The Goddess in Chains
By Isabella Andreski
A Folk Tale
Once there lived a fourteen year old teenage Greek girl. Her name was Natille Montiel and her mother was the Greek goddess, Aphrodite. Her brothers, Early, Joey, and Juby, the triplets, were four years older than her.
One day, Natille was washing herself in a nearby pond not far from the hut and cave the children and dragons lived in. Just as she got out of the pond, an Iris message had formed. (An Iris message is an image where you can see and talk with the person on the other side in a small cloud.) Her mother, Aphrodite, told her that Natille's aunt, Athena, had been captured during a battle and was now being held hostage by Erebus. Erebus, the Titan of darkness, took her to try to capture his one true love, Aphrodite, when she came to save her sister. Aphrodite knew this was a trap set for her, so her mother told her where to go. She would ride on Atania with her brothers beside her on their dragons. They would find and free Athena before she was put in the creatures' mouth and killed.
The Montiels were going pretty fast until they saw it. Atania stopped in mid flight and almost crashed into a mountain peak under the palace. Right in front of them was a palace of darkness. The palace was almost transparent and flickered images of Athena in the almost unbreakable chains. (At least, the gods and goddess couldn't break them.) They entered in to find Erebus in a shadow crown and robe on a throne down the narrow passage. There she was in the next room. Athena was chained over Cerberus.
The palace had flickered images of mosaic stone walls and tattered banners from hundreds of different kingdoms covered the walls. Spears and shields were displayed in the display cases. In the room to their right was something that looked like a dungeon. Skeletons littered the floor and were wearing burned clothing and rusted armor. They were in chains on their hands, necks, and feet. It was a very horrifying sight. What did he do to these innocent people? Natille thought about it, but then she had to concentrate on what was going on right now. She could wonder about it later.
The brothers then ran towards Athena as soon as they entered on their dragons. I have to hold him off until she is free, Natille thought. So she charged Erebus without Atania and pulled out her dagger and stabbed him in the ankle. He didn't try to fight back, which Natille thought was strange. He only moaned in pain. The blue blood of the Titans, Lieju, poured out of the small hole from her dagger. Her brothers were still working on the chains. She still had to try to find his vulnerable spot. Then, she stopped in her tracks. Athena had just sent her a message in her head, telling her what to say. Natille then shouted at him, "How dare you capture my aunt! She is part of my family and shouldn't be treated like this! Show some respect!" With that he disappeared into the shadows, leaving behind a majestic Pegasus in his place. Natille didn't understand but she didn't complain. She thought that it was because he was weakened or scared, but she didn't know for sure.
When Athena was freed, she rode on the Pegasus into a portal back home to Olympus without speaking a word except thank you.
That day, Natille learned that family was worth fighting for, even after only getting a simple thank you. Even when you risk your life for the sake of them is worth it all in the end. That's all she needed. Her family then lived happily ever. Natille's adventures never end in her perplex and adventurous world.