March 2021

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The Flame

by Julianna Speers

Mount Olympus is a sight to behold.
Zarel and I stand staring at its beauty for as long as we can before our eyes start to glaze over. Of course, we aren’t inside its brilliant, blinding gates; we are outside of the palace. We’re in the place where sparkling, lush, green grass stretches for as far as you can see, where flowers are as big as your hand, clear streams glisten with playful water, and the trees are so tall that they disappear into the clouds above. Yes, Mount Olympus is more beautiful than any book or movie could ever describe it. And those gates are as bright as if the sun itself is shining behind them. They are tall, magnificent structures made of solid gold with Zeus’s sparkling thunderbolt symbol engraved in the center with elaborate designs all around it. Surrounding the gate are giant solid gold pillars, which are stretched so high that they, just like the trees, penetrate the clouds. The stairs leading up to the gates are white marble with black swirls, and big fluffy white clouds line them.
Zarel’s face is one of awe and shock. I suppose it is not every day that you see gates and pillars made of solid gold. The gods certainly don’t mind being spendthrifts. Come on now; are they really that rich that they can make their entrance of pure gold? Zarel must be reading my mind as he tends to be so good at doing.
“Geez, the gods certainly couldn’t care less about how they spend their money,” he says, disgustedly. I realize that this must all be as weird for him as it is for me.
“I guess they probably don’t even need money. They most likely make all of their own things,” I say. “And plus, according to the books Mom and Dad used to read to us, the gods are the ones who made money.”
Saying the words mom and dad instantly put me in a bad mood. I can’t stop thinking about how our parents lied to us all our lives. The whole incident that just happened back at the doctor’s office had definitely shaken me. If you are just getting here, let me explain my previous tellings in a little more detail. I’m Tallia Cosmos. My brother is Zarel; my once normal and nothing-wrong-with-them parents are actually a nymph and Ares the God of War. For our whole lives, they lied making us believe that they were our real parents. I triggered the truth when I all of a sudden started making fires appear, and when I almost burned down our house. They took me to the doctor, and the doctor who used to be on their side took matters into his own hands and started telling me the truth. When he brought a friend of his in, Mr. Hermes Chontos, together they explained that my new powers were nothing to be concerned about. Instead I could use them as a tool to prevent my fake dad from sitting on the throne of Olympus.
Fast forward a bit, they took me back to a special room that would test my reflexes and enter me into the system of magical beings. Crashing our little party, my dad, the fake one, barged into the shooting range-like room and morphed into the man he truly is. He yelled at poor Dr. Ascle and Mr. Chontos, gave me some dirty looks and called me a worthless piece of mortal flesh. Nice, right? Then my mother and brother came in and my dad tried appearing like nothing was wrong. He continued this until the moment I refused to go home and act like everything was normal. His rage started again and I wouldn’t take it any longer. I lunged for the gun, with the nifty little sensor on it in which I was supposed to be practicing beforehand, but he grabbed my wrist. Suddenly, my fire powers took over and blasted everywhere mixing with another element. Lightning. With no time to think I glanced over at my brother assuming the obvious that he had powers too, and I grabbed his wrist wrapping my hand around the gun. This immediately transported us to where we are now. At the base of Mount Olympus. Click to continue