“Breathe please dear, the last thing we want is for you to collapse when you step out of the lift.” Athena chastised me. I blew out a shaky breath that I hadn’t realised I’d been holding for so long. The journey was taking forever, and I was starting to shake so much my teeth were rattling. This wasn’t the impression I wanted to set. So I closed my eyes, imagined I was the majestic woman stood next to be and held my head high. I was not about to collapse into a bundle of nerves. I was not going to be the laughing stock of Mount Olympus.
Then I heard the lift ‘ding’. And I knew that I’d have to open my eyes at some point soon. Athena touched my shoulder.
“Here you are Tory. Welcome to your new life.”
I opened one eye, then gasped and opened both. When I imagined living like an incarnate Deity, I never imagined my school/home to look like this. The Greeks had certainly gone all out on making sure their successors were comfortable. The Entrance Hall was vast and lavish, with marble floors, columns and statues of all the 12 Olympians lining the walls and looking down on us. The floor was gold and green marble, with Greek letters emblazoned in some of the tiles, and the walls shimmered in gold paint – though knowing the Greeks it would be actual gold. The statues looked nothing like the classic ones I had seen in museums, but how the Gods actually looked. I knew this from the remarkable likeness the statue of Athena had to the woman next to me. Looking at the statue I was a little bit pleased to see a resemblance to myself... The shape of her eyes and nose looked like mine, though I knew I inherited a lot of my biology from my human parents. With me still gawping at my surroundings and Athena striding confidently, we walked down the hall to where the reception was located. The receptionist, whose badge stated she was Clio, the Muse of History, looked up and smiled at Athena,
“My Lady Athena” she gushed, “what honour brings you down here?”
Athena smiled serenely at Clio, before guiding me forward to the desk from where I was hidden behind her. “I have found my daughter. Clio, this is Tory, Athena Olympus Incarnate. Would you let Gaia know she is here?”
Clio then looked at me and gasped. “Oh, this is a wonderful day. We have found the last Olympian!” She winked at me “You were very hard to locate you know. You really ticked off that Mermaid. If it wasn’t for our warriors, you still wouldn’t be here!”
I frowned at Clio, confused. “What has that awful Mermaid got to do with my location? I’ve been living in the same place for 11 years...”
Athena turned to me and said “Yes, but the home we had down was your parents, and not your Grandparents. And then when you finally received your dreams, our Mermaid either refused to surface, leaving you with a dream of a lake and nothing else, or she tried to grab you. It took a lot of spiritual strength to get into your dream and find you. Once we had found you, and your Grandmother knew about us, we brought you in. As you can probably tell, we won’t be employing that Mermaid again.” Athena and Clio laughed, but I scowled at the floor. How could they turn one of the most horrific dreams of my entire life into a joke? Athena seemed to sense this and put her arm around me. “But no matter now, as we have you safe and sound now daughter.”
The reception phone rang then and Clio picked it up. “Okay, yes, thank you very much. I’ll bring her through now.” She put the phone down and then smiled at me. “That was Gaia, she says you should come through now, and leave Athena to go back to her divine duties. So if you’d like to say goodbye and follow me, we can get you settled in your room.
I looked at Athena in shock. “You’re leaving me so soon? But you said I won’t see you again properly until my training is complete! That could take years!”
Athena smiled and stroked my cheek, like my mother Natalie used to do. “Child, I will see you often, in your dreams and visions. I will guide you to safety always; you just need to call upon me in prayer. But it would be irresponsible and unwise for me to be here all the time; I still have duties as a Goddess. You are in good hands here Tory, I wouldn’t leave you if you weren’t. But as your Grandmother so wisely said, this is your journey to take alone.” Athena hugged me one last time and then pushed me gently to where Clio was patiently waiting with my suitcase.
I sadly walked away from the only parent I had left in my life to where Clio was standing. Thankfully she kept up a non-stop chatter all the way to the office, so I didn’t have to talk. “Oh, you’ll just love it here Tory, though I should start calling you Athena now – all of our pupils are known as their deity, it stops confusion. Of course we all have our human names – I’m Katie for example. I guess it’s to stop the confusion when there’s the final transition from here to Olympus. I still can’t imagine being an actual Muse. My mother never really believed me anyway, silly woman...” Clio suddenly stopped outside an office door. “Well, here we are dear. Don’t worry, Gaia is really nice. And just remember, if you ever need anything, you can always come and find me or any of the other Muses. We’ll be around somewhere” She put my suitcase down next to me and gave me a hug, which took me by surprise, before whispering “Good luck!” and tottering back down the way we came in her ridiculously high heels.
I stopped and stared at the door in front of me. It was a very plain door, no number or name on it, but I was scared of knocking on it all the same. Then I mentally shook myself. “For God-sake Tory, you're meant to be Athena. Athena isn’t scared of a stupid door” I muttered to myself. So, taking another deep breath, I knocked on the door.
