We rose from our slumber several hours later, each of us visiting a bathroom in the suite.

When he returned to the bed, Eli moved like a stiff old man. He said, “You know, Athena, you have never been wounded as severely as I was and newly grown flesh takes time to settle in.” I saw Ares motion to Bill and Hermes and the three quietly left Eli and me alone in the room.

“Then, you need a massage,” I said. “To get those muscles and sinews moving again.” I moved over him on the bed and started massaging his shoulders. He turned onto his stomach and I gave him a thorough massage, kneading tight muscles and stiff young tissues. When I finished giving him a gentle full-body massage, he stretched like a contented cat. He rose from the bed.

Eli smiled at me and said, “I need to spend a day with my horses. Boreas has taken good care of them?”

“Of course, he has,” I replied. “Also, I looked in on them regularly. Euos allowed me to give him an apple and to hug his neck.”

“Interesting,” Eli said with a smile on his lips. “I’d call that real progress.” He walked slowly to the closet we shared.

I put on a blue knitted maxi dress and black leggings to keep out the cold chill that permeated the walls of my palace. I pulled black suede boots over my feet. Helios dressed in a pair of black leather pants and a green long-sleeved tshirt. Before I left the room, he pulled me into a long and passionate kiss. I found myself longing to make love to him to reinforce our personal bond. Eli pulled out of the kiss and said, softly, “Before I can accomplish that particular hunger, I need to feed my body.”

“You know it will probably take you a few days to refuel.”

“I wasn't injured that badly,” he said and he kissed me again.

We walked into the kitchen, hand in hand. Metis and Memory had prepared a feast for our breakfast and Eli and I ate our fill. Ares, who presumably ate earlier, approached as I was downing my last swallow of coffee. “Athena, you have several people waiting to see you in the conference room. Memory, you will need to be present, too.”

“Okay. Helios, please attend me. Ares, are Hermes and Bill in there, or do we need to summon them?”

“Waiting for your arrival.” Ares gave me a very courtly bow from the neck and then allowed me to precede him into the conference room.

Among my visitors were the eight remaining muses, Artemis, and Poros who was my half-brother by Metis. The Titan Asteria, and Eli’s sisters, Eos and Selene waited, along with Graces, Winds, Oracles, and Healers.

When I stepped inside, they all bowed or curtsied, assuming this was a formal gathering. No one sat, but rather they waited for me. I moved to the head of the table and motioned for Helios to join me on the right and Ares on the left. Bill stood beside Helios and Hermes next to Ares. I said to the assembled, “Mnemosyne, Metis, Titan, Themis, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis. Also, Helios, Ares, Bill and Hermes. Please take your places.” I waited until the selected Titans and Olympians moved to their designated seats. “These are the center of my new court of Athenians. They are my closest advisors. Attend them as you would me. We are the New Twelve Great Athenians.”

Ares, who had taken on the role of my chief advisor and enforcer, spoke next, “Athena is asking for an Oath of Binding, which all of you will now give her. Be warned that Mnemosyne will make certain your oath is true.”

More court ceremonies, but this was necessary. But in the end, I had 8 Muses, 3 Graces, 4 Seasons, 3 Winds, 4 Oracles, and 7 Healers, plus the Titans Asteria, Eos, and Selene and the Olympians Poros and Artemis. Not a full complement by any means, but a very good start. I hated the process but knew it to be an unavoidable step to ensure my future.

“Thank you, all,” I said. Then to Hermes, I said, “Gather the Agricultural deities and the Air deities, with the exception of Hera and her entourage, and the Rustic deities with the exception of Hephaistos. Do not bother with the water deities at this time. I want to meet with Air, Rustic, and Agriculture Monday at noon at Mount Olympus. If they will not give me an Oath of Binding, they will not be asked to come to this island.”

Hermes nodded. “I can have them ready for you by Sunday at 7:00 p.m., Local time.”

“Alright. Be about your business.” I trusted Hermes to accomplish all I asked.

I left the conference room followed by Eli, Ares, and Bill. “I really hate holding court,” I announced and the three men laughed. They had heard me complain about it often enough. “Yeah, go ahead and laugh. This will be an all too frequent occurrence. Small wonder Zeus gave all this up.” I headed toward the stables, knowing Helios was eager to see the four horses. We walked down the long corridors, across a patch of wind-blown grass, and then out to the stables that could easily hold twenty horses.

