Empathy- The Diaries of Olympus #1

Empathy

ONE; THE MOST MELODRAMATIC THING HAPPENED...

MY eyes are cold and damaged as they stare back at me. I felt as if the boy that I saw in the mirror, the one that was supposed to be my reflection, was a different person altogether. Yes, he has the same short, curly black hair, furled juts under the tips of his ears and plastered this way and that, that I do.

Yes, his skin is olive and bronzed, and his eyelashes are dark and shadow his eyes. Yes, his eyes are a swirling sea green, so deep you'd have to swim to the very depths of the ocean to find it. Yes, he possessed every single physical attribute that I do; my six foot one height, my slight but lean and muscular build, my straight nose and beneath it my full pink lips. He wasn't me though, he was my other side. He was the side that I kept locked away in my heart , the prowling monster that possessed me when I became enraged. He was the side that had killed my father.

"Master Poseidon?" A servant boy says nervously, peering around my slightly ajar door. He was a small and scrawny little boy, with short spiky black hair, pale skin that had a fresh sheen of sweat on it that told me that he was hard working, and big brown doe eyes. Mother would find him adorable.

"Yes?" My tone was a lot lighter than my mood. Then again, over the years, I'd become quite adequate at hiding my true feelings.

"Your presence at the gathering has been requested by Lord Uranus."

I nodded and the small boy took his leave. I kept staring at my reflection for a moment longer. I blink, pushing the dark thoughts of father and he Great War to the back of my mind. I plaster my most dazzling smile, or so I'd been told countless times by mother, and jogged down the winding staircases of the palace to the large ballroom where the gathering was held. I never understood what mother saw in my smile; all it was were dimples and my pearly whites. I smiled genuinely, shaking my head, mother was truly something and I loved her to pieces.

My two body guards accompanyme all the way to the ballroom doors. Their names were Carlos and Castor and they were like the two overprotective fathers that I never had. I guess it was part of the job description. They were identical twins with dark brown, straight hair and blazing amber eyes. Their builds were stocky and firm, they were like my shadow, following me wherever I went.

"Sir?" Carlos and Castor stood at attention.

"I'll take it from here," I said. Carlos and Castor understood and took their respective posts juts outside the ballroom doors. I roll back my shoulders, crack my neck and push open the heavy doors with ease, striding in with confidence. 'An un-confident prince is a weak one,' Grandfather Uranus would always say and in my eyes, to some extent that was true.

My sneaker clad feet cross the golden, powder like line, the clothes line, and a ripple was sent through my body. Suddenly, instead of the causal mortal clothes that I had previously been wearing, I now wear a sea green tunic that matches and complements my eyes. It was lined in gold, shining along with my golden wrist bands that I never removed and my golden sandals with straps that came up to my knees. The wonders of Hectate's magic.

Every single eye in the room was on me. In took all the attention quite well dare I say, with my head held high like that of a strong prince's and eyes level with everyone's curious gazes. I walked through the space that was created in the middle of the ballroom , a direct path to my brother Hades standing beside a food bar. I had specifically requested for no one to announce my presence. Everyone on Mount Olympus already knew full well who I was, there was no need to remind them.

I stood on Hades' left and silently appreciated the intriguing way that the ballroom was decorated. It was Valentines day and so the palace decorators had gone all out. Everywhere I looked my eyes were met with pink and red. There were hearts, lovers sharing a kiss, and holding hands strewn all across the walls. There was a crystalline chandelier hung in the centre that was so fragile looking that I was afraid I would accidentally break it if I stared at it a second too long.