“Come in,” A voice called from the other side of the door. I picked my suitcase up, wondering when I would be getting rid of the damn thing, and slowly pushed the door open. The room inside looked just like any normal Headmistress’s office, would, but this office had so many plants in I could barely move. The headmistress was also not what you would expect a normal Headmistress to look like either. Gaia was the embodiment of the Earth in every way. Luscious auburn hair, with flowers weaved through it and pale blue tinted skin, she looked like she had stepped out of a children’s illustration. Her eyes were the colour of the ocean, and her lips were tinted green. I honestly stopped and stared at her for a good few minutes while she finished the forms she was filling out. She snapped me out of my reverie though by saying “Please, do sit down dear; I shall deal with you in a moment.” I pushed my way through the leaves and sat at her desk, watching the butterflies fly around her head like she was the most beautiful flower in summer. Though if Gaia was a flower, she would be the most beautiful, without a doubt. Gaia signed the final piece of paper that was on her desk and looked up at me. “Ah, Athena” she sighed. “It has taken us a very long time to find you. But you are here now. So, I shall brief you on what you need to know. First, you are no longer Tory Marie Baxter. That life is behind you, as you are now not human. You will be known as Athena, and will be addressed accordingly. Second, you will have almost no contact with your human family. We find that it does not bode well for your development as a God if you are still tied to your human life.” Upon seeing my distraught expression, she added softly “Athena, I didn’t say no contact, I said almost none. It will get easier. You forget they are human child, and you are not. You are becoming immortal, and one day they will die. Also, you are going to start your training as a Goddess tomorrow. This will include everyday classes as you would have had at your college, combat training, skills training and power honing. You will get weekends off to do whatever you please, but your activities will be monitored and you won’t be able to go off campus straight away.” She looked at me then and smiled. “I know this is a lot to take in at once, but there will be 11 others who you will become quite close to. But while you're here, have you any questions?”
I thought for a minute, but decided if I asked anything, it would lead to more bizarre answers my brain would be unable to cope with. So I shook my head.
“Okay then, very well. If you would like to follow me, I will show you to your dormitory.” Gaia stood up and walked, no, glided to the door. I stood up and dragged my suitcase along behind me. We then proceeded to walk along several more marble corridors, along which were rooms which Gaia pointed out to me. “This is the Training Hall for combat” indicating a large room kitted out with every weapon available and mats covering the floor, walls and even the ceiling. There were currently 4 boys dressed in ancient Greek armour sparring with each other. The brutal blows made me flinch, and I hoped I wouldn’t get on their bad side in a fight. “On your right is the skills training room. It is similar to the combat room, but you will use your unique skills to enhance your skills. And then in the next room is your power honing room. We have to black that room out when it is not in use due to the sensitive equipment, but it is a mind-blowing place to be”. We walked on again, but there were only standard looking classrooms here, and a cafeteria which looked like every other cafeteria I had eaten in. After a few more corridors we reached a courtyard, which was actually outdoors.
“I don’t understand, we were underneath a temple, I didn’t feel us sloping up...”
Gaia smiled. “That is my magic. I moulded the surroundings so I would look like we were at normal level, when we are still at the same level we were before. Plus you get the beautiful view of Olympus from here”
Looking around the courtyard really did reflect Gaia’s magic. There were trees, plants and flowers from all over the world, some of which wouldn’t have been able to grow in this environment. “It’s beautiful Gaia” I whispered.
“Come, we’re nearly at your room. Then you’ll have time to meet your roommates before you're introduced to the rest over dinner.” Gaia started her brisk walk to the other side of the courtyard, and I hurried behind her, eager to meet other people that had been through the same thing as me.
“Who will I be rooming with?” I asked
“Artemis and Aphrodite. I believe you will balance the two out nicely.”
I stared incredulously after Gaia. “You’re putting me in a room with Aphrodite? I will want to look in the mirror before I go out of the room every day you know!”
Gaia laughed at this “you will have a mirror delivered to your room especially for you if you wish.”
“Thanks” I muttered. We stepped through a heavy wooden door leading to another building, which I assumed were the dormitory. Here there was plush red carpet and cream and gold walls, making it seem like a 5 star hotel. There were old paintings along the walls, a few I recognised, but most I didn’t. We walked alone yet more corridors until I was fed up of turning corners and seeing only another corridor, until we finally stopped outside room 123. “One Two Three? Seriously?”
Gaia looked at me. “Why wouldn’t I be serious?” She asked.
“Um, no reason, I suppose. It’s just funny that I got room 123... Can I go in?” I asked eagerly
“Not without a key,” Gaia smiled at me, holding out a silver key with my name on a key-ring attached. She handed it to me and I placed it in the lock. I took one last deep breath, turned the key and opened the door
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yay guys! Sorry it took a while, but I got stuck after the first paragraph, but the rest I wrote today. She's finally here! And we'll meet the Olympians next. So, the person for the character Gaia? Up to you. But I'll try to attach the picture which inspired me.
So until next time, happy reading!
Dizzie xo