I have a odd fascination with mythology. When I got a Mythology book for Christmas, I saw Cupid and Psyche, and it made me think of Zechs and Noin. This is the story of Cupid and Psyche, with the Gundam people instead of the Greek characters. It follows the story almost to the letter. I don't own Gundam Wing, and if I own Cupid and Psyche, then I should be passing Ancient Civilzations with flying colors considering that would mean I would have been alive at the time it was written.
I realize that some of the Gods and Godesses may seem odd, but I tried to make them fit as best I could.
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There was once a girl, whose beauty was so great, stories were told all over the world of it. People came from far and wide to see Noin and her famed looks, leaving the temples where they worshipped Relena, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, to lay their gifts in front of Noin instead.
Relena grew insanely jealous to see her followers desert her for a mere mortal. She called to her son, Zechs, the winged God of Love, telling him to shoot Noin with one of his arrows and make her fall in love with the ugliest thing on the planet. Zechs would have indeed made Noin fall in love with Dr. J, except that when he saw the blocky blue hair and soulful eyes, he could not raise his bow.
Noin, however, never ended up marrying anybody. Her two sisters were married happily, but she could find nobody. Men came and went, only to admire her beauty. In all actuality, Noin was just becoming a pain in her father's side. To rid himself of the thorn, he travelled to Delphi, where the temple of Trowa, God of Truth, Light, and Music stood, to ask the God how to marry off his daughter.
Trowa spoke through the Oracle in his temple, saying,: "A great injustice must be made indeed to wed your daughter. She must dress as one in mourning does and travel to the summit of a rocky hill and be left alone there, where a winged serpent will carry him off as his wife."
Saddened as her family was, they did as Trowa had told them. Noin kept her spirits up by telling them not to weep. "I was unhappy in my previous life, and am glad the end has come." Left alone on the rocky hill, Noin waited for the winged serpent, but instead White-Taurus-Suit, gentlest of all the Wind-Gods, who lifted Noin up and carried her to a sweet, grassy hill. Off the hill was a mansion suitable for a God, with gold pillars, silver walls, and precious jewels for the floor. As she drew nearer, voices whispered in her ear, though she could see no one. "We are your servants," they told her. "And ready fulfill any wish you have."
Noin was bathed and fed, redressed in Godly garments, and sent off to bed, all without seeing another person. 'I have no fears,' she told herself. 'I will know my husband will come tonight.' It came to be as she thought, and she knew she had no fears when she heard the most sexiest voice she'd ever heard in her ear, and his warm body near hers.
Their half-and-half relationship did not quite satisfy her, but she was happy, and time past quickly. She had not realized how much time until her two sisters, Dorothy and Une, came to visit her. "You cannot see them, for it will bring about your own destruction." her husband warned. But Noin cried at not being able to see them, and not even her husband's caresses made her feel better. Finally, he told her she was allowed to see them. "But you must promise me that you will not let yourself became persuaded into trying to see my face, for if you do, we will be forever parted."
"I would rather die a thousand deaths then be parted from you!" Noin confessed.
The Mobile Doll Wind-God brought Dorothy and Noin to the palace Noin lived. As soon as they saw where she lived, the two grew insanely jealous. "Where is your husband to whom all this belongs?" Dorothy asked. "And what is he like?"
"He is a very young and handsome man." Noin lied. She had never seen her husband's face. He would not let her. "He's away on a hunting expedition right now." Later, her two sisters left, both of them already conspiring with each other has to how to ruin Noin's happiness.
Noin's husband tried to persuade her not to see her sisters again, but Noin said no. "You keep your face hidden from me with the silver mask you always wear. My servants are bodiless voices. Am I not be allowed to see anybody at all? Especially my own family?" He yielded again, and the next day Une and Dorothy came out, their plan rock hard.
The two had already figured out by Noin's contradicting answers on her husband's appearance. that she had not yet seen him. They were kind, and reproached her for hiding the truth from them. They told her that though he may wear the body of the man, underneath the silver crane-like mask he was really the fearful serpent Trowa had predicted, and that one day he would grow hungry and eat her. Noin became fearful and listened to them as they told her that she must take the dagger they handed her, and she must take off his mask, revealing the serpent inside, and kill him before he killed her.
