in his bones. Anxiety submerged his heart. But determination took control of his head.

In the room, Delphina stood up on his right side. She insisted to be here. She didn't like the state of Apollo. She couldn't guess how he felt. He acted like the weather. Completely unpredictable. He could be good like the sun he represented or be like a storm with the temper he inherited from his father, the God of Thunder.

Clearly, she didn't feel reassured. "Apollo…" She spoke. "Please…"

"Shush!" He rudely told her with a sign of his hand. He wasn't in the mood to hear her opinion right now. She just needed to trust him to be fair.

They waited a few minutes before the main doors opened. Asclepius entered. He advanced with a cold face and no fear, confident and ready to face his own father.

Delphina trembled inside in the presence of the palpable tension between them.

"You wanted to speak with me, Father?" Asclepius dared to begin. "Then, speak."

Apollo would not let the arrogance of his own protégé get under his skin. With deep seriousness, he replied. "Indeed, we need to talk about your new "habit" and the rules you transgressed."

"I know what you think, Father. But I refuse to say that what I do is wrong. With my new powers, I brought a lot of happiness to so many people. I also corrected many injustices done to innocent people."

"You were already doing it with your healing powers... But resurrection is not healing. You went too far."

"Can you care to explain why it is too far? Why the gods should be immortal, spared from death but not the humans?"

"Watch your tongue, Son!" Apollo became angry. "You are not the one to decide what is fair or not!"

"Because you are?! You think it is fair to let a young child die before experimenting all the great joys of life?!"

"Don't forget who you are talking to!"

"I will talk to you with respect only if you earn it!"

"Please, both of you, stop right now!" Delphina finally dared to interfere between the two men she loved the most. She was starting to crumble, unable to see them tearing each other apart with their sharp words. "Asclepius, please, listen to us. And Apollo, please! Act like the God of Reason you are!"

The goddess owned the advantage to represent a huge soft spot of both proud men. Consequently, they listened. And so, Asclepius closed his mouth to look at his father.

Deciding to let his paternal side get outside, he finally gave up on his anger to express his worries. "I love you, My Son." He confessed. "I'm not mad at you for only trying to do what you think is right. But I am worried. So is your godmother. Playing with the powers of the Fates is not natural not even for us, the gods. The punishments you could meet will be awful. And I would have no control over it. So, I am going to ask you this… Stop. For the love of us, please renounce to pursue this madness."

Asclepius hesitated. He was proud and didn't wish to bend to his father's will so easily. But he was also wise and could comprehend these arguments.

He also looked at his godmother. Her fear was easy to see. She was afraid for his safety and begged him with her eyes to understand. This also reminded him the fact that he was himself a father and he had a family to think of.

And so, he said. "I promise that I will."

…

Once Asclepius left the palace, the ineluctable conversation between Delphina and Apollo came to happen.

"I'm afraid." The goddess confessed.

Alerted, the god stood up and approached her. He took her chin and brought her to look at him. Chills ran in her body as he stared at her with seriousness but tenderness as well.

"Delphina… My son is not someone foolish. He will understand. We can trust him."

She nodded. "I know. I just have this bad feeling something terrible will happen no matter what. It is irrational but it doesn't want to leave my mind alone. I'm sorry!"

Apollo growled inside. All he wanted was to hug her very tight in his arms. To hold her strongly to reassure her and make her world safe and protected. He hated to see this stress in her eyes. But he didn't want to abuse of her affections neither. Back in the case of Icarus 'death, they had been particularly close, but he thought she was just highly shocked and distressed. And so, more vulnerable to be approached, but right now, he wanted to respect her personal space.

Despite the fact he needed her own presence to reassure himself as a very worried father.

"It's ok. Let's just trust him, alright?" He prayed to be right.

…

Against his deepest desires, Asclepius had accepted to stop his practice of bringing people back from the Underworld. Easier said than done. It was almost impossible to bear the disappointment in the faces of the people who came to him with the bodies of their beloved in the hope to get them back just to see it being crushed.

Damn! It was really hard!

It made him mad against the gods! Why they had to be so unfair toward the mortals?! Yeah! He guessed that it would not be a good idea for the Earth to be overcrowded with people, but the Underworld was also overcrowded with dead people, so what was the difference anyway?

And the Underworld was worst. The worst part with death was the pain that came with not being able to pay to cross the Styx or the possibility of being separated forever of your loved ones if they didn't end up in the same area!

But Asclepius would be wrong to declare that gods didn't know the pain of death. They were not so hypocrite about it. They sometimes got attached to mortals whom they lost forever to Hades…

Asclepius himself never met his own mother.

