Ball of Nothing

All the creatures on Hyacinth knew her name. In fact, her parents were the rulers of the water planet - Hyacinth. Poseidon was an overprotective father and Medusa a very loving mother. Their daughter Minerva was growing up to be more and more beautiful with each passing day. Yet, there was one thing they could stop Minerva from doing.

"No! I hate it!" the girl shrieked. This wasn't the first time it happened but it was still disheartening for the gorgon to hear.

"Why? It's lovely. Carlson spent a lot of time finding a good tailor. Your father even borrowed money from his brothers to buy it. What part of this dress don't you like?"

Minerva stared at the monstrosity of a dress and cringed hard. In the past, she loved wearing black dresses and gothic styles. Her parents never stopped her from indulging in exploring various types of cosmetics. They never chastise her when she picked up a sword instead of a needle. Nobody ever told her that what she did wasn't considered normal of a lady and Minerva grew up as the ignorant pampered princess that everyone loved.

To be honest, there was nothing wrong with the dress her mother held up. Minerva actually adored it. The black frilly laces and ribbons that decorated that puffed-up skirt and the black satin corset was everything that Minerva loved. Gothic lolita fashion made her heart pound but she couldn't give in to it. After all, the teenager had already made up her mind.

"No! I'm supposed to be a proper lady, I cannot be wearing such dark things. I read it in the books and I saw the princesses. None of them wore dark gothic things, only bad evil witches do this!"

With tears in her eyes that transformed into precious salt crystals as they fell, Minerva wept bitterly. She had never felt so utterly shocked and hurt that nobody in heaven appreciated her sense of fashion especially when she put in a lot of effort to tie that steel-rod corset tighter than usual. Those stiletto boots were also painful to walk in but she put up with it for the sake of meeting her relatives in heaven. Her father had to attend a Great God meeting and it was Minerva's first time there. She had never felt so humiliated by the seraphs who mocked her for her style.

Ever since that trip to heaven, Minerva had been acting strangely. She started to strongly reject everything that she loved and not even her mother could convince her otherwise. Poseidon sent someone to Heaven to find out the reason for his daughter's odd behaviour and when they found out the reason, they were devastated. After all the bullying that Athena received from her previous life, they thought that they would give her a better life this time after Zero helped her attain a new identity. Little did they know that their hard work would be ruined by one stupid meeting in Heaven with a seraph. When Zeus and Hades heard about what happened to their niece, they punished the seraph harshly but the damage had been done. Minerva had been like this ever since and nobody on Hyacinth knew what to do.

At their wits' end, Medusa decided to write to the wise librarian for advice. If there was anyone who would know something, that would be Swift.

The harpie received a letter from Hyacinth and was pleasantly surprised when she learned about Minerva's behaviour. As new parents, Medusa and Poseidon were at a loss and Swift didn't blame them. Parenting was always hard, even for Gods. She had to give it to them for doing such a fine job so far.

Instead of sending a reply back immediately, Swift decided to go the extra mile and write a book especially for the troubled daughter of Hyacinth. It took the librarian two full days in heaven to write it but the wait was worthwhile.

When medusa received Swift's reply with a small package, she was curious.

"To my old friend Medusa,

You and Poseidon have been doing a great job so far, what happened to Minerva isn't your fault. Learning about self-acceptance and dealing with the judgement of society is something that all teenagers struggle with. Only Minerva can overcome this and as parents, you can only support her. Parents cannot shelter their children all the way, you'd have to teach her how to be strong enough to win her own battles. As Minerva has Athena's soul of a warrior, I have faith that she wouldn't be so easily defeated.

I've included with this letter a little gift that might help your dear daughter. It's a book I've written that might inspire her to find the courage to continue loving what she loves. If she changes her mind after reading that book, please tell her that the world may always judge her for who she is, what she does, how she looks and what she loves. However, the most important thing at the end of the day isn't the words of unknown people. With your love and Poseidon's love, I believe Minerva will grow up to be a lovely young woman, befitting of the title Daughter of Hyacinth."

Medusa flipped through the book that Swift wrote. It was quite a thick book including the tales about Athena's glorious battles, the ridicule she faced and the kind heart she possessed till the very end. While the gorgon spotted some twisted facts in the story, she couldn't help but feel touched that someone else still remembered Athena for who she truly was and not the tales that others painted of her through gossip.

Returning the reply, Medusa thanked Swift for the book and advice. As a mother, she was ashamed that she couldn't help her struggling daughter when she was needed the most. Yet, reading Athena's story reminded her of the past. Athena always struggled with insecurity because her father back then was nothing like Poseidon. Zeus was a terrible parent who was constantly flirting around with other women and making babies all over without even remembering half the names of his children. The women in Zeus' old harem were constantly fighting each other and looking at their current situation, Medusa felt thankful that Poseidon was nothing like his brother.

With a book in hand, Medusa carefully approached her daughter's room where she heard silent sobbing. She knocked on the door and entered, peering at her daughter who wiped her tears and looked at her mother guardedly.

"Is it another dress?"

Medusa smiled. Her daughter was too lovely to be crying alone like this. "No, it's not. I have a gift from Swift for you."

Hearing that, Minerva became curious. A gift from the harpie librarian? The one thing she loved as much as the gothic fashion, was books. Minerva was a huge fan of stories and studying and she wasn't going to refuse another story from her favourite aunt.

The gorgon smiled when Minerva didn't reject her offer to read the story together. Maybe there was still a silver lining that Minerva wasn't going to reject books even if she rejected dresses. Swift's strategy might work and the gorgon hoped with all her heart that her lovely daughter will learn self-love after the end of the story.

"You know," Medusa said casually halfway through the story. "Even if the entire world stands against what you love, Hyacinth will be that one place that always welcomes you. After all, you are the beloved daughter of Hyacinth, the miracle gifted to Poseidon and I. Zero didn't make a mistake, you're the best gift we can ever ask for."

The story no longer mattered. Minerva hugged her mother in tears. "I actually love the dress that Carlson got the tailors to make. I like all of it. I'm sorry I didn't appreciate what everyone was doing for me, I was too selfish and thought more about other people's irrelevant opinions when the ones who wished for my happiness the most are trying their best. I'd been a fool mother. I just didn't want to be different..."

Medusa hugged her silly daughter, glad that Athena's soul was still a kind-hearted fighter even though she didn't have her memories. If they had met under different circumstances in the past, Medusa and Athena might have been best of friends. Yet, she couldn't say that this little piece of happiness she earned after everything was bad. Her daughter was growing up quickly day by day and as the mother, Medusa didn't want to waste time dwelling on the past.

It was time to move forward and grasp that happiness within her reach.