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Hera scowled as she felt Zeus disappear down to earth…again. She knew what he was doing. She even knew whom he went down to see. Helen, that was her name. She knew Zeus went down to earth to make love to this mortal. And yet, Hera simply could not bring herself to hate the other woman
She only wanted the affairs to stop. Of course, reason told her that if he'd been doing for the past two millennia, he'd probably keep on doing it. Rage had bent all her thoughts on revenge on both Zeus and his lover. And, most of the time, she had gotten her revenge, on the woman at least.
Though she had once attempted to overpower Zeus, the attempt had failed and he had forced her to swear to never try to rebel again. However, she still got chances to plot against him and foil his plans. These chances she took whenever they came to her. And generally, to her satisfaction, she managed to outwit him. And yet she always hurt whenever he took another lover.
Though taking her revenge on his lovers and their children had, at first, given her contentment, the centuries passed and Hera grew tired. She grew tired of waiting, watching, punishing, and killing. Yeah, okay, so it really helped with anger management, but after a while it got boring.
And now it was more of a job than a desire. Sometimes she confronted Zeus about it, how she disliked killing helpless women and children. But Zeus, like most husbands, let it go in one ear and out the other.
She just wanted…love. She wanted to be loved, and to love in return. Oh, gods, if only she could just go down to earth and find a lover of her own. But down that road led adultery. As a goddess of marriage, she would never do that. What was the point? So then their marriage would be a dishonored union on both sides? That might be enough to break the bonds between husband and wife, but it would also be enough to break the bond between goddess and power. That meant that she was literally risking her godhood to defy her own nature.
It wasn't just sexual release, but also to be listened to, comforted, loved, understood; she needed all those things!
She realized it had been six centuries since she'd not spoken to him in anger. Had she really been that bitter for so long? It wasn't fair! How could it be that while she was the goddess of marriage, young, beautiful, powerful, she had nothing?
Hera sighed, deep in thought within her private chambers. Her marriage with Zeus had begun in strife, and, even after a few millennia, still continued in strife. There would be no end!
Her chambers, high in the peaks of Mount Olympus, consisted of rock foundations, glass furniture, and cloud decorations. Of course, Zeus had personally made and furnished the entire villa, made for her as a wedding gift. The glass he had made by striking sand with lightning. The clouds had come from his power over the sky. Even in privacy Hera could not get away from the man!
Then she remembered his parting remark when she'd last yelled at him for his infidelity.
"You won't touch me, so what am I supposed to do?"
Her anger burned deep within, creating a comfortable barrier from the loneliness. She'd had to suffer the shame of rape, and had never, not once, cheated on him! What was he supposed to do? What was she supposed to do? She'd stormed out of their common chambers and sulked in her private rooms. However, Zeus hadn't bothered to even try to placate her. After all, was she not the goddess of marriage, always honoring their bond? All that he had to worry about was protecting his latest lover. Hera scowled.
Well, she would show him. She'd take the woman right out from under his nose! And then she'll give him a piece of her extremely frustrated mind!
Hera disappeared in a cloud of dark thoughts.
"The unexpected storm that rolled in last night has caused havoc at the Tower. Lightning struck the top of the Stratosphere over six times in one minute…."
Helen blinked as she tried to recall a storm the night before. Though she couldn't remember much (having drunk much too much alcohol), it hadn't been the weather that stuck in her mind…No, instead, her thoughts lingered on…other events. It may have been a one-night stand, but it had been the best one-night stand she'd ever experienced.
That man--he had been…divine…godlike. There was truly no other way to describe it. Fully awake now, though still sporting a headache due to hangover, Helen had to blush. She hastily waved these thoughts aside as she walked to her job.
After finishing her shift, Helen walked out of the work building to get something to eat, but, as her luck would have it, it began to rain. She cursed and started running for shelter. Of all the times for it to rain in a desert!
Suddenly, a tall woman with an umbrella approached her, and let Helen share the shelter. Helen gasped, taken by surprise at the woman's sudden appearance. Then she smiled.
