Chapter Seven
Truth

Knowing exactly who Diomedes was certainly made things a hell of a lot more uncomfortable, especially since Mom and Papa still insisted that I spend time with them to show that we were a happy and well-adjusted family, for whatever reason.  As far as I could tell, the Kalonmios didn’t have any children, at least in their mortal disguise.  Personally, I think Mom just wanted to show up Isadora Kalonimos a little, shoving her children in her face as though she expected her to be annoyed that she didn’t have children.  Isadora, to me, always seemed like the sort of scuffed at the idea of being pregnant and having a bunch of children to look after – although I’m sure she’s have a whole horde of people to actually look out for them.  But knowing who she truly was – the queen of the gods – made the whole situation even more hilarious, actually.  But Isadora generally took the whole thing with a grain of salt, usually insulting her husband in some way.  We had all just assumed that was the way she showed her affection for him, since she at least seemed to be teasing him.

But really, she was just taking pot shots at him like every other god in existence.  It was just that she got away with doing it to his face.

Once Hades managed to shoo Zeus out of the room, we didn’t really get much of anything done.  Persephone seemed intent on catching up with me, since we hadn’t seen each other in three months.  She had been extremely annoyed with Eros about focusing on Psyche rather than me, and thought I forgave him all too easily.  Hades just pointed out that the circumstances didn’t really allow for me to be annoyed at him over something trivial now that I knew the truth, but she just huffed about it for a while.  They were both equally worried about the fact that I hadn’t heard anything from Psyche in the three months she was free, although it was very clear what she was up to.  The problem was how she knew that the simple act would destroy my life like that.

They were also worried about Aphrodite’s disappearance, although Persephone claimed that was the least of my worries.  Aphrodite had nothing on Psyche, and the worst she could do to me now is to come back and give me some stupid trial that I could complete in next to no time, since most creatures of myth tended to be on my side anyway.  But she wasn’t all that clever.  Sure, she might have a clever idea once in a blue moon, but that was more luck than anything else.  She didn’t function on being clever, after all – as goddess of love, she did better being that vampent blond who most guys are attracted to, for some reason.  Of course, even I would say that she wasn’t that dumb, and the fact that she generally dressed like a sexy secretary gave me the sense that she was at least trying to appear a little more intelligent.  But the point was that she didn’t need to be smart to do her job.

But mostly we just speculated, since, as Hades said, we didn’t really have enough information to do anything at the moment.  He had just come up because he wasn’t getting any sort of information while in the Underworld, and figured it would be easier to figure out what was going on without the distractions.  I thought it was bizarre that he was taking such an interest in one soul escaping, thinking maybe he was that focused on maintaining order within his realm.  But Persephone was quick to point out that it wasn’t because a soul escaped, but rather a soul who had some prominence in the ancient world and who had gone completely mental over the centuries.  He was worried about what sort of havoc she’d wreak on the upper world.

Luckily, we were mostly kept alone, since my parents and grandmother thought we were working on school work.  I sort of wish Persephone did go to school with me, because I think that would actually be a little fun.  Hades actually seemed to have forgotten his brother was even there until Mom poked her head in late in the afternoon and cheerfully invited the two of them to stay for dinner.

Hades panicked.  It was sort of funny, actually, but I guess the idea of an entire meal stuck with his brother was a little too much for him, since he hastily declined before Persephone could say anything, making a show of glancing at her watch and insisting that they needed to leave now because they had dinner reservations they needed to get to.  Persephone was laughing as he unceremoniously dragged her out the door.

“What was that about?” Mom asked, baffled.  “I understand they had a date, but wouldn’t it have been just as good and cheaper just to stay here?  They could go another day.”

I chuckled.  “Well, for starters, he is a Kalonimos,” I pointed out.  “I doubt money’s a problem.  Besides which, I know you didn’t see them, but I don’t think he and his brother actually get along too well.”

“Ah, I suppose that makes more sense.  I’m still surprised they’re brothers, though.  They look so different, don’t they?”

