Chapter 2: The Sun of Florence.

Original Author José Bryan Jiménez Hernández.

In the Skies of Elyon.

In a different region of Tuscany lived Elena Lambrou. She was not the provincial girl from Val d'Orcia. Elena is eight years old; at this moment she is standing on one of the streets of Florence, watching the horse-drawn carriages pass by. Elena is leaning against the wall of one of the houses.

Elena: Haaah...

Elena sighs. It is an April morning and the sunlight enters through the windows with a golden glow. Mika is at home doing his daily chores. Mika is the archangel Michael, an androgynous boy of fourteen years old in appearance, with golden brown hair, hip-length and wavy. Mika is sweeping the house; he stops for a moment and looks for something, looking from side to side. It is worth noting that Mika is actually hundreds of thousands of years old, despite his appearance.

Mika: Elena. Elena, where are you?

Elena comes running in. She has curly blonde hair, but that is only a facade that hides her true appearance.

Elena: Tell me, mom, what do you need?

Mika: It's nothing, honey, I just wanted to know where you were. What are you doing?

Elena: Nothing, I was just watching the carriages pass by.

Mika smiles warmly and touches Elena's cheek. The little girl smiles back and places her small hand over Mika's.

Mika: Go on, go play, but don't go too far.

Elena: Yes, mommy!

Elena runs away from there and heads to the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte. Walking up the paths of Monte alle Croci and after crossing the city, disobeying her mother by moving away from home, the girl moves forward. She walks among cypresses, moving away from the bustle of the city as she climbs to the highest part. This is not the first time she comes; she usually comes here often, since she likes the calm of the place and the view of the city from the top of the mount. Elena goes to see her friends from the monastery, the Olivetan monks. She is a sunshine in every sense of the word; it is not strange that people grow fond of her because of her way of being. Upon arriving at the monastery, she illuminates the place with her charisma.

Elena arrives at the monastery and enters it.

Elena: Good morning!

Elena walks through the outer corridors of the monastery. The air is filled with the scent of incense. She searches through the hallways without finding anyone.

Elena: Hello! Is anyone there?!

Elena enters the abbey. The place is in silence. She walks toward the altar; the light here is dim, the shadows make their presence felt, and a cool wind enters through the main door of the place. As background music, Ludwig van Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in A major, Op. 92 is heard. The sun outside shines with a golden glow; inside the shadows prevail.

Elena: Father Valerio! Where is everyone!

At the far end, kneeling in front of the altar, is a monk in a black habit with his hood up. He is prostrated on the ground with his forehead against the floor.

Elena: Father Valerio?

The monk raises his head, but his back is still turned.

Valerio: It is good that you come to visit us, we were expecting you.

Elena begins to walk cautiously; there is something strange and she senses it.

Elena: Father Valerio, where are the others?

The monk stands up and shadows begin to emerge from the walls of the place. The shadows have a human shape and emit voices.

Shadows: Capture the girl.

Echoes of the shadows: Catch the daughter of the Sun.

Shadows: Go for Solaris.

Echoes of the shadows: Bring the girl of light.

Valerio: Go get her!

Elena's face fills with horror and she moves her head from side to side. She takes a few steps back and then runs away.

Elena: No!

The shadows throw themselves upon the girl. Elena trips and falls to the ground; then she gets up and keeps running.

Elena: Aaaaaah!

Elena tries to leave the abbey, but the shadows block her exit. She heads to the presbytery at the top.

Valerio: You will not escape, Solaris!

Elena: I am not Solaris, did you hear me?! I am Elena!

Father Valerio is an old man with gray hair, a long beard, long mustaches, and a deep voice.

Valerio: Do you not know it? Your father is Apollo, a cowardly god who does not deserve to be considered one of the greats of Olympus.

Elena: What are you saying?! My father's name is Eliot Lambrou!

Valerio puts his hands together in front of him; the wide sleeves of his habit hang from him. The monk moves forward.

Valerio: Of course that is the name the coward used to hide himself.

The shadows surround Elena.

Valerio: The fool thought he could escape from the lords of death.

The three greats of the Underworld. The great lords of the Underworld: Hades, Azrael, and Thanatos. Thanatos is the young man with short, curly, black hair and black wings.

Elena: My father is no fool!

Elena clenches her fists. Meanwhile, Mika roams the streets looking for Elena.

Mika: Elena! Elena, where are you!

Mika goes from one place to another asking for Elena.

Mika: Have you seen an eight-year-old girl with curly blonde hair?

Mika approaches a couple walking down one of the busy streets of the place.

Mika: Would you have seen a girl in a white lace dress? She is blonde and has her hair below the shoulder.

The man replies to him.

¿?: I'm sorry. We haven't seen her.

Mika: Thank you anyway.

Mika heads to the Vecchio market, where Eliot's drogheria is located, one of the local shops that sell grains and legumes, pastas and oils, among other things.

Drogheria dell'Alba.

Mika enters the establishment.

Mika: Eliot, Elena disappeared!

Eliot: What are you saying?! What do you mean she disappeared?!

Eliot runs toward Mika and grabs him by the shoulders.

Eliot: What do you mean by that?! What exactly happened?!

Mika: She went out to play in the street and she hasn't returned for more than four hours!

Eliot: But how is it possible! Why do you let her go out alone?!

Mika covers his face with his hands and moves his head from side to side.

Mika: I'm sorry, I know well that it is my fault!

Eliot lets go of Mika.

Eliot: There is no time for this. I will go out to look for her.

Mika: Wait, I will go too!

Mika runs after Eliot.

Eliot: You go that way, I will search in the Piazza del Duomo.

Eliot enters one of the narrow alleys of the city; from there, away from the sight of onlookers, he makes sure no one is watching him. Then, he crosses his arms and rises into the air. He moves through the sky of Florence while his long golden braid waves in the air; his vision is very sharp, so he is able to look from the heights without any problem.

Eliot's thoughts: Where could that girl be?

Eliot looks everywhere from above. His golden eyes scour the place.

Eliot's thoughts: Elena, where are you!

Meanwhile, Mika roams the banks of the Arno River.

Mika: Elena!

Inside the walls of San Miniato al Monte, the shadows have captured Elena.

Elena: Let me go! Help!

Elena kicks while the shadows keep her suspended in the air.

Valerio: The great lord will be pleased! Come, we must bring her before the presence of Hades!

He descends to the crypt of San Miniato.

Valerio extends his hands to the front and the symbols engraved on the floor of the place begin to glow purple.

Valerio: Let the gates of hell open!

A portal opens in front of them and Elena's hair waves.

Elena: Oh my God! What is that?!

Mika stops suddenly.

Mika: That dark energy... it comes from San Miniato.

Mika's eyes open wide.

Mika: My God! Elena!

Eliot also perceives the dark energy.

Eliot: That power... Hades found us!

Mika moves at the speed of light and arrives in an instant at San Miniato; he moves so fast that people do not even notice.

Mika: Let go of my daughter now!

Mika manifests in the form of lightning: a blue lightning bolt that enters through one of the windows.

Valerio: The archangel has just arrived.

Valerio bows in front of Mika.

Valerio: But what an honor. Saint Michael in person.

Elena is surprised to see her mother arrive, but she is even more surprised when her father, Apollo, appears. Eliot, that is to say, Apollo, appears levitating in the air with his arms crossed and his golden hair in the form of a braid down to his ankles. His hair rises in the air and he appears in the midst of a golden light.

Eliot: Hello.