"You missed a bit here." He swiped it up with his index finger, and pointed it towards my mouth. Not wanting to be outdone this time, I licked his finger shyly. His eyes went wide with surprise, as he apparently hadn't thought I would have licked it off. Deciding to be bold and take it a step further, I sucked the last little (possibly imaginary) droplet of his finger.
He closed his eyes and moaned.
When I let his finger pop out of my mouth, he opened his eyes. I tried to look innocent, but the blush gave me away again. He took my bowl and walked away; even his ears had turned red this time. Looking at Hecate, I saw her talking to Maria, as both of them looked at me. Narrowing my eyes at them, they both smiled and winked; I smiled smugly. I guess I was on the right path if I wanted to get my first kiss.
***
29
The next day at breakfast, Hecate asked us if we had a course of action regarding the training of our 'co-workers'.
"Shouldn't we be training our own powers?" I asked. I was nervous about training Apple, as I knew next to nothing about dogs.
"You get your powers under control, but only when needed. So I am not sure what I can help you with. The no touching thing is a given, but other than that,..." She shrugged her shoulders as if it was the most normal road towards being a fully trained goddess; I stared at her with open mouth.
"What about me?" Phatostai asked.
"Yeah, what about him?" Getting out of my stupor, I spewed out words again without thinking.
"You," She ignored me, "will need to control the flame to get proficient in wielding your personal firepower."
"Panacea dear, your affinity is with animals and maybe nature, but you seem to be special and I cannot see where I can help you. The animal bit is obvious, but I feel like there is something about nature that you are connected to... Only time will tell. Therefore we will concentrate on training Apple to further your affinity with animals, happy now?"
By the end of Hecate's speech, I was pouting as I realized she was just pointing out the obvious, which seemed to have escaped my attention. I felt my face go red again, and with my eyes cast down, I mumbled: "I need to take care of some things in the temple before breakfast." Hastily, I made my way towards the temple. I knew I left Apple behind as he could not follow me so fast, but I was sure he would be happy to stay with Phatostai.
"Panacea, join us at the fire, we are just discussing the training." Hecate motioned for me to join them. Apple was lying at Phatostai's feet when he saw me; he lifted his three heads, looked at me, and put his heads back down on his paws. I stuck out my tongue. Looking up, I saw Phatostai look up at me and grin while patting the side of the tree trunk next to him. Blushing a little again, I joined him.
Maria offered me a bowl of fruit, which I gratefully accepted.
"Good morning all, I will install Apple's new bed, so he can sleep alone and therefore not fall out of bed." After stretching her little arms, Charlie flew towards the temple.
Coming out of Maria's hair slower, was Lottie. She looked around, before coming out fully. I realized she was looking for the flame, but Hecate had kept the magic fire going so that the flame was still 'sleeping'.
"Ah Lottie, just the fairy we need," Hecate said.
"You do? Need me, that is?" She was already squeezing her hands together. The little fairy seemed to still be nervous of Hecate. I didn't really like Hecate, but she was all right. For a small fairy, I guess a witchy goddess was not something to take for granted.
"Yes, we need your expertise with animals. I only have experience with Cerberus, and he ate mostly humans and gods that entered Hades' Palace. The gods would come back, but it hurt like a bitch, I have been told." I scrunched up my nose and tried to cover all of Apples' ears at once, it did not work, but he was fast asleep.
"By the way, Hades was here on the island earlier as Phatostai knows, and he is up to no good."
"What?! And ya only told us now?! We need ta protect Panacea! He will kidnap her to get ta Apollo!" Maria was screeching now with her accent growing stronger.
"What is happening?" Cyriel appeared out of nowhere; he must have still been in hiding from Maria. But with this outburst, he was there; my faithful little protector.
"Hades was on the island and is up to no good," Maria said. Anger still simmering under the surface, while she glared at Hecate.
