"I am Apollo," Lysander said. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself properly earlier."
"I mean." I shrugged. "I did almost kill you, apparently, so all's forgiven." Megaira laughed while Artemis rolled her eyes harder, but she didn't say a word. My eyes found the couple stillsitting on the couch. "I don't know much about anything, but you are not Gods."
"Thank goodness, we're not," the woman replied. "I am Echidna," she said.
The man added, "And I'm Typhon." His snakelike tail wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "I'd say it is nice to meet you, but I wish this were happening under better circumstances."
"Don't we all," my aunt grumbled, glaring at Elandra. But the woman ignored her and stepped in front of my aunt.
"Well," she clasped her hands together, grinning from ear to ear. "Now that you know everyone's names and you know we're all, in one way or another, immortal, it's time to get down to business."
"Which is?" I murmured.
"Which is finally finding out the truth, Kaira. The real truth. The one that brought you to us, and well, the one that might destroy us all if we don't tread carefully."
"Unless she kills us all when she finds out everything," Artemis grumbled, sitting down on the chair Apollo was occupying earlier.
Everyone huddled right nextto each other on the available seats, with Grimm lying over my feet, just under the table, and Nox and Vesper sitting at the entrance to the room, as if they were guarding us.
Maybe they were.
Hades occupied the corner of the room, opposite of where I sat, glaring at everyone gathered around me. It was becoming more and more apparent that he wasn't a fan of too many peopleand massive gatherings, and as his eyes once more flickered over me, I couldn't help but smile. The feeling was entirely mutual.
Elandra walked inside the room, carrying a stack of papers and parchments in her arms, grumbling the entire way toward the table, before she set them down.
The Furies were sitting on my right, while Typhon and Echidna kept staring at me, and I pretended I didn't see the curiosity in their eyes every time I looked at them. Artemis, on another hand, ignored my very existence.
Not that I minded. I didn't want to talk to someone who obviously didn't even want to be here, and I had a feeling her brother was the only reason she was here. Apollo kept trying to talk to Hades, who completely ignored him—just like everyone else.
The light from the firepit had managed to illuminate half of the room, but when Elandra spread one of the parchments across the table, a light above us suddenly turned on, allowing me to see what was in front of me better.
"A long fucking time ago, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades had managed to take down their father, Kronos," Elandra began. "Now, I know this sounds like the beginning of a very bad story, but bear with me."
"Okay," I simply said.
"I won't bother you with dates, but I need you to understand how this island came to be. How we all became prisoners of this fucking place, and why it is so important for you to be careful. And for you to learn to control your power, Kaira."
Elandra sat on the chair opposite of me, just on the other side of the table, looking at the papers spread in front of her.
"Sometimes I forget how many years we've been on this Earth," she murmured, getting a couple of nods from the immortals seated around us. "And then other times I rememberhow painful, how bloody, our history is and I get angry all over again at those that were supposed to be our leaders."
My eyes found Hades immediately, but unlike before, he didn't seem so untouchable. None of them did.
I could never imagine what they all went through, what trapped them here. Elandra mentioned Demeter earlier, but all I could remember about her was that she was the mother of one of the Goddesses. Nothing more.
"Some of us were around for more than six millennia," Elandra added. "Some, like me, a little bit less, but that doesn't mean we didn't see the empires rise and fall. That doesn't mean we didn't see the injustices happening in front of our eyes, unable to do anything about it. Because we were trapped. We are still trapped, but you could help us." She looked at me. "Since you came to the island you may have heard many different variations of what you are, Kaira, or what you're supposed to be, but truth be told—none of us actually know." I gulped. "You may think your life isn't yours anymore, but it is. Your choices will either save us or curse us forever, which is why the entire Council thinks you should have the full picture before we start your official training."
My muscles locked tight, anticipating the next blow, the next hard truth, but instead of destroying me with her words, Elandra spoke of a different time. A time that didn't belong to me, but to them. To these immortals sitting around me, trusting Elandra with their history.
"Many millennia ago, a Goddess walked on this Earth. A Goddess of Spring, representing both joy and sorrow when those seasons changed. Unfortunately," Elandra looked down at her hands, "she found herself in the middle of a war that was older than her. She found herself bound to a God that loved her, that worshipped the ground she walked on, but that wasn't enough."I was transfixed, listening to the story, feeling every single word deep inside my soul.
Apollo looked at Hades whose eyes narrowed at Elandra.
"The day she died," Elandra said, clearing her throat, "so did the hope for a better future. You see, Kaira." Elandra finally looked at me again. "This Goddess was the daughter of a woman who gave her everything just to make her child happy, and her death… Her death broke her, and by breaking her, our entire world surrendered to the darkness we are still living in now."
"Who was the Goddess?" I asked quietly.
"It was?—"
