Ella didn't understand what was going on, but she heard hissed words and glanced over to check on her mother. Clio smiled and winked, letting Ella know everything was fine, and the little girl turned back to her drawing.
"Ella isn't my only child," Clio whispered, so her daughter wouldn't hear. "I had a son, Hyacinth. He- He faded, in the 80s, and one day I went to see him and he was gone. Disappeared entirely." Clio stared down at her tea, cooling on the table, and she sighed. "So I wrote a book. I told his story and the book sold copy after copy- I don't know if Hyacinth- I don't know if it worked. If it helped him come back. Maybe once we fade- And maybe he did come back, but he doesn't know where I am. I waited too long for my son," she admitted quietly. "I waited too long and so I made the book into a series of books on lesser known deities and gods so no one has to go through what I did."