I shrugged.  “It happens, I guess,” I said, since I had no answer I could give to her.

Dinner was perhaps even more awkward than any of the ones that Penny and Phoebe attend to now.  Zeus was, of course, keeping to his Diomedes persona, but that didn’t matter –I knew exactly who he was now, and the fact that the king of the gods was sitting next to Papa, chatting admirably to each other, was completely bizarre.  I’m not sure if anyone really noticed who tense I was during the whole thing, mostly because they had guests they needed to focus on rather than their daughter.

Zeus, however, didn’t seem to have told Hera about who I was, since halfway through the meal, she turned her attention on me, like she normally did, just to be polite.  She looked similar to Zeus, in a way – her skin was a paler sort of olive, and her hair more of a honey blond rather than a platinum blond, and it somehow suited her.  But her eyes always fascinated me, since I couldn’t tell what color they were supposed to be.  In some lights, they looked a dark blue, but in others, they looked almost violet.  Now, of course, I knew why that was, but for the longest time, I just thought they were pretty.

“Psyche, darling,” she said to me, giving me a gentle smile.  “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since the first time I saw you.  You’re in university now, are you not?  They grow up so fast, don’t they?” she asked of Mom.

Mom grinned, playing the part of the proud mother.  “I know; I can’t believe that my youngest is already eighteen.  It makes me feel so old!”

“Hardly, Helen,” she said politely.  “But my, eighteen already?  I’m sure you have so many suitors knocking on your door.  Such a pretty little thing like you is sure to have boys chasing after you.”

“Er,” I said, glancing at Zeus, who was sort of smirking at me.  “Just one, actually.”

She seemed to follow my gaze and interpret the glance completely wrong.  Her eyes grew a little stormy, and she gave me an icy stare.  “Just one?” she asked, her tone completely different now.

Neither of my parents seemed to catch the change in atmosphere.  “Oh, yes,” Mom said.  “You might know him.  He’s Aphrodite Acidalia’s younger brother, if I remember correctly.”

Hera started, not expecting that.  She looked confused for a single moment, probably trying to figure out which brother she was talking about, before she glanced at her husband again.  He merely shrugged at her, still smirking.  “Oh yes,” she said, her voice light and kindly again.  “Such a nice boy, isn’t he?  You’re a very lucky girl, Psyche.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” I muttered.

Of course, the problem was that, since the Kalonimoses lived all the way out in Washington, they tended to make their visits worthwhile for them to come all the way out to Winchester.  Which seemed a little silly to me, since they were only two hours from New York City, and since they claimed to have been born there, they could easily just say they have family there and visit them or something.  But instead, they acted like Zeus and Papa were former best friends or something, and spent the entire week at our house doing nothing but insisting that they be entertained.

It seemed Papa found a new punishment for me, although I don’t think he realized it.  I had to tell Maddie about what happened, or at least give her to full run down, but instead I was required to come home directly after school so that I could play proper hostess to our guests.  In the past, I was eager to do it, since I rather liked the Kalonimoses.  Diomedes werided me out, of course, but I was usually able to get around that.  Of course, now I knew his friendly nature toward me might not have had anything to do with the fact that he was a nice guy, and Papa was perhaps right in dragging me away when he started to get a little too interested.  But now that he knew who I actually was, and who I was with, he pretty much kept me alone.

But that might actually have more to do with Eros himself.  When I was finally allowed to go upstairs after dinner, I found him there in his usual state, staring off into space and trying to get a fix on his first wife.  This time, I approached him and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, which brought him back to reality.  “Oh,” he said, looking embarrassed.    “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  Have you been up here the whole time?”

He shrugged.  “No,” he admitted.  “I knew you’d be forced to hang out with your guests for a while, so I sort of wandered a bit.  I figured you’d be allowed up after dinner.  I just got in about a half an hour ago, but, um,” he gave me a sheepish look, “I didn’t know how long you’d be.”

