Chapter 34: Meeting the Grandparents
On the River Styx in the Greek Underworld there was a trio aboard a small ship being piloted by a ferryman who was a loyal servant of Hades. The trio was the amazon sister duo of Artemis and Alexa, along with a seven year old Lincoln. They were on a journey to the Celtic Otherworld to visit the parents of the sisters. Despite their mother being Greek and an Amazon. She died with her husband's pantheon for which she was adopted into when they married. After a night in which Artemis explained her birth parents to her nephew months ago. Artemis brought up the topic to her sister. And she convinced her to visit their parents in the Otherworld. Alexa was excited about seeing her parents again for Lincoln to meet them. Alexa was overjoyed but much of that joy was tempered by the event of two months prior. Persephone ended their relationship. It was abrupt and unexpected. Alexa believed their pairing was both passionate and secure. Persephone was the one who initiated the relationship and she recalled Persephone spending a lot of time with Lincoln and they got along with each other greatly. She did suspect that unexplained departure from the relationship had something to do with Lincoln in the aspect she believed Lincoln had something to do with Persephone's initiation of their relationship. Alexa chose not to dwell on it anymore. What happened between the two is in the past and should stay there. After the train of thought ended they entered the gateway to the Celtic Otherworld. After the passage the scenery made a change which was contrasting to what the Greeks were used to. It was a forest meadow scenery of lush green, blooming with life in both fauna and flora. The river went from a dirty green to clear bluish color and in the water fish can be seen swimming next to the ferry they are aboard. Their ride continued for one hour and a half. They stopped along the bank of the river that revealed a narrow dirt path cutting into the forest. The ferryman informed the trio that they will come upon their relative's Otherworld residence in a walk which will take ten minutes to reach. They disembarked from the craft and trekked through the path until they reached a small villa in the style of the homes of the Gallic celts lived in when the Romans were in contact with those tribes. In the adjacent yard there was a large garden devoted to flowers and other plants that were not recognizable to the trio. In that garden was a beautiful woman with long black hair and olive skin attending to the flowers with a small bucket of water. Artemis and Alexa recognize her and call out to her in perfect unison to one another.
"Mother!" Exclaimed the two.
The woman turned around quickly and stared and the trio with her mouth opened in shock. Her widened eyes revealed green eyes which were the same shade as Alexa and Artemis. The woman dropped her bucket spilling the remaining water and sprinted towards her daughters for whom she hasn't laid eyes on for centuries. She grabbed them both in a tight hug with both her adult children. Artemis and Alexa returned the hug for they were overcome with emotion to see their mother in so long. Tears flowed from their eyes. After minutes of their embrace, they separated and began to talk. Alexa introduced Lincoln as her son and her mother in return introduced herself as Myra. And asked him to call her grandmother. Their little reunion was cut off by Artemis asking where their father was. Myra explained that their father was training in a small clearing east in the forest which was a three minute walk. Artemis took Lincoln along with her. Because she wanted to be there to introduce the first other male Lincoln will meet for the first time in his life. After Artemis and Lincoln disappeared into the tree line. Myra questioned Alexa about Lincoln.
"I discovered him washed ashore on Themyscira and I have been raising him ever since with Artemis." Alexa explained to her mother.
"Does Lincoln know he's adopted?" Myra asked in curiosity.
"No. I plan on telling him when he is much older so he can handle it. " Alexa responded.
"The opposite is true." Myra said to her daughter.
"What?" Alexa asked in confusion.
"It is better to find out sooner than later. It is better for a child to grow up knowing he is adopted than to discover much of life has been a lie and he'll have much of his worldview and foundation of what he believes to be true in his heart shatter. It is hard and uncomfortable to explain but it is better to be sooner than later. If you keep waiting until he is older he is going to end up discovering the truth eventually whether he stumbles upon it or you yourself make a slip or one of our sisters makes a passing comment not knowing he was present. We all are women. We cannot give birth to males. All it takes is for one slip of that knowledge for Lincoln to discover the truth in the worst way. You must tell him." Myra concluded her statement explaining her reasoning to her youngest daughter.
Alexa looked at her mother with great tiredness in her eyes and responded with hesitation in her voice.
"Mother, I greatly respect your opinion and the wisdom you bestowed to Artemis and I during our upbringing but I wish to reveal the Truth to Lincoln my way."
Her mother acknowledged and respected her daughter's choice and chose to move on to a different subject. But at that moment they began to discuss Persephone. Artemis along with a tall redhead muscular man with Lincoln on his right shoulder and a sheathed sword in his left hand. She recognized the man as her father and ran up to him and embraced him. The man returned with wrapping his left arm around her with his sword still in his hand. The reunited family enjoyed the week in the underworld with training, feasting, relaxing and swimming in the nearby river as a family together. Lincoln got to know his grandparents very well and took sparing lessons from his Celtic grandfather.