Aphrodite's Daughter

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

            I was at a loss for words. Here I was standing in front of a scroll that seemed to be hundreds of years old, and there was a perfect painting of me inside of it. Hephaestus was watching me carefully and Andreas wasn’t looking at me at all.

            “What is this?” Heph sat down in his chair and crossed his arms while a stern look spread across his face.

            “It’s a prophecy, and as you probably have already guessed, it involves you.” What in the world would I be doing in a prophecy?

            “Why?” Surely someone else would be more suitable to fight a war.

            “The gods where falling out of existence. The age of reason replaced superstition and we accepted our fate for a while. Those of us who loved humans thrived, but the others like Zeus craved power. They needed to be worshipped. We have been fighting a very long time Isabella.

            We were beginning to lose hope. More and more of us began to join Zeus just to put an end to the fighting, but then I called upon the fates. They told me that a war was coming, but there was a way for us to win. A child born of half-blood could save the humans. She would have the power and strength of a god as well as the humility of a human.

You see Isabella, gods cannot use their powers on each other, but from what I hear you can. You are the hope we need to fight against Zeus and his army. You could rule Olympus and save the humans from slavery. With your ability to influence others, you could lead the others to rebel against Zeus and force him from the thrown.”

My head was spinning. They expected me to lead an army against one of the most powerful gods in history. I slumped down in my seat and looked to Andreas for help. He was still facing the bookshelf, ignoring me.

“It hadn’t occurred to me that Zeus had also called upon the fates, until he had forbid all the gods from having children with humans. All of those who were born half-blooded were brutally murdered and it created chaos between the gods. When your mother became pregnant, Zeus was furious and imprisoned her until you were born.” Heph seemed to be growing angrier and it was apparent how much he loved my mother. Even though I wasn’t his child, I could tell he loved me too.

“The rest you know. She escaped and hid you with your father. Then when you turned eighteen your full powers bloomed and they found you immediately. I asked Andreas to bring you here so we could train you to be the leader you are meant to be.” The guilt hit me hard. All these years I had been angry with her for leaving us, when really, she was protecting me.

I stared at the scroll again studying every detail of every picture. The girl at the end had my face, but there was a confidence in her features that I lacked. She wore armor of pure gold and her hair was like fire. Her army looked to her with respect and pride, and I couldn’t even get the man I loved to look at me.

“Isabella, I know you can do this.” He looked at me with so much hope and I knew I couldn’t do what he was asking of me.

“You’re wrong. I can’t lead an army of gods. I’m just a kid. I couldn’t even handle high school.” I was starting to hyperventilate and I placed my head between my knees. This could not be happening. Tears began to grow in the corner of my eyes. All I wanted was to crawl into bed and hide from the world.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Heph standing over me. “You can, but this is not the time to stress. Zeus cannot find us here. So we will continue with your training so that you will be ready when the time comes. From now on, Andreas will teach you everything you need to know, and after your party we will meet with the other gods to discuss our numbers.”