I sighed, preparing to flop into the other chair before he grabbed me and pulled me into his lap.  He smirked at me as I gave him a surprised look.  “I had guests of my own as well,” I told him.  “Hades and Persephone are up here now, planning to help.”

“That’s good.  I think we need all the help we can get at this point.  She’s so damn hard to track, and that makes me worry.”

“You know, I’m surprised you haven’t exactly asked who our guests were, or figured it out for yourself,” I told him, putting my hands on my hip the best I could while he was holding me.  “They’re Diomedes and Isadora Kalonimos.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” he said, shrugging.  “Diomedes is rather close with your father, isn’t he?”

“Do you not know who he freaking is?  You of all people should have known, Eros!  Please tell me you just don’t care.”

He looked confused.  “I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

“Good Lord, who removed are you from the mortal world?  Hades had to tell me.  Diomedes is your king.”

His arms tightened around me, and his eyebrows went high on his forehead.  “Zeus?” he managed to squeak out.  “You’re shitting me.”  His eyes blanked out for half a second.  “Aw, crap.”

I laughed.  “I’m just surprised you didn’t know.  I thought you people were supposed to know who each other are.”

He shrugged.  “It’s hard to tell when they’re acting as mortals,” he admitted.  “I mean, we can tell, obviously, but it actually takes some focus.  Those of us who chose to remain separate have a hard time with the ones who chose to live amongst you mortals.  Forgive me for not noticing sooner.”

I chuckled, based on his reaction.  “You’re forgiven.  Some warning would have been nice, though.”

Of course, there was no way in hell Eros was going to trust Zeus around me, even if I reassured that he knew of the situation and of the fact that we were together.  That didn’t matter.  He was Zeus after all.  He came home with me the next day after class, telling my parents in an aside that he had been worried about me after the wedding and decided he wanted to keep an eye on me.  Mom was a little hesitant to allow him at first, but the thing was that he was my boyfriend, and both Kalonimoses were claiming to know him already.  Zeus greeted him like the prodigal son, and Eros just seethed.  I recalled how Hades said that Zeus basically ignored him after he threw the wedding feast, and Eros admitted later that he disliked his king merely because Zeus, for some reason, viewed him as a ‘minor’ god.

I was sort of annoyed at all the nuances they kept throwing out that went right over my parents’ heads.  I could understand most of them, but I thought it was a little rude of them in a mortal’s house.  But as always, Papa and Mom just took it as good natured teasing, and was just glad that everyone was getting along.

Nona was actually the problem, since she took a disliking to Diomedes and Isadora within a day or two.  She was playing it off well, but at one point, she actually pulled me aside and asked if I thought there was something off about those two.  She, of course, knew of my second sense of people, so I just shrugged and told her it was because she wasn’t used to being around charismatic wealthy people, just her son who actually had values.  That seemed to satisfy her for the most part, but I did wonder about her uneasiness.  At least I knew why I was uneasy around them.  Add in the fact that she absolutely adored Eros, and it was just confusing.

It was almost a relief when they left at the end of the week, and while I was planning on spending the day explaining things to Maddie, I instead called her to tell her I needed a mental health day.  I had already told her exactly who my guests were, and Zephyrus had refused to allow her to see them after she found out.  But she was completely understanding.  “I’m sure dealing with the king of the gods is exhausting on top of everything else you’re going through,” she agreed.  “I can wait, I promise.  I sort of know what’s going on, and I trust you to keep your word of telling me eventually.  Take a day; I’ll still be here for you.”

I still felt bad, especially knowing that she was actually home for the weekend, but that just meant I had plans for the following day to spend with her.

