Iris

Chapter 29- Iris

In celebration of reading a thousand likes (1.2k gah!!!) , i'm uploading a long and special chapter of Iris! Here goes. There's a bit of greek. I'll add the translations in soon!The spacing is wonky I know. I'll figure it out.

What is it now? That was my first thought. Their response, or lack thereof, was irritating me and making me more anxious. "Well shit" could mean a great deal of things.

"Why is there only three?" Michael asked with an incredible amount of curiosity in his voice.

"I don't know. The bigger question is why they are even there at all?" Great. That's just really reassuring.

"She's been exposed to all these gods, but what really baffles me is that Athena's isn't on her. She's been exposed to her multiple times." Exposed? What are they; the plague?

"She's also been exposed to Dionysus too. So why these three but not those two?" A notepad and pen were thrown in my lap. "In case you think of anything."

Yeah, so, can you tell me WHAT IS ON ME!? I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO BE INVOLVED!! I wrote it in all caps and underlined it three times to show my exasperation. Then stared daggers at Michael who sheepishly looked back down to me.

"Ah yeah. You have the symbols of Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon tattooed on you." Thinking of tattoos I unconsciously looked to his chest where I knew intricate lines of ink were hiding under his black Henley. He smiled. "Yeah, kinda like those, but they're just symbols. Nothing els-"

I gasped as Zeus grabbed my arm and I could see what he saw.My back, and the tattoos that started at the neck. They were simple but beautiful. Black and white and shades of grey with splashes of color here and there. I actually liked them, they weren't trashy or tasteless like some tramp stamps or tribal tattoos on Sophomore College douches. They were dainty yet warrior like at the same time and lifelike. I stared, committing them to memory. Zeus let go of my arm and I could still see the tattoos in my memory. Thinking of the vows that each of the represented gods have bestowed upon me.

"I will find you, Iris, and when I do I will love you the way a father will."  Was Zeus's vow when I trapped in the underworld with Thanatos. "I will see to it that your life will be filled with eternal pain andloss" was Hades' last vow to me in the underworld. "I will protect you with my life princess" was Poseidon's vow to me. There it was. So I wrote it.

Vows. The gods on my back have all vowed to me. None of the other gods, including Athena and Dion, have.

Michael's face scrunched up. "So what would happen if the other eleven made a vow? Do you think she would have them all?" Zeus was viciously chewing on the inside of his cheek, his knuckle pressing it deeper into his mouth." Long moments of silence followed, then we were interrupted.

"Let me in, damn you!" We heard from the hallway then the door blew open with mega force. The beautiful Athena walked in almost breaking my heart. Her light was at full power and I had to advert my stare to somewhere else. I looked at the bedspread. "All of you leave us. I need to talk to her, woman to woman." Everyone stared at her like she grew a few more heads.

"Turn your light down, babe." I smiled. Zeus, the most powerful god ever, calls his wife babe. Something about that was painfully cute and made me want to throw up. The brightness in the room died down. I looked at Athena and found I didn't want to rip my heart out and give it to her just so she could acknowledge my existence. "Much better. We'll be in the next room okay?"

"You don't need to, but I know when to pick and choose my arguments." She smiled, and winked at him. This is so frigging cute I want to cut my eyeballs out and eat them like popcorn.