The Heart of Hades

6

As soon as Lilia walked through her front door, she locked it and slumped to the floor still carrying her bags. She pulled out her phone to call her dad. Her head spinning with everything she'd been told earlier. How was it that James knew all about being descended from Zeus, but her father didn't see fit to tell her? Did Ian know?

Ring, ring, ring, ring.

"Hello, sweetheart, what makes you call me today?" Her father's warm, deep voice sounded through the phone.

"Dad, something weird happened today and I want you to tell me the truth. Are we related to Zeus and is my mother Aphrodite?" She knew if she didn't get it out in the open, she would chicken out on asking him.

"What happened and where did you get that idea?"

"I blew up a phone with an energy of some sort at work today, after I lost my temper with Phillip. My boss told me his name is Poseidon, not Don Waters and his brothers are Hades and Zeus, care to explain?"

"I didn't know your mother was Aphrodite until I read the note left with you when I found you on my doorstep," her father sighed.

"How could you not tell me!? I am dangerous!" she demanded, getting up from the floor and pacing the foyer.

"It isn't something I am proud of. I'm not allowed to tell anyone I am a descendant of Zeus, because the gods want to keep their existence a secret from the human world. I assumed you would be like Ian, with a little meditation and self-control. You would be fine because I don't have any powers, just the ability to influence decisions."

"Is that why you put me in dance classes?"

"At first yes, but then you showed an aptitude for dancing and your teachers were all amazed at your skill. I still don't know why you didn't go into dancing as a profession when you were offered the principal spot in the Gregory McNair Ballet Company," her father said, starting an age-old argument the two had every time they spoke.

"Dad, not now. What did the note say from my mother?"

"Just you were a product of our romantic liaison and that your name would be Lilia Hope Heart. She did not explain why you weren't to have my last name, but I did as the note said. I knew she was powerful and would be angry if I didn't do as she asked. Now, tell me what happened with your slimeball ex Phillip," her father instructed, letting the argument drop. He could hear the desperation in her voice. She told him everything that had happened with Phillip, he was one of the few who knew what really went down between her, Phillip and James.

"Sounds like it was an excellent thing they promoted you to Poseidon. Imagine what would have happened if your phone had blown up in the general secretary wing?" Her father stated once she had finished telling him what happened.

"Did you and my mom keep in touch after you found me on your doorstep?" she asked, pretty sure she knew the answer before he told her.

"No, she didn't want me to get in touch and after I found you on my doorstep, I tried to contact her at the number she had when we dated. They disconnected her number, I used that as my clue she wanted nothing to do with you or me. That is another reason I didn't tell you anything about your godly heritage. I was angry with your mother. You look exactly like her too. That may have been the reason I sent you to boarding school. I couldn't look at you without getting angry with her and I was afraid I would take that out on you and that is one thing I never wanted." he explained sadness laced his voice.

"Do you still love her?"

"No, I recently met another photographer from my magazine. We've been seeing each other for several months now."

"What! Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she demanded, walking into the kitchen and hopping up onto the counter, digging through the cabinets to decide on what to make for dinner.

"You'd just broken up with Phillip and had a falling out with James. I didn't want to make you feel worse by shoving my happiness into your face."

"Thanks, Dad, bring her over for dinner when you two are back in the States again."

"Thank you, sweetheart, I will tell Gina."

"Wonderful, all right Dad, I need to make dinner. Call me more often I miss you."

"Will do sweetheart, have a good night and tell Ian hello for me. Bye." Lilia hung up her phone, setting it on the counter. She wasn't in the mood for dinner and was still trying to process everything they had told her that day. Sitting hard in a kitchen chair, she knew what had happened today was real in her head, but her heart was having a hard time believing. Instead of making dinner, she changed into workout clothes and grabbed her point shoes. She went down into the dance studio Ian had installed for her to practice and keep her skills from getting rusty. Even though she had decided not to pursue a career as a ballet dancer, she couldn't bring herself to give up dancing altogether. She set her phone into the stereo and worked her way through warm-up exercises. Once she was warm, she performed one of her favourite dances by Gregory McNair.

...

Several hours later, her brother Ian came into the house looking for his little sister. He could hear her music from the basement and made his way down to check on her.