"And she only told us now?!" Now Cyriel screeched and it was not easy on the ears the sound he made. Everyone cringed.
"Why would Hades want to kidnap me to get to Grandpa Apollo?" I asked.
"He lost his Palace, which was in Earth at the time the whole thing burned down, thanks to your Grandpa," Hecate replied dryly.
"Let's say he has a little issue with that. To top it off, he has no island of his own and has lived with his brother Zeus for the past 50 years. I cannot imagine that was a picnic especially with that weirdo for a wife Zeus has, goddess Hera." Hecate shivered.
"And this has what to do with me exactly?" I wondered.
"I can probably provide a better answer for that."
In front of us appeared the beautiful goddess Artemis, my great-aunt. I called her aunty Artemis and haven't seen her in like, forever!
"Aunty Artemis!" I jumped up and hugged her, at least I tried. She was so tall that I hugged her arms and nearly buried my head between her ample boobs. I let go immediately, goodness, I haven't grown an inch in the last five years.
"Hi, there sweetling! How is training going?" She smiled at me. Her smile was a bit blinding, but I had missed it.
"It is okay, I guess. But I missed you! I thought I would see you here when I arrived since you arranged me coming here. I haven't seen you in ages!"
"Well, I am here now. You know that I need to stay in hiding." I nodded.
"This is exactly the reason why. Now, I will take you back to the island and together with your mother and father we will decide what the best course will be until you reach full goddess hood." Now I was frowning. Looking around, everyone seemed confused.
"Full goddess hood? Since when is that a thing?" Hecate asked.
"Since her dad was conceived with a human." At this, everyone gasped, me included.
"Yes, it is quite the story, but that will be for another day. Panacea's safety is of the utmost importance. For herself, but also for Apollo. If they figure out he has a human with him..." She clapped her hands over her mouth; everyone gasped in shock.
"Uhm, made a child with a human?" Artemis tried, everyone shook their head from side to side.
Phatostai came out of his shock first. "She is safe with me! I can protect her and nobody needs to know that she is not yet 100% goddess yet." He was very handsome being protective of me.
"Thank you," I whispered. He walked towards me and hugged me. In my ear, he whispered: "I will protect you to the very end of our existence. They cannot kill me, but they also cannot take you from me." With this promise, I hugged him back tightly.
"I will fly over the island and make sure it is safe, while you lot work this out!" Cyriel sounded both disgusted and worried.
"Not to burst your bubble or anything, but how will you introduce a brand new goddess to the others'?" Artemis asked. I could see that her curiosity was peaked at the show of affection by her raised eyebrow, but she stood there with her arms crossed looking Phatostai in the eyes, as he was still holding onto me with one arm around my shoulders.
"We will work out some story, while we are here." He sounded more confident then I felt right now.
"No, I am taking her home and will make arrangements there." Artemis' voice sounded final.
"Well, now I am going to burst that bubble. No one can leave the island until the training has been finished." Hecate said.
"But Panacea was not announced, so that doesn't count. Does it?" Now Artemis sounded not so sure of herself.
"She doesn't count, but he does. And she cannot leave before his training is final as she is a goddess, albeit not 100%." Hecate said.
Hecate went stock still, only her head cocked to the side as if she was listening to something.
"Crap." She said, before disappearing before our very eyes.
***
30
Hades:
I had the brilliant idea to put Hecate on edge; my presence would be noticed as I was allowing it to be this time.
I would burn a lovely message on the meadow with the cornucopia.
She had been furious, and he loved that look on her and couldn't wait to see it again when she saw his surprise.
Arriving on the island, I made quick work of the meadow. I felt her getting closer as she transported herself with a spell, the woman was amazing. She appeared before me and I winked at her before transporting back to Zeus' island.
She would not protect Apollo's grandchild, I knew she was still in love with me and would take the opportunity to make that island ours and finally celebrate our love.
