Daughters of Olympus

by Hannah M. Lynn

That day on Earth when Zeus had taken me, he had stolen not only my body but my freedom too. He had planted within me a seed of wariness. Wariness that bloomed decade after decade. The fear was of him but also of the Land of the Living. Merely the thought of being alone there, free to be violated and abused, caused a dark fear to rise within me.

there are times when pain should be numbed and times when you should let it burn through you with all the fire your body can withstand.

How happiness can be so deeply intertwined with grief, so it would not be possible for the joy to exist had the pain not been present beforehand.

“There is always someone who is more powerful. Who will use trickery and cunning and manners you could not even think of to get their way with you.”

“Draw strength from the pain that you feel,” Thelxiepia continued. “Know that it comes from a place of power. You will be better for this loss.”

“Grief does not know limits on time.”

To choose a name is a gift few of us are granted, though I wish more were allowed that freedom. A name is not merely a cluster of sounds, it is the identity we offer to others before we even show our face. Names are rich with our history and heritage. They help shape our place in the world.

The bitter iciness that had swallowed the mortals’ lands had come from inside me. And every second that I allowed it to reign over the Earth, it also reigned in me. And the longer something entwines itself around you, the harder it is to break loose.

I do not need the mortals to worship me. I worship myself. I see my own worth.