"Thank you," Helen said with relief, examining her 'savior.' The woman was truly beautiful. She had perfectly tanned skin that shone bronze even in the dark weather. Her silky brown-black hair had been carefully pinned up in just the right way to accentuate all her perfections. Big chocolate eyes stared luminously out at the pouring rain, shadowed by a string of brunette curls; her sharp cheekbones jutted out gracefully. Her perfectly colored lips had hues of just the right color to complement her skin. Even the way she walked seemed as if out of a supermodel convention.
Helen, though also a beautiful woman in her own right, was slightly scruffy compared to the other. Her reddish-gold hair was a mess, though Helen knew it looked best when windblown. Her clear blue eyes, which contrasted nicely with her hair, shone out of a pale, abnormally thin face. Her nose, like the other woman's, ended in a point, which was the only thing similar about the two. Helen's pale pink lips curved into a timid but grateful smile, and Hera could see why Zeus had taken a fancy to this girl. She was young, shy, and still innocent (despite being an (unknowing) adulteress).
Hera was half angry and half sad at the woman's character. Hera was angry that the woman didn't even know who she was talking to, and yet sad that she would (as she knew she would) have to kill her.
The Greek goddess's dress shone with a silky texture, rustling at every smooth movement its owner made. The light lavender cloth twined elegantly around Hera's slender form and had a fastener at the top that made it look like a toga. The goddess wore a sheer violet scarf to cover her bare shoulders and neck. The entire picture portrayed elegance, class, and power.
In almost direct contrast, Helen's clothes did nothing to further her image. The black T-shirt and denim knee-length skirt served to make her skinny frame look even scrawnier, and the dark colors made her look like a ghost.
Helen stared questioning at the other woman, and Hera realized that the redhead had asked a question. The goddess blinked and smiled.
"My apologies. I was not listening," she stated warm dulcet tones with a hint of an accent. In comparison, Helen's voice much squeakier.
"Oh, no, it's okay. Just thanking you is all. I--uh--I should get going," Helen said nervously, checking her watch.
"Are you certain? I would feel better knowing you were safe. Las Vegas is not always kind to young women."
Helen grimaced. That much was true. Though she wondered how a woman like that would be able to protect her, she still considered. The woman had an open, trusting face, and she seemed genuinely concerned, though slightly melancholy.
Helen smiled and nodded. "I guess it's okay. So I suppose you could just drop me off at my place. It's just around the corner."
Hera merely nodded and let Helen lead her to her apartment. They stopped at the door to Helen's apartment building. Hera held out her hand. On it lay a pomegranate.
"Have this pomegranate. It is a gift," the goddess said softly, with a hint of sorrow.
Helen was, to say the least, surprised. Not many people offered pomegranates as gifts. "Thank you."
Hera smiled, her kind expression masking her deep depression.
"How did you know I like pomegranates?" asked Helen. Hera was genuinely surprised.
"I didn't know you liked them. Please, taste it. It is very sweet," said Hera gently. Hera broke the fruit open to reveal the red globes inside. Helen's eyes widened.
"How did you open it like that?"
Hera shrugged, quickly coming up with an excuse. "It was already opened. Have some."
Helen accepted the larger half, and dug in with her fingers to get the globes out. "Wow! It's really…sweet…and…tasty…Wha?"
Swiftly the soporific effect of Hera's pomegranate took control of Helen, and the shorter woman collapsed onto the goddess.
"Do you like it?" asked a voice. Helen jumped in surprise, unaware of anyone else having been in the room. "My husband made it for me, clouds and all. He called the clouds from the sky to make the mattress," the voice continued. It had a bitter edge, and sounded slightly familiar.
"I don't know why he bothered. He never comes to visit me." Now Helen was certain that she had heard the voice before, though not that angry.
"Who are you? Where am I?"
The voice, decidedly female, chuckled cynically. "Unfortunately, only my victims have ever graced that bed, apart from myself. My name is Hera, queen of Mount Olympus." Suddenly, the voice had an owner. To Helen's fear and surprise, it was the woman who had given her the pomegranate! In fact, that was the last thing Helen could remember before ending up here.
"You drugged me!" accused Helen. As an afterthought she added, "I didn't know Mount Olympus existed."
Hera almost smiled. Then she inwardly shook her head; she couldn't like this girl, she would kill her! So to cover up her amusement, the goddess feigned anger.
"You committed adultery against me. As goddess of marriage, I have the right to condemn you to whatever punishment I see fit," said Hera coldly.
