Your Loyalty to Me (REWRITE!!)

1: How my Life Went Downhill Since I Met Zeus

Aria's POV

I swear to the gods that I am not guilty for murdering my immortal-

Oh hi! I thought you were the judge- you know what? Nevermind. The rest of the gods are used to Apollo and I bickering so much that they would believe Apollo if he told them that I murdered him.

I know what you're thinking. How exactly can he... If you've...? Honey, this is just how gullible the gods are and how readily they would understand my motive for killing Apollo.

Anyways, I should introduce myself - I'm Aria Waters. As of right now, I'm three thousand and a few odd years old, but let's backtrack a bit.

I met sunshine when I was seven. And is how my life went downhill ever since.

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Third POV

Zeus decided that it would be a great time to walk the surface of the earth on one of his glorious rainy days. The extra special ones with lightning and thunder because that's just how he was feeling at the moment.

Angry. Unpredictable. Intimidating.

How does that differ from what he usually is like? It doesn't. He's like that on a daily basis. He just thought today would be a great day to express his emotions.

Someone stop him from taking walks on the earth again. Please. Save us the storms.

He didn't see anyone on the paths of the Greek city of Delphi, why would he when the winds were strong enough to tear off the roof of a house? When the rain was pelting down as hard as hail? When the lightning and thunder was so loud you would have to shout to hear the person next to you?

But Zeus felt a calm tranquility in the weather he created. He liked the depressing loneliness. It fueled his anger. The same anger that he operated off of every day.

In the middle of his forlorn walk, he spotted a bright pink bundle of... I dunno, what's the politest way to describe a young girl curled up, trying to protect herself from the terrible weather wearing the traditional Greek clothes for children - just a tad bit brighter than necessary, and not enough to protect one from the storm Zeus was creating at that moment?

Why would a little child be out here in such weather? Where are her parents? He wasn't the god of healing or anything, but he did know that she would get hypothermia, or some lung disease starting with a silent p that he forgot the name of. Not that it matters - that's not really his department.

He found himself walking over to the little child, realising that she was shivering violently, her clothes were soaked and her black hair was plastered to her lily white skin. She was huddled up with her head buried between her knees beside the wall of some old building. Her breathing was unstable, and if he wasn't mistaken, she was crying. Sobbing.

Zeus never liked children. They were a nuisance. Loud, annoying, can't sit still and need to be kept under constant supervision - which was a waste of time. But he found himself sympathising with this little girl, who was suffering in the storm that he was creating. He crouched down next to her.

Wordlessly, he picked her up in his arms, and walked over to the nearest shelter he could find - and that was under a tree. She was weightless. Malnourished, if he was looking for a better word. Where the heck are her parents?

"What's your name?" He asked, his voice rough, as he set her down. She wrapped her arms around herself once again and stared up at him. Fear was manifest in her eyes and he realised he would have to be more gentle.

"I'm Zeus. King of the gods, the god of lightning and thunder."

She looked unimpressed. "Who?"

He blinked. "Uh, Zeus. Didn't your parents ever tell you about me? Or - or worshipped me in my temple?"

She shook her head, still shaking from the cold. "I-I'm Ar- Aria," she stuttered.

"How old are you?"

She frowned. "M-mommy t-told me n- not-t to te-tell strangers about m-myself."

Zeus cracked a small grin. "Right. Smart girl. Let me... take you somewhere warmer okay? You'll get sick."

"I-I don't k-know you."

"I won't hurt you."

She hesitated. "Okay."

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Two hours later, Zeus had brought her into a room in his temple and she was sitting comfortably in a chair with a blanket draped over her. He had gotten an extra change of clothes for her to change into and had dried her off with a towel to help her stay warm. So now, she was sporting a much more dry bright pink dress - because she refused any other colour.

"So... can you tell me where your parents are?"

She didn't look at him. Her dark brown eyes remained fixed on the ground. "They're dead."

Zeus wasn't very good at sympathising. People always die. It's why they were mortals, and he was an immortal. Mortal deaths didn't really affect him. But he found himself wanting to sympathise with this child. It wasn't easy, he didn't know how, but he managed to express a twinge of pity in his voice. "I'm sorry."

She nodded. "I- I've never heard of you before because - because we didn't pray to gods," her eyes turned wistful as she stared into space with a small smile. "We lived in a small house. It was really lonely, there was no other people around us. But it was really fun! My parents taught me magic! My-"

"Magic?!" Zeus exclaimed loudly making her flinch, he composed himself. "Uh, right, continue."

"Um, my father made a wand for me." She took her right hand out of the blanket and showed him a glittering pink bracelet with flowers sitting on her wrist.

Zeus frowned. "That's not a wand."

She giggled - a sound that surprised him. "No silly! It's my bracelet. It turns into a wand," she explained. "And a sword."

"A sword?" Zeus repeated, amused more than anything. A child of seven years - a girl - gifted with a sword? That was unusual.

She nodded. "My father taught me to fight. I miss him."

"How did your parents... You know..."

She looked back down. "We were the only wizards. Mommy told me that everyone else used sorcery. I think it's doing magic with your hands. But mommy told me we were special because we used wands. She wanted to teach everybody, but nobody liked us. So one day," her eyes became teary, she sniffled and continued with a short breath.

"A scary man came into our house and killed mom and dad with m- magic. Mommy-," she sobbed. "Mommy made me run away before the scary man could get me."

Zeus didn't know what to do. Did he mention his dislike towards children? Did he mention how he found it hard to sympathise? Did he mention that he runs on only one emotion which was anger?

Nevertheless, he sat down next to her and hugged the little girl. He let her cry, his mind set. He knew what he wanted to do know.

"I'm taking you to my home. You can live with us. You can become our family."