• He knew from the first time he saw her. Those cold, dark, brutal eyes could only mean one thing, death. He swore that he would never forget that first day, far away in his childhood: Just a week before, the boy, Phrixus, and his sister, Helle, were told that their mother, Nephele, had left them. They, unfortunately, believed this lie. Their birthmother was a goddess, and they always thought that she would them for some frivolous adventure. The truth was that their father, Athamas, had grown bored of Nephele and left her for a new woman. After a long week, all the feelings he tried to hide in order to protect Helle came out in one fierce burst. At that moment, Athamas decided to introduce the twin siblings to Ino, their new “mother.” That day was the first and last glimpse Phrixus ever had into her eyes. She tried paint on a happy face for the meeting, but her eyes told the truth, Ino hated her new “children.” Ino’s eyes bore into Phrixus’, stirring up the deepest emotions of guilt and resentment for all the times he did not act extremely proper. From that day on, Phrixus never looked Ino in the face, he instead stared at the ground, rather than bear the torment of looking in that monster’s eyes. Ino saw this as a sign of respect, when actually; it was Phrixus’ highest form of disgust. Helle had the gift of deciding never to look their new “mother” in the eyes.

    As time went on, the animosity between them only grew. Ino decided to punish them for even the most unpunishable act. She tortured them, not only physically, but also psychologically. She, thankfully, only physically attacked Phrixus, deciding that Helle was so weak that just seeing her brother beaten would defeat her, and it did. Whenever Ino entered the room, Helle would cower in the furthest corner, afraid that Ino would exact her unjust punishment on her instead of Phrixus. Even though Helle was never hit, she still had bruises. These bruises appeared from her clutching her own arms so tight while watching Phrixus receive the brutal hits from the merciless hands. Phrixus truly believed that Helle had the worst of it. He never saw a true moment of happiness from Helle after Nephele was gone. Helle couldn’t even fake happiness; her frown was a permanent scar, etched across her face. Phrixus felt spoiled compared to Helle. He was able to experience all emotions. Happiness when he was away from Ino, anger when she was near, and despair for his tortured twin sister. Helle would continually wake up, screaming in the bleak darkness from night terrors caused by Ino. Helle was too scared to eat most days, never touching anything that might have passed through Ino’s hands. Helle lived in a world of terrorism and paranoia. Phrixus always knew when the beatings would happen and how, but Helle lived in fear of when Ino would finally burst out and strike her. Helle lived in fear and only fear. Phrixus believed that the body could heal, but never the mind. Continuous misery like that seemed unbearable to him. Sometimes he would just break down and cry for.

    Sometimes, those tears for Helle evolved into a cry for his missing mother. Their mother was always a sore subject for Phrixus. Helle would constantly want to talk about her, but usually only to distract herself from the constant paranoia. This conversation always turned to a fight. Phrixus would get so angry at Nephele that he would take hold of Helle, shaking and yelling at her as if she was Nephele. Then when Helle finally started to cry did Phrixus finally realize what he was doing and stop. Still, Helle would continue to pursue the subject whenever she felt it was needed. She also knew that Phrixus needed it to. He needed to talk about Nephele and Helle wanted him to. Even though Phrixus always asked Helle to stop, he secretly craved these conversations and hated himself all the more for it. This was the foundation of the twin’s relationship: both required the other for comfort and support from their most dangerous emotions.

    Relief finally came for Phrixus and Helle when Ino became pregnant. Athamas became overly cautious of his new wife and their baby. He demanded that Ino shouldn’t. This stopped Phrixus; beatings and Helle’s torment, but only for this short majority of a year. Even though they were continually ordered by their father to visit Ino, they never did. They considered this their only time of freedom and they cherished it, far away from Ino and her soon-to-be-born babies. This was too short a time, though. When the babies were born, the punishment only got worse. The children, Learches and Melicertes, helped Ino punish Phrixus and Helle. Learches and Melicertes sometimes helped Ino beat Phrixus, but other times, Learches and Melicertes, helped torment Helle’s mind. This only brought more grief upon Helle. Even the little time away Phrixus and Helle had away from Ino was spoiled by her treacherous children. They could now never escape Ino or her devious plots. This evil, destructive presence would follow them until they found some way to leave.

