Eos the Lighthearted

by Joan Holub

  Nyx saw her at once. “Eos!” she shouted joyfully. “Come meet Hades and Persephone!”

  Eos ran over to hug Nyx, and then turned toward Persephone. “Hi,” she said.

  “Nyx told us you’d be coming. So nice to meet you!” Persephone said by way of greeting. Then she smiled big.

  Eos smiled back. “Yeah. You, too.” She greeted Hades as well, though a bit warily since he was godboy of the Underworld. Did he know her father? Probably, but she didn’t ask. Sometimes she wondered if more people besides Zoe thought her dad was bad . . . or even evil. Maybe he was! How would she know? Except for the daybreak-delight sandwiches he had made for her, her memories of him were hazy at best. Oh, it was all too confusing! So, as usual, she pushed away thoughts of her sad-mad-dad problem.

  “Look! Aphrodite and Athena are here!” Nyx called out excitedly. She pointed toward a silver chariot that had just landed. It had pink seats and was hitched to three silver reindeer. Eos easily recognized the two newcomers as they stepped down from their chariot.

  Athena was the one with long wavy brown hair, wearing a light blue chiton. She was the goddessgirl of wisdom, Zeus’s daughter, and of course she had coauthored the essay about Nyx that had led to today’s celebration. Aphrodite, the goddessgirl of love and beauty, was dressed in a sparkly (and very fashion-forward) pink chiton.

  “Nyx!” Aphrodite squealed, spotting her alongside Eos, Persephone, and Hades at the bottom of the temple steps. As she and Athena ran toward the group, Aphrodite’s long golden hair, threaded with pale pink ribbons, streamed out behind her. Several boys nearby turned to look at her with love-struck gazes. That was the kind of response the goddessgirl of love and beauty inspired!

  Aphrodite barely noticed all the attention as she caught Nyx up in a big hug. Athena hugged her too. Afterward, Nyx introduced them both to Eos.

  “You’re goddessgirl of the dawn, aren’t you?” asked Athena. Eos nodded, pleased that Athena knew her goddess title. Then Aphrodite clasped her hands together and said with enthusiasm, “I love the dawn—whenever I’m up in time to see it. Those colors you create are spectacular! Especially love all those pinks!” There were murmurs of agreement from the others.

  Eos glowed with pleasure. These immortals were so nice! She noticed that, unlike her mortal friends, they all had skin that shimmered slightly like hers. Here she wasn’t so different. No one eyed her wings. And whenever colorful vapor drifted out from her fingertips to form a mist in the air, no one stared in surprise. They were used to magic. She felt herself relax.

  Nyx was beside Eos as the group began to move into the temple. “I want you to meet Artemis, too,” she told Eos.

  Overhearing, Athena said, “She’s probably inside already. She came early to make sure everything was set up the way she wanted.”

  Once inside the temple, Eos barely had time to glance at all the statues lining its walls, including an ebony one of Artemis sculpted from grape wood, before she was introduced to even more goddessgirls and godboys. All were Olympians, and had been the enemies of her Titan family during the war. Though she wasn’t exactly sure what she’d expected—given that some of them must have known who her father was—they were all super welcoming.

  Encouraged by their friendliness, Eos asked Athena, in as casual a tone as she could manage, “Will your dad be here for the unveiling?”

  Athena shook her head. “He couldn’t come. Something about a tournament he was playing in. Not sure what kind of tournament, though.”

  Maybe a thunderbolt-throwing one? Eos immediately thought. But that couldn’t be it. Who else besides Zeus could even throw a thunderbolt? Anyway, it was a huge relief that he wasn’t going to show up here.

  “Waa! Waaa!”

  Eos startled as loud cries split the air. She turned and saw a statuesque blond-haired woman carrying a bundle of blankets into the temple. Inside those blankets was a crying baby.

  “That’s my stepmom, Hera,” Athena informed Eos. “And the little noisemaker in her arms is my baby sister, Hebe,” she added with a smile.

  “So I guessed,” Eos told her, having read about Hebe in her scrollazine last night. “Is it fun having a baby sister? My sister and brother are older than me, so I wouldn’t know.”

