Plight Of Olympus

SEVEN: ERASED MEMORIES.

I was drowning…

I was breathing in water and struggling for air, when all of a sudden, my conscious mind whisks away and memories flash through my eyes, unfolding like a story tale.

  I saw myself from another person’s point of view; as a baby, then growing up, and all the events that unfolded afterwards. It started out with laughter, chatters and faces with pleasant smiles. I saw Aunt Jane, but she looked different… younger and more vibrant. I saw a man that I shared looks with… this must be Zeus. And then I saw a striking replica of myself… this must be my mother.

Everything kept unfolding in front of my eyes like I was watching a TV series. But I knew this was real. All these, were my very own memories.

    But then came the ugly part.

I saw my father, Zeus, in a quarrel with Hades. A massive explosion rocked the whole castle and all of a sudden, a three year old version of me, was cradled in my mother’s arms, running through the snow.

The place was a desert of snow but I felt my mother’s determination as she plummeted through the thick cold and fog. “We’re almost there, Caterisa. We’re almost there…” she softly whispered, the strong wind threatening to null her velvety voice.

A tear ran down my cheeks as my mother finally fell to the ground, succumbing to the harsh, unforgiving snow. She looked up at the sky, her voice barely above a murmur.

“Extremum spiritum meum, ut non sumam ego oro ad caelum favourem. Ex cinere surge vocat salvatoren. Ab mihi facultates, oriri filiae meae…”

This is the last of my spirit, so I will pray to the heavens for a favor. From the ashes rises a savior. From my abilities, rise my own daughter’s.

   Her voice echoed in the wind, and her sky blue eyes turned icy white.

Again, I was whisked away, and found myself facing a friendly face with ocean blue eyes. This has to be Poseidon. “I see you’ve tapped into your real memories, Caterisa. Olympus has waited long enough. I wish I could stay and have a proper conversation, but I’m afraid we don’t have much time. The realms await. Find the stones of guidance, and the spirit of Pegasus… they both will guide you to the first realm. Good luck.” His voice sounded far away, even though his body was right in front of me.

   A figure materialized out of thin air, and my brows furrowed as I took in the familiar blonde hair and soft features. Aunt Jane stood next to Poseidon, with a sad smile.

“Aunt Jane…” I screamed just as I felt a darkness pull me away from the visions and I was back again to the present. Gurgling, and breathing in water.

 I felt the weight on the back of my head that was keeping me underwater lift, and someone helped me up as I struggled to get oxygen into my lungs.

   “Woah… that was badass!” the familiar voice of Zach pulled me out of my coughing fit and I glared up at him, my washed out chestnut hair sticking to my face.

Silver swarmed into view with a big grin as if she didn’t just drown me in whatever that magical bowl contained.

  “Well, you look ravishing…” she teased, attempting to push my wet hair out of my face. I swatted her hand away.

“Geez… grand mummy’s bowl didn’t treat someone nicely” she giggled, eyeing Zach as they burst out in another round of goofy laughter for the second time that day, high-fiving each other.

     “I almost drowned!” I huffed in annoyance.

  “But you didn’t…” Zach retorted, as he yet again started a new round of laughter. He looked like a stupid hyena.

Without much thought, I grabbed the bowl that was right in front of me and dumped the contents on Zach, earning silence from him, and a shocked expression from Silver which quickly turned into another fit of laughter.

I glared back at her, and she swiftly kept mute, still struggling to hide her amusement.

  “You better rejoice that there isn’t a second bowl on this table…” I growled out.

“Now you sound like a daughter of Zeus.” She pointed out with a slight grin.

    Zach sighed in defeat and shrank back to the other end of the restaurant. “She sure has his anger…” he grumbled before retreating back to the main restaurant, where I could still hear the bustles of activities going on.

   I looked back up at Silver, and almost fell off my chair. Her hair glowed fiery red, and so did her eyes as they glazed over. She looked eerily familiar as a voice that was hers, but also a mixture of thousand others, reverberated and echoed all around me. Her lips weren’t moving, but I could hear the voices as they chanted in unison…

 “Daughter of Zeus, bearer of the burden, we welcome you aboard your quest. Time is against you, as it is always against other heroes. You must journey soon to Olympus. Seek help where you find two siblings, and beware of the scream of Euryale. The daughters of Hecate…”

Silver dropped down to her knees, and bowed her head in respect as the voices completed…

“…are at your service.”

*****     *****     *****

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   I slept over at Silver’s house, and we spent half the night discussing on how, and where to start the journey. I asked her more questions and she cleared most of my doubts. Zach didn’t like the idea of the quest but he knew it was something that Silver had to do. It was a responsibility she had to carry out.

I learned that her mother had passed away a year ago, and she was living with her brother and uncle, the three of them managing the family business.

The world felt surreal to me. Like everything that was happening was just a dream I was going to wake up from. But part of me, a huge part of me knew that I had to do this. I wanted answers, I wanted to meet my father, I wanted to find Helen and Diana, and I wanted to bring whoever caused Aunt Jane’s death to justice.

    It wasn’t even about the war. I couldn’t care less if the Olympians destroyed themselves. All I wanted was to find my sister and my best friend, find out the truth on what happened to my real mother, and find somewhere I belonged to.

I rolled over and out of the blanket Silver gave me. Although she kept insisting I sleep on the bed, I couldn’t deprive a sixteen year old of a good night’s rest, so I decided to bunk out on the old couch.

 I had a dreamless slumber as my mind drifted in and out of consciousness. When the sun rose, I still felt tired and worn out. But I was determined.

I have to do this… I reminded myself.

  We had breakfast and got ready. I wore the washed out black jeans that I packed in my backpack, and Silver handed me a pastel t-shirt with black cats printed on it. I didn’t like the color, but I took it gratefully, glad that I didn’t have to repeat the grey shirt I wore yesterday.

 I stood by the doorway, as Silver said goodbye to Zach and her uncle. They both took turns hugging her, and I swear I saw tears in the corner of Zach’s eyes, but he looked away before I could confirm it, and stalked back into the house.

   “Don’t miss me too much!” Silver shouted at him, trying to mask her own sadness.

“I’m not gonna miss you at all!” he retorted back, but I could clearly feel, and hear the sadness and pain of saying goodbye in his voice.

I sighed.

  “Silver, you don’t have to do this you know… you don’t have to come with me. I can locate Olympus myself.”  I tried, and she quickly cut me off with a wave.

“Nonsense! You wouldn’t last a day out in the open without me. Plus, you don’t know a thing about the quest… you need a daughter of the moon to guide you.” She protested in a jesting manner.

“You do know how to drive right?”

“Yes.” I answered in defeat.

“Purrrfect. Let’s get going.”

  With that, we got in her uncle’s rusty old truck, and headed for Alverton, leaving the town of Millstone behind and driving even further away from Evenwood.