    Ino decided to find some way to finish the children. She always wanted them gone, never made a real plan for it. She decided in a few months that the children would finally be gone from her life. She could finally get rid of the pests that got in the way of her children’s royalty. Her children would finally get the riches they deserved. This thought polluted her mind. Her children didn’t only deserve the riches, they needed them. They needed the royalty like they needed air, and Ino would do anything to get her children what they need. This was mainly the only thought that ran across her mind. She became obsessed with getting rid of Phrixus and Helle. This became her only goal in life: she needed them dead. This plan was the final end to Phrixus and Helle.

    As Ino’s plan was coming to fruition, Phrixus and Helle suspected nothing. Even though Ino didn’t have as much time because of her plan, she still went on with her daily routine of torture. To Phrixus and Helle, it didn’t seem as if Ino was concerned with any plan. Everyday seemed as natural as every day before it. There was no difference between these new days and the old ones. Ino was a master of manipulation and she knew how to keep her motives a secret.

    The first step of the plan was to convince the ignorant farmers to someway destroy the crops. This was the easiest part. She was used to manipulating the ignorant. The second part would be more difficult. She would have to convince her husband to do something that no normal father would ever do, but she was very resourceful, she could do it.

    The beginning of the day the plan started was normal, if not a little more cheerful for Ino. She did exactly as every other day. She visited every horticulturist’s farm, over the span of two days, and persuaded him or her to do as she told. The conversations usually went as such:

    “My Lady Ino!” said many surprised farmers.

    “Hello! I have a secret that will surely help your farm.” Ino would say.

    “Why would you share such knowledge, my Queen?” asked the farmers.

    “I know the hard work you do to keep a farm as great as this. I only want to help some of my city’s hardest working citizens.” Replied Queen Ino.

    “ What is it, my queen?’ asked the farmers as the bowed their heads.

    “You must roast the plant’s seeds before planting them,” said the queen.

    “Are you sure, my Lady?” asked the farmers, unsure about this.

    “Yes, your crops will grow twice the size and produce twice as much fruit,” were Queen Ino’s parting words. And every farmer, though hesitant, roasted the seeds of their crops before planting them in the ground. Ino, at night, would laugh in the dark at the imbecilic farmers, who so foolishly followed her orders without much doubt. The farmers would never disregard advice given to them by the Queen, in person, who almost never talked to the common citizens. All of this was too easy for Ino, she wanted a little more of a challenge. Lucky for her that the hardest part of her plan would soon start.

    Phrixus and Helle first suspected Ino of something terrible when Ino returned home all day or the next day after leaving in the morning. Ino never went further than the gardens, except for duties enforced upon her by her position. Her leaving frightened both children. This must have been a terrible scheme for Ino to be gone so long both days. Because of this, Phrixus and Helle shied away from Ino as much as possible. Ino realized this and only made the torture worse and more frequent. There was no calm before the final storm. The final storm only produced a much smaller storm before it. Learches and Melicertes only found more joy in the fiercer torture brought on upon by Phrixus and Helle’s own heightened sense of paranoia. These beatings, surprisingly, brought relief to the twins. These beatings made them believe, if only for a short time, that maybe Ino didn’t have one final scheme to end them, once and for all. This solution from their deepest fears only lasted as long as the agony continued. Once the torture ended for that day, Ino’s motives were under suspicion again. The constant jumping from blissfully ignorant to cautiously suspicious only distressed Helle’s mind more. The constant jumpings, along with the fiercer beatings also worsened Phrixus’ present condition. Both caused Phrixus’ resentment towards Ino to lessen considerably. It shrank until Phrixus was left as an hollow shell, allowing Ino, Melicertes, and Learches to do as they may, without protest. This further corruption of Phrixus and Helle only caused to help Ino’s scheme, without Ino meaning to.