  Athena cocked her head and thought about it. “Well, I didn’t much like being a big sister at first,” she admitted. “But now I love it. Hebe’s so adorable and cute and fun and—”

  “Hooray! The guest of honor has arrived!” someone cheered, causing Athena to break off mid-sentence. The person who had shouted was a goddessgirl dressed in red with a quiver of arrows and an archery bow slung over her shoulders. Artemis, of course. Her eyes were fixed on Nyx as she hurried toward Eos’s group.

  As in pictures Eos had seen in Teen Scrollazine, Artemis’s glossy black hair was caught up in a cute, simple twist high at the back of her head and encircled by golden bands. She was accompanied by three dogs, which ran ahead of her and leaped all over Nyx as soon as they reached her.

  “Obviously they remember you from your visit to MOA, Nyx,” Artemis said, looking flushed and excited about today’s festivities. After gently scolding her dogs, she gave Nyx a hug.

  “I didn’t know dogs were allowed in temples,” Eos murmured to Athena.

  “They’re not, usually,” replied a godboy standing near them. “But since this temple is dedicated to my sister, she can make her own rules!”

  “You’re Apollo!” Eos exclaimed. She’d seen his picture in the Greekly Weekly News and Teen Scrollazine many times. Plus, he and his twin sister looked a lot alike.

  “You got it,” he said. “Eos, right? Nyx wrote my sister that she’d invited you. Cool that you could come.”

  “Yeah, welcome to my temple!” said Artemis.

  “Thanks,” Eos told them both. She smiled at Artemis and Apollo, feeling gladder and gladder that Tithonus had urged her to come. Artemis’s dogs—curious to meet a stranger, no doubt—trotted up to her to sniff at her hands and chiton. Looking at Artemis, Eos added, “I’ve never been to Ephesus before. This is the first time I’ve seen your temple. It’s sooo beautiful!”

  “Isn’t it?” Artemis introduced her dogs to Eos. When Amby, the beagle, rolled over on his back at Eos’s feet, she kneeled to scratch his belly.

  Artemis grinned. “Belly rubs. He’ll be your friend for life now.” She laughed, and then glanced over at Apollo. “This is a great turnout!” she enthused, motioning around at all the people who had come.

  Apollo grinned back at her. “Didn’t I tell you? I predicted it would be a great day.”

  Artemis giggled. “My brother is good at predictions,” she explained to Eos. “Well, prophecies, actually. He even prophesied that this temple would be built!”

  Eos knew that Apollo was the godboy of truth and prophecy (among other things), but it was still pink that he’d foreseen this temple. She glanced at him, intrigued. “How do you get prophecies, anyway? Do you see a picture in your head or hear voices or what?”

  Apollo shrugged. “They come in different ways, different times,” he said vaguely. “I received the prophecy about Artemis’s temple right after I won my own temple—in Delphi.”

  “Yeah! I remember reading an article about your Delphi temple in Teen Scrollazine. You won it in a contest by matching wits with a python! So amazing.” Eos started to get excited. Could Apollo predict if—or how—she might succeed in making Tithonus immortal. Eagerly, she asked, “So can you summon a prophecy? Or do you just have to wait for—”

  But before she could finish asking her questions, two godboys called to Apollo from across the temple. She recognized the one with grape leaves tucked in his curly hair as Dionysus, while the blond-haired boy with turquoise eyes and light turquoise skin was Poseidon, godboy of the sea.

  “Sorry, gotta go,” Apollo said to her. “My band’s going to play after the unveiling, and we need to set up.” Murmuring a good-bye, he loped over to them.

  Watching him go, Eos swallo
wed her disappointment. Maybe she could catch him later, before she left for home. She’d better not stay too long, though. Even if she left in two hours, it would probably be midnight before she got home. And, as usual, she’d have to be up early tomorrow.

  At the sound of a harp, the ceremony began. The crowd moved to stand before a cloth-veiled statue. With Nyx beside her and facing the crowd, Artemis gave a short speech about the events that had led to her decision to seek Zeus’s permission to place a statue of Nyx in her temple. Then, as magical fireworks burst overhead, Artemis drew a silver arrow from her quiver. She fit it into her golden bow and shot the cloth off the statue!

  “Wow! Talk about dramatic,” Eos murmured to herself.

