This story is written as part of the Secret Santa Fic Exchange on the Of Prompts and Challenges forum.
Prompt: Hercules and Zoe- angst
Dedicated to: an ocean of weltschmerz
I think this may be more hurt/comfort than angst, but I'm really, really, REALLY bad with angst. I did try to make it angsty though, so hopefully that counts? Maybe? No? Sorry...
Important: I know that the Hesperides (Zoë's siblings), in the real myth, are the children of Atlas and Hesperius. However, RR said in TC that Zoë's mother was Pleione, so I'm going to stick to the PJO canon.
Why?
The dark-haired girl sits her bow down on an enormous boulder before climbing on top of it herself. The sky is illuminated tonight by a full moon, and the stars are shining brighter than she has ever seen. It feels like this is just another way for the universe to mock her, making the cosmos as lovely as ever while she feels like she is the one carrying the weight of the world as opposed to her father.
She has to clamp down hard on her lips to stop them from trembling. The tears in her eyes threaten to spill over, but Zoë Nightshade does not cry. Especially over some stupid boy who has made it abundantly clear to her that he is not worth it.
Then why is she sitting here?
Why?
It's a word that appears in every question that she has been asking herself over and over and over for the past two weeks. Why did she have to give him the sword? Why did she help him steal the apples? Why did her family disown her? Why is she wandering aimlessly around the forest, eating only what little food she can hunt with her bow?
Because she loves him.
That is the cause of every problem that has ever arisen in her life. If it wasn't for the stupid L-word, Zoë would be with her siblings now, faithfully guarding the Garden of the Hesperides from the greedy, selfish likes of him.
But, no. Zoë Nightshade, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, sits here, staring up at the glittering constellations in the warm summer sky, replaying every second of his deception in her mind. She closes her eyes tightly, allowing herself to drift off into the memory.
xx
Zoë felt the color rising to the cheeks the second she met his eye. He was handsome, with brown hair and eyes so piercing she felt like he could read her every thought just by locking eyes with her. She looked away quickly, but the damage was already done. He had picked up on her attraction to him in just those two seconds, and, unbeknownst to her, he was already thinking of a way to exploit it.
xx
He returned again a few days later, and Zoë was just as drawn to him as she had been the first day she saw him. He flashes her a smile, and her legs start walking toward him before her brain even has a chance to register what is happening. Not that she minds. Ordinarily, Zoë would never have had the courage to approach him, but this does not give her time to talk herself out of it.
He smiles at her even brighter when she is finally close enough for him to take her hand and place a chaste kiss to the back of it. She blushes, and bows her head politely to him. "I am Hercules," he says to her.
"Zoë," she manages to say quietly.
"That is a beautiful name."
He quickly gained her trust and her heart. Zoë was so taken to him that every hour spent away from the son of Zeus felt like a waste to her. Her sisters disapproved, seeing through the demigod's ploy, but Zoë took offense to their every warning, thinking they thought a man like Hercules could only love a girl like her if he had an ulterior motive.
Oh how right they were.
xx
It happened so quickly that to this day Zoë does not remember the exact moment she decided that Hercules meant more to her than her own family, but the day did come. She found herself changing her hair clip into the great sword, Anaklusmos, and then she was giving him advice on not just stealing the Apples of Hesperides she guarded, but also several of his other labors. In her mind, the sooner he completed them, the sooner he could take her way from the Garden and start their lives together.
It shouldn't have came as such a great shock to her when he took the apples and the advice without even looking back, but Zoë would be lying if she said she hadn't waited on him to save her from the wrath of her father and siblings.
He never returned.
xx
How could she be so stupid? Trusting a son of Zeus like that? Everyone knows that children of the King of the Gods are incapable of being faithful and of loving any one girl. Why on Earth did she think he would change for her, a measly Hesperide?
"Do not belittle thyself like that, child," she hears from behind her. Zoë's head swivels around so quickly that she is sure her neck will ache for a solid week afterward. Standing in front of her is a girl about her age with long auburn hair and eyes so silver they seem to be shining just as brightly as the moon above their heads. "He is not worth your sorrow."
Zoë, after recovering from her initial shock, grabs her bow defensively, glaring at the girl. "How does thee know? I have never meet thee in my life."
The girl seems to be unfazed by her aggressiveness, which throws Zoë off balance. The now-former Hesperide is used to people being afraid of her. Despite their beauty, most everyone knows not to mess with the children of Atlas for fear of the wrath of Laden, but now Zoë is on her own, with no giant dragon to fight her battles for her.
"I know about the suffering men," she snarls the last word, "inflict on all maidens. If I were some other goddess," again with the snarl, "I thee that all men are not the same and love conquers all." She rolls her silver eyes at this, and suddenly her identity registers in Zoë's mind. "But they are, and it does not."
She pauses for dramatic effect, and Zoë sucks in a breath in anticipation of what the girl, no, goddess, is going to say next. "So, Zoë Nightshade, I would like to make thee an offer I know thee will not refuse."
I hadn't really thought about it until I started writing this, but Zoë and Hercules are SO much like Reyna and Jason. I just have this feeling that Reyna was a huge help to him in the Titan War, and he didn't give her much credit at all before disappearing and replacing her with a prettier girl.
Apparently I am incapable of writing PJO without drawing Reyna/Jason (no Jeyna, Jason doesn't deserve her) parallels. That really helped me with this though. I've never really thought much about Zoë and Hercules, but when I was writing her feelings, I just thought about how betrayed I'm sure Reyna feels. I was scared to death to write this, but I honestly think it turned out pretty well. Much better than I thought it would at least.
And again, an ocean of weltschmerz, Happy Holidays, and I really hoped you enjoyed this! I also apologize for the lack of complete angst, but if you read it really slowly and squint really hard you can see it in the beginning a little, I hope.