    Then the famine Ino had been waiting for finally happened. The roasted seeds bore no crops. The farmers had nothing to sell and the other citizens had nothing to eat. The citizens started to panic and demanded that their king do something, anything, to help them. When the famine finally came, Ino was able to start the second phase of her plan.
    When Queen Ino entered, King Athamas was sitting in his luxurious courtroom. The courtroom was full of beautiful tapestries and comfortably cushioned chairs. In the center of the courtroom was a wonderful, standing pool of water. With three strong warriors, soldiers of his army kneeling and bowing at King Athamas’ feet. “Go to the Oracle of Delphi and bring me news of how to resolve this famine,” ordered the mighty king. The warriors bowed their heads further, stood up, turned, and left the room. “ I shall go bless them for their journey,” said the deceiving Queen Ino who immediately left the courtroom with the young men.

    When the door completely closed behind the four, Ino finally said, “Take the money I hand you now, travel to the Oracle of Delphi, but do not ask her advice. When you return you will be paid more. After, you must tell the king to sacrifice his son, Phrixus to end the famine.”

    “ But why should we follow your orders over our king’s?” said the biggest and the obvious leader of the soldiers.

    “I am not the only one who is ordering you. King also wishes this to be done.” Replied Queen Ino.

    “W-why d-didn’t he tell us in th-the c-cour-coutroom?’ stammered the youngest and smallest of the soldiers, obviously daunted by the Queen’s presence.

    “King Athamas and I were not the only ears in that courtroom, others can hear us speak there. We had to pretend to find an answer, even though we already knew one. No more questions now. Just go!” said Ino, more agitated.

    As the soldiers turned and left, Ino silently cackled behind their backs. This was much easier than Ino expected. The king would find no flaw in this part of the plan. Athamas would never suspect anyone to be able to corrupt his mighty soldiers. Athamas was too proud of his soldiers to believe that they could be corrupted, no matter how compelling the corruptor was. Even Ino expected more of protest from the soldiers. Even with the ease of the last part, the next few days would be agonizingly long for Ino.

    As the days wore on and on. Ino’s patience grew less and less. As Ino’s patience declined, the beatings and torment of Phrixus and Helle became worse. Now that the beatings and torment were increasingly growing more vicious, they both knew that Ino was waiting for something and had gotten impatient. The twins expected the end to be getting closer.

    Then finally the day came when Ino heard the news of the returning soldiers. Her salvation from those two wretched kids had finally come. Ino hurried to the courtroom to get there before the men. When Ino finally reached the courtroom, she met the three soldiers at it’s door. She silently slipped another bundle of coins into each of their hands. The three soldiers nodded approval at Ino’s bribe. The four of them then quietly entered the king’s courtroom.

    “What is the solution?” the king asked. He had gotten pale in only the last few days. During the days he waited for the soldiers, he became sickly at the thought of his starving citizens.

    “The Oracle said to sacrifice your demigod son, Phrixus,” said the soldier’s leader, in a falsely saddened voice.

    The king’s face fell. “Please leave us,” said the king, “I must consult my advisors.” The trio slowly exited, leaving King Athamas and Queen Ino alone.

    “I cannot accept this!” said King Athamas,” I could never sacrifice Phrixus! These soldiers must have been tricked into saying that! I must send nobler soldier, stronger soldiers than these cowards!”

    “Will you trust the next trio you send when they return with the same news? You must believe them!” said Ino in a calming tone. She was expecting this.

    “Those cowards must have lied!” screamed the king.

    “If you must send another, send someone you trust with everything. Send me, my lord. I am a disciple of Demeter, I could get you an answer directly from the goddess herself,” replied Ino.

    “I couldn’t send you, it might be dangerous,” whispered the king.