  As the arrow carried the cloth to the floor, there were cheers of appreciation for the intricate bronze statue, which was actually more of a statuette. Less than a foot high, it stood atop a tall pedestal. The statuette showed Nyx in motion floating down from the sky to Earth. Her cape billowed up behind her head, and her toes were pointed in readiness to land. In her right hand she clutched something that looked like a small urn. Eos guessed it was supposed to represent the urn that had briefly held the Oneiroi, three dream spirits that had caused mischief at MOA until Nyx had figured out a clever way to trap them.

  Artemis gave another short speech at this point, praising Nyx for her valuable work as goddess of the night. When she had finished, Nyx said a few words of thanks for the honor. Then, after the crowd applauded and cheered, everyone dug into snacks and sweets that had been placed on small tables scattered around the room. Apollo’s band, Heavens Above, had set up at one side of the temple, and now they began to play.

  Eos watched as Apollo plucked at his kithara, a seven-stringed lyre, and Dionysus blew on his double-reeded aulos, a type of flute. Poseidon was on drums. And Ares, the godboy of war—as well as Aphrodite’s crush (you could learn a lot reading Teen Scrollazine!)—was the band’s singer. Eos found herself tapping her toes along to the music as other guests began to dance. The band was awesome. And Ares had a fantastic voice.

  “Come on! Join in!” Aphrodite called to her. Grabbing Eos’s hand, the goddessgirl of love and beauty pulled her onto the makeshift dance floor in front of the band. Nyx was already dancing. She grabbed Eos’s other hand, and the three girls twirled each other around and around, laughing when they got dizzy and almost fell down. Pink!

  Remembering that Tithonus had asked her to get Ares’ autograph if he was at the unveiling (Zeus’s, too, but luckily Zeus wasn’t here), Eos went over to ask him for it when the band took a break. “It’s for a friend of mine,” she told him. “He’s a big fan.”

  “Sure. No problem,” said Ares. “Got a piece of papyrus and a pen?”

  “Just a minute.” Eos sprinted over to a bench where she’d left her backpack. As she grabbed it, and then raced over to Ares with it, she saw Aphrodite frowning at her. She hoped the goddessgirl didn’t think she was flirting with Ares or something. She’d never flirt with someone else’s crush. Duh. No way was she even interested in having a crush.

  Locating a feather pen and a piece of blank papyrus at the bottom of her pack, she handed them to Ares. “What’s your friend’s name?” he asked.

  “Tithonus,” Eos told him, spelling it for him. “I like your singing,” she added as he scribbled a note to Tithonus and signed his name under it. “The band is great. It’s been so fun to get to hear you all.”

  “Thanks.” Ares smiled at her as he handed her the autographed note and pen. “Hope you enjoy our next set,” he told her. “We start again in just a few minutes.”

  “Wish I could stay,” Eos said. “But I’ll need to leave soon since it’s a long way home for me. Thanks for the autograph, though. Tithonus will go buggy over it!”

  When Ares quirked an eyebrow at that last, Eos laughed. “Sorry. Inside joke. Tithonus is a bug expert. He studies all kinds of insects. And sometimes I help him.” Spotting Apollo in the entry to the temple, she said a hurried good-bye to Ares.

  After tucking the autographed note into her backpack, she slung the pack over one shoulder and started toward Apollo. She’d decided to ask him if he could summon a prophecy to find out if she could successfully make Tithonus immortal.

  But before she could reach him, Nyx stopped her. Breaking off a conversation she’d been having with Athena, Nyx eyed Eos’s backpack. “You’re not leaving already, are you?” she asked anxiously.

  “I am,” Eos told her and Athena. “I had so much fun, though. I really appreciate being invited.”

  “But the party is still going on,” Nyx protested.

  “I’ve got a long way to go,” Eos reminded her gently. “It’ll take me eight hours to get home.”

  Athena blinked. “Oh no! And I bet you’re still tired from the trip over here too, right?”

  “I am a bit,” Eos admitted. “But I’ll be fine.”

  Athena’s forehead wrinkled in thought. A few seconds passed before she said, “I know! Someone could take you back in a chariot instead. Still, that would take a long time too, and—wait a minute!” she exclaimed, interrupting herself. “Why don’t you just spend the night at MOA?”

