CHAPTER 35 – WHERE IT ISN'T HOME

Jack Frost paced around, his hands constantly sifting through his hair. Where was she? He wondered. He sat on the bed. He didn't want to go to her room again. He had been there twice already, and he didn't want to look clingy. He raised his head to the mirror and watched the mirror. His normally pale lips had color, his eyes looked different, like they were not his. They looked bright and sparkly, in a more positive way than he'd ever seen. She had that effect on him. He couldn't even muster a smile if she wasn’t there. He couldn't sleep if it wasn't her lap if it wasn’t her hands patting his hair. Her gentle breaths his lullaby. Where is she? He stood again. He was wearing a black casual trouser, and a black shirt. He was wearing Hermes' type of high-top boots, and anyone could guess it had been a gift from Hermes. Jack Frost had a lot of "human clothes” as he called them, but he didn’t wear them much. Today, he had changed into one for her. And she was taking so long. "Anyone?" A handmaiden appeared, her head bowed. "Get Lady Althaia here." She bowed and left, and he turned and left the room too, expecting to get back to the room to her presence.

The place was dark, empty, and void. A little light creeped in as the door opened, to let Jack Frost in. The lights gradually came on as he descended the spiral stairs, gracefully taking them one at a time till he reached his destination. His destination was a room at the end of the stairs, one of so many in the room with similar hard ice doors that only allowed a small opening. He gestured to the soldier who opened the door to reveal Rhea, covered with silk around her. She wasn't wearing the long ball gown anymore, instead a short tattered sleeveless rag. Jack Frost's eyes only grew colder as watched the scene in front of him with uncaring disinterest. Her face was blackened by the tears mixing with her eyeliner and streaming down her face. Her hair was in a disarray, like someone had pulled through them violently and that someone was no one but her. Jack Frost stepped in, his eyes staying on her face. She stood, her eyes tearing up, the tears stinging at the back of her eyes. "I am sorry...please." She clasped her hands rubbing together, her sobs causing her body to shake. "I am sorry." She said again. He leaned on the wall, watching her. She straightened, still sobbing, her eyes reddening. "I would have forgiven you for anything, Rhea. Not harming the woman I love." He said simply, not minding the way her eyes dropped and she became more hysterical. "You love her?" He only Stared at her. She seemed to have found her confirmation in his cold stare like he wanted her to and both hands went to each side of the head. "You cannot do this to me, Jack Frost. I saw you first. I wanted you first. I was here first. She was advancing, and he put an ice barrier between them. She stepped back. " I do not know what anyone has told you, but I am not a first come first serve commodity. I will keep you here till you learn and if you never do, so be it”. His body was leaning lazily on the wall, and she watched him, her sobs getting louder. He shook his head and turned away. "Please, do not leave me. I am sorry. I am sorry." He turned to her. " well, this place has to serve the purpose it was made for. So, if you want to come out, you can. If not, " he shrugged. "All up to you." He disappeared, leaving Rhea with tears standing in her eyes, her heart feeling like it was breaking in pieces.

"Let me go." Althaia felt herself being seated, the wrap around her eyes still intact, but the light penetrating anyway. "Who are you? Please let me go." She heard a door open and heard voices. " she is the one?" "Yes, my lord." She didn't hear anything else, before she felt the wrap around her eyes loosening and it felt to the ground. She opened her eyes slowly, not minding the light and turned to see a man, tall and broad, with long gray hair that stopped at his shoulders, his cloak white and stainless, his back to her. His hands were behind him, and on it was a massive ring that caught the light of the room and scattered it around in a spectra of colors.

"Who.....who are you?" He didn't turn around. "Are you the woman Jack Frost is enamored with?" She bit her lower lip. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked instead of answering the question and she could hear a light chuckle. "I shall take that as a yes."

"What?" The handmaiden bowed again. "I have checked, but I think she is somewhere else.." "And you rushed her to tell me you think she is somewhere else?" The handmaiden backed away. "I am so.." "Go find her." Jack Frost was getting more and more irritated by everything, and he was raking his hands through his hair now, his body leaning on the wall. Where could she even be? Hermes walked up to him, looking solemn. "Jack Frost, I need your attention." Jack Frost looked at him from head to toe as if he'd never seen him before. "Hermes. You are still here." He nodded. "What is it?" Hermes sighed. "Today, at the ball, I saw two Olympians." Jack Frost raised a brow. His body mostly was on the stairs railing, his long fingers dangling from the end of it. "Olympians. At my ball." He repeated and Hermes nodded. "Yes. One of them, was Zeus' messenger." Jack Frost's eyes widened just a little bit before returning back to normal. Hermes knew this wouldn't surprise him. Nothing caught Jack Frost entirely by surprise.

Althaia watched as the man slowly turned, his eyes dark green and he gave her a small smile. "Welcome. I am Zeus. Jack Frost's father."