Another consequence of the Kalonmioses visiting was that Penny was barred from the house.  This wasn’t a new circumstance, actually – Isadora and Penny had never gotten along, and I think I realize why that was now.  Hera was the goddess of marriage, after all, and she didn’t particularly care for people, women especially, who viewed the institution as something less than sacred.  Add in the fact that Penny did used to flirt shamelessly with Diomedes – and that he was reciprocate until his wife got entirely too angry at him – and it was easy to see the hatred.  Not like it was hard to hate Penny in the first place.  But she had only gotten worse since Penny got married, and she was just about the only person who could actually make Penny stay away.  Which I always admired for her, and still did, even if I knew who she was.

It seemed the moment the Kalonimoses left to catch their flight, Penny was in the house, causing trouble.  Naturally, she didn’t realize that Papa had already taken me off the hook for the wedding, so she immediately started ribbing on me about that.  “It’s really such a shame that I wasn’t allowed to be here this week.  I might have been able to sooth those poor souls after Psyche here got through with them.”

“I have no clue what the hell you’re talking about, Penny,” I hissed at her.

She placed a hand on her swelling bosom.  Either pregnancy wasn’t helping matters, or just actually made an effort to make them look bigger.  “If you had allowed me to come over, Daddy, I would have been more than capable to proving what a perfect daughter you’ve been able to raise.  Instead, you were stuck with this bad apple.”

“Enough, Penny,” Papa said without looking up from his morning comics.  “I had my trust in Psyche.  She’s done nothing wrong.”

She looked at me sharply, almost glaring at me.  “Really?  She didn’t have a relapse or anything?  I’m surprised; I thought for sure she had finally started to show her true nature.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, unsure what sort of game she was playing.  “Penelope, you should be ashamed of yourself,” Mom scolded.  “You should know your sister better than that, and you should know that the way she acted at Phoebe’s wedding suggests that she certainly wasn’t herself.  Your father and I came to the same conclusion, and we’re going to work to find out what really happened.”

Penny looked annoyed at this, since I know she just wanted to get them riled up against me again.  She had been way too happy to see that.  She spent the rest of the morning in a huff, trying to get Mom and Papa against me again, and only succeeded in getting Nona to agree with her.  But that wasn’t enough, since Papa was determined to raise his daughters on his (and Mom’s) terms, without the help of his mother.

“There’s something strange going on in this house,” Eros proclaimed while I was in the middle of doing my homework.  He was more distracted than usual, but I wasn’t calling him out on it.  He just said that to me on his own.  “I can’t explain it, but it’s just…strange.”

“You’re being paranoid,” I muttered.  “Have you seen that book I was using?  The encyclopedia book on Ben Franklin.”

“Why not just research on the computer?” he asked, still distracted.

“Because we’re required to use book recourses,” I informed him.  “I thought I had it right here.”

“I think you put it back after you were finished with it last week,” he told me.  “Why?”

“God damn it, I needed it again,” I sighed, picking myself off my floor to head to our library.  I was just glad we had anything I could use, since it made researching a little easier.

Upon entering the library, however, I found a sight I never expected to see in a million years.

Of course, the way she was there was fairly standard for her.  I suppose she was lucky that I needed a book at all, or else she’d have been sitting there all day, and probably pissed at me at dinner.  She had this strange idea that I spent all my time in the library, despite the fact that she knew I spent most of my time in my room.  I found her sitting in one of the many armchairs Mom had set up to make the room a little cozier, glaring at the door and absently running  a hand against her belly.  She brightened only slightly when I walked in before setting into an annoyed expression.

“Um,” I said, unsure if I was supposed to say anything to her at all, or if I should just ignore her and just get my book.

“I don’t know how the hell you do it, Psyche,” she snapped at me.  “Mom and Daddy should be furious at you, but instead, they’re treating you like the world’s most perfect daughter.  I know they saw you at the wedding and the reception.  And I know they were beyond mad at you the day after.  So what did you do?”

“Nothing,” I told her.  “See, unlike you, they know how I act, and that know that couldn’t have been me out there.  So they’re dropping the issue until they can figure out what really happened.”

She leaned back.  “Oh, very clever, Psy,” she told me.  “I would have never thought to do it that way.  Lure them in with a false sense, and then they can’t get you when you actually act out.  Because that’s not how you really are.”  She rolled her are at me.

