Darkness surrounded Nicole. A spot of light appeared in the distance. It increased until a vision filled her view, stealing her breath and gaining her full attention. She was in the great hall of Olympus. How she knew, she wasn’t quite sure. The room was bright with white marble floors and columns that reached up into the blue sky. The place was filled with people, all wearing robes of various colors, many of them stitched with gold thread and fine needlework. Each person glowed, casting light as bright as the sun on everything around them. Nicole was shocked to find she could look directly at them, despite the brightness.
She looked down. Her mother was sitting on a golden throne. To the left of her sat a large, muscular man with black hair. Tyche smiled at a newborn cradled in her arms. “Beautiful princess,” she cooed.
The baby’s blue eyes sparkled with merriment as she sloppily sucked on her fist.
“Here they come, my love,” the man sitting next to her mother whispered in her ear. Tyche looked and scanned a crowd as it filled the court. A dark man with burning, red eyes approached the throne. Nicole could smell the spicy scent of applewood and mahogany burning off his skin. The fire of his power blazed in his eyes as he looked the baby over.
“Petros, my brother… my king, you know I owe you for my freedom, and for my ability to exercise power. I owe you much and my gift to your daughter is this. I will take the life of any who wishes Nikoleta harm and grant immortality to another of her choosing. This must be done simultaneously—a death for a life. All she needs to do is speak the words.”
The baby was named Nikoleta? Nicole’s eyes widened as she looked at the babe and realized she was seeing herself. Her attention diverted as the air shifted around her and power surged, emanating from the god—the gift had been given.
“That is generous, Hades,” Petros said.
“No more generous than you have been to me.”
Another man came next. Each step he made sounded like the rushing waves of the sea. The irises of his blue eyes swirled around his pupils as the scent of the briny sea blew across the hall. A smile touched the man’s lips as he looked at the babe.
“Brother, welcome.” Petros smiled.
“Thank you, Majesty. My gift to your daughter is this. I will raise an island just for her. It will be lush, beautiful—a place of refuge, should she ever need it. No other shall step upon its shores without her invitation—with the exception of her father, of course.”
Her father smiled. “Of course.”
Again, great power rushed from this man—that gift, too, had been given.
A third man came next. Electricity crackled and sparked as his feet struck the marble floors. He was smiling, but Nikoleta shrunk away from this man. This was Zeus, she was sure of it. The man spoke. “Brother, sister-in-law, I have not seen a star in the sky, moon in the heavens, nor sun that shines as brightly as your daughter. Even Olympus pales in comparison. My gift to her is clear skies and calm winds wherever she walks.”
Petros nodded. “Thank you, brother. I am pleased.”
“I am glad, My King.”
A woman came next. Her majestic demeanor melted away at the sight of the child. “Oh, My Queen!” She rushed forward and knelt down at Tyche’s feet. “She’s beautiful.”
Nicole’s mother beamed. “Thank you, Hera. She is, isn’t she?”
A tear leaked from the woman’s eye as she caressed the babe’s cheek. “Oh, how I wish…how I wish I had a babe…” Her words choked off, filled with emotion.
“Someday…” Tyche began.
Hera stood and lifted her head high—once again regal, her eyes sad. Then her eyes widened as a wrenching wail tore from her lips. She collapsed in on herself, sinking to the marble floor.
Nicole’s mother leapt up amidst sudden commotion and screamed. “Hera! What’s wrong? Please, gods. Someone help her!” The whole Olympus court rushed in to watch. But no one approached the goddess writhing in pain on the floor. All around her stood petrified gods and goddesses, looking on in horror. Nicole’s mother turned to her husband. “Here, take Nikoleta.” She shoved her into his arms and flew to Hera’s side.
“Hera.” She knelt down. “What is wrong? How can I help?” She put her arm around her.
“It hurts!” Hera screamed as she curled up on the floor. “Something is tearing out from within me!”
