Prologue:

Ancient Greece was ruled by patriarchy, where law and order were male and the one who stood on the top of it all was Zeus, the King of Gods.

He was the pillar of society… even though he really was not.

In a modern view, he would be the poster boy for the philandering billionaire player, who drank too much, spent too much and whose only glory was to be born at the right time and perhaps his long list of lovers if it can be counted as lovers. But in Ancient Greece, he was just the King and Hera was his Queen.

(A female so determinate, so defying and ahead of her time - as she did not fit her time's expectations - that the ancient writers condemned her for it forever.)

It had been just like any other day, just another argument to add in proportion to his long list of lovers, between a scorned wife/the Queen and the uncaring husband/the King. Them arguing seemed so insignificant that later on, it could be barely remembered. Except for one thing.

Their arguments, the things they threw at each other in shouting, abided an already established course, in which each argument was countered by another and each rising voice met another higher raising one.

It was as passionate as volatile, and every inch as heart-breaking.

And when it finally came to the long-awaited climax, when there was nothing to be outdone anymore and no party with anything left to be hurt, it left the losing God with no other option but to retreat, until the next argument. But of course, for the sake of dramatics and pride, he could not leave without the promise of separation and abandonment, gifting his wife with the lingering taste of resentment and blame and his Queen with belittling words that - as was intended - left her feeling inferior to mortal women. As usual.

Except the one thing that no one expected.

After he had left, there was no concern for his return.

Until he never came back.

But by the time it had become appropriate to become worried, his tracks were untraceable. The Gods were far more anxious, their minds too occupied by fear what it meant for them than what it meant for their King.

However, by fortune's grace, the anticipated chaos never came. All in gratitude of Hera, who, in the time of crisis, took over her husband's reign. It was said that under her leadership, she had pulled the gods together, leading Olympus into a new time of prosperity, in a time when their God and even the mortals had abandoned them. So, out of what could have been the ashes of an empire, rose a phoenix brighter than anyone would have given her credit for.

And as days passed into decades, time moved on and prospered, burying the King who was above all under the glory of a new order.

That day the gods had last seen Zeus, Olympus had lost a King, but in return, they obtained a Queen.

Thus, the King of the Gods, the one above all, had become lost and almost forgotten in time.

It was a general acceptance that the only deity entitled and worthy to take his place - for the time of being - was her. Who else was worthy and capable enough to take on the King's duty if not the Queen? Definitely not the brood of his off-springs, including their children, that much was clear. The transition had passed with common knowledge and it was also with common knowledge, at least now, that without Hera, the pantheon would have fallen apart.

Over the years, it could be said that the Queen Goddess had left a trail of achievements, and one of them was the reconstruction and extension of Olympus' baths, which had become infamously known and praised by many goddesses.

With a stricter schedule, the de facto regent Queen no longer had the luxury to travel to Kanathos to enjoy her bathing habits. However, stubborn as she was, she refused to relent in the matter, which then paved way for reconstruction. Although it took more time than to Hera's liking, when it finally finished constructing, it became her retreat.

Perhaps it was due to her past and how the water reminded her of nurturing and loving Tethys, or maybe she just loved springs. They eased her mind and helped her relax. Being in the water for her felt like a separation, from the world, her worries and her state of mind. It was like entering a different sphere, floating and detached from everything.

She finally submerged again in the middle of the spring. The part of her hair that was not floating on the water's surface was clutching to her bare skin. She swam towards one of the rocks to lean on it.

"Lady Hera!"

Iris had her typical appearance of bearing news, but whether they were good or bad were yet to be determined.

"What is it?" Hera asked.

Her voice travelled across the water, sounding calm and aloof, even though she had a feeling of what it was already.

"They found him."

"Oh."

She knew what those words meant.

Iris was referring to her husband, Zeus. The King of Olympus. The God of Sky, who had been missing for five centuries, without any news or any sign of their mighty King.

"Lady Hera?"

"Prepare my dress," the Queen gave her regal and collected demand. "Let us not waste time."

While the Goddess of Rainbow followed as she said, she feared that by the end of the process that she must have miscalculated, because as the Queen stared at the mirror and into the finished design, there was a sudden and unexpected emptiness in time.

It was then that she remembered that she has forgotten it, all the things she had forgotten suddenly came back.

Iris was not the goddess, who made a mistake.

It was her who had miscalculated.

In fact, on that day, she realised a lot of mistakes she had made. It has been so long since she made such realisations and so many, too. Was it ironic that it was exactly the date he returned?

Perhaps more sad or nostalgic?

That was what she could not discern between in her heart, as she took in everything happening in front of her with her eyes.

Her beloved daughter Hebe fell into his arms, looking so small in contrast to her father. People were standing around, laughing and congratulating. Hestia was on the ground of shedding tears, but they were happy tears, so it did not truly count.

All in all, it was a most joyous sight, capable of melting any heart. It touched her because she knew that such harmony was rarely ever achieved within this pantheon. But hidden in all that touched feeling was also another feeling, knowing that she was supposed to be there as well, standing next to him as his wife, the one and only place, forever meant to be hers'.

It was a special day.

An exceptional day, because today was an exception. Because today, their King had finally come home and things could finally settle. It meant that their hearts could finally rest in peace again. It meant that things could finally go back to how they were before he was missing.

The order was finally restored.

Except for Queen Hera's heart.

For her, it was only the beginning.