Fragile Friendship
This is the story about the young goddess Io. She was once Hera's best friend, brought to Olympos by the queen of the gods herself. But a sad and fatale event drove an iron rod into the heart of their friendship. Can Hera ever forgive Io and will Io ever feel comfortable around Hera again. Can true friendship win over a dire mistake?
1. Two best friends
The young girls' high-pitched yelling and screaming were heard almost over the whole Palace of Zeus. Not only were the young goddesses voices strong, as divine voices usually are, they were arguing in the Grand Staircase Hall, where the acoustics sent voices bouncing off ornate marble walls and up through the wide, sunlit shaft.
"Now again!" Hestia stopped in her tracks, making a face. "They're going to break some glass pieces if they go on like this, I'm sure!" Then she turned around and begun walking back the way she had come.
Halfway there she met the goddess she was looking for:
"Hera! Guess what?"
"Yeah," the Queen of Olympos sighed. "I'm hearing them all right. I'll go talk to them. "
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"Now listen," Hera said, sitting down with one young goddess on each side. The one to her left was Astraea, Her youngest daughter with Zeus. Astraea had inherited her dark hair and large, dark eyes but she had that very same smile as her father, the one that could make hearts melt. The other goddess was the fair haired Rhode, daughter of Aphrodite and Poseidon. The young girls were about the same age and best friends, at least most of the time. Now they both looked rather sulky and did everything to not have to look at the other one, using Hera as a kind of no-man's land that kept them safely apart.
"What, mother?" Astraea looked up, pushing back one dark lock from her pale forehead.
"It's about friendship," Hera begun.
"Mum!"
"We don't need another lecture," Rhode said at almost the same time.
"This is not a lecture; this is a tale from real life. This is something that happened to me long ago. And if you chose to regard it as a lesson or just listen to it as a thrilling drama is all up to you. But once I had a best friend, and she and I were as tight as you two were. Her name was Io…"
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"It ought to be a great party," Io smiled. "It is after all the birthday of the Sea God. And I'm all excited. I've never been to a party at Olympos before."
"It sure is special," Hera replied, regarding herself in the full view mirror. The new Queen of the Gods was tall and slender without being skinny. Instead her body was fine tuned by work with weapon and martial arts. She had after all fought in the Titan wars and even if that was more than 100 years ago Hera was still keeping up her warrior's skills. Who knows when she might be needing them again?
"What's it like?" Io walked up so she came to stand next to Hera. She had the same kind of dark hair as Hera and she too wore it very long. But there the resemblances between the two friends ended. Io was about a head shorter than Hera, tanned and buxom, and her eyes were green and smiling where Hera's were solemn.
"There's never any expenses spared. And trust Poseidon to throw it all in. All kinds of sea food, singing naiads, dancing nereids "you name it. Poseidon and my Zeus have had… well there has always been some kind of competition going on between them. Sure, Zeus is the King and the Gods are closer than brothers, but - they have always tried to show off to the other one."
"How is he, Poseidon?" Io asked, her eyes glittering while she turned, trying to make her blue dress falling a bit better around her round hips.
"Before you get any ideas, darling," Hera warned, "Poseidon is the kind of man who's into one night stands. He has a girl and then he tires and dumps her before she knows it. I sure don't want anything like that to happen to you, Io."
"Oh, I can take care of myself, Hera," Io stated and pulled the dress a few centimetres up. "You think I could wear my pearl necklace to this?" she changed subject.
"Of course!" Hera breathed out with relief. "Peals and blue go great together." Glad that Io seemed to have forgotten Poseidon as quick as he had struck her mind. Hera smiled while admiring her own red dress. It fitted her perfect! And of course it should, nothing less than perfection was good enough for the Queen. For the wife of Great Zeus.
Zeus who have given her this ruby necklace and fitting earrings. Zeus who have given her so much – both when it came to passion and friendship. As she threaded the golden earrings through the tiny holes in her earlobes her dark eyes lost themselves in revere. She saw the face of her beloved dancing in front of her. His golden locks, his sparkling electric blue eyes. His smile which could make iron lions curl up and purr. Her Zeus…
"… wanted to get laid so the bitch didn't bother with that Atarion was married, and to her best friend too!" Io finished something Hera hadn't heard the start of.
