More Greek Times

Aftermath: Part 1

Well, the festival came and went. I don't think having quite the party would be so overwhelming, but it was. In a good way though. All of Rome had a lot to celebrate after all, the defeat of the Egyptian gods, Icarus renouncing himself as a god, and the Greek gods accepting their roles as Roman gods. I know that the festival was originally meant to celebrate my birthday, but I kind of liked it being for Rome's victory. My friends and I had a lot of fun, although I don't really remember most of what happened during the festival. It was that wild, y'know?

Also, if you're curious, after Icarus had given the Greek gods their Roman names for the Roman Pantheon, word got out on the real city he ended up creating. And while he may not have finished his actual model city, Herodotus was impressed with the real city Icarus did create and the Roman names for the Pantheon of gods that pretty much pleased everyone; Our teacher found out from a letter delivered to him thanks to a little help from my good friend Hermes -oh! Sorry! I mean Mercury. Definitely going to have to remember to call him that whenever I'm in Rome.

And speaking of the messenger of the gods...

As the festival went on, I found myself overlooking the western sky on a hill that overlooked Rome as the sun began to set over the ocean to relax after partying so much. It was nice having the alone time to quietly celebrating the end of my birthday, but I found myself being joined by someone in my solitude. Someone who I recognized immediately after hearing the sound of small, feathered wings flying behind me. Not that I minded his company though. It's been a while since he and I had a good talk.

"Pretty swell shindig they got for you, babe." Hermes said.

"Yeah, but I just needed a bit of space from it all." I told him. "I get uncomfortable when so many people bump into me."

"And I highly respect that." Hermes told me as he sat a few inches away from me. "Which is why I'm gonna give you the space you need while I join you."

"Thank you, Mercury." I told him before laughing at the thought. "Geez, it's gonna be weird calling you that."

"You don't have to if you don't wanna, Aramina." Hermes said to me before he realized how dorky my new name sounded to him. "See, that, that right there, I won't get used to calling you that either."

"How about we just call each other by the names we know the other as?" I suggested. "Just Hermes and Aria?"

Hermes smiled at that suggestion. "Kinda like the sound of that."

We had a small laugh before we watched the sunset together. It was a peaceful moment just between the two of us, one I enjoyed since I started living in this world. It feels like with all the crazy adventures I get myself into, I hardly have enough time to bask in peaceful moments like this. Especially when it was spent with the one Olympian god I can tolerate more than the rest and just chill with him.

"So, wild day, huh?" Hermes asked me.

"Yeah, but it was a good one." I admitted.

"Oh, here. This is for you." he handed me a small box. "Happy birthday, babe."

"Oh, you shouldn't have." I accepted the small gift. "Thank you."

"Go on," Hermes said in excitement. "Open it."

I did as he said and opened up the box. Finding a small purple crystal the size of my fist inside of it. It was a beautiful little thing, and kind of reminded me of the crystals I used to collect back home. But how did Hermes know I like crystals? Like, I know he's probably overheard me be called 'Sapphire' by Hades when he used to do double shifts and deliver souls to the Underworld, but I never told him I had a thing for crystals and gems. Oh, well. Might as well impress him with my knowledge by identifying this pretty little thing.