Beginning Notes

Okay, so, um... I was planning on writing a few chapters in advance, so I would be able to post consistently and stuff. But screw that, since when do I ever post consistently? I do this as an extra hobby, not a job. So, yeah, here's the prologue! Hope you guys enjoy, characters belong to Rick Riordan unless stated otherwise.

Somewhere up on the mountain Olympus, Hera was fuming. He'd done it again. Her love, her husband, her happy ever after, had cheated on her once again.

It was not like she wasn't used to Zeus going out with another- he probably did it on the daily- but what bothered Hera the most was that it was a new girl every. Single. Time.

She'd see him down on earth, wooing the pretty human girls, knowing his wife was up on Olympus, staying true to their marriage, unlike him. Hera usually just turned a blind eye to him, it would be over within the week. But she never learned, did she? Because every night Zeus would come back to her, and she would think she'd won, just to find out he'd left her for yet another the next morning.

What had happened to their 'I dos'? Hadn't he promised to always be with her? In sickness and in health? Well screw him then. If Zeus could break his promise whenever he wanted, shouldn't Hera be able to at least look and appreciate the handsome men on earth? Apparently some weren't too bad. At least, that's what Aphrodite had said. Hera usually just nodded, taking her word for it, but now? Zeus had cheated for the umpteenth time, and she was kind of done with him for the moment.

So Hera decided to go down to earth, which she hadn't done since... she can't even remember.

Walking around the humans in full disguise almost felt like something new. Like something she wasn't supposed to do. Hera felt a strange sort of delight, it was like adrenaline filling one's veins after breaking the rules for the first time. It wasn't as if Zeus restricted her from going down to the humans, but he wasn't really fine with the idea of Hera walking around lots of strange men. However ironic it may be, Hera still found it sweet how protective he was of their marriage.

Even though she could see everything pretty well from Olympus there was something about just being around the humans that gave off a calm sort of feeling for Hera.

Looking around, she saw a lot of faces: old and worn, young and fresh, some had freckles sprinkled across their face, others had different coloured eyes. There was something special about each of them that made them so interesting. So much diversity in comparison to nymphs and other creatures she was used to seeing.

Hera didn't know how it happened, or why it hadn't happened earlier, but she found herself kind of mesmerised by the humans. Every day when Zeus left her so he could go chasing after some nymphs or who knows what, she'd go down to the human world and just... watch. That may sound creepy, but it wasn't like Hera was secretly a serial killer or something. She simply enjoyed watching the humans go about their day, whether they were frantically running to catch the train, or sitting around and learning stuff, she would watch and enjoy the strange beauty of it all.

At the end of the day, it wasn't as if she was cheating on Zeus, so it wasn't that big of a deal, right? At least, that's what she'd thought.

One day, she was back on Olympus, and had just finished taking a bath. She was walking around in her bathrobe, feeling refreshed and clean, when Zeus came up to her.

'Hera, my darling, I've heard that you haven't been on Olympus much lately, is that right?'

Hera had to hold back the urge to roll her eyes. 'And how would you know, when all you do is leave to charm all the other pretty ladies with your mightiness?' she spat.

'Oh, um, well, my dear brother Poseidon told me. He thought we'd had a fight.'

'As if that never happens,' Hera muttered under her breath. 'Well, you can tell that dear brother of yours that our marriage is none of his concern.'

Zeus sighed. 'Dear, I just wanted to make sure you were alright.' When he looked at her, his striking blue eyes were full of concern, and Hera almost felt butterflies in her stomach. But she reminded herself that he probably told all of his sweethearts this before he left them.

'I'm perfectly fine, thank you.' And with that she left.

Is it really fair to go down to earth, enjoying the beauty of humans, when I have a lovely husband? Hera wondered to herself one night. Zeus hadn't left in forever, and she almost felt like it was like in the old days again, when they were in love, and happily married. She'd started feeling happier around him again, as if their marriage was restored.

Until Zeus left again, leaving Hera with what she thought was a broken heart. He'd stayed loyal to her for months- which may not seem like that long if you were immortal, but it's Zeus, so in that case it's a long time. Why had he left her again? Wasn't she good enough? Did he just stay with her as to not break his reputation for divorcing the goddess of marriage? It was all a mystery, and Hera felt like a mess. So to cheer herself up, she decided to go back to earth, to watching the humans in all of their mortal glory.

As it turned out, Zeus didn't come back for a while. He's probably enjoying his new lover a lot more than me, Hera thought bitterly. She then decided that she would stay with the humans for more than just a few hours. If Zeus could stay for days on end, surely she could too. Besides, she hadn't even thought of seeing other parts of the human world. There was more to it than just Greece and America.

