Hera led Adiya down the steps of the throne room. A safe distance away she held out her arm for her to take.
"I recommend you close your eyes. It's not a very fun experience when you're mortal," she said.
Adiya raised a brow,"How would you know?"
"Well, long story short. A goddess turns mortal when she's pregnant. She remains mortal for three months after giving birth. She keeps her powers; though, it is recommended they not be used."
"Why do they turn mortal?" this was the first time Adiya had ever heard of something like this since she stepped onto the mountain.
"The power of a god is potentially harmful to baby gods, or godlings. It's like they're being hit with a dose of radioactivity. Our bodies know that. And so, in a way, it 'turns off' all the features that define us as gods."
"Why do you still have powers then if they harm the baby?"
"The powers are more of a defense mechanism than anything when you're with child. Kind of like when an animal becomes more aggressive with strangers when it has children."
Adiya nodded, trying to understand. She took Hera's arm and looked up at her,"Does that mean Aphrodite doesn't know what it's like to be immortal?"
Hera let out a one syllable laugh, which made Adiya feel uncomfortable, and the two disappeared.
It was like being sucked into a vacuum with the insides of a tornado. They lurched and spun and jumped as wind bit at their faces making their hair fly. Finally, they felt the ground again.
Adiya supported herself on Hera, her face turning green. She gagged and stumbled over to a nearby trash can and hurled up the dinner she had that evening.
Hera watched on in amusement. She snickered at the poor girl's predicament. Finally, Adiya turned toward her, wiping her mouth.
"I forgot to close my eyes."
"So I saw. You poor vex, hope this doesn't ruin our evening together."
Adiya finally took in her surroundings. A tall building stood proudly in front of her and surrounding them was a body of water. Across the water she could see more land and more buildings. Obviously, she didn't recognize the place, but she had an idea as to where Hera had brought her,"Where are we?"
Hera admired one of the two statues that had been placed in front of the building near the water,"Stockholm City Hall."
Adiya looked up at the statue of the naked man. He looked out to the horizon to the other side of the river bank, hand held up as if saying hello or calling up to the heavens, and in the other he held grapes. He had what seemed to be a powdered wig on his head which didn't suit him at all. Her fingers traced his knee as her hand ran down the patina that raced down his copper body.
Hera chuckled, Adiya turned to see what made her make such a sound, but Hera had already turned away from the two as she continued walking around the lawn. Adiya ran after her.
The two didn't speak much the entire trip. They simply walked around Sweden admiring the new sights and giggling at the failed attempts men made to flirt with them. At some point Hera was confronted by a young woman. She seemed to recognize Hera and shouted an array of words that sounded very much like insults, but Hera didn't understand a word she had said. Frankly, she didn't want to bother. For one, this was supposed to be a nice trip without drama. Second, if she translated what this mortal was calling her, she knew it would not end as nicely as she wanted her birthday to end. Not to mention that she had no idea who this woman was.
Adiya, however, understood every word uttered by the stranger.
But Hera kept walking. Adiya followed behind, looking back at the woman with defensive eyes, and they were left alone once again.
They saw the Stockholm palace. Adiya was amazed, she admired the palace as it basked in golden light as if it were a present from the gods. Hera curled her lip at it, thinking it to be rather unimpressive. She stayed quiet for Adiya's sake seeing her mull over the square buildings.
With a bit of divine intervention, they snuck into the Vasa Museum and took a tour inside the ship. Many times Adiya caught Hera staring nostalgically at many different parts of the ship.
"What kind of ship was this again?" Adiya asked as she inspected a bronze cannon that peeked out a small square hole meant to be a window.
Hera gushed as she ran a hand against the ship's wall,"She was a fantastic warship built in 1628. From the 17th century. Unfortunately, she never left her harbor. She sank before she could even reach the sea."
"What sank it?"
"A gust of wind. She was too heavy in the upper part of her hull, she would've been fine if it hadn't been for that breeze. But in the end she foundered. Poor thing, would've been the finest one out there. Probably the fastest. What I wouldn't give to have seen her sailing out on the horizon in action."
Adiya had no idea what Hera had just told her, but seeing how much enthusiasm Hera had on the subject she nodded in understanding. Then it struck her. How did Hera know so much about The Vasa and the proper terminology associated with ships?
"How do you know so much about this kind of stuff? Isn't Poseidon the one that's supposed to know about boats, and Ares? If this was a warship, shouldn't he be the one spewing facts about this place?" She asked.
Hera took on a misty look her in eye. Adiya recognized it, she remembered seeing that same gaze when she and Hera had their first stroll together. She had been telling Hera about Estefan, her best friend since Kindergarten, they lost touch after she moved away to Olympus. She omitted telling anything about her crush on him, but she could tell Hera wasn't listening. It seemed Hera was daydreaming, but when they rounded a corner in the garden she could see Hera's eyes glistened with trapped tears.