  “Yes! Yes! You must!” Nyx enthused. “Then we can all celebrate awhile longer.”

  Eos hesitated. It would be fun to stay longer. She’d been having a great time chatting with other immortals and dancing to Heavens Above’s music. Besides, Nyx really wanted her here, and she wanted to support her friend.

  “But wouldn’t I need an invitation from your dad to sleep over?” she asked Athena. She’d heard that even short stays at MOA required Zeus’s approval.

  Before Athena could answer, Hera, who had approached so quietly that the girls hadn’t noticed her, spoke up. “I can speak for my husband, and of course you must stay,” she told Eos firmly. Hebe, who was sleeping with her head against one of Hera’s shoulders, stirred a little then. Hera cooed to the baby and swayed from side to side to rock her back to sleep while Athena gave the baby gentle pats and rubs through the blankets.

  “So you’ll stay?” Nyx asked Eos eagerly while Hera was busy with Hebe. Rushing on before Eos could reply, she added, “C’mon, do it. You’ll love MOA, I promise. And that will give us more time to see each other, since I won’t have to leave to bring night till around seven.”

  “Well, I . . .” Eos paused, thinking. She could send her colorful rays from anywhere in the sky, including from MOA, so that was not an issue. Already she could hear the band tuning up for their second set of songs. If she left for home now, she’d miss her chance to talk to Apollo. But what if she ran into Zeus while spending the night at MOA? She could not let that happen.

  “Um, so when does Zeus get back from his tournament?” she asked Athena, trying to sound casual.

  Athena shrugged. “Not sure.” She cocked her head at Eos. “Did you want to see him about something?”

  “No!” Eos said quickly. “But if it’s really okay,” she added to cover her outburst, “I think I would like to spend the night at MOA. Only, my mom—”

  Before she could finish explaining that her mom expected her back tonight, Hera interrupted. Hebe was sound asleep against her shoulder again. “Don’t worry,” she told Eos. “I’ll write a messagescroll and have it delivered to let Theia know you’ll be spending the night with the girls at MOA.”

  Eos was surprised that Hera knew her mom’s name. But she supposed, since both were goddesses, it made sense. They’d probably met at one time or another. She smiled at Hera. “Okay, thanks!” Now that the decision had been made, she found herself looking forward to staying longer. Although she liked her school well enough, hanging out with Nyx and other immortals really was a special treat.

  Hera carefully transferred the sleeping Hebe to Athena’s shoulder and then produced a sheet of papyrus and a feather pen from a voluminous white diaper bag decorated with large green dots. No, not dots, Eos realized. Heads of lettuce! Oh yeah! She remembered hearing that Athena’s little
sister had been born from a big ball of lettuce that had magically split open. And in fact, Hebe was also the name of a kind of lettuce.

  As Hera dashed off a note to Eos’s mom, the band began to play again. Out on the dance floor, Artemis waved to them all. “C’mon!”

  “Go on. I’ll catch up in a few,” Athena told Nyx and Eos. She kissed the top of Hebe’s head as she cradled the sleeping baby.

  Aww, how sweet, thought Eos. It was easy to see that Athena really did love her baby sister.

  It was nearly half past five when the party finally wound down. Since Eos still hadn’t found a chance to talk to Apollo, she would just have to catch him at MOA somehow.

  She joined Athena and Aphrodite in their silver school chariot to fly back to MOA. Athena and Aphrodite sat on the pink bench up front, while Eos sat in the back with Nyx and Persephone, who also needed rides. They’d both come with Hades, but he was returning to the Underworld that night instead of to MOA.

  Artemis waved bye to the goddessgirls from the doorway of the temple as the silver reindeer pulling their chariot lifted off. She was staying behind for a bit to thank a group of nymphs and some mortal helpers who had arrived to clean up after the party. “How’s Artemis getting back?” Eos asked, a little worried that she might be taking that goddessgirl’s place in the chariot.

  As if reading Eos’s thoughts, Athena replied, “The band is sticking around to jam a little. They’ll have room for her in their chariot when she’s ready to leave.”

  “Pink!” Eos replied. When all but Nyx quirked their eyebrows at her, she quickly explained that “pink” was her word for “cool.”

  “I like it!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “Pink is cool. It’s my favorite color!”