"You're Hera," Helen whispered in awe. "I remember! The goddess of marriage, you were always jealous of Zeus's many affairs--Oh." Quickly putting two and two together, Helen recalled the man from last night. "No…it can't be! That man--he--he was--a god?!"
Hera frowned in confusion. "Didn't you already know? You did make love to him, so how could you not tell he was a god?"
Helen blushed, remembering some aspects of the night before. "Okay, so I'll admit he was…godlike, but I had no idea he was actually--I didn't even know gods existed!"
"But--I had always been under the impression that all of his lovers knew. Surely you knew he was married," said Hera. She hoped Helen had known she was committing adultery, because Hera would not have liked to know she would kill a completely unknowing woman.
Helen shook her head vigorously. "No! I would never cheat with anyone!!!" She said it with such vehemence that Hera wondered.
"Why do you say that so strongly?"
Helen scowled darkly. "I myself have had a bad experience with cheaters. I caught my fiancé in bed with my sister, three years ago. I've never spoken to either of them since."
As a divine being, Hera knew that Helen spoke the truth. Momentarily Hera wondered why she'd never picked up on that (being the goddess of marriage, she knew every time someone broke a marital vow), but Helen had said fiancé, not husband. Hera's eyes softened, and she knew she would never be able to kill this woman. "Then I am sorry for you. I don't think I could ever bring myself to harm you now. We can relate a lot."
Helen shook her head. "I can't imagine what it would feel like to be constantly cheated on. That event was three years ago, and I still have trouble trusting people."
Hera smiled a sad smile. "I can understand. But I get used to it now. It still hurts, but it's a fact of life."
Helen shook her head again. "No! You should talk to him! Even divorce him, if that's possible! Still, it probably isn't, since you aren't already divorced."
"No. Divorce is out of the question. If I were in any way separated from him, I'd lose much of my power. It comes with being goddess of marriage." Hera made a face. "But I don't mind it as much. I get to take my anger out on his lovers, after all." Hera grinned. Then she sobered. "But I've tried to talk to him. He never listens! I hate it," Hera grimaced.
Helen could only nod sympathetically. Hera continued to rant, as if Helen wasn't even there.
"I really do hate it! He just keeps taking lovers, without any thought to how I feel! And even if he considers it, he probably thinks, 'Oh well, it's Hera. She won't mind; she's my wife! And she can't cheat on me, because she's the goddess of marriage!' It's disgusting! And he knows that I don't like to kill those women! Even their children!" Hera continued to rant on in this manner until it had reached shouting, screaming, and completely ignoring the world around her.
"I just don't believe he can be like that!!! It's so frustrating, and it makes me angry. I just want it to stop, but he never will! I know he never won't, he's just too selfish!!!"
Helen watched in terror as the goddess's bottled up feelings finally found an outlet.
This was how Zeus found his wife and his one-time lover.
He appeared with a strike of lightning, right inside the bedroom. He was covered in dark smoke, his eyes gleaming angrily from the storm clouds around him. Though Hera seemed oblivious to his angry entrance, his roar of rage alerted her to his presence immediately.
"You!" she screamed furiously. Her eyes slowly shifted to a glowing red as she glared menacingly at him. Suddenly, she lost all control of her emotions, and they literally exploded out, funneling from her in a seething vortex of dark cloud. The explosion affected all corners of the room, dissipating the cloud bed and decorations, shattering the glass furniture, blowing a huge hole in the mountain face, throwing Zeus back in the onslaught, and completely annihilating any remnants of the woman named Helen, even her soul.
Zeus, who lay on his back, quickly got up. He stopped dead when only Hera and a few piles of shattered glass remained in the large crater.
"Hera," he said calmly, trying to hold back his anger. "What happened to Helen?"
Hera, who had been about to start round two, blinked in surprise. She recalled where Helen had been, and what had happened to the woman. She stood stock-still in shock. She turned hollow eyes to her husband. No answer was necessary.
Before answering, Zeus seemed to glance around the room. Hera wondered what he searched for.
"You killed her?!" stormed Zeus. "You killed her!" This time he said it as an accusation.
This effectively snapped Hera out of her trance, and got her back into angry mode. "Oh! Only now you care that I killed her! Only now it matters?"
