Aphrodite stood outside the door. She seemed to be in distress. Her usually tidy and curled hair was stringy and tangled. Hera recognized the dress she wore. It was a pink sundress, with a red ribbon tied around the waist. Normally it was immaculate, but today the dress had taken on an ominous hot pink colour tone. The ribbon's colour seemed to be melting off and staining the pink that lay underneath it. The eyeliner and mascara, usually in perfect style over her eyes, was now staining her cheeks. The rain outside fell hard only adding to Aphrodite's ominously inglorious arrival.

However, Hera couldn't make out who the woman standing before her was. Her vision blurred and unblurred like a camera trying to find a focus in a dark tunnel without success. She narrowed her eyes at Aphrodite trying to make out anything and spotted blue eyes staring back at her in pain through the blur of her vision. She could faintly make out an outline of auburn hair and brown skin. She opened her mouth to call Adiya's name but thought against it. She blinked through the disorientation and her vision cleared for a moment for her to catch Aphrodite's fairer skin and blonde hair.

"Aphrodite? Why are you here?" she asked, relieved she trusted her gut earlier.

Aphrodite did her best to maintain her posture, but her stomach churned. Her throat burnt from the rising amount of bile and vomit threatening to escape. Her legs were sore and it hurt to walk, let alone stand. She could faintly hear the cries of the young woman upstairs still echoing within her ears. She wrestled through her emotions of disgust, horror, and anger and finally managed to ask the queen, "Where's Adiya?"

"Up-upstairs? Why do you ask?" Hera couldn't keep herself from swaying. She could see the corners of her vision turning back, and Aphodite's image dawned a more distorted appearance of the goddess. Hera swallowed the rising nausea in her throat. Her knees began to wobble and an overwhelming urge to break-down came over her. What was going on? She hadn't felt like this for years.

Aphrodite said something to her but her words fell on deafened ears. Hera saw the last bit of light escape her vision and her body fell numb.

~o0o~

Adiya curled into a ball after Zeus left the room. She cried. Her tears staining the pillow. Outside she could hear the roll of thunder and the patter of the rain hitting the window. She hadn't even noticed the storm had started. She gave a small hiccup when she knew she couldn't stall her descent any longer and slowly moved to stand.

She whimpered as she sat up and looked around her room. Everything was in its spot. Nothing seemed to be out of place. The only evidence left behind of the event were the dark red stains marring the beige sheets of the bed and the wet markings on the pillow. Adiya stood, her body shaking and racked with pain. She ripped the sheets away from their hold on the mattress, and with them in her arms she limped toward the bathroom. She clogged the drain and started the bath with the hottest water available. She dropped her sheets inside.

As the tub filled, Adiya hunched over her sink. She whimpered quietly at first, and then she felt herself begin to sniffle and hyperventilate, finally she started sob again. Her body shook dangerously and her hands gripped onto the sink so tightly they turned white. Her hand flew to her face to muffle her cries as her sobs turned louder. She stayed there a moment, crying and trembling. Eventually, still in tears, she turned to the tub and shut off the water. She stepped inside and ignored the scorch of the water burning her skin and went on to scrub her sheets clean of the evidence.

Hera wouldn't believe her. Alcmene, Callisto, Leda, they were all raped and one way or another they faced Hera's wrath. Ganymede was right, why would she be any different?

She would have to run for the rest of her life and try to keep her son safe. . . .her son-

Her hand hovered over her stomach. She stared blankly at the tub's faucet. Her bare skin felt soft, but eventually, she couldn't feel her skin brushing against each other. A heavy weight filled her chest as she imagined the creature inside of her growing and gaining the same affection Heracles gained from Hera. Her bottom lip quivered as she thought of her son facing off against a large beast that had chased after Adiya while she was pregnant, like Apollo had done for Leto. She began to tear up, and her breathing hitched. This was it. It was over. It was her fault. If she had just held back her feelings just a bit longer. If she hadn't been so stupidly loyal she wouldn't be in this mess. She deserved this.

She turned in place from her spot in the tub and rested her bare back on the cold tiles of the wall. She hugged herself, bringing her knees to her chest. She sat in silence a little longer and then finally moved from her spot. She let the water drain and hung the sheets up in the bathroom. She stepped back into her bedroom and hovered over to her wardrobe. She pulled out a brown, long sleeved dress Zeus had given her and slipped it on. It reached her ankles and was beautifully decorated with black swirls near the bottom of the skirt. She curled the collar around her neck and slipped into black tennis shoes. She pulled out a black, leather belt and tied it around her waist. In a moment of strange clarity, she tightened it around her stomach more than she was comfortable with and pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

She head downstairs.

~o0o~

Zeus stepped into the dining room, slicking back his hair as he looked around. It was empty. He walked around the dining room, trying to find any kind of life left behind by Hera or one of the servants. The only thing he found was Hera's breakfast, half eaten and cold. He looked up at the ceiling with a glare.