Hera wanted to see the humans who lived in the woods, and the ones that lived in the city. She wanted to see the humans who lived in the warmth, and the ones coping with the cold. She wanted to see them communicate in a hundred different ways. Hera wanted to see it all.

She tried to seek out where Zeus was, and came to the conclusion that he was just in America. Boring. At least he wouldn't find her on his dates with his new lover (who didn't even look half as good as Hera if she was going to be honest).

Hera went to Europe first. She went to France to watch people hang around the Eiffel Tower. She went to the Netherlands to watch them ride their bikes. She went to England to watch people drink tea, and to Germany to watch them drink beer. She went everywhere and saw everything. It was beautiful. After a while of staying in Europe, she decided to go back to Olympus. Surely Zeus would be back?

As it turned out, Zeus wasn't back. So Hera waited for him. She waited, and waited, and waited, loyal to their marriage as always. Zeus returned, eventually. She was happy to see him again, even though she knew what he'd been up to. At least he was in a good mood when he came back, and therefore stayed for a while. But also that didn't last. Zeus, being who he was, left for some other girl again after a while.

Surprise, surprise. Hera didn't need to think twice before going back to the humans for a bit, this time seeking out Asian cultures to enjoy watching.

It was when she was in Japan that something caught her attention, or well, someone. A beautiful boy with dark hair and brown eyes. Unlike Zeus's fierce eyes, his were soft, and warm, and Hera felt like that she wanted to wrap herself up in his smile. He had a kind nature, and worked hard for what he wanted, which Hera admired.

Hera had to basically slap her self back to reality. Wake up, Hera, you're married, she told herself. She immediately went back to Olympus in hopes of forgetting him. Luckily Zeus wasn't back though, for he would have been furious to see the blush that had formed on her cheeks.

Hera had thought it would have been easy to forget the gorgeous boy if she'd just not go back to earth, but she was mistaken. Zeus returned every evening, only to leave her again in the morning. They were back to pretending nothing was wrong, and they were happily married, just like before Hera went to watch humans from up close. The only difference now was that Hera had a lot of time to think about soft brown eyes.

It didn't help either when she discovered that the boy had moved to America after he'd finished school. Or that she went back down just to find out what his name was. Which sounded beautiful and melodic, and therefore was the only thing on her mind when Zeus was gone. Misaki. Misaki Avery.

Hera tried to stay strong though. She was the goddess of marriage, she was used to Zeus's behaviour, she'd done this- whatever this was- for centuries. But then again, she hadn't known about Misaki then.

Eventually Hera couldn't take it any more. She'd just walked in on her husband making out with some random nymph, which ended in him trying to explain it, and her screaming that it was the final straw. She left. Zeus could do whatever he wanted with those nymphs, and she wouldn't be there to witness it any more. He wouldn't be able to come back to her in the evenings that he was lonely. If he could break his promise over and over, every day, what difference would it make if Hera broke hers once?

She disguised herself, and went to seek out Misaki and found him in his little café, working hard, as always. She pretended to just be a young lady who needed some coffee, and then left after she'd gotten it. Very subtly, she came back every day, at the same hour. Eventually, Misaki came to know her face and name, and he asked her how things were going. She'd tell him fine, take her coffee and leave.

Slowly but surely, they became good friends, making Hera discover more and more about him, which made her like him even more. After a while, Misaki asked her if she'd like to go out for dinner, and Hera said yes, of course. It worked out, and they started dating.

Hera felt warm every time she was with him, she felt safe. She was happy to be treated well for once. And it didn't take long before she was pregnant. Everything felt fine, until she had the baby. Holding it in her hands, she finally realised what she'd done, how far she'd gone. It couldn't be redone, but at least Hera could go back.

After taking care of her daughter for a week, making sure Misaki was in a well enough position to raise a child on his own, she told him the truth. His eyes looked sad, his smile not as bright as usual, but as Hera had noticed years ago, he had a pure heart. He nodded, telling her it was okay, and she cried, not wanting to leave him alone with their newborn child, but she didn't really have a choice.

She left the next morning at dawn, leaving a note on the kitchen table, telling him she loved him.

End Notes

So I do actually have the first chapter written, but I'm not completely satisfied with the result, so I'm not posting it yet, otherwise I'll update whenever a new chapter is finished, so please don't expect consistency with me, this is just a lot more relaxed way to work. Anyways, I hope you guys have a great day, byeee :)

oc's mentioned

Masaki Avery by a guest