"After all," Une told her, thinking of slapping her sister. "He must be a snake if he only comes out in the dark to be with you."
Her heart was so full of love for her husband though, that she could not bring herself to believe her sisters words. Instead, she would prove them wrong, by seeing his unmasked face. That night, she did as she'd decided. Noin lit a light and tiptoed to the bed, where her sleeping husband lay. On the bed was not a monster, but the most handsomest man she had ever seen. He was so... God-cursed *sexy* that she knew it must be Zechs, God of Love. Noin grew ashamed of her actions, but before she could put the light away and act as if nothing had ever been, some of the hot wax dripped off the light and landed on Zechs' chest.
Zechs woke up immediately, and spread his wings, flying off in pain. "Love cannot be where there is no trust."
"My husband is the God of Love," Noin told herself. "Is he gone forever? No, it can't be. There must be some love left in his heart. In any rate, I will search the world for him, to show him the love in my heart." She didn't know where to go, or what to do, but she would go anyway.
Noin's husband, meanwhile, had ran to his mother, telling her all that had happened, so that she may fix his wound. Relena grew angry when she heard what had happened, and, leaving her son to recuperate, she left to find Noin and show her what pacifism was to a Goddess.
She did everything she could to make things right again, with no answer anywhere. Noin even tried to win the Gods to her side, but they did nothing, fearful of what Relena would do to them if she found out. In a final act of depression, Noin travelled to the house of Relena herself to ask forgiveness, secretly hoping that Zechs himself might be there.
"Hahahahaha!" Relena laughed scornfully when she saw Noin at the door to herself. "Have you come to ask for another husband from me, Noin? In truth, you are so ugly not even a blind man would want you. Therefore, I shall show you my good will: it will be training you in the most diligent and painful ways. For those are the only ways you will find a lover." Relena then took out packages of the tiniest seeds and spilt them on the table. "By nightfall these must be sorted." She then left Noin alone to do the sorting.
Knowing she would never be able to sort all these seeds, Noin sat and cried. Her tears, though it softened the heart of no mortal or God, made the tiny ants feel awful, and Quatre, Prince of the Ants came to Noin. "Lady, why are you weeping? My Space Heart makes me feel your pain. What is it that makes you so depressed and in so much pain?"
Noin told Quatre, Prince of the Ants her story. Quatre was so moved, both by his Space Heart and by Noin's words, called to his Maguanac companion Ants. They sorted the seeds for her, and when Relena came back at nightfall, she saw the task finished.
"Your work is by no means over." Relena told Noin, giving her a piece of stale bread ans sending her off to the floor to sleep. If she starved Noin, then that would surely make her beauty fade away! While Noin fell asleep, Relena went to check on Zechs and make sure his wounds were healing.
Relena had a task for Noin the next morning. "Go down to the stream where the golden sheep graze, and bring me some of their golden fur."
She did as she was told, but when Noin found the stream, she was overcome with a Great desire to throw herself into it. Instead, a little reed stopped her. "I am Sally. Noin, instead of
getting the wool from the sheep as they graze, wait until they come the river to drink. Here, the bramble bushes catch some of their fur, and you may take as much as you like."
When Noin returned with more then enough golden wool, Relena grew angry. "Someone helped you!" she accused, knowing Noin never could have done it herself. "But I will give you another chance. Take this flask, and fill it from the river Styx, the great black river." Relena knew full well the task was as impossible as the others. The walls of the waterfall from which the Styx flowed were so steep and slimy only a winged creature could reach it.
But just like the other two times, someone came to Noin's rescue. A great eagle who called himself Heero took the flask in it's talons and filled it for her, bringing it back, he would not accept her thanks, he could only say: "Mission accomplished."
Noin brought the water back to Relena, who only grew more persistent. She would make sure that Noin would fail one of her tasks! Giving Noin a box, she told her to go down to the Underworld and get a secret beauty ingredient from Hilde, Queen of the Underworld.
First going to Dr. G's house, who knew the way to the Underworld, Noin followed his directions. She went down a great hole in the Earth, then across the river of the dead with the help of the boatman, Cancer. From there she went straight up the road, getting passed the three-headed mobile doll that guarded the Underworld by feeding him some cupcakes (made with oil).
