The Moon's Shepherd

Chapter Three : The Palace

About two decades ago, I was invited to visit the palace of Olympus to meet his royal highness, Zeus. I believe it was his assistant who called me at my home that night to set up my appointment. Over the phone, she explained how his royal highness was coming back from his vacation with his wife and kids and how he wanted to see me personally when he comes back. I was surprised for I didn't know he knew me. Why would he want to see me? What's so special about me? The assistant went on to talk about coming by the palace next week after my shift was over. She told me to dress nicely and not be late.

A week had passed and it was almost time to head back to the palace to meet up with Zeus. After I finished driving my moon chariot around the earth, I waved to my sister and left. I got in my car and began to drive toward the place. On the drive there I couldn't stop thinking about the situation. I mean seriously, what did he actually want? I've never been the type of Goddess to associate with the royals. I've never even given them any thought in my mind. I always found them to be quite annoying. The only thing they were good for was to wave and smile during public appearances. I mean I guess they sorta saved the world and stuff but come on. It's like they went into retirement. Us secondary Gods are the ones doing all the work!

I pulled up at the palace gates and rang the buzzer. "You've arrived at the Royal Palace, this is Jenny speaking," a high pitched voice said. "Oh-um-yes-um hi. I'm Selene, goddess of the moon and I'm here cause I have an appointment wi-" I was quickly interrupted. "Oh hi, Selene! Yes, I have here that you have a 5 o'clock appointment with his majesty Zeus. Ok come on in and we can talk more at the front desk" she finished. "Ok thank you" I replied. The gates quickly opened and I drove through them. Woah, I was in the Palace. This place is huge. There's not a single part of this place that wasn't covered in pure gold. It was so bright and shiny! Just the look of it made my eyes burn.

I parked near the entrance and then made my way towards the receptionist. I climbed these humongous stairs that seemed to go on for hours. When I finally arrived at the top I couldn't breathe. Why would anyone make these stairs so long and high? And then I realized it's because nobody uses the stairs since there was an elevator right next to the staircase. These stairs are just for decoration. Well, maybe they should make a sign that indicates there's an elevator. I went past the elevator to enter the Palace and realized how high up I actually was. If I weren't used to this kind of height already I would be quivering in fear right now. But that's not the case so I kept on walking. I entered the Palace and could not believe my eyes. Everything inside was absolutely breathtaking. Diamonds chandeliers, marble floors, priceless artifacts, statues made of gold, and more golden objects. This Place really is amazing. I can now see what all the fuzz was about. This place really is amazing.

I walked down the incredibly long hallway while observing my surroundings. I couldn't stop staring at the ceiling. There was a painting of angels playing with each other. They were bouncing off of clouds. The clouds were beautiful shades of baby purple, baby blue, baby pink, baby yellow, and white. The angles in the painting looked so happy. Just looking at them made me feel as if I myself could feel all the emotions they were feeling during that moment. I was too busy staring at the ceiling that I hadn't realized where I was at. Apparently I had arrived at the front desk. I looked down and saw a nymph staring back at me. She was yellow-skinned with pointy ears. She had big yellow eyes and was wearing a yellow skirt with a blue button-up see-through shirt and a white tank top underneath. She had an earpiece on and was wearing a blue hairpiece with yellow glasses.

"Selene? Are you Selene?" the nymph in front of me yelled out. I don't know why she was talking so loudly for. I was right in front of her. It was clear that I would be able to hear her. "Um-yes" I responded back. "Oh ok! Hi I'm Jenny, remember me? We spoke earlier while you're outside the gates" she said. "Yes, I remember you". I replied. "Well, it says here that you are scheduled for a 5 o'clock meeting as you already probably know and it's with his majesty Zeus, which you also probably already know. It's scheduled in room 1-Z which is located by the west wing of the palace. Right now we seem to be in the south wing so it shouldn't be too hard to find your way there. But just in case Camille will help direct you there. Ok just give me a minute please" she picked up the phone and began to speak into it. "Hey, Camille I need you to something for me, it's for a client. Wait, hold on. You aren't Camille! Who are you? Jacky? Who the hell are you? New? You're new? Your no help I need someone with experience around the palace! You're wasting my time go find me an adult and put them on the phone" she paused and nervously smiled at me. "Hello? Who's this? Nephele thank gods your here! I couldn't find Camille and then this kid Jarold or Jared appeared I don't remember his name. Anyways the point is I need someone to help Ms.Selene here towards room 1-Z which is located on the west wing of the palace. Think you could do me a solid? Mmh....ok thank you! See you soon, talk to you later, byeeeee," she hung up the phone and paid her attention towards me. "Sorry about that, Nephele should be here soon, she'll be the one to direct you towards the room until his majesty is ready to see you" she finished. "Ok thank you" I thanked. "No problem" she welcomed.

I sat on the couch directly next to the window and began to look at my phone. I checked a message I had received about 18 minutes ago from my sister. It read, *Hey sissy how is u doing? Well, I just wanted to check up on you. I mean your at the palace! How exciting! And to meet Zeus I mean come on it's like every girl's dream am I right? I've never met the guy but I've heard he's hot! What am I saying, of course, he's hot! All you gotta do is search up his name and go to images. I would totally hit that if I ever got the chance. But that's just me. I hope the meeting goes well. Tell me all the juicy deets later. Lol just kidding. Ttyl love ya.* I closed the message and went on google to search up a picture of him. What can I say? My curiosity got the better of me. I've never actually seen a picture of him. If he's as hot as my sister says he is I want to know. I wrote down his name and pressed the search button. The screen began to load. Before the download was complete and I was able to see him someone snatched my phone away from me.

"Hey! Give that back" I demanded. I looked up and realized a tall woman had snatched my phone. She had dark blue hair, blue cold eyes, and light blue skin. She was wearing black high heels, a dress that went up to her knees, and a black leather jacket. "Hey, Selene this is Nephele. She's Zeus's right hand, God. She knows everything she needs to know about him and would do anything for him. She is loyal to no one else but him and his family. She will be guiding you to your destination" Jenny explained to me. I stood quiet and didn't say a word. "So you're the moon goddess? You're tinier than I expected. Anyway here's your phone back. Follow me" she said. I didn't say a word. I didn't want to admit it but I was a little intimidated by her. I followed her throughout the halls of the palace as she began to explain some things to me. "Alright listen up Tiny, there are 3 valuable things that you need to know before meeting with his highness. One, don't speak unless your spoken to. He hates it when gods or goddesses think they are at the same level as him and speak their minds freely. Two, speak clearly. He hates it when gods mutter and stutter. It's a strange pet peeve he has. He will lose his temper and someone, meaning you, will get hurt. Three, never say no. Whatever Zeus wants he'll get. He doesn't understand the word no and takes it as a challenge to get what he wants. Anything he says goes. And with that said you can have a seat right here. Mazie will tell you when it's ok to go in" she finished. I still can't find the words to make sentences to be able to speak to her. There are so many things I want to ask her but I just can't find a way to just say what I want to say. "Oh, and another thing, be careful in there. Zeus can get a little hands-on if he feels there's an opening" she warned me. And with that, she was gone. What exactly did she mean by that? Hands-on? Want exactly does his majesty enjoy doing? "His majesty will see you now," Mazie told me. I got up from where I was sitting, breathed in deep, and walked through the door.

"Selene, how nice of you to join me," his majesty said to me. "Please have a seat. We have much to discuss". And with that, our meeting had begun.