He was confused. He didn't know what to do. But he knew that he had a family to care about so he decided to concentrate on it to help him to keep his word to his father.

…

Artemis couldn't believe what a mess she was viewing. How one of her most loyal servant got badly treated for ridiculous reasons.

Her follower, Hippolytus, Prince of Athens, refused to honor Aphrodite because he had sworn to stay chaste as her own loyal servant. Something very understandable!

But no, she became hugely angry by this. After all, no man should ever attempt to resist her, according to her logics. Consequently, she decided to punish him by making his stepmother, Phaedra, fell in love with him!

What a childish behavior!... Well, like most gods, Artemis wasn't in the right position to judge but it didn't matter in this moment!

She observed the young man. A handsome youth while inherited the sculpted body of his father, the curly black hair of his mother. He possessed a wild nature and a gift with the bow that made him a perfect follower of the Goddess of the Hunt.

He found himself face to face with his lustful stepmother, a beautiful woman with a tanned skin, brown hair attached in a bun and voluptuous lips that spoke words of seduction.

Disgusted, he pushed her strongly away from him, menacing to tell his father about the incident. Artemis became so proud of the fire in the attitude of her protégé.

Phaedra became not only truly upset by his rejection but also immensely scared by her husband's reaction. For sure, she would attract his terrible wrath on her.

And so, she committed suicide.

Artemis didn't blink an eye. She felt no compassion or whatsoever for this woman. Maybe she was only a collateral victim of Aphrodite's revenge. Still, she never gained any favor from her. Mainly because of how she betrayed her own sister, Ariadne, by taking her own promised fiancé, Theseus.

In fact, she would have even wished a worse death for this witch! Too bad, she never got to face her spouse. It would have been entertaining to watch!

But she underestimated how much she could despise this woman… Phaedra had dared to write a letter to her husband lying about Hippolytus trying to rape her just before taking away her own life. False!

Yet, she couldn't intervene in time. Devastated, when Theseus read the letter, he believed her and didn't even attempt to seek an explanation from his own blood. Since his own father, Poseidon, owed him three wishes, he used one of them to get his wrongly accused offspring to be killed.

And it happened very fast. Hippolytus was found lying down on the shore, completely dead.

Furious, Artemis had dared to say to Theseus the truth.

The pain through his eyes beat anything she had seen before. This constituted a real tragedy. The venerated king and hero fell on the floor screaming, cutting his skin with his nails and hitting loudly the walls. No one dared to intervene, too impressed by the demonstration of guilt, despair and suffering from the sovereign.

Here, there was a man who lost his wife to suicide. He believed he had been betrayed by his own son. Then, he just learned it was his wife the real responsible in this story and she falsely put the blame on her stepson… And now, he had murdered his own child!

His whole world had crumbled in one single day.

Artemis didn't stay unmoved. After all, she herself just lost one of her most loyal servant just because this bitch called Aphrodite couldn't tolerate a man worshipping another goddess more than her! To make worse, a virgin one!

And to be honest, Hippolytus 'death hurt Artemis 'heart as well. Since he had declared his loyalty, she had developed a good liking to this mortal. She didn't love him, of course no! But she had deeply favored him.

And she felt bad for not doing anything to protect him from the wrath of the Goddess of Beauty.

But wait! There was still something she could do. But… Would she dare? No! It was a bad idea! But… Maybe just one time?

Apollo would probably hate her for this but she wasn't the one holding the title of Deity of Reason and so she did go to Asclepius 'house.

Once there, the God of Medicine recognized his aunt. He looked at her. He waited for her to talk.

Despite still being hesitant, she spoke. "I need your help."

"For what?"

"It may sound unreasonable but… I have someone who left this world unfairly, victim of a tragic trap."

"I easily guess what you want me to ask."

He didn't seem shocked at all by the idea. Neither did he appear angry for her audacity. And for some reason, Artemis would have preferred for him to protest a little more.

Asclepius advanced to her. "I love you, My Aunt. I promised to stop doing this. But I can do a small exception for you if you ask for it."

And she did it. She asked for it.

And only after he delivered the task asked from her… Artemis realised the mistake and became invaded with shame.

…

It wasn't very long before Delphina heard the news about what Asclepius did. Ashamed, Artemis had dared to go to her to personally confess what happened. Horrified by the story, she didn't have the time to scold the Goddess of the Hunt. She thanked her for her honesty and, then, she ran very fast in direction of Epidaurus. She knew she would find him there.

She needed to have a conversation with him!

If he had difficulties to listen to his father, maybe it would be more effective with her. He had to understand!