"Sorry?" The queen turned to look at her friends still with hands at her neck, arranging the jewelry.
"Are you with me or not?" Io wondered. "Wasn't that a filthy thing to do?"
"Sorry my mind was wandering, who did what? "
"Imsone. She slept with Atarion. Semora's wife."
"But that was just a play," Hera recollected. "I saw it too, but I can't think of anything like that happening for real. Well perhaps among the mortals, but I guess we know better. "
"You think so? Well, Hera, we're not that different from the mortals. And I can think of some of us who…"
"But we are different. We might be of the same origin as them but while they die before even reaching a century we go on living. Living and learning. Understanding ourselves better as well as the people around us. And faulty mistakes that might be made in our youths get remembered and hopefully not repeated. Acquired wisdom…"
"…is what make us Gods, not superhuman traits and eternal youth," Io finished the sentence. "You do sound a bit like your husband from time to time, Hera. "
"And how odd is that really?" Hera replied. She finally appeared pleased with the necklace and went on with some minor corrections to her seemingly perfect make-up. "We are married, and we do talk a lot. And we share the most basic ideas about how the world works and how it may be tweaked to work better. That's why I really think this is going to work in spite of the prognosis based upon Zeus' earlier marriages. "
"He cheated on them, right?" Io said and borrowed some of Hera's Aegyptian kohl.
"He did," Hera nodded. "First Metis, I guess he was in fact led astray by the much older and more skilled Themis. She who became goddess of justice – what an irony! And when his first wife learned about the affair she left, taking the couple's infant daughter Athena with her. Then Zeus married Themis instead, but the wedding bed had hardly turned cold before Zeus was rumored to have spent some time with Eurynome. Now, I don't really know if that's true or not, but Hestia told…"
"Hestia's even better at gossip than starting fires so I wouldn't…"
"No smoke without fire, no pun intended. Eurynome had a child and although it has never been made official I can tell by young Dike's aura that it is Zeus who have fathered her. But Zeus and Eurynome never became a couple for real, and same thing goes for his short relation with Mnemosyne. Leto on the other hand, now that was another story and if she hadn't chickened out and left Olympos I would never had encountered Zeus in the situation I did and it would never have been us. I guess I might've become his new chancellor or something instead. After all he did need a new chancellor after dismissing Prometheus, and I was applying for the job."
"Sooner or later it would have been you," Io said. "You two were destined for each other. And I loved the way he flirted you down on that spring day after finding you in the woods with the injured cuckoo in your hands."
"True," Hera nodded, blushing slightly. "He did it so subtle and refined that I thought I was the one doing it to him for a while instead. He knew exactly which buttons to push, which emotions to appeal to. Zeus knew I was lonely and had been for quite a while and he knew I had hard to confess even to myself that I needed somebody next to me. That even the strong and independent Hera yearned for someone to hold her in the dark of the nights."
"I wish…" Now it became Io's turn to lose herself in revere. "I wish I could find someone for me like that too. Someone who understands what I need and acts upon that. "
"Oh he's out there, I'm quite sure of it, Io. Perhaps already tonight you'll come across somebody. After all most of the gods are going to be there. Speaking of what – I guess we're need to get going. Even if Zeus' entourage is not supposed to be early arrivers, we don't want to be too late either. And the party has been in full swing now for quite a while."
"Okay, well I'm almost ready." Io did one last check in the full body mirror before she and Hera left the spacious Queenly suite and went down to the downstairs lounge where Zeus was already waiting with a handful other gods and goddesses, including Zeus sister Hestia and the brethren trio Kotos, Cyges and Briareus, each of them a handsome-looking blonde with gaudy green eyes and a flashy set of white teeth. A bit hard to tell apart, Io had to admit, but she had learned the trick, at least when seeing them all together. Cyges were slightly taller than the rest and Kotos was more stoat. Briareus on the other hand a bit darker slightly wavy hair and wore it longer.
