ATN: THE ELEMENTS OF BEAUTY

THE CALL OF AN ADVENTURE

The next morning, I woke up late. Ten o'clock was our training time, and I woke up at nine-forty five. I freshened up, got ready and came out hurriedly, only to be greeted by Riya like, "What's up, numb-nut?"

"I am so late." I said, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I thought you were occupied, since you were sleeping."

"Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"The others left already, numb-nut. I was out for a walk around the palace, but you came. Now, go."

I reached training soon, and started with some training of my own. That was one part I had invented myself. While Tina trained the swordsmen, I used to stand separate, take out my book, and practice spells on things around me. In my book, I turned pages and came across a spell: the disintegrating spell. I looked around, and found a rock. I put my right hand out, and concentrated on the rock. Then, I muttered, "Aposyntheo!" Nothing happened. Out of the six pages of nature spells I had mastered, it had taken me at least eight times to get each of them right. This, too, was no different. I uttered the spell five times, and finally, the rock broke into a million pieces. While I was getting ready to cast the spell on something else, a tense looking satyr came running. He ran towards Tina, and said something. I, being a bit far away, couldn't hear. So, I closed my book and went closer to the group. "What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know. The Queen has called us in the throne room." Tina said.

This sudden call seemed weird. Queen Anastasia never indulged in our activities, and never called us while we trained. But this seemed serious. Tina looked concerned. So, we all stopped training, and left for the throne room.

As we almost ran towards the throne room, Dadai asked as he shortened his sword, "Do you know anything?"

"No." I replied, "Why?"

"We thought," Abhro said, "after what happened yesterday could be a reason."

"I don't think so. She called all of us. All of us weren't there." I said.

We reached the throne room and saw Queen Anastasia sitting on the throne. Beside her, in her usual seat, sat Iris. But, this was not the usual Iris we had seen. That Iris was cheerful, happy, and smiling. This Iris was depressed, worried and looked like she had not slept in ages. She was wearing a brown gown, and her hair was messy. We came and bowed to the Queen, and then looked at Iris. "I have never seen her this bad." Tina said.

"She's had visions." the Queen said.

"No kidding."

"Terrifying ones."

"Oh!" Tina turned to Iris, and said, "O goddess of rainbows, if we could share your pains, we would..."

"Oh stop it, you exaggerating sweethearts." Iris spoke, "I am not sick or in a coma. Its just that I couldn't sleep." 

"What's wrong, then, Iris?" I asked.

"I am afraid your dreams are coming true, Jay." Iris said. And that was enough to send shock waves across my body. I remembered that dark skinned super-buff guy who spoke of destroying Atlantis. I remembered the palace with pink walls, and the voice of a woman crying. "What did you see, Iris?"

"I heard her cry. She might be manipulative, but she was always happy. But, I saw her cry. She never cries."

"Who?" Dadai asked.

"Your mother, Avik. She's in trouble. And when she's in trouble, it means Olympus is in trouble. And if Olympus is in trouble, we all are in trouble."

"My mother?" Dadai didn't look much thrilled, "What problem could a goddess have?"

"I think its a giant problem." Iris said, "I saw the two most vicious of giants preparing for war against Atlantis. And they have created some magic that would make one of them invincible."

"Giants? Like, Gigantes?" Tina asked. I had no idea what that was. So, I had to ask the question, "Sorry, but what's gigantes?"

"Long ago," Iris said, "Gaia, Mother Earth, sought revenge upon the Olympians for imprisoning the Titans in Tartarus. She birthed twenty four giants with Tartarus, the ones who couldn't be destroyed until a union of gods and demigods fought against them. Every giant was prophesied to either destroy a particular god, or have it the other way around. While the second part of the prophecy was alterable, the first part was very changeless. Anyway, in last Gigantomachy, the gods and demigods, like Heracles, Dionysus, and Achilles brought the giants down."

"And now, they live again?" I asked.

"Jay, they were children of Tartarus. They reformed, and got out." Tina said.

"And Tartarus just let them?"

"First, Tartarus is mostly asleep." Iris said, "Plus, he created a gateway for situations when the living, by accident, fall in his pit, so that they could get out."

"Got it. So what do we do? If those giants are coming, they must be stopped." Abhro said. All of us nodded. I felt confused. I must have read about these giants too, when I read Greek myths, but had not remembered any of it. Now, I had no idea what we were supposed to do. Some giants were about to attack Atlantis. Two weeks into the demigod stuff, we were already at war.

"I think, you five Chatterjees must take up the mission and go to Aphrodite. Find out what the giants have done to her. Resolve the issue, so that the goddess of love can fight for us when we need her. I will need to confirm if the two giants that I saw are those two I'm thinking of." Iris said. 

"Oh!" Dadai humphed, "I will have to see my mother who didn't care to say goodbye to my Dad. I am not so thrilled."

"Dadai, you know very well that that is how Mom works." Abhro said, "She is the goddess of love, she meets people, falls in love, and then moves on. Now, if you expect Aphrodite to live with us like a family, after all the stories you have told me about her..."

"Fine!" Dadai said, "Lets go. But only if we all go. Like we have never seen Mom, you have never seen your Aunt Aphria." We readily agreed.

Iris said, "I'll send you to Aphrodite's palace in Sicily through a portal. I'll keep it open. When you are done, come back, and we will discuss further plans."

Abhro, Hiya, Riya and I were thrilled. I was a little nervous, but I knew that was normal, for it was my first demigod mission. Dadai, however, was not much thrilled. I understood. He just wanted to get this over with. Its really shocking to know that your mother left your father without a word. My mother had also left Dad. But, they had a proper separation. I had heard that Aphrodite was just like that. I had no idea how many demigod children of Aphrodite were there, but given her character certificate, I was sure there were many. I was surprised there weren't any in Atlantis. And now, I was supposed to go to see her and help her. The one person who left my Uncle Sankalp out of the blue, leaving him to raise two kids all by himself. I was supposed to hate her. But, I couldn't. I had always dreamed of this situation that one day, we would find out that our whole family was fine, and we would reunite again. Some part of it was coming true.

Iris was up, doing her hand circling thing to open a portal. Soon, just like my first day here in Atlantis, in front of me was a mystical circular portal, filled with the seven colours of a rainbow. One by one, we stepped inside the portal. I looked back at Tina, she gave another look, just like she did the first day, saying, "Don't worry."

And I stepped through the portal. A cool breeze brushed past me, just like it did when I put my hands inside Iris's rainbows. I could see nothing. Soon, the light appeared, and I stepped on an unknown land. My cousins were already here. "This is the palace." Dadai said.

In front of us was a palace with walls made of gold. The door was made of a silvery metal that Dadai pointed out to be palladium. The palace had a huge garden, with different coloured roses blooming in tons of plants. The garden had a fencing all around itself, and the only way to get to the palace was the platinum gate with a platinum dove on it. The palace was the most beautiful one I had ever seen. It wasn't bigger than Atlantis's, but was definitely prettier.

"Woah!" Riya and Hiya had their mouths opened.

"Alright." Dadai said, "Lets get this over with."