Sonia strode purposefully across the hospital campus. In one hand, she had a full cup of coffee. In the other, she adjusted the strap to her bag on her shoulder. A folder with papers seemingly busting from every corner was tucked under her arm, and she had her phone balanced on her shoulder with her ear pressed against it as she spoke to her daughter.

“I know, Priya, I will be home soon. Put Mama on the phone, alright?” Sonia waited as her young daughter obeyed, listening to the shuffling as the phone exchanged hands. Her wife greeted her in an exasperated tone, and Sonia smiled.

“Sixteen hours?”

“Surgery went long,” Sonia explained. Something caught her attention as she spoke, and her pace slowed slightly. She looked up to see Aphrodite and Libra, watching from the street. She was familiar with her apparent Ouranos and Thea, now. They had come to her first in her dreams, then found her in person at the hospital where she worked.

For weeks they tried to convince her of her supposed destiny to save the world, but it was childish nonsense, of course, and she didn’t have the time to play into whatever kind of crazy game they were playing. She considered the fact that they needed serious help, and she offered to have them speak to someone in psychiatrics, but they had refused.

It was shortly after their first meeting when Sonia encountered her first Gigante, though it wasn’t at all what she imagined a Gigante to be. Quite the opposite, in fact. She was as average as a human could look, which is why Sonia hadn’t noticed her in the first place. She didn’t notice the woman following her into the hospital. She didn’t question the page that alerted her to an incoming flight on the roof. And she was there on the helicopter pad when Sonia arrived, alone.

All the medical shows in the world should have prepared her for some bizarre attack from a crazed patient, but this woman was not a patient. It was only then that Sonia realized she was one of the supposed Gigantes that Aphrodite and Libra had warned her about because the woman was far from human.

She was quicker and stronger than possible. And if that wasn’t enough to convince Sonia, she was certainly convinced when Libra appeared quickly, coming to her defense and saving her life. The battle between them was brief, and once the Gigante woman fell, defeated, Libra quickly moved to her side, holding an open palm above her, and the woman faded, then vanished.

Maybe she was going crazy, but even she couldn’t bring herself to speak to the psychologists in the hospital. Her life - her career, her family - were all on the line. But she couldn’t ignore what she saw with her own eyes. The fear she felt in her heart. She found herself believing them - her Ouranos and her Thea - but still, she could not accept this quest that was thrust upon her. She wouldn’t leave her family behind. She couldn’t leave her career. Her patients depended on her. Her coworkers depended on her. The entire hospital depended on her.

She couldn’t join Libra or the other eleven who were somewhere in the world. And ever since then, Aphrodite and Libra followed her around, watching her closely, waiting for her to change her mind.

But she wouldn’t.

She offered an apologetic look in their direction, then turned her attention back to her conversation with her wife, still on the other end of her phone call.

“I’m on my way home now,” Sonia said. She sipped her coffee, then quickened her pace. “Just give me a couple of hours of sleep.”

She laughed. “Sonia, I’ve got this. I’m not incapable of handling our daughter.” But she sighed. “I don’t know how many more times I can watch that movie, though. What is it? With the ocean girl?”

Sonia grinned. “Moana?” 

“Hey, don’t they have any Indian Disney movies by now?”

Sonia laughed lightly. “Main tumse pyar karthee hoon. I’ll see you soon.”

“I love you, too.”

She carefully took the phone in her hand, making sure to keep the folder tight between her arm and torso, and ended the call. She slipped the phone into her bag, then took another sip of her coffee as she continued to walk through the city. She slowed to allow Aphrodite and Libra to catch up to her, walking at her side.

“No means no,” Sonia said. “Maybe it means something else on Mount Olympus or wherever you gods hang out, but here on Earth, it means leave me alone.”

Aphrodite did not regard her when she spoke. “What do I have to do to get a ‘yes’ from you?”

Sonia considered this for a moment. “I don’t suppose there’s anything you could do or say to get a yes from me,” she said. She frowned. “I’m sorry. But there are eleven others who can do this. Surely you won’t miss one person.”

“There are many more Gigantes throughout the world,” Aphrodite said. “Even with your Ouranos, twenty-four of you would hardly be a match for them.”

“And if the Gigantes succeed, Olympus will be overthrown,” Libra added.

“I don’t see the problem, there,” Sonia said. “We’re talking about some ancient Greek mythology.”

“Whether you believe in it or not is irrelevant,” Aphrodite said. “If Gaia succeeds, the world as you know it will change drastically.”

“But Gaia is the mother of all life,” Sonia pointed out. “I mean, she’s the very reason you gods exist, anyway.”

“Gaia has grown mad with revenge,” Aphrodite said. “Though she may be the mother of all things, she still has the power to destroy the world and, in turn, the entire universe. It is she who gave life to the gods and goddesses that helped to create the world and the universe. Without them, this world will cease to exist.”

“What’s your plan, exactly?” Sonia asked. “Say we succeed in defeating these Gigantes. What’s stopping her from creating more? That’s how the story goes, isn’t it? A mortal defeated the first wave of Gigante, and from their blood rose a new generation. Those creatures that walk around here looking human, right? Couldn’t Gaia just create more?”

“Gaia herself will need to be defeated,” Aphrodite explained. “Only then will the cycle cease for good.”

“And you think us mortals can defeat a god?”

“Yes,” Aphrodite said. “If we could, it would have been done by now.”

Sonia sighed through her nose. “And defeating Gaia won’t screw up the world?”

“As long as we remain, her children, the world will continue on as if nothing ever happened.”

“Sounds so simple,” Sonia said dryly. “You know, if you ignore the fact that I will be putting my life on the line and fighting these crazy non-human god-created creatures.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” Libra said. “We’re here to aid and protect you at all costs.”

“Regardless,” Sonia said. “My answer remains the same. I simply cannot abandon my life here to go chasing some murderous creatures and then defeat the mother of all things. As I said, there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise.” She glanced at Aphrodite apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

Aphrodite nodded but did not meet her gaze. “I understand,” she said.

Sonia hesitated, feeling a pang of guilt in her chest. “Truly,” she said. She glanced at them once more, but they were gone.