Helen Brave and The Sun Titan
Chapter 3: Elysian Gates

The flight passed quickly after a few mindless games between the four of us teens and I soon found myself beginning to doze, my head resting on Amanda’s shoulder while she spoke in a low voice to ma. We had been on the plane for the whole day and it was getting close to midnight, the plane beginning to shake as we descended. “Welcome to Elysian Preparatory Academy new and former students. You will soon be welcomed to our school by Hestia herself! Everyone have a lovely evening and may the gods shine down upon you in your favor,” the captain said over the loud speaker. I grunted when Amanda shook me awake and lifted my head slowly, yawning a bit as I sat up and looked around. Ginger and Zoey were slumped into one another and snoring lightly, Zoey’s face crinkling as the noise on the plane picked up. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned before moving to sit up while her sister slipped away from her slightly.

Zoey looked to her in concern before gently righting her and giving her a small almost motherly smile. She rolled her head and yawned again, looking over to me before giving me a toothy grin. I flushed and rubbed my neck before looking forward and away from her, scowling internally when my face refused to cool. Stupid pretty girl. The plane suddenly stopped and after we got the go ahead, everyone began moving around, ma standing and stretching before moving over to me. I unbuckled myself and she scooped me up, heading for the exit while momma helped Amanda then fussing over Ginger and Zoey. They had unofficially been adopted into our family during the duration of the flight. Ma carried me out through a long black tunnel, eventually popping up in a fancy looking terminal. It was mostly empty and ma gently set me in a seat before heading back towards the plane for my chair. I looked around the white and golden area for a moment before looking up and at an approaching woman.

She was cute and chubby looking with long brown hair that fell like waves down her back and bright golden eyes, which zeroed in on me. She gave me an award-winning smile and sped up, stopping just a few feet from me and clapping her hands excitedly. “Hello! I’m Hestia and welcome to Elysian!” She squealed. I blinked and gave her a smile back before extending out my hand for her to take. She giggled loudly and grabbed it, tugging me up and into her chest. I yelped, grabbing onto her quickly as she rocked from side to side and squealed. “I love newbies! You are so cute!” She gushed before leaning back and beaming down at me. I gave her a weak smile back and she released me to focus on ma, who had returned and was looking to her in surprise.

“Hello Mama Hestia,” ma greeted before folding out my chair and helping me into it. Hestia squealed an octave higher before rushing up and pulling ma into a crushing hug, her chubby fingers grabbing ma’s face and bringing it down to her level.

“OWL! It’s been years! Why are you here sweetie? Not that I’m not happy to see you. You are family,” she said with a frown. Ma laughed before gently grabbing her hands and removing them from her face.

“My daughter, the one you grabbed, is a newbie,” she said in a good-natured tone. Hestia blinked then looked to me before giggling and giving me an almost loving smile.

“I can’t believe it! So you still ended up with Slice right? She’s calmed down from her teen years right?” Hestia asked.

“I’ve calmed down Mama Hestia,” I heard momma say. I looked back and found that momma was walking over with Amanda trailing after her. Zoey and Ginger followed after them and nodded to Hestia, who skipped over and hugged them tightly.

“I was worried when you two didn’t arrive with the others, but they’re coming up soon and I got a little anxious to meet the new students,” Hestia said a little bashfully before looking to Amanda and giving her a warm smile. “You must be new too! Welcome to Elysian,” she said excitedly. Amanda smiled back and allowed the older woman to pull her into a hug before gently extracting herself and heading over to me. The other students were beginning to head over and she clapped her hands while moving forward. She began to introduce herself, laughing when her students looked at her in awe. I heard a call and lifted my head, watching as a group of students began to walk over, all of them dressed in the same uniform as Zoey and Ginger. They were led by a tired, but smug-looking boy with short, blondish-brown hair and sky blue eyes.

He was tall, but so were the other male members of the group and his arms were crossed over his thick chest. His bunched up vest had a chair patch on one side and on the other was a thunderbolt and eagle patch. He spared me a glance before zeroing in on Amanda and grinning a bit more. “Another Aphrodite student,” he mumbled lowly as he passed me. I frowned and glared at his back before jumping when someone touched my shoulder. I looked up and gave Zoey a small smile while she glared at the boy before giving me a small tired smile in return.

