More Greek Times

Aftermath: Part 3

Well, I got out of the hospital about a day after... let's just call it "the incident", and after about five meals, I was back to being physically normal. But Hades had a point, what I did was awful. I needed help. So, for the past week, Hades put it upon himself to look for the best mortal therapists his money can buy. And he's the god of wealth, so his money's pretty good. But, while I appreciated his efforts to help me, I wasn't too sure. I've heard a lot of crap about how bad some therapists are and how they only care about their patients' money. I was only doing this to avoid being confined in the Underworld for the rest of my life.

And so, there I stood outside a simple home in Athens where vines and small asphodel bushes decorated the exterior, fitting for this so-called floral therapist. The building itself looked nice, but even the nicest buildings can be home to the most heartless of maniacs. Okay, yeah, so maybe I've been both spending way too much time around Panic and been having depressing thoughts ever since Mom died, but the skepticism is still there. I was nervous about meeting this therapist, especially since I felt that she'd treat my problems like a joke just so she could keep getting paid.

Fortunately, I had two someones standing there with me to help ease my worries. Or at least repress them long enough so I wouldn't crack under the pressure of bottling up my emotions.

Panic stared up at the building with a tilted head. "Is this the place?"

I looked down at the note with the building's address. "It says it is."

"What kinda therapist is this lady, anyway?" Pain asked me.

"Floral therapist." I answered. "She implements arranging flowers and conversation to help her patients be open and honest about their problems while they get to be at peace with the flowers they arrange."

"It's kinda weird." Pain gave an unsure shrug.

"You want us to go in with you?" Panic asked me before he started jumping to conclusions. "What if it won't be all that it's cracked up to be? W-what if this therapist actually sucks at her job?"

"Then Hades is wasting 200 drachmae for each session." I told him. "Look, I'll be fine. This is supposed to help me and my mental health."

Pain folded his arms. "I thought that was our job?"

"Your job is to keep me comforted, and I love that you guys do that," I tousled his hair. "But this is a little different than what you're used to doing."

"We still wanna help though." Panic stated with a sad pout.

"Well, maybe you can help by picking me up after my session so we could get food later?" I suggested.

The imps looked at each other for a minute before giving each other matching grins.

"Throw in some hot gossip about your therapist, and you got yourself a deal, sister." Pain told me.

Works for me.

"I'll be finished in about two hours." I gave them each a hug before heading into the building. "Don't be late."

"Good luck." the imps waved me off.

I took one last deep breath before entering the building. The moment I did, I was amazed at all I saw. The open, one-floor interior of the building was completely decorated with a vast assortment of some of the most beautiful flower arrangements I've ever seen. I'm talking floral combinations of roses, orchids, lilies, and even small plants like wild foxtails or mint. And despite the abundance of flowers, the building itself still looked nice and tidy like whoever lived here was as much of a neat freak as she was a florist. It felt like walking into the cleanest greenhouse I've ever seen.