And so, she debarked at his residence, her body trembling with anxiety mixed with anger! She finally spotted him outside, in his garden, collecting plants for his medicaments. She yelled. "Asclepius, we need to talk!"

The man sighed at her sight. The situation became complicated enough. But he probably deserved it. He let his basket on the ground and rose up to look at his godmother.

"Let me guess. It is about what I did with Hippolytus, Theseus 'son."

Well, the main subject came to the table very quickly. She replied. "So what? Are you going to pretend that you don't realise the gravity of what you did? Because it looks like you perfectly know that! So please! Tell me why!"

Delphina could hardly hide her deception and her worries in her voice. Asclepius was known for having a temper but he was still generally responsible.

Her godson finally responded. "Artemis asked for it. She is my aunt. I couldn't refuse her request."

"You lie! You had every right to refuse! She loves you. She would have respected your choice and you know that! You are only trying to find an excuse to cover your real motivation! And don't ever try to lie to me again! I know you very well since your birth!"

"I…" Asclepius cut himself. He hated to fight with his cherished godmother. Even more than with his father or his wife.

She had always been his role model. To be as generous, as kind and as useful as her had always been his ultimate goal. She remained the one he never wanted to disappoint. But that was he did. What a shame.

The worries in her eyes… They reached his soul. An expression he wanted to erase from her spirit. He realised that in his altruism, he had been selfish.

He sighed in his frustration. Finally, he said. "I'm sorry. I couldn't resist this opportunity. This opportunity to feel like a hero, once again. Deep inside, I wanted to keep my promise. Your arguments were truly valid and I recognize that. I thought that if Aunt Artemis asked for it, I could make an exception since she is an Olympian. You are right. I used her as an excuse. I'm sorry for this."

She knew he was sincere. She smiled. "Ah! Asclepius… You don't need to bring people back from death to be a hero. You are already one with all the people you succeeded to heal. Don't you see that? You surpassed your father in the art of medicine and you are surpassing myself in the concept of being good."

"Surpassing you? You exaggerate!"

"I have never broken a promise in order to do what I thought was right."

"You just never had the opportunity." He laughed.

"Maybe."

They reconciled. It felt so satisfying. Then, Asclepius concluded. "I'm very sorry for what I did. Now, I swear upon the Styx River that I will never resuscitate anybody once again."

She smiled widely. Everything was now forgiven and could now be forgotten. She opened her arms, ready to give a warming hug to her beloved godson when, suddenly, the sound of a thunderstorm cracked among the dark clouds in the sky. What was happening?

Delphina got no time to think. In the space of one second… A thunderbolt stroke quickly in front of her in a moment that would change her life forever.

The consequences happened just before her. Her skin felt the dangerous electricity. Because of the sound of the attack, her ears became deaf for some minutes. Time seemed to have stopped or turned slow. Her universe had emptied.

Silence.

And then, aware of what her eyes were seeing, she screamed!

…

One hour sooner

It was a very rare visit. So rare that everyone on Olympus wondered if he was really there or not. This dark man with a black hair and black beard. His skin so pale since he usually lived so far from the sunlight. A terrifying halo surrendered him.

He was Hades, God of the Underworld.

And he was angry. No! Furious! And he was determined to get a serious conversation with his brother.

"ZEUS!" He screamed, while storming inside the throne room after throwing the doors.

Sat on his throne, the King of the Gods remained calm. He had felt his sibling coming and so, no surprise covered his face. "It is so nice to receive such a rare visit from you, my dear brother."

"No time for formalities! We need to talk about your grandson, Asclepius. He did it again!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what! He brought another soul from my realm back to the world of living. You told me that your son made him promise to not do it again. He didn't listen. We cannot continue to let this demigod go unpunished! You have to do something."

Zeus tried to remain calm. But damn, he hated the quarrels within his own family! But in his position, he could never avoid them. He spoke. "It happened only one time. Maybe he will never redo this after this one time."

"And what if he doesn't? One soul left is already one soul too much. The more he will do this, the more the mortals will think they are immortal, at the same level than us. Also, don't forget the importance of the balance of this world. Life and death are essential to the well-functioning of this universe. We cannot allow the world of living to be overcrowded and you know that! If Asclepius continue to do that without any consequence, then, he will think he can challenge us! You don't want this to happen, Zeus, do you?"

This pinched Zeus 'pride grandly. He understood that his brother got a serious point. When he took the command over the universe, he set rules that were meant to be unbreakable and he always showed no mercy over those who dared to defy him.

He stood up. He then commanded a thunderbolt to appear in his hand. Then, he said. "I promise you, Hades. It will not happen again."

