ATN: THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

THE GRIFFIN ATTACKS

I loved the way these gods made an entry. Always sneaking in from behind, and announcing themselves by replying to your talk. Hera, Ares, Hecate, and now Aphrodite.

For a few seconds, I just kept looking at her. I was no fan of her, but still, appreciating the most beautiful woman known to human kind was easy. She had dark blonde hair, a small round face perfect for the rest of her stature, royal blue eyes, fair and flawless skin, and perfect makeup. Now I don't have much idea about what women wear for makeup, but Aphrodite looked perfect in every single way. Her lips were bright red. She was wearing a bright red partywear gown, red heels, pink translucent long gloves that I had only seen brides wear during weddings. Now, finally, I had seen the real Aphrodite. An Olympian goddess among Atlantis. Aphrodite looked at Abhro and said, "Your drop of blood worked, honey. I am pretty again." Abhro couldn't speak. Neither could Dadai. None of us could. We just kept looking at her. Aphrodite seemed like she was used to this. She just turned towards Periboea, and said, "Okay, ugly. Lets finish this again." She put her right hand out, and conjured a...a mirror? Yes, just a mirror. I could not figure out how she could fight with a mirror. I looked at Tina for an answer. She gave me a look of 'no idea'. Mom sat down. "Showtime." she said.

But Periboea raised her hand, and at least twenty more undead came running and hissing. I couldn't understand that where so many undeads were coming from. "Alright. Not showtime." Mom got up, and said, "I hate these interruptions." Periboea laughed, "Never so easy defeating me. And even if you do, my other brothers will soon rise. Then, they will take over Olympus. We got allies in places you can't expect, you know."

"Oh, just shut up, you ugly woman." Aphrodite said, "My sons, a little hand here?" Dadai and Abhro nodded, and the three attacked Periboea, Dadai slashing her feet, Abhro facing her from the front, and Aphrodite...She was using the mirror to give back every single move Periboea made to attack her. She swung her scimitar, hit herself. She tried using her giantish strength to shake the ground, lost balance herself. Finally, she got so angry that she threw her scimitar at Aphrodite.

Aphrodite ducked. And the huge scimitar flew past her, and hit the walls of a tower. The same tower on which Nadia and the Queen Anastasia were shooting arrows. The wall fell, and with that, Nadia and the Queen disappeared among the ruins. As the Atlantean tower was razed to the ground, none of the two came out. Tina tried calling their names, none answered. Tina gritted her teeth, and roared. She attacked the undead with her sword, and within seconds, finished them off, all alone. Periboea was fighting with a knife now. Perhaps she had been keeping that inside her armor. And, she was getting better of my brothers and Aphrodite. That's when it happened.

A loud squeak could be heard from a bit far away. It was coming from the forest. And then, from the trees, came out a majestic beast, half-eagle, half-lion, spreading its huge long wings. It carried someone in its eagle like fore-feet. As it flew downwards, it dropped the body, and attacked Periboea on her face. It slashed its talons, claws and the pointed beak on the giantess, and mutilated her face. Golden ichor started coming out of her wounds. Periboea cried in pain, and then, Aphrodite took over.

As the griffin flew away again, the goddess of love started growing in size. And suddenly, she was as tall as the giantess herself. "Get her down, my sons." she said. My brothers slashed their swords at her feet, and got her onto her knees, as Aphrodite showed her true godly power. She raised her hands, and started to suck every essence out of Periboea. And after a couple of seconds, Periboea got disintegrated, and turned to purple smoke. "Incineration." Mom said from beside me, "The way the gods destroy their opponents."

"Rot in Tartarus, hate mistress." Aphrodite said.