For any other man or god the brothers would have worked as bodyguards, but Zeus's powers were of the quality that made bodyguards unnecessary. Now the trio worked more as an escort of honor as well as forming ephemeral couplings with the ladies following Zeus. So while Hera took Zeus' arm Io found herself by the arm of Kotos and trailing right behind Hestia and Briareus who was following the royal couple. Behind them Cyges and Nike took up the rear.
Poseidon's magnificent villa was not far from the palace of Zeus, and the evening was balmy and mellow with the last strikes of sunset setting some featherlike ribbons of clouds afire. Early stars had begun to shine, like unreachable diamonds against soft blue velvet. It was a nice enough night for a walk, still Zeus had had snow white horses reined to elegant chariots and while he and Hera entered the first one together with Hestia and Briareus, Io, Kotos, Cyges and Nike rode the second chariot.
He was accurate with every detail, king Zeus. Even if he knew that the chariots saved them no time (flying wound have taken them to Poseidon's even faster) he had wanted the horses and chariots so he could make an impression on those guests possibly lingering outside the entrance to the sea-god's Olympic home.
Zeus had it planned right, a motley crew of lower gods and goddesses were still milling about outside, Io recognized some faces here and there. It embarrassed her a bit coming with the entourage of Zeus when she only a year ago had been no nobler than those four or five dozen who were now gaping in awe over seeing Zeus and his associates arrive. Still her friendship with Hera had granted her this boon and Io gladly took the offered hand of Kotos again to follow the others inside.
Not unexpected it was Poseidon himself who greeted the new arrivals. A bear hug for his old friend Zeus and gallant hand-kisses for the ladies before he went on with the brother trio. Io savoured the closer look she had got of Poseidon. Zeus' old brother in arms were just as handsome, just as well built, but he was a bit darker in complexion, his shoulder-length hair so black it appeared blue in certain lights and wavy like it was a part of the oceans itself. The sea god also had emerald green eyes, slightly angular like there was a trace of eastern blood in him and rather thin lips that looked accustomed to smiling. And the way he had said her name was thrilling, it had an exotic ring to it and made her feel more noble, more elegant than she really was. Io – on the lips of Poseidon it had sounded like a deep bell ringing.
Next thing they were admitted into the main hall where even more people were mingling about. The hall was spacious with coral coloured marble pillars holding up a ceiling with mosaique pictures of mermaids and fishes and a large chandelier provided the room with adequate yet soft light. Tables with a generous buffet were set in the middle of the large room and beyond them one gallery of pillars opened up to a rose garden dominated by a large koi pond and with the artificial lake as a backdrop, almost ink-dark now in the fading dusk. Some guests were mingling in the garden as well, and lanterns with coloured divine light were hung all over the place.
In one corner a quartet of nymphs were performing soft background music on lyres and pipes and in front of them a golden-locked little boy about four or five was standing awestruck. Io recognized him; this was Apollo, Zeus' young son. This must mean his mother Leto was not far away from here.
Io turned to Hera to let her know the fact, but Hera was engaged in a discussion with Demeter a bit away and Zeus was even further yonder, talking to some ladies Io didn't know. So she set about to the musical nymphs, hoping to spot Leto herself.
"At least one person I know," she thought. Suddenly she felt so lost here among all those haughty Olympians in their fancy dresses and the large quantity of hang around deities who have been drawn from afar to this alluring place like night butterflies to a lantern.
Nevertheless, Hera and Io went way back and Hera had invited her here to discuss possible job opportunities within the royal court. The prospect of living at Olympos was appealing to a goddess used to residing in minor woods together with nature deities. Not that she minded the company of dryads and naiads, but they were seldom the brightest beings and sometimes she felt bored by their idle conversations about nothing other than 'beautiful butterflies' and 'mortal hunters with nice back sides'.
So when Hera's invitation had come Io had gladly packed what she thought might be needed and headed along to the mountain of Zeus. And here she was now on one of their famous parties, trying to look like she was enjoying herself.