"No! It's different now! You annihilated her soul!"
Now Hera knew what he had search for. Any god worth their salt could sense a dead soul.
"What does that have to with anything!" yelled Hera, for though she was extremely sorry for killing the poor girl, she was too angry at Zeus to think of anything else. However, she did stop to think about him looking for her soul, and suddenly grew even angrier. "You go down to the underworld to see them?? And here I thought that you cared nothing for them! I was wrong! You care less than nothing! You only care about what you want, and nothing else!"
Hera clenched her fists, trying not to cause another explosion. Even now she imagined him visiting the poor souls of the women, giving them life for a few hours, and having his way with them. She shuddered and glared. It wasn't natural.
"So is that how you feel about me??" Zeus raged.
"Yes! From the first time you cheated on me, I felt you were a selfish man! And now, I know you are! I hate you, and I will have nothing to do with you!!!!"
Completely out of control, Zeus viciously backhanded her. "Then consider this a divorce! I'm sick of you!"
Hera gasped. A final and closing divorce would take away much of her power as a goddess. Zeus's face curled into a sneer.
"Not so angry now, are you? You don't just go and insult me and expect to get away with it. Don't worry; I won't strip you of all your powers. But I will exile you to Earth for a few centuries."
Hera's eyes widened then narrowed. "You wouldn't!!!"
Zeus smiled smugly. "But you know I would."
Even then Hera could feel her powers slowly fading away, until only a slight fraction was left. Zeus could also feel it. He continued to smirk.
"Now to fulfill the second half of your punishment. I think an island in the Mediterranean will be a fine place for exile. Shall I send you, or will you do the honors?" he asked with mocking politeness.
Hera turned an empty yet angry gaze at him and vanished with an effort to a deserted island.
Zeus was surprised when Hera showed up just a year after their divorce. He felt even more surprise when he noted her clothing. She wore a tattered dress, white enough that you knew it used to be really white, but now had turned gray. Her hair, cut short to her chin, still managed to look tangled. And her eyes, her eyes shocked him the most. Instead of their usual alluring glance, the look in her dark brown eyes, no longer chocolate but mud, her eyes were filled with despair, desperation, and loneliness.
"Hera!" he cried, extremely alarmed. His senses told him her physical condition reflected her mental condition. "What happened to you?"
The disheveled goddess turned hollow eyes on him. "You," she answered, her only word.
"What? What do you mean?" asked Zeus, bemused.
"You happened to me," she said with absolutely no emotion.
"Sorry? I don't really understand--"
"Sorry? I'll show you sorry!" her expressionless façade swiftly degenerated into screams, sobs, and tears. "You --you left me--on that island--and--and never looked back! I--I just--"
Zeus shook his head, extremely discomfited with the sobbing woman in front of him. "I don't know--I didn't know--I just assumed--weren't you happy?"
Hera let out a dark, cynical, sinister laugh. "Happy? You thought--that I would be happy? Exactly what was your logic?"
"Well, we hated each other, so we moved on," answered Zeus simply.
Hera closed her eyes, and chuckled darkly. "No. You moved on. Me? I remained on that desert island, hoping, even waiting for you! I thought maybe, just maybe, he'd show some empathy, some compassion, anything besides cool calculation and pure reason! But no. How could I be so foolish?" Her face lost all emotion.
Zeus began to feel extremely frightened. Just the look in her eyes--it would haunt him for all eternity. "Maybe we can just start anew! How about that? This time it'll be a proper marriage, and we can really love each other," he said hopefully.
She shook her head. "No. Just no. I'm--I'm done. I'm done with you, I'm done with marriage, I'm done with life; I'm just done. I don't--I don't want to even breathe, it hurts so much. I just want you to know that before I go."
"Go?" Zeus echoed. "Go where?"
Hera smiled sadly. "Somewhere you'll never follow."
She raised her arms and summoned all the anger, sadness, betrayal, hurt, and unrequited love she felt around her, in a black cloud. Then, as if a vacuum had appeared in the center, the cloud got sucked in on itself, and she just disappeared.
All that was left in her place were the shattered pieces of a black onyx gem placed in the shape of a broken heart.
Please also inform me of places where I left out the italicizing and bolding, if you feel there ought to be something there!
Please also advise on which title you prefer.
