Crown, Diary, and Staff

"Geez, Zeus! Who would've thought he's a romantic?!"

"WHAT?" I looked at Vlad, hoping he'd tell me what was going on. Maybe there was something in those Greek letters that could explain what Spyridon had just said. Yet Vlad shrugged and shook his head lightly, totally as clueless as I was.

"We have to move now!" grunted Spyridon as he took the dark brown backpack lying next to Vlad and headed outside.

Klas smiled apologetically. "I will explain on the way but for now, it is not safe to be here."

Starting to feel like a fugitive on the run, I forced myself to rise on my feet and left the tent. After making sure that we left no trace, we were on our way, following Spyridon to wherever he was taking us.

"So, what's with the staff?" I heard Vlad asking Klas and I quickly sped up so I could walk beside them.

Klas nodded when he saw me walking on his right. "Lady Stavros," he greeted, apparently still maintained his politeness even in the wilderness.

"I've told you to call me Avery."

He scrunched his brows, disapproving the idea. "But—"

I held my hand up. "No buts. If you don't call me by my first name, I will start calling you Mr. Andersson." Noticing that he didn't seem to mind, I added, "or Lord Andersson. That sounds better." I heard Vlad chuckle and slid my gaze at him, who was walking beside Klas. His eyes met mine and he winked, making my heart flutter.

Klas shook his head, obviously astonished, which didn't surprise me. He was Klas after all, and moreover, he was a Court Guard. I didn't know where they went to school but they had strictness when it came to royals and their titles. Except, maybe, Scarlet. She'd never call me 'Lady Stavros' which made me happy since I really disliked the title.

We were all humans and although the titles were part of our ancient tradition as Hellenicus, I disagreed that someone should be regarded higher than the others. I didn't mind if it was someone older, and the title served as a sign of respect but calling someone younger (like five years old) Lord was outrageous. Though there was no way I would let anyone younger than me calling me Lady Stavros.

I was happy with being a regular Avery.

"Good," I nodded. "Then starting now, you should call me Avery."

"Not Camila?" teased Vladimir.

I shook my head. "I still haven't gotten used to that name." I turned to Klas and added, "if you call me Camila, I might not respond so just call me Avery." I grinned. "Although if you call me Lady Stavros again, I will pretend not to hear and purposely ignoring you."

Klas sighed, looking defeat. "Avery it is then."

"Awesome! Now, what's with the staff?" I could hardly suppress my curiosity.

"Spyridon has been reading the Queens' Diary and he found out a page mentioning about the three artifacts left by the gods." Klas motioned us to the left, following Spyridon who had taken a left turn without telling us.

To be frank, he looked like he was in the world of his own. Unlike Klas who was still surveying the area, Spyridon seemed to have a clear idea where we should be and believe that we would follow him no matter where he went. Which we did but it still amazed me how he didn't even bother to tell us if he was going to take a turn or look behind to see if we were still following him.

I shook the fleeting thoughts away and focused on what Klas was saying.

"A long time ago, Zeus fell in love with one of the offerings. He was so in love that he wanted to turn her into a goddess and made her a queen, alongside Hera. However, she refused his offer and chose to be with her soulmate. Knowing this, Zeus gave her the crown and the diary. The diary that will show her what the gods did and what happened in Olympus and a crown as a symbol that she would always be his queen, the Queen of his heart." Klas swallowed before continuing, "he made her promise that she would carry the crown at all time since it served as a key to the diary."

"Geez, Zeus! Who would've thought he's a romantic?!" I shook my head in disbelief. "I thought he's a cynic, uncanny old man."

The guys reacted differently. Vlad chuckled, clearly understood my humor, while Klas watched me with a horrified look on his face, almost as if I'd just committed blasphemy.

After recovering from the shock, Klas cleared his throat and continued the story. "The Hellenicus, aware that Zeus loved her, made her the leader." He turned and gave me an expectant look. Once he realized that I had no idea what that meant, he pressed his lips tightly against each other, looking almost disappointed. He should've known that I was never a fond of history, not even in my previous lives.

"Lady Sienna Rose Stavros," muttered Vladimir. Klas and I turned to him. "Our first Queen."

Klas nodded eagerly. "Yes. That's how we got the crown and the diary."

"Okay." I tried my best to connect the dots and failed miserably. "How about the other two? The key and the staff?"

"Well, we all know how jealous Hera is. She always cursed Zeus' lovers and their children, such as Hercules." Klas offered his arm as we walked up the rocky roads. I clung my hand around his arm and muttered a thank you. "Zeus tried to hide Sienna from Hera but in the end, she found out anyway. The Queen of Olympus cursed the Stavros line and made her children, the sons, and daughters of Hera, hunted down all the Stavros."

"Wait," I stopped and turned to Klas, wide-eyed. "So the old faction is Hera's children?"

Klas nodded.

"So that means we know who they are," I replied as my mind thinking of many possibilities. "Why didn't we catch them then? If we know who they are the whole time, why didn't we catch them?"

"Because of the reincarnation," Vlad answered my questions. "Hera's descendants aren't demi-gods. They're Hellenicus, just like us."

"And just like us, they are reincarnated and born to different bodies, under different families," I finally managed to get the logic. It took me quite some time but I figured it out. With many regulars and royals, it was hard, almost impossible, to distinguish whose descendant someone was.

We were stayed quiet for a while, trying to follow Spyridon's footsteps, before I launched another question, "do we know whether Hera's descendants are royals or regulars? I mean, we know for sure that pure royals are descendants of the three gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades."

"It's Royals," answered Klas. "Hera is one of the Twelve Olympians, bearer of the Golden Chair. Regulars were descendants of the minor gods."

Shit. That was just another proof of how bad I was in our race history. Vladimir saw me wince and his eyes held mine for a few seconds longer as if telling me that it was okay for me not to know all of these.

"You haven't answered her question," reminded Vlad. Klas looked at him with a questioning look. "About the staff," added Vladimir with a shrug of one shoulder.

"Oh yeah." Klas scratched the side of his head embarrassingly. I could see a faint red on the apple of his cheeks. "It was said that Poseidon, sympathized of what happened to the Stavros, wanted to help. So he told Zeus that he would give a staff to The Stavros. A staff that would help them find their family."

I was about to open my mouth when Klas quickly added, "and their soulmates. This staff, which supposed to help The Stavros, turned out to be a double-edged sword as in the hand of Hera's descendant, it was a weapon to hunt the Stavros and their soulmates."

I gasped, knowing full well what he meant. "The great massacre," I whispered quietly. And by the look on their faces, I knew I was right.

* * *

That's it! ♥
I was actually having another dream (thank God) after reading some Greek Myth, which of course, inspired this chapter (and the next one). I hope you don't find all these Greek Myth overwhelming 😅

ILYSM, MY ANGELS!! ♥
Thank you for being absolute angels and supporting my book. It means the world to me, and honestly, all of you are the reasons I keep on writing (and smiling) even when I'm broke and didn't get paid lol

Btw (this is totally unrelated but) CAN YOU BELIEVE JUSTIN AND HAILEY IS GETTING MARRIED?! 😱 I'm still recovering from the shock but I'm happy for them 💕

Have a wonderful day!
Stay blessed!

Loads of pizza,
agatha x