In the beginning, there was no snow or ice, and colder regions were warm and pleasant. These places would stay this way for many years, until one day, Zeus decided to take a trip to an earthly realm. Once again, Zeus was was in search of another woman to seduce. He searched the land far and wide: from Mount Olympus to Mount Ithome, from Athens to Eion, from Crete to Thasos. During his search, he found many gorgeous women, all to his liking, but still not enough. One day, however, while Zeus was making his way through a small farming village south of Sparta by the name of Pastar, he stumbled upon the one he was looking for. She was as beautiful and elegant as Aphrodite, Hera, and Eros all in one. Compared to her, these goddesses were nothing. Zeus had never laid eyes upon such beauty and elegance. Her name was Alisha, a young woman of nineteen and the daughter of two wealthy landowners. As Zeus in his mortal form approached her, she winced, having not noticed him admiring her from afar. They had spoken very little before she was under his enchanting spell. It was not long before Zeus and Alisha had fallen in love, creating a new life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alisha’s pregnancy had not been an easy one. It was full of many hardships, but she was quite content when it was finished. While the act of giving birth had been strenuous upon her, she found great happiness in the thought that she had brought a new, beautiful baby girl into existence; however, she dreaded the thought of having to raise a child by herself. While content, she know that times would be rough, but that she and the baby would prevail in the end. Thus, she decided to name her newborn Elpis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elpis was a handful as a child, often adventuring around the small village and enjoying it all to herself, as there were no other children to play with. Consequently, Alisha was often exhausted from caretaking and chasing Elpis around. Now twenty-six, the once-young, vibrant woman now appeared to be much older than she actually was. Though she often tried to look to the future, Alisha had much resentment of the past, as the only good thing it had given her was her darling Elpis.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now as young woman of sixteen, Elpis had begun to notice that she had a certain connection with water: one that was not common in others. This connection would one day save her mother’s life. One day, her mother, unbeknownst to her, had been walking dangerously close to the edge of a tiny ravine, which was home to a small six-foot deep pond. As she continued to walk incautiously, she had lost her footing and fallen in. Elpis, knowing that her mother could not swim, quickly tried to get her out; however, not knowing how to swim herself, she was at an impasse. Elpis’s mind started to race, thinking of ways to save her mother. She saw in her mind a vision of her mother being saved, and then all of the sudden, an empty area in the otherwise water-filled pond formed. Her mother frantically climbed out, just as startled as Elpis was. Not quite understanding what happened, Elpis and Alisha just stood there in a daze of confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elpis, still trying to forget the incident from the day before, questioned her mother about her father. Alisha had always been reluctant to speak of him, but as she had gotten older, she had forgiven the god that she had conceived Elpis with. After enduring several hours of resilient inquiries, Alisha finally broke down and explained the truth about Elpis’s father. After years of the same made-up story, the truth caused Elpis much distress; consequently, she ran out of the house crying. As she ran crying, soft rain began to fall gently from the sky. Oddly, as her crying ceased, so did the rain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making her way to the bazaar in Sparta, Elpis was walking quickly when she came upon a lonely trail. The trail appeared not to have been used in a very long time; it barely existed. So, figuring it a shortcut, she quickly walked down the old, dusty trail, staying cautious due to recent bandit sightings. As she hurried along the trail, she came upon a small spring, which in her thirsty state was very appealing. She drank and drank until her heart was content, being sure to fill up a small jug for the road. She continued down the trail with the towering walls of Sparta just in view. As she approached the end of the trail, she noticed an old, lowly man begging for water from the people walking by. No one was acknowledging him. When Elpis walked toward the beggar, she gave him what little water she had left. Thankful, the beggar happily asked Elpis to follow him. As Elpis followed along, the beggar revealed himself to be a messenger. He said he had a message for Elpis. After handing her a note, the man disappeared, leaving Elpis standing alone just off the trail. As she walked along, she read the letter. The letter stated that Elpis is to meet the person southwest of town under the shade of night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elpis had decided not to tell her mother about the note and to follow the instructions directly. As she prepared, she decided to tell her mother that she needed to go back to the bazaar and stay in town for the rest of the night. Her mother foolishly believed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she approached the location, she noticed how cool the air had gotten; she realized she was near the coast. When she reached the specific location, a figure approached her in a rush. The figure verbally described her father and her mother, telling her much about both of them and revealing that she was a demigod. She found this very unrealistic and somewhat unsettling. The figure explained that she had power over something; however, it wasn’t quite sure what that something was. At that moment, everything came to her: the incident at the pond, the fondness of water. All of it was now crystal clear. She inquired the stranger about how they knew this and who they were, but her queries were met with silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She returned home the next morning tired and in need of a rest. She hadn’t explained what happened the night before to her mother in fear that it would sound preposterous. On the other hand, she needed an alibi. She didn’t know what she was going to say when her mother would ask about what she forgot, so she decided to go back to the market.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she walked down the old, dusty trail which she had become accustomed to, she noticed smoke in the distance. She couldn’t help but wonder what was on fire, so her walk changed to a pace. Quickly and silently, she ran toward the fire. The closer she got, the more smoke appeared in the sky. As she drew nearer to the source of the smoke, she began to worry about the possibility that it could be her home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elpis, now running, came upon the burning ashes of her village. Terrified for the lives of her mother and the other townspeople, she tried to put out the fire. Alas, her attempts were futile. She was the sole survivor; nothing else remained. Not her mother, not the town, nothing but smoldering ashes and burnt bodies. She began crying, and it began to rain; but this rain was cold and frozen instead of the usual warm showers. She’d never set foot in the town again. Her heart grew cold over time. It is said that every time she cries, the frozen water falls, lands are iced over, and the air is made as cold and frigid as Elpis’s heart.