Boreas, the North Wind, greeted us and then embraced Eli. “I cared for the four as if they were my own,” he announced.

“Thank you, Boreas,” Eli said.

As gently as a mother approaching her newborn, Eli touched Euos first, then Sterope, Abraxas, and finally Bronte. They clustered around him, shook their heads, and whinnied sweetly. He grabbed four apples from the kitchen on his way to the stables and gave each of his beauties a treat.

The horses danced on their hooves, eager to be let out of the barn. We four tacked up the horses with Helios showing Bill the proper way to saddle Sterope and we walked the four out of the stable.

Then, we four went for a ride--Eli on Euos, Bill on Sterope, Ares on Abraxas, and me on Bronte. We rode slowly until Bill got used to his mount and used to riding a horse. His confidence grew the longer he sat in the saddle.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We rode the length of the island over the rocky outcroppings down the center spine and then we rode them along the beach splashing in the waves as we went. Bill felt bold enough to give Sterope her head and soon she galloped at full speed down the beach.

We followed Eli up into the fluffy clouds over the island. From overhead, I could see my island clearly. It was five miles by about three miles. The house dominated the northeast side where the nearly circular bay resembled a bite taken out of the end of the island by a huge monster. The island was an extinct volcano with two calderas. The central caldera was filled with evergreen trees and the eastern, more ancient caldera made up the bay. The west side of the island had rocky cliffs that rose up out of the ocean for 300 feet at a nearly vertical angle while the east had a stretch of pale sand for its beach.

The island was hidden so that the many satellites in orbit over the planet couldn’t see what was happening on Olympia. Observations from the satellites would show a deserted island much the same way we hid Eli’s Valley in the Caucasus Mountains. I didn't want to complicate our lives any further by having a military force getting curious about horses flying around the island or people coming and going on an all too regular basis.

Eli led us back to terra firma near the bay and allowed his horses to walk toward the stables.

“That was amazing,” Bill said when we touched down on the sand. “I have flown in airplanes and helicopters, but nothing was like flying on a horse.” He clapped

Eli on the back and said, “I understand why you kept them all these years. Thank you for letting me ride with you.”

Eli laughed and said, “You’d have never done that if you stayed with the VCID.”

“You guys opened a lot of doors for me. I still don’t know what I am doing here, but I totally appreciate you letting me in.”

Ares stepped closer to Bill and said, “I’ll tell you a secret, Bill. It is thrilling for me to ride these horses, too.”

We walked the horses back to the stables and helped Eli while he groomed the four. We had to teach Bill how to wash, comb, and feed them, but he was a very willing student. Also, Eli showed him how to muck out the stalls. “Now, this is something I can do,” Bill said, holding a shovel full of horse manure. We all laughed.

After our ride, we all headed to our suite to tidy up a bit. “You know, Eli,” I said to him. “We should probably take it easy for the rest of the day.”

He wrapped his arms around me and said, “I agree. It will take a few days for me to recover completely from Circe’s tender care.”

“Eli, can you tell me what happened?”

“Yes. Let’s shower first to rid ourselves of the scent of horses, get into the bed totally naked, make love for an hour, and then I will tell you of dark things.”

We did just so.

Saturday, December 12, Eli’s Story

Helios spoke in a narrative:

Circe grabbing me from the balcony was a complete surprise. She knew what she was doing. She had it planned down to the second. We watched her for several days, as you know, and she watched us at the same time. Then, metaphysical Ares and I floated off the balcony at the Highrise to touch what was hovering out there. At the time, we didn’t know who approached us. In retrospect, we should have suspected.

Circe encircled my metaphysical self and then pulled the physical me from the balcony. At the same time, she prevented me from transporting and she prevented me from leaving a magical trail because she inhibited my use of anything metaphysical. I was enshrouded in darkness as if I was dropped in a cave with no exit.

Imagine being inside a suffocating black plastic trash bag that is so thick that you cannot rip a hole in it. I tried to push against the barrier, but I couldn’t break free. Oppressive. Dark. Stifling.

It felt really weird being dragged along by her. I tried to fight her, but she had the upper hand right from the start.