We ran to the body dropped on the ground by the griffin. When we looked at that, we gasped. It was Juan. His tanned body was stained with blood. He wasn't wearing his armor, and it seemed like someone had stabbed him from behind. His face was so calm in death. He was a cool headed person while he lived, and seemed calm even at his death, a feature very much unlike Hermes, his father. A person I would have loved to know more than I had been able to the last few weeks. 'We got allies in places you can't expect'. Did Periboea mean Atlantis? Have we got a traitor in Atlantis? This seemed impossible to believe, but how else could the thousands of undead get onto this island? As I had heard, Atlantis's sea-side gates were heavily guarded, and the monsters had come from that way. Only a person who had lived in Atlantis long enough could help them get in. But for now, I couldn't think of anything. Except for the fact that someone was betraying Atlantis, and had murdered Juan. We had to find out who that person was.

"NOOOOO!!!" A mournful scream came from somewhere close. I turned and found Aya crying over her sister's body. Nadia died after the tower collapsed. I saw Iris and Tina around the Queen. She was still alive. Only just. But another friend I had made here, had lost her life trying to fight the giants. The gods had made enemies because of all the things they did an eternity ago. They won't ever suffer, for they were immortal, and could not die. The ones who suffered were us, the non-mortal kids. The gods birthed us, and bought us the fate of demigods, to fight all life. Fight, kill, get killed, and that's it. In the last two days, it was us who were helping the gods, not the other way around. Yes, there were helps from them, like Ares, Hades, my Mom, or Dionysus, but other than that? 

"This is unfair, Iris." Tina said with a heavy voice, "the giants are the gods' enemies. Why do we suffer?" Tina had spoken my mind.

"Life isn't fair, child." Iris said with another heavy voice, "It is never fair. I know this coming from a goddess won't convince you, but this is the truth. I would never know, but this is what it is."

I went to the Queen. She was still alive. She looked at me and smiled. "Jay," she said, "you have done wonderfully. You and your cousins, along with my demigod general, gave Atlantis a chance to fight. Thank you." She looked at Iris, who had tears in her eyes. "My life has been worth it. Seeing a god crying for me is something I never thought I would see. Maybe Mother would be crying too now. But I won't see that. Anyway, Iris, till the new ruler is found out, you must lead Atlantis." She removed her Queen's amulet, and handed it to Iris. Then, she closed her eyes for the last time.

We lay the bodies of our fallen side by side. Though the bodies of Juan, Nadia, and the Queen were kept separately. Aphrodite had left, just as I thought she would. Mom was still here, though. I turned to her, and asked, "You gods have made so many enemies, Mom, that we humans suffer for it. Why do you guys give birth to us, when you can't ensure that we will live safely?"

"We can only try, my son. Do you think we gods like it when something happens to our children? Look around you. Death, injury, everywhere. Yes, we are to blame. There have been mistakes in the past. But now, we can only stop the evils. That is what we must do. And we try to ensure your safety, honey, but a god can only do so much. You have this island where you are safe."

I kept quiet. I couldn't stay mad at my Mom. I knew she didn't make enemies with other gods. She was an ally to all of them. She sensed my thoughts, came forward and kept her hand on my head. "Aphrodite asked me to deliver a message."

"What?"

"The Olympian council wants to see you. You, Tina and your cousins."

I looked at the other five, who gave me a nod. I didn't feel much enthusiastic. I knew I was going meet the king of Olympus, whose proud and arrogant nature had brought this on. Had he not put Kronos and his brothers in Tartarus, Gaia would not have gone mad, she would not have birthed the giants, and we won't be having this fight. But then again, the titans needed to be put at their place. They were cruel, the titans. Kronos had tried to rise again, and many people lost many more things fourteen years ago. So, perhaps his decision was right. But it came with consequences. Every big decision does. So, I got up, and pledged to myself that I would fight the evil. The giants must be stopped, or they would destroy the world. And I loved this world. Its not perfect, but everything I loved, I cared about, were in this.

"Iris, a portal to Mount Olympus, please." I said. Iris had worn the amulet. She was, now, the stand-in queen of Atlantis. She moved her hands round and round, and opened a portal for the six of us, and said, "This will stay open until you return. But return fast. We will have a funeral for all of them."

We nodded, and jumped into the portal to meet the major gods of Olympus.