“Penny, you can’t be mad at me because Mom and Papa actually know me well enough to know that wasn’t me.  I don’t even remember doing any of that.”

She leaned back again, twirling a strand of hair on her finger.  “Oh, I don’t doubt that,” she informed me.  “Although they’re going to have a hard time proving that wasn’t you.  Because I know for a fact that it was you who do all those terrible, terrible things to Phoebe.  Or at least, your body did.”

I raised an eyebrow at her.  “What are you talking about?”

“You know, it’s interesting.  I met this fascinating young lady a few weeks back, and she had this incredible story to tell.  Something about reincarnation and being wrongfully reincarnated and gods and…other crap that I, quick frankly, didn’t really give two shits about.  But, when she told me that she wanted to completely ruin your life and take it over?  Well, I got very interested in that!”

I felt my blood drain from my face, and suddenly everything got really cold.  “What…what are you talking about?”

“Oh, would you like me to introduce her?  I believe you’ve met, though,” she said just as a figure slowly materialized beside her, smirking just as much as Penny was.

She wasn’t solid, but I could see her well enough to know exactly who she was.  Her blond hair pulled back in an elegant Greek style.  The deep olive skin, the green eyes that burned with hatred for me.  I gasped despite myself, and took a step back from her, my soul literally rejecting being that close to her.  “Hello, Psyche,” she spat at me.  “It’s been far too long.”

“I…I…but…how?” I demanded to know.

“I’d think it was obvious, Psy,” Penny preened.  “She came to me when she realized that I wanted to ruin your life just as much as she did.  I gave her the idea to ruin Phoebe’s wedding.  Two birds with one stone!  She got to ruin your life, I got to see Papa pissed beyond reason at you, and Phoebe wouldn’t get to have her dream wedding after all.  Well, I guess that’s three birds, really.  It works out well for me, either way.”

I whipped around to glare at her.  “Penny, you’re…you’re…you’re a horrible human being.  You put monsters to shame.  You did this to get revenge on Phoebe?  Why?”

“That little upstart?”  She snorted.  “Who fucking cares about her damn wedding?  I’m pregnant, and yet all everyone talks about is ‘oh, Phoebe’s getting married, isn’t that wonderful’?  It’s not.  I’m more important.”

I glanced at my other half.  “Are you sure you want to work with this nut job?”

Psyche’s eyes seemed to glow.  “We have similar goals,” she told me.  “It doesn’t matter the means so long as the ends are reached.  Besides, she knows much more of your world than I do.  She’s proven quite useful.”

I looked back at Penny.  “How much do you know, exactly?”

“Know?  All of it, dear sister.  You’re reincarnation, your freak boyfriend of a god…I still don’t understand what the hell is wrong with him, though.”

I jumped when Eros was suddenly beside me, but I wasn’t the only one.  Penny, naturally, was startled as well, but Psyche actually looked a little shaken.  “Good, then this shouldn’t surprise you at all,” he said flatly.

Penny had her hand on her heart, not expecting that at all.  Psyche, on the other hand, had quickly changed her tune.  “Oh, Eros, baby, I’ve been…”

He held up a hand to stop her.  “Save it, Psyche,” he snapped.  “You’ve had your shot at getting me back, and you completely blew it.  You stay away from her, or so help me, your father will feel the pain I will put you through.”

Penny actually looked impressed with the threat, but Psyche looked infuriated.  “You little bit…,” she started to say before Eros teleported me out of the library and back into my room.

I felt a little like the world was spinning, but I didn’t think it was because of the teleportation.  “You were spying again?”

He shrugged.  “Sort of.  I realized my odd feeling was coming from the library, but when I realized Penny was in there, I couldn’t come in and get you.  She’s more desperate than I imagined.”

“At least now we know where she was for the past three months,” I muttered.  “At least part of them.”

