Return of the Goddess

Chapter 19

Alvina couldn’t help but laugh when she read over the website.  She was thankful for the computer that they had in the room because if they would have gone somewhere else she would have looked like a fool rolling on the ground in laughter. They all stared at her in awe. Alvina thought it strange that they were all frozen. Who wouldn’t laugh over a lesbian marriage alter being a goddess’s temple.

     “Guys, we are in  Vegas! Why aren’t we out gambling again?” she raised her hands up and started dancing.

    Genna shrieked, “I have missed you so much!”

     Alvina returned the hug, “So how about some blackjack?” I know how to count cards.” She looked at Sage for a confirmation.

     “No, I’m sorry, but no one is leaving this room.” Sage sat back down on the black comfy couch. “Hera is close, so we are staying here until Genna turns fourteen.”

     The rest of their day was spent watching TV,  eating, showering and sleeping but they all were awake and bored the next morning.

     “Our deadline is tonight at midnight,” Alvina moaned.

     “Too bad we won’t make it,” Sage stretched.

     They were all well rested and well fed so now they were too anxious to sit still. 

     “Why don’t we go visit Charlie,” Lucy starred at the ground hoping they would say yes, “My dad would let us.”

     Sage contemplated this for a moment, “That’s fine.”

     Lucy played her flute and the portal to the Underworld opened. Through it you could tell it went to her father’s throne room. Lucy walked through first, and once everyone was through she stopped playing and it closed. Hades sat in his throne with Persephone filing her nails beside him, “Lucy, how nice of you to come visit me.”

     Genna and Lucy walked up to him but Sage and Alvina were hesitant.

     “I want to see Charlie,” Lucy was blunt and straightforward.

     Hades actually looked very fatherly at that moment, “Lucy I’m sorry, but a soul for a soul is a fair deal no matter whose soul it is.’

     “It’s all right dad. It was just business. I understand.”

     Hades rubbed his black beard, “I will allow it, but I also wish to test Genna’s memory. You all can go visit him in Elysium if Genna can answer this question. What was the argument about between Aphrodite and Athena in the year 2002?”

     Genna only thought for a moment then answered, “Aphrodite was spraying me with a poison she made that allowed men to like me. When my mom found out she was mad and called Aphrodite a she-devil.”

     “Correct. Do you know who your mother is?” he asked.

     “No, that memory is kept from me. “

     “ You will be fourteen soon, so they will come back. Now, go visit Charlie. He is probably in house four.”

     Lucy guided them out the castle and into the  fields of punishment. Three long tents were placed in the middle. She frankly had no idea why they were called the fields on punishment. To all the Greek Gods they were known as the Asphodel fields and were not in fact good or bad, just in between.  Sage refused to walk in front of the gates of Tartarus so they went all the way around the back and trough the golden gates of heaven.

     Elysium was the Greek heaven where demigods resided after death. The houses were big and bright. The only things shining in the Underworld. They found the house that had the number four on the mailbox. As they walked up the door was already opened and inside the house had the same format as the safe house, but the colors were different.

     In the dining room sat six demigods playing cards. Charlie looked surprised to see them, “Guys are you dead?”

     “No, we came to visit. How are you?” Lucy asked.

     “Good, I have made some friends down here.” Charlie pointed to his far right. “This is…”

     “Hello, my name is Jason, son of Poseidon.” The old man stood up and shook hands with each of them. “I am the demigod who stole the golden fleece.”

     A much younger man stood up as Jason sat down, “I am Achilles. Fought in the Trojan war, killed in the Trojan war.”

     Sage was overjoyed that she was standing in front of one of her heroes, “I am Sage. It is such a pleasure!”

    He sat down pleased with himself. The man next to him didn’t stand up, but spoke, “I am Perseus, son of Zeus. I am the one who slayed Medusa.”

     The man next to him was just as old as his, “I am Theseus. I took down the Minotaur.”

     The third man Genna recognized from a book her father read to her about a terrible man that didn’t deserve to survive his journey, “I am Odysseus. I obtained the position in Elysium after my odyssey.”

     “It means a lot to me to meet you all. I am Sage, daughter of Athena. This is Alvina, daughter of Hermes,” Alvina waved. “This is Lucy, daughter of Hades, and this is Genna…” Sage was unsure what to say.

     “I’m the daughter of Poseidon.” Genna finished. Sage was definitely the most shocked by this answer.

    “So, you guys found out who her parent was.” Charlie put some chips into the middle.

     “Sort of,” Genna said. She was about to explain her decision on her parent when she heard footsteps. Shocked and standing in the doorway was Calvin, and Genna was pretty sure he was dead.