"Are you even hearing yourself right now? This is why we believe you're fully competent for this initiative. Whatever you've gone through has been training you for these moments. You don't ever stop fighting, there's always another threat. A threat...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Libraries are the wardrobes of knowledge, each book contained the words to satisfy ones needs. Whether it be entertainment or curiosity. That is why I had been spending just as much time in the majestic library as I have been training, enlightening myself in all areas of Olympus.
I pushed open the heavy swing doors and went into the polished marble room. Row after row of neatly sat up books with their worn spines facing outwards lined the room. I felt my way past the mystical fantasy to the history. I wriggled out an aged book carefully and sat on the cold floor, flipping through it's yellowed pages. I read until the sun dipped below the soft clouds, the fleeting colours of dusk emerging. My eyes grew heavy, the coming velvety sky promising a protective blanket in the face of starry dreams.
Dragging my feet from the library, I noticed figures standing before The Twelve. They stood tall with skin resembling the brown bark of a tree and heads sprouting luscious green leaves. Dryads.
I tiptoed carefully, trying to listen through the golden open door. Unfortunately, I greatly overestimated my stealth.
"Selene Ariti!" The booming voice of Zeus called. I almost jumped out my body and I wished I had simply left as I was now overrun with fear.
This is my death. I've disobeyed the rules. There was no point in defeating the Chimera and Bia now.
I bowed my head as I walked into the Pantheon and stood beside the three Dryads.
"Perfect timing, is it not?" Mused Ares in his colossal throne.
"It is indeed," Zeus smirked.
I stood with my hands behind my back, head thumping in confusion. Recently I had been feeling like my third Trial was on its way, it had been six whole months since Bia, the Goddess of violence had been thrown into Tartarus and I missed my father like the flowers miss the sun during the depths of winter. I had since begged Zeus to let me visit my father however he denied cruelly.
"Your next Trial has arrived." He said. I glanced at the Dryads next to me, I wouldn't have to fight them, right? They look so gentle and calm, I couldn't hurt them. "The Dryads have come to us, seeking out counsel. Their trees have started to die and yet they cannot find the cause. Your task is to figure out what is wrong with them. You have a week."
* * *
"This is the only area that has been affected?" I asked the Dryads as they led through Folóï oak forest.
At the crack of dawn, I ushered my way to the Gateway of Hermes and met the ethereal nature creatures to investigate into the issue. I was bewildered to say the least when Zeus told me I had to become Nancy Drew for a week. I had no experience whatsoever so the thought of my death became a prominent headache that night.