“And that makes sense, since being in the same building would really mask the frequency,” he sighed.  “I doubt Hades is going to be happy about this.  Right under his nose, and he completely missed her.”

“At least it’s something.  We can do something with this, right?”

He didn’t have the chance to respond before suddenly vanishing, giving me a split second warning before Mom knocked and peeked her head in without me acknowledging her.  “Your father wants a word with her,” she told me.  “It’s nothing too serious, I don’t think.”

“Um, okay,” I said, not having the faintest idea why Papa would want to talk to me now, unless it was something about the Kalonimoses visit.  I doubt he took Diomedes sudden interest in me as flirting, though.

He was in his office, although he wasn’t really working.  He was going domestic work, most likely going through the bills or some such nonsense.  “Hi, Papa,” I said when he summoned me in.  “You wanted to talk to me about something?”

He sighed as he motioned for me to take a seat.  “Your sister’s been bugging me all morning about what happened last week, and she’s been implying that you might not be telling the whole truth about the matter.  I’m not entirely sure I believe her, mind, but I just wanted to check to see if there was a possibility that she was right.”

I was surprised he was bringing this up, since I thought the visit with the Kalonimoses had made them forget.  But then again, Penny didn’t want them to forget.  “I, um,” I said, avoiding his eyes.  I didn’t know why, but I simply couldn’t lie to my father.  “Well, I don’t really remember what happened.  Seriously.”

He scratched his chin.  “I’m inclined to believe you, Psyche, but I do have to be honest that it seems a little too convenient.  I’ve heard of people randomly losing days before, but that seems so unlike you.  And I doubt you were drugged.  Not to mention you have been acting very strangely lately.  It concerns me.  What’s been going on, Psyche?”

I bit my lip.  “Honestly?  I doubt you’d believe me,” I sighed.

He leaned back in his chair.  “I don’t know,” he said.  “I might be more open than you’d think.  I was young once, if you remember.  Try me.”

I sighed.  “Well, how inclined would you be to believe me if I say that I’ve never been to Felipe’s island?  That the week of Chryssa’s wedding, I was actually on Mount Olympus?”

“Mount Olympus?”

I nodded.  “This is going to sound bad, but it was mostly by fault.  See, when I went to the airport, and you were being cryptic and not telling me how I was getting to Greece, I saw I guy holding a sign with my name, so I assumed it was for me.  And it was, don’t get me wrong.  Except the person who sent the plane happened to be Eros, and the pilot was Zephyr.  Er, Zephyrus.”

He had raised an eyebrow at this.  “Okay…,” he said slowly, probably plotting Eros and Zephyrus’ murder as we spoke.

“I didn’t really know what was going on, but I later found out that the Eros who took me was actually Eros, the god of love.  And that the reason why he was so interested in me was because I happened to have the reincarnated soul of the first Psyche, his wife.  It’s…sort of complicated how I ended up being her reincarnation, but it involves the created gods becoming bored as their power faded, and agreeing to be reincarnated since they couldn’t outright die.  In any case, I was the first reincarnation of Psyche to actually feel anything back for him, so…  In any case, I ended up screwing things up, and, well, got his mother involved.”

“His mother.  Aphrodite.”  He paused.  “So Aphrodite Acidalia isn’t his sister, but his mother?”

“Right?  So naturally, she gives me these trials.  First one was like Psyche’s first trial, sorting the grains?  Eros helped me with that one, but she decided to get inventive.  She, um, wanted me to make you fall for Connie,” I said in a rush.  “I couldn’t, of course, but I know you’ve been wondering why she’s suddenly lost interest.”

“Ah.  Your doing, I presume?”

I shook my head.  “Eros’.  He hit her with a lead arrow.  In any case, the third task actually involved me going into the Underworld and retrieving Adonis for her, since he had just started his six months with his mother, and she didn’t like that, I guess.  While I was down there, I managed to run into the other part of my soul.”

“You’re other part?” he asked, trying to look objective.