“Ignore him. So... ready to head to the dorms? You’ll probably be meeting your god they’re as well since you are part of the last newbie arrivals,” she said before smothering a yawn. I nodded and Hestia instantly began speaking excitedly about the school and led us down the long terminal, the blondish brown haired boy trying to talk to Amanda along the way. We exited the school air space and I gasped and looked out at the school. It was vast, sprawling out over what looked like over two miles. Scattered amounts of students with patches on their arms were running from place to place while golf carts patrolled the roads that connected different buildings. Everything looked like a more modern version of Greece and Hestia clapped several times until almost everyone was looking at her.

“I know that the school is impressive. We’ve wasted no expense in providing for our students. That being said, we’re now going to head to the first set of dorms, the Zeus and Hera dorms. You see students, all of the dorms are in pair and most likely you will end up paired with a student from another dorm. Like Zeus and Hera students are usually paired, Aphrodite students and Hephaestus students are paired together or Apollo and Artemis students are paired together,” Hestia explained as she led us to a large San Francisco style cable car. Ma helped me onto it around back then ended up helping two more students who were in wheelchairs as well and then took a seat up higher up as Hestia began to speak. One of the students instantly looked out of the open window while the other gave me a tired smile.

“Thanks to your dad for the help,” the teenaged boy said, his hand coming out to me to shake.

“Ma is my other mom and no problem. Ma likes helping,” I said. The boy nodded before pulling off his hood and revealed his short and messy black hair. He looked tired and dark circles stood out on his pale face while his black eyes fluttered. He smothered a yawn before nodding again and leaning back in his seat.

“Are you a Hephaestus student as well? I’m beginning to notice a theme,” he said with a grin. I blinked and looked around, finally taking notice of some of the other students. One was missing an arm; another seemed to be having a bit of a fit, while another was rhythmically tapping out on her lap while looking around. Our eyes met and she gave me a weak smile, her quail appearing on her lap and bouncing in place.

“We’re all extra special,” I said before waving. The girl grinned in ease before looking away and I looked back at the boy, who was leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest.

“I like the way you look at things. My parents always try to sugar coat it. I know that I don’t have a leg anymore, but it’s not something that they need to be afraid to talk about,” he grumbled before looking to me. “So how’d you lose yours?” He asked casually. The girl to our left snorted and I grinned before shrugging.

“Accident when I was 6,” I said. The other girl looked to us then leaned back and yawned, her hand covering her mouth. She looked tired too, dark circles brought the green out in her eyes and her honey colored hair was mussed.

“I lost mine last year. We were scuba diving and a shark got too friendly. It was pretty interesting,” she said in an almost uninteresting way. Ma gave us all a look before shaking her head and looking back to Hestia.

“Kids these days, taking tragedy as a joke,” she grumbled.

“Don’t you know ma, tragedy plus time equals comedy,” I said, shaking my head when the boy and girl snorted. The ride to the Hephaestus and Aphrodite dorms passed quickly after that, the other students getting dropped off and meeting their god or goddess. I was beginning to doze off again when the cable car stopped roughly and jolted me awake. “Here we have the Hephaestus and Aphrodite dorm and just outside you can see Hephaestus himself and his beautiful wife,” Hestia said cheerfully. I blinked sluggishly and looked over, frowning when I found a gorgeous woman playfully speaking to a scruffy man confined to a wheelchair. He was the man from my vision thingy! Ma helped me and the other two out and our group stood almost awkwardly as the two gods laughed. Hephaestus finally calmed down before looking us all over, his eyes focusing on me for a moment longer.

“Hello everyone! I am Hephaestus and this is my lovely wife Aphrodite!” Hephaestus said excitedly. His voice was loud and comforting, the sound making me relax.

