AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This was important. This would answer the questions he had held in since he first set foot on the shore of the Styx.
“We had a sister, Demeter. She was the Goddess of agriculture, rebirth, and law,” Hera continued, and he started to put the pieces together in his mind. Everything that he was, in every lifetime, all coming full circle.
“Stop,” Devon put his hand up, halting Hera before she could start her next sentence, “I am not sure I can handle finding out I am related to Persephone. That is going to be way too much for me to handle.”
Amphitrite let out a loud, very un-Goddess like snort at this and she covered her mouth. She looked embarrassed. This caused Hera to let out an equally unladylike cackle in return.
“No,” Hera told him as she tried to rein herself in. “You are not having relations with a sister,
niece, or cousin.”
Persephone cleared her throat for Hera to continue the story.
“Though if you asked some of those Ancient Greeks, that was the preferred method of marriage and sex. If you were not directly related, why bother? Not to mention that for hundreds of years I was a promiscuous God that was blamed for every transgression a wife committed that caused an illegitimate child. Oh look! I have another kid! Such a phallic loving society.”
“Hera, you went down and stoked the fires of those rumors on many occasions yourself.” Amphitrite scolded Hera.
“Oh, come on! I just wanted a little fun. Who knew I would be such a stud!”
“What a fun era that was,” Amphitrite mumbled taking a drink of the refreshments the Reevkas had brought in as she spoke. “It is quite obvious what all the lead in the water did for them to fall over you like that.”
“Really, Amphitrite? Was that necessary?” Hera stared at her sister.
“Oh, I am sorry, did I offend you Queen Goddess? Will we have an over dramatic show here
in a moment to entertain us.” Amphitrite laughed as Persephone put her face in her hand.
“Sisters…” Persephone warned only earning an eye roll from Hera and a smirk from Amphitrite.
“Moving on,” Hera started as she relaxed from the near confrontation with her sister. “Some
of our sisters did not come into their power upon death. Their souls were stuck here, their Goddess power would not release them even though their bodies had long gone back to the earth. We thought banishing Cronus would help, but still they stayed, and the longer they stayed, the more they became a shade.”
At his questioning look, she explained. “Once a soul has stayed too long on the mortal realm, they become a shade. It happens a lot to bodies that were not buried, since Charon cannot let them cross if they have not had a proper burial. Anyway,” Hera waved the words away. “A shade loses all sense of their human self and becomes more animal like. I believe some cultures call these poltergeists.
“Well, our sisters were becoming less of themselves and more of a feral otherworldly being. Shades hold no memories of their lives; they just mindlessly roam, terrorize, and are very difficult to handle, but we try to keep them from causing too much carnage.”
Persephone took over when Hera nodded at her to finish. “I brought in Hecate and Thanatos, and together we knew we had to separate the power and the soul. It was difficult, and Hecate slept for two weeks after. Thanatos disappeared for a whole month, but we managed, and after an exceptionally long, drawn-out conversation-”
“Basically, ending up with us drawing sticks.” Hera laughed, and Devon wasn’t totally sure she
was kidding.
“It,” Persephone shot Hera a look, “was decided I would watch over souls and guide our sisters to the Underworld. Unfortunately, the power trailed them and tried to reattach. The only thing at that point we could do was find someone new to hold the power.”
“Like a host for a parasite?” Devon interrupted, mildly disturbed by that idea. He felt his eyebrows wrinkle in disgust at the thought.
“Well, aren’t you a little ray of sunshine,” Hera muttered as she rolled her eyes. “I bet you’re all the rage at parties.”
“No, not at all,” Amphitrite chimed in, cutting Hera off before she could agitate the situation further. “We went around the world, found women who were carrying female children and had a need of that power. We knew the power would not fully manifest since they were mortal, but as with Demeter’s power, we found a pregnant woman living in an area ravaged by famine. Her child was able to bring fertility to the land again. She thanked us by naming her daughter Demeter. Obviously, it was honored through the generations.”
“So, there are latent Gods walking around?” he asked skeptically. “Then how come my dad didn’t get the chance to live as a God?” Persephone could feel his rising anger. “How come he had to die? I would think he would be a hell of a lot worthier of being a God than I am.”
Amphitrite moved onto her knees and sat back on her heels. “Because he simply was not fated to be. It is obvious the Moirai chose you since your soul, not any of your ancestors, was already calling to Persephone. You were meant to rise as the God of rebirth and law when the soul found the power of your ancestral line. When they merged, you became who you are. They were separate before you.”
“And fertility! Don’t forget he is the God of fertility,” Hera all but yelled as she gave them a lascivious wink. “Fortify your loins, dear sister.”
Hera jumped up from her seat.
