The Elemental Book 2: Air

Chapter 3

 Chapter 3 

We Are Forced To Go To San Francisco

We all stood there for a moment before my mom finally spoke. “You may want to sit down.”

“I’ll be fine, just tell me,” Julianne said irritably.

“This is gonna be a shock to you,” my dad said. “You should sit down, Julianne.”

“No, it won’t. Tell me right now,” Julianne demanded.

“Sit down first,” my dad said.

“No,” Julianne argued, her eyes blazing.

“Julianne, sit down,” I commanded sharply. Despite my fear, my voice came out strong and demanding. A sign you should do what I say before I snap.

Julianne hesitated, but sat down on a ripped bar stool with only three legs. “Fine, I’m sitting. Now tell me. I want the truth; no lies.” She glared at us accusingly, and I stepped away from Jake to stand by my father.

“Okay,” my mom said. She sat down next to Julianne and took a deep breath.  “Julianne, you’re one of my best friends, and I hate keeping secrets from you. But because of who I am, I really don’t have much of a choice. I’ve kept my identity hidden from you, but it’s time you know the truth.”

“What are you saying?” Julianne asked, frowning.

My mom sighed. “My name isn’t really Phoebe Kingsley. I’m really Athena, the greek goddess of wisdom and battle strategy.”

“And I’m really Poseidon, greek god of the seas,” my dad said.

“And I’m Hephaestus,” Hephaestus said. “I’m the greek god of-”

“I know the greek gods,” Julianne interrupted sharply. “I just don’t know who you are and if this is real.”

“Oh, this is real,” Brendon said.

“Trust me, we wouldn’t be telling you this if it wasn’t,” Jake put in.

“And to answer your first question, Dean is Hermes; Nona is Hestia; and Nikki is Nemesis,” my mom said.

“I know, it’s shocking. We’re sorry to spring this up on you, but we had no choice since monsters just attacked in front of you,” my dad said.

“Wait, those were actually monsters?” Julianne asked.

“Yes,” Nemesis said.

“They came from the Underworld. Hades must have sent them. He’s always been my least favorite brother,” Hestia said bitterly.

“Calm down, Tia,” Nemesis said.

“He is a tricky man,” Hermes agreed. “He’s not a very good guy. Only he could’ve sent them.”

“No, Hades didn’t send them,” my dad said, shaking his head. “None of the gods would ever hurt Ari. Not even Zeus. Hades wouldn’t risk putting his kingdom and Persephone in jeopardy.”

“Since when has Hades been a good guy? Last I heard, he was trying to build an army to attack Olympus for revenge,” Nemesis said. “And I know all about revenge.”

“No, my dad’s right,” I said, breaking up the argument. “Hades cares about Persephone too much to have her leave him for starting a war. Besides, he wouldn’t dare try to kill the only one powerful enough to destroy the gods. He knows if I die because of him, I’ll take him down with me.”

“How do you know this?” Hestia asked.

“I’ve had dreams,” I said. “And everyone knows the last part.”