Chapter 15: Elise

Kirk stood there like an idiot as the more than hideous woman tried to kiss him. Elise cringed as he puckered, then cringed again, when a blade shot out of her stomach. When a woman with long blonde hair walked out. She was crazy beautiful, like the woman before was a scraggly rock compared to a princess cut diamond.
“A-Aphrodite? A-Ares?” Elise stumbled through her words. “Like the Greek gods?” Elise took several shaky breaths, not entirely sure what had happened. She had read about Aphrodite and Ares getting it on. Only to be caught by Hephaestus, Aphrodite’s jealous husband, but that was only in storybooks.
“Well I’m a goddess, but yes. The very same.” Aphrodite smiled, her brilliant white teeth all in a perfect line. Her feminine features were graced with no makeup but she looked better than the stars on the red carpet. The man next to her was big and bulky. He looked like a jock that never grew out of his letterman jacket. Instead he switched it for a leather one.
“W-why to do y-you need to talk to us?” Kirk stammered, embarrassing himself. His cheeks flushed and he looked away, causing Aphrodite to giggle softly.
“I need the help of two very worthy demigods.” Aphrodite smiled and looked at Elise who was holding it together better than Kirk. “I have lost some things of mine.” She spoke so sweetly. Her voice sounded like milk and honey.
“What are demigods?” Elise asked, at the risk of sounding stupid. “Demi means…”
“Half. In Greek.” Aphrodite informed her. “Demigods are also known as half-bloods, or heroes.” She smiled. “Offspring of the gods and mortals.”
“Oh…” Elise still didn’t understand. Why was she talking to them…wait. Why were they talking to her? She could be a robber or a pedophile for all she knew. “I must be bonkers. I almost believed that you were the actual goddess, Aphrodite.”
“Elise Black, of course I am.” Aphrodite smiled and stepped forward. “Don’t you realize that the world is so much more than people perceive? Take the empousai. You could see her for what she was, am I right?”
“You mean an ugly witch?” Aphrodite giggled and nodded at Elise. Kirk stood, his mouth still ajar.
“Wait, are you saying that we…” Kirk pointed at his sister then himself, staring at Aphrodite. “Are children of Greek gods?”
“Weren’t you listening!?” The burly man named Ares, stepped forward. Kirk flinched and stepped back.
“Now I know I’m mad.” Kirk muttered to himself, loud enough for Elise to hear. She looked at her brother then at Aphrodite.
“The Greek gods are alive and well children. So are the stories surrounding them. You two are just two characters in these new chapters of Olympus.” She smiled at Elise then Kirk, who flushed a deep red. “I need your help.” She said with a soft smile, her whole body seemed to radiate at the same time.
“Okay, with what?” Kirk answered a little too eagerly.
“Shut up Kirk!” Elise hit his shoulder and stepped in front of him. “If we are children of the gods then who are our mothers?” She demanded of Aphrodite to tell her. Elise knew very well that her father was not Greek god. She knew that he was the furthest thing from it. Since neither Kirk nor Elise knew their mothers, they had to be the godly ones, if this woman wasn’t as bonkers as Elise thought she was.
“You two have not been claimed yet?” Aphrodite raised a delicate hand to her mouth. Turning to Ares she whispered something that sounded like. “If Zeus hears about this…” She said something inaudible. “We have to tell them. If not, then it goes against the promise.” Ares nodded at her and she turned back to them.
“What promise?” Elise began to get angry. She wanted to know who her mother was so badly. Sometimes she would stay up at night and wonder if her mother had always been in her life, she was just to oblivious to notice. Other times she would wonder if her mother was even alive, or why she didn’t care about her daughter. “I want answers!” Elise stomped her foot.
“Kirk Black, son of memories, prince to the throne of the forgotten and the remembered. Son of Mnemosyne.” Kirk’s mouth dropped as a small symbol appeared above his head. Elise didn’t notice it, she was too busy looking at her own when Aphrodite told her who her mother was.
“Elise Black, daughter of the night, heir to the hours of darkness. Daughter of Nyx.” Elise felt her body relax, like a weight was lifted. Looking up she saw a picture, blurred at the edges. It was a starry night sky. In the star she made out a face, very angular and intense, and yet it looked delicate and loving.