8. A God’s Forbidden Love
Chapter 8
A God’s Forbidden Love
“ I don’t understand, where is he?” I questioned, and this time, my voice was one that was heard by another because my former self began to fade away like glittering dust. However, she was soon replaced by another… Lerna appeared in my vision, answering my question.
“He was taken.”
I turned to face her as she, too, was like I was, a ghostly figure of herself.
“Taken… taken where and by who?” I questioned, making her release a heavy sigh before she told me cryptically,
“They were scouts, you see.”
I shook my head and said,
“I don’t understand, what do—?” This question was interrupted when she turned and pointed to the creatures I had seen in the last vision, the ones chased away by Cerberus.
“Spies for a known enemy. At first, all he wanted was to find a way to slip into the Gates of the Underworld. But knowing he was no match for Cerberus, he was left to wait and plot. That was until… he saw you .”
I sucked in a quick breath before questioning her even further.
“Me?”
“Anástasi,” she corrected, giving me a sad smile before continuing on with tales of the past.
“He always had self-indulgent ideas of grandeur. Believed he deserved more than the life Fate had handed him. But then having the ancestry he does, then it was only to be expected, I suppose,” she said almost to herself. As if saddened by it all and just by her tone of voice, I could hear the weight of this story with every word spoken.
“His ancestry?” I asked, making her reply not just with an answer but also with an action.
“Come, there is more left to show you.” She then held out her hand for me to take, and a large body of water appeared right in front of us, just like two visions were starting to merge.
I knew water was the key to accessing these memories, like stepping into a library housing pages of the past. Which was why I took her offered hand before we both stepped up to the dark pool. Then she leaned down and let her fingers dance along the surface, causing the world around us to change.
I gasped as that same glittering dust that had taken Anástasi away now swirled around us and left behind an incredible sight. Something that left me standing in awe as suddenly giant, Godly figures dominated the space encompassing us. Meaning this vision exchanged a barren wasteland in Hell for one that couldn’t have been more Heavenly. Especially with each imposing figure sitting upon thrones of white, in what looked like a circular temple. One that was all around us like some colosseum.
It was open above, with surreal clouds of pink and white showing that had sunbeams breaking through. They gleamed down in bright streams, bathing the space in glittering light. The floor mirrored all we saw above, and we now stood in the middle of the pool as it lapped out against the temple floor.
“Long ago, when Titans were the former Gods who ruled before Olympians, they sat upon these thrones, and from their unions came many offspring…” Lerna said and as she spoke, the vision too flowed with her words.
“All twelve Titans were brothers and sisters, each one born from Uranus of the Sky and Gaia of the Earth…” At this the vines that were carved at the bottom of each pure-white marble pillar cracked. Chunks of stone rained down as the vines traveled up the full length of each column, now turning to ropes of shimming golden. At the same time, the sky above cracked with thunder and lightning, as if to emphasize her story.
Then as she continued, two of the Gods, a male and female, each with elements of the sea embellishing their robes, turned to each other and reached out their hands to join. This was done the moment Lerna told me,
“…Many of which became husband and wife, such as two, who were known as Oceanus and Tethys. Together they commanded the oceans and the very water before us you see now.” As she said this, the vision around us began to change once more. Meaning long gone was the sight of the Heavenly temple, but instead, there were now two Gods shown to be in love. Both of them, walking hand in hand in a field of turquoise grass that looked as soft as feathers. A cliff face showed a topaz ocean as far as the eye could see and created a tranquil place for lovers to spend their time.
They looked so peaceful wearing flowing white material catching in the wind, and their presence was calming in the storm that I had a feeling was about to come. I knew that the moment the Goddess Tethys looked back over her shoulder to see another God watching them. One who looked less than pleased. He had his large arms folded where he stood at the top of the steps that led into the colossal temple behind him. The crown of golden leaves on his head painted him to be more in charge than the others I had seen.
“Most wished to live in peace, but some held onto their leadership and power like nothing else mattered. But these former Gods, once so mighty, never expected for their own children to rise up against them and overthrow their rule. Because one above all else became greedy for power over all the cosmos.” I knew instantly she was talking about the one who watched the couple, as if at that time he had already been plotting for more.
“The one known as Cronus seized power from his father Uranus, using his brothers and sister to aid him.” The scene quickly turned to one of war, making me look around us in awe as it all seemed so real that it could have been happening this very instant. Like ants in the middle of a very ancient battlefield, we stood watching it all play out around us.
“But destiny would have it, that Cronus’s own son would rise against him…” At this, a figure arose from the highest point of a burning mountain, the sight of the battle between giants and mythological creatures down below.
“…Zeus the mightiest of his children and the strongest of Olympians led the others to battle.” A thunderbolt crashed into his hand the second he raised it up above him, before then throwing it down into the battling fray.
“A ten-year war was fought, known as the Battle of the Titans, and it finally ended with a victory on the side of Zeus and his siblings. Another leader who put a stop to the reign of terror caused by his father, Cronus, as Fate had spun full circle.” The vision then changed to the one she had named Cronus as he was cast down into a fiery pit of Hell. This was before the championing Gods were replacing those of old by taking their seats in the Temple’s throne room. But then she spoke once more, and the vision disappeared like sand figures carried away with the wind. These soon to be replaced by the two Titans this story seemed to focus on.
“However, before the new era began, Oceanus and Tethys had many offspring, both River Gods and Nymphs. One of which caught the eye of their nephew, and son born from Cronus…”
“Hades.” I heard myself say his name like pieces of this story were coming back to me. Another one of those lost tales told to me many times before being locked away in someone else’s memory.
“Yes, Hades, and a long time ago, the God and ruler of the Underworld first lay eyes on Leuce, who was a Nymph and one of the daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. It was a moment that was said to be instant love for the King of the Dead.” The vision this time changed to a dark figure watching a beautiful woman bathing naked in a crystal-clear lagoon. One that seemed to be touched by the sun’s rays in a Heavenly way, and the forest where Hades hid was dark and foreboding.
“Leuce?” I asked in a reverent way and the second she turned around; the first sight of her face took my breath away. It was a face I recognized, and I instantly followed up the question with the answer.
“Mother.” The lump that formed in my throat made it hard to speak after that, so Lerna did so for me.
“Yes, our mother. She was the most beautiful of the nymphs and as soon as Hades laid eyes on her, he fell deeply in love and quickly stole her away to the Underworld.” I gasped at that, and the sight unraveled to him kidnapping her and stealing her away.
As for Hades, most of him was cloaked in mystery and I still didn’t get a good sight of him, only the way he used shadows to engulf her form and bring her closer. Then darkness warped the image until the sound of labored screams were heard. The black cloud, like some sinister entity, separated in parts and each one showed the glimpse of time passing between them.
“Despite the brutish nature of their meeting, against all odds, she fell madly in love with the God, who wished to have been free enough to treat her like his queen. But alas, one already held that title, and being in the Underworld for so long had warped the once pure heart of Persephone. Another niece of his and daughter of his brother Zeus, who was said to be his first love. Their love faded when his hope of gracing the deathly realm with light and kindness twisted into something darker than even his own soul… and like her father, power and beauty was quickly all her corrupt heart desired.”
The black clouds split revealing images one after the other. The contrast of love was shown as one fought against the other, with snippets of some cruel queen lashing out at her king. The far left was a cloaked Lord holding our mother in his arms, and she was all light to his darkness. In the center was Leuce giving birth, her dark lover never leaving her bedside, and the third was of a cruel looking queen sat among a throne of bone and blood.
“She gave birth to you and I, and knowing of his wife’s cruel nature, he knew it was only a moment of time before she found those he cared deeply for and took her revenge out on them for loving him.” I then watched as a dark figure of a King hung his head in sorrow as he sent the love of his life and two daughters off to what must have been the Elysian Fields.
“Across the river of Acheron we travelled and there, we would find the temple he had built waiting for us. And as for our mother, she too waited for the day that they would be reunited.”
Next, the heartbreaking vision of our mother sat with two babies in her arms, looking out longingly over the river, one that looked as wide as an ocean.
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“We had different theories, you and I. You believed she died of a broken heart, after lifetimes spent waiting for the day that would never come.” I couldn’t help but feel tears arise because I couldn’t image the pain she went through, just waiting for the day the man she loved would come back for her.
“And you, Lerna, what do you believe?” I asked, hearing for myself the way my voice nearly broke. At this she looked back up to the sky where the vision rapidly changed, along with her Heavenly voice, which hardened when she said but one name…
“Persephone.”
I sucked in a quick breath at this before asking,
“You think she got to our mother?”
“I believe her jealousy only strengthened her resolve for revenge,” she told me, and even from just the quick glimpse of her, I couldn’t deny that this might be true.
“What did Hades do when he found out?”
She shook her head as it lowered to look at the ground.
“I don’t know, for to this day, we have never seen our father.”
“What…? Never?” She shook her head again, before going on to tell me, “After that, it was just you and I, until a voice in the night heard your prayers for something more.”
The vision was again back to showing me a glimpse of their meeting, one where Anástasi ended up curled up next to Cerberus.
“And Garmr, where does he fit into all of this?”
“Leuce had many siblings, but only one that was born with a very different bloodline entwined,” she told me, and my surprise was easy to hear.
“A half-brother?”
“And uncle to us both, he was fathered by the God of Mischief himself, as the Norse God Loki often liked to venture out of his own realm and into neighboring ones. As let’s just say his malice and mischief did not end at the boundaries of his own world,” she said with disapproval etched on her face.
“Loki was known as the father of monsters, along with being a powerful shifter of forms. So, when he took one look at the Titaness Tethys, he knew that he wanted a piece of her. However, Tethys was a powerful Goddess, so he also knew that the only way to have her, was to do what he does best. To trick her. Which was why he took the form of her husband, Oceanus, and bedded her.”
“That bastard,” I hissed, making Lerna agree with a nod of her head.
“Once it was revealed what had been done, Tethys gave birth to Garmr in secret and handed him over to Loki, casting him from the Olympian line and what even today he believes is his birth right.”
I started to shake my head at this, feeling the frustration and anger rising before snapping out,
“So that’s why he is doing this, for revenge?!”
“Oh, it is so much more than that, as the moment those scouts spotted you, revenge became the last thing on his mind and nothing but a bonus to the outcome he had long been hoping for.”
I frowned at this and despite knowing that the story was about to get so much worse, I pushed on and asked,
“What happened?”
“Garmr was born a HellHound, some say the counterpart to Cerberus. For he was given to Hel, the Queen of the Norse Underworld, a place called Niflheim, or also known as the World of Darkness.”
“Sounds cheery,” I commented dryly, making her scoff a laugh.
“I doubt it would be, not when it’s known as a place where their people cross over, the ones that do not make it into the halls of Valhalla. The souls of the unheroic dead, such as those who died of sickness or old age, murderers, and adulterers.”
I found myself frowning again before saying,
“Wow, sucks to be a good person and die then.”
“It is why many had a sword placed in their hand when on their deathbed, but yes, I agree. It is also why not all souls residing in Niflheim are bad, just like Hades’ own Underworld.”
“I admit, they do sound very similar,” I agreed, because unlike the version of Hell I was used to hearing about, it didn’t sound as if it was filled with only those that had sinned.
“Indeed, which is why a world of the dead like this also needs its gates guarding.”
“So, Garmr… he was a beast like Cerberus?” I asked, hating to even say the bastard’s name.
“Yes, until Hel discovered his betrayal, for he wished only to accomplish what his father tried and failed to do, which was to bring about the end of all realms. He wished to bring about Ragnarok.”
“Ragnarok?” I questioned, because once again I was out of my mythological depth here.
But then she explained it in terms I would understand and in doing so, giving me something much more to fear…
“Ragnarok is…”
“…The end of the world.”