Hilde greeted her happily, and gave her the box easily. "It's nice to see some new blood down here. It's a good thing that we girls stick together, right? Too bad my husband Duo, God of the Death and King of the Underworld isn't here. He'd love to meet you."
The next trial that came upon Noin was her own fault. She wanted to see so badly what was in the box, and she wanted to maybe try some of it herself. She knew full well that the tasks Relena was asking from her weren't doing things for her looks, and she was always worried Zechs would appear at any moment. When he appeared, she wanted to look as beautiful as she had been before. Opening the box, she sadly saw there was nothing in it. Instead of closing the box, Noin suddenly feel asleep, for that was what had been let out when she had opened the box.
Zechs, meanwhile, was healed from his wounds. Relena had tried to keep him locked up, but Love could not be kept imprisoned. Spreading his wings, he simply flew out threw the window, and immediately began searching for his beautiful Noin that he had longed for. He found her sleeping at the door to the palace. Wiping the sleep away from her eyes and waking her with a gentle prick from one of his arrows, he smiled down at her. "Noin, you are such a curious little thing. You should have been much more careful. You could have slept forever if I didn't come to wipe the sleep away. Go and take sleep to my mother. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything else."
She rushed off to do as her husband had bade, while Zechs flew to Olympus. There, he went straight to Wufei, King of the Gods, and told him all that had happened. "A great injustice this is indeed. Your mother has proved herself to be quite weak." Wufei called for all the Gods to come to Olympus, including Trowa, Hilde, and Duo. There, he called Noin forward. "A great injustice as been done, and I will make it right. Noin and Zechs, no matter what Relena may say, are now formally married. The injustice has been fixed, and justice has been served. "
Relena started forward. "But Wufei, where is my justice?"
"You, Relena, get no justice. The weak deserve no justice." With that said, he called forth Catherine, Goddess of Youth and Cupbearer to the Gods.Catherine carried with her a cup of ambrosia and nectar. It was Wufei himself who fed it to Noin. This turned Noin into an immortal, and Relena could not object to an immortal daughter-in-law. After all, it meant that Noin could not be on Earth where she turned men gazes away from herself.
With Noin also being a Goddess, it meant that she and Zechs could be together forever, and this why Love and Soul are always found together.
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Now, just to try and explain why I paired up the Gundam Pilots with the dieties:
Trowa was Apollo: he was the God of Music, and Trowa plays the flute
he is the father of the God of Medicine, and Trowa helped heal Heero after he blew up Zero one.
he can't tell a lie, and Trowa doesn't lie because he never speaks in the first place
He is the Archer God, and Trowa gets knives thrown at him for a living... okay, even I'd admit that one is stretching it...
Relena was Aphrodite: one, both are blond
Zechs was Cupid, and Cupid is related to Aphrodite, as is Relena related to Zechs
Quatre was prince of the Ants: There are really only 5 gods in this story, and I needed to get Quatre in there. The Ants took pity on Noin, which made sense because of his Space Heart, and he has 40 guys who follow him around, so they are the other ants.
Dorothy and Une as the Wicked Sisters: Dorothy, I just don't like (Except in Endless Waltz) so she *had* to be the evil person, and even though I like Une, whenever she's in her military persona, she always seems to pick on Noin... mainly because Noin keeps disagreeing with her.
White Taurus Suit was Zephyr: Noin rides in a white Taurus suit, and I couldn't think of anybody to be the wind God.
Sally was a Reed: I needed to get Sally in here to. She's cool! And she and Noin work together a lot!
Heero was an Eagle: First, the Eagle is described as being 'dark'. If Heero isn't dark, I don't know what is. What else can you describe that glower of his.
His Gundam is Wing Zero, which turns into a bird. Hello? That one was obvious!
Duo was Hades: The closest thing to God of Death.
Hilde was Persephone: Persephone is married to Hades. Hilde and Duo are (IMHO) a couple.
Wufei was Zeus: Another bit of a stretch considering that Zeus was promiscuous and Wufei doesn't really want anything to do with women (I'm not saying he's gay, I'm saying he doesn't want a relationship and tends to try and steer clear of women.) But Zeus is the God of Justice. If that's not Wufei, I don't know what is.
Catherine was Hebe: She works in a circus. She's young and pretty. I consider that youthful. You can ever get old working in a circus!... unless you're the manager....
