Rants and Rambles

Myth Part Three

(If you are still reading I am confused by your dedication.)

After the death of Antain Vlahakis, Robyn was sent to live with an aunt. Zeus had placed Athena on probation and was therefore not allowed to visit Earth under any circumstances. Robyn's whole world was crumbling away.

The aunt that Robyn had been sent to live with was Eileen Vlahakis, Antain's sister. Eileen had long, straight brown hair and light grey eyes. She had pale skin, and her cheeks always appeared to be flushed. Eileen had been a regular visitor to Antian's house, and Robyn knew her very well.

When Robyn arrived at Eileen's house with her few belongings, she was immediately ushered into the house. Eileen's home was also on the outskirts of Athens, but it was on the opposite side of Antain's. It was larger than Robyn's previous house, however it was alike in the way that both houses were dimly lit. The ceiling was very low, and Robyn's head nearly touched the rafters.

At night, Robyn was haunted by images of Zeus killing Antain. She remembered all of it, from the lightning bolt hitting Antain's chest, too the satisfied look on Zeus' face. She remembered Athena clapping her hands over her mouth in horror, and then Zeus pulling Athena away from the house. She remembered herself rushing to Antain's side. Robyn remembered Antain's weak smile as the life drained out of him, and how he had murmured to her, "Goodbye, my daughter." She remembered his eyes going blank as the little bit of life he had left trickled out.

During the day Robyn barely spoke. She would spend most of the day aimlessly pushing the little metal crane about the game board, and trying to hold onto the memories of Antain that were already threatening to slip away. By the fifth day of hearing Robyn cry out during her nightmares and watching her waste away in front of the metal birds, Eileen knew that she had to intervene.

Eileen pulled Robyn away from the metal figurines and sat her down at the table.

"You need to stop this," Eileen said sternly. "You cannot just live your life in the past. You need to start being present in the present."

Robyn said nothing and continued to look down at the table.

Eileen sighed. "You know that Antain would not want you to continue on like this. He would want you to move on and live your life. But," Eileen gave a soft chuckle. "We both know that you are not going to forget about him so easily. And that's not necessarily a bad thing," She quickly said once she saw Robyn's glare. "Your father is never going to leave you, Robyn. He will be there, even when you can't see him. He will be there, guiding you and helping you find your place in the world. He will be influencing everything you do.

"You know, you didn't just lose a father. I lost a brother, too. And I know that is going to be hard for both of us to adjust, but I know that soon we will be able to move on with our life without crying every time something reminds us of Antain. That day will come, eventually. I just pray that it will come soon."

Robyn looked up at Eileen. She was peering down at her hands, and a single tear was running down her cheek. Robyn reached out, wiped it away, and then peered back at her hands.

"You called him my father," Robyn said softly. She averted her gaze to her aunt.

Eileen smiled. "That's because that is what he was. Nothing more, nothing less. He was your father, and that is how he will always remain."

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Robyn did adjust, eventually, and so did Eileen. They moved on and were able to go back to their old lives with only slight adjustments. But although they thought they were passed it, every once in a while, one of them would turn around to say something to Antain, but at the last second they would remember that he was gone, and then they would break down all over again.

Robyn used her grief to push herself to her limits. She would spend all day learning and studying, and she refused to let herself stop until she knew every little thing there was to be known about the universe.

And eventually, her grief transferred. It transformed from grief to bitter, to indignant, to anger, and finally to fuming.

How dare the gods kill her father? How dare they? Her father. Her father. How dare the gods kill her father? How dare the gods murder her father? How dare they?

It was with these thoughts in her head, that she started to plan. She started to devise an idea. A wonderful, wonderful idea. An idea that would most likely go wrong, but on the slim chance that it would succeed, well, that would be... wonderful.
And it was because of this plan that Eileen saw her niece attempting to sneak off into the night. Eileen immediately grabbed Robyn by the arm and pulled her back into the house.

"What do you think you are doing?" Eileen demanded of Robyn.

Robyn sighed, and then she explained her plan to Eileen. It hadn't originally been her idea to explain her plan to Eileen, but Robyn realized that the only way that she might be able to go would be to elucidate everything to her aunt.

Eileen listened intently to her niece's plan, shaking her head once Robyn had finished. It was a ridiculous, risky plan, with almost no chance of succeeding. But, Eileen knew that she couldn't control Robyn's actions forever, and was therefore entitled to say this:

"Robyn, I know that you think you want to do this, but I do not believe that it is advisable to something as rash as this."

"But Aunt Eileen, I-," Robyn began but was interrupted by Eileen.

"Let me finish, child. I am not saying that you cannot go. I cannot control what you do forever. What I am saying is that you have to wait. You are only sixteen, and you have not had the proper time to think this all the way through. If I can't stop you from going, I can at least make you wait for a while so that you can realize the flaws in your plan," Eileen said.

"How long will I have to wait?" Robyn asked, nervous for the answer.

"Until you are twenty-one," Eileen said, and then stopped while Robyn groaned. "Enough of that, Robyn. This is my final answer. You will wait, and you will not complain. I am trying to protect you. Once you are twenty-one years of age, you will be permitted to leave here. I only pray that you will see the error of your ways before then."

Eileen did, in fact, pray. Robyn saw her praying that very same night. Eileen prayed every night that Robyn wouldn't go, but the longer Robyn waited, the more determined she was to carry out her plan. With every passing day, Robyn became surer of herself and more anxious to go.

But Robyn waited. She waited for years, all the while pushing herself to become even more prepared for her journey. And every night, she picked up the little metal crane and reminded herself why she was leaving.

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After a few years of probation, Athena was finally allowed to come back to Earth. Every year, she would check in on Athens. She would travel to all of the businesses and to all of the homes in order to make sure that everything was as it should be. She rarely ever walked into the houses or shops, but just stood outside and confirmed that everything was running properly.

There was one exception to this rule, however. Everytime that she would pass by the home of Eileen Vlahakis she would turn herself invisible, a skill that all the gods had, and would walk into the house. Most of the time she would find Robyn reading and Eileen doing some sort of housework. But the time she checked in on the house on the day of Robyn's twenty-first year was different.

Robyn was nowhere to be seen.

Athena looked everywhere in the house, but couldn't find Robyn anywhere. Eventually, Athena decided that Robyn was probably at someone else's house, or in the woods somewhere, and as the Vlahakis' house was the last house she had to check in on, she walked outside the home and prepared herself to leave Earth for Olympus.

All gods had the power to move from one place to another in an instant, and Athena used that power to get from Olympus to Athens, and vise versa.

Just as Athena was fading out of view, someone grabbed her arm.