    “You must send me, especially if I am the only one you will trust,” said Ino, also whispering.

    “You are right, you are the only one I will trust,” said King Athamas reluctantly, ”But you will travel with at least two of my best soldiers.”

    Ino immediately left the courtroom. When King Athamas could no longer see Ino, he fell into a despair. King Athamas already started grieving for a wife that wasn’t missing yet and a son that wasn’t dead yet. He grew sick at the thought of Ino and Phrixus being gone. If Ino did come back with same news, he would be forced to sacrifice his son for the betterment of his people. That thought only made him sicker. To cause his own son’s death would destroy his spirit. Athamas wasn’t sure he could, how could a king be forced to burn his own son alive? Athamas wished Ino to come back, but only to tell him different news than what was presented to him earlier by the soldiers.

    The few days away from Ino caused no relief to Phrixus and Helle. The beatings and torment from Learches and Melicertes did considerably lessen without Ino there, but the pure paranoia of the possible completion of Ino’s plan only caused them to damage themselves where Learches and Melicertes’ beatings and torment could not. This was a completely new type of torture for Phrixus and a completely new, high level of paranoia for Helle. Neither Phrixus nor Helle could stand it, they waited anxiously for the ending of Ino’s final plan. They only wanted an end to this new torture that grew exponentially by the hour.

    Ino’s trip was helpful to her damaged psyche. The physical aspect of the trip was incredibly easy, just a short walk into the surrounding wilderness of the woods, then a few days rest while the soldiers provided everything for her, but that was not what helped her, the escape from those twins is what helped. The distance between her and those despicable children of Athamas and the whore goddess, Nephele, allowed her to forget the disgrace and threat that their every breath created upon Learches and Melicertes. Ino was a truly deranged woman, cursed by her husband’s first children and could only be cured by their disappearance. She needed the children gone, not just for the royalty her children so rightly deserved , but also for her own mental health. She realized this and her conviction to rid herself of her stepchildren only grew stronger, as did her hatred. These children caused my mental instability, thought the furious Ino as her anger grew more and more with ever second, they must be gone as soon as possible! Ino rubbed mud across her face and dirtied her clothes. She then gathered the two soldiers. When they were in her presence, Ino calmly said, “Men. We shall return to our homes. I have acquired the needed vision from Demeter.” The soldiers hurriedly packed up all of their belongings, eager to return to their families. They then started the short trek back home.

    King Athamas was anxiously awaiting the return of his queen, as he did everyday, only leaving the courtroom to sleep. When Queen Ino entered the courtroom, Athamas only gasped at the look of the seemingly distraught woman.

    “What has happened to you? You’re filthy! These men obviously did not protect you enough!” shouted King Athamas

    “Do not blame the men, my lord, this only happened because I was visited by the almighty goddess Demeter,” said Ino as she tried to calm Athamas.

    “You truly had a vision of Demeter?” said the astonished king.

    “Of course, I would not fool with matters such as this,” said Ino.

    “And what did the goddess say, my beautiful queen?” said King Athamas

    “I am sorry Athamas, but the goddess told me to sacrifice your boy, Phrixus. There was nothing I could do to convince her otherwise.”

    The king turned his head as tears started to roll down his cheeks. “If those are Demeter’s true words, then I must do as she asks. To choose my son over the entire people of my land would only be selfish. Now, all of you leave, I need to mourn for my son.”

    When Ino turned around to leave the courtroom, a smile slowly crept to her mouth. She had finally done it! She had convinced a king to kill his first-born son!

    When Phrixus and Helle had finally discovered Ino was back, a strange mixture of relief and dread came over them. Relief because the newest form of torture, paranoia, was over, dread because they knew their end was going to come soon, if only they knew how. At this point, Phrixus would have given anything to learn how it was finally going to end. Helle did not care how it ended, as long as it did. Helle did not care if the end caused her death, she only cared that she would get away from the terrorist, Ino. It was clear that both of the twins just wanted an escape from this house. It was the only thing that mattered to them after the events of the previous years.

