Unlocking Olympus
Chapter 3: Alectrona
I
mustered up my widest smile, hiding the popped nerve on my forehead. The bell
on the door rang and a customer entered our shop, a male as usual, and
positioned himself on the counter near us. “And?” I shot my friend, Krissy, an
antagonized look. “Tell me why am I doing this again?”
Chrysopeia,
the leader of the tree nymphs who saved me last week, sweetly smiled, making me
cringe in fear.
Fine,
I owe them one. And fine, she has been my best earthly friend since time
immemorial. But to work in a café, serve puny humans with coffee and dress up
in something like this was not my
idea of payment. And anyway, who names their café ‘Lockheart’?
For the past week that I’ve stayed in
dryad territory, I had been staring at the skies and longing to return. Krissy,
who’s been my earthly playmate back in the olden days, would often find me
curled in bed: unresponsive and listless. I admit I was depressed. Like a child
who has lost her home, I indulged in taking flight just above the trees,
careful not to touch the clouds.
It had all been to sudden and not every
creature in Olympus got informed of the incident. One day while I was lying
afloat above Krissy’s tree, a thought had entered my mind. There had been
rumours around Olympus for the past few weeks, ones that I either wouldn’t
believe or couldn’t really care about.
Lesser gods like me had gone missing and
some were found dead. Not just that, communication from gods to their demigod
children was becoming lesser than even Hermes and Iris were having trouble
conveying messages.
Floating down, I felt a little relived my
brothers hadn’t experience the same fear that I felt. I really thought I was
going to be one of the many casualties… like that god who had saved me back
then.
Who was he anyway? I sighed.
“She’s
new here, Krissy?” the male asked, snapping me back to reality.
Wiping
her hands with the white apron neatly tied on her waist, she clasped me by the
shoulder, the smile never leaving her face. “Yes, so please bear with her,
she’s still very clumsy.” She paused, “The usual pair, sir?”
“Yes,
please.” He answered, smiling as if he was facing some holy being.
I
cringed at the thought. No one’s holy, for goodness’ sake.
“Alec,
prepare our dear customer’s coffee. Now be careful with the mug, okay? You
don’t want to be in the dunce’s list of employees, now do you?” she added
lovingly.
Pulling
her a little far away from the customers, placing both hands on my hips, I
grunt, “Say that again and I’ll blast your trees into bits.”
“Well,
say that again and you’ll never see the morning light ever again.” She matched
my bitchy face. Now, despite this everyday routine, this was one of the reasons
we were the best of friends.
Once
again, the bell to the door clanked and we instinctively looked at the new
customer.
“One
espresso.” He simply said, a deep frown on his already-serious face.
He
had white blonde hair, sharp blue eyes… his skin was tanned like he had been
basking in the sun.
“Alec?”
Krissy nudged at my elbow. “One espresso. God, girl, don’t ogle the customers.”
“What?”
I snapped. “I wouldn’t do that. There’s just… something…” Whispering to myself,
I couldn’t help observing the lad that came in, even as I made the damn
espresso.
I
watched Krissy as she served the first guy, thinking I should practice my
hospitality since I did know I’ll be staying here for the time being. Hell if I
cared how to serve humans but it’s not like I had the choice. Looking around,
the other dryads were attending to the customers in a similar way. They were
all polite, all-smiles and sweet. A shiver ran up my spine. Oh, mother of gods,
I can’t handle this.
Manoeuvring
myself outside the counter, I gently placed the cup beside his arm. He was
writing something on a piece of paper and he wouldn’t even look up to say
thanks. And observing the others, I could tell they were more appreciative than
this little ingrate. Resisting the urge to snap at him, I instead returned to
my post.
Back
behind counters, Krissy put an arm around me and patted my shoulder. “Very
good.” I tilt my head to scan her face and her red-orange hair shining in the
sun’s light.
I
guessed it was autumn here in the human world and the dryads’ hair colour
change according to season.
“Thanks.”
I said listlessly and went back to what I was initially assigned to do: wipe
the mugs.
Eyes
darting back and forth from the mug in my hand to the lad on the far corner of
the shop, just beside the large glass wall, I could see something different, something
godlike. I knitted my brows. Could he be? I blinked once, my eyes lighting up
in a golden hue and set my sight on him.
I
gasped. All I could see was fire: warm, gentle flames surrounding his whole
body. Aha, a demigod. Blinking my eyes again, I refocused my attention on the
mug. Demigods aren’t at all rare and I’ve seen many since the olden times too.
Nothing has changed and that wasn’t spurring either but…
His
flames were different.
Count
the gods you know who are associated with flames and you can find surprisingly
many of them. And each flame-associated god is different. Ares’, for example,
is wild and all-consuming. Apollo’s is solar, no further explanation is needed.
Hephaestus’ is creative, for crafts-making.
I
grinned and went for the next mug. My flames, though associated with the sun
too, were much gentler but can be harsh when permitted.
His was… I re-examined him. It was relaxing and
staring at it somehow soothed my nerves.
“Alec!”
a voice suddenly brought me back to the present and I dropped the glass mug by
mistake. “Alec!” Krissy repeated, complaining. “I told you to stop ogling the
customer, that’s against Café rules. Never mind that you’ve been wiping that
mug for the past five minutes, now it’s broken.”
I
breathed out when she finally said, “Take a break, okay?” she held my shoulder,
speaking quietly. “I know you’re still shaken by what had happened in Olympus.
I understand.”
Nodding,
I got out of the counter and sat on one of the cushioned chairs, on the far
corner of the shop, where I could do whatever I wanted to do. I rested my head
on the table, feeling the homey ambiance. Wood walls surrounded the inner part
of the café and slow-spinning ceiling fans kept the place cool. On the outer
part, where most of the patrons would sit, the glass walls viewed the roads and
most of the cityscape.
My
eyes darted towards him again. Drawing circles in the air with my fingers, I
wondered how he lived as a demigod. Being half and half… how has he been
accepted to both? Sighing at my foolish thoughts, I decided to call it a day.
I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that demigod ingrate.
I
breathed out. Maybe I should fly to Rhodes and visits my brothers? That’ll be a
good way to see what they’re doing now. And while I do expect them to be
stargazing all day, at least they could welcome their big sister, right?
Going
out of the shop after bidding Krissy and the other dryads goodbye, despite
thinking I won’t be meeting him again, I couldn’t help feeling otherwise.
