A place of comfort

[Guest]

"Uncle Hades! My, I'm glad to finally see you again!!"

Eien laughed gleefully as he stood in front of Hades' statue. The sculpture, with its cold emotionless eyes, simply stared back at him with undying reticence. His face looked different from the face he knew so well--the face of the God who scolded him every once in awhile when he was a child, making him feel as if he was part of his family.

'But even if you look different here, I'm sure my words and prayers will still reach your all-hearing ears...'

The Lampad grew silent. He immediately discarded his childish nature and knelt down before the statue, his expression serious. He bowed low until his forehead touched the floor.

"Lord Hades! I apologize deeply for not coming here and paying my due respects often enough. All I did was stay locked up in my room, never even glancing back at the Underworld and all that exists within it."

"But i had thought about it... You were like a just and fair father to me when you scolded me and gave me a chance at the Athenaeum. I liked this place and I was glad to be here."

Eien looked up at the statue's stone face again, "From now on, I'm going to give you the respect you deserve. I'll fight in your name and win for your glory."

The Lampad stood up and ended his prayer. He turned and left.

'Thank you for everything.'

[Guest]

"Zeus, glorious Zeus, I thank You for accepting me in your ranks, a greater honor there could not have been my bright Lord of the heavens," Adelphie began, kneeling before the statue of zeus, her eyes closed in prayer.

She lit a piece of incense and continued her prayer, "I give You this offering as a saying of thanks, not just for the honor, but for the other gifts You have given me as well. I would like to give You an offering of music in the near future, if yYu would accept such a gift. It is all I have to offer at the moment."

She paused, thinking of her Zeus, brilliant Zeus. The one who lit the skies even on moonless nights. The one of her dreams. He did gift her with jewelry, and Zeus had fancied girls younger than she was. She smiled at the thought. "I would like a visit from You sometime as well, perhaps even combine it with my offering of music, if You will, my Lord."

She look up at the statue, taking in the mosaics behind it. "You are the most majestic of Lords, and I shall do anything for you that you might ask. Thank you." She made a sign with her hand, going from her head to her heart, and left the shrine.

When she did she noticed a Lampad leaving a shrine at the other side of the temple, she recognized it as Hades'. She blushed, thinking he might have overheard her prayer. Don't be ridiculous, he was on the other side of the temple, he couldn't have heard! she corrected herself, but nervously straightened her skirt anyway.

"Hello, I've seen you before haven't I? You're a fourth year? I should know your name but I am sorry to have forgotten it."

[Guest]

"Oh, hello there," Eien smiled warmly, "It's okay, I hardly talked to anyone before. So it's not strange if I'm forgotten..."

"Well, anyway, I'm Eien Flereus, a Lampad of Hades. You're Adelphie, right?"

"I see that you're paying your respects to your God... They're really great beings, aren't they?"

[Guest]

"Still, I've spent my life here, I should know everyone! Yes I am Adelphie, Mnemosyne's daughter and Warrior of Zeus', pleased to meet you," she smiled at him, though still reproaching herself for forgetting his name.

"Yes, they are wonderful, well, some of them. Zeus is really wonderful, but Hera frightens me!"

[Guest]

"Lady Mnem's daughter?!" the Lampad looked surprised. Not knowing much about anyone, he didn't know the High Priestess had one.

"Haha, then you must be tough! ...Judging from your looks, you must be a first year. I wish you good luck on the comming years of the Athenaeum."

"Hmm... But I thought Hera was supposed to be... gentle?"

[Guest]

Adelphie laughed," Why are you so surprised, she has a family too you know! Though we're less of her family than the Athenaeum is." She said regretfully, it was true that her and her half-siblings mostly took second-seat when the Athenaeum was concerned, but in return they were all raised by the entire place and its inhabitants as well.

"I'm not tough at all, but neither was mother when she was here, but she won anyway. I'm also a first year, is that obvious?"

Adelphie looked away at the mention of Hera. "She seems that way, but Hera is really a vixen who is jealous of Zeus' every whim! He hates the woman and she knows it, but she just can't let it go!" she said, defending her mentor with exactly what he told her.

((Poor thing D8 She's been brainwashed))

[Guest]

"Haha, that's because she still looked so young and beautiful. ...But she could be over a hundred years old for all I know," Eien sighed.

"I'm sure you can be as good as your mother, if not better. Try aim to be better, a young child should have big dreams and ambitions."

The Lampad soon realized that a sad look seemed to surface on Adelphie's face as the conversation about her family and the Gods progressed. He felt bad for having started it. But he was impressed at how much she honored Lord Zeus.

"Adelphie, I'm sorry. You didn't have to think about it if you don't like it. Let's think about the happier things while we walk home."

((Poor Adel DDD:> ))

[Guest]

Adelphie laughed, "You know, she doesn't even tell us how old she is! Us, her own children! Sheesh. I suspect that it's well over a thousand years old!" she giggled. "Quite seriously, I don't know. She talks about a lot of past generations of warriors, so I'd suspect it to be over a hundred, but I'm having a hard time believing that my own mother is a thousand years old, especially since I'm her first born!"

She laughed again. "Eien, if I were to be as tough as my mother, I wouldn't win any fights no matter how hard I tried. There's a rumor that she only won because of divine invention! She's really not a fighter."

She sighed at his last words. "It's quite alright, without the Athenaeum I'd just have one mother and a father who's Gone with the Wind, unite literally. Now I have a bunch of crazy uncles and aunties who I'm not sure should even be allow to roam with the sane! I'm quite happy here. But enough about me, you're Hades' then, how did you end up here?"

[Guest]

"Haha, no offense, but I heard the ladies are quite...uncomfortable when talking about age and...a couple other things," Eien said briefly, thinking that he'd rather not mention everything.

"Wow, you should be proud of your mother then--she's able to make sure that everything she does is done well, although she's not fully qualified for them," Eien said in amazement.l

"Hmm... Hades is a looong story. Briefly, I troubled Him so much that we've gotten used to scolding and being scolded. All the way, till He'd have enough of it and wanted to banish me from the Underworld."

"But Hecate's real nice. She'd been like a mother to me since I lost mine. She decided to give me a chance here. It's much better than being kicked out of your own house, so I won't waste her kindness," he said with determination.

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