She saw those same eyes on that ship.
"I, er, had a lot of time on my hands during that century."
Adiya made her way to her. Before she completely closed the gap between the two the floorboards underneath her creaked. The sound of wood breaking echoed and she felt herself fall; something scraping her leg as she went.
Hera caught her by the arm and pulled her up,"Oh dear. I forgot that the ship is in decay."
Adiya turned toward Hera in a sense of outrage,"The ship is in what!?"
Going through another trip down the vacuum they landed a little bit a ways from the museum. Hera checked on Adiya's leg, which was bleeding in a way that worried Hera. She bit her lip at the thought of Zeus finding out. She had to stop the healing before they could get back to Olympus.
"Stay still," she ordered.
Adiya slapped Hera's hand away,"The ship is in what!?"
Hera sighed,"I forgot, okay? I was so excited to see it I forgot to take precautions. Let me fix up your leg and we can go back home."
Adiya glared on at Hera who proceeded to bandage her leg with some gauze and alcohol she had summoned. She looked away at the ship and then the rest of Sweden. She didn't want to leave just yet.
After all, how many times do you get to go to Sweden?
"No. I'll stay quiet about this. I want to continue the tour." She told Hera.
Hera looked up at the girl. The moon shone brightly behind the mortal, leaving her with an angelic glow. Hera felt something nag at her; her chest hurt and her breathing hitched, stopping in her throat. She quickly looked away back at Adiya's leg.
She swallowed the lump that had appeared there. For a moment, her eyes began wandering up her leg to her skirt, before she could see anything underneath Hera hissed. She closed her eyes shaking herself out of the stupor and continued tending to Adiya's leg.
When she finished the two women continued their stroll. They visited other museums, Gotland (which was where they got to know about Visby), and the Uppsala church. They visited all the Ikea stores, counting a total of twenty, and they ended their night on top of a building in Östersund.
They overlooked the city as the morning rays blanketed the orange roofs of the buildings in a warm light.
Hera admired the various shades of red, orange, and yellow that glazed along the sky as night turned into day.
Adiya sighed next to her, Hera looked at her.
She was radiant.
Her tawny skin glowed in the sun's rays. Her blue eyes were ablaze with life and her golden, chocolatey hair framed her face so nicely. Hera's eyes wandered down her body. A nice white, flowery dress decorated her body outlining her hips.
Hera tilted her head at Adiya.
She could almost imagine her with black hair, silvery eyes, and pale skin. She had the same facial structure. The same body frame. Just a change of color schemes and Adiya could look just like her.
Hera looked up at the setting moon and nodded, yeah. Just like her.
Maybe he could be apart of this story too.
Adiya noticed Hera's nostalgic gaze toward the moon and looked up at it as well. After a bit of silence she asked,"Hera, did you ever love someone that wasn't Zeus?"
The goddess looked back down toward the mortal. She held an intense, defensive gaze but slowly. They began to break away.
She looked back toward the rising sun. Her eyes becoming gloomier with every inch it rose.
"I'm sorry. That was impertinent of me to ask. I-"
"I was engaged to someone else before I became Zeus' bride."
Adiya looked over at Hera, surprised at hearing a response.
"E-engaged? To who? Why? What happened? That is-if you don't mind me asking."
Hera sighed, she looked over the building's edge,"He was...an immortal. Handsome, intelligent, gentle, and oh so kind. He gave me a gift everyday. Sometimes it would be something small, like a flower or a poem. Other times he'd bring jewelery and clothes. He was... fantastic."
Adiya examined Hera. Her lip quivered and her voice would break. She looked down and away from her. She was afraid of asking the wrong thing, so she played it safe,"When did you two get engaged? How did he ask?"
Hera smiled lightly,"I was thirteen when we got engaged. It was a different time. It was normal for girls to get married at such a young age. In fact, you were considered an adult by the time you reached seven. Besides. Zeus had already been married six times prior it was refreshing to see someone else take a shot at it. Anyway, he had asked me to marry him when we celebrated my birthday. That was my gift and I accepted it gladly."
"How old was the dude who asked you?" Adiya figured, if Hera wouldn't mention this man's name she shouldn't ask about it. But she wanted to know who it was, if she asked the right questions she could figure out who it was without having to ask for the name.
"Same age Poseidon was, 16." Hera said in a shaky whisper.
Adiya narrowed her eyes, Hera was dangerously close to crying, but no tears fell. She looked up at the sky to see if it would begin to rain soon, but there wasn't even a cloud.
It couldn't be Poseidon, but then, how did she know so much about ships? Funny coincidence for him to be the same age as Poseidon...but it couldn't be. Could it?
She heard the sound of a lighter and looked back at Hera. She had started smoking.
The girl sighed as she continued watching the goddess take short puffs of breath every time she took a drag from her cigarette.
They spent the rest of that morning in silence, watching the sun rise.