Her Quest

Chapter five

"Uh...". "Penelope, I know I haven't been there for you as a Father should, but I thought if I managed to get you here and make you see my condition, you wouldn't blame me as much for not being a part of your life".
"Father?" Penelope blurted, the shock and surprise knocking the air from her chest.
She took in the man's features. She knew from all the statues in Greece, that this man was her father. Most of the statues she had seen were of him holding a flaming ball of fire in one hand, a sword in the other.

The rest idolised the constant cycle of pain and regeneration he had been through in the dry lands.
It took her a moment to digest the fact that the man she had been yearning to meet for so many years was finally in front of her. She had always dreamt of this moment, but never thought of the way things would go down.
"I don't understand. You're here, in the palace. Does mother know?".
There was hesitation in his wide weary eyes.
"Oh my Gods, she knew!".
"Penelope, calm down. Your mother didn't have a choice, it was the only way she could continue seeing you and to be honest, I begged her not to fight against Poseidon's orders". "Why would he do something like this?! How did this happen?". Prometheus sighed heavily before he spoke.
"After I was rescued from the dry lands by Heracles, I met your mother and we had an affair. When Poseidon found out, he was livid and so he made Amphitrite choose between me and you. Amphitrite was still in the early stages of pregnancy with you. Poseidon made her choose between my freedom or your life. And yours was most important. So Poseidon had me locked up in here since that day".

Penelope couldn't believe what she was hearing. Poseidon - a man that she had looked up to all her life - had once wanted to kill her. The man that had just danced with her a few minutes ago had imprisoned her father in the dungeon beneath his monstrously huge palace.
Penelope could feel her anger fuelling the flame in her hand.

"I can't believe that I came to this place every year and you were here, you were here all along. And to think I even asked Poseidon to help me find you" Penelope scoffed.
"He will pay for this".
"No, Penelope, you need not worry about him now. And I don't want you causing a scene and letting them know that you know the truth about me. All you need to do is focus on your training". Penelope looked up at her father in complete astonishment.
"Training? Why? Is there a coming war? Did you see a vision?" she questioned in rapid fire, suddenly nervous.
"There's a prophecy about you...".
"About me? What do you know? Tell me".
"Nothing of any use. Only the Oracle will be able to help you figure out your part in all this. All I know is that you will bring about change. Ironic, isn't it? The fates truly had a plan for us, didn't they? It was I who made a sacrifice and brought about change for mankind. And you, who will bring freedom, to me included".

"Penny? Penny? Seriously? Are you thinking about that dumb Alex again?" Iaso's voice ripped through her memory like a sharp battlefield sword.
"You were gone for a few seconds. Did you finally have a vision?" Leia asked gently, her baby blue eyes deepening.
Although Penelope was the daughter of the god of forethought, thief of the flame, she could only utilize one of my father's strengths and that was fire. "No, but I do know where we will find the first obol".
"Continue keeping us in suspense, why don't you?" Iaso complained.
"It's the sea, Poseidon's palace to be exact".
"But, Penelope, that's where...".
"I know, Leia, but I don't have a choice. That's the place it hurts most to visit". "I hope I've been useful, if there's anything else you need help with, let me know" Ria said before turning towards the door.
"Thanks a lot Ria" Penelope said and gave her a quick hug.
"All the best".
"So should we inform your mother of our arrival?" Iaso waited until Ria was completely out of sight before she spoke.
"And let her get wind of my reason for visiting, oh no. The only person I can truly trust there is my Father. Hopefully he'll give me some advice".

By the first rays of the rising Sun, Penelope was already up and ready to go. It would take at least two hours to get to the sea, but before that she needed to get Leia and Iaso something that would help them to breath under water. More worried about how her friends would survive under water than she was nervous about beginning her quest, she was kept awake through the night, thinking about plausible options for her friends to breathe normally under the sea.

Being the daughter of a nymph sea queen had it's benefits. Upon entering any type of water, Penelope's mermaid tail could be commanded at will. Naturally along with the mermaid tail, breathing under water became easy.
"Gods. I am not used to waking up this early" Iaso yawned and stretched her arms in the air.
"Would you get done already? I still need to find the two of you something to help with breathing underwater, then still get to sea, which will take two hours. Then another hour swimming to the palace. And only the gods know how long it will take us to find the obol".

"So what about our breathing? Do you know of someone that could cast a spell of some sort?".
"Oh my gods, Hecate!" Penelope squealed excitedly. "Seriously Pen, what makes you think that the goddess of witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy would help you?".
"Well, I mean... I don't, but I'm hoping that she will. Maybe if I mention either of my parent's name?". Leia entered the room with a fully loaded backpack. "What's in there?" Penelope asked her.
"As much foods as I could gather, along with weapons of course". Mentally preparing for the quest took Penelope's mind completely off all the necessities they would need on the trip.

"Thanks Leia, I didn't even think about any of those" She admitted. "That's ok, you had a lot on your mind". "Ok, so what do we know about Hecate, besides that she is the goddess of witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy?" Penelope thought out loud as she played with the tassels of the winter blanket that was neatly folded at the end of the bed.
"She was and still is the consort of Hermes, if that helps" Iaso said.

"Every bit will help make sense of this entire quest. If we get stuck, we are going to have to go back to the library, though" She said with an annoyed heavy sigh.
"Argh, Gods no, I am not spending even a fraction of a minute in that place. For real, there has got to be something else that will give us a bit of a clue in the right direction".
"Ok let's think, what about her parents?".

"My mind is honestly blank; I should have focussed better in class". "Wait a minute! Hecate is the daughter of Perses and Asteria!" Leia raised her voice.
"And Asteria is Ria's mother!" Penelope exclaimed excitedly.