Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 20: Quest One Complete

I grumbled lightly as I slowly woke up, frowning when I realized I was being moved slightly. “Stop it! She was in the depths of hell for two weeks. She deserves to sleep,” a voice hissed from my left. I groggily peeled my eyes open, looking up at Amanda and Elei, who were scowling at one another. Amanda was holding me close and her look was morphing into a pout while Elei glared at her. Zoey and Ginger were grinning at them both and I couldn’t help the sleepy smile that spread across my face.

“Guys I’m up,” I said in a scratchy voice, clearing my throat and watching as they all looked to me before smiling widely.

“Helen!” Amanda squealed, the sound making my ears ring. I tossed her a glare before squirming away from her.

“Go away. You’ve wounded my ears,” I grumbled while they laughed. Amanda tugged me closer and laughed brightly, which made me feel better. I relaxed slightly and looked to Elei, who gave me a wide smile. I returned it before extracting myself from Amanda’s grip and stretching slightly. “We should head to the Pantheon space, I was supposed to go their last night, but I fell asleep,” I said before rubbing my hands together. It was unusually cold in my room and Amanda placed a hand on my shoulder.

“The heating system in the dorms broke down right after e got back and we’ve all been kind of preoccupied,” she said before giving me my blanket. I relaxed, tugging it over my shoulders like a cape before shrugging.

“Well we should get ready and head to the Pantheon council room,” I said. They nodded and after a quick shower we all grabbed some breakfast. Birdie almost tackled me when I grabbed a banana and began crying onto my shoulder. I grinned slightly and hugged her back before relaxing and patting her back. “Hey Birdie. I have to head out, but we can talk when I get back okay?” I said, the older student nodding before giving me a large smile.

“You got it. Oh! The guys around the Forge have a nickname for you now,” she said with a wide smile. I blinked in surprise before giving her a smile and nodding.

“What is it?” I asked, waving Amanda and the others off to go on without me.

“Your official nickname is Flaming Daedalus. Officially we recognize you as the hero of our dorm,” she said before hugging me again and moving back. She bowed lowly and I stood in shock before grinning down at her and rubbing my head.

“Thank you. Tell the others I said thank you as well. I have one or two more things to finish up then you can show me how to make throwing disks,” I proposed, heading for the exit. She nodded and I grinned before turning and jogging out of the dormitory, catching up to the others and taking my place next to Elei. We all walked in a comfortable silence, Elei’s larger hand slowly slipping into mine. I felt my face heat up, but grinned and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. All of us climbed into the cable car and relaxed in our seats, heading for the council room.

When we arrived, we were ushered in by a smiling god and found the student Pantheon was already seated. I noticed my parents and waved to them, grinning then they beamed at me in pride. Zeus slowly stood from his spot and I slipped my hand out of Elei’s when he gestured me forward. As soon as I was in front of him, he gave me a small smile before waving to his right. A door opened and the aged oracle shuffled in before giving us all a large grin. “Well done children. You have successfully completed your first quest!” He cooed before shuffling over and patting my cheek. I gave him a weak smile and he chuckled before looking to me seriously. “You did very well Helen. You and your warriors rose above your challenges and defeated Helios. You also gave us a new means to keeping the titans under control. There is more to do, but that isn’t until much later. For the rest of the year enjoy learning and being a regular teenager,” he said with a smile. I blinked before grinning widely and nodding, moving back as he moved to talk to Amanda.

Zeus nodded to me before looking to my parents and jerking his head in my direction. They rushed forward and pulled me into a tight group hug, which made me laugh. “We were so worried,” ma said lowly, almost crushing momma and I to her chest. I hugged her back and when she released us, momma scrubbed at her eyes before giving me a large smile.

“We’re so proud of you,” she said softly, moving forward and hugging me tightly again. I hugged her back and relaxed, looking to the others and sharing a smile with them.

The rest of November passed slowly, learning new things and slowly being intergraded into the student Pantheon. Since the Hephaestus students saw me as their hero it wasn’t much of a stretch for the rest of the school to see me that way too. Eventually, Zeus err sorry, Pop Pop Z pulled me into the student Pantheon. The student Pantheon was a different group and I was beginning to see the reason Elei and the others hated Jason. “That looks nothing like a thunderbolt!” Jason roared, stomping around my personal forge. It had been a gift from Hephastus, one of many he had given me. I was beginning to think he was trying to butter me up.

“I can’t make you a thunder bolt looking sword because that would look stupid!” I snapped in return, tugging my goggles up and glaring at him.

“Zeus-!” He began, but I rolled my eyes and placed my tools down.

“Pop Pop Z was gifted tools of mass destruction from the brothers. I’m not going to make you an impractical sword!” I snapped before tugging off my gloves and shutting down my furnace. I wasn’t going to get any work done so I might as well meet up with Elei. She had promised to take me off campus for a date. I felt a small smile spread across my face as I pulled off my apron and hung it up. Jason continued to rant and I pulled on my jacket before heading out of the workshop, grinning when I heard Jason’s yell of anger. Sighing softly, I headed down the snow-covered path towards the hero dormitory, humming softly as I did so.

Elei and I have been dating for a week now and I honestly couldn’t be happier. I grinned and sighed softly as I saw the dorms coming up. I sped up a bit and yelped when my foot hit a rough patch and slid out from under me. I tumbled back, flinching and frowning when I didn’t hit the ground. I opened my closed eyes and blushed when I found Elei holding me up and grinning down at me. “Careful demi god,” she teased, helping me stand. I stuck my tongue out at her and she laughed before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I flushed and leaned against her, relaxing as she led me closer to the dorms before releasing me. She jogged forward and bent over, scooping up some snow before beginning to roll it. I noticed Amanda ahead of us and tried not to laugh when Elei launched the ball of fluffy icicles at her. She ducked before spinning and throwing one back. Elei jumped out of the way and the snowball smacked me in the face, almost knocking me to the ground. I stumbled back and yelped as I slipped, landing on my bottom and scowling slightly as I dusted myself off.

Elei rushed over with a look of concern on her face and Amanda burst into laughter while I scowled and allowed the taller girl to pull me to my feet. “Funny Amanda!” I called before shaking my head. “Can we get hot chocolate?” I asked Elei. She blinked before giving me a warm smile and nodding, wrapping an arm around me and together the two of us headed into the dorms. The living room was a mesh of three different celebrations. Funny since people knew Greek gods existed. The large Christmas tree was being decorated by the twins and the hero of Hades while two other heroes argued over a Menorah. Elei ushered me over to the large living room couch before heading off to the kitchen. I tugged off my jacket and relaxed as the fire in the fireplace brightly flickered and warmed me. I snapped and the fire jumped a bit, growing larger and making the rest of the room warmer.

“Thanks Helen,” Zoey called as she draped some kind of silver tinsel around one side of the tree, Ginger working on the other side. I sank deeper into the couch cushions and tossed Elei a smile when she returned with a mug of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies.

“Cadmus is going cookie crazy,” she said lowly before sitting next to me and pulling me closer. “I was thinking of taking you to a little alumni run bistro later tonight. I got a few favors saved up and want to cash in on them,” she said softly. I nodded and took a sip from my drink sighing softly and leaning against her as she rambled on about our date.