“I’m sorry; I know this doesn’t make any sense.  But basically, since they were gods, the way they were reincarnated was that they soul was split – the mortal half was sent through Lethe to be reincarnated while the immortal half, which was created when they ate the ambrosia or whatever, was left in the Underworld.  It’s…complicated, because usually the immortal half has no knowledge of even being separated.  But sometimes, like in my case, it develops a conscienceless of its own.”

“Ah, so you ran into your immortal half?”

I winced.  “Actually, no.  My mortal half.”

He froze.  “So…you were born with, I guess, an immortal soul?  What does that mean, exactly?”

I winced again.  “Well, according to Hades and Persephone, it means that I was born a goddess.”

He looked a little shocked.  I decided to continue.  “That’s not the worst of it.  See, I obviously wasn’t supposed to be reincarnated, but Persephone felt bad for me, since I was wanting to have my chance with Eros.  Wait, wait.  I forgot to add in the fact that Psyche put her love of Eros in the immortal half when she split, because she wanted him to move on or something, and she didn’t want to love him anymore.  So that’s why my soul developed a consciousness, because it was pining for Eros.  Anyway, I accidentally woke the mortal Psyche’s soul, and she was beyond pissed to realize she wasn’t reincarnated, and well…she managed to escape and now she’s claiming that she wants to ruin and take over my life.”

“And this has to do with Phoebe’s wedding…how?”

I sighed.  “As far as I can tell, since we’re technically the same soul, she can actually take over my body.  Which she did that day, which is why I was acting so weird and why I don’t remember any of it.  My soul was actually in the Underworld that day.”

He was silent for a long moment.  “Okay, so you’re the reincarnation of a goddess, a goddess yourself, your boyfriend is the actual Eros, and you have a rogue soul wanting to take over your life that happens to be Eros soul mate?  Is that what you’re telling me?”

I nodded sheepishly.  “Although technically, Psyche isn’t his soul mate anymore, since I have that part, but that in a nutshell.  That’s why I’ve been acting weird.”

“Any other gods I know?”

“Um, well, Stephanie, the girl I’ve been doing school projects with is actually Persephone.  Orpheus is, well, Hades.”

“That really tall guy?  That’s Hades?  Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed.”

I paused for a moment, trying to see if it would sink it.  He was still wondering Orpheus as Hades, even if he had only known him for a short while.  “And Diomedes and Isadora are Zeus and Hera.”

I think I broke Papa’s brain on that one.  He absolutely froze for a good two minutes before letting out an impress Greek curse.  “So…how much of this do you actually believe?”

“Believe?” he asked, glancing at me.  He thought about it for a moment before glancing at me.  “To be honest, I really have to say all of it.”

“All of it?” I asked, shocked.  “Papa, I’m talking about Greek gods!  Everyone knows that don’t exist!”

“Psyche, dear, the story you just came me was far too complex to be anything but the truth, and I know you, koritsáki mou.  Unlike your sisters, you generally don’t lie.  Sure, you don’t always tell the whole truth, but you wouldn’t make anything up like this.  So the fact of the matter is that I’m inclined to believe you.  I just wish you had realized this to begin with.  Sweetheart, I’m your father.  I know you’re eighteen and trying to be an adult, but it’s okay to ask for help every now and then.  Even if the problem is a little farfetched.  I might surprise you.”

“So…I’m not in trouble?”

“Far from it.  I do want you to know that, whatever is going on, I’ll be here to help, no matter what.  No one messes with my baby girl and gets away with it.  Although I might have to have a little talk with that Eros of yours.  He kidnapped you, didn’t he?”

I laughed.  “Go easy on him; he didn’t mean to,” I sighed.  “I’m glad, though.  I hated keeping this from you, Papa.”

He beckoned me over so that he could pull me into a fatherly embrace.  “I’ll be for you anytime you need me, koritsáki mou.  Honestly.”

And I knew it, too.

Chapter Six

Cupid and Psyche Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight