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Chapter Text

The birth of Aphrodite’s oldest daughters wasn’t heralded by the loud crying of children, the shaking of the earth, or anything of the sort. Their birth was announced by an awkward Helios, asking if he could pick which girl would be his bride or if they would rather choose for him. The two gods, still basking in their afterglow, asked what girls he was talking about.

The Titan of the Sun merely pointed down, and following his finger, Poseidon and Aphrodite finally saw who the blonde was referring to. In the space where the sand meets the sea, stood two confused-looking girls holding each other’s hands.

At first glance, Aphrodite could tell they were newborn goddesses. A pair of divine twins they were, yet they looked as if they were sisters years apart in age. The ‘older’ one took the form of a fourteen-year-old girl, while the ‘younger’ child looked like a six-year-old. 

They’re hers, a possessive part of the goddess of love sang in her head, there’s no way they could not be. They’re too beautiful to have been born solely out of Poseidon, because there’s no way to deny that they’re also his, but that doesn’t matter. It was Aphrodite’s beauty that helped her bed partner father these two beautiful little girls instead of the monsters that usually came out of him.

Before Aphrodite could realize what she was doing, she was already standing in front of her daughters, looking at their beautiful little faces. The older one reminded the goddess of love of herself, which seemed like an odd thing to say when the only thing they have in common is that they’re both beautiful, but it’s the way she carries herself.

Aphrodite’s ‘oldest’ daughter is graceful; she holds herself like a queen holding an audience with her court, even as a newborn. She has long hair, almost to her hips, a beautiful blue color so deep it’s nearly black or so black it’s close to blue. Her eyes were the same color as the seawater surrounding the island.

Then, Aphrodite saw how her ‘youngest’ peaked out from behind her ‘older’ sister and had to hold back a coo. The little one doesn’t have the same innate queenly grace as her sister, but she more than makes up for it with how precious she is. Her hair is pure black, like someone took the night sky and weaved it into her daughter’s head, falling just below her shoulders. Her eyes were of the sea, just like her sister’s, but they flickered as if they hadn't decided which one they’d be just yet.

Her girls were so beautiful Aphrodite could cry, and they were all hers, if it wasn’t for the useless men of her life.

“Marriage? They were just born” Aphrodite hissed at Helios, burning with unexpected anger. Her daughters’ lives had barely started, and they wanted to shackle them already!

“I know” Helios sighed as if this situation of him getting a beautiful bride with the King of the Gods’ annuance is somehow a burden on him ”I was only planning to get a piece of land, not a bride” He explained, only to earn a glare from Aphrodite, Poseidon, and surprisingly enough, even from the ‘youngest’ girl “However, just because it’s unexpected, it does not mean it’s unwanted. I’ll treat your daughter with all the respect my consort deserves.” He quickly recovered with a smile that could be charming, if Aphrodite didn’t feel like tearing his face off.

“And what about the other one? Is it fair for her to lose her birthright because of you?” Aphrodite pointed to her ‘youngest’ child, who’d be robbed of the rightful worship she’d get from her place of birth if she were driven out by the Sun Titan marrying her older sister.

“It’s not mine” The little one said, drawing the eyes of everyone present. “The island is Rhodes” She mumbled, once again hiding behind the ‘older’ one.

“Perseira” The older one said, patting the top of her little sister’s head. “How can you say that, you were born with me, you’re also part of the island” She said softly to her ‘younger’ twin, eyeing nervously all the other gods around them.

“Maybe, but it’s yours, I can feel it” Perseira insisted. “Besides, you’re gonna get married to the shiny man.” Aphrodite could see Helios slowly mouthing the words ‘shiny man’ to himself. “And the island is your dowry. It’s not mine, and I don’t want what’s not mine” She stubbornly declared.

“There’s no need for us to be so extreme” Helios said, kneeling so he could be on the same eye level as his little sister-in-law “im not a tyrant” He said, laughing softly when he saw how the young one stared at him suspiciously “The Island may be your sister, but you were still born here, Perseira Rhodius, and I’ll not rob you off of it”

“You’re gonna be the major god worshipped here” Perseira said with finality, not complaining or self-pitying, but stating a fact.

“I know” Helios shrugged. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll forbid the worship of other gods. Besides, isn’t it a boon that my land is also the birthplace of my cute sister-in-law?” He winked conspiratorially at the young girl whose face momentarily softened, before it went right back into her stubborn pout.

The scene was nice, admittedly so, but it still does not erase that this Sun Titan is trying to wed Aphrodite’s newborn daughter, and the girl’s useless father is not saying anything about that. While the trio was having their little moment, Aphrodite called the earth shaker to the side and asked him:

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” She hissed at him, glaring at the man because why would he stay quiet when their daughters were being stolen?

“What do you want me to say?” Poseidon hissed back “Zeus already decided this marriage will happen, we just got out of war and can’t afford a conflict with another Titan!”

“So, you’ll let him take away both of our newborns?”

“Of course not! Only Rhodes is his bride, I’ll take Perseira—”

“You’ll not, you decided Rhodes’ marriage, and I can’t fight you on that, but Perseira is mine” Aphrodite interrupted him, not wanting to let her ‘youngest’ daughter be taken from her. She couldn’t save Rhodes from her impending marriage, not with the smitten way the girl started to look at Helios as he was talking to Perseira, but she could take her ‘youngest’.

“She’s my daughter, Aphrodite; she belongs with me under the sea” Poseidon shot back.

“You mean the kingdom you still have to settle? Oceanus was locked away, but you still have to establish yourself as King” Aphrodite reasoned with Poseidon, leaning closer to him with a conspiratory grin, she added “Besides, I heard you’ve got eyes for a certain daughter of Nereus” She said, running her finger across Poseidon’s chest, right where his heart would be, if he had one “Why don’t I help you with that?”

“What exactly are you saying?” Poseidon said, grasping her finger as he looked inside of her eyes with a serious expression, but Aphrodite could see the gleam of interest shining in the depths of his eyes.

“Something beneficial for the two of us” Aphrodite smiled, intertwining her fingers with his. “You go establish your kingdom, I’ll help you get your bride, but, in return, I want to be the one who’ll raise Perseira.”

“Are you truly going to deny your daughter a father who wants to raise her, Aphrodite? Will you be the one to tell her that because of your selfishness, she doesn’t have more people to love her?” Poseidon taunted, hitting the goddess of love right where it hurts, but she’s not backing down just yet.

“Of course not, I wouldn’t be so cruel” She smiled innocently at this stubborn god “Perseira is still a young child who needs the type of attention that you wouldn’t be able to provide at the moment” She sighed, putting her free hand over her chest “What I’m offering is this: I’ll raise our daughter while you go establish your household, and once you’re done, you’ll come to me and we’ll split custody of her” Giggling, she also said “Of course, since I want my daughter to have full family on both sides, I’ll help you with your pursuit of that daughter of Nereus”

“That—that sounds doable” Poseidon said, and Aphrodite was surprised to see how much she could see Perseira in his expression. “However, I have a request: I’m Perseira’s only father, whatever husband or lover you decide to have will remind himself of that.”

“Are you saying I’m not allowed to bring the ones I love around my daughter?”

“I do not care what happens inside or outside of your bedroom, but I’m the only man who’ll decide matters like marriage for my daughter, and I’m the only man she has to listen to.” Poseidon apparently felt very strongly about no other man being allowed to discipline his children. Good to know.

“That’s acceptable” Aphrodite said, also not being willing to allow any man to have unearned authority over her child.

After that conversation, Aphrodite took little Perseira back to her home in Cyprus. Separating the newborn twins involved some tears and many promises to visit one another, but it was easier than she expected. Perseira did have a few tears in her eyes as she said goodbye to her twin and their birthplace, but she seemed to easily accept that newlyweds need time to themselves.

Having her little daughter live with her was a new experience for Aphrodite, probably because the goddess of love had never raised a child before. She’s never had anything against children; she just never had them before, but Aphrodite always thought it’d be interesting to feel the difference between motherly love versus the romantic love she’s so used to.

And if she were being completely honest? Motherhood made Aphrodite realize that she hadn’t been loving her lovers with all of herself like she always thought she did. Does she have any intention to change what she’s been doing up until now? Of course not, it’s not Aphrodite’s fault that it took making the most beautiful little girl in existence for her to realize every other love she ever had was pleasing at best.

“Mama, how do you want your hair?” Perseira asked, and Aphrodite couldn’t see her daughter’s face, but she knew her sweet little thing was making the same expression her father does when he’s concentrating on something. While it made Poseidon look intimidating, it made Aphrodite’s little Perseira look heartbreakingly adorable.

“Hum” Aphrodite hummed, in fake deep thought. “Whatever my little attendant thinks would make me look the prettiest” She exclaimed with a clap of her hands.

“Mama would look the prettiest either way” Her sweet daughter replied with a matter-of-fact tone, but her hands quickly got to work as she attempted to recreate a braid she saw one of her mother’s nymphs doing on her.

Perseira’s a genuinely sweet child, and Aphrodite is not ashamed to say she has no idea where she got that from. The little goddess can be shy and a bit awkward with her words, but she somehow manages to be as kind as she’s beautiful. That, Aphrodite thinks, is a feat because for all that her daughter doesn’t seem to notice her own appearance, Perseira is an incredibly beautiful little goddess.

Which is why she got a surprise when her sweet little girl suddenly attacked one of her nymphs.

“M—my Lady, please help! Lady Perseira has—” The nymph started, only to be silenced by a glare from the always smiling Aphrodite. The nymph looked like a proper mess; the goddess of love has high standards of presentation for her attendants, so the sight was already offensive enough, but then the nymph also offended the usually easy-going Perseira, so the goddess of love is not feeling inclined to kindness towards this being.

“Perse” Aphrodite kneeled to her daughter’s level and looked at her little girl’s face. “Can you tell your mama what happened?” She asked in a soft voice, tilting her daughter’s face by the chin to see her eye-to-eye and check if she had not gotten hurt in the scuffle. She didn’t.

“She wanted to hurt you” Perseira said, the tides in her eyes turning violent as she spoke those words, turning to glare at the nymph once again. “My mother allowed you the honor to serve her; she clothed and fed your pathetic self! Instead of being thankful for it, you turn around and try to hurt her! Didn’t your whore of a mother teach you about loyalty, or was she too busy trying to remember which donkey fathered you?!” She glowered at the cowering attendant.

Oh, dear, that’s where Aphrodite’s and Poseidon’s personalities went.

“My love, how about you explain to your mama what happened?” Aphrodite smiled down at her daughter, only to turn to look at the nymph who looked like she wanted to protest and said, “Quiet.” 

“I—I felt she was bad” Perseira admitted. “I don’t know why, but out of all of your nymphs, she felt the most disloyal. I could ignore that, but that feeling started getting worse every day; it was eating me alive. So, I started following her around, and found her meeting with one of your suitors, that one you rejected for being too annoying” Aphrodite remembers that one, they had barely met and he already expressed jealousy over all her other suitors, and even her daughter “I heard her plans of leading you outside of the palace, and feeding you a sleeping potion disguised in a pastry so h—he could…” Perseira trailed off, anger filling her eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the rest.

Aphrodite had to laugh, she laughed, laughed, and laughed as if it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. Once she finally stopped, Aphrodite patted her daughter’s head for being such a good girl to her mother, before roughly kicking the face of the nymph still lying on the ground.

“Oh dear, that’s what I get for being so kind—” Kick  “I kindly accept you into my household as an attendant—” Stomp, kick, stomp “Fed and clothed you. Yet on top of betraying me, you still have the nerve to upset my daughter.” Kick, kick, kick. “You even dirtied my skin and clothes with your disgusting blood. Have you got no shame?” Aprodite glared down at the bloody mess on the floor. It was not even twitching, but the goddess of love knew she didn’t hit enough to kill.

Aphrodite could have found another way to immediately punish that errant servant, but she was feeling quite aggrieved and had to vent her anger in a way that would momentarily satisfy her. She’ll give this nymph a proper punishment later.

“Perse, my love” Aphrodite said, dropping to her daughter’s level and hugging her sweet little girl. “You truly are your mama’s pride and joy” She complimented, kissing her daughter’s cheeks and leaning back to watch her baby’s beautiful face.

“I am?” She asked, confused, as if she didn’t expect to be told that.

“Of course you are” She exclaimed, getting up, carrying her child in her arms. “My sweet girl, you did so much to protect me, but next time don’t take such risks” She said, stepping over the still body of the traitorous nymph. “Next time you suspect a servant, you can just tell me, and your mama will get rid of them” Aphrodite cooed to her child. 

“And, what if I get it wrong?” Perseira asked, brows furrowing, and Aphrodite did not bother to resist the urge to kiss between them. 

“I don’t think you will” Aphrodite assured her, and she wasn’t lying. The way her daughter looked when admonishing the servant, the way her eyes changed, it made Aphrodite suspect that her child had found her domain—”And even if you were wrong, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll love you either way” She shrugged.

“You’ll love me even when I’m wrong?” Perseira asked.

“Oh, my darling, that’s when love truly flourishes.” Aphrodite winked down at the little girl in her arms, earning a shy smile in return. “Will you help your mama choose a new outfit for the day?” She asked her daughter, figuring that since she’ll have to change out of her clothes soaked with the nymph’s ichor, she might as well play with her child while at it.

“Uhum.” Perseira nodded eagerly, earning herself another kiss on the forehead from her mother.

Truly, motherhood is one of the most rewarding things in Aphrodite's life, but it also brought her a whole new set of worries she never imagined having. Although she did not raise Rhodes, Aphrodite still gets worried whenever she visits her daughter and sees the state of her marriage.

Do not misunderstand her, Helios may be a disgusting cad who stole Aphrodite's oldest daughter moments after her birth, but he does not mistreat Rhodes or treat her with any less respect than what she deserves as his wife; it's just that…he clearly does not love her. That alone infuriates Aphrodite, that Sun Titan should thank the fates every day that he was able to snag Rhodes, but he’s still too hung up on his late wife, the Oceanid Perseis, to appreciate his perfect bride.

Of course, Aphrodite offered to make Helios fall in love with Rhodes, but her oldest refused, saying she wasn’t going to lower herself to beg for her husband’s affections. Aphrodite respected her daughter’s wishes, but it still got her thinking, this time about her youngest.

Perseira wouldn’t be able to take unrequited love in her marriage. Aphrodite knows her daughter enough to know that she’d likely fade out of grief if she had to endure the same fate as her twin sister. Her sweet little girl, who’s been growing more and more each day, will never have to put up with loving and not being loved back if Aphrodite has any say about it.

Her youngest daughter's growth is a reason for celebration, but also plenty of worry for Aphrodite. Turns out that Perseira’s sweetness is not a strange quirk of children she’ll outgrow given time; her daughter’s a genuinely sweet and kind girl who’ll only hurt people if it’s to defend others or herself. It sounds admirable, but the thing is that such women rarely lead happy lives.

Oh my, Aphrodite should focus less on her motherly worries and more on the reasons her daughter gives for her to celebrate. For example, after the incident with the attendant, Perseira awakened her first domain: loyalty. Once again, the goddess of love has no idea where she got it from, but it certainly wasn’t from Poseidon, and she’s self-aware enough to know it was also not inherited from her.

Speaking of Perseira’s father, just like Aphrodite had initially suspected, the man has completely forgotten about their youngest child. The goddess of love is not as angry about that as one could assume, after all, her initial plan of having Perseira all to herself for as long as she can is working out seamlessly. Poseidon is not a bad father, all things considered, but when Aphrodite offered their ‘custody’ deal regarding Perseira, she knew something like this would happen.

Between building his kingdom, taking control of the seas, courting the beautiful Nereid of his dreams, establishing his household, and visiting Rhodes to make sure Helios knows not to mistreat their daughter, Aphrodite had assumed he’d end up neglecting Perseira enough so she could selfishly hog their daughter as long as possible. 

The goddess of love did not expect her former lover to completely forget their daughter, which she knows he did for one simple reason: Poseidon’s daughter with his wife, Amphitrite, was given to the giant Briareus as a prize for winning the war. If Poseidon had indeed remembered Perseira, at the very least, Zeus would also know about Aphrodite’s sweet little girl and think she’d be the perfect bride for that brute of a giant instead of Poseidon’s…spirited daughter. 

Well, Aphrodite is not complaining; she’d rather have other people’s daughters suffering than her own. If Poseidon’s neglect saved her daughter from marrying an ugly, smelly, giant, then the goddess would be thankful that he is the way he is.

While Aphrodite has been keeping her daughter’s existence under wraps to not call attention to her sweet little girl, she hasn’t been keeping Perseira completely isolated. Rhea has met her granddaughter and completely adored the little girl who looks so much like her son, but with a sweeter personality that no one is quite sure where she got it from.

“Maybe she took after Hestia” Rhea had commented, watching as Perseira put a baby bird back in its nest after it fell off,

Dione has also met Perseira, but that was more because Aphrodite wanted to show off her first child to the woman who took such good care of her when she first emerged from the sea. The oceanid had taken one look at Perseira and declared that only Aphrodite could make such a beautiful child, but she also had a laughing fit when she heard that the little girl’s domain was loyalty.

“Goodness, in a few years this is going to be the best joke to tell at parties” The oceanid said, wiping the tears she got from how hard she had laughed.

Then there was Phoebe and her daughters, Asteria and Leto. In all honesty, Phoebe only got to find out about Perseira because Rhea wanted to show off her granddaughter to her sister, and Aphrodite agreed because her daughter should be shown off, but also because Phoebe had two daughters around Perseira’s age who immediately loved Aphrodite’s daughter at first sight.

“Perse, Perse.” The redheaded girl, Asteria, clung to one of the goddess of loyalty’s arms during one of her visits. “C’mon, you have to judge mine and Leto’s archery contest.”

“I don’t know why you’re so eager to have Perseira watch you lose, sister, but I’ll gladly oblige with your wishes” The blond girl Leto said, clinging to Perseira’s other arm.

“You guys know I’m terrible at archery, right?” Perseira asked, letting herself be dragged by her two little friends.

“We know” “It does not matter” The two girls said, as they dragged Aphrodite’s daughter off to play, or ‘play’, whatever they decided to do.

That little encounter led to the discovery of Perseira’s second domain, love at first sight. Finding that out made Aphrodite deliriously happy; of course, her daughter has something of hers to carry around! But, Perseira, being the shy child she is, only wanted to know how to control it instead of embracing it.

“I don’t want to make people accidentally fall for me” Her daughter explained, looking down at her feet.

“Oh, my love” Aphrodite said, tilting her daughter’s head to meet her gaze. “With how beautiful you are, people will love you no matter what you do, but Mama will teach you so no accidents happen” She soothed her anxious child. 

Life’s good, amazingly so, but of course someone had to ruin it.

It was a sunny day, Perseira was playing in the fountain one of Aphrodite’s lovers commissioned for her in front of the palace. The goddess of love was watching her daughter from a distance, for no reason in particular other than to appreciate the child she brought into this world. The sun was pleasantly warm, the birds were singing a sweet tune, and Aphrodite’s child was safe and happy within her line of sight when it happened.

She noticed him before he noticed her, and for that, Aphrodite will always be grateful. He was a giant, tall and strong, with a rather ugly face, hidden behind a thick brown beard that was as curly as the hairs on his head. The giant was resting on the highest branches of one of the trees surrounding Aphrodite’s palace. He wasn’t doing anything, but Aphrodite instinctively felt the hairs on her arm rise when she saw the way he was watching, not her, but Perseira. It was the look of a man in love.

Love at first sight, that’s Perseira’s domain, and now that Aphrodite is feeling panic rising in her chest, she finally understands why her daughter seemed so afraid of it.

“My love” She called out to her daughter with a sing-song voice that did not betray her feelings. “You’ve already played enough for the day.” Aphrodite appeared in front of her and naturally picked up the soaked little girl, unaware that Perseira’s current size makes the sight a bit silly.

“You need help applying rouge again, mama?” Perseira asked, not fighting against her mother’s hold.

“How did you guess?” Aphrodite laughed, twirling her child around in her arms. The goddess of love made sure that she knew exactly where the giant was before transporting herself and her daughter back to the safety of her domain.

Clearly, Aphrodite needs to get rid of some trash.
_________________________________________________________________________

Poseidon feels like he’s forgotten something.

It’s a feeling that’s been nagging his brain for a long time. Well, maybe not for a god, but long enough that even after he was done building his kingdom and establishing his household, he couldn’t help but think he was forgetting something, and that was driving him mad. Even his wife, Amphitrite, noticed something was bothering him, but when she asked, the son of Rhea genuinely could not find an answer.

Amphitrite, the King of the Seas, couldn’t help but smile when he thought about his wife. Although Aphrodite hadn’t in fact lied to him when she said she’d help him win over his bride, his lady still put up a fight, not being too fond of the constraints of marriage due to her seeing how male gods treat their wives. 

The Nereid loves him, just like how the goddess of love had promised, but that still did not mean she was initially willing to wed him. Poseidon bitterly found that out when he went to propose marriage and she looked at him with those love-filled eyes, and promptly replied “No” before swimming away like her life depended on it. 

The rejection was awful, the earth shaker had to admit; it hurt even more than when Hestia had rejected his suit. He truly loved Amphitrite, and he knew she loved him back. Because of that, getting rejected by her was actually one of the worst moments in his life, and Poseidon was famously cannibalized by his own father.

It all worked out in the end. Delphin, Poseidon’s lieutenant, went to the goddess and convinced her to have a conversation, potentially even give him a second chance, and that worked. Amphitrite is a graceful, quiet goddess who’s surprisingly direct once she drops her initial shyness. She did not refuse Poseidon due to a lack of feelings on her part; she refused him after seeing how male gods treat their wives, and deciding she did not desire to have anything to do with it. 

Amphitrite is of the sea, a woman she may be, but there’s nothing more that she values than her own freedom, and she’d rather suffer away without her love than wither away without her freedom. 

Other men would have found that revolting, or even just some useless blabber, but Poseidon couldn’t have been more sure that he’d found his perfect match if he tried. He did not want a wife he could treat as one would a puppet. He did not want a docile doll, so easy to control that she’d accept whatever he said. Poseidon wanted his regal, sharp-tongued, independent Amphtrite, who didn’t care what he did outside of the marriage home as long as she had her freedom.

The sea does not like to be restrained, and that applies even to marriages, which brings him to his current issue.

Shortly after their marriage, Amphtrite had given him a daughter, a beautiful girl they named Kymopoleia. From the moment she was born, his daughter had been…difficult to say the least. The girl was not born fully formed like Rhodes had been; Kymopoleia was actually born a babe who grew into her adult form in less than two years, which is nothing too unusual, but the issue is that the girl never outgrew the clumsiness of a child.

From windows to rooms, and even an odd coral reef here and there, Poseidon’s daughter is a clumsy young lady with a bad temper and a domain over violent storms. The only time when she’s not clumsy, and accidentally breaking things she shouldn’t is when she’s fighting with her trident and breaking people on purpose.

Personally, Poseidon never had a great issue with his daughter; she is the way she is, and he’s not going to waste energy trying to change how she is. At least, Kymopoleia is strong and not one to let anyone push her around, and the King of the Seas finds those things great characteristics to have.

The issue is that he’s having to deal with the tantrum she’s throwing over her marriage to Briares.

Fucking Zeus, who decided to reward the giant for his loyalty to their cause during the Titanomachy, decided that the perfect gift for that would be Poseidon’s most troublesome daughter. The king’s excuse was that he had not impregnated his wife, Metis, just yet, and it’d be disgraceful to give such a loyal man like Briares an ill-begotten bride, so his niece was the next best thing he could give the man.

That’s a load of bullshit, and Poseidon is not dumb enough to believe in it. His best guess is that his brother is hoping that being a wife will calm down Kymolopeia’s moods, or that she’ll find a way to kill the giant before he eventually becomes a problem. It’s a toss-up at this point.

In any case, Poseidon likes Briares. He can see the giant is a good man and will not mistreat his daughter…he only hopes that whatever children they have do not look anything like their father. Well, as long as the one getting beaten in that marriage is not his daughter, Poseidon supposes he can live with the ugly grandchildren.

The one suffering more with that marriage is not even Kymolopeia, it’s Poseidon’s wife, who’s been having to deal with their destructive daughter’s moods on top of having to deal with their newborn son, Triton, who, unlike his sisters, is still in his baby form even months after his birth.

So, to ease the burden on his wife, and Kymopoleia too, he supposed, Poseidon went to ask Aphrodite if she could make Kympoleia fall for Briares. It was a solid idea. If his daughter came to love the giant, then she’d finally stop her ongoing tantrum, and Amphitrite would be able to focus on Triton, who’s an exceedingly clingy child. 

It was a great plan, which he completely forgot about as soon as he saw the reason why his mind kept nagging at him, saying he forgot something; his daughter with Aphrodite, Perseira.

He saw her before she saw him. At the entrance of her mother’s palace in Cyprus, Perseira was lying on her stomach on the side of a foundation. The young goddess was moving her index finger in a circular motion, drawing random shapes in the water without ever touching it, while one of her mother’s doves sat at home on top of her unbound hair.

Poseidon’s daughter was no longer the shy newborn goddess hiding behind her older sister; Perseira was now a beautiful young girl. Despite how young her form is, now looking like she was about 12 years old, the lord of brine could see that his daughter was almost the mirror image of her grandmother, with some echoes of Aphrodite in her appearance.

She was dressed in a light pink peplos, something similar to what he’d seen Aphrodite draped in before when she felt like being dressed. Unlike her mother, Perseira was wearing minimal jewelry, a golden bangle around her wrist and a red rose arm clasp.

His daughter grew up so much since the last time Poseidon saw her—

“She’s a beautiful little thing, isn’t she?” Aphrodite said, appearing by his side, her appearance changing to look like Amphtrite, but the look in her eyes gave away her identity. “Of course, there’s no other thing she could have been with me as her mother” She gloated with a proud look in her eyes, but her eyes softened as she glanced at their girl.

“She’s also my daughter” Poseidon said with no heat.

“Fancy words from someone who just remembered her existence” Aphrodite shrugged, gesturing for him to follow her.

“Was it something of your doing?” Poseidon asked, taking one last glance at his little girl before going to follow her blasted mother into her palace’s garden “Aphrodite, I asked you—”

“Of course not” Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “My domain is love. If you wish to ask about lost memories, you’ll have to seek out Mnemosyne ” She said, dramatically summoning a pair of lounge sofas for them to sit on.

“Then how could you have known that I forgot about her?” Poseidon insisted, unwilling to accept that he had forgotten a child he had wanted to raise.

“It was an educated guess” Aphrodite said, rolling her eyes when she saw the way Poseidon stared at her. “You never came back for her, dear, even after your kingdom and household were already established. We had thought—”

“We? What do you mean by ‘we’?” Poseidon asked with urgency, hoping it’s not what he thinks it is.

“Perseira and I” Aphrodite said with a sheepish smile.

“Aphrodite, you mean to tell me that my daughter is aware I’ve forgotten about her?”

“How could she not be? When at every opportunity possible, you’ve shown her that her existence was completely forgotten?’’ Aphrodite snipped “I even tried to tell her that maybe things were complicated under the sea, but then you went to visit Rhodes…”She trailed with an awkward look on her perfect face. “It was easier to tell Perseira that you forgot about her than the alternative.”

“Which would be?” Poseidon pressed, wanting to know what would be worse than a daughter of his thinking he’s forgotten her.

“That you found her lacking.” 

“Why would you tell our daughter that? What kind of mother are you?”

“Poseidon, I’m trying to be kind due to our shared daughters, but watch how you speak to me” Aphrodite said through gritted teeth, her beautiful face distorting with barely concealed anger “You do not get to question me as a mother, when you haven’t even been a father to my Perseira” Her voiced echoed through the garden, before it all went away and once again she was in her normal mood “Understood?” She asked with a smile.

“Understood” Poseidon said, choosing his battles. He doesn’t need Aphrodite’s rage directed at him.

“Glad that we agree then.” Aphrodite smiled brightly at him, plucking a rose from her garden, she brought it to her nose and inhaled. “And to answer your question, I didn’t have to tell Perseira that you found her lacking; she thought that on her own.” She sighed, slumping her shoulders

“Are we sure she came to that conclusion all on her own? I struggle to see how a child raised by you could have possibly thought that about herself” Poseidon questioned, knowing that a child raised by Aphrodite will sooner suffer from an inflated ego than from a low sense of self-worth.

“I had the same idea, I actually wondered if one of my attendants or lovers were saying something foul to her without my knowledge, but the answer was no”  The goddess of love sighed, pressing the rose against her chest “Then I asked her if she resented you, your family, or even Rhodes for the neglect, and you know what she said, Poseidon?” Without even giving the god time to answer, Aphrodite continued “Perseira said that she can’t blame you for ‘not liking her’ and she even looked offended when I asked if she resented your wife, her twin, or even your other children!” Aphrodite lamented, looking uneasy as she clutched the rose in her palm. “Do you understand? Our daughter will sooner loathe herself than those who wrong her!” 

Without thinking twice, Poseidon pulled Aphrodite against his chest and started comforting his child’s mother as his mind raced with the information she just provided. He should be happy that Perseira does not hate him for forgetting about her, but what Aphrodite just said worries him even more. It’s great that his Perseira is a sweet child, but the world is not kind to sweet women. 

Mercy is only good to those who receive it. Poseidon’s fully aware of that, but he’s never minded being a hypocrite. He’ll take advantage of his daughter’s merciful nature, but he’ll not take without giving.

“As her parents” Poseidon started, determination filling his veins “It’ll be our duty to correct the wrongs made against our daughter. We’ll defend her even when she’s unlikely to defend herself.”

“Oh, Poseidon” Aphrodite said, delicately wiping her tears from his chest “I’m so glad that you said that, our Perse does not deserve anything less.” She smiled at him with the same smile he loves seeing in his wife’s face, but another thing caught his attention.

“Perse?”

“That’s Perseira’s nickname” Aphrodite said, summoning a bronze mirror to fix her appearance. “Our daughter really enjoys being called that“ She said, snapping the mirror away.

“What is she like?” Poseidon asked, he shamefully does not know anything about his daughter. He never even heard rumors about her, which is quite unusual, seeing that her mother is Aphrodite.

“Oh, Poseidon, she’s such a sweet child” Aphrodite sighed, leaning into Poseidon’s chest “I don’t know which ones of us she got it from, maybe it came from Hestia or even Lady Rhea, but Perseira’s just the sweetest” Aphrodite played with the fabric of Poseidon’s chiton tied around his hips as she spoke “But do not get fooled by her sweet face and demeanor, our daughter’s also very protective” She spoke as if she was letting the King of the Seas in a secret.

“Truly?” Poseidon’s starting to feel curious

“Yes, and you wouldn’t expect it” Aphrodite giggled. “This one suitor of mine was making a fuss at the entrance of the palace, near the fountain she likes to play in. Well, at some point he started to say some crude things about me, and before I could even deal with him, Perseira drowned him” The goddess of love recalled with a fond smile “She then took his sword, said if he ever came back she’d use it to hack him into pieces and then send him back to whatever hole he crawled out from ”

“She did so?” Poseidon said, surprising himself with how proud he was. His daughter may not be the type to defend herself, but at least she’s capable of doing so if the situation calls for it.

“She did” Aphrodite had a proud smile on her face “She’s quite good with the sword too, even when sparring it’s like fighting against a hurricane” She happily sighed, before turning to Poseidon “You should give her a proper sword, it’ll be a great gift for when you introduce yourself to her” The goddess of love advised.

“I’ll do so” Poseidon hummed, his daughters seem to tend to like their weapons, except for Rhodes, but she’s always had the poise of a queen like her mothers. “Has Perse manifested a domain yet?” He suddenly asked, not exactly expecting anything too grand, seeing that his daughter’s twin, Rhodes, also did not manifest any grand domain.

“She did” Aphrodite said, a jubilant smile spreading across her cheeks. “My Perseira—” Poseidon noticed a bit amused that when she’s especially proud of their daughter, Aphrodite wholly claims her to herself “—Has manifested two domains ever since she’s come to live with me” She said with no small amount of flourish.

“She did?” Poseidon asked, intrigued yet proud. “What are her domains?” He was curious to know what domains his child has. Most minor gods are born without a domain. If they’re really lucky, they’ll get a minor domain related to nature or the place they were born; otherwise, they’re as good as nymphs. 

“Love at first sight” Aphrodite said, clearly delighting in every syllable of her sentence. “As you can see, my beautiful girl took after her mother” The goddess of love said with plenty of mirth. 

“I take it Perseira’s delighted at that?” Poseidon was slightly amused seeing Aphrodite’s display of motherly pride.

“Oh, I wish” Aphrodite sighed, propping her head onto her hand. “Perseira’s a surprisingly shy child. When she discovered her domain, the first thing she did was ask if there was a way she could control it.” Aphrodite shook her head as she tutted “Of course, I taught her how to control it as much as possible, but how can you control something as unpredictable as love at first sight? If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

“She’s a thoughtful child” Poseidon nodded, privately thankful that he doesn’t have to worry about Perseira enjoying her domain to the point it becomes an issue; he’s already dealing with Kymopoleia. “That was her first domain then?”

“No” Aphrodite trailed off, her face adopting an awkward look. “Love at first sight is our daughter’s second domain, her first one is the reason why I’ve been keeping her existence under wraps for the most part” She said, fiddling with her own hands.

“What is Perseira’s first domain?” Poseidon asked, feeling his chest filling with worry. A god’s first domain is their identity, what they’ll be known for the rest of their existence. There are some exceptions, there always are, but that’s the rule. If Perseira’s domain was so bad that Aphrodite was reluctant to speak of it—

“Loyalty” Aphrodite said, laughing in an almost hysterical way. “Poseidon, the two of us made loyalty” The goddess said as if it was both the funniest and worst thing she’s ever had to say.

Loyalty is a great domain. The type that’d have Perseria be a well-regarded goddess, welcomed in whatever court she ever decided to join in the future, with an almost guaranteed spot as the favorite of any king, and with how beautiful she is, Poseidon’s daughter could even become a queen in the future.

That destiny is something truly worthy for the little girl who’d gladly fight with everything she has to protect her mother, yet together with the wave of pride Poseidon felt wash over him, he also felt in equal parts a sense of dread. That domain is a double-edged sword; it’s terrible for the same reasons it’s great.

If it were solely the domain of loyalty, Poseidon would have been worried, but it was the blasted mixture of loyalty and first love that was making him think about the worst possibilities. If it were solely loyalty, Perseira would have likely been competing for the second most sought-after bride in Greece, together with Poseidon’s own sister.

Now you mix loyalty and love at first sight together—

“I know that face, and I thought the same thing too” Aphrodite sighed, hugging Poseidon’s waist as she rested her head against his shoulder, her long hair tickling his back. “Our poor daughter, Poseidon, how much do you think she’ll suffer because of her beauty and domains?” The goddess of love lamented as she hugged him tight. “I can’t even take my poor Perseira to visit her twin sister because I’m so worried about our son-in-law trying to claim rights over a second bride” She started to cry, causing Poseidon to panic both at her words and his children’s mother’s tears.

“He wouldn’t dare” Poseidon protested. “That Sun Titan will stay clear off our daughter, he’s already got the perfect bride in Rhodes, Aphrodite” He said, hugging the crying goddess. “Our daughter will not suffer” Poseidon promised, both to his former lover and himself.

“But what if she has to wed like our Rhodes, or even your other daughter, Kymopoleia?” Aphrodite asked, looking up at him with tears falling freely down her perfect cheeks.

“Zeus already took two daughters from me. If he wants another marriage to happen, he’ll have to go out and beget the bride himself” Poseidon said. “If it depends on me, our daughter will never experience being married against her will” The King of the Seas declared.

“Oh, Poseidon, I knew I could trust you.” She snuggled deeper into his arms.

_________________________________________________________________________

Amphitrite has no illusions about the type of man she married; she may love Poseidon more than she’s ever loved anyone in her life, but she’s deeply aware that, as much as her husband returns her feelings, he’ll never be faithful to her.

That thought should hurt her, and sometimes it really did, but Amphitrite’s always been a realistic goddess. In fact, she actually considers herself to be quite lucky when it comes to her marriage to Poseidon. He respects, allows her the freedom she so needs, and although faithful he’ll never be, she’s never been made to welcome his mistresses or bastards into her household, at least until today.

Amphitrite had finished dealing with another one of Kymopoleia’s tantrums when Delphin came to announce her husband’s return, which wouldn’t be too big of a concern if it weren’t for the dolphin asking her to listen to her husband before jumping to any conclusions. Of course, that was the worst thing her husband's lieutenant could say because that just made her expect the worst, and that’s what she got.

Her husband had brought a bastard home; he brought home a child he had made with another woman while married to her.

The child was a small thing, even though she was standing at her full height; the little girl only came to Poseidon’s waist. Her stepdaughter’s hair was so dark it resembled the night sky, sea green eyes that seemed to imitate the calmest tides, and a face that both held a great resemblance to her mother-in-law and a childish charm of its own, with her rosy, chubby cheeks and the way she looked around the throne room in wonder. Although she was born out of betrayal, Amphitrite had to admit she was quite the precious thing that held a great resemblance to both her husband and his beloved mother.

It’s no wonder Poseidon brought her over to Atlantis; at least Amphitrite can comfort herself that it’s not a boy to challenge Triton’s place as heir before she goes to ask her husband what on earth he was thinking bringing a bastard into her household.

“Husband” Amphitrite announced her presence, tearing her eyes away from her stepdaughter to address the cad she chose to marry. “Welcome back“ She greeted him with a nod, not saying anything more, so as to let the man she married explain himself.

“My love” Poseidon greeted her warmly, like he wasn’t bringing over the child of his latest indiscretion into their household. “I’d like to introduce you to Rhodes’ twin, Perseira” He said, gesturing to the little girl standing next to him.

“I wasn’t aware Rhodes had a twin” Amphitrite said, stepping closer to examine the little girl who was her children’s older sister. 

“Father also forgot” Perseira said, right before putting her hands over her mouth like she wasn’t supposed to say that, then looked up at Amphitrite with the same look she’s seen from her children when they’re caught being naughty. “Sorry…my lady?” The little goddess said the last part like a question, clearly unsure of what to call her

“Perse” Poseidon’s voice cut through the moment before Amphitrite could even answer as he looked down at his daughter with an almost soft smile “Why don’t you let Delphin take you out to play? Father will talk to your stepmother about some important matters” He said

“Ok” Perseira nodded, before adopting a doubtful look on her face as she stared at her father. “We’ll do what you promised later, right?” She asked, looking adorably suspicious at her Poseidon.

“Of course we will” Poseidon said, looking down amused at the little goddess questioning him. “We’ll go later, promise” He said, then he did the oddest thing. The king of the Seas crouched down to his daughter’s level and intertwined his pinky finger with hers in a display that was as comic as it was heartwarming.

“Pinky promise” Perseira declared with a serious look on her sweet face before swimming away to join Delphin. “I’ll take my leave. Father, Queen Amphitrite.” She nodded to each one of them before swimming away from the throne, leaving the two older gods to it.

“She warmed up to you rather quickly” Poseidon commented with a charming smile, but the queen of the seas was not going to entertain this charade.

“I’m glad that is the case, seeing I was unaware that Rhodes had a twin” Amphitrite replied, staring unamused at her cad of a husband. “I have to ask: are you counting on her to cover for you and agree that girl is her twin, or do you expect me to believe that you genuinely forgot you had a daughter that was our oldest’s twin?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at how stupid her husband thinks she is.

“As embarrassing as it is to admit, I indeed forgot about Perseira after leaving her with her mother” Poseidon coughed, trying to cover the flush rising on his cheeks “The original arrangement had been that Perseira would stay with her mother while I established my kingdom and built my household under the sea, but so many things happened that I ended up…forgetting about my daughter” He said, wincing at the end.

“And why did I never hear about Perseira before? Even though gossip” Amphitrite questioned, Poseidon forgetting about his daughter is one thing she could believe, she doesn’t have the highest opinion on men, but Perseira’s mother is Aphrodite. 

From the second the goddess of love emerged from the sea, the only thing that accompanies her more than the gaggle of lovestruck suitors she accumulated in her short time on earth, is the rumors. Amphitrite struggles to believe that if Perseira was indeed Rhodes’ twin, there wouldn’t have been any rumors about Aphrodite raising a beautiful little girl on her own.

“Aphrodite had been keeping Perseira’s existence under wraps due to our daughter’s domains” Poseidon explained, running his hand through his hair. “The only ones who’ve met her are my mother, Dione, Phoebe, and her daughters.”

“I understood your mother and Dione, but why Phoebe and her daughters?” Amphitrite couldn’t help but ask, maybe Aphrodite wanted to know if her Perseira had a prophecy in her destiny?

“My mother wanted to show off her grandchild, and Aphrodite thought Perseira could use some socialization with girls around her age.” Poseidon shrugged, never being one to understand the world of women, if not to strategize on how to get under someone’s clothes.

“That makes sense” Amphitrite hummed, already planning which girls from respectable families in Atlantis could serve as Perseira’s playmates, before shaking her head. “May I ask what are Perseira’s domains for them to cause her mother such worry?” She asked, wanting to know what scared the usual dauntless Aphrodite so much she felt like hiding the daughter she loves.

“Loyalty”

“Loyalty?” Amphitrite repeated incredulously, not even because it's great, any parent would be proud of their child to have such domain, but because—”You mean to tell that the child you—” The queen of the seas gestured to her husband “conceived with Aphrodite, has the domain of loyalty?” That’s the most unbelievable part of everything she’s just heard right now.

“It’s a—pleasant surprise” Poseidon shrugged, not even trying to defend himself, as he’s self-aware enough that it does sound strange that he and Aphrodite made the goddess of loyalty.

“You can emphasis on the word surprise” Amphitrite sighed, thinking the fates are really mysterious in their ways to allow Poseidon and Aphrodite to have been the one bringing forth the goddess of loyalty— “You said domains, I assume that loyalty is her main one, so what is her second domain”  The queen of the seas asked, furrowing her brows.

“Love at first sight” Poseidon sighed, and suddenly, Amphitrite understood why Aphrodite kept her daughter’s existence under wraps. “Perseira’s a sweet child who delights in spending time with those she loves, and will only fight if it is to protect others or defend herself—” Amphitrite raised a hand to stop her husband.

“Your daughter seems like a sweet child, but that does not matter” Amphitrite said, meeting her husband’s eyes. “I’ll not begrudge or mistreat her.” How could she mistreat a child who was born before she even married her husband? The child had no choice in being born, but Amphitrite had a choice in the man she married, and the Nereid chose Poseidon for the better or for the worse. “Just like how I accepted Rhodes, I’ll accept her twin” She firmly declared, not allowing him to think he could influence her decision on what she accepted or not.

That declaration earned her the same smile that made her fall for her husband in the first place. That lopsided, unguarded grin with too many teeth that always makes you think he’s up to no good, and takes away Amphitrite’s breath like nothing else. 

The things you do for love, that’s why Amphitrite seldom mocks the countless fools head over heels for Aphrodite. She’s done much worse for a less pretty face.

“Thank you, my love” Poseidon said, pulling her into her arms, making her fishes momentarily disperse. “I swear the two of you will get along like nothing else” He said excitedly, and Amphitrite was willing to believe him just this once.

Having Perseira Aphrodities in her household was not as big of a burden as one could have assumed. While the girl took after her mother in beauty, she did not take after the goddess of love’s tendency to want attention at all times, even though both mother and daughter have the tendency to get said attention anyway. 

It was almost funny the way Perseira automatically hides behind her father whenever she catches someone staring a bit too intently at her. Her husband, a bit unused to being a father to a child who sought him out for protection, responded the only way he knew how: with violence.

Interestingly enough, her stepdaughter has a kind heart; she certainly did not inherit it from either of her parents and would rather not see people’s innards hung at the courtyard over the crime of making her uncomfortable.

“You shouldn’t be so kind” Amphitrite advised her stepdaughter as she twisted the girl’s hair into a braid. “Instead of appreciating, people will confuse your mercy for weakness” She told the little girl sitting in front of her.

It was nice being able to do the hairstyles she’s wanted to do on her daughters ever since she was a young girl. Kymopoleia refuses to sit still and would rather wear her hair loose or have it fastened on a hairband. Rhodes will sit still and delights in prettying herself up with different hairstyles, yet she seldom visits these days, being too busy organizing her husband’s worship in her island, and establishing their household. 

Perseira will not stand as still as her twin, being prone to fidgeting and kicking her legs, but she’ll allow Amphitrite to play with her hair as much as she wants and will even do her stepmother’s hair in return.

“I’m not being kind.” Amphitrite couldn’t see her stepdaughter’s face, but she’s quite certain that her child pouted. “I just don’t think making me feel weird is enough reason for someone to die” She explained, petting one of Amphitrite’s fish who decided to seek out the young princess’ attention. “People will stare at me for the rest of my life, I’ll have to get accustomed to it” She said with a shrug.

Sighing, Amphitrite was once again reminded why her husband was always so worried about this one daughter of his. Perseira is too gentle. The queen has seen her stepdaughter at the training grounds, showing off the sword her father gifted her. Perseira Aphrodities is more than capable of defending herself; she’s just too kind to do so.

After being gifted her daughters, Amphitrite is having more sympathy for her own Father and Mother, as it couldn’t have been easy raising so many girls…and Nerites, but her brother is usually counted amongst the daughters.

Speaking of daughters, although the queen of the seas had initially been worried about introducing Kymopoleia to Perseira due to how—different the two girls’ personalities are, but they got along surprisingly well.

“It’s not fair!” Kymopoleia screamed, smashing a wall in the playroom as she threw another tantrum. “I’ve never wanted to be a wife, why do I have to be one for that useless lump of a giant?! Three heads and not a single one of them doesn’t make me feel like throwing up!”

“Kym—”

“It’s really not fair” Perseira agreed, currently in her older form as she played with Triton on the floor. “You shouldn’t have gotten picked as a bride if you didn’t want to wed him” She commented, poking her little brother’s chubby cheeks and giggling when the baby glared at her. 

“I know!” Kymopoleia wailed, but it didn't sound as angry as before. “Why couldn’t thunder cock go out and make some stupid, blind princess who’d have wanted Briares as a husband!” She complained, stomping on her feet.

Thunder cock…how will Amphitrite scold her daughter for saying that when her husband faked a couching fit to hide his laughter at the term?

“He probably didn’t want a daughter of his with him” Perseira said, waving a toy in front of Triton “The stupid, blind princess couldn’t have a sense of smell either, I've heard he’s smelly—but he seems kind” She amended, wincing when Triton started pulling on her unbound hair and delicately pulling it from his grip.

“Fuck that!” The goddess of violent storms exploded “He could be as kind as he’s ugly, I still don’t want to be his wife!” She declared, glaring at the older goddess.

“You don’t have to be” Perseira absentmindedly said, frowning as she picked up another toy to try and get Triton to show a reaction.

“Are you stupid?” Kymopoleia asked flatly, momentarily stopping her tantrum to look at her older sister on the other side of the room. “I’m already married to that sad lump of flesh” She said, ignoring her father’s admonishment for calling her older sister stupid.

“Yeah, but you don’t have to act like it” Perseira shrugged, uncaring at the insult.

“I can do that?” Kymopoleia asked, voice filling with curiosity, bypassing her father, she went and sat next to Perseira. It should be noted that even when Perseira is in her older form next to her siblings, she’s still shorter than Kymopoleia, even when sitting down.

“Of course” Perseira said, handing a toy to her younger sister. “Marriage is mostly about attitude anyway. You don’t have to act married to him if you don’t want to.” She started to advise her younger sister that Amphitrite couldn’t help but attribute to Aphrodite.

“What if he beats me?” Kymopoleia asked with a challenge in her eyes.

“You kill him” Perseira said so casually that made both of the adults in the room freeze. “Everyone sleeps at some point, especially giants. If he beats you, pretend everything is fine, and when he goes to sleep…” She trailed off, making a gesture with the doll she had in her hand as if to decapitate it, which earned a giggle from the baby she was playing with.

“Aren’t you the goddess of loyalty?” Kymopoleia asked, now also waving a toy in front of Triton “Shouldn’t you advise me to be loyal to my husband or something of the sort?”

“Maybe?” Perseira shrugged “It’s not like you have to be loyal to someone you didn’t choose to be with, do what you think is best”

“And what if I choose to…cheat on him?” Kymopoleia asked, now trying to tease her older sister.

Thinking for a second, Perseira shrugged “I guess that’d make him ask for a divorce” Before going back to playing with their little brother. 

Watching her children play together brought Amphitrite a happiness that almost made her ignore the concerning conversation she had just witnessed her daughters having. Of course, the things Perseira was saying could be blamed on her mother, but—

Feeling his wife’s sideways glance at his person, Poseidon laughed “I suppose loyalty is more flexible than fidelity” He said, shooting his wife an amused look.

“I guess so” Amphitrite sighed, realizing people weren’t exaggerating when they said to be mindful of who you have children with, as they may take too much after their other parent.

Hopefully, Triton takes after her.

Chapter Text

As both her sister and her friend would have said, if they found out about the situation she’s in, Leto’s fucked.

The titaness would have never used such a term before, being someone who’d rather avoid cursing unless the situation calls for it, which it rarely ever does. Her sister Asteria would roll her eyes and tease her for being ‘such a lady’, her wild sister who cursed like she once breathed, who—No, no, no, Leto can’t make herself sad right now, her children need her to keep going. No time for tears.

Perseira would say it’s ok for Leto to cry, her sweet hypocrite of a friend who’d sooner have her entire arm eaten by her pet shark than to allow herself to follow her own advice—There’s no point in dwelling on the past, Leto will never have her sister again and she’ll never be able to face Perseira after she so thoroughly spat on her dear friend’s domain.

It’s been six days of Leto’s pilgrim to find a face she can safely give birth to her babies, six days of nature spirits forbidding her from staying too long on their land lest they wish to invoke queen Hera’s wrath, six days of painful contractions haunting her every step along the way, but even worse is the monster Hera sent after her.

The horrible, disgusting Python, that looks at Leto with eyes full of hunger as it chases off whatever land she attempts to settle into to give birth. The things it says— it’d be kinder if all it wanted was to simply eat her flesh.

Her children are the only thing keeping her moving forward; she needs to do right by them, to find a place where she can give birth. Leto does not have the gift of prophecy her mother does, not like Asteria once did, or even how Perseira would sometimes look at her with eyes that see more than the present, but she knows deep in her bones that everything will get better once she’s able to hold her children in her arms.

She just has to survive first.

“Pretty lady, where are you?” Tityos' chilling voice called from outside the cave where Leto was hiding.

After Python had chased her away from another land, Leto tried to settle in; Leto ended up coming across the recently awoken giant son of Zeus, who made his disgusting intentions towards her clear. The titaness managed to get away from him by sheer luck, but the giant started chasing just as Python had been.

“You’re so beautiful.” The giant giggled, a shrill sound that made the hair at Leto's neck stand up. “Even when you’re big with my father’s child, but you won’t be once I’m done with you.” He started laughing as if the murder of her babies was the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “I’ll give you more, though” He said, and Leto could hear the rustling of leaves that indicated he was getting closer to her cave.

Tears falling down her face, Leto cradled her belly, feeling her children kick her hand. She let determination fill her. Wiping her tears, the titaness bent down and clutched a jagged rock in her hand tightly. It wasn’t a sword, a dagger, or anything really useful, but Leto always had a great aim. The moment the giant stepped inside the cave, the pregnant woman was going to the rock into his eyes and use the opportunity to run away from him once more.

That was the plan, until she heard a loud, violent scuffle from the outside. Leto didn’t dare to go out; she just hid even deeper in the hole inside the cave wall that she had made her shelter in and waited until she heard something she never expected to hear in her situation: help.

“Leto, Leto, are you here?” Perseira’s voice called from the cave’s entrance. It couldn’t have been anyone else. Leto has memorized that voice in every intonation possible.

It could be a trap, it could be someone else pretending to be her dearest friend, it could even be Perseira herself coming to enact revenge on her for betraying her domain of loyalty, but…Leto’s just so tired.

“P—Perseira?” Leto stuttered despite her efforts to remain firm. Whatever Perseira did to her, it wouldn’t matter; it wouldn’t be the first time someone who once shared her bed let her down, but she knows her friend. The goddess of loyalty will never hurt a child.

In front of her was Perseira Aphrodities, and Leto greedily took notice of her friend’s appearance. Perseira looked frazzled, as much as the daughter of Aphrodite could anyway. Her hair was messy, her skin flushed, and she was covered in what Leto assumes is Tityos’ blood. She had her bloodied sword in her right hand and her shield on her left.

Perseira Aphrodities is beautifully intimidating as a battle-worn goddess, yet Leto feels no fear as she glances into her friend’s eyes because, instead of the disgust, hate, and revulsion she was expecting, the titaness is seeing relief, happiness, and worry.

“Leto” Perseira exclaimed as a bright smile spread across her face, reminding Leto once again why her friend also has the domain of love at first sight. “You’re fine, thank fates, you’re fine” Perseira fretted, her weapons returning to their original forms of a bracelet and a hairpin, then getting close to the Titaness. “I've been searching for you everywhere—”

“Why?” Leto understands now that maybe Perseira doesn’t hate her for what she’s done, but she’s also not understanding why the goddess of loyalty would be looking for her.

“Because I heard what happened” Perseira explained, snapping her fingers and cleaning herself off Tityos’ blood. “I tried finding you sooner, but none of the nature spirits would not say anything in fear of evoking the queen’s wrath, and whenever I got close to your trail, that damned snake got to you first.” She sighed, looking genuinely apologetic as if Leto was expecting her all this time, and Perseira had let her down.

“A—aren’t you mad at me?” Leto asked, eyes filling with the tears she’s been refusing to let fall through all this painful journey of hers.

“Do I have any reason to be?” Perseira asked, genuinely confused as she stepped closer to her friend and delicately wiped the tears from under her eyes. “C’mon, she-wolf, tell me what—” And it was the use of the nickname Perseira always used to call her when they were young, naive, and full of innocence that broke the dam of Leto’s tears.

Clutching Perseira, Leto started crying with all she had, started crying for herself, for her children, for her sister, for all the hardship and pain she’s been going through, all because damned Zeus found her beautiful and she found him charming. By the time she was done, Leto was being carried off the cave by her friend as she rested her head against Perseira’s soft chest like on the nights they used to spend together.

“Aren’t I too heavy?” Leto said out of politeness, burying her face in her friend’s chest to avoid seeing the carnage that she had made out of Tityos.

“No, I actually find you rather light” Perseira said, stepping over a puddle of blood. “Off we go, we’re going to find you a place so you can birth your children” She said as if that was the simplest task possible, and for some reason, Leto firmly believed her.

Leto allowed herself to be carried, and along the way, she made Perseira explain what had been going on ever since she had been on her journey. Plenty happened, some things Leto’s already aware of, like how after impregnating her, Zeus became enchanted with Asteria, who became a bird and took on flight to avoid the king’s affections.

Pushing down her grief, Leto commented “It fits her, a bird, I mean.” The titaness had already felt like her sister was lost; Perseira’s words only confirmed what she already knew.

“It does” Perseira agreed, unconsciously tightening her grip around her friend.

Other things Leto found out only from Perseira’s mouth, like how Hera is currently pregnant with Zeus’ heir.

“Is—is that why she’s not allowing me to give birth?” Leto blurted out, she understands that in relation to Hera, she’s in the wrong, but the queen is really not letting her give birth because the Titaness ruined Hera’s pregnancy by allowing herself to be seduced by Zeus?

“I suspect that it is indeed the case” Perseira sighed, keeping her attention on their surroundings. “It is both revenge for the adultery, and her attempt at preventing you from birthing the king’s firstborn son” She said, keeping a careful grip around Leto as she followed a trail that made sense only to her. “Bastard or not, a son born from you before our queen can deliver her little prince is a threat to her child’s inheritance, and we know how she deals with threats.” Perseira shook her head in disappointment, saying “I hate politics.”

“I think I share the sentiment” Leto said, feeling the weight of everything, before she had a sudden thought “Wait, isn’t she going to become wrought with you for helping me?” The Titaness asked, panic welling in her chest because she knew what she did was wrong, but what about Perseira? Her loyal friend shouldn’t get in the line of Hera’s anger when she’s never done anything wrong.

“She will” Perseira shrugged as if Hera’s wrath was anything to sneeze at. “But, the King will not allow her to punish me when all I’m doing is ensuring the safety of his children” She rolled her eyes, before continuing “She’s also no fool, if our queen punishes me for helping you she’ll be opening herself up for retaliation from both of my parents, and weakening the support her little princeling will have in the future” The goddess of loyalty said, soothing her friend “Besides, even if I got punished, It still wouldn’t prevent me from helping you and your children” She said in a matter-of-factly tone that left no room for Leto even begin to doubt her.

That’s the Perseira Aphrodities that Leto knows, not the wicked idea Leto created in her mind. Her dearest friend who’d do anything for those she loves, no matter how much they don’t deserve it. There used to be a time when Leto and Astoria would fight over Perseira’s attention, the silly arguments of children that one day would turn into each sister taking turns in sharing the goddess of loyalty’s bed a few times. At one point, Leto even thought she could have grown to love the person who was both the greatest of friends and sweetest of lovers, but that could never be so because—

“Is your lover agreeable with you risking yourself so much over me?” Leto asked, burrowing her head deeper into her friend’s soft chest, feeling as if she could happily sleep on them.

“Which one?” Perseira replied, reminding Leto once again that this friend of hers may be the goddess of loyalty, but she took after the proclivities of both of her parents. “If you’re talking about Mnemosyne, we’ve parted ways” She said, before continuing “Hecate does not mind for obvious reasons, Menesto does not get a say in what I do, Petraea—”

“I understand” Leto sighed. Goodness, it’s good that her friend is great at keeping track of her many lady lovers, but if she lets her, Perseira will name all of them.

May the fates have mercy on the fool who tries to win her friend’s hand in marriage, Leto thought before receiving a sharp kick from one of her children against her ribs.

“Calm down, little one” Leto said, clutching her belly. “We’re going to find a place for you to be born soon” She soothed her child, who started to get more energetic inside of her all of the sudden.

“Listen to your mother, child” Perseira consoled, and interestingly enough, Leto’s child calmed down at the sound of her voice. “You can entrust your mother to me, and once you’re born, I’ll entrust her to you” She said, sounding calm. “We’re almost there” She said, now directed at the blond titaness on her arms.

“Where?” She asked, a bit out of breath from the sudden onslaught of kicks she had received.

Instead of answering, Perseira just quickened her pace until Leto finally took in their surroundings and realized that they were heading for the seashore. She wishes she could concentrate more, but as if her body sensed that her torture was almost done, Leto started to have contractions.

“Deep breaths, she-wolf, just like how when Asteria was giving birth to Hecate” Perseira softly coached her, walking towards the shoreline. “I remember being terrified that day; it was the first time I ever saw someone giving birth. It even made me happy that my sister and I simply appeared.” The goddess of loyalty started to ramble as if to distract Leto from the pain.

“I—I remember that you acted as if you had impregnated Asteria yourself.” Leto laughed through her pain, wincing when a particularly sharp contraction hit her stomach.

“Excuse me for being worried.” Perseira rolled her eyes, stepping into the shoreline, the goddess of riptides told the Titaness “Do not speak, only do your best to look as if you’re going delirious with pain.” She whispered to Leto, who only nodded in confusion. “Father?” Perseira whimpered with a voice full of pain and heartbreak “Father, please help, I don’t know what to do.” She cried, and for a moment, everything was silent; the early morning birds stopped singing, and the waves stopped moving before parting as Lord Poseidon himself appeared.

“Perseira” The king of the seas said, taking in his daughter’s pitiful appearance and Leto in her arms before saying “Oh, my pearl, what have you got yourself into?” He said, voice full of soft parental concern, that Leto never expected to hear from such a temperamental god.

“I—I was taking a walk, then I saw Tityos, the giant son of Zeus, saying horrible—horrendous things in front of a cave” Perseira recalled, desperation filling her voice “Father, h—he was going to rape Leto and kill her babies” The sea goddess cried, hugging Leto even tighter as the sky darkened following her mood. “I needed to help her, I harmed him as much as I could, but now I don’t know what to do, I—I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let her be—”

“Perse” Lord Poseidon’s voice was gentle as he got closer to the two young women. “It’ll be fine, I’m not angry with you” He said, patting his daughter’s head with fatherly affection. “However, I do not know how to help your friend. My sister has forbidden every place on earth from allowing your friend to give birth on them, that includes islands.” His voice was soft and full of regret, but Leto could not focus on anything but the dread she was feeling because her babies—

“What about Asteria?” Perseira suggested with urgency “After she became a bird, my friend got tired of flying and dropped from the sky, becoming a floating isle, maybe Leto can give birth on her.” The goddess of loyalty suggested to her father.

“That’s not a bad idea” Poseidon hummed, stroking his beard with one hand and patting his daughter’s back with the other. “That isle is floating so she technically does not count as a place on earth, and she’s likely going to allow your friend and her children to reside in her” He said, stepping away from the young women, the king of the seas said “Very well, I’ll summon that her for you” He said, snapping his fingers and in no time a beautiful isle appeared from underneath the waves.

“Thank you, father” Perseira cried, voice full of gratitude. “Thank you, thank you so much” She said, and for a brief second, Leto thought that if one of her children was a daughter, she wanted her to be able to have her father wrapped around her little finger as much as Perseira had hers.

“You’re welcome, my pearl” He said, pressing a kiss to his daughter’s forehead, before completely stepping away from them. “I’ll go call your stepmother and grandmother” He quickly said before disappearing within the waves.

“He gets nervous around birthing women” Perseira said when she noticed how Leto was now staring at her. “C’mon, she wolf, it’s time for you to meet your children” She said with a tone of levity, but the subtle panic in her eyes showed her true thoughts.

As soon as they stepped into the isle that once was Asteria, Leto felt something she hadn’t felt in any other land she had tried to settle in before: acceptance. Warm acceptance that melted away all the terrible feelings Leto has been having ever since she’s been on her pilgrimage to find a place to give birth.

It wasn’t only Leto who felt the isle’s acceptance; her children, who were calm before starting to kick as if begging to be let out of her body, as another wave of contractions hit Leto’s body, making her writhe in pain on Perseira’s arms.

Her friend softly laid Leto on the ground, holding her hand and allowing the titaness to squeeze it as she cried out in pain. Perseira was a great support, but the way the goddess’ face lit up with relief when her stepmother came in, together with Rhea, Dione, and Themis, showed she was more worried than she let on.

Leto would like to say that after finding a place that’d allow her to give birth, the process was easy, but then she’d be the biggest liar in all of Greece. She can’t remember most of what happened during her birth, other than that it lasted long, painful days, all because Hera, in a last act of petty revenge, refused to allow her daughter Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to help her.

On the fourth day of labor, Leto was blessed with her beautiful little girl with the same red hair her sister Asteria once had. Although she was still in labor, the Titaness begged to hold her baby in her arms, knowing it was going to take more time for the second child to come out.

“My baby” Leto cried, holding her beautiful girl to her chest as she fed her from her breast. Artemis was what she decided to call her sweet, unharmed, pure baby girl. The titaness has always known love, but holding Artemis in her arms, she finally felt like she completely understood the type of love that was her dearest friend’s domain: love at first sight.

Almost immediately after she was born, Artemis grew to the size of a six-year-old child and started helping the other woman to deliver her twin brother. The birthing process became easier, but even so, only on the 8th day was her son born.

He was a perfect, shining, little boy with the same golden locks that Leto has, and the most beautiful golden-speckled blue eyes. She decided to name him Phoebus Apollon, or Apollo for short, Phoebus after her mother and Apollon after a word she once heard but forgot its meaning. Just like with his twin, as soon as Leto held her baby boy in her arms, all she felt was love.

Another way that Apollo was just like his twin was that as soon as he was born, he grew to the larger size of a six-year-old, but how they differed was that as soon as Artemis finished helping her brother, she declared she was never going to wed or have babies, while Apollo, on the other hand—

“Miss, tell me, are you searching for a groom? If so, look no further as the perfect man for you was just born” Leto’s little boy declared, trying to sound serious, but the starry-eyed way he stared at Perseira broke the image.

“Oh, my love” Perseira gently said, running her hand through the godling’s hair, cupping his little face. She said “Your feelings mean a lot to me, but I’m afraid I’m too old for you.” She sweetly rejected the boy.

Leto had to hold back a sigh at that. She has vivid memories of watching her friend reject former and would-be lovers in this same way with different words, and even more vivid memories of the number of them who took that rejection as it was; zero.

“It matters not” Apollo promised with a solemn nod that looked cutely out of place on his sweet face. “I’ll treat you well either way” He assured the older goddess, who was looking thoroughly amused at the gall of the newborn.

“If you say so, dear” Perseira replied, lips twitching, trying to hold back a smile.

“What an impetuous little boy” Rhea commented with a chuckle, watching the scene between her two grandchildren. “You’ll have your hands full with this one indeed, Leto” She commented to the boy’s mother.

“Poor boy” Dione said, her tone full of warmth. “Goddess of love at first sight indeed” She giggled.

“He said it with such certainty that I’m afraid that in no time our Perse will be eating her words” Themis teased in good humor.

“Do not say such omens” Dione chided, but her tone was warm, and the two of them laughed together.

“I warned her about being kind” Lady Amphitrite sighed, looking at Artemis, who was cuddling into her mother’s arms. She said “Do not be kind to people who are romantically interested in you, or men.” Thinking for a second, she amended “Do not be kind to men.”

“Yes, Auntie” Artemis nodded with a serious expression.

_________________________________________________________________________

This is probably both the most beautiful and most ill-matched wedding Hades has ever been invited to, and the King of the Underworld has been invited to many of them, too many, some could say.

It’s not a complaint, unlike what some may assume, Hades enjoys being invited to family events. He has grown to like his kingdom, but there’s truly not much to do in the underworld. He’s just pointing out that, as far as weddings go, this one might be beautiful, but the couple couldn’t be a worse match if Zeus had tried.

It’s not solely because of the extremely obvious beauty gap between the couple, or the fact that while Hephaestus was beaming with pride, his bride looked like she wanted to be anywhere else. Of course, Aphrodite did not let it show; the goddess of love had a bright, congenial smile on her face, but she had the same look of boredom in her eyes that Hades’ late paramour Leuce once did.

It’s a truly bad match. The most desired bride in all of Greece just got married to the god whose mother dropped him down the Olympus for being too ugly. If Hades were a crueler god, he’d have joined Hermes’ betting pool on how long it’d take for Hephaestus to become a cuckold.

Though with the way the bride and Hades’ other nephew, Ares, keep on sneaking glances at one another throughout the party, Hades would bet that Hephaestus would become a cuckold by the end of the night.

Now that Aphrodite is unhappily married, some would think that maybe all the marriage-hungry gods could move on, and it appears that they did, but to a new target that is the goddess of love’s own daughter, Perseira Aphrodities. Hades can even see the appeal; the girl is a beauty like her mother, with a much better personality, which she certainly did not inherit from either of her parents.

An example of that is how the girl can look at her newest stepfather on the face and smile with no revulsion over his appearance, something even Hephaestus’ own mother is seemingly incapable of doing.

“Oh! my poor cousin” Hermes had lamented, draping himself over his older cousin’s head, causing the young woman to laugh as she swatted him away. “A beauty like yourself, having such an ugly man for a stepfather! Such an injustice! Do you wish for me to comfort you with my—” Dodging an arrow that was aimed at him, he said “Hey! Auntie said No weapons at weddings!” He loudly complained with a pout “See how he treats your favorite cousin?” He batted his eyelashes at the goddess of loyalty.

“You’re not her favorite, I am!” Apollo protested, turning to look at Perseira with a puppy dog look that Cerberus would envy “Isn’t that right, cousin?” He asked, and Hades could swear that there were tears in the blonde’s eyes.

“Boys, boys, you both know I have no favorites” Perseira sighed with an amused look on her face. “You’re all an equally large headache for me” She said, pinching both of the young gods’ cheeks, ignoring their protests. “And don’t call your brother ugly on his wedding day, it’s impolite” She scolded the two troublemakers before letting them go.

“I did not call him ugly in front of you” Apollo mumbled, rubbing his cheek.

“I get in trouble for lying, then I get in trouble for telling the truth, woe is me!” Hermes lamented, fake swooning, then floating as soon as his body was almost hitting the floor. “How can you be happy about this marriage, cousin?“

“I’m not happy about this marriage” Perseira sighed. “My mom shouldn’t have had to wed against her will, but the king decided so; there’s nothing that I can do.”

“We can organize a jailbreak” Hermes excitedly suggested. “Replace your mother with a log enchanted to look like her and—” He was interrupted by Perseira petting his hair. “Cousin?”

“No need for that, you little troublemaker” Perseira said, now patting the younger god’s cheek, ignoring Apollo’s heartbroken look at the attention his little brother was getting “It’s a great idea, but I already suggested something of the sorts to my mother, and she already refused” The young woman’s shoulders slumped before she recomposed herself “Mother knows what she’s doing” She said, and Hades couldn’t tell whether she was trying to console the younger boys or herself.

It turns out that Aphrodite indeed knew what she was doing when it was announced by Zeus at the festivities post-wedding that as a wedding gift to the goddess of love, her daughter Perseira Aphrodities can now only be wed if the young woman agrees to it, meaning that even if a god managed to force her into marriage, it’d be null and void.

The day started with love becoming shackled to a loveless marriage, and it ended with loyalty no longer being liable to be forced into the same position. Quite the interesting conclusion, if Hades is allowed to say so.

The king of the Underworld does not care about the news; he hasn’t been interested in marriage ever since Leuce died, but it’s clear that most of the male gods have some very intense opinions on this matter he does not care to pay much attention to.

It’s always been like this when it comes to Perseira Aphrodities in specific. The goddess is known to be as kind as she’s beautiful, and although the fact that she prefers the company of the female kind is something known to everyone, it never deterred her image of being ready for the taking, yet not.

If it were with any other goddess, Hades doubts there wouldn’t have been at least one god trying to take her against her will, but as beautiful and kind Perseira is, she’s the favorite daughter of both Poseidon and Aphrodite. Poseidon, whose opinion is that any slight made against you needs to be paid back tenfold, and mercy is a question for which the answer is a prompt ‘no’, and Aphrodite, whose rage is something even Hades shudders at the thought.

There has been a man, one singular man, who fell for the goddess of love at first sight and tried to take the still very young girl against her will. What became of him after Aphrodite was done taking vengeance is something even he found macabre.

Hades doubts that the goddess of loyalty knows about it, though, from what he’s heard, when assigning the punishment for that soul, it is that nothing happened. That disgusting sod tried to enact his plan the day after the object of his desire had first left her mother’s custody to go live with her father for a few months, and Aphrodite made an example out of him over the gall.

“Uncle, may I sit with you?” The object of Hades’ thoughts asked him, pointing to the seat next to the King of the Underworld.

“Do as you wish” Hades acquiesced, watching as his niece sat next to him. “Thought you’d wish to sit with your father’s family” He commented.

“I already did, now I’m looking for some peace and quiet.” She smiled at him “How are you enjoying the festivities, uncle?” Perseira asked, looking at him with her eyes that mimicked the ever-changing tides.

“They’re enjoyable” Hades hummed. “What about you, niece? Is everything to your liking?” He asked, half to be polite, half because he wanted to know how she was taking her newfound freedom.

“Well, things are going better than I expected” Perseira sighed with a half smile. “Look at me, such a terrible guest. The wedding is my mother’s, yet I’m the one who received a gift,” She said, sounding sardonic, yet her tone held no bite.

“I suppose your mother wanted to do something worthy for her first love” Hades said, bringing up the young goddess' pet name.

One day, Aphrodite was holding court with her many nymphs, cohorts, and lovestruck suitors when someone asked the goddess if she had a first love. That is something quite insipid to ask the goddess of love, but Hades digresses. Instead of answering the name of any of her many lovers, Aphrodite answered the name of her daughter, Perseira Aphrodities, as the name of her first love, and ever since then, the nickname of ‘Aphrodite’s first love’ stuck to the girl.

“But is said first love worthy of that?” Perseira Aphrodities sighed “I can’t help but think this is all my fault.”

“It isn’t” Hades corrected his niece. “The king wouldn’t have allowed your mother to remain unmarried for much longer, and when the queen got trapped in the golden throne, he had the perfect solution for two problems at once” The king of the underworld explained. “Your mother couldn’t stop her impending marriage, but she used the chance to stop yours, so appreciate your freedom instead of wondering if you deserve it.”

“Thank you” Perseira said, as if Hades had imparted some worthy wisdom on her instead of just explaining something before she could misunderstand it. “Uncle, sorry if I’m being presumptuous, but…are you single at the moment?” She asked, leaning closer to Hades until her arm was touching his.

“You are being presumptuous” Hades deadpanned, but watching the young woman’s face, he sighed “Yes, I’m indeed single. Is there any reason for the question?” He asked, already having an idea, but wanting confirmation.

“I wanted to know if I have a chance.” Perseira smiled, a lopsided grin that made Hades understand why she has the track record she has with women. “Do I?” She asked, those luminous sea green eyes of hers beckoning him to come closer.

“I’m sure if you were looking for someone to warm your bed for the night, you would not be lacking for any options” Hades said, noticing how many eyes were on them at the moment. “And I hope you understand that I’m not looking for a bride” He added, watching as Perseira shot him an ever brighter smile.

“That’s more than fine, uncle” She laughed. It was a quiet yet bright sound. “I’m also not looking for a groom, aren’t we quite the perfect match?” The goddess of love at first sight winked conspiratorily at him, lacing his arm with her own.

“It appears so” Hades let the small ghost of a smile tug at the corner of his lips.

“Uncle, it’s a bit shameful to say, but I’ve never been with a man before” Perseira said with an almost shy look on her face. “Would it be fine for you to be my first?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

“More than fine” Hades took a deep breath and got up, taking the younger goddess with him. Other gods be damned, Hades will gladly be hated this one time.

Chapter Text

Rhodes does not envy her twin.

It may sound like a surprise for many people, but she genuinely doesn’t. It’d be a very easy thing to do. Perseira Aphrodities is a goddess as easy to love as she is to envy, but Rhodes has never felt that way about her little sister.

She’s the older one, of course, she doesn’t exactly remember the process of being born, which is something she’s thankful for after birthing so many children, but she remembers one moment being alone and confused on her isle’s shore, and in the next one she was holding Perseira’s hand. They’re twins who were born together, holding each other’s hands and not having to introduce themselves to one another because they knew who the other was deep in their beings, but they’re not particularly close as, let’s say, Apollo and Artemis.

That is not to say they secretly hate or even resent the other; they’re simply not close. If they did…Rhodes could assume that Perseira would find reason to hate her because Rhodes was the one who kept the isle that was her birthplace, but that’s unlikely since her sister’s first words were her vehemently denying that she had any right over it.

That should sting, and for some time it did. There was not a truly logical reason for it; it just stung that the first inhabitant of her isle would deny belonging to her, but Rhodes is not Aphrodite to hold grudges over things done without a shred of malice. Perseira did rebuke her right over Rhodes’ island, but her little sister only did so because she did not want to get in the way of Rhodes’ and Helios’ impending marriage.

Helios…maybe it’s the way Rhodes was born hand in hand with love at first sight, but as soon as she saw the Titan of the sun, she knew he was going to be her husband. It sounds silly to fall for quite literally the first man she’s ever seen, but now that Rhodes has seen many others, she knows they’re a lot less impressive. It also makes her understand why her sister chose to be a libertine, but that’s neither here nor there.

Their marriage hasn’t been the easiest thing in the world, not due to her husband mistreating her, but because, for all of Helios’ surprisingly good temper, he wasn’t lying to her when he had once said he wasn’t searching for a bride. At first, Rhodes took offense; how could she not when she loves her husband, but he did not love her back? Even so, she refused to lower herself and beg for his affection. If all he wanted was to be husband and wife in name only, that’s what they’d be.

That did not last for long, as Helios took notice of her colder demeanor towards him, and he did the one thing that made Rhodes certain he was different from all the other men; he apologized. Helios apologized, vowed to be a better husband, then almost got on his knees and pleaded with Rhodes for her to go back to caring about him.

At that moment, Rhodes realized two things: Her husband is malleable, not the perfect man nor an irredeemable heartless cur, but someone who, with time and patience, can become exactly what she wants. The second thing she learned is that she's weak for pretty men crying over her …that part wasn’t as much of a surprise as it should have been, all things considered.

They had a happy marriage with many beautiful children, but things couldn’t have stayed that way when damned Aphrodite seemed to be hellbent on destroying every good thing Rhodes had going on for herself.

If it wasn’t for Aphrodite, Rhodes could have raised her little sister; she wouldn’t have been all alone, having to manage her household, organize Helios’ worship, and deal with an emotionally distant husband. If Aphrodite hadn’t been so obsessively protective of Rhodes’ little sister, they would have a much stronger relationship than the one they currently have. If Aphrodite hadn’t been a vengeful tramp, she wouldn’t have made Helios fall for a mortal princess, over him tattling to her husband that she was meeting her lover on their marriage bed.

Wasn’t it enough that when Rhodes married her husband, he still had the Oceanid Perseis in his heart? The woman has been dead for longer than Rhodes has been alive, but it was like having her husband flaunting his mistress in her face. The minor goddess had finally managed to win her husband’s affections, but of fucking course Aphrodite had to ruin the only thing that was truly hers.

Needless to say, Rhodes disowned that tramp and her side of the family, becoming of the firm opinion that nothing good comes out of love gods and their broods. No matter how much her so-called ‘mother’ showed regret, the minor goddess was done with her bullshit.

That decision should have made Rhodes feel gutted, after all, there was a point where she and Aphrodite had a positive relationship, but the goddess of love crossed a major line with her, and while she did not have the power to make that trollop pay, she could give Aphrodite the one thing she hated the most: indifference.

The only downside of that decision was seeing that her twin chose her mother’s side. Perseira did not say anything; in fact, Rhodes hadn’t seen the goddess of love at first sight since this whole mess started. That—actually stung a lot, but if Rhodes refused to beg her husband to love her again, there was no way she was going to beg Aphrodite’s ‘first love’ to see what her mother did wrong and side with her.

Rhodes does not care, and if she remains stubborn enough, she can eventually convince herself of it.

Needless to say, Rhodes started focusing on the things that actually mattered, like running her household and making sure that Helios worship stayed organized. The Titan of the Sun may have forgotten his duties as a husband, but that did not mean Rhodes forgot her duties as a wife, and at least that gave her something to do.

Then, she started hearing the rumors. They first started small, a nymph commenting that Aphrodite had been throwing a fit all over the palace of love, something Rhodes wasn’t too surprised to hear. Next, she heard another rumor that the winged little cretin, Eros, had been seen flying all over Greece, desperately searching for something. That one rumor Rhodes also did not give much mind to, figuring that maybe he lost one of his arrows while terrorizing mortals or maybe a random god here and there, most likely Apollo if the minor goddess had to make a guess.

Rhodes also heard a rumor about her sister’s little charges, especially that one Dionysus, being in terrible moods, but she wasn’t too sure if those things were related.

Then, she finally heard the piece of information that pieced everything together; Perseira Aphrodities had a minor disagreement with her mother, then, without any prompt, she ran away from home, leaving only a note behind. Aphrodite was going mad with worry over her daughter, and Eros was searching for his older sister all over Greece.

When she first heard that, Rhodes felt a mixture of feelings. She thought it was hilarious that Aphrodite was suffering over her favorite daughter running away from her. She was worried about Perseira receiving some type of retaliation from her mother, even though said sister clearly did not want or deserve her worry, and privately, she was waiting for Perseira to come crawling back to her.

She’ll accept her little sister back; Rhodes is not made of stone, but forgive her for wanting to have some fun first. That was the plan until nothing happened. Perseira did not come crawling back to her, nor to Aphrodite. In fact, no one had seen anything of her little sister after she ran away from home.

“Lady Rhodes” Apollo anxiously called to her as he was parking the Sun Chariot at her isle. “Have you heard anything from Perseira?” He asked, and you could see the worry bleeding out of the young god of Light, literally. Apollo shines when he gets anxious.

“I haven’t” She replied, trying to look impassive but feeling her own anxiety spiking. “May I know why you are asking?” Phoebus Apollon is not the sun like Helios is; he can’t see everything that’s happening all of the time, but if there’s one thing Rhodes knows, it is that he uses the sun chariot to watch her sister from afar. If he hasn’t been seeing her—

“I haven’t been seeing her anywhere” Apollo said, voice becoming choked. “I’ve looked everywhere, even on the days I don’t have the Sun Chariot. I asked Dionysus, Chiron, and her demigods, but none of them had any idea, so I thought—” He stopped his rambling when Rhodes raised her hand at him.

“I haven’t seen my sister in a long time” The minor goddess said with finality, watching as her sister's most ardent, and pathetic, admirer visibly deflated.

Phoebus Apollon’s infatuation, or obsession, depending on who you ask, with Rhodes’ sister is not a secret to anyone with a normal mental capacity. The younger god’s first words after being born were of him offering himself to her as a groom for goodness’ sake.

When Eros played that prank involving the nymph Daphne, some wagging tongues were claiming that the one responsible for the tragedy that ensued was Perseira, who used her domain of love at first sight to both avenge her little brother and try to get rid of the annoying suitor that is Apollo. The god of Prophecy could have ignored those trying to start rumors, some senseless chatter that no one truly believed in, yet he reacted by cutting off said tongues for attempting to besmirch his love’s name,

Rhodes genuinely thinks the only reason the younger god hasn’t forcefully plucked the fruit from its vine is because, as bad a mother as Aphrodite can be, she’s surprisingly great at making sure no one assaults her children, especially her favorite daughter. So, for such an obsessed man to not have any idea of where Perseira is, then the situation must be dire.

Rhodes is not as close as one normally is to their twin, but they’re still twins, and that actually counts for something.

Finding Perseira Aphrodities is something that has always come easily for Rhodes. Maybe it has to do with their bond as twins, or the fact that Perseira is Rhodes' first inhabitant, but she’s always had a knack for finding her younger sister even when she doesn’t want to. That little talent has made Rhodes the first person assigned to finding her sister whenever there’s a banquet at Olympus, and Perseira has snuck away to do who knows what with who knows who.

Of course, most of the time that lands her on the situation of interrupting her little sister’s liaisons and having to watch as a barely clad goddess, nymph, or sometimes a god climb off her the goddess of loyalty looking utterly debauched and glaring at Rhodes as if she ruined their lives, but that won’t happen this time…hopefully…if Perseira Aphrodities went missing to indulge in hedonism, Rhodes will lose her everloving mind—

Normally, you’d expect Rhodes to start searching for Perseira in Atlantis, but the minor goddess is not so silly. If her sister ran away from home, she wouldn’t hole herself in Atlantis because she wouldn’t want to cause friction between Aphrodite and their father, and also because she wouldn’t want to talk about what made her run away from home in the first place.

If Perseira ran away from home, the place she’d hole herself in would be in one of her favorite temples, but since she was fighting with her mother she’d stay clear from the ones in Kythera and Cyprus, she wouldn’t go to her temple in Corinth because she wouldn’t want to involve their father on her problems, and she’s obviously not in her temple in Rhodes’ isle. So, that only leaves her sister’s temple in Sparta.

If Rhodes were to be frank, she does not quite understand what her sister sees in that temple; it’s no more grand than all of her others, but that’s obviously not the reason why the goddess of loyalty likes it so much.

One very well-known fact about Perseira Aphrodities is that she adores children. The goddess of loyalty went against Hera to help Leto birth her twin archers. She often took care of Triton when he was a baby, and one day did the same to their brother’s young daughter, Pallas, before the young girl was tragically murdered by Athena. Perseira Aphrodities fed her younger brother Eros from her own breast, raised Zeus’ ill-begotten son Dionysus, hiding the boy from Hera’s wrath until he reached godhood, and asked for the title of goddess of demigods for the reason many suspect, being that she just wanted steady access to children for her to dote upon.

Rhodes’ little sister loves children, which is why when she learned about the Spartan tradition of culling imperfect babes, she showed them why hurricanes and storms are some of her domains. To appease the goddess, the Spartans, instead of killing babies, now send them to Perseira’s temples for them to be raised as priests for the goddess.

So, if Rhodes wanted to find where that bleeding-hearted goddess hid herself, she knew exactly where to go.

“My dear, can you call your goddess and tell her that her twin sister wants to enter her temple?” Rhodes gently ordered one of her sister’s little priests in training. A little thing who uses crutches to walk around. “And, tell her that if she decides to pretend she’s not hiding in here, I’ll be obligated to tell her mother about this hiding place of hers” She added, watching as the little priest in training scurried away.

Gods can’t enter each other’s domains without permission, maybe except Apollo and Artemis, but Rhodes is quite certain that it was a conscious decision between those two. But you can use a mortal or demigod to get around that little hangup.

In no time, Rhodes was permitted entrance, and she transported herself directly to Perseira’s chambers.

“Rhodes, what do I owe the visit?” Perseira asked, slowly sitting up from her place in bed.

“You look like a mess” Rhodes commented, sitting primly next to her younger sister and tilting the young woman’s face up by the chin.

“I feel like a mess” The younger goddess mumbled, averting her gaze from her older sister.

“May I know why you decided to run off?” Rhodes asked, letting go of her sister’s chin after verifying that there wasn’t anything more wrong with her than what she already expected.

“I fought with my mother” Was all she said, backing a bit away from Rhodes. She said “Look, I’m sorry that you got dragged into—ow, ow, ow.” She whined as Rhodes pitched her cheek.

“I did not get involved against my will” Rhodes scolded her younger sister, not allowing her to think anyone had any credit to claim over the actions she took out of her own will. “You worried everyone by disappearing” She said with finality.

“I left a note so my mother did not think I was taken against my will” Perseira complained, rubbing her abused cheek.

“Sister” Rhodes sighed, taking a deep breath so she did not smack this being who had the unfortunate fate of taking after both of her parents. “Leaving a note does not negate—Why are you staring at me with that expression?” She asked, referring to the absolutely dumbfounded way Perseira looked at her.

“You…still consider me your sister?” The goddess of loyalty said in a quiet tone, looking at Rhodes like she couldn’t quite place her.

“Obviously” Rhodes deadpanned, why would she seek out this troublesome girl after she ran away from her mother’s home if she did not consider her a sister? Honestly, she’s doing more running after Perseira than she’s done in trying to win Helios’ love back, and she’s only married to one of those two inconsiderate fools. “Maybe the feeling is not mutual, but even so—” She started, aiming to sound snippy, but Perseira immediately interrupted her.

“It is mutual, it is!” She exclaimed, looking relieved as if a heavy burden had just left her shoulders. “I thought you hated me” The goddess of loyalty confessed, stopping for a second, she amended “Or at the very least that you had no desire to associate yourself with me any further.” She said, looking like a mistreated kitten.

“Are you stupid?” Rhodes couldn’t help but ask. “You were quite normal when you were born. Tell me, was it training your swordsmanship or continuously putting yourself in harm’s way that killed your wits? Why would you assume that I hate you when you’re the one who has continuously refused to associate with me?” She was actually feeling offended; the minor goddess was waiting for Perseira to apologize for slighting her, not having to reassure her twin that she does not hate her.

“When have I ever refused to associate with you?” Perseira had the nerve to ask, looking genuinely confused.

“When you were born and refused your claim to my isle.” Yes, Rhodes is still holding a grudge over Perseira not having fought over her.

“But the isle is you. I can’t lay a claim on something that’s also your body” Perseira explained, tilting her head to the side like a confused baby seal. “The only one who owns your body is yourself, and what you wanted was to have a life with Helios” She said, and for a brief moment Rhodes both understood why her sister had the rapport she has with men and women, and also pitied all the fools who loved this infuriating goddess.

“And your response to that was to completely pull away from me? We were born together, the first word I knew was your name, and yet you never visited me! Even when your mother ruined my marriage!” Rhodes started to let out years of grievances she had against this inconsiderate twin of hers.

“I thought I’d get in the way of your life, and—” Perseira stopped whatever she was saying to defend herself, and became silent before saying “You’re right, I should have visited and I’m sorry for that” She apologized, like none of her parents would have, and for reasons like this sometimes Rhodes believes that their mother Amphitrite should get more credit for raising Perseira.

Still—

“What were you going to say?” Rhodes asked “Tell me” She insisted, wanting to hear what her little sister was going to say to defend herself.

“It’s nothing important, you are right. I should have visited—”

“Perseira Rhodius” Rhodes said with a firm voice, using the title that makes Perseira remember that no matter how far as she goes, she’ll always belong to her “If I wanted to hear empty platitudes I would be at home listening to supplicants or I’d ask my husband’s apprentice why the Sun Chariot came back with another scratch, tell me what you were going to say”

“I thought—I thought you had also forgotten me” She confessed with a whisper, dropping her head like an admonished child. “Mother couldn’t take me to visit you because she was afraid of my brother-in-law deciding that he wanted to claim both the isle and its first inhabitant.” Of course, Aphrodite had her hand on that. “Then some time passed, and you never came to visit me either. I thought it was because you were busy running your household, but Father visited you, and you went to visit Atlantis…I knew he had forgotten me, so I thought it was the same with you” She finished, looking pained.

“Father forgot you?” That was all Rhodes could bring herself to ask at the moment. How is she supposed to react, realizing that her younger sister also felt forgotten by her and was actually forgotten by their father? She wanted an apology, but getting one now would feel like bullying someone worse off than her.

“Yes” Perseira nodded like that was the most normal thing in the world. “He only remembered my existence when he went to visit my mother for another reason and saw me there” The goddess of loyalty explained.

“And you forgave him?” Rhodes doesn’t think she could have forgiven their Father had he completely forgotten about her existence, like he did Perseira.

“I did” Perseira shrugged. “It’s not as if he did it to be cruel, and he tried really hard to build our relationship after. Although I had only agreed to go down to the sea with him because he had promised he would give a sword, and that I could play with Triton.”

“I understand the sword, but why Triton?” Her sister’s sword is a work of art. It appears as a beautiful hairpin, headdress, or even a small circlet; it’s also enchanted so Perseira can never lose it or have it taken from her. Rhodes does not care for weapons, but she can see the appeal, but Triton? He was an adorable babe, do not misunderstand her, but he would not be on her list of reasons to forgive their father.

“I wanted to see what he looked like as a baby” Perseira said, as if that made complete sense.

“I understand” Rhodes sighed. It’s better to accept than try to understand whatever is fundamentally wrong with this girl. “Back to the subject, why did you run away from home, Perseira?”

“I—”

“I know you fought with your mother, everyone knows that, but you have done that before, and you still did not walk away from her. What happened this time?”

“It was because…” Perseira mumbled the last so incoherently that not even Rhodes, who was sitting right next to her, could understand it.

“Speak clearly” Rhodes said, tilting her sister’s chin up to meet her gaze. “You’re not a mute” She added.

“It was because of what she did to you” Perseira finally let out after a few moments of silence.

“Excuse me?” Rhodes said, genuinely not expecting that answer “What do you mean you two fought over what she did to me?”

“Exactly what I said?” Perseira said, and Rhodes is so proud of herself for not smacking the back of this brat’s head. “What Mother did to you was wrong. How could she ruin your marriage? You love your husband, I was there when you fell for him at first sight, and every time I saw him after it was clear he deeply loved you too” Perseira said, clearly getting heated up at every word she uttered, only to deflate “H—how could she ruin that?” She asked, looking genuinely heartbroken.

“Perseira” Rhodes said softly, running her fingers through her little sister's unkempt hair.

“Y—you were also her daughter, how could she betray you like that?” The goddess of loyalty said, angrily drying some of the tears that escaped her eyes. “I—I asked her that, and you know what she did? She comforted me! Like I was the one wronged! She should have been comforting you!” Her face was starting to become flushed, but Rhodes couldn’t tell if it was from tears or anger.

Ever since their mother Amphitrite accepted Perseira in her home just like she did Rhodes, the queen of the seas has always expressed that she’s the daughter that worries her the most, that the goddess of riptides and hurricanes is too gentle and soft-hearted, the queen of the sea always complained. The minor goddess would partly agree with her mother; her sister is soft-hearted, but not to the extent that she’d become Rhodes’ biggest worry.

Now she’s mentally apologizing to their mother as she pulls Perseira in her arms and comforts her crying little sister.

“Don’t comfort me either! You’re the one who got screwed over!” Rhodes’ little sister complained as she half-heartedly tried to leave her older twin’s arms, but in response, the goddess only held her tighter.

“I did” Rhodes easily admitted. She hasn’t done anything wrong, yet she’s paying the price for others’ actions. “And it hurts, every day when I see that it takes longer for the day to become night, I know my husband is with his mistress. Every time he disappears for days on end to play house with that mortal whore, I understand why our queen acts the way she does.” Resting her head on her sister’s shoulder, Rhodes continued “I don’t know how I’ll react if he ever begets a bastard on that slut” She confessed.

“I’m sorry” Perseira said, hugging her older sister back and pulling her down so they were lying together in bed.

“It’s not your fault” Rhodes said. She’s quite clear-minded on that; Perseira Aphrodities holds no fault in what her shrew of a mother does. “It hurts, of course, but she’s a mortal and he loves her too much for this story to have a happy ending. The spell will end as soon as she dies, and he’ll come running back to me” She said, voice soft yet firm with conviction as if she were declaring exactly what would happen instead of trying to comfort herself.

“And when he does that, what will you do?” Perseira asked, softly patting her hair, careful not to mess with her older sister’s hairstyle as she indulged in her delusions.

“I’ll accept him back, of course” Rhodes affirmed. She loves Helios too much to allow him to walk away from her. She’s been his since the day she was born, but he’s also always been hers, and the minor goddess has always been possessive over what belongs to her. “I do, however, want to see him beg for my affections once again.”

“Love’s a scary thing” The goddess of love at first said.

“Is it any different with you?” Rhodes asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister.

“I…wouldn’t know about it” Perseira admitted, averting her gaze.

“Sister, aren’t you the goddess of love at first sight? You’ve had countless lovers, and yet you mean to tell me you’ve never fallen in love before?” Rhodes asked, not being able to quell how incredulous she sounded.

“Love at first sight can mean a lot of things” Was Perseira’s lame reply.

“For example?”

“When a mother sees her child for the first time, of course” Perseira said, now the one looking at Rhodes like she’s stupid. “Not all of them feel it, but personally, I think that’s the most common example of love at first sight” She explained, and it somehow made sense.

“And you’ve never fallen for any of your lovers?” Rhodes asked.

The minor goddess was actually curious about that, not because she thinks her sister should have fallen, but because she thinks that the fact that Perseira never fell in love is really funny. Perseira Aphrodities has caused countless gods, goddesses, nymphs, and mortals to go mad with longing, to do truly insane things to have her companionship, to keep her attention and affections, yet the goddess herself has never fallen in love.

Rhodes does not know who she pities more, Phoebus Apollon, who’s been on a fruitless quest to win her sister’s heart since the day he was born, or all of those who suffered from the boy’s…efforts, be it directly or otherwise. Even the god’s lovers follow a similar theme to her sister, and all either suffer from a tragic fate or fall out of his interest as soon as Perseira glances his way.

“I care about them, but I’ve never fallen in love.” Perseira shrugged.

“What about—” Rhodes tried to think about one of her sister’s lovers “—Lady Mnemosyne?” She asked, referring to the fact that her sister and the goddess of memories have ‘parted ways’ more times than she can count, yet they’ve always ended up back in bed together, or any other flat surface for that matter.

“Mnemosyne?” Perseira asked, confused. “We always have a great time together, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying I love her more than I would a really great friend" She said, and now Rhodes understood why they always part ways, but now she’s wondering why Mnemosyne would lack self-respect and go back to such a dunderhead.

“Lord Thanatos” Rhodes asked, certainly one of the only male gods her sister dignifies with her attention could be a contender for—

“He’s a great man, but love is not something we have for each other” She said, looking at her sister like she was being silly.

“Right” Rhodes dryly replied, not like she had walked into her sister having a liaison with the god of death more than once, and every time had to watch how he always looked painfully smitten at the goddess of loyalty. “What about your friend Leto? Or even that weird son of hers?” The minor goddess added Apollo because only a weird infatuation would explain why her sister tolerates his…Apolloness.

“Leto and I only bedded each other four times in our youth.” Perseira rolled her eyes as if that’s a reasonable number of times to bed a friend. “And Apollo…he’s a sweet boy” She said.

“A ‘sweet boy’ who wants to see you fat and pregnant with his child” The minor goddess sarcastically commented, watching as her sister’s cheeks flushed.

“That’s…that’s one crude way to word it” Perseira mumbled, her cheeks flushing like she was some type of maiden.

“Yet it’s the truth”

Rhodes doesn’t think she’s ever been this close to her sister, physically or otherwise, and if it depended solely on her it’d last forever, but—

“You should go back to your mother” Rhodes sighed, resting her head on top of her sister’s breast. “You miss her” The consort of the sun said with finality.

Perseira may be their father’s favorite daughter, a fact he openly states with absolutely no shame, but Rhodes’ little sister has always been much closer to her mother. Rhodes doesn’t even hate Aphrodite, that’s too close to love for her comfort, and while she disowned the woman as her mother, it does not mean she wants Perseira to do the same.

“But she hurt you—”

“And that’s between the two of us” Rhodes said firmly, pinching her stubborn younger sister’s sides. “You already proved your point, now stop hurting yourself and go back to your mother.”

“W—will you still be my sister if I go?” Perseira asked, wincing a bit from the treatment.

“Obviously” Rhodes rolled her eyes “It doesn’t matter if your mother is your mother, you’re still my sister” Abandoning her in her spot in her sister chest, Rhodes sat up then straddled Perseira's waist “It doesn’t matter whether you’re Perseira Aphrodities, at the end of the day, despite who your mother is, you’ll always be Perseira Rhodius” She glared down at her stupid twin, willing her to understand how she’ll always be Rhodes’ sister, no matter what she does.

“You’re right” Perseira looked up at her, the tides in her eyes finally looking like the waters of the isle she was born in.

The most selfless thing Rhodes has ever done was letting Perseira go back to her mother, so much so that the goddess has decided that she earned herself at least a millennium of pure selfishness.

Still, Perseira needs her mother, not only because of emotional reasons, but also because the only reason her sister has spent such a long time living the way she does without ever being raped is because everyone is afraid of what Aphrodite will do to them if they put a single unwanted finger on her precious daughter.

Rhodes has not lasted this long, or had her isle flourish as much as she did, by not knowing how to compromise, and still come out as the mature part of the discussion. It’s quite the skill she’ll admit to herself.

After Rhodes helped Perseira reunite with her mother, she went back to business as usual on her isle. The only difference now is the weekly visits from the goddess of loyalty, who decided to find space in her very busy schedule to visit. The minor goddess was extremely happy with those visits, and now she found another hobby to keep her occupied, which is decorating the common area of her palace to accommodate her newest visitor.

“Hum” Rhodes hummed for a few seconds, snapping her fingers, she changed the color of the walls from sea-green to sky blue. “It does look good, but—”

“Rhodes!” Helios’ loud voice made the goddess become slightly startled before relaxing.

“Lord Helios” Rhodes primly greeted Sun Titan, who visibly deflated at her annoyed tone, but what else was he expecting after barging in like this? Have some manners.

“D—don’t call me that, please.” Much to Rhodes’ shock, Helios pleaded, his golden eyes filled with tears. “I’m your husband!” He exclaimed in desperation “Call me husband, my love, or even your favorite lackwit, but do not refer to me in such a way.” He begged, just like how Rhodes had been wanting him to.

“If I recall properly, it was my lord who ordered me to refer to him in that manner.” Rhodes had to hold back the giddy smile that wanted to take over her face. Her husband was here and hers again!

“I’m sorry!” He said, grasping her arms with hands so hot they almost burned, and how Rhodes had missed that pain. “There’s no excuse for how I treated you. I’ll spend the rest of my existence making up for it.” Helios looked deep into Rhodes’ eyes. “But” His eyes turned into the sun itself, golden, blazing, and painful to look at. “You do not get to act as if we’re anything less than husband and wife. I’ll not allow it.” It was half-plea, half-threat, and everything the minor goddess wanted to hear.

“Oh, so my lord won’t give me the divorce I’ve been expecting?” Rhodes taunted with an innocent tone and watched as her husband lost his mind.

She doesn’t know what prompted her husband's sudden change, actually, with the way he was covered in leaves of the type she’s never seen before, Rhodes can make an educated guess on what happened.

“Is it normal?” Rhodes asked, feeling her temper rising a bit as she picked up one of the leaves from her husband’s shoulders. “To come to your wife covered in the vestiges of your mistress? Please tell me, my lord, so I know what to expect in my next marriage—”

“WHAT NEXT MARRIAGE?!” Helios exploded, and Rhodes had to hold back a laugh watching as he erupted. His hands gripped her arms tighter, unconsciously burning her skin. “There’ll be no second marriage! I’m your one and only husband, and will be so for the rest of existence!” He babbled, letting go of Rhodes’ arms, he desperately cupped her face as he said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. If you try to leave me, I’ll kill the other man” He promised with a soft voice as he looked into her eyes. “I will never hurt you, but I’m a selfish man, my Rhodes, you can have your fun as long as you’re willing to let your love pay with his life.”

“Do I look like my harlot of a mother?” Rhodes asked, raising her eyebrow “I’m more than content having only my husband for a lover.” She snipped, only for Helios to bring her into the most passionate kiss he’s ever given her.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you” He whispered in between kisses, sweeping Rhodes into his arms, he sat her on top of the common room’s table “I’ll make sure to love you with the ardour of a thousand of lovers” Helios promised, kissing his way down Rhodes’ neck, removing the golden pins of her peplos “I’ll make it up to you, my love”

Yes, sometimes good things happen to good people.

Chapter Text

Helios does not mean to be a gossip.

The Sun Titan can see everything that his light touches, which means he actively knows everything that happens during the day, and sometimes the things that happen are so outrageous that he has to share what he saw.

For example, he briefly thought about keeping quiet about seeing Hades kidnapping Persephone, but how could he let Demeter suffer the way she did, not knowing what happened to her child? Helios is a father; what if it had happened to one of his daughters? Of course, he ‘tattled’!

Then there was the incident of Aphrodite cheating on her husband, Hephaestus, with Ares. In Helios’ defense, he had to tell the god of the forges that he was being made a cuckold in his own bed because if it were Helios’ wife with another, he’d also want to know. Of course, his Rhodes is the best of women who hasn’t taken after her mother, or even her twin sister, so Helios has nothing to worry about, but still, he felt for the ugly god.

Ok, that sounded rude, not calling Hephaestus ugly, he is, and there’s no way around it. What was rude was what he said about his sister-in-law, Perseira Aphrodities. He doesn’t have anything against the young goddess; Helios actually finds her adorable, the same way that little sisters often are, it’s just that she’s also the reason he’s debating whether to gossip or not.

You see, it’s a very well-known fact that Helios’ young apprentice, Apollo, harbors a great love for the goddess of love at first sight. So great, he actually offered himself to her as a groom as soon as he was born, and got promptly rejected, but that didn’t dampen the young god’s hopes as he kept on trying.

Anyway, after a whole saga involving Perseira Aphrodities carrying the God of Light’s demigod he made with a princess who cheated on him while pregnant, them raising the child together, the boy getting smited by Zeus for defying the natural order, or something of the sorts, Helios wasn’t paying that much attention, then being brought back as a god after Apollo spent years serving under King Admetus, Helios’ apprentice finally won himself a place as one of the goddess’ lovers.

Yes, one of them, Helios’ sister-in-law, has plenty, but that’s not the point. He’s not going to judge the sex life of other people’s sisters when his sister is Eos.

Apollo has won himself a place as the current favorite amongst Perseira Aphrodities’ lovers, so much so that she dropped most of them after the young god discovered she had a tryst with Hypnos during one of the days that Helios was the one with the sun chariot, and proceeded to not be normal about the situation.

The God of Light did not strike or cause any harm to Helios’ sister-in-law; he just started a really weird ritual of staying outside of Aphrodite’s palace, where the girl resides, with his bow and arrows out, a clear threat to any of his lover’s other lovers.

After that display, many were certain that Perseira would have called it quits with Apollo. The goddess is mostly good-humored, but she’s also famous for losing interest when suitors act half as dangerously possessive over her as Phoebus Apollon was acting, yet it wasn’t what happened.

Not only did she keep Apollo as one of her lovers, but she also stopped seeing most of her other ones, now having the god of poetry as her main bedwarmer. Some theorized that such…tolerance came to be because the goddess of demigods tends to be kind to those younger than her. Others said it was due to Perseira’s long friendship with the boy’s mother, or because the god of Light is the one who gave the goddess of demigods her first child...technically, whatever the case may be, Apollo got special treatment.

Helios’ apprentice couldn’t have been any happier with the situation, even if he tried. At every opportunity he finds, Apollo will babble on and on about his relationship with Perseira and the things they do. Not anything of a sexual nature, the blonde god is quite possessive of details. Apollo will mostly talk about their surprisingly wholesome encounters. The Sun Titan always thought it was cute; he was truly happy for the couple, and hopeful that they’d move to something more serious given time.

Which is why this situation is a bit awkward.

“Perseira?” Poseidon asked, voice shocked that held a twinge of embarrassment after bumping into his daughter coming out of the chambers of the lover he came to see

“Father?” Perseira replied, her tone matching her father’s, and just now Helios is realizing how much the two of them look alike.

Helios watched as his sister-in-law and his father-in-law came to the slow realization that they were accidentally sharing a lover; it was funny, he’ll admit. Their faces went through a series of emotions: dread, disgust, revulsion, only to finally land on a wry acceptance.

“So” Poseidon awkwardly started “You and Syphos are…well acquainted?” He practically choked on the last word.

“Ah—not that much…we’ve only…met three times” Perseira replied, looking as if she regretted every single life choice she ever made as they all led her to this moment.

“Three times? Huh, you generally drop them after the first one” Poseidon mused, momentarily forgetting how dreadful this situation is. “He is quite skilled, isn’t he?” He commented, apparently forgetting he was talking to his daughter.

“It’s the—” Perseira replied, then she and her father stared at each other, looking as sick as a pair of gods could get. “We should not be talking about this” She said in a sudden bolt of clarity. “Today was a bad Idea, and I’ll never come back here again. Please, forget you ever saw me” She requested her father.

“I make your words my own” Poseidon sighed, looking relieved, then he thought for a few seconds and said “If your stepmother—”

“I don’t know anything about this situation” Helios’ sister-in-law said, glaring at her father, before faltering “And if Apollo—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Poseidon said, shrugging his shoulders. Then the two gods flashed away like they were never there in the first place.

Now, Helios is sitting with this big piece of information, and his tongue is itching for him to tell someone, more specifically, Apollo. The Sun Titan could even argue that this is a similar situation to Hephaestus, and that he has the moral obligation to tell the God of Light…but then he’d be lying to himself.

Apollo is not Perseira’s husband, no matter how much the young god would want to be. He’s her current favorite lover that she likes to indulge, but everyone knows that’s a precarious position. Helios’ sister-in-law is the goddess of loyalty, but that’s a completely different thing from fidelity, and they’re not even married yet! Should Apollo be expecting to be her only lover when they weren’t even married yet? Should Helios tell him about what he saw?

“So, Apollo” Helios started, as his apprentice was grooming the Sun Horses “How are things going with my sister-in-law?” He asked, feeling like this was a safe question to ask.

“Oh, teacher” Apollo sighed like a lovesick fool while he brushed through a knot in Aethon’s mane. “Everything has been going so amazingly, even better than anything I’ve ever imagined.” He smiled brightly, so brightly that the only reason Helios did not get blinded is because he’s the sun.

“Really?” Helios asked

“Really” Apollo exclaimed, clutching the brush against his chest like a maiden. “I’ve never been this happy.”

“So, can I assume there’ll be a marriage in the future?” Helios teased.

“There’ll be” Apollo nodded like it was a done deal. “I feel like we’re walking towards that, but I’ll not ask so soon as to not spook her.” He spoke about his beloved like she was a wild horse he was trying to tame. “She’s reluctant about marriage, but not wholly against it, you see.”

“Truly?” Helios asked, genuinely surprised. He always assumed that Perseira was like her mother…he’s not calling his sister-in-law an adulterer, he’s just remembering how Aphrodite was always against being tied down in marriage. The Sun Titan just assumed she passed that distaste to her daughter.

“Yes! I think it’s because she hasn’t found the right partner yet” Apollo said, then he noticed the deadpanned way Helios was staring at him. “That does sound delusional.” At least the boy was self-aware. “But, think about it with me, if Lady Loyalty had married, and her husband had proved himself to be a lacking partner. Do you think she’d be granted a divorce?”

“Of course not” Helios automatically replied, then winced when he realized that yes, Apollo had a point.

Hera would never allow the goddess of loyalty to divorce if she married and her chosen husband started mistreating her. It’s not even because the queen hates her niece, Hera surprisingly likes the young woman who respects the sanctity of marriage so much that she refuses to have anything to do with married, engaged, or even strongly committed men or women. Hera would not grant Lady Loyalty a divorce simply because she’d feel as if she and her niece would bond more should they be in a similar situation as goddesses with similar domains.

And here Helios was just imagining his sister-in-law was just taking after her mother.

“Exactly!” The young god of light exclaimed, apparently excited that his teacher understood his point of view. “We’re not betrothed yet, or even wholly exclusive, but—” Helios let out a sigh of relief he wasn’t even aware he was holding, which didn’t go unnoticed by his apprentice. “Teacher…why do you look relieved?” Apollo asked, face filling with unspeakable amounts of dread “D—did you—”

“No!” Helios immediately denied it; his sister-in-law is a beautiful young woman, but he feels for her as much as he feels for his own sisters, and there’s a reason why he never desired to wed any of them. “I’m not interested in my wife’s younger twin” He firmly declared, watching as Apollo visibly relaxed, feeling the truth in his words.

“Right, teacher already has his sea-born wife” Apollo sighed in relief. “Sir, is there anything you wish to tell me? Or something you think I should know regarding my beloved?” He asked, and now Helios is cursing the fact that Apollo is the god of truth.

Well, Helios could use his authority as Apollo’s teacher to shut this conversation down, change subjects, or simply ignore the boy’s question, but—

“Your lover, and her father, are sharing a mortal lover back in Corinth” The Sun Titan blurted out before he could think twice about what he was saying.

“Excuse me?” Apollo asked, voice eerily calm

“They’re sharing a lover in one of Corinth’s coastal cities" Helios said, stopping, he amended. “Not actively sharing, when they found out they were seeing the same mortal, they both lost interest in him.” Now that Helios is thinking about it—”I think the boy actually belonged to your Uncle first, I heard my sister-in-law saying that she only saw Prince Syphos three times, so—”

“Three times?!” The god of plagues asked, disbelief filling his every word. “Teacher, please, tell me you heard it wrong, please tell me that you did not just say three times” Apollo pleaded, his face contorting as if it did not know whether to settle in anger or despair.

“I could, but if I did do, then I’d be lying” Helios said, watching as Apollo stepped away from the horses, pacing while muttering something under his breath. “Are you—”

“No!” Apollo whirled, staring at Helios’ face, looking genuinely desperate. “Oh, sweet Leto, this—this is bad” He muttered, pacing again. “My beloved doesn’t like mortals, not that way! If she ever beds them, it only happens once! She’s the goddess of demigods, but she dislikes bedding mortals so much so that the only one she ever birthed was Asclepius!” He rambled, pulling his hair. “If she bedded that thing three times…w—what if she decides to wed him?!”

“I’m sure it won’t go that far” Helios attempted to placate the young man, already regretting saying anything.

“It won’t” Apollo said slowly, as if he were weighing all of his options, then he became still as if he were mimicking a marble statue. It was an eerie sight, especially when the only thing that broke the illusion was the golden speckles in his eyes that started to swirl around the blue color, giving the young god the appearance of pure madness. “I’ll make sure of it” Apollo said, right before disappearing.

Oh well, at least the boy has already let things ready for Helios’ shift in the sky. Whatever happens now is none of his business.

_________________________________________________________________________

Cerseis has been an attendant of Lady Aphrodite since the day her goddess came out of her ocean, and her sister Dione assigned her to take care of the newborn goddess. The Oceanid has accompanied her sister’s charge for many years; Cerseis has seen every stage in Aphrodite’s life.

Cerseis likes to think she has seen everything, and that nothing that her goddess does phases her anymore. Fully grown Aphrodite may have emerged from the sea foam, but the goddess was not born knowing anything other than her base desires, and even to this day, she’ll care more about them than most things.

The oceanid has taken care of Aphrodite for all of the goddess of love’s life, so much so that Cerseis was chosen to take care of the goddess’ precious daughter, Perseira. After an incident with a dryad her goddess had hired on a whim, Lady Aphrodite wanted someone she trusted to take care of her child, and Cerseis was the woman for the job.

Perseira Aphrodities was a delightful child to raise; Cerseis is not even saying this because she’s clouded by the love she feels for the young goddess. The goddess of loyalty was a sweet, thoughtful child who could be a bit shy, and she grew into a sweet, thoughtful, confident young woman.

No one truly knows where the sweet part of her personality came from when she has both Lord Poseidon and Lady Aphrodite as her parents, but Cerseis is not complaining about that at all. Perseira is a sweet young woman as loyal to her family as you’d expect from a goddess that has loyalty as her main domain.

That’s another thing that no one knows where she got it from, not even Cerseis is certain how Lord Poseidon and Lady Aphrodite could have made the goddess of loyalty together. People have even joked that besides her father’s looks and her mother’s beauty, the only thing Perseira Aphrodities has taken after her parents is her…appetites.

Cerseis thinks that’s an unfair stance. Perseira may have a very active life, but the goddess truly spends more time wrangling the children of her family than on someone’s bed. Sure, she’ll have many lovers that she alternates from, but all of her encounters have been with very, almost overly, willing partners, and she promptly ends things when the other person falls in love with someone else.

The Oceanid could weep, remembering how Lord Hades kept Perseira as a lover, then wed his other niece, Lady Persephone. It was a scandal, not only because of the kidnapping, which everyone is aware of, so it’s a little dull to talk about it, but because even Lady Aphrodite felt slighted on behalf of her daughter.

“Mother, please, calm down” Perseira had pleaded, holding her fuming mother’s hand. “I’m happy for them—”

“Of course you are” Aphrodite lamented, pulling her daughter into a hug. “Oh, my sweet child. That man took your maidenhood, then, when he decided to marry, he eloped with Demeter’s ugly daughter!” The goddess of love ran her fingers through her daughter’s unbounded hair.

“Mother, we both know that Persephone is not ugly.” Perseira softly chided her mother “She’s a beautiful young lady.” She complimented the one many could assume was her love rival.

“Not as beautiful as you” Aphrodite stubbornly replied, snapping her finger. The goddess summoned a lounge sofa for herself and her daughter.

“Mother” Perseira sighed, sitting on the sofa, and hugging her mother’s waist while she rested her head on the older goddess’ shoulders “Persephone has not stolen anything from me, I did not want to wed my uncle” Nuzzling her face into her mother’s skin “You know I do not love him” She added, looking up at her mother with sweet eyes.

Searching for something in her daughter’s face for a few seconds, Aphrodite slumped her shoulders. “You truly do not, I thought your feelings could have changed, but they did not.” The goddess of love sighed in relief. “But do you not feel wronged that he did not wed you instead?” She asked, tucking a strand of hair behind Perseira’s ear.

“Of course not” The goddess of loyalty said. “The underworld is not as bad as many think, but I don’t think I like it enough to desire to be its queen” She easily commented.

“I suppose so” Aphrodite sighed, resting her head on top of her daughter’s.

“Now that we agree, could you please tell Eros to stop his plan of making Persephone fall for a pig the next time she’s out of the underworld? He keeps talking about avenging me.”

“Oh, our sweet, protective boy” Aphrodite giggled. “I’ll tell him”

Perseira Aphrodities has famously accepted that her first male lover married another. The gossip-mongering gods may have been disappointed that the goddess of loyalty genuinely did not care that her former lover married someone else, but Cerseis was not surprised. Her sweetest charge can have moments where she reminds people of her parentage, especially when defending those she considers hers, but Perseira Aphrodities is a good-humored goddess, who’s worryingly fine with having her romantic entanglements end.

The Oceanid will never say it aloud, but she wholly blames Lord Poseidon for this one. His neglect of his daughter in her first years of life made her develop a warped worldview where no one owes her anything, but she owes everyone all she can give. It may sound like the fretful ramblings of a worried nursemaid, but Cerseis does not think it’s normal for a goddess as beautiful, powerful, with a lineage as great as Perseira’s to be as…selfless as her charge is.

Many situations exemplify Cerseis’ worries, too many to count. There was the time Perseira went into hiding while raising Zeus’ ill-begotten son, Dionysus. To clarify, the goddess of loyalty has never lain with that uncle of hers; she just went into hiding while raising the bastard the King had with another woman because she really likes children, and doesn't think they deserve to be murdered.

There was also the time she went against Queen Hera to help her childhood friend, and former lover, to safely give birth to the King’s first bastards, or the time she had a son of Zeus named after her because she helped the boy’s mother birth him, then got the mother to safety after she was dropped into the sea.

Speaking of the King’s first bastards, Lord Apollo to be specific, Perseira actually carried his child with another woman. The god of Light had been betrayed by his mortal lover, who was pregnant with his child. Lady Artemis killed the woman who made a cuckold out of her brother and Lord Apollo, finally remembering his lover had been pregnant with his child, had cut the woman open trying to save it.

Cerseis is actually still wondering how the child ended up inside of Perseira, but the goddess of loyalty did say that she offered to carry the boy to term. If it were only that, then it’d be just another example of how her charge is recklessly selfless, but then they decided to also raise the boy together. Asclepius had been an adorable babe, adorably clingy to both of his parents, who grew up into a fine young man who became the best physician in all of Greece, and ended up being smited by Zeus for daring to break the natural order by bringing people back to life.

The Oceanid would not like to reminisce about those times, a nursemaid she may be, but she does not want to recall how the child she raised grieved the death of her own child. Asclepius eventually came back to life and was ascended into godhood, restricted to being forbidden to defy death once again, but it was a much better deal than what many assumed he’d get.

Of course, Asclepius mainly got such a good deal due to his grieving mother pulling away all the loyalty from the world, and the king deciding it was better to just give his niece her son back than to deal with all the headaches the Loyalty drought was causing him paired together with Aphrodite’s other children who weren’t exactly on a strike but were too busy comforting their older sister to focus on their own domain. Where was the boy’s useless father in all of this? Under the servitude of a mortal kind, again, because he thought that the best course of action was to kill the Cyclops who fashioned his father’s master bolt.

Although everything ended well, Cerseis still does not like Lord Apollo, and will forever resent him for making the girl she raised grow to love something death can touch. It’s petty, she’ll admit, but what else is the Oceanid supposed to think of the god who used the child he had with another woman to win himself a chance with her charge? It’s not even her being paranoid; everyone who paid an iota of attention to the situation thinks that’s what Apollo did!

Which brings her to this situation, following that vexing excuse of a God of Prophecy as he storms into Perseira’s wing in the palace of love. Gods cannot enter each other’s domains without permission. The thing is that Apollo, true to his place as Perseira’s current favorite and most spoiled lover, has permission to even enter her wing in her mother’s palace.

“My Lord, please! Let me announce your presence to my Lady first!” She pleaded with the god, easily keeping up with his brisk pace.

“There’s no need” Apollo dismissed. “It’s urgent, and my beloved would never turn me away” He said with all the confidence of someone’s smug mistress, and the worst part is that he’s correct.

“Even so—” She tried to say, but the young god only sped up his pace even more, going directly to the door of Cerseis’ lady chambers. “Oh dear” She sighed, running right after him.

The Oceanid may be sounding quite annoying at the moment, but the problem is that her Lady is decidedly not alone in her chambers. Goodness, Lady Leto used to be such a polite child. How did she raise a boy like this?

Cerseis managed to get to Apollo’s side, right on time for the young man to throw open the doors to Perseira’s chamber, and part of her wished she didn’t. She has no feelings about seeing her charge naked; she used to clothe the girl, but did it have to be in this situation with one of her sisters? Doris always finds a way to put herself in the worst situations possible.

Though Cerseis will admit that it was funny to watch Perseira accidentally kick Doris off the bed because she got startled, it was decidedly less funny to watch Lord Apollo burst into tears as soon as the doors opened.

“Apollo?” Perseira asked, hurriedly getting up from the bed without bothering to cover herself “W—what’s the matter, my light? Did something happen?” She approached the young god, pressing herself close to him to dry his tears, while Cerseis gestured to Doris to leave the room while the two gods were distracted, but her words got cut off by Apollo beginning to sob even louder.

“I—It’s not fair” He sobbed, hugging Perseira, pulling her close against his body as he went to hide his face in her neck. “I know I can’t ask you to abandon your other lovers at this point in our entanglement, b—but cousin, how could you plan to wed someone else?!” The god of plague cried, looking genuinely wronged, but it was his words that startled the women in the room.

“Marry? Apollo, what are you talking about? I’m not planning to wed anyone” She soothed the younger god, bringing him into her chamber’s lounge sofa and sitting him next to her.

“You’re not?” Apollo asked, voice broken, and a lot more vulnerable than the Oceanid had ever heard from him. Although Cerseis is wondering why he asked that question, seeing that he’s the god of truth, and could instinctively tell if what the goddess of loyalty said was the truth. “Then why did you go to that mortal t—three times? The one in Corinth that you shared with—”

“I know which one you’re talking about” Perseira quickly shushed her blabbering mouth of a lover. “It wasn’t a conscious choice, and—”

“So you love him?” Apollo’s lip trembled before he started bawling once again. This time, he hid his face on Perseira’s still bare breasts. “I—it’s not fair! I’ve loved you since the day I was born—”

“Excuse me?”

“—and only recently have you given me a chance, yet you love that diseased mortal!” He half-cried, half-complained with his face still shoved in between Perseira’s breasts.

“Diseased? Ah—I don’t love him, Apollo.” She became confused before deciding to focus on soothing the blonde god in her arms.

“You don’t?” Apollo finally looked up before pulling the goddess of loyalty into his lap.

“Did you sense any lies within my words?” Perseira teasingly asked him, running her fingers through his long blonde hair.

“No” Apollo shook his head. “Then, do you mind that I’ve cursed him?”

“You’ve…cursed him?” The goddess of loyalty asked, genuinely bewildered, but that apparently was the wrong thing to say, as Apollo burst into tears once again.

“I—I couldn’t let him take you away from me!” He said through choked sobs “S—so I made sure he was sick a—and that it’d pass to his children, or even any mortal that decided to bed him!” Hiding his face in between Perseira’s breasts once again. “M—my love, please don’t go to him again, he’s sick, and will be for the rest of his life”

“Apollo, you mean to tell me you created a sexually transmitted disease…all because you were jealous of a mortal?” Perseira asked, suddenly looking tired. “Oh, dear. I should have expected that” She muttered, which only made the blonde god sob harder into her breasts. “I’m not angry” She said, running her fingers through her lover’s hair. “I’m sorry for making you so sad. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

“Marry me” Apollo said, looking up from Perseira’s breasts with a tear-streaked face, and all the audacity expected from a man. “I want for the two of us to be husband and wife. Perse, if you want to make me feel better, allow me to be your husband.” That’s the most shameful display the Oceanid has ever seen in her life, it’s actually quite pathetic how he thought that Perseira Aphrodities would accept—

“What about your other lovers?” Perseira asked, instead of outright rejecting the younger god like any other sane woman would have done.

“I already parted ways with all of them” The blonde god earnestly said. “I don’t want anyone else wasting the time I could spend with you.” Laying a kiss on her brow “The only one in my life since you accepted me, is you.”

“And I did not do the same.” Perseira spoke slowly, guilt filling her face. “Oh, Apollo, I’m so sorry—”

“It was a choice I made” Apollo firmly insisted “Perse, since you know that you are my one and only, will you allow me to be yours?”

“What about your demigods?” Perseira asked in distress “Apollo, I feel the same for you, I want to be your one and only, but I’m too selfish” She started to squirm to leave the younger god’s lap, but he held firm “I’d rather never truly have you than to live in a world without your children, or one where I have you, and your children, but so do other men and women” She confessed "It's not going to work out, I'm too possessive—"

“I’ll make my demigods through blessings! Or through my brain like Athena! I'll never touch another as long as you'll have me!” Apollo desperately promised. “My love, I swear on the Styx that if you agree to become my wife, I’ll never betray your love or our relationship, you’ll never become another Hera” He recklessly swore, and the thunder ringing in the background sealed his fate. “My children will love you like a mother” He promised.

“Why would you swear that?! You—”

“Perse, I love you” He said, hugging her tightly. “I’ve loved you since the day I was born, and every single day that came after. Please tell me that you feel the same, please tell me that you’ll become my wife.”

“I—” Perseira stuttered, many emotions flickering through her face so fast Cerseis could not even hope to decipher, before it settled in acceptance “Fuck it” She cursed, before pulling Apollo into a messy kiss that lasted for an uncomfortable amount of time “I love you, I’ve loved you since you gave me our son, I loved you when we were raising him together, and I loved you when you avenged his death, and when we received him back. Apollo, I love you, and I want to be your wife.” She confessed, pressing her forehead against her lover's. "From now on, you're mine" The goddess of loyalty declared, almost apologetic, right before her Apollo pulled her into a very excited kiss

Watching the young couple together, Cerseis realized she had overstayed her welcome and decided to leave Perseira’s chambers, making sure to close the door behind her. As she walked away, she thought about telling Lady Aphrodite about what had just happened, but then remembered she was busy spending time with her favorite lover, Apollo’s younger brother, Ares.

Mother and daughter fell for two younger men, another thing for the gossip mill to talk about.

Chapter Text

“Triton, why are you so small?” Perseira asked the baby “You’re not supposed to be this small. You have a mother and sisters, who’ll protect our honor when you’re like this?” The little goddess wondered, reaching inside the crib to poke his chubby cheek “Suppose I’ll have to do it for you until you’re big enough to take over, small fry” She teased, laughing when the little merman tried to bite her finger. “Little piranha” Perseira giggled, absolutely enchanted with her youngest sibling.

Poseidon’s not quite sure if this is some type of innate fatherly instinct or something that came to be due to the King of the Seas being himself, but watching Perseira interact with her baby brother made him realize just how much pride he’s feeling over having managed to get her to agree to come under the sea with him.

Of course, he only managed such a feat thanks to Aphrodite telling exactly how to win their daughter over.

“Perse does not resent you for forgetting about her, but she also does not particularly long for your affection either” Aphrodite had said “So, if you want our daughter to agree to go with you willingly, you have to offer something she wants and if it so happens that it comes with the opportunity for her to build a relationship with you” The goddess of beauty trailed off with her advice, urging Poseidon to catch her drift.

“And what does she want?”

“Hum” Aphrodite hummed, tapping her chin in thought. “There's an underwater forge under your control, right?” She asked, to which Poseidon nodded “Tell our daughter you’ll get her a sword she can never lose— Oh! Oh! And tell her she can play with your son!”

“I can understand the sword, but why Triton?” The king of the seas wasn’t adverse to the idea; it’s just that his daughter wanting a sword makes more sense than her wanting to play with her fussy little brother. He’s not insulting Triton; Poseidon himself hadn’t wanted to play with his own fussy little brother, and when he met Zeus, the man was already grown.

“She looked interested when I told her news about his birth.” Aphrodite shrugged, not wholly understanding their daughter herself. “I think it’s because she has never seen a baby before.”

Poseidon had thought that Aphrodite had been somewhat mistaken, he did use her advice anyway because it’s not as if he knew his daughter enough to know whether Aphrodite was right or not in her assessment, but he had thought that getting to play with her little brother wouldn’t have been amongst the reasons why Perseira would have wanted to go under the sea with him.

Now, he’s watching Perse play with Triton, his chest full of a feeling he doesn’t quite know how to describe, and he realizes that yes, Aphrodite was completely right.

“You like babies?” He asked his daughter.

“I wouldn’t know” Perse answered after thinking for a few seconds. “Triton is the first baby I’ve ever gotten this close to” She said, running her fingers through the baby’s hair. “I like him” The little goddess declared with finality. “What about you, father? Do you like babies?”

“I don’t have much experience with them” Poseidon admitted “Too small and fragile.”

“I get what you mean” Perse nodded. “I imagined Triton would be bigger, but he’s just so small” She said, softly caressing the infant’s cheek with the back of her index finger. “Was Kym this small when she was a baby?”

“I think she was much larger, but she did not stay an infant for long.” If Poseidon’s memory serves him right, Kymopoleia stayed a baby for exactly two days before she grew into a rabid toddler. “That troublesome girl” He sighed, remembering how they had to rebuild the eastern wing of the palace due to another one of her tantrums. It was the second time this week.

“She’s…spirited” Perse said, choosing her words “But I don’t hold it against her, you know? She’s in a very shi—bad, yes, bad situation.” Looking at Triton “I did not cuss” She told the baby as if he cared. “Kym is in a very bad situation, so I don’t blame her for losing her temper.”

“Perse, your sister has been losing her temper since the day she was born” Poseidon deadpanned.

“And it got worse because she got wed against her will.” She rolled her eyes. “Father, how would you feel if instead of being able to marry my stepmother, you were forced to marry the ugliest woman you’d ever seen?”

“That’d never happen” Poseidon blinked.

“Imagine” His daughter deadpanned.

Amusing his daughter, Poseidon closed his eyes and imagined how he'd feel if instead of freely marrying Amphitrite, he’d been forced by Zeus to wed a really ugly woman for no good reason and—

“I’d revolt” Poseidon grimaced.

“Exactly” The little goddess said, patting him in the back. “Good job at empathy, father.”

“I hated it, but thank you” Poseidon sighed, still accepting the praise because he deserved it. “While I can see where your sister is coming from, I still find her tantrums needlessly destructive.” Whenever Poseidon loses his temper, he always does it away from home.

“They are” Perse shrugged “But, sometimes, the people we love will do really annoying s—stuff and if we want to help them we gotta see where they’re coming from” She said, glaring at her father who stifled a laugh at how she covered up her cursing “Even if it’s to say that you still think their actions were horrible and their thought process stupid”

“Hum” Poseidon hummed, stroking his beard. “And you think that’s worth it?” He asked, genuinely curious. The King of the Seas has never thought about things in such a way, so he’s quite curious about his daughter’s perspective.

“Yeah” Perse nodded, more subdued. “I think it’s better to try to understand and come to the conclusion that they’re insane than to realize too late you could have done something to help someone you love had you just listened” She spoke, and Poseidon had the feeling she was no longer talking about Kym.

Poseidon was once again reminded that he doesn’t know as much of his daughter as he wants to. He knows she’s kindhearted, something he’s unsure who she got it from, seeing she was born from him and Aphrodite. He knows Perse loves being an older sister and that, for some reason, she’s always willing to see the good in people, but he doesn’t know what event happened to make her have such a melancholic face whenever she remembers it.

Lying his hand down on Perse’s shoulder, Poseidon brought her closer to his side and ruffled her hair. Maybe he’ll never understand his daughter’s perspective on things, the kindness that comes so easily to her being something rather foreign for him, but…he thinks he understands what she means when she says it’s better to put in an effort to understand where someone is coming from now than to regret it later.

“My king!” Triton’s Nanny, an Oceanid named Aethra, swam inside the playroom with one guard following at her heel. “P—princess Kym is destroying the eastern wing!” She bowed, her chest heaving.

“So much for having patience” He sighed, kneeling down and pressing a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. “Do you want me to call your own nanny or—”

“I’ll stay here with Triton” The little goddess firmly replied.

“My king—” The nanny started, only to be interrupted by Poseidon’s glare. “I understand” She bowed once more.

“You—” Poseidon pointed to the guard accompanying the Oceanid “—Stay here with them, and the ones at the door will be coming with me.” Kym likes to throw guards around during her moods; it gets her to calm down quicker.

Marching towards the eastern wing with two guards, Poseidon felt frustration bubbling in his chest. Kymopoleia has the right to be angry at her marriage to Briares, but if she’s going to have a tantrum and destroy everything in her path, couldn’t she do that outside? Is that too much to ask from his most burdensome child?

That was the only thought he had on his head until he got to the eastern wing of the palace and realized something was very wrong. Instead of finding it utterly destroyed like it always is when Kymopoleia is having her tantrums, he found the place exactly how it was rebuilt earlier this week.

“Father?” Kymopoleia asked, looking as confused as Poseidon felt “I didn’t do anything, I was playing outside.” She defended herself, gripping her Trident tighter as she eyed her father and the two guards with him.

“I can see that” Poseidon slowly replied, feeling dread creeping up on him because if his middle daughter had been playing outside, then Triton’s nanny—”Guards! Close all the palace entrances!” He barked at the guards surrounding them right before bolting back to the playroom, this time with Kymopoleia following right behind him.

“What the fuck is happening?!” Poseidon’s daughter demanded, well enough, keeping up with her father’s pace.

“Triton’s nanny said you were having a fit!” He replied “That whore used you as a distraction! Your siblings are alone—”

“That fucking cumguzzler” Kymopoleia harshly cursed “I’ll weave a new dress out of her hide!” And whether she said that because her siblings may be in danger or because the nanny used her as a scapegoat is up in the air.

Fear and anger battled inside of Poseidon’s mind: Fear because two of his children were left alone with someone who clearly meant them harm, anger because how dare someone try against his children inside of his kingdom. Death will be a faraway dream when he’s done with those responsible for this.

Nearing the playroom, Poseidon felt the unmistakable scent of Ichor fill his nostrils, and before he could fully process it, the King of the Seas had already thrown open the door of the playroom.

The smell of Ichor that was once faint, turned choking as soon as the Trident-wielding duo invaded the room. What greeted them was a true massacre, one body was twitching inside of Triton’s crib with a golden pin stuck inside of both of its eyesockets. The second body lay near the door, as if it had attempted to run, but the guard’s sword had separated the head from the body before they could leave.

And at the center of it all stood Perse in an older form, covered in Ichor and soothing a whining Triton.

“C’mon, don’t cry, big sister didn’t mean to upset you.” Perse cooed at the baby who had an iron grip on her hair “Are you hungry? How about we go find mama?” She looked expectantly at her father.

“Your stepmother has gone to visit her parents” Poseidon absentmindedly said, eyeing the carnage around the room. Aphrodite hadn’t lied when she said their daughter is protective. Poseidon is actually impressed that even without a weapon, she managed to protect herself and her little brother. “Did you manage to get any information out of them?” He asked his daughter

“Not a lot, the Nanny kept trying to get me out of the room, and when that did not work, the guard attacked me” She said, bouncing Triton in her arms. “She was holding a vial full of something, I think it could have been poison.”

“Did they say anything?” Kymopoleia asked, lowering her Trident at the sight of her siblings being unharmed.

“Not to me, the guard just called me a whore when he tried to attack me—” The two young goddesses ignored their father’s low growl “—And the nanny was saying something about revenge for her father, but I don’t know if she was under his orders or if she was trying to make him proud or something” She said, looking apologetic at her father and younger sister.

“You did more than enough,” Poseidon said, tidying his daughter’s hair that got messy during the scuffle.

“Why are your teats out?” The goddess of violent storms asked, which made Poseidon also notice that his daughter was topless, not wholly naked, because her girdle was still holding up the remnants of her peplos.

“I didn’t have a sword, so I had to make do with my clothes’ pins” Perse explained, bouncing Triton in her arms. “I think he’s hungry, he keeps trying to feed from me” She said, gesturing to the baby trying to reach her breasts. “I don’t have milk” She told the boy, who let out a loud wail at his sister’s words.

“You can make yourself lactate if you think about it hard enough” Kymopoleia offered

“I feel as if you’re lying, but I don’t know enough about lactation to dispute it.” Perse furrowed her brows, staring down at Triton, who was still fussing. “Ok, but I really don’t know if this will work” She sighed, adjusting the baby so he could latch onto her breast. “Huh”

“Is he actually feeding?” Kym leaned over to look at the scene. “He is!” She exclaimed in shock, staring down at the baby suckling on her older sister’s breasts.

“Didn’t you just say that’d happen? Why are you surprised?”

“I was shitting you, didn’t think it’d actually work”

“Of course you were” Perse sighed. “Whatever, just don’t cuss in front of the baby.”

“He’s milk drunk” Kymopoleia rolled her eyes. ”I could replicate the exact sounds Mother and Father were making the day they conceived him, and he wouldn’t notice because he’s too busy guzzling all of your milk.”

“Why do you have to word things the way you do?”

“I think it’s funny.”

No longer paying attention to his children’s bickering, Poseidon called some guards and ordered them to take away the still twitching bodies to the cells, hoping they would regenerate enough for an interrogation to happen. He also called Delphin, so he and his right hand could start the investigation and figure out if this was an isolated incident with one of Oceanus’s daughters growing overzealous and acting alone, or if they were facing a larger scheme.

________________________________________________________________________
The worst part of discovering new and exciting things is that other people will also want to reap the benefits of your arduous research. Generally, Mnemosyne does not mind such a thing, always having been someone more than willing to share her findings, but she’s feeling quite annoyed this one time.

If she were ever to express such sentiment, there would certainly be some who’d attempt to dismiss her by saying that what she ‘discovered’ was something bound to become common knowledge sooner than later. In some cases, the Titaness will privately agree with that assessment; she’ll seldom say it out loud, but that’s the obvious, yet on this one occasion, she’ll actually argue that it was her discovery that popularized it to the undeserving masses.

You may be wondering, what is this one discovery of Mnemosyne that she’s so possessive of, even though it doesn’t truly belong to her? Surely she must have discovered another use of the languages she created, she did, but the answer is more embarrassing than it should have been. The discovery that the Titaness of memories is so possessive of —the one she regrets ever popularizing —is her lover, Perseira Aphrodities.

The Titaness is not so cocky as to think her interest is what made her beautiful girl such a—Hot commodity! That’s a good term, Mnemosyne will have to share it later…oh dear, she trailed off, back to the subject. The Titaness of memories is not so cocky as to think that having Perseira Aphrodities in her bed is what made everyone and their mother want to take a piece of her darling, but she says she should have been more subtle.

Still, Mnemosyne dares anyone to have subtlety when face-to-face with love at first sight.

The first time the Titaness of memories had ever seen her lover was on the commemorations of her sister Themis' wedding to Zeus. It was an ill-fated match, seeing that the groom was a better fuck than he was a husband, but the festivities had been great. All guests had been partying as if they had all forgotten that the King had swallowed his previous wife.

Mnemosyne is a hypocrite, which is why she was enjoying the party while privately hoping that her sister, instead of becoming the king’s next meal, would simply get divorced when this marriage would eventually come to its inevitable end. Yes, she said, inevitable end, quite literally, no one in attendance at that wedding thought the couple would last; they just really like to party.

The focus of the evening had been on the couple, yet the moment Aphrodite and her daughter had walked into the party, everyone couldn’t help but stare at the picture they made.

Aphrodite had been as beautiful as ever, dressed in a crimson chiton covered in golden jewelry. If it were someone else dressed in such a manner, it would have been attention-grabbing to the point it was considered gaudy, but in the goddess of love, it was a beautifully tasteful choice that showcased her respect for the couple. And even though the Chiton clung to her curves like many would kill for the privilege of doing, and Aphrodite also had quite the cleavage, it was considered quite the conservative outfit, seeing that many assumed, and hoped, she’d show up to the event stark naked.

Yet, if Aphrodite had stolen the scene, it was her daughter who stole everyone’s breath.

Mnemosyne had never met Perseira Aphrodities before, even though the girl is a granddaughter of sorts to her favorite Niece, Dione. The Titaness of Memories had never seen the girl before.

The only things she did know were the rumors, like how Poseidon had infuriatingly forgotten his child then finally took her to live with him under the sea for a while when he finally remembered her, and the giant who had fallen for her and planned to take the little goddess against her will until Aphrodite enacted a punishment so macabre on him Mnemosyne shudders when she thinks about it.

The giant deserved the horrors Aphrodite had put him through…yet when Mnemosyne saw Perseira Aphrodities for the first time, all she could think was that even though he was disgusting, he had a point.

Perseira Aphrodities has many domains, from loyalty to riptides and natural disasters, yet as soon as she stepped into her first party on Olympus, arms linked with her mother’s, all that everyone could remember was that she was the embodiment of love at first sight.

The darkest hair the Titaness of memory ever recalls seeing fastened in a braided bun with several waves breaking free, if only to frame the most perfect face Mnemosyne had ever seen. The beauty was draped in a dark blue fabric styled the same way as her mother’s, but besides the color, what distinguished the young goddess were the pearls that were sewn onto her outfit like stars in the night sky.

Mnemosyne couldn’t help it, where once she had spent the entire night sharing and listening to stories, now all she was doing was watching Aphrodite’s maddeningly beautiful daughter. She must have looked desperate trying to memorize every single contour of her face from a distance because both Themis and Dione pulled her aside.

“Auntie” Dione sighed, shaking her head “Please, you look as if you’re about to leap across the room and take poor Perseira’s maidenhood with everyone present as witness.”

“I do not” Mnemosyne half-heartedly protested, wilfully ignoring the way her mouth started watering when Dione said the object of her attraction is currently a maiden.

“You do.” Themis unhelpfully provided “Sister, just go talk to the girl before her parents think you’re plotting something nefarious." She pleaded.

“I’m not planning anything nefarious” Mnemosyne sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose “The girl has not left her mother’s side for the entire time she’s been here, I doubt that she fancies a tryst at the moment” The Titaness shrugged, she really wants Perseira Aphrodities in every way she can get her, but that’s not going to happen if she approaches the beauty in a situation where she’d rather just spend time with her mother.

“She’s just shy” Dione rolled her eyes as if Mnemosyne was the one being unreasonable. “The poor girl does not know anyone in here besides her mother and me, of course, she’s clinging to her.”

“You’ve heard our niece” Themis said, giving a firm smack to her sister’s backside. “We’ll go greet Aphrodite and you’ll use the opportunity to talk to her daughter” She ordered, grabbing her sister’s hand and linking her arm with Dione’s.

“Themis, isn’t today your wedding celebration? Why waste time worrying about who’ll be on my bed by the end of the night? Go worry about your marriage” Mnemosyne complained, but allowed herself to be dragged because she has never denied being a hypocrite.

“If you had seen the way my husband’s jaw dropped as soon as he saw Perseira Aphrodities, I’m quite certain you’d also agree that ensuring that she’ll end up in your bed and no other’s will be beneficial to my marriage” Themis replied, easily shutting down her sister’s faux complaints.

“She wouldn’t want him” Dione piped up. “She’s viscerally disgusted by married people.”

“...And we’re sure that she was born from Poseidon and Aphrodite?”

“I also have that as a doubt, I’ll not lie”

Thankfully, Mnemosyne has never bothered with marriage.

Approaching Aphrodite’s little ‘court’ was a lot easier when accompanied by both of her sister and her niece. Dione’s presence made the goddess of beauty’s admirers and sycophants give way for them to reach her, seeing that they all know that the Oceanid who took care of Aphrodite as a ‘newborn’ will have priority over them lest the one they admire turn her ire towards them. Themis was no less useful, as the bride and today’s main character, Aphrodite, naturally turned her attention towards her, giving Mnemosyne the perfect opportunity to strike.

“Hello” She smiled at the goddess, who managed to be even more dazzling up close. “I believe this is our first time meeting” The Titaness of memories said.

“It is.” The dark-haired beauty gave a small smile back. “My name is Perseira, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Mnemosyne” She politely introduced herself.

“I say the same” Mnemosyne said. “Tell me, Perseira, how are you enjoying the festivities?”

“I’m liking them just fine. This is my first Olympus party, and it’s as beautiful as my mother has always said” Perseira said with practiced words and an easy smile. “What about my lady? How are you enjoying the festivities?”

“They’re fine” Mnemosyne shrugged. “Parties are a good place to trade stories, so I’m enjoying myself just fine.”

“I have heard many great things about Lady Mnemosyne’s storytelling skills” Perseira earnestly complimented. “It’s an honor to attend a party with such a great storyteller in attendance” The beauty said, making the Titaness preen because all compliments sound better coming from a beautiful woman’s lips

“You’re too kind” She demurred. “Storytelling is great, but in my opinion, the people accománying you are half of the fun” The Titaness said, linking her arm with Perseira’s. “For example, if I had a woman as beautiful as you being my captive audience…”She suggestively trailed off with a smirk, watching as the young goddess' face adopted the most adorable flush.

“Ah—uh” She stumbled on her words as her face grew more and more flushed. “Good to know, my lady—”

“Yes” The Titaness interrupted her with a smirk, tucking a strand of hair behind the young goddess’ ear.

“Mnemosyne” The beauty slowly said, sending a shiver down the older woman’s spine at how her name sounded coming from this beautiful girl’s lips. “My lady, may I as if you’re flirting with me?” She asked, and even though if that question had come from anyone else, Mnemosyne would have assumed it was a rhetorical question or that they were playing coy. When Perseira asked it, it felt like she really couldn’t tell that Mnemosyne wanted her badly.

“I am” She easily admitted, leaning closer “And if I need to make things clear: I’d like to take you to a side room, even one of the gardens if you so desire, entertain you with my stories then take you apart until the only word you know is my name” She whispered into the young goddess ear, watching amused as she shivered. “Of course, if you’re unwilling—”

“I understood” The young goddess said rather quickly, her face growing rapidly flushed. “My lady really has a way with her words.”

“I invented them” Mnemosyne shrugged, her smirk growing. “Lady Love at first sight, you haven’t given me an answer, are you willing?” She said, patiently waiting for an answer from the one she’d have screaming her name by the end of the evening.

“I—I’m willing” Perseira said, her gaze firm even though her words held a light stutter. “But I’ve never been with anyone before” She sounded apologetic at the end, as if her maiden status is something that’d turn Mnemosyne away and not the reason why her mouth is salivating as much as her nethers.

This time, Mnemosyne did not resist the urge to kiss her beautiful girl, ignoring the cheering of those around them. It was soft and sweet, and although Perseira claimed to be a maiden, the way she kissed showed that the goddess was no novice.

“I’m not disappointed" The Titaness of memories said, licking her lips once they parted. “I’ll return her safe and sound” She told Aphrodite, who was looking their way way too amusedly for someone whose daughter was about to be deflowered.

“Have at it” The goddess of love giggled into Dione’s shoulders. “See you later dear, have some fun” She playfully called to her daughter with a wink.

“See you later, mama” Perseira absentmindedly replied, right before she was dragged away by the Titaness, who quickly became the envy of Olympus.

Although Mnemosyne’s desperation at getting her beautiful girl alone was clear to anyone with eyes, she wasn’t a brute who threw Perseira into the first flat surface she found and climbed on top of her like a fumbling animal. As testament to her self-control, Mnemosyne carefully chose one of the palace’s side rooms that was thankfully unoccupied, softly put Aphrodite’s most precious treasure on top of the soft bedding, and kept true to her word.

The Titaness of memories started entertaining Perseira with stories: short, sweet, and passionate ones that were perfect to relax the maiden's nerves enough for what they were about to do. Perseira was sweet and pliant under Mnemosyne’s hands, who took on the task of undressing the young goddess, until she wasn’t.

Mnemosyne was finishing a story while idly taking down her bedmate's hairpins with one hand and caressing her breast with the other. The Titaness will have to admit that as soon as she first saw them, her priority had stopped undressing her beautiful girl and became teasing them as much as she could.

Of course, her little lover had strong opinions about that, since the next thing she knew was that Perseira Aphrodities, now completely bare and with her long hair down, had thrown her against the bedding and started kissing her neck.

“My lady” She sighed into Mnemosyne’s ear “You’re so cruel.” The beauty complained, nuzzling the older woman’s cheek.

“Oh my sweet” She soothed, gripping Perseira’s buttocks. “I lost track of time” Mnemosyne smiled, swiftly changing their positions so she was the one on top. “Allow me to make it up for you” She said, grabbing her lover’s hair and bringing her into a kiss.

A maiden Perseira was when Mnemosyne first got her hands on the young goddess; it was clear in her inexperience and the way she needed guidance, yet as soon as she got the hang of it, the Titaness was the one breathless by the end of it.

“Did I do ok?” Mnemosyne’s young lover asked, head tilted to the side with her brows drawn together, the perfect picture of innocent confusion as if they weren’t both naked and covered in the sticky vestiges of their lovemaking.

“Quite so” The Titaness replied, cupping her lover’s beautiful face and thinking she should invent new words to describe her as beautiful was no longer enough. “You’re mesmerizing” She said, kissing Perseira’s forehead.

“My lady” Perseira smiled at her, a happy, lopsided smile that made her look as if she were up for nothing. “You were quite ok too” She teased, flicking the older woman’s nipple with a challenge in her eyes.

“Only quite ok?” Mnemosyne said, swiftly straddling her brat of a lover “If what we did was just ‘quite ok’, I’ll make it so you can’t stand, maybe that’ll be enough for you.” She threatened the young goddess below her.

“I can’t wait for what my lady has in store for me then.” Poseidon and Aphrodite’s daughter smiled up at her “But do be careful with such threats, I fall in love easily.” She playfully batted her eyelashes.

“I don’t mind.” If Perseira Aphrodities fell in love with her, Mnemosyne would gladly take responsibility: ”I’ll take care of you.” She said in a joking tone, slowly trailing her hands from her lover’s waist to her breasts, drawing a sweet sigh from the beauty under her.

“Perse—” A foreign voice snapped the two deities out of their sensual bubble.

Snapping her head to glare at the inconsiderate inconsiderate nincompoop that dared to interrupt their moment, Mnemosyne was startled to find Helios’ newest consort, the one he snatched as soon as she was born, staring at them with the utmost unimpressed look the Titaness had ever seen.

Before Mnemosyne could say anything to her lover’s twin, who had just interrupted them, Perseira spoke first.

“Sister?” Perseira’s voice came out confused, yet not embarrassed. Instead of sharing Mnemosyne’s anger at being interrupted, or even the annoyance one would expect from a youth who just had a tryst interrupted by an older sibling, the Titaness’ lover looked…strangely happy while staring at her older twin.

“Our father’s family got here the same time as Helios and I” She said, boredly watching the state of her sister under a strange older woman. “Father has brought Triton, who’s been asking to see you” She said, raising an eyebrow at Mnemosyne, who was probably glaring at her with eyes full of contempt.

“Sorry, my lady” Perseira said, carefully sitting up to not jostle Mnemosyne too much. “Duty calls” She said with a sheepish smile, and before the Titaness of memories could express her anger, the young goddess kissed her in a way that made the negative feelings melt off her body.

When the Titaness finally came back to herself, she was no longer straddling her lover; instead, she was sitting right next to a naked Perseira, who promptly got up and snapped her clothes back on. The only sign that something between them had ever happened was that her lover’s hair, once fashioned into a beautiful braided bun, was now a cascade of darkness flowing down her body and pooling around her waist.

“You look like a mess” Perseira’s older sister sighed, running her hands through her sister’s hair and not noticing perking up at the attention. “I’ll do your hair later” She said as if she were a queen and Perseira her lowest subject.

“I can’t wait” Perseira said, her face glowing with the afterglow of what they had just done as she stared at her older twin with eyes full of innocent affection, and for this moment, Mnemosyne has pettily decided that she hates Helios’ consort. “My lady” Perseira said, finally remembering the existence of the one who took her maidenhood, crawled her way back to the bedding and earnestly asked her, “May I walk you back to the party?” She asked, the tides in her eyes sweet, the type that makes you forget how deceptive the sea is.

“No need” She smiled even though she was fuming on the inside. “Go with your sister, I’ll have you more later.” Drawing the younger goddess into another kiss, making sure to glare at the interloper before separating and flashing her clothes back on.

The twins left first, with Helios’ consort walking out of the room moments after the two women had stopped kissing, and Perseira followed right after her older sister like a puppy. As pathetic as it may be, Mnemosyne spent a lot longer than she should have watching them walking away from her and comforting herself that, according to Dione, Perseira has no interest in married women.

After that first time, Mnemosyne should have been satisfied with what she had gotten out of the young goddess, who clearly did not enjoy the Titaness as much as she did her, but Perseira Aphrodities became an addiction she could never stay away from for too long.

Her beautiful girl has such a sweet and genuine personality that it makes one doubt her parentage until her temper makes its appearance. Mnemosyne’s gorgeous darling, whose beauty is so great that the Titaness had to invent more words to describe it, whose brilliant mind is something of an unspoken secret between the two of them.

“And then the scatterbrained Lethe just had to forget where she had put my manuscript, and before that she had even forgotten she had gotten it in the first place!” Mnemosyne complained to her love.

They’re in one of the gardens in Olympus, Mnemosyne is sitting on the edge of a beautiful fountain while her Perseira lies inside it. Her lover, covered in clear water and flowers, is a beautiful sight, and the Titaness is gladly committing to memory.

“It was your only copy?” Perseira asked.

“Yes!” Mnemosyne exasperated, reached inside the fountain to play with her beautiful girl’s hair. “Of course, I eventually got it back, but damned Lethe wasted my time trying to remind her that she had asked me to lend it to her” She grumbled, hand going from her petting her lover’s hair to caressing her painfully sweet face.

“You know, you could keep a record of those you lend your manuscripts to” Perseira offered after a few moments of silence.

“My darling, why should I do that when my domain is memory?” Mnemosyne questioned, tracing her lover’s bottom lip with her thumb “I’ve never forgotten anything in my existence, no matter how big or small.”

“I know” Perseira rolled her eyes, playfully biting the Titaness’ thumb “That’s not why I said you should keep records, love” She sat up, resting her elbows on the stone edge of the fountain “My lady should keep records for the same reason she writes the things she knows down, so others do not forget” The young goddess said “You can even make them sign so in the future even if their memory fails, they can’t say that they did not take something you”

“That’s…actually a great idea” Mnemosyne mumbled, mind already racing with ideas on how to implement that whenever she lends someone her manuscripts. “Darling, you are a genius!” She exclaimed, hauling the young woman into a heated kiss.

Mnemosyne’s beautiful her, her dearest darling, the one that doesn’t actually belong to her at all. That should have been the expected. Perseira was born from the union of Poseidon and Aphrodite. For goodness’ sake, it should have been expected that there would be one trait of her personality that’d take after her parents, but the Mnemosyne will have to admit this was all of her fault, well, it’s her and Dione’s fault.

It all started when Perseira had gone back to live under the sea with her father’s family for a few months, and this time, due to an ongoing diplomatic issue, Mnesomysne’s lover wasn’t able to come to the surface to spend time with her. Of course, the Titaness had been missing her darling like a limb, so she reacted the only logical way there was: by drinking copious amounts of nectar with her sister, who managed to get out of her marriage with Zeus alive and unswallowed, and Dione.

They were talking about Zeus' new marriage to the poor Eurynome, another beautiful Oceanid, the King of the Gods had gotten smitten with, when the topic came to how Perseira had been doing under the sea.

“Oh, auntie, do not worry for there is no safer place in the world for Perseira than my father’s palace” Dione waved her worries off “He and my mother have taken a liking to her, Poseidon was right in sending her there for diplomacy, but if he’s not too careful my parents will not give her back” She laughed.

“It’s not your parents I’m worried about, it’s your siblings.” Mnemosyne sighed. This whole issue started because one of Oceanus’ daughters tried to have Poseidon’s son assassinated, and Perseira was the one who intercepted the attack. What if she wasn’t a lone agent and her lover got ambushed?

“My brothers are too busy fighting for my father’s approval to do anything to his current darling” Dione rolled her eyes “And the only danger most of my sisters present to our Perseira is that they’re going to suffocate the poor girl from how much they’re clamoring for a place in her bed, the rest are too too amused watching the situation to do anything against her”

“Excuse me?” The Titaness of memories asked, voice low and dangerous.

“She’s not fucking any of my sisters” Dione quickly said. “I don’t think she has noticed most of them want her anyway, she’s a bit slow on that front” The oceanid said, and yes, Mnemosybe could see she had a point. “You haven’t been made a cuckold, auntie, do not worry.”

“Most of your sisters want her?” Themis chimed in from where she was previously nursing from her goblet “Niece, isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? You have six thousand siblings, and half of them are sisters.”

“Do not remind me” Dione shuddered when remembering her many, many siblings. “What can I say, lady loyalty has always been a charmer, remember her friendship with Aunt Phoebe’s daughters? Those girls have been smitten with her at first sight, according to Aphrodite” She gossiped.

“Oh, Phoebe has told me about that!” Themis laughed “My poor sister said she walked into them playing a kissing game: Asteria telling Perse to kiss Leto because she wanted to see it, and that her only reaction was to walk right out because she was not going to deal with that.”

“Ah, those kids” Dione shook her head fondly.

It’s admittedly pathetic that Mnemosyne allowed such a basic conversation to affect her that much. Perseira Aphrodities is a goddess so desired that the only one who ranks above her is literally Aphrodite. Of course, Oceanus' daughters all want a taste of her, and of course, she used to play kissing games with her childhood friends, who are probably as besotted with her as everyone else; it’s all logical…but who really applies logic to love? Exactly.

Needless to say, that conversation destroyed Mnemosyne’s peace because it made the Titaness revisit a fact she already knew: Perseira does not love her as much as she loves her. Perseira Aphrodities, who looks at her with eyes full of affection, who treats her with reverence, who has gotten into physical spats defending Mnemosyne’s honor, simply does not love her as much as she should.

It’s not her being insecure, it’s just that there’s no way Mnemosyne could believe that Perseira loves her when the one she searches for whenever she enters a room, whose attention she lights up under, and the one she’s so shy to approach as if she were afraid of rejection, is her twin sister Rhodes.

The first time the Titaness of memories realized that was during a party at Olympus, they weren’t commemorating anything in particular. It was just another reason for the gods to get drunk and have a good time.

Mnemosyne remembered that she had gotten to the party later than usual, and almost everyone had already been there. The Titaness had seen Aphrodite surrounded by her ever-loving admirers and sycophants, but Perseira had not been at her mother’s side, which made Mnemosyne assume that Poseidon’s family had already gotten to the party and her lover was spending time with them.

So, the Titaness had gone to search for her darling at the bustling, and she eventually found her hiding behind a column. Perseira had looked mesmerizing, another word Mnemosyne had invented to describe her, and the older woman was ready to go to her lover’s side and press her against that column for another reason when she realized what the goddess of loyalty had been doing.

Perseira Aphrodities had hidden herself behind a column for the sole reason of staring at where her twin sister had been sitting. The goddess that every single god, goddess, satyr, nymph, Titan, or monster wanted a piece of was staring at Helios’ consort as if her sister was something so great she could not fathom having her when the minor goddess is only important because Helios married her

At the time, Mnemosyne had been overcome with a feeling that was not quite anger; it wasn’t as poisonous, but it burned twice as sharply. Next thing she knew, the Titaness had thrown her lover against that same column and kissed her violently before eventually parting the kiss and dragging Perseira away to a private room where she could show her exactly why she was better than Helios’ consort.

After hearing Dione’s words, Mnemosyne was burning with that same feeling, and with no way to take it out on her beloved and no possibility to take it out on her rival in love, she stewed in that feeling for longer than what was considered normal or healthy. The months it took for Perseira to emerge from the sea were torturous to say the least, as every single day that burning feeling grew more and more.

When Perseira had finally emerged from the sea, Mnemosyne’s loving arms hadn’t been her first stop. Oh no, her first stop had been her mother’s palace, where she spent an entire week being spoiled by Aphrodite and then some. That was fine, truly, the Titaness is a jealous fool, but she’s not about to get in the way of Aphrodite spending time with her daughter.

It was fine until Phoebe came for a visit and brought along her two daughters.

The girls were beautiful, as much as Mnemosyne did not feel too kindly about her lover’s childhood friends, she was not going to pretend that they weren’t beautiful enough to cause damnation.

The older one, Leto, had long blonde hair that fell straight down her back, and although her veil covered half of her face, it only made a more curious person attempt to look under and see the beauty hiding underneath. The younger one, Asteria, had curly red hair that looked perpetually messy, yet it looked charming on the young woman who had a wide smile and the type of look in her face that told she was used to getting her way.

The girls were quiet for most of the visit, only talking amongst each other as Mnemosyne and her sister caught up with one another, when Asteria suddenly asked her aunt a question:

“Auntie, are you Perseira’s lover?” She asked, eyes full of innocence and curiosity.

“Asteria!” Both Phoebe and Leto hissed.

“I am” Mnemosyne answered, ignoring her sister scolding her daughter for asking such a question.

“Really?” Asteria said, clapping her hands together in excitement “Auntie is so lucky! Perseira is a great person, and an even greater friend, so I think she’d be an amazing lover!” She said with childish glee.

“Thank you” Mnemosyne said, and she should cut the conversation right now but—”Are the two of you close?” She asked instead.

“Of course!” She excitedly nodded, her curls bouncing with the movement. “Her, Leto, and I are the bestest of friends; there’s nothing we haven’t done together.” She put her hand on her chest as if swearing something.

Asteria’s words had been innocent, nothing that would make anyone suspect she was talking about something other than a really close childhood friendship to most people, but Mnemosyne wasn’t most people. The Titaness remembers what Dione and Themis had said about the three girls’ friendship, and with the way Phoebe’s face adopted an awkward look and Leto started to blush, she’s not the only one who remembers those details.

“Oh, my” Mnemosyne drawled on “You must have been suffering a lot with her under the sea then.” She said in a slightly mocking tone that seemed to go over the redheaded girl’s head.

“I did! Both Leto and I, but thankfully Perse sent us some letters from Lord Oceanus’ palace,” She said, extending her hand to show off a bracelet made of pearls. “She even sent us gifts! Of course, I asked her for something for the three of us to wear matching, but it’s really nice of her to send us this.” Asteria smiled brightly. “What about you, Auntie? Did you miss her?” She asked, and maybe it was Mnemosyne’s brain, but she saw a hint of cruelty in her niece’s eyes that disappeared as soon as she blinked, leaving behind the same innocence as always in those golden eyes.

“Of course I did, thankfully the letters helped.” Mnemosyne smiled amiably towards her niece, even though she wanted to strangle that chit.

“Perse is really considerate with all of the people around her.” Asteria nodded with a bright smile.

Their visit was cut short after that, with Phoebe saying she had some more errands to run and taking her daughters away in a hurry, and the last thing Mnemosyne saw of her nieces was Leto’s apologetic look and Asteria’s happy wave before she was dragged away by her mother.

The Titaness waited three breaths before she completely exploded, papers flew everywhere with their letters escaping their pages and flying across the room. Perseira Aphrodities is as kind as she is beautiful; she treats everyone in her life with considerate matter. Who'd have thought that such a goddess would be the absolute bane of her lovers’ existence? Why!?! Why is Perseira so obsessed with making sure Mnemosyne knows how unimportant she is? The Titaness could have forgiven the way she also wrote letters to her friends while she was under the sea; there’s no way to help it, but gifting jewelry to other women?!?

Mnemosyne had truly lost her mind; every inch of her being was filled with poisonous jealousy that corrupted her every thought, and where once she created new words to describe how beautiful her lover was, now she was creating new words to describe how cheated she feels.

She didn’t know how much time had passed; all she knew was that she had to conjure more paper to fill all the new insults, curses, and derogatory words she created. The only thing that brought the Titaness back to earth was one of her Nymphs announcing that the reason for her breakdown, Perseira Aphrodities, had come to visit her.

Unlike in the past, Mnemosyne did not allow Perseira to get inside her palace; instead, she fixed herself up and walked her way to the entrance of her palace at a leisurely pace.

“Perseira” The Titaness calmly greeted her lover, even though all she wanted was to scream at her because how dare she treat other women the same way she treats her, and how dare she look so gorgeous when Mnemosyne is so angry at her? Scream at her or make her scream, the most impossible choice there.

“My lady” Perseira greeted her happily, handing her a cloth wrapped around her gift. “I got this for you” She said, urging the older woman to take it.

“Thank you” Mnemosyne demurely said, taking the gift but not opening it. “You took a while to come back” She commented as if it were the weather.

“Yes, my apologies, things have been hectic under the sea and—”

“I know” She interrupted her lover’s explanation “I’ve heard about your little ‘diplomatic mission’” The Titaness spat out the words like they were poison. “But that is not the point. Why did you wait so long to visit me when I know you’ve been out of the sea for a while?”

“Because my mother wanted to spend some time with me? My lady—”

“I’m not your lady” Mnemosyne snapped, watching with a quiet satisfaction as her lover deflated. “I’m not your anything, and you’d do well to remember that, Perseira Aphrodities.”

“May I assume that our entanglement is done then?” The goddess asked with a flat voice, the hurt look being replaced by something close to boredom.

“Maybe so, certainly there are better picks out there than someone who’s just so kind they can’t tell when they're being cruel!” Mnemosyne snarked.

“And there are certainly better picks out there than a single woman with nine different personalities” Perseira rolled her eyes.

“Then go find them!” Mnemosyne screamed when all she wanted to do was pull her lover into her arms and ask her why she wasn’t enough. “Take this gift of yours too, give it to the ditzy whore who’d appreciate being taken for a fool”

“You can keep it” Perseira said, her face indecipherable. “The ditzy whore deserves better than another woman’s unwanted belongings."

“Isn’t that what you are?”

“Just as much as you are mine” She smiled, a mean thing. “Goodbye, my lady, you were a wonderful experience” And that was the cruelest thing Perseira Aphrodities could have ever said to her.

“Just leave!” She shouted instead of begging her to stay.

After Perseira Aphrodities was gone, Mnemosyne dragged herself back to her chambers, not feeling the satisfaction she thought she’d feel, maybe because the young goddess hadn't reacted the way she wanted her to, or maybe because she pushed away the one she wanted to keep close.

Whatever reason it was, the hollow in her chest felt suffocating. The Titaness still had her former lover’s gift clutched in her palm, digging so hard it made her skin hurt, finally deciding to unwrap the cloth. Mnemosyne wept at seeing the silver necklace with an amethyst pendant shaped like her sacred animal.

She’s stupid; fates have mercy on her. Mnemosyne is the stupidest deity there is.

Chapter Text

Iris is quite pleased with her lot in life.

Iris has her Queen’s favor, which is worth its weight in gold. It could be because she’s the most competent at her job, being steadfast at her lady’s side where many once lost favor, or it could also be because King Zeus finds her sexually unappealing, having famously once described the goddess of Rainbows as something along the lines of ‘One of his brothers if they had the form of an uninteresting young woman’. Whatever case it may be, Iris’ position is secured and for that she’s happy.

Of course, since no job is perfect as they all come with their seatbacks, Iris’ is no different and unfortunately for the goddess of rainbows, hers are more explosive than most. It’s not even the messenger part; ever since Hermes was born, her load was reduced by half, the seatback of her job happens due to marital issues of the royal couple.

It is insolent of her to think so, but Iris has never seen such a…volatile union that has lasted this long, and she’s still married to Zephyrus. Of course, the goddess of Rainbows will forever maintain that it’s not entirely her Queen’s fault. The King is a man with a strong personality who stays true to his desires no matter how selfish they may be, and it so happens that his desires more often than not involve a great beauty for him to betray the goddess of Marriage and Fidelity with.

This time, however, the reason for her Queen’s temper is not one of her husband’s mistresses… technically. Very recently, one of the King’s bastards, Dionysus, ascended to godhood, and Iris’ Queen was not reacting well to it.

A demigod bastard is one thing; they’d be easy for her Queen to kill, and the King would get angry at her for a while, depending on how loved the child was by him, but he’d eventually move on. Now, a demigod that managed to ascend to godhood all on his own? That’s another bastard that the Queen will have to put up with for the rest of eternity.

Some would say that Queen Hera shoulf be used to that as a good portion of the Olympus Council has been begetted by her husband, but that is an unwise thing to say, which is why they merely think it. The King has a long track record of parading his bastards around his wife, but Dionysus is different due to who his mother is.

No, Iris is not even talking about the frankly stupid princess Semele, because what mortal would think it’s a good idea to ask to see a god’s true form? Use your head to think for once. No, the goddess of Rainbows is referring to Perseira Aphrodities.

The goddess whose love for children is so well-known that King Zeus had presented the then-baby Bacchus to her and requested that she raise him. Any other goddess would have refused if only out of self-preservation, but Perseira Aphrodities, who once helped Lady Leto to deliver her twin archers even when the Queen made it clear that the Titaness wasn’t allowed to birth in any place on earth and even sent Chthonic monsters to drive the point home, did not have such concerns and readily agreed to raise the child as her own.

Of course, while Perseira Aphrodities was audacious for agreeing to raise the child even when knowing full well the risks of the Queen’s wrath, the goddess of demigods was smart enough to know that what she wasn’t doing wasn’t wise, so to protect the boy she was going to raise, she went into hiding. The only ones who knew where she was were her parents; clearly, not even her siblings knew, as Aphrodite’s other children were acting like caged animals clawing the bars of their enclosures and while there wasn’t much about Poseidon’s other children at the time, the violent storms and tides told enough stories.

Yes, not even her lovers were told about where the goddess of love at first had hidden herself and the boy she was raising…as you can imagine, the entire Olympus, most of the sea, and a weirdly large part of the underworld had been in chaos.

Iris wishes she could judge, say she watched the chaos from a distance with a calm detachment as everyone from Perseira Aphrodities to lovers to admirers and self-proclaimed rivals lost their everloving minds over her absence, but then she’d be the biggest liar in Olympus.

The goddess of Rainbows is not ashamed of it. The ones who should be ashamed of how they acted are Eros and Apollo, who were the worst of the lot, but she finds it rather embarrassing when she’s never been one of the many, many people who have had the honor of sharing the goddess of loyalty’s bed.

If she were a lover, Iris would be well within her rights to have used the times she went to send messages along to see if she could see even a glimpse of the goddess that was tormenting her thoughts with her absence. The goddess of Rainbows finds it embarrassing, but it’s not her fault. Iris will actually challenge anyone who ever crossed paths with Perseira Aphrodities to be normal about her and watch as they all fail miserably.

There’s just…something about her.

The first time Iris had seen Perseira Aphrodites had not been in King Zeus' wedding with Lady Themis, where the goddess showed everyone exactly why she’s the embodiment of love at first sight, no, the first time Iris had seen Perseira Aphrodities had been when she had been sent to invite Aphrodite and her daughter to the celebration.

A beautiful Oceanid with hair made of crystalline water had allowed Iris inside Aphrodite’s palace in Kythera and led her to the garden where Aphrodite was lounging naked in a bed made of roses.

“Lady Aphrodite” Iris politely bowed her head before the goddess of love “I, Iris, the messenger of the gods, am here with an invitation towards you and your daughter” She said, politely keeping eye-contact with goddess whose appearance had already changed to match Lady Hera whom Iris had just come from sending another invitation to, but her eyes were Zephyrus’.

“Iris” Aphrodite greeted with a sing-song voice as she sat up and if before her long hair was leaving certain things to imagination, now that everything was showing “What a pleasure to see you” She said stretching her arms above her head “I’d apologize for my state” The goddess of love said, cocking her head to the side with a wink “But it’s not like I see you complaining”

“I could never” Iris quickly replied, averting her eyes as an infuriating flush spread across her cheeks.

“I know” Aphrodite giggled. “You have an invitation for me and my daughter, what for? Has our King finally decided to allow me to decorate his palace?” She said, twirling a strand of hair that was once covering a nipple.

“It’s an invitation for his wedding with Lady Themis, the Titaness of divine law, order, and custom. Daughter of Ouranos and Gaea.”

“Oh, that poor dear” Aphrodite shook her head, standing up her full height and clapping her hands in excitement. “But, I love parties! So tell our King and his unfortunate bride that I’ll be there.”

“Of course” Iris nodded, choosing not to comment on her reaction, as quite literally everyone she told this news to has said almost the same thing. “May I ask my lady to call for her daughter? So that I can properly give Lady Perseira her invitation?” She said, bravely managing not to squeak when Aphrodite’s gaze hardened.

“Is this invitation the King’s order?” She said, her previous cheer completely disappearing, leaving behind a cold, calculating gaze.

“I’m afraid that is the case.” Iris bowed her head once again.

“I thought so” Aphrodite gritted her teeth before once again adopting a cheerful countenance. “Love it! It will give me a chance to dress my beautiful child up, maybe we’ll even wear matching dresses so everyone knows she’s mine.” The goddess giggled, her emotions changing so fast it gave Iris a whiplash. “Cerseis, please go fetch our Perse for me, ok?” She ordered the Oceanid who led Iris inside.

“Of course, my Lady” The Nymph nodded, her beautiful water hair swishing with the movement.

Lady Aphrodite had seemingly forgotten her sudden bout of anger because while the Oceanid Cerseis was fetching Perseira Aphrodities, the goddess of love started grilling her for gossip about the newest royal couple to which Iris gladly provided. After all, she much prefers this version of Aphrodite to the one who looked like she’d rip her apart with her bare teeth.

“But the wedding is happening so fast! Are we sure she’s not pregnant?”

“I had the same doubt, but according to her attendants, she’s apparently not.” Iris shook her head. “To quote Lady Demeter, it’s as if the King is hurrying the marriage so Lady Themis doesn’t realize she could do better” She gossiped, watching as Aphrodite threw her head back in laughter.

“Oh, Iris, you—My love! There you are! We were waiting for you.” Aphrodite stopped laughing to greet someone over Iris’ shoulder, who turned her head to see who the goddess was talking to, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by the beauty she saw.

Iris logically knew that no child born out of Aphrodite could be anything but beautiful, but when she imagined Perseira Aphrodities, she thought the young goddess would be something like Helios's newest consort: an undoubtedly beautiful woman you’d do anything for a chance with, but most of her appeal comes from the way she exudes grace with every movement.

Perseira Aphrodities was beauty itself. While lacking the grace of her twin, she was the most beautiful being Iris had ever seen.

The goddess had black hair cascading down her back and pooling around her hips like ink dripping down her body in untamable waves. Her skin was tanned, like the sun decided to pay special attention to her and her eyes, goodness, her eyes, they shone against her skin. Perseira Aphrodities had the most interesting pair of eyes Iris had ever seen; their color was sea-green, yet what distinguished them from all the other eyes she’d seen was that they looked as if the tides were trapped inside that beauty’s eyes.

The young goddess was wearing a light blue chiton with minimal jewelry, a single pearl haircrown adorned her hair, while a bright golden bracelet decorated her wrist. She had the body of a warrior; it was clear that this young woman was strong and well-trained. Yet, she also had her mother’s curves, if only slightly smaller in most places except the chest.

“Iris” Aphrodite’s voice cut through the messenger of the god’s thoughts “My daughter is quite the beautiful little thing, isn’t she?” She winked, now looking like Perseira Aphrodities’ mirror image.

“Mother, please” The young woman pleaded, looking adorably flustered. “Do not tease me like that when there’s company” She complained, obediently going to stand next to her mother’s side.

“My dear, I’m only saying what she was thinking.” Aphrodite shrugged, hugging her daughter and resting her head on top of the young woman’s. “Can’t I be proud of the beauty I raised? My little baby who used to say I was the most beautiful woman in the world?”

“That’s because you are” Perseira Aphrodities replied, staying still as her mother started cooing over her. “How may I help, Lady Iris?”

“Ah—”

“My love! This is your first meeting with the messenger of the gods! It’s a great time for you to introduce yourself like I taught you!” Aphrodite exclaimed in excitement, letting go of her daughter “Go!” She said, giving little jumps of excitement.

“Of course” Perseira Aphrodities smiled at her mother before turning to Iris with an apologetic look. “Sorry for being so rude, my lady, may we introduce ourselves?”

“Of course” Iris replied with a smile of her own “My name is Iris, goddess of Rainbows and messenger of the gods. It's great to make your acquaintance" She lightly bowed before the young woman.

“Thank you, Lady Iris.” Perseira smiled, returning her bow with a weirdly enticing one. “My name is Perseira Aphrodities, goddess of Loyalty, love at first sight, amongst other things. It’s a pleasure to meet you” She said, and her tone was no different than her normal one, yet Iris pathetically felt a shiver going through her body with the way the young woman said her name.

Perseira Aphrodities was acting normally, Iris is the one weak for beautiful women, and sadly, she’s self-aware enough to know that their first meeting did not spark anything other than polite interest in the younger goddess towards herself.

The next time Iris had seen the goddess of love at first sight was during the celebrations of King Zeus and Lady Themis’ wedding, when, after having spent the entire night glued to her mother’s side like a scared child, Perseira Aphrodities had allowed herself to be seduced away by Lady Mnemosyne.

It was—fine, really, at least Iris wasn’t the most upset one at the party so she kept on doing her duties and figured that there was no point in getting worked up over a girl she found enchanting having a tryst with another woman.

That was what she thought before the goddess of Rainbows found out that, besides being the Titaness of memories, Mnemosyne should also gain a domain over possessiveness. After that tryst, the older woman kept Perseira Aphrodities close to her with the type of jealousy that if Titaness were a man, she’d have the goddess of loyalty trapped inside her castle as a wife.

One interesting thing that Iris saw when watching the couple was that, while Mnemosyne was clearly in love to such an intense degree most would find off-putting, Perseira Aphrodities looked the same as always. The messenger of the gods does not know how to explain what should have looked different on the child of Aphrodite, but whatever it was, its lack showed that this relationship was doomed to fail, or maybe that was Iris’ wishful thinking.

Only that eventually, it did happen. After a jealous fit that went too far, according to one of the Nymphs who serves under Mnemosyne, and Phoebe’s redheaded daughter, who let it slip during a tea party her mother was having, where Iris was also invited, the couple everyone in Olympus wanted to separate finally did that.

Of course, that did not mean that Iris eventually got a chance with the goddess of everyone’s desires; that only meant that Perseira Aphrodities was no longer under the jealous hold of Mnemosyne and that was enough for the goddess of Rainbows, who had disliked the Titaness ever since that night of King Zeus’ wedding to Themis.

Yes, nowadays they’re always parting ways and getting back with one another, but the Titaness no longer has a monopoly over the young woman’s bed, and that’s all that matters.

Speaking of her King’s wedding, far from Iris to judge him, but he’s changed wives more than he changes his hairstyle. She could understand why he moved on so fast after swallowing Lady Metis, but after Lady Themis, it’s like the man had decided that marriage was his favorite thing ever. It does give her something to do and an excuse to talk to Perseira Aphrodities whenever she goes to send the goddess loyalty an invitation to her Uncle’s marriage celebrations, but it was still getting concerning.

The King even had a nine-day tryst with Lady Mnemosyne that sadly did not encourage her to leave Perseira Aphrodities alone. If anything, after hearing that her former lover had birthed nine daughters, Perseira Aphrodities went back to check how she was doing, and of course, the Titaness managed to lure her into another round of an ill-advised relationship.

That wreckage aside, after another relationship reaching its obvious end, King Zeus started to seriously think about settling down, and this time he wanted to do things properly. In fact, he wanted to do things properly so badly that he decided to choose between the most desired brides in all of Greece.

Lady Aphrodite, the most desired bride of all, was immediately thrown out of the selection as the King was aware enough to know that any man who wed her would become a cuckold, perhaps a happy one, but a cuckold nonetheless. With the goddess of love out of the way, Iris’ king turned his eyes to the two goddesses sharing the second spot of most desired brides in all of Greece: Lady Hera, the goddess of marriage, fidelity, and his older sister, and Perseira Aphrodities, goddess of loyalty, love at first sight, and his niece.

It was clear that King Zeus had been really torn between the two women, but his choice had been made for him when in the same week that he started weighing the pros and cons of the two potential brides, Perseira Aphrodities had been caught in an…act of passion with five of Lord Oceanus’ daughters on a beach in Corinth at broad daylight.

Had it involved anyone else, Iris is quite certain that all of the girls’ reputations would have been ruined beyond repair, yet since the ones involved were the beautiful offspring of Poseidon and Aphrodite and five daughters of Oceanus, it was treated more like gossip and a funny anecdote than anything else, as none of the girls had gotten into trouble over it.

Quite the opposite, in fact, from what Iris heard from Dione, Aphrodite had been so proud of her daughter that she ordered her an entire new wardrobe from the finest fabrics, and Lord Poseidon wasn’t too far behind, as he had gotten his daughter a pet shark she adored so much it became one of her sacred animals.

The only great consequence of that ‘scandal’ was Perseira Aphrodities promptly losing her chance at becoming the Queen of the gods, but with the way the young woman was happily making her way through the female side of Lord Oceanus’ bloodline, it looks like she was not too hung up over that loss.

All’s well that ends well. Perseira Aphrodities was as free as she was always meant to be, and Lady Hera settled into her role as Queen as naturally as existing, like she was always meant to be there. It had also looked like Queen Hera was there to stay as King Zeus gifted Iris to her as an attendant since the goddess of Marriage had requested ‘An experienced attendant that you never fucked’ from her husband.

Of course, Queen Hera also had a petty side, so after her marriage was confirmed and right before the festivities took place, she invited her niece for a private meeting over tea. The official reason was to ensure there were no hard feelings between the two of them over the goddess of Fidelity being picked over the goddess of Loyalty.

The actual reason was that Queen Hera really just wanted to gloat. To be frank, Iris thought that the act of gloating when your competition simply does not care to be quite embarrassing, but she’s also been swamped with work, so any excuse to see Perseira Aphrodities is more than welcome.

And goodness, was she a vision.

Her beautiful, long hair was being held up in an intricate hairstyle that Iris assumes took two nymphs’ effort to make it look as effortlessly elegant as it appeared. It was a half-up, half-down hairstyle with many braids crafting a gorgeous crown around the girl’s head and a few strands free around the face area framing the goddess of love at first sight’s face as the unbound part of her hair flowed around her body..

The outfit was a chiton the same color as her eyes, once again showing off the curves the goddess was blessed with by her mother’s genetics, although it was clear for anyone with eyes that Perseira Aphrodities wasn’t only soft curves. The sight of her muscles honed from training with the sword was particularly pleasing to Iris’ eyes.

And, if Iris had forgotten about the lust-addled part of her brain for a single second, she’d have noticed that the goddess of Hurricanes’ striking resemblance to her grandmother became even more noticeable when she was dressed like this.

“Thank you for having me, my Queen” Perseira Aphrodities bowed before Queen Hera, who stayed silent for a few moments, merely staring at her niece.

“Rise” She said, her voice carrying a strange tone. “Call me aunt” The Queen ordered, gesturing for the surprised Iris to pull the chair for her niece.

“Of course” Perseira Aphrodities readily agreed. “Thank you” She said, turning to Iris with a smile on her face.

“You look good in that color” The goddess of Family commented. “You’ll wear it whenever I call you to the palace” She said with the finality of a ruler giving out a strict command to a subject, leaving no room for arguments.

“Every time?” Perseira Aphrodities asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

“Have I stuttered?” Queen Hera raised an eyebrow at her niece.

“Of course not, Auntie.”

“Do not push your luck” The Queen huffed, but her tone did not carry any true venom.

The conversation between the two goddesses was actually quite pleasant for the goddess of Rainbows to overhear. They did not suddenly become the best of friends or dearest of confidants, but it was clear that Queen Hera had momentarily abandoned the idea of gloating about being chosen over her niece until she had finally remembered what she had called the young woman for.

“It must have been quite the shock for you to hear the news, right, niece?” Queen Hera commented, circling the edge of her cup with her index finger.

“I beg forgiveness for my ignorance, Aunt. I have been under the sea for a while, but…what news?” Perseira Aphrodities asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

“The news of the royal marriage, my lady” Iris interjected.

“Iris, you will speak when spoken to” The goddess of marriage admonished, but Iris had interacted with her enough that it was just for show. “But yes, the news of my marriage to the king”

“Oh, that!” Perseira Aphrodities exclaimed in understanding “I’ve heard about it, but I did not know Auntie was referring to that. I thought something bad happened” She said with a sheepish expression, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Yes, I was talking about my marriage.” The Queen sighed, probably already figuring that there’s no point in bragging to someone who wasn’t ever interested in the prize. “What do you think about me marrying the king, niece?” She asked, proving Iris wrong.

“I think that the festivities will be great. My mother has already been ordering gowns for us since she likes us to be matching.” The goddess of loyalty, and a certified mother’s darling, once again did not understand what her aunt meant. “We still have to settle on a style, I’m thinking something loose around the legs so it will not get in the way of the dancing, and my mother wants something low-cut—”

“I wasn’t asking about gowns, niece” Queen Hera gritted out, taking a deep breath. “What do you think about marriage?” She suddenly asked.

“It’s sacred” The goddess of loyalty immediately replied with an earnest look in her eyes. “When you get married, you belong to the other person for as long as your union lasts,” She said, shocking the two other goddesses in the room. “Ideally, you’d put them above all others and else, but maybe that’s just my personal opinion on the matter.” And that’s certainly not an opinion Iris expected the younger goddess to have. “I just think that if you choose someone, you have to stay loyal to that choice.”

“That’s quite the opinion” Queen Hera said, her gaze towards her niece softening ever-so-slightly. "Are your parents looking for your match then?”

“No” Perseira Aphrodities said sheepishly “Due to—everything, my parents figured it’d be for the best if I were the one to choose my groom.” She coughed, and once again the two other goddesses remembered whose daughter she was.

“Yes, I’ve heard about your little orgy” Hera dryly commented.

“That’s not the term I’d use.” The younger goddess had the smallest pout, and Iris desperately wanted to kiss it and assure her she’d never call that orgy an orgy if the younger goddess was upset at the term.

“And if I slapped you, I’d call it swatting a bug.” The Queen rolled her eyes. “Really, niece? Five daughters of Oceanus at the same time?” She said, clearly judging but also curious.

“Would Auntie believe it if I said it started with only one?” The sea-eyed goddess said with an all-too-innocent tone.

“And the other four?”

“They asked politely, and I could not bear to play favorites." And much could be said about Iris that she had to stifle a laugh at the younger goddess’ words.

Much to the surprise of many people, Iris included, Perseira Aphrodities and Hera got along quite well. Of course, there was plenty of friction due to the differing personalities and the way the goddess of demigods would get in the way whenever Hera wanted to extend her vengeance for her husband’s infidelity over to the children he begets, but Hera did not hate her niece even when Perseira Aphrodities would go out of her way to make herself difficult to like.

The Queen would rage when her niece would protect the bastards of her husband, but it was clear that Hera saw her niece as a naive child who’d finally understand the truth of things when she matured, stopped playing around with the female population, and settled down with a husband who did not respect her.

That fate is the common fate of women, but even though the goddess of Rainbows also fell victim to that with her marriage to Zephyrus, she still thinks that Perseira Aphrodities was much too good for it, and thankfully, Lady Aphrodite also agreed with her, seeing that she traded her marriage to Hephaestus for her daughter’s freedom from men’s confines.

It wasn’t her freedom that was won, but Iris felt so happy for the other goddess that she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, which did not go unnoticed by her husband.

“You smile as if it were you who escaped.” Zephyrus rolled his eyes, taking a large gulp from his goblet and setting it down too roughly on the table.

“And you sulk as if you’re the one she was escaping from.” Iris shrugged, not taking it personally. After all, her husband wasn’t the only one in that state.

After King Zeus announced that his niece was no longer allowed to be forced into marriage by anyone, it was as if most male gods had fallen into some pit of despair. If they were once drinking because of the festivities, now they are trying to drown their sorrows. The atmosphere had changed, although the music kept on being lighthearted with the nine muses and a strangely cheerful Apollo still providing the music.

Then Perseira Aphrodities had left the party with her uncle, and the King of the Underworld, Lord Hades.

“Huh” Hermes had said, loud and clear in the now more subdued room. “Guess I should have offered her my body one more time earlier” He said, sounding more thoughtful than Iris had ever heard from him before. He dodged a flaming arrow. “Hey! It’s not my fault that she likes ‘em dark and foreboding! I’m also upset!” The trickster said, laughing as he dodged more flaming arrows from his now irate older brother.

“Shut up!” Apollo barked, voice thick with something akin to tears, and Iris suddenly felt tired. “Why him and not me?! I’m the most perfect god there is!” The god of light screamed, and seeing how he was also the god of truth, and everyone had eyes, no one contested that statement.

Like father, like son, because once Iris had torn her eye away from the King’s bastards, they landed on the King, who was mumbling to himself, ‘Really, him?’ over and over again, looking more bewildered by the second.

Reasons may have been different, but the King and his sons were not the only confused ones: Lord Poseidon and his family were looking at each other like they weren’t expecting what had just happened. Prince Triton had, in particular, stared at where his sister had once been sitting with his mouth gaped like a fish for a while now, while Lord Poseidon’s other daughter had started laughing uncontrollably.

The only one who did not look that surprised was Lady Rhodes, who only called Hebe to fill her goblet and downed it all in one go, before gesturing to the goddess of Youth to fill it once again. She holds her nectar well, but Iris thinks her husband should stop her. Meanwhile, Lord Helios had his arm wrapped around his beautiful wife’s waist, but he was too busy gossiping about what just happened with Lady Selene.

Even Lady Aphrodite looked surprised, but then she burst into laughter so hard that she could have tumbled had Lord Ares not appeared out of nowhere and helped her stay up.

Well…at least she’s happy, and Iris was right in betting that the god of the Forges will become a cuckold by the end of the night.

Anyway, that night gave much to think about to all of those involved, and while Iris was not on the same league as the male gods, like Apollo, who tried having black hair to see if that’d interest his cousin, only for her to say that he looks better as a blonde, seeing Perseira Aphrodities with Lord Hades made her think.

Why him? Why, after centuries of not being interested in the male species, did Perseira Aphrodities decide to choose that one Uncle of hers, out of all gods who’d have committed countless atrocities for a chance to be the one in her bed? The one who’d get the right to claim he was the first male to have speared the beautiful daughter of Aphrodite on his cock? Why Hades?

That was a question that haunted Iris' mind for longer than it should have; however, she cannot say that she has dwelled on it desperately trying to find an answer, because the goddess of Rainbows is actually employed. Of course, she thought about that, but it was not like searching for answers was her top priority when Queen Hera wanted her services every day, and King Zeus was sending her to pass along the messages Hermes would not be a good fit to be sent.

Years passed, which brings Iris to today, where Queen Hera has taken a page of her husband’s book and descended into the type of paranoia where she firmly believes that her husband is planning to divorce her and marry Perseira Aphrodities.

In all fairness, Queen Hera wasn’t the only one thinking that something along those lines could happen. Not because the King had suddenly announced he was rethinking his marriage of centuries, but because ever since Perseira Aphrodities has returned to Olympus with the newly ascended Dionysus, the King’s been…thoughtful, but he hasn’t been the only one.

It’s just that—no one…had ever seen Perseira Aphrodities as a mother. The goddess of loyalty loves children; that’s a fact no one could ever begin to deny, and seeing her with her countless siblings or nephews should have desensitized them or at least given them an idea of what the goddess of loyalty would be like as a mother.

Clearly, it didn’t.

Watching the goddess of love at first sight guide her foster son around the streets of Olympus, proudly showcasing the boy she raised, was completely different than watching her interact with the children of her family, and a lot more attractive, Iris will have to admit. If the goddess of Rainbows were hard-pressed to find a way to describe it, she'd say that if she were born a man, that sight would have been enough to drive her so mad she’d get down on her knees and beg the goddess of loyalty to allow her to father her next child.

Something along those lines actually happened, but in a much more vulgar way, and the Satyr who had the audacity was ripped apart where he stood by Dionysus’ vines.

The foolish ideas of men and their obvious consequences aside, Perseira Aphrodities had taken to motherhood like Queen Hera had taken to queenhood, which wouldn’t be a threat to the Queen had it not been for the reunion that happened between the goddess of love at first sight, and her brother Eros.

Undoubtedly, Eros had been the child of Aphrodite, who had suffered the most from his sister’s absence, which is a lot considering they all appeared as if their world had been crushed when their older sister went into hiding. If they all had been suffering, the god of love acted as if his world had ended, and everyone was at fault for it.

The younger god, whose power is so great even Zeus respects him, is famously a bit…strange about his older sister. At some point, many thought he was in love with her and they’d eventually wed, but when questioned about that the boy had cursed the person who asked him said question to fall for a beast who ended up ripping them apart for ‘daring to imply such disgusting things’.

It wasn’t romantic love that motivated Eros' feelings for his older sister; it was something a lot more strange yet fitting for the young god boy whose preferred form was his sister’s young male version that continuously got him confused with his brother Anteros, the one that was actually born from Poseidon’s union with Aphrodite.

Although not even Anteros looked like Perseira Aphrodities as much as Eros does.

“Sister!” The boy desperately sobbed as he flew into his older sister’s arms. “S—sister” He cried into her breast, his form getting smaller and smaller until he was the size of an 8-year-old child.

“Eros!” Perseira Aphrodities voice was thick with emotion as she tightly held her younger brother against her body. “Oh, my sweet Eros” She soothed, patting the crying boy’s back and being careful of his wings.

“D—don’t leave me again!” He pleased, grabbing her clothes with all of his strength “I—I’ll go with you next time! I’ll behave! Don’t leave me behind again, you promised that you’d never leave me, sister!—” He sobbed into her arms as the older goddess soothed him.

“I’m sorry” Perseira Aphrodities repeated that with a slight smile as she soothed her crying younger brother. “My poor sweet Eros, big sister did not mean to make you so upset” She said, gracefully allowing herself to be led to a lounging sofa by a minor god. “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” She asked, rocking him back and forth in her arms

“No” The young boy pouted, his resemblance to his sister making the gesture melt Iris’ heart “Sister doesn’t love me anymore” He complained, but made no move to leave her arms “I was suffering from the purest agony every single day, while sister was out raising another uncle of mine and loving mortals more than she loves me” He whined, rubbing his head against her breast as she petted his hair.

“What are you talking about? My lovely Eros, your big sister hasn’t taken a single lover ever since I was handed Dionysus.” She softly pinched the boy’s cheek. “And you know I could never love a mortal more than I love you or any of our siblings”

That scene was quite heartwarming and clearly showcased how much the two gods loved each other, but all that everyone could think while watching the almost identical siblings, if it weren’t for the gender or ages, was that Perseira Aphrodities hadn’t taken a single lover ever since she started raising her foster child.

The goddess who was famous for her escapes, and whose lovers had been falling apart without the sight of her around the Olympus, had spent years without sharing her bed with another.

That shouldn’t have been anything gossip-worthy, much less anything worthy of a scandal, yet it became one due to how unexpected it was. Almost every god had their theories why that became so: Some say that it was due to the goddess of loyalty’s general dislike of bedding mortals, a solid theory and a mostly accepted one. Of course, the more delusional gods claimed that she was pining after a favorite lover and wanted no other; that theory was so delusional that it was no wonder that Phoebus Apollon tried to argue that it could have been him since ‘they had a moment’ the day before she left.

Then another theory came, a quieter, more insidious one, that claimed that if Perseira Aphrodities had been pinning after anyone, it would have been for the father of the child she had been raising, and who was the father of said child? King Zeus.

It wasn’t the most accepted theory, but it created the same type of murmurs that were created when Lord Hades had kidnapped Lady Demeter’s daughter, whose name was Kore, and after marriage, the girl changed it to Persephone. There’s no proof that Peseira Aphrodities was pinning after the father of her child, just like how there’s no proof that Persephone did not change her name to something close to her husband’s former lover on purpose, but it still had many tongues wagging.

Of course, Iris thinks that theory is a load of bullshit; not the one about Lady Persephone’s name, that one she can believe, what she thinks is a load of bullshit is the belief that the goddess of loyalty would be pinning after her uncle when it’s a very well-known fact that abhors married people.

Yet, that theory was enough to put some friction inside the royal couple’s already turbulent relationship, and that was clear to everyone.

“And then he asked me if I ever wanted a mother like my cousin” Hermes gossiped, floating right next to Iris’ ear.

“And what did you say?” Iris asked.

“That if I came out of her, my very next act would be to try to get back inside.” He shrugged off the judging look Iris just sent his way. “Irie, dear! Was I supposed to lie?” Hermes gasped like a maiden, clutching his chest and falling backwards, “How could I?!” He lamented, floating on his back.

“You’re awful” She giggled.

“And you love it” He purred, giving her an obnoxious kiss to the cheek before flying away. “See you later, love, hopefully under the sheets!” The trickster teased, blowing her a kiss.

Things were on the verge of exploding, but it all came to a head at the festivities for Dionysus's ascension.

Traditionally, it’d be Queen Hera who’d be in charge of organizing the party, but this time King Zeus passed the reins to Perseira Aphrodities, claiming that since she was the boy’s mother, it’d be best for her to organize it as she knew him and his tastes better than the Queen.

Obviously, Iris’ Queen was more than wrought with that, and even though she’d hate every single second of organizing a feast for one of her husband’s bastards, she’d still do it and make it perfect, as it was her role as the woman of the household. Now, for her husband to give that role to another woman…the less Iris talks about it, the better.

Another fact that Iris refuses to talk about, is the fact that the party Perseira Aphrodities organized was amazing, not as perfect as the ones Queen Hera organizes, but it was a close second and when the goddess of Rainbows finally tasted the ‘wine’ the newly ascended god invented, she firmly believed he should have gotten a place in the Olympus solely for its creation.

It was a fun party and since the goddess of love at first sight was back from hiding, Iris could finally watch as the beautiful woman danced around the room. Perseira Aphrodities first dance was with Dionysus, her foster son, whose appeal was as alluring as the wine he created. They were quite the sight together; both were incredibly beautiful and amazing dancers, so it wasn’t like Iris was the only one taking in the sight of the two of them together.

After that first dance, Perseira Aphrodities was dragged into countless dances by the members of her family. There was a trio dance between Her, Eros and Anteros, Lady Rhodes pulled her sister into a dance and Iris thinks she saw Mnemosyne taking a bite out of her own hand while watching them together…anyway, Prince Triton was dragged into a dance right after that and once the goddess of loyalty’s countless siblings were done dancing with her, her parents decided to take their turns.

Iris could have stayed still and happily watched how Aphrodite and her beautiful daughter danced together, but she was also dragged into an impromptu dance by Hermes, who told her, ‘They’re not going to fuck you at the same time, love,’ which was rude, but dancing was fun.

Then she was brought into another dance by Notus, the south wind, before her husband finally remembered she existed and danced around three songs with her before Iris was called by the Queen and had to leave his side.

“My Queen” Iris bowed before Queen Hera, quickly noticing that she had both Lord Helios and the beautiful Lady Rhodes by her side. “My Lord, my Lady’ She respectfully greeted them.

One of the reasons Iris still has her Queen’s favor is that, besides being competent at her job, she understands situations without having anyone bother to explain anything to her. So, she quickly gathered that since the Queen had called Lady Rhodes, whose ability to find her twin was something impressive, and there were no King or Perseira Aphrodities in sight, then it must mean that Queen Hera thinks the two of them must have snuck away to have a tryst, and she wanted to catch them.

Helios was there for his wife…or because he wanted gossip, you never know with that man.

“I assure you that you have nothing to fear, my Queen” Lady Rhodus said, walking in the front as some force led them to her sister “My sister has no interest in married men or women” And maybe she said more, but the wine had gotten to Iris’ head and all she can think about is how delectable her behind is.

No wonder Helios has put more than 7 children inside this woman.

“My wife is right” Helios said, emphasizing the ‘my wife’ part because he probably saw the way Iris was staring at Lady Rhodus’ behind. “My sister-in-law does not enjoy married people” He said, staring deeply at Iris, which was a bit mean because it was not like she had ever disrespected Perseira Aphrodities by trying to get in her bed, but Iris would not take it personally as Helios is probably just annoyed at how she was staring at his beautiful wife.

After some time walking through the palace, they spotted King Zeus, who had his arms wrapped around some nymph, and that created a fight between the royal couple while the Iris, Lady Rhodus, and Helios were standing around trying to ignore that when they heard a loud gasp of ‘Perse’ inside one of the rooms.

The King, probably wanting to escape the argument or simply curious, ordered Helios to throw the doors open, to which the Sun Titan obliged, but not before throwing his fuming wife an apologetic look.

Of course, the Titan immediately regretted what he had just done as inside the room were Perseira Aphrodities, his own sister Eos of the Dawn, and the ruler of all winds, Aeolus, in the type of entanglement that left nothing to the imagination. Lady Eos had been lying on her back as Aeolus, the god who ruled over all winds with an iron fist, serviced her with his tongue while Perseira Aphrodities…penetrated him from behind wearing a contraption that mimicked an erect cock.

The three of them stayed frozen in place for a few seconds before Lady Eos broke the silence.

“Helios?” She whined, turning to the side and closing her legs as one arm went to lazily cover a breast. “Why are you such a cockblock? I don’t barge in when you’re fucking your beautiful wife!”

“Why did I have to see this?” Helios loudly complained

“Because you barged in, you nosy fuck!”

While the siblings argued, Perseira Aphrodities summoned a sheet and used it to cover where she was still—connected with Aeolus for the sole purpose of giving the man some dignity as she pulled out of him.

“Sister, I’m sorry” Perseira Aphrodities apologized to her twin, looking like a kicked puppy while she used both of her hands to cover her bountiful breasts, while the sheet she summoned covered her lower parts.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before” Lady Rhodes sighed, not shocked.

“Are we needed for something, or…” Aelous trailed off, eyeing them all warily.

“Why are you covering your chest? You are a man” King Zeus, sounding oddly casual for someone who had been frozen in shock not even a few seconds ago.

“They bit me there.” The lord of all winds shrugged, showing his chest and how it was covered in deep bite marks.

“Apologies for the interruption.” Queen Hera quickly took control of the situation, ushering everyone out of the room. “You may continue.”

“We will” Eos and Aelous called, and the last thing Iris saw before the doors closed was the goddess of love at first sight trying to climb off the bed and the two deities pulling her right back in.

The five gods now stood in the hallway, looking at each other with awkward faces, when Queen Hera finally dismissed the other couple, who quickly made their way back to the party, where thanks to Helios’ big mouth, everyone would know about this incident.

Iris wishes she could follow them, but she’s right where she’s supposed to be, right next to Queen Hera’s side as she and her husband stand in awkward silence.

“She’s a good mother” King Zeus said, breaking the silence “But, between the two of us, I pity the fool she marries.”

“Me too” Queen Hera said, smiling victoriously at her husband.

With the things between the royal couple better than they were at the start of the night, they made their way back to the party only to find that a number of the guests had broken away to start an orgy in the garden.

And who was at the center of it all? Dionysus.

“Like mother, like son” Queen Hera said, and it did not sound as venomous as it should.

“I agree, my Queen.”

Chapter Text

Nothing ever surprises Rhodes when it comes to her younger twin.

She does not mean it in a cruel way, of course. Perseira Aphrodities is nothing if not an exceptional goddess, even with her many…quirks. What Rhodes means to say is that there’s no life trajectory her sister could take that’d surprise her at this point.

Have a weird little friendship/Affair with Phoebe’s twin daughters and rumored to be the sire of the redheaded one’s child? Rhodes was not surprised, and she still maintains that it wasn’t her little sister's fault that her friend/lover bedded a Titan with a name similar to hers and got pregnant by him.

Get tangled in an affair with Lady Mnemosyne and drive the Goddess of Memories completely mad? Well, what was the Titaness expecting when getting involved with such a young girl? Emotional maturity and commitment? Please, Rhodes’ husband is older than her father, and he still struggled with that at the start of their marriage. Of course, her little sister drove the older woman mad; that’s just what beautiful young women do when you let them run wild.

Have an orgy in broad daylight?...Yes, that one momentarily took Rhodes off guard, but mostly for the reason that, of course, this was what happens when you let Poseidon and Aphrodite make and co-parent a child. Had the minor goddess been given her little twin to raise, that type of scandal would have never happened, as Perse would have known to do such a thing at night time, seeing how Selene has more decorum than the blabber mouth that Rhodes has for a husband.

Truly, centuries of them existing, Rhodes is quite certain she’s seen everything from her sister, from salacious sex scandals to her forays into motherhood…and fatherhood as that one son of Zeus named after her had a habit of accidentally calling Perseira Aphrodities ‘father’ due to Rhodes’ little sister getting a bit too enthusiastic when participating in the boy’s life.

Of course, being certain of something does not mean you’re actually right.

It happened on one of the days Perseira took to visit Rhodes’ household. Usually, they’d chat over some tea, Rhodes would take her little sister to a stroll around the Island to show off how advanced her mortals are, sometimes taking one or more of her children, but they’d usually be alone. They'd end up playing around in the sand of the beach, and Rhodes would enjoy watching how her sister’s eyes reflected the waters surrounding the island. The day would end with Perse joining them for dinner.

That’s their usual schedule, but—

“May I ask you to repeat that?” Rhodes requested, slowly putting down her teacup, “I believe I heard you wrong, as I’m quite sure you did not just announce that you’re going to get married while stuffing your face with pastries.”

“... I’m not stuffing my face” Perseira disputed with a barely visible pout, whining when Rhodes reached over and wiped the crumbs off her face. “Sister, I’m not a child” She complained, but did not move.

“Could have fooled me” The minor goddess deadpanned, liking the crumbs of her thumb. “Perseira Rhodius, do not change the subject. What do you mean by you’re getting married?” She demanded, pulling on her twin’s cheek.

“I meant that I’m getting married?” Her inconsiderate younger sister replied as if that was enough explanation “Ow, ow, ow.” Perseira whined when Rhodes pulled harder on her cheek. “I don’t know what else to say! I’m getting married, tying the knot, letting someone make an honest woman out of me! I think that’s enough information!” She babbled until Rhodes finally let go of her cheek.

“Why are you like this?” Rhodes sighed, wiping her hand with a handkerchief as if her sister’s stupidity was contagious. “You tell me you’re getting married with no preamble, you give me no information, you do not even tell me who the groom is, and you think you’ve said enough? I.Want.Details.Perse” She slowly but firmly said, seeing the realization dawning on her younger twin.

“I was going to give them to you after I finished eating my Koptoplakous” She pointed to her half-eaten pastry.

“You were not fast enough” Rhodes sniped. “Details, sister dear, why are you getting married, and who’s the groom?” It had to be a groom because Hera still hasn’t allowed marriage between two women, something about how if they could marry each other, no one would choose to marry a man, and they’d end up revolting.

“Sister, that's such an odd question” Perseira commented, resting her head on her propped-up hand. “Why am I getting married? Could it be because I want to? Because I want to be his wife? Because I want him to be mine? There are many reasons, but I fear they’re all rather uninteresting.” She shrugged, but Rhodes could clearly see the smile spreading across her face. “As for my groom” She trailed off with a giggle, her face flushed.

“Tell me already!” Rhodes demanded, never being one to have the patience to handle suspense.

“It’s Apollo!” She grinned, her face a mixture of ecstatic happiness and the type of lovesickness only the greatest of fools get, and perhaps Rhodes could think about how she once saw that same expression on her herself when Helios first told her that he loved her had the minor goddess not gotten stuck on the part where her sister says that her groom is—

“Apollo, Phoebus Apollo? Phoebus Apollon? The son your friend Leto had with our King? Artemis’ twin brother? The father of your son, Asclepius? That Apollo”

“I don’t know why you said every variation of his name and direct lineage, but yes, that Apollo.” Perse blinked, confused, before her face adopted a shy look. “H—he proposed to me, and I said yes.”

“T—that’s…lovely” Rhodes replied, gesturing to a servant. “Bring the wine my nephew gifted to me last spring.” Only the strong stuff will be able to help her at this moment.

Phoebus Apollo’s deep obsession with Rhodes’ younger twin is a fact known to all who have ever heard the boy’s name. It’s not even because of his proposal as a newborn, if all he had done was offer himself to her as a groom as soon as he was born he’d have been no different than all the other gods who tried their luck with love at first, no, what made the god of light so noteworthy was how…weird he was with everything that came.

The first instance that came to mind was when Queen Hera, in a particularly good mood, had questioned her husband’s bastard when he planned to get married, only for the young god to reply with an answer that could have been summarized with ‘Whenever my cousin Lady Perseira Aphrodities says that she wants me’...It was a banquet…Rhodes’ sister was in the room…he was sitting right in front of her.

There was also the brutal murder he committed in her sister’s honor. Rhodes has only heard about it from her husband, but as the story goes, Apollo had been avenging his mother. A mortal Queen had disparaged Leto for only birthing two children, and to punish her for the Hubris, the Titaness’ twin archers had gone to slay all of her children. Nothing too strange, right? Well, when Phoebus Apollo had gotten to the last son, the young man started to pray for Perseira Aphrodities, and when Rhodes’ little sister did not answer his prayers, he started calling her many foul things in his last breath.

Well, what was supposed to be his last breath, because once Apollo registered what Niobe’s spawn was calling his most beloved cousin, he immediately brought him back from Thanato’s doorstep and made him wish he had simply died with his mouth shut. It wasn’t on the same level as what Aphrodite did to the giant who had been planning to rape Perse, nothing actually compares to that, but from what Helios felt comfortable telling her, some of it included Apollo castrating the mortal with a blunt rock and hunting him with his wolves as he slowly bled out.

The zealous way Apollo has never allowed Perseira’s name to be besmirched in his presence or knowledge aside, there was also the matter with the man’s lovers. The god of Prophecy has pined after Rhodes’ little sister for all of his existence, but the boy is still a man, and it's in their natures to be pro-bono prostitutes, so of course, he has had countless partners.

Partners in the loose sense of the word, as everyone who once graced Apollo’s bed knows that as soon as Perseira Aphrodities throws a drop of attention his way, or expresses a hint of disapproval, Apollo drops them to run back to his first love.

Khione, daughter of Boreas, learned that the hard way, and Rhodes had the misfortune of having been there to see it.

Unlike what you’d expect, it did not happen during a party or banquet on Olympus, it happened on a quite normal day. Rhodes had been accompanying her husband while he solved some matters in court when passing close to one of the gardens, she had seen Artemis attempting to attack the daughter of Boreas, who had hidden herself behind Rhodes’ father, while Phoebus Apollo tried to pacify his twin sister.

“Sister, think clearly” He pleaded, trying to restrain the wild girl, only to almost get his eye scratched out. “Hey! Watch my face!”

“Watch your whore!” Artemis barked back, ignoring her uncle’s ‘watch it, niece’ and Rhodes has never felt more embarrassed of her father. “How could you side with her when you’ve heard what she said about me? Uncle, I can understand, but you?!?”

“I just—”

“What is even going on here?” Rhodes tore her eyes from the altercation to the sound of her sister’s confused voice.

There she was, Perseira Aphrodities, the embodiment of Loyalty and Love at First Sight in the flesh, flanked by two of her younger brothers: Eros, god of love and sexual desire, on the left, and Anteros, god of mutual love, on the right. They’re quite the sight together, Rhodes has to admit that while she’d rather avoid interacting with her sibling on her mother’s side outside of Perseira due to all of them being exhausting, she rather likes seeing the three of them together.

It’s probably because of how much the two boys, now in the form of young men, look just like her dearest twin. Well, Eros looks like Perseira if she were a male, Anteros looks the most like the minor goddess, but he and Perse share that lopsided smile with the crinkle on the corner of their eyes.

“Cousin!” The twins shouted in unison, Apollo visibly straightening up, going as far as trying to fix his waist-length blonde hair, while Artemis just burst into tears with a loud wail.

“Artemis?!” Perseira asked, startled, leaving her younger brothers to take the goddess of the hunt into her arms. “There, there” She patted the back of the younger goddess who held onto her like a little child. “Oh, my wild child, what happened? Did someone bully you? Tell your cousin so I can fix it” The goddess of loyalty promised, holding the young goddess cheek and wiping her tears.

“Y—yes” Artemis sobbed “Apollo has betrayed me, cousin!” She was distressed, pointing at her panicking younger twin “The whore he shares with Uncle and half of Olympus has said vile things about me! Neither of them has defended me, or even allowed me the right to avenge myself” She spoke through her tears.

“It’s not like that—” Apollo tried to explain himself, but was quickly shut down by the older goddess.

“Quiet” Perse snapped, and even from a distance, Rhodes could see the way the blonde young man visibly deflated. “Artemis, what did Khione say about you?” She gently asked the wild girl in her arms.

“That she’s a better goddess than me because both Uncle and Apollo are in love with her.” Artemis dutifully tattled, lying her head onto her older cousin’s shoulder as she looked at her brother with a cold gaze.

“Wow” Eros sighed, putting his arm around Anteros’ shoulders “He really allowed someone to say something like that about his own sister?” He loudly gossiped with his younger brother “She must have the best cunt in Olympus, I would have never allowed any whore of mine to talk about my sister in that manner” He said, ignoring Apollo’s indignant shouts.

“Must be it” Anteros hummed. “After all, it’s not like either of them actually loves her” The god of mutual love commented, and with only one sentence, he managed to make the three gods visibly upset.

“What do you mean—” “Watch it! “Son—”

“How many times do I have to say it? Quiet!” Perseira Aphrodities shouted, “Eros, Anteros, save the gossip for later.” She ordered, to which the young men dutifully nodded “Father, you’re a grown man, why are you getting involved in the spats of children?”And Rhodes could kiss her sister because finally someone said what she had been thinking.

“She’s…pregnant with your youngest sibling” Poseidon lamely replied, and it says a lot about him that all his children present just sighed, none of them surprised.

“If it’s anything like its mother, we’re all doomed” Anteros commented, resting his head onto Eros shoulders.

“Hopefully, it looks like her, so it’s at least passable” Eros commented, arms wrapped around his little brother’s waist.

“It’s not like father will ever make anyone as beautiful as sister anyway.”

“Oh, that’s for sure.”

“Boys, save the peanut gallery for later” Perseira sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with the hand that wasn’t comforting Artemis, and ignoring the twin ‘what is that’ she got from the love gods “Congratulations on the baby, father, but do make sure your lover does not allow her mouth to get herself into trouble during this trying time” She advised, and much could be said about Poseidon’s favoritism towards his second daughter that made him actually consider her words “And Apollo—”

“Yes?” He interrupted her, voice on the edge of desperation and slightly teary as if fearing what was going to come next.

“I’m disappointed” Perse sighed, neatly tiding Artemis’ wild hair “I understand wanting to protect someone who shares your bed” The goddess who helped her former lover to birth royal bastards started “But, I’d never allow anyone to talk that way about my twin, ever” She shook her head as if the thought was simply disgusting “If you can’t bring yourself to avenge her that’s disappointing but understandable, but not allowing Artemis the dignity of avenging herself? I expected more from you” She sighed, finally letting go of the younger goddess, but not before kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, dear; it was very unfair.”

“Yes, it was cousin” Artemis pitifully nodded, but Rhodes could see the triumphant look she shot at the shell-shocked Apollo.

“My brave girl” She said, stepping away from the redheaded goddess, only to immediately have her two brothers clinging onto her.

“ Sister, I’d never treat you like that” Anteros said, giving an obnoxiously loud kiss to Perse’s cheek.

“I’m no Phoebus Apollon, sister will sooner beg me not to avenge her than the contrary” Eros said, trying to give Perse a peck on the lips only to be blocked by Anteros. “Why?!”

“It looks weird” He shrugged, still blocking Perse’s lips but now kissing her temple while maintaining eye contact with his older brother. That lopsided smirk of his is making its appearance.

“It’s not weird!” Eros protested, leaning down and burying his face in the crook of Perse’s neck and laying a kiss there. “Sister has soft lips, so I like to kiss her, it’s not like I desire to put my tongue inside of her mouth” He loudly complained. “I just love her!” He whined, hugging her waist tighter.

“Eros, I love you too, but it does sound weird when you put it like that.” Perseira sighed, running her fingers through the young man’s hair that was the mirror image of her own. “As for you, Khione” She finally addressed the girl who had been doing her best to disappear behind the King of the Seas.

“Y—yes, my lady” The normally haughty goddess of snow replied, and Rhodes suddenly remembered that the girl’s family is under the thumb of Aelous, who’s one of the very few male gods who had the honor of sharing Rhodes’ sister’s bed and is famously protective of that place. One word from Perseira and Khione is doomed in more ways than one.

“Men’s love is a fickle thing” She started, petting her younger brothers’ hair with each hand “A man who adores you today, may ignore your existence tomorrow” She said, shushing Anteros who started to laugh saying ‘Oh, sister, you wish that’d happen to you’ “Do not make enemies counting on a man to protect you, they’re a rather unreliable breed” The goddess of loyalty good-naturelly advised, but the way Apollo visibly bit back his tears and their father winced showed that she hit a nerve.

“It’s not like she even has their love to bargain with,” Anteros commented, resting his head on Perseira’s shoulder that was unoccupied by Eros. “Sorry, that’s just the type of thing I can’t help commenting on.” He shrugged, smiling sheepishly while his older sister and father stared at him unimpressed.

“Can it” Perseira sighed“But yes” She turned back to address Khione once again “For your own good, behave” She condescended, pushing away her clingy younger brothers “I’ll be off, Artemis, do not hesitate to tell me or your mother if you get bullied, Apollo…bye” She told the twins before turning to their father “Bye father, I love you” She said with a smile, and Rhodes watched as their father visibly melted.

“Love you too” Poseidon said, ruffling his daughter’s hair. “Behave” He gave Anteros a slap to the back, but Rhodes could see the way he looked fondly at the boy when the god of mutual love directed his smile at him.

As the love gods left, the scene quickly dispersed with Khione leaving first, Artemis leaving in the opposite direction with a now apologetic Apollo hot on his twin’s heels, and Rhodes’ father also started leaving, only that he walked to where the minor goddess had been watching everything from a distance.

“Daughter” He said, not at all surprised to see her before extending his arm to her.

“Father” Rhodes demurred, taking his elbow and embarking on a stroll through the gardens with him.

“I do not usually involve myself in such situations” Rhodes’ father lied.

“Of course not, father” She agreed “It’s just that thing, if you lay with wolves you’ll wake with fleas, though this time I suppose the saying will go ‘if you’ll lay with children you’ll wake in the middle of their spats”” Rhodes tried to maintain a serious, graceful poise, but she ended up laughing at her own joke.

“Moments like these remind me that you and Perse are twins.” Her father sighed “If your stepmother—”

“I’d rather not involve myself in couples’ spats, so I haven’t witnessed anything.”

After that fateful day, two things changed: the first one being that Apollo completely lost any type of love, affection, or lust he held towards Khione and started to pretend she never exsited, much to the young woman’s ire. The second thing that changed is that Phoebus Apollo had apparently decided that all of his lovers had to meet Perseira Aphrodities standards…yes, he was choosing who’d be a permanent fixture on his bed by thinking about what the goddess he longed for would approve.

At first, that was just a theory, something bored gods would think to pass the time, but then things got strange. One god would claim that they heard Apollo asking his cousin what she thought about a certain nymph days before she appeared on his bed, but again, those were just rumors that Rhodes only got to know because Helios likes to share his gossip with her.

Then the Daphne tragedy happened. Rhodes will be honest, all she knows about that is how Apollo and Eros were childishly arguing over something when the winged cretin pulled out his bow and arrows and made Apollo obsessively in love with a nymph. The god of love, to this day, claims that it was just a normal love arrow, and the god of Light started chasing the nymph all on his own. Rhodes can believe that, but she would rather not voice it out loud.

Anyway, when Daphne was alive, she had been a friend of Perse. What kind of friend Rhodes does not care to know, but they were good friends. Apollo did not know anything about the woman he had been made to fall in love with, except that she detested the company of men and was a friend of Perse, yet he immediately claimed the woman as a great love of his, not the greatest, for he likes to leave that spot open for Rhodes’ twin.

That was…odd, but it could have been born out of guilt for dooming the woman, and it still wasn’t enough to turn that theory into a fact until Apollo had been with that Spartan prince the muse Clio of History had mothered. From what Helios told her, besides the boy kind of looking like Perse if you squint hard enough, while Apollo had certainly seemed quite enamoured with the demigod, the boy only achieved the ‘great love’ status when the god of Prophecy had accompanied him to a meeting with his grandmother, Mnemosyne, and Perse had been there.

Of course, Rhodes had her own knowledge about that meeting as her sister chose to share those details with her. Unlike what many may think, Perseira Aphrodities is not a particularly lustful goddess in her day-to-day life, so when she met Hyacinthus, she did not think too much about the boy’s beauty, choosing instead to try to get to know her lover’s grandson. In that short amount of time, Perse had adored the boy so much that by the end of their meeting, she had given him a helm and told Apollo to take good care of him.

With his greatest love's seal of approval, Apollo had claimed Hyacinthus as another great love of his, and while that seemed genuine, Rhodes would rather fade than be a great love of Apollo, as everyone knows that title means ‘A great love to pass time until Perseira Aphrodities remembers I exist’.

Then the boy died, as demigods often do, and you’d think Apollo had been sharing him with Perseira with the way he made sure the two of them were mourning him together. Once again, that’s another thought Rhodes would not voice out loud, seeing that her twin sister actually mourns when her little charges die, and she’d rather not be insensitive as to voice what everyone has been thinking.

Speaking of demigods and things everyone has been thinking about, there was also the matter with Asclepius. Unlike what many others may think, Rhodes does not think that Apollo allowing Perse to carry the boy to term was him trapping her with another woman’s child. The minor goddess knows her weird little sister offered to do that out of her own, no, Apollo trapped Perseira Aphrodities with another woman’s child when, besides insisting for them to raise the boy together, he encouraged the child to call her mother.

Perseira Aphrodities has raised children before, and she’s never been too stingy with her affection to not allow a child under her care to call her mother, or even father, as that one time with Danae’s son. Perse has loved children like her own before; Rhodes’ nephew Dionysus is there to attest to that, but she never had a child to be hers before.

Rhodes is not trying to pretend that her nephew Dionysus does not exist; it’s just that he’s different. Perse is Dionysus' mother because she earned that title; the goddess of demigods did not carry the boy to term and was only allowed to raise him by the King because no other goddess would agree to such a suicidal quest over a half-mortal brat that’d likely die in less than twenty years. When it comes to the title mother of Dionysus, no one is more worthy than Perseira Aphrodities.

What Apollo did was a lot more insidious than that: he did not make Perse earn the title of Asclepius’ mother; he gave it to her. Carrying the boy to term was something Rhodes’ sister would have done with no strings attached because she’s a selfless fool. The goddess of demigods would have carried the boy to term and gone on her merry way, being as involved in his life as a doting aunt if Apollo willed it, but as soon as the boy was cut from her body, the god of Light handed her the babe and the title ‘mother’.

Zeus gave Perse Dionysus for her to raise alone; being his mother was something she earned. Apollo gave her both the child and the title with the implied condition that she had to raise the child with him. Rhodes adores her nephew, that, raising the dead aside, has more good sense than both of his parents and older brother combined, but nothing in this world will make her forgive Apollo for manipulating her sister so thoroughly and it working.

He got to live a few years with Perse’s attention solely focused on him and their child, when Asclepius had been murdered by the King for raising the dead, Perseira had been so full of grief and took no other lover, and when the boy was brought back once Apollo’s punishment for killing the cyclops who fashioned Zeus’ lightning bolt, he got Perse to still have him as one of her lovers.

And now he’ll have her as a bride.

“Fucking god of Light, fucking Sun God” Rhodes slurred, snuggling closer against her little sister. “Sister, don’t marry him” She said, rubbing her cheek against Perse’s. “Why buy the pig if you only like the sausage?” They were lying in the bed of Rhodes’ bedroom together, both too lazy from the wine to feel like standing.

“Sister, you sound like Triton” Perse laughed against Rhodes’ ear. “I love him, even if he didn’t have a sausage, I’d still want to marry him” She drunkenly cooed, hugging Rhodes’ waist tighter.

“Triton is wise” Rhodes nodded. “But that’s not fair, you’d also adore him if he were a blonde woman with large tits and hips to match” She complained, watching as her sister got lost in thought. “See? Hey!” Rhodes bit Perse’s cheek. “Pay attention when your older sister is talking” She ordered

“You’re, like, half a second older” Perse whined, rubbing her abused cheek against the fabric of Rhodes’ peplos.

“Still older” She complained “Do you like him because he looks like a flat-chested maiden?” The minor goddess asked, lying her head on her younger sister’s shoulder.

“He’s pretty” Perseira nodded “But I also really like his personality—” She started, only to be interrupted by a loud cough from Rhodes that suspiciously sounded like ‘bullshit’. “It’s not just about looks, sister, you know I don’t care about ‘em.”

“Unless it’s a beard.”

“Beards remind me of father.”

“Hades had a beard when you took ‘im to bed.”

“And I didn’t wed him.”

“Was it because of the beard?”

“Well, I didn’t love it” She said, and for a few seconds, the two of them just looked at each other before bursting into laughter.

Rhodes likes moments like these, where she and her twin are spending time together like they were always meant to, like they would have had that tramp Aphrodite not decided to rip Perse away from her hands.

“Sister” She whined, burrowing her face into Perseira’s ample cleavage “Don’t get married, you won’t be able to visit me as much.” Her embarrassing plea was hopefully muffled by her sister’s breasts.

“I will!” Cursed be the goddess of loyalty’s great hearing. “Sister, not even if I have to tell Apollo to go out and play with Helios while we’re together, I will still visit you” She promised, running her fingers through Rhodes’ unbound hair.

“I’ll hold you to it” Rhodes primly said, face still buried in her sister’s cleavage. “ I—I love you, I hope you know that.” The minor goddess has embarrassingly never been one to be able to voice out her feelings with ease, so when she said that, it came out embarrassingly choked. Even so, when she lifted up her head, all she saw was Perseira staring at her in wonder with tears in her eyes.

What happened after was a display worthy of a love god as Perse immediately changed their positions so she was on top of Rhodes and started covering her face with loud, obnoxious kisses while repeating ‘I love you too!’

“Is this an affair?” Helios' confused voice cut through the happy moment between the twins.

“Affair?” Perseira asked, her face adorably confused as she looked around the room in search of a would-be lover. “We’re the only ones in here” She politely informed Helios, now resting her head against Rhodes’ shoulders.

“I’m not bedding my twin.” Rhodes lazily sat up, jostling said twin. “We’re lamenting her marriage.” Rolling her eyes when Perse interjected with ‘Celebrating, we’re celebrating. ’ “Sure, sure, whatever you say, dear.”

“Marriage?! Our little Perse is finally getting married?!” Helios' eyes shone with excitement. “Ooh, ooh, tell me everything!” He said, practically running to sit next to Rhodes’ unoccupied side.

And they did, against any type of better judgment, the twins told Helios all about Perseira’s engagement to Apollo. Helios is the worst kind of gossip, but he’s a good husband and a fairly decent brother-in-law, so he was really happy for Perse’s wedding, the only thing is—

“So, what Clio was saying about Apollo going to cry on your lap after he cursed Syphos was true?”

“Yeah” Perse said, sitting with her head resting against Rhodes' shoulder while her older sister petted her head. “Poor boy was crying so much, I felt terrible.”

“Who’s Syphos?” Rhodes asked, hating when she’s out of the loop.

“The mortal prince, sister-in-law, and your father were sharing in Corinth.” Helios eagerly shared that information, his head on top of Rhodes’ while his hand absentmindedly massaged her thigh.

“Sharing with—Perse” Rhodes sighed, clearly today was the day that Perseira Aphrodities was going to make it clear that she’ll never be out of things to surprise her twin with.

“I didn’t know father was also fucking him!” She whined into Rhodes’ shoulder, hugging her older sister’s waist tighter. “It’s not like I was asking him about his bedmates.”

“And you were talking to him?” Rhodes raised an eyebrow at that.

“I’m a committed woman, and it’s ungraceful to go into details about former lovers” Perseira primly replied.

“Still can’t believe you agreed to wed him after he cursed your former lover and went to cry on your lap over it” Helios said, ruffling his sister-in-law’s hair. “You must love him a lot” He teased.

“I do” Perse whined, batting her brother-in-law’s hands away.

“How was the proposal like? Did he take you somewhere romantic?”

“Was in my chambers, we didn’t leave them until the next day.”

“What, he proposed while crying in your lap?” Rhodes jested, but the way her sister got quiet and averted her gaze “Perse, did your boytoy really propose while crying in your lap?”

“...I was the one sitting on his lap.”

“You didn’t deny the crying part.”

“Stop being nosy, Helios.”

“What? C’mon, don’t leave me hanging, did he have his head shoved in your breasts or was it on your neck—Hey! Ow! Rhodes, your twin is hitting me!”

Yes, Rhodes can see why Apollo would want to wed her sister, but she just can't see why Perseira would agree.