…

It was sad.

Apollo swore it was the toughest event he had ever faced: to watch his own son's body burn in a funeral pyre. The worst was that the body was already burnt. Burnt brutally by the power of the thunderbolt.

Losing your child in the hands of your own father… Not a pain he had wanted to experiment.

But that wasn't the worst burden on his shoulders. He looked at each person close to him. Asclepius 'wife seemed too occupied to comfort her children. The widow got the support of her family to help her in this difficult process, so Apollo didn't dare to add himself. He had to cope with his sister who had become overtook by guilt since she was the one who allowed the deceased one to break his promise.

Apollo wasn't mad at her. He loved her and understood she never wanted this to happen. And if she needed any punishment, the huge shame she experimented was heavy enough on her soul.

But the worst came from someone he cared so much for… Delphina.

She stared blankly at the pyre. It stressed him to not know what she was thinking. After all, she just saw her own godson being atrociously killed quickly in front of herself!

He felt reassured to know that she hadn't been too affected physically by the thunderbolt, since she had stood so close.

Still, psychologically… "Delphina." He tried to talk to her.

She didn't answer. Her gaze didn't move from its focus on the fire. The God of the Sun didn't like it one bit. He had the impression to talk to a ghost. Delphina was usually to one to be there to help the others, not the distressed one! To watch her plunged in such a deep trauma just added pain in his already broken heart.

"Delphina…" He tried again. He needed to hear her voice. He just lost his son! He didn't want to lose her pleasant joy as well!

But nothing. Her lips remained locked and she didn't even send him a stare. Like if her spirit had left her body.

He gave up…for the moment. He needed her but she needed time.

His anger mixed with his sadness.

He watched at the body on fire. His Asclepius… Being mortal, he knew that he was at risk to be lost forever. Still, how he could accept that he would never again see this once a time ago small child?

On the other side, he felt frustrated. He had warned him! Why did he have to be so stupid?! Why?! Why did he have to be killed without any form of trial by the way?!

Again, he needed to control his emotions. But to control it didn't mean to erase this burning fire inside him destroying his heart and representing his pain and anger!

…

Many days passed. Delphina still hadn't talked to him. The ghost of Asclepius haunted both of them deeply. But he suspected that his beloved friend suffered more than him. Each time he approached her, trying to bond with her through their grief, she just ignored him.

Here he was, lying down in his bed, prisoner of his dark thoughts. Torn between his worries for a woman he dearly liked, the pain of having lost his son and his anger at his father for being the cause of his torment.

A thunderstorm raged outside: the perfect representation of what happened inside his head. The rain was the tears he wanted to cry, the thunder was the screams he wanted to shoot, the wind was the power he wanted to show.

He tried to sleep but he couldn't. He couldn't chase away from his mind the good memories of him, Delphina and Asclepius together. He never realised until now how these moments had been perfect. What a fool he had been to take this happiness for granted!

Apollo was a god. An Olympian god! One of the most powerful ones! And by definition, there was nothing he hated more than feeling powerless. Yet, this was how he could describe his actual situation!

He closed his eyes, his head on his pillow, praying for Morpheus to bless him with some hours of peace.

When suddenly, he heard steps penetrating inside his bedroom. This made him open his eyes. No one besides his most trusted servants was allowed inside his private room. And still, they needed his permission to enter. They would never dare to come in the middle of the night, unless they desired to face an unimaginable punishment. And if it was an emergency, they would knock on the door first.

The stranger advanced towards his bed. In a fast move, he raised his torso, took his bow and arrow nearby and prepared himself to shoot. But when he turned, he was welcomed by a familiar scream.

"No! Please!"

The light of the thunderbolt illuminated the beauty of her face. He recognized her. "Delphina?" He lowered his bow, not wanting to scare her. Seeing her in her lovely night dress made his heart beat fast. But seeing her tears wetting her eyes made his protective instinct fully activated. "What are you doing here?"

She trembled uncontrollably. Ashamed, she lowered her chin and hesitantly responded. "I cannot sleep." This was the first real sentence he heard from her mouth since the tragedy.

She cried again when a louder thunder resonated. She desperately called. "I need you!"

Thank you for reading!

I'm sorry for finishing on a cliffhanger! The chapter was supposed to be longer but I just decided to cut there instead.

For Hippolytus 'death, there are many other alternative versions, I just picked the one I preferred to use.

I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, no hint for the next chapter since the following myth is obvious. I don't know if I will be fast or slow for the writting of the next chapter so, I cannot promise anything. But it will arrive for sure.

See you soon!