The S.S. Olympus -under refurbishment

Chapter VI: viață nouă--new

"Hades do not be rude to our guest," The amazon with green skin stood a few paces ahead of them. "Hurry up you two let's get this over with." 

Cornelia had moved past feeling awestruck and was now immensely frustrated. How dare they call me 'primitive'? I am not a barbarian! I am born of the greatest race this world had ever seen! She was so angry she did not even have her normal 'word diarrhea' to contend with in these situations.  So non-verbal actions would have to suffice.

She only had to wait seconds before the opportunity presented itself. The hubristic god, they called 'Hades' had chosen that moment to get in front of her, like the mangy ill-mannered dog he is. A mischievous smile crossed her lips. She lifted her foot just high enough to be above Hades' next step and he came crashing down to the floor.

Hades lay there in an undignified pile, the light blue on the sleeves of his black 't-shirt' and emphasized the literally glowing anger in his eyes. The expression on his face made her instantly regretful of every action she had done in her entire history. Every mal spoken word from the time she could remember speaking until this moment. A look that leveled her to her core and sent an ominous shiver up her spine. He's a monster. She thought with a shiver and shifted closer to Apollo.  

Apollo's laugh boomed and echoed through the hallway. His emerald eyes twinkled in shared mischief and merriment. He bent forward slapping his knee, "oh I vote she stays, this will be grand!" His luxurious golden curls fell around his face and his perfect and white smile spread his lips as he guffawed. Hades grabbed some non-descript item from his pocket that, of course, Cornelia did not recognize. He chucked it at the golden god narrowly missing his head. 

Artemis' lips ticked up in the hint of a smile and Hades glared at Cornelia as he picked himself up off the floor.

"You did deserve that." The Artemis added mater-of-factly. Cornelia noted that unlike her compatriots the warrior goddess' had not taken her free time to change, or if she had she only owned one outfit. Thick vermillion leather armor of a style Cornelia had never seen covered every part of her body. Silver insignia marked a spot on her breast and four grey dots moved up her collar. At her hip was a sliver bow with strange mechanical attachments. Cornelia made a note to herself to learn what all of these things were called, though it would be frustratingly difficult without seeming like a 'barbarian' again. 

A door parted in front of them revealing an enormous circular room. Large translucent panels lined the walls, but they showed nothing of the outside. They remained dark. Lights danced on other panels in the room. Much like the one, she woke up in. There were six cushioned seats in a semi-circle in the back of the room. Two on either side of the front and one throne in the direct center of the room. The throne was very much occupied and it turned to reveal the man in the center.

He was older than the others. His storm grey eyes evaluated her. It was like staring straight into a hurricane. It filled her with fear, respect, fascination, and something else. His salt and pepper hair was cut short to his head. His skin looked to be made of the rarest pink marble and smooth and youthful despite the age speckles in his hair. He had a face chiseled like it had been crafted by an artist.

 He got up from the chair and she was able to see that he wore a shirt covered by a leather V-shaped shirt that seemed like it was made to look like armor but had no protective qualities at all. He moved toward her and flashed her a warm smile, "Welcome," The smile lit up his eyes and sent a needed breath of relaxation to her core, "Cornelia isn't it?" She nodded frozen in her place. He smiled again and took a step toward her with an outstretched hand, "I am Captain Zeus."

Cornelia knew nothing else, but that she should bow. She prostrated herself before what had to be the king of these gods. He laughed, "no need for that my dear."  She felt his hand in hers as he brought her back up. "What brings you to the darkest corner of the woods, my dear. Most humans do not venture this far in."