Arden: The Gift Of Delirium

53. Family Relations

"It says...It says they sent her to Tartarus," Perri stated and looked up at all of us. Tartarus?

Zane shook his head and placed his palms on the table. "Tartarus?" He asked slowly. "Why'd he put her there?"

Camilla went around and squeezed between Perri and Hayden. Hayden gave her an irritable look and Camilla stared down into the journal. "At first, he hung her by golden chains from the clouds. He kept her there for a while and the gods could hear her cries of pain constantly."

"So why did Zeus move her to the underworld?" Ace asked. Good question.

"She pleaded that he let her go but he refused. So, she said the pain was too much for her to bear, that'd she rather burn in Tartarus- she meant it, too."

"So, Hera has been perishing for all this time?" Nikki asked.

"Yeah."

"That's what happened to Hera?" We all turned when we heard Armani speak.

"Yeah," Nikki answered. "You know about her?" Armani nodded.

"Of course. But, this Johanna character, she's been mumbling about-" Armani gestured to me and I pursed my lips. I internally cursed when I realized I've been mumbling out loud again. "Is she really Hera's daughter?"

"I'm pretty convinced she is," I spoke out loud, ignoring the teasing looks from my friends. "Think about it, she despises me so much for that fact I'll eventually become queen of the gods and she wants the crown to herself. She has to be Hera's daughter- She's the next generation...like us."

Zane rubbed a hand over his mouth. "What you're saying makes sense but..."

"How did Hera have Johanna if she was in Tartarus?" Nikki asked.

It was quiet again. "Maybe, it's possible. Maybe she did have Johanna in the underworld."

"Then...how'd she get out?" Ace asked.

"It seems like you guys are asking a lot of questions that no one has the answers to," Armani spoke up.

She was right. We needed a way to confirm that Hera actually gave birth to Johanna in the underworld.

"Does the journal say anything about Hera having a child?" Perri flipped through the pages of the journal. "I don't think so." He mumbled. "It just talks about how they locked Hera down there and Zeus entrusted Hades to keep her there....also Hades would work with some of Zeus' enforcers and warriors."

Hayden shoved him slightly and peered down into the book, while Zane began to speak. "Maybe she somehow escaped Tartarus, slipped passed Hades and the enforcers," Zane suggested. "When she escaped, she secretly had a child."

"Tartarus is nearly impossible to escape," Hayden explained, still looking into the book. "It'd be completely unlikely, let alone slipping pass anyone who was guarding her."

If what Hayden was saying was true, there is something that isn't adding up. Maybe Hera found some way to escape the underworld, or maybe it was Johanna who escaped. Or, maybe Hera had Johanna before she was banished, which didn't make much sense but could be a possibility.

"Well, who was guarding her, apart from Hades?" Nikki crossed her arms.

"Um, it says Bia, Kratos, Nike, and Zelus." Nike? A few heads turned to Nikki and although she seemed pretty unbothered, there was a hint of curiosity and eagerness on her face. As Perri continued to read, he was speaking slowly, like he was just as shocked at what he read. "Circe wrote that the siblings were some of Zeus' most trusted guards."