ATN: THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

WE SAY GOODBYE

As we got back to the palace, I checked the time. Eight o'clock. We had been here for one and a half hours now. We were standing right in front of the Poseidon statue with Iris. She was in the same get up I had seen her in an hour ago. She was moving her palm in a circle, something that reminded me of Dr. Strange, and muttering "Kolkata, India". And just like that, a portal opened, but instead of seeing the other side, we could see a rainbow. Uncle Sankalp and Aunt Kia hugged us all, stepped into the portal, and disappeared. I looked at Dad.

"You'll be going home, right?" I asked him.

"No, son. I will be going to Minnesota now. I still got work to do." he answered.

"We could still call you guys, right?" 

Dad looked at Iris, who said, "If you are in Atlantis, whenever you want. Calling charges are free. Its better if you call, because if your father calls, its not free anymore. And it is advisable that you don't use your phone outside Atlantis. Because that is not free."

Dad hugged us all (me a little longer), and stepped into his portal. After he left, I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye. But Hiya started crying. I held her by the shoulder and asked, "Hey, little one, what's wrong?" (Stupid question but I needed it.)

"They're gone, leaving us with unknown people. How do we stay here? I miss Mom already."

"I know, Hiya. Pains me as much. But think about them. Do you think they are happy leaving us behind here? They are not. Its breaking them inside. But they are doing this to keep us safe. They'll be relieved, knowing we would be safe. If we are truly demigods, then, this is all we have."

"Yeah," Dadai said, "Lets give it a go. Might not be that bad."

Hiya stopped crying after this. We walked towards the palace, as suddenly, Iris was walking beside me. She said, "That was some good speech you gave your sister there."

"Thanks, My lady..."

"Just Iris is enough. Anastasia exaggerates a little." The goddess interrupted.

"Okay. Iris. I need to talk to you anyway."

The rest of the way, I told Iris about my dreams. When we were done, she looked calm. She said, "It is a worrying sign, but nothing has happened yet. Whoever that guy is, he hasn't struck, or I would have felt it." Then, she addressed us all, "Anyway, get going, all of you. Go left from the throne room, and you'll find your rooms, with names on the door. This palace is magical. Jay's Mom put some enchantments to make room whenever a new demigod comes. Demigods don't come much often nowadays. They don't make it, or the parents aren't much aware, whatever the reason is. Get some sleep, you have your receiving ceremonies tomorrow at eleven o'clock."

"Receiving ceremonies? What are those?" Riya asked.

"You'll know. Goodnight."

Iris left, and we walked towards the throne room. It wasn't much difficult to find our rooms. All of us had our own rooms. Just as Iris had said, Mom's magic had mentioned our names on the door. All we had to do was touch the name plate, and the door opened.

I won't lie, but this was a room even better than my own room in my apartment. The walls were white and mostly empty. There was a huge painting of me on one wall, with an inscription, 'SON OF HECATE'. I liked that. The room was air conditioned, had a nice comfortable already made bed, a bed side table, and a...coffee machine? Nice, not bad at all. There was also an adjoined bathroom. I found that my luggage bags had reached there and been emptied, my clothes properly placed inside the cupboard. I freshened up, and changed. There was a lot going on in my mind, but for now, I would need rest. I took out my phone's charger and put my phone on charge, as it was about to die. Then, I crawled inside the blanket, and turned on the AC.

Finally, I slept. I needed that, after the terrifying and exciting day I had.