"Dad is right. You really should have become a dancer. Party planning is wasted on you. You could still be a principal dancer anywhere you wanted," Ian called from the doorway. Lilia stopped in shock and turned to look at her brother. He was six foot three with shortcut white-blond hair and cornflower blue eyes. He had a stocky build with plenty of muscle built from years of training for movies.

"Ian! What are you doing here? I thought you were shooting your superhero movie?" she asked, running over to give him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her, patting her head.

"James called me while I was mid-shoot. He said you blew up your work phone with your power. He figured since you won't talk to him, you needed someone to comfort you. It looks like he was right, judging from how sweaty you are. How long have you been down here dancing?" he asked, handing her a towel to dry off.

"Um..." She looked at her watch, her eyes opening wide at the time being nine o'clock at night, she'd left work at around three.

"About five hours."

"I take it you haven't eaten dinner?" he asked. Looking at her sunken eyes, she shook her head no.

"All right, go take a shower and I will order dinner. You can tell me everything while we eat," Ian ordered, pushing her toward the stairs.

"Fine," she reluctantly agreed, letting him push her up the stairs.

After a long scalding shower, she threw on a comfortable t-shirt and leggings, her hair up in a messy bun on her head, and her make-up long gone. She came down to see Indian food laid out on the kitchen table, a glass of sparkling water waiting for her.

"Now tell your big brother everything before I have to leave tomorrow," Ian instructed, handing her a plate of butter chicken.

"All right, but it will take a while," She warned, spearing a piece of chicken.

"I'm all ears," Ian replied, getting comfortable in his chair waiting for her to speak. Lilia took a deep breath and explained everything that had led up to her stress dancing for five hours in the studio. Ian listened, asking a clarifying question now and then to get all the facts straight. At the end Lilia said,

"And so now I have to learn to control my powers with Hades of all people."

"That is a lot to take in all in one day. Dad knew who your mother was and said nothing? I knew he didn't enjoy talking about our connection to Zeus, but honestly, someone could have gotten seriously hurt," Ian complained, finishing his third beer.

"I don't think he thought my powers would be strong. After all, you don't have any powers," Lilia offered, in a way of an explanation of their father's blunder.

"True, he wasn't very good at thinking about anything other than work. That's why you were sent off to boarding school and I left with my mom," Ian agreed.

"So what do I do about all of this?" she asked, laying her head on the table and looking up at him.

"You get training and go about your life. Finish school, get a job as a party planner, and live. No one is asking you to give up anything just because you have these powers. You are just being taught how to control them, so you blow nothing up when you lose your temper." Ian laid out his suggested plan and Lilia smiled.

"When you put it that way, you make it sound easy."

"It is. Oh, change of subject. My director saw a video on the internet of you dancing one of your hip hop routines from your troupe last year. He wants you to do a dance scene in my movie," Ian said, knowing changing the subject would throw her off a little.

"What? Why me?" she asked, giving him a suspicious look.

"Because when he showed me the video and asked what I thought, I mentioned you were a better ballet dancer. He then wanted to know our connection. Apparently he has been looking for you for a while. Your troupe wouldn't give him your personal information, because you had left to focus on your studies. It is one reason he let me fly back home to see you," Ian explained, looking a little ashamed at trying to convince her to do the job.

"So essentially I owe your director for letting you come to my aid?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a skeptical look.

"You could look at it that way." Ian shrugged, popping open another beer.

"Did he tell you what he needed me to do? Also, I can only work weekends because I have my own work and school and I refuse to let either suffer," Lilia explained.

"I'll let him know it is a tentative yes then. You can work out the details with his secretary. As for what he wants, he gave me a USB with the routine for you to learn." Ian fished the USB out of his pocket and gave it to her.

"Look at it tomorrow or..." he looked at his phone,

"Later today after work. I'm off to bed and will fly out around lunchtime," Ian informed her, getting up and stretching the knots out of his broad back.

"Thank you for coming out here to see me. You were very helpful in giving a fresh perspective. I love you, Ian." She gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Love you too, baby sister," Ian replied, ruffling her hair.

"Have a safe trip back, goodnight," she told him, heading up to her room to get some sleep. She spent most of the night tossing and turning, thinking over everything she'd been told.