    When Ino entered the room Phrixus and Helle were in, she only whispered a question to the twins, “Aren’t you happy that it’s finally over?” and she left with Learches and Melicertes, not expecting an answer from either Phrixus or Helle. Terror quickly sank in. Ino did not hurt the children that day. She knew that this would hurt them much more than any punishment she has enacted before. The terror grasped their hearts and caused it to beat irregular. The terror seized their lungs and halted their breath. They were panicking.

    As terror sank into the children, a deep depression hung over the king’s head. He could not believe that he was going to sacrifice his son. “This must be a dream, a nightmare,” the king whispered to himself. T entire world seemed to have a darker glow than earlier that day. The date must be set. If I don’t do it now, I may never do it, thought the king. “Tryphon, we need to set a date.”

    “For what, my lord?” asked Tryphon, while stepping forward from far behind the throne.

    “For the sacrifice of my son,” said King Athamas.

    “Are you positive, King? Surely, there must be some other way,” said Tryphon, disbelief trespassed into his voice. Tryphon has constantly tried to save the children from Ino’s torture, but never succeeded. He decided to keep the torture from King Athmas because he knew he wouldn’t believe him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see Ino’s interaction in all of this.

    “Yes, I must do this for my people. If I don’t, the gods may never save us from the famine,” said Athamas, more sure than ever.

    “Of course, King. When?”

    “Seven days from today.”

    “Where shall it take place?”

    “A place where the citizens can come and watch. If they don’t see it, they might not believe me and could never trust me again.”

    “It will be held in front of the gardens,”

    “And Tryphon?”

    “Yes, my lord?”

    “You must send a messenger to tell the people this news.”

    “Yes, King Athamas. I shall get someone to do it now.” Tryphon then left, looking for someone who could spread the terrible news. He spotted a seemingly agile man in the hall, outside Ino’s chamber. Tryphon then said, “young man, go tell the people of the city that King Athamas’ son, Phrixus will be sacrificed to Demeter in order to end the famine. Tell them to come if they do not believe the king. Tell them it will be seven days from today, in front of King Athamas’ gardens.” The boy nodded and left.

    From inside her room, Ino could hear the entire conversation between Tryphon and the messenger boy. Ino couldn’t help but smile. In only seven days, the very boy that threatened her own children’s royalty was going to be gone! Learches and Melicertes will be kings!

    The messenger finally made it to the city’s main street. “People of Boeotia, the King has decided to sacrifice his son to Demeter in order to end the famine. The sacrifice is seven days from today in front of King Athamas’ gardens. The king asks you to be there if you do not believe him.” The messenger yelled this in front of the entire street. Unfortunately, the people seemed more disgusted at the thought of sacrificing their prince, rather than relieved that the famine will finally end. The messenger immediately let to go back to Tryphon, to report on the completion of his task.

    In the courtroom at that exact moment, Athamas just realized he had scheduled his own son’s death. He felt ashamed of himself. How could he do this to his son? The sacrifice had to be done, he had promised his people. He couldn’t go back on his word now. He would just have to bear through the depression that would surely accompany the sacrifice.
    The seven days had the same rituals as every other day. Nothing had changed from the scheduling and the announcing of Phrixus’ sacrifice, except his fathers incredible depression. Phrixus and Helle still got tortured by Ino. She never gave them a rest even though one of them was scheduled to die in just a few short days. What was worse was that the beatings actually got harsher. Ino only had a few days left him with and she wanted to get out all her frustrations about Athamas’ first wife on him. She needed to express the frustration that she wasn’t Athamas’ first wife and the only way she knew how was to torture Phrixus and Helle. Learches and Melicertes took less joy out of this torture than any of the torture before. They felt that they shouldn’t be so hard on their final days. This harsher torture didn’t bother either Phrixus or Helle any more than a normal torture, they knew that they would be gone soon.

