Guys, none of this is okay! I made everyone who might've liked this wait for two weeks, while I worked on "When It Doesn't Work Out", which probably sounds fine, but it's not. I started that story because I don't know what I'm doing. And I mean, for BOTH of those stories. And it's just so unfair to everyone!
Why am I saying this? This isn't an excuse for not working on this, this is a cry for help. Please, anyone, give me some plot points! I know where its started, and I think I know where it's ending, but even that could change. Anyone who sees a future for this, guest or no, PM me if you have an account, make an account if you so wish (it's free) or review if you really can't. It just might spoil for others, but I'm really not picky. I'm sorry, I NEVER wanted to be this author, but... (sigh), Opposites Attract is going on a hiatus. Maybe I'll post filler chapters, but for now I'm writing one shots and WiDWO. That might go on hiatus too, so I really need help.
Thanks for reading this, if you did! Now, onto my last written chapter!
Thanks for reviewing to addalittlesmoke, skyatnight13, and kira444
Extra thanks to addalittlesmoke, and cruiz-martinez, thanks for the first positive response!
AN EXTRA, EXTRA LARGE AMOUNT OF THANKS TO skyatnight13! Thanks for letting me borrow your OC Eleni!
To everyone else, Eleni is the daughter of Demeter and an unnamed minor god. For the purpose of this story, I added that she is the interpreter of the fates, using special magical herbs to learn what they wish her to do. For now, her father will be Asclepius, just for the magical herbs part, and Demeter for plants in general.
The golden-haired goddess frowned, sorry that she had to face her opposite in such a… mood. An unholy shriek rang throughout the battlefield. Yes, a mood was the proper term. A mood that burned cities, poisoned rivers, and killed multitudes of people. And now that they were back on the topic, it was also her job to get rid of that mood.
"Harmonia, daughter of Aphrodite, it is time for you to meet your balance!" Harmonia drifted up to the arch, smiling kindly at the audience of young gods and goddesses. She turned towards Eleni, the messenger of destiny, and held out her right hand for Eleni to take.
"It has been determined." Eleni chanted solemnly, eyes glowing white. "Your future lies therein chaos, to combat easygoing. Strife, to balance your kindness." Her eyes stopped glowing, and she spoke in normal tones once more. "Eris, daughter of Nyx, please rise. You know what to do."
And rise Eris did. The first thing Harmonia saw was the aura. Silver and golden, there was a harsh light to the regal-seeming goddess. Harmonia's mother, Aphrodite, would have said that it was to be expected, and Harmonia would respond by glaring at her, golden eyes burning with the sun's fire