She went to see her again, didn't she? Adiya was taking so long Hera went to see what was wrong. The little wench was probably crying. Tattling to Hera. His fists clenched and he began to storm out of the dining room towards the stairs, but halfway up he stopped in tracks. He heard a chilling cry echo from the foyer. His ichor ran cold and he turned back down to the bottom of the steps and to the front entrance.

"HERA!" Aphrodite cried out. Zeus could see the crumpled figure of his wife in the goddess' arms. He heard another pair of footsteps, he turned his head and found Adiya running down the flight of steps Hera had pushed her down a decade before toward his wife. He managed to get ahead of her and took Hera into his arms. Her glow was still about her and her eyes were still open a slit of the way.

"What happened?" He looked up at Aphrodite.

"I-I don't know. I came to speak with her, but she fainted- you don't think she's-"

"Don't even consider the possibility," Zeus snapped. Adiya stood a distance away from the gods. Her hands covered her mouth anxiously, and then stepped forward tentatively. Adiya had had the unfortunate luck of witnessing the fading of not one, but four gods in the last couple of years.

She kneeled before Zeus and held his shoulder tenderly. He gave her an electrifying glare and she fought the urge to flinch, "Zeus. This is how Abellonia started. You have to take her to Apollo."

The two made eye contact, against her better judgement he agreed. He stood, carrying his wife in his arms, and headed out the door. He turned back to the two women and asked, "Where is he?"

"Hermes mentioned Apollo being on the night shift. He should be at the hospital tonight."

Zeus nodded in confirmation and ran to the hospital a few blocks away.

"Will she be okay?" Adiya asked. Her and Aphrodite stood in the doorframe of the temple, watching as Zeus' figure disappeared into the stormy night. Aphrodite gave a trembling shrug, "I don't know...one can only hope, Young Adiya."

~o0o~

She could hear her heart.

"Hera!"

She could feel the steady beat of it, taunting her. Threatening to stop. A part of her wanted it to.

"Hera! Please!"

For a moment, a light filled her eyes. She could see blurred images. Dark, silhouetted buildings passing by, golden locks hovering above her.

"Hera! My love, what's wrong?"

She could feel her lungs becoming tired. She wanted to sleep.

"What happened? Why are you like this? Hera?"

That voice. It was familiar, but so distant. Who could it be? She felt her stomach move with her and rise and churn in her throat. She opened her mouth to alert someone, but she choked on her words and felt something bitter escape from her instead.

"Oh gods. Fates, Hera just hold on. Just hold on."

She tried swallowing her words, but her lungs wouldn't let her take in anything. She finally managed to convince her body to take in some breath. She inhaled gratefully. Then she tensed. The light disappeared and she now floated in a black abyss. She turned her head around, desperately searching for something. Anything. Whatever she could find to alleviate the darkness that surrounded her and threatened to swallow her.

Finally, very faintly, she heard voices. They were indecipherable at first, but as they grew louder and clearer she began to recognize who they were. Two girls, two boys. They whispered to her. They comforted her. They did their best to alleviate her fear. The fear they shared with her about eternity. She could hear in their voices that they didn't believe it, but for her sake they tried. They assured her, one day they'll see. One day they'll be able to touch and talk and look each other in the eye and finally know about the colour brown. They assured her that this dank and small space was only temporary. They're imprisonment was only for now.

"Just keep your eyes open, Hera."

"They are. I still can't see you," she replied. They didn't. A sense of dread overcame her, and she could feel the coldness of the cave walls. Her family's voices echoing through the cavern to the makeshift room she was currently inhabiting. Eris and Ares' laughs bouncing around merrily as they played with their aunt. A sharp contrast to the pain she felt racking her body.

Warm tears ran down her cheeks and she gave a pained grunt with every thrust of movement He made on top of her.

"Fuck, Hera. Just a little longer. We're almost there."

"No, please, stop. Please, I don't love you enough to bear another. Please," she replied. He didn't. Her stomach churned and she tried to let out a cry. Once again her words strangled her and her throat burnt with the bitterness her words left behind.

"Keep your mouth shut. It'll make things easier for you right now."

She heard his voice echo across the chasm. It reached her from where she hung. The anvils weighing her down, and her arms threatening to pop out of their sockets.

"Hera, nod your head if you're listening."

She turned her head away from his voice. She listened to his response toward her indignance.

"Hera? Show me you're listening!"

He replied. She didn't. She was tired. She didn't want to hear his voice anymore. She didn't want to be in pain anymore.

She finally let go.

She felt the cold snows of Russia finally embracing her and taking her. A flurry of wind and ice surrounded her, it whipped her hair around and she could feel the gusts of winds sneak into her clothing and nip at her skin.

And then she was at peace.

There were no worries. No qualms. No highs or lows. She was at peace with herself. She had never felt so calm before.