At those words, her wail turned to a scream so loud that Nicole’s ears rang. Then there was a popping and gushing sound as a flood of fluid drenched Hera’s dress watery red. And then—silence.
The quiet sound of rustling fabric and gurgling breaths came from Hera. The folds of her skirt moved. Something lay beneath it. A squeaky cry wailed out like the cawing of a crow. Hera screamed and tried to scramble away.
“No!” Tyche yelled. “Don’t move.” She lifted Hera’s skirt and reached underneath.
No one dared breathe.
“What’s wrong?” a man called out from behind the crowd. “Where’s my wife?” The crowd parted, and Zeus came through just as Tyche lifted up a wet, squirming baby from under Hera’s dress.
Hera took in a ragged breath. “That’s… that’s my child?”
Tyche sniffed, choking back tears as she nodded.
“But, but… I was not pregnant.”
“Of course you were,” Tyche answered.
Hera shook her head, frowning. “I wasn’t.”
The babe didn’t seem to like being held up in the cold. He wailed long and shrill.
Tyche placed the baby into Hera’s lap. Hera’s hands shook and her arms lay loose around the child. Her eyes darted from god to goddess around the room. The babe’s cries softened when he shoved his thumb in his mouth and tucked his head against Hera’s stomach. She looked down and relaxed into a smile. “My baby?” She sighed as she tightened her grip and pulled the babe against her chest. “My boy.”
Nicole’s mother smiled and sighed. She searched the crowd for Zeus. His eyes were icy-cold as he glared in hatred at the child.
The vision around her faded, and another materialized into view. Nicole found herself in a lavish bedchamber.
“But I don’t understand, Petros. Why can no one else see our baby?” Her mother paced around the spires of their golden, four-poster bed. Her slippered feet padded across the white marble floor.
“Don’t you think it odd?” he said. “Hera gave birth to a baby she didn’t even know she was pregnant with and this happened just after she wished she had a child?
“Well, yes, maybe… I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
“Each of us discovers our god powers in different ways.” He looked at Tyche and then the child playing in her cradle.
“You think our daughter did that?” Her mother trembled. “How? She’s but a babe, far from her twenty-first birthday. How could she have the power?”
“My powers showed when I was a child too.”
“But you’re the most powerful god on Olympus, and your powers didn’t manifest until you were nearly ten years old.”
“Perhaps Nikoleta is more powerful than I am. Let’s see what she can do. Wish for something. Let’s start with something small and insignificant.”
“You have to be kidding.”
“Okay, I will. I wish I had a glass of wine.”
They sat waiting. Lying in her cradle, the baby kicked her legs and swatted at a hummingbird.
“Nothing happened,” her mother said.
“Wait a minute,” her father said. “Hera was touching Nikoleta when she made the wish, wasn’t she?”
“I… I don’t remember.”
He quietly approached her. The baby grabbed his finger and attempted to pull it into her mouth. “I wish for a glass of wine.” He held his hand out as if he expected one to appear in it.
Tyche looked at her husband and then looked at his hand. No glass of wine appeared. But then a flash from the corner of her vision caught her attention. She turned and gasped.
The king’s brows pinched in confusion until he followed her eyes.
Sitting on his bedside table was a silver goblet filled with red wine. “That wasn’t… it wasn’t there before, was it?” she asked.
“No,” Petros answered, shaking his head.
From Nicole’s vantage, overlooking the scene, she noticed a shadow pass across under the closed door. Someone was out there.
“Let me try again,” the king said. “I wish for a bowl of pomegranates.”
Nicole held her breath as she waited for the bowl to appear. But there was nothing.
“Hmm. I don’t understand,” her father said.
“Perhaps you only get one wish,” Tyche answered.
“You may be right.”
“I’ll wish for something this time.” Tyche touched her baby’s cheek and opened her mouth to speak.
“Wait!” Petros shouted. “Be careful what you wish for. No one can know what our daughter can do. Do you see how dangerous that could be for her?”
Tyche bit her lip and nodded. And then she made her wish.