    The day of the sacrifice finally came about. Phrixus and Helle were relieved and terrified at the same time. It was almost like when Ino left for the first part of the scheme, only exponentially greater. Phrixus was terrified of the pain he would feel while burning, but was relieved that he would finally be away from Ino. He was also grieving for Helle, she would be left alone with that insidious Ino. This was another time when Phrixus believed that Helle had the worst of it.

    The procession to the high raised bed where Phrixus would burn started. It was a slow walk, all the way through the gardens and in front of the bed that towered over them. There was only a small group there. Helle, Athamas, the horrible Ino, gracious Tryphon, and only a group of about twenty citizen’s, the rest were too disgusted by the sacrifice to watch the young prince die. All of the spectators were dressed in black robes. Phrixus slowly started the long climb up the towering bed.

    Beyond the group watching Phrixus climb the ladder to the top, golden olive vines sprouted from the ground. The golden vines grew in clumps at four places. The glorious vines started to twirl around each other creating four trunk-like groups of intertwined vines. Phrixus was one-third of the way to the top. The four trunk-like limbs started to grow towards each other. They grew that way until the four limbs met one another, creating almost a canopy between the four limbs. Phrixus was already three-quarters of the way up the ladder. The vines had grown from the canopy to create a pointed ball at the front. Vines grew up from the top of the ball, twirling into a spiral pattern coiled tightly and close to the ball. Helle looked back at the golden olive vines. How could a mere plant do that? She thought, in astonishment, this must be a gift from a god! Phrixus had gotten to the top and lied down. The torchbearer had lit the bottom tier of the bed. Golden hooves formed on the bottom of the figure, golden skin and fur grew up the limbs from the hooves. The torchbearer lit the second tier. The golden skin and fur grew over the canopy and most of the pointed ball on top. The torchbearer lit the top tier with Phrixus on it. The gold grew into the spirals. What was once a golden sculptor made by olive vines became a living, golden ram. This could only be a gift from Nephele! Thought Helle. The ram flew up to the top tier, grabbing Phrixus while the torchbearer climbed down the ladder. The golden ram dived down, almost hitting the ground. He had also picked up Helle. The ram flew up to the sky with the twins. Athamas fell to his knees, crying tears of happiness. His children were saved!

    The ram flew them to the sea and started to fly over it. Phrixus was terrified, but when Helle saw the sea, she grew ecstatic. It was the first time that she was overcome with happiness since they lost their mother. She wanted to fell the water, but they were too high up. Since she couldn’t feel the water, she decided to feel the air. She threw own out in a T-position, letting the moist air flow over her entire body, but the air was too strong. The wind picked her up and threw her off the ram. Helle started to plummet towards the Earth. As she fell, Helle still had a smile sprawled across her face. Helle knew that death was her only true escape. She might have been happy for that moment, but when she landed, she knew paranoia and depression would set in. She knew that only the forgetting powers of Lethe could truly cure her. The point where she died is now called Hellespont, after her.

    Epilogue:

    Ino lived in misery after the ram saved Phrixus and Helle. Ino told the farmers to stop roasting the seeds. Ino was then forced to take care of her sister’s son, Dionysus. Hera became extremely jealous at them and gave Athamas a fit of madness. While being mad, he killed his son, Learches. Ino and Melicertes tried to escape Athamas while he was mad by jumping off a cliff. Ino and Melicertes were then worshipped as the sea gods Leucothea (Ino) and Palaemon (Melicertes).

    Phrixus was taken to the edge of the Earth, Colchis. Phrixus was greeted kindly. Aeëtes, king of Colchis, gave his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage to Phrixus. Phrixus then gave Aeëtes the fleece of the dead golden ram as a gift because of the marriage. Aeëtes hung the fleece on a tree in his kingdom. Years later, a man named Jason took the fleece to prove his worth to a king.