“For tonight everyone will get to spend it together in the dorm meeting room and tomorrow morning you will get a dorm room, a dorm mate, a uniform and be shown around by us. As you may have noticed, other dorms have Heroes or Heroines, but unfortunately our dorm does not have one. Do not worry for we think this group might hole the heroes we seek,” Aphrodite said with a warm smile. We all glanced to one another before they led us into the dorm. I took a good look around and nodded, scanning, the messy room. It was an odd mesh of discarded tools, gadgets, make up, and magazines but it reminded me of how Amanda and I were.

“Come along, let’s all camp out over here!” Hephaestus called. I snapped out of my musing as we were led over to a group of tables and couches. When we all settled in Hephaestus began to talk about the dorm so I drifted off a bit, snapping out of it when the other students began to pick out spots to sleep. I wheeled over to Amanda and nudged her, grinning when she tossed me a grin and took a seat on the ground.

“This is our spot because I’m too lazy to move,” she said before flopping back.

“Lazy,” I grumbled, sliding out of my seat and relaxing on the floor next to her. She grumbled something that I ignored and I felt a slight kick to my shoulder. I looked up and found the boy from the cable car was now next to me, along with the girl. She was looking around in a bored manner while the boy grinned down at us.

“Do you mind me and my new friend here sitting with you two?” He asked. I shrugged and looked to Amanda, who gave him a smile then wink.

“Sure, you can sit with us,” she said before sitting up and extending out her hand. He slipped from his chair and took a seat, then gently grabbed her hand before giving her a wink of his own.

“I’m Joshua, that’s Wilma,” he said with a jerk of his head. The girl slid from her seat and gave us an uninterested look before extending her hand out.

“You’re an Aphrodite student right?” She asked. Amanda nodded and the girl mirrored it before shifting in place and looking to me. “So what were you doing that got you here?” She asked. I rubbed my head before explaining what happened and they nodded before telling us about how they were chosen. We were pulled from our conversation when ma gave us blankets and told us it was bedtime. We whined a bit, but listened to her and I smiled softly as I fell into a deep sleep, lying close to Amanda and Wilma.

I couldn’t tell how long I slept, but the gentle shove on my shoulder tore me from my dreams. I groaned silently as I rolled over, glaring up at Amanda, who was giggling from above me. “Sorry crabby butt, but we need to get up so we can go get fitted for our uniforms. Plus Hephaestus students are getting some kind of apron fitting as well,” she said before handing me my glasses. I groggily nodded and slowly pushed myself up, shoving my glasses onto my face before rubbing at my eye and looking around tiredly. Joshua was mumbling softly as he pushed himself to a stand while Wilma yawned from her wheelchair.

“You talk in your sleep,” Wilma said before wheeling after another student. I frowned a bit before shifting about and yawning. Amanda passed me my prosthetic and I put it on before slowly pushing myself up, blinking away a dizzy spell. After gathering my bearings, I moved around a bit before following the group towards a large gym bathroom like area.

“Get cleaned up quickly! We have a lot to do!” Aphrodite called from the door, giving me a grin when I slipped in. The room was lively, students moving about and grabbing different things before trying to claim a stall for themselves. I quickly grabbed my things from Amanda and claimed a set of stalls, glaring at people who tried to take either of them. Amanda popped up after a short moment and moved into the stall to my right while I took the left, stripping and taking off my prosthetic before sighing in relief when a stool was passed to me. I poked my head out and gave Wilma a smile as she passed me to replace another stall then moved back in and put my stuff outside of the curtain. I quickly washed up and dried off before grabbing my things from outside the stall and pulling them on.

I stepped out and ran a hand through my hair while tugging down my shirt, for once wearing one that actually fit. “Oh! That’s the shirt I bought you!” Amanda squealed before hugging me. I grunted and frowned, hugging her back and rolling my eyes when I realized she wasn’t dressed yet.

“Please get dressed, some students are looking,” I joked. She laughed before grabbing her things and heading back into her stall while some of the other girls blushed before scrambling off. I shook my head then stood for a little, waiting for her grand entrance and she came out, tossing me a wink before tugging me over to an empty sink.

“Brush your teeth so I can apply my face,” she said. I nodded and quickly scrubbed down my teeth before moving and allowing her apply her make up while Wilma returned. She was dressed nicely and tried to lean up to use the sink. I shifted over and discreetly helped her, nodding back when she jerked her head towards me in thanks.