Smirking, I tapped the table where a cup of ambrosia appeared in front of me, enjoying the first taste of victory. Not only will Apollo be mine, but Zeus will have to give me the island, just to get a few rounds with Apollo.
Hecate:
I was too angry to even scream. Cyriel was flying over and gasped.
"What did he do?" I barely got the words through my clenched teeth. I smelled something burning, and that together with Hades' wink promised nothing good.
"Uhm, he burned the grass," Cyriel said.
"I am aware of that Cyriel, as I am aware of the fact that he did not burn the grass for fun. Fly up higher and tell me what you see."
Apollo's granddaughter is mine, give her to me. This will be our little secret. If she is not here in two days, all the gods and goddesses will know about her. I don't care one way or another, I will only use her to claim this island from Zeus.
Love Hades.
"Thank you Cyriel. Can you please keep this between us until I have discussed it with Artemis?"
Solemnly, Cyriel nodded his head and flew off. I had no idea if he was to be trusted not to tell Maria or the gods forbid, Panacea, but I needed to talk strategy with Artemis.
"Artemis, can you please come over here, by the cornucopia?" I summoned her since it would give her time to give the others an excuse, good enough to keep them near the temple.
"Hecate, what happened?" She asked the moment she arrived. She wrinkled her nose, "What is that awful smell?"
"Hades was here and left a message. He burned it into the grass. Soon the smell will get to the temple and the others will come looking, so I wanted you to know first." I told her.
"Okay, go on. What did it say?" She seemed to take this news remarkably well. I looked up at her and saw her hands were wrung together to keep them from trembling, it still showed. Thank the gods and goddesses she was not taking this lightly.
I took a deep breath: "The message says:
Apollo's granddaughter is mine, give her to me; this will be our little secret. If she is not here in two days, all the gods and goddesses will know about her. I don't care one way or another, I will only use her to claim this island from Zeus for us.
Love Hades."
I said the last bit through clenched teeth, again suppressing the urge to scream and rage.
"He thinks that you are going to help him." She stated.
"Yes, the idiot still thinks this island can be claimed by him, including me. He is a selfless, dumb idiot of a god. To think that I once loved him."
"He doesn't even realize that you are the owner of the island? Even though it comes at the prize of being a trainer?" She asked.
"Nope. He is even so dumb not to realize that the last part of his message negates his threat," I said.
Frowning, Artemis asked: "What do you mean?"
I thought Artemis would be smarter than this. Ah, well.
"If he tells Zeus, every god and goddess will know. Zeus cannot keep a secret like that for more than two seconds, even if he could keep the secret, he will not suppress his anger and Hera will be close by to hear the whole thing. She has a way of getting that information around even faster. I don't know how she does it, but by the end of the day every creature and god will be aware of this fact, and they will descend on Hades and Zeus for more information."
"And Hera will be there to take all the glory for the discovery, by arriving here first to grab Panacea and show her off as a prize."
Out of curiosity, I asked: "Would Apollo show up to rescue his granddaughter?"
"I honestly don't know. Ever since he gave me Asclepius as a baby, I haven't seen him. The only reason I knew that Asclepius was half human, was when he cut himself playing and he actually bled red blood. I had to stop the bleeding. It was horrendous."
"How did he manage to shield his island?" I was mumbling to myself, but Artemis answered anyway.
"Gaia."
I was supposed to have gasped at that news and act surprised, but seeing Panacea with nature and animals, I suspected that she somehow managed to squeeze her big belly into this girls' life.
"You are not surprised?" Artemis asked incredulously.
"I guessed something was up with Panacea the moment I met her, and she was stuck in the mind of a unicorn; never thought I was right about Gaia. I thought it was a mix of her mothers' powers and the possible connection between her mother and Gaia, not Gaia directly." I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't care one way or another, I was kind of glad that Panacea had Gaia as a sort of protector. I was honored to train Panacea, but I would never admit it. I was, however, going to question her about it. She was going to tell me the truth one way or the other.