She took me straight to her house in Charlottesville, not that I knew where I was at the time. Not only Circe was there, but Pasiphae, Aeetes, Medea, many of my other children, and along with several dark demons. About fifty in all. That small house was jammed to the rafters with dark creatures.

The house more closely resembled a barn, although there were old-fashioned asphalt tiles on the floor. No furniture to speak of beyond a small linoleum dining table and chairs right out of the fifties. They probably had beds in the bedrooms, but I was never taken there, so I don’t know.

That night I was simply chained to the ceiling while they had a revelry similar to that which you saw in Phobos’s house in Eastover. Followers who were willing participants joined the festivities. They had sex with witches or demons and at the climactic moment, they were cut open and allowed to bleed to death. It may have been Circe who gave Phobos the idea for that kind of fun.

Anyway, witches and demons played in the blood like they were splashing around in a child’s wading pool. It was completely disgusting. I have a much better understanding of your ordeal.

Differing from Phobos’s crowd, the wine they drank was real wine and not blood.

At dawn’s first light, the witches and their followers fell asleep and I was left chained to the ceiling. I could walk around a few feet in every direction. I couldn’t reach the sink in the kitchen or the refrigerator, so I developed a mighty thirst. I managed to hook a foot around a chair and pulled it in close enough to sit down. All being said, I was happy they ignored me for the most part in those early hours of my captivity.

Try as I might, I couldn’t contact you, I couldn’t undo the cuffs to free myself, I couldn’t transport, I couldn’t even see anyone else with my metaphysical eye. I was as helpless as a human.

I knew that I was safe for a while, meaning Circe wouldn’t kill me right away. She needed me for bait. Also, I sensed you were looking for me, but that was all. In fact, it could have been wishful thinking. Logically I knew you wouldn’t abandon me.

When Circe awoke, she spent time telling me how clever she is and how she will defeat you. She does have a few followers, but none of consequence. I realized as she laid out her entire plan that she intended to kill me and I started to worry in earnest. Circe vanished, then, but the others remained.

I asked for water and Medea filled a glass and then placed it on the floor just out of my reach. Right from the start, I refused to play their game, so I simply stayed seated while their party began again. They offered me cup after cup of wine and I refused to drink regardless of how thirsty I felt.

As in the ages past, when witches were herbalists, for the most part, they could have put a potion in the wine they offered, so no wine. Later, they offered blood for me to drink.

Aeetes, my son, forced my mouth open and poured blood in, but I managed to spit it all over him. He got pissed off, of course, and determined that if I wouldn’t drink someone else’s blood, I could drink my own. He punched me in the mouth and nose until I was bleeding profusely. Even my own blood, I spit all over him. His attack was as personal as Circe’s was when she attempted to unman me in Eastover.

Aeetes roared with anger and tried to seriously injure me with his fists. Medea stopped him from killing me stating Circe would be disappointed if he killed me instead of allowing her to.

They conjured any number of hideous demons, but you and I both know a demon can be defeated by ignoring it, so I closed my eyes and feigned sleep while they took turns taunting me with demon after demon.

When she vanished, Circe left me to the tender care of Pasiphae and Medea. They caused many of the superficial wounds you found me with. I was tortured for their pleasure and not for information. They were drunk with the fun of hurting me.

The way I was treated makes me want to beat the living daylights out of Aphrodite for cursing them to begin with. My family bears me no love, whatsoever.

Anyway, those two laughed at my condition and I continued to deteriorate from sustained injuries. The dampening field Circe placed around the house prevented me from healing. My offspring kept the drapes drawn and the room dark so I couldn’t even benefit from sunlight. For the first time in my considerable life, I thought I may actually die.

Medea and Pasiphae questioned me about our power partnership again and again. When I wouldn’t answer, they inflicted another injury. I was knifed, beaten, bit, and... well, you get the idea.

The physical pain was terrible, but a worse pain was the separation from you, Ares, Bill... and now Hermes.

Circe left us for a few days, and eventually, the rest of my children got tired of playing with me. I was alone in that house for at least 12 hours before you found me, and Athena, never before have I seen anything more beautiful than you when you burst through the front door. The most beautiful sunrise pales in comparison to you.

By the time you found me, my metaphysical energy was lower than ever before. I was really close to death. You, like the cavalry, arrived in the nick of time.