“At home I have a special sink and everything since I haven’t been missing my leg for long. I left before my prosthetic was made. How does it feel using yours?” She asked after she finished brushing her teeth.

“I’ve been using it for years so I don’t think I can give you a good description,” I said before looking back as Amanda finished and winked at a poor student. The girl blushed and rushed out while Amanda giggled, not in a mean way, but a playful one, then looked to me.

“Well I’m ready. Are you both ready too?” She asked. I nodded and looked to Wilma, who spit out her toothpaste and did a quick rinse before sitting back and waving her hand.

“All ready to go,” she said. We all headed out and met up with Joshua, who was now standing tall on his own prosthetic, the false limb showcased by his shorts. He gave us a smile when we got to his side and Aphrodite smiled before waving us forward.

“Time for uniforms!” She called out, excitedly leading us to a school cable car.

We ended up with some older students, who happily sized us up before beginning to make conversation. Some of the Artemis students gave the boys looks, but were mostly polite, eventually jumping off when they got to their stops. The school tailors building looked more like a Greek temple and we all got off and headed inside. Another group of students was standing around when we got inside and we were almost swarmed as soon as the last student stepped into the room. Several people began pulling us away from one another and I winced as someone began to measure me, frowning when the person measured my legs. “Prosthetic!” I called over the noise around us and a look of understanding crossed the tailor’s face before she jolted something down and scurried off. I took in a deep breath and moved off to the side, watching as Amanda made her escape, pushing Wilma out and using her as a shield.

They looked relieved when they saw me and took the space to my right, sighing softly when we were passed and ignored. “I really hate tailors,” Wilma grumbled, her hand idly opening and closing as she glared at the staff.

“We can’t really blame them for something they have no control over,” Amanda said before shaking her head. “Anyway, after we get our uniforms we’re all splitting up. Hephaestus students are going to the Forge and we’re heading to some kind of special love prayer site,” Amanda said before pouting.

“I’ll be fine. I have Joshua and Wilma to keep me company. You’re good with people so you’ll make friends soon enough,” I said. She nodded and three tailors moved over, one of them being mine. She passed me a uniform and welcomed me to Elysian before bouncing off to help another student while the other two did the same to Wilma and Amanda. I headed off to a changing room and pulled on my uniform, looking up at my reflection and smiling. The skirt went down to my knees and the white button up was clipped close with hammer buttons. The tie was clipped with a tongs shaped clip and the vest wasn’t long, ending right at my waist. The crest patch was on my left breast and had a picture of a red hammer hitting a brown anvil stitched into it. I grinned wider and pulled my hair into a ponytail before heading out and smiling when Amanda squealed before hugging me.

“Oh you look so cute!” She gushed before moving back and lifting her own patch. It was of a white dove over a pink rose and I gave her thumbs up. We were called back and she waved before heading off while Hephaestus waved us after him.

“I know most of you are excited to see the Forge and I am excited to share this experience with you for you see, the Forge is the place where you will be working in for most if not all of your projects. You will have to share the space with other students and at times help them with a commission if they so ask it. Our school runs on a favor system and during your first three months you will be working with a senior student to learn about the craft if you will. After your probationary period, you will be given your own station to work at. When a student requests your services, you will most likely be asked to repair weapons, help fix appliances, rewire electronics and to some these things will require minimal if to any thought at all while others will be quite difficult. Don’t be afraid of telling the student you have no idea how to do what they need you to do. If you can’t do it, point the student in the direction of another student who has more expertise,” he said while leading us away from the tailor’s building and down a hill, towards a large Greek style warehouse sized building near the ocean. “We work closely with the hunters and warriors on campus and also with Poseidon’s students so make sure you are kind to everyone who crosses your path. You never know,” he warned. I found myself nodding and looked up, gasping softly when I realized we were now in front of the building. It was larger than I thought. “Welcome to the Forge,” he said before slamming the side of his fist into a red button, the garage style door of the Forge slowly beginning to rise.