"Well, she might be a powerful ally, though I am not sure in what way? Panacea will have to help with that. But putting everything in perspective, how are we going to prevent Hades from taking Panacea?" Artemis asked.
"He cannot take Panacea since Phatostai hasn't finished his training yet. However, once he figures this out, it won't keep the idiot from telling Zeus about her existence. Would he be smart enough not to mention where she is, at that moment? There is no telling with him. He is not the smartest of the bunch." I admitted.
"The only way would be to ensnare him when he comes to collect his 'leverage.'" Artemis pronounced.
"Putting a trap out for the trapper! Nice one, Artemis!" I smiled evilly at the thought of having Hades at my mercy. I realized I was rubbing my hands together in glee when Artemis lifted her brow.
"What? A girl can have her vengeance don't you think?" At that, she smiled.
"I hope that I may help with that."
"Hecate, Artemis, thank the gods! What is going on? You both disappeared and then we smelled the burning of grass, we thought the worst! And here you are smiling for some odd reason." Panacea appeared out of breath, followed by Phatostai equally out of breath. The last one not because of the run, but the burden of a heavy Apple in his arms. The little mongrel seemed to grow by the second, I thought.
No time like the present to teach him how to hunt. With Artemis present, that should be a piece of bread (I think the saying on Earth was that one,) seeing as she is the goddess of the hunt. Unfortunately, that leaves me to relay the message from Hades.
"Artemis, would you mind asking the cornucopia for something to teach Apple how to hunt? I will do the explanation." Obviously, Artemis nodded excitedly.
"Come little one, let's see what the cornucopia gives us to hunt. I hope it is a rabbit, but maybe a chicken will be easier." She was frowning down at Apple as he followed her. Being big in size did not mean he was fast, apparently. He tripped over everything.
"You are all going to want to sit down for that one."
Taking a deep breath, I explained the whole thing for the second time, this time including the brilliant idea of Artemis.
***
31
The whole explanation was an emotional rollercoaster for me, again. Even with Phatostai holding me to reassure me, I could not help the shivering. The possible solution did nothing to relax me.
> There were so many things that could go wrong. If we didn't capture Hades, all was lost. No one wanted to say it out loud, but I would be kept as a prisoner until Apollo showed himself. I had never met him; not even dad had met him. We knew nothing about him, so why would he even show up?
"Panacea, please calm down. Your heart is going into overtime and you are hyperventilating!" Phatostai was rubbing my arms as I could not stop shivering. I was panting.
"Panacea, look at me." Hecate's voice did not allow me to do anything but obey. She took a pendant out of her cleavage and waved it in front of my eyes.
"Now listen to my voice and look at the pendant, let it guide you. Follow it with your eyes and focus on the color, it is a beautiful red color. You are going to relax, at the moment you are safe, and you can let your mind wander. Let it wander to a safe place and a safe person, this person will guide you. You know this person and she will give you the answers and guidance you need. Let yourself float away to this safe place. Let..." Hecate's' voice floated away.
I was relaxed and thought it would be nice to see Gaia again; she would definitely help me. The meadow where I first met her in my search for the problem with Apple, was the one I was in. I did feel safe here, just as Hecate said.
"My dear Panacea, I am both happy and sad to meet you again." Not realizing my eyes were closed, I was startled by her voice. I opened my eyes and there she was again. Her smile was a bit sad, but she radiated protection, safety, and love.
"Your granddad has put you in quite the predicament, hasn't he?" I nodded.
"I have never even met him! I don't know why Hades thinks Apollo will show up for me?" I was crying now, with no idea why. Whether because I had never met my granddad, or because I was being used as a pawn.
"Hush now child, everyone on this island will do anything in their power to protect you, I will gift you with the power to protect yourself. However, there are limitations. You can only use this power once!" Nodding my head excitedly, I looked up at her with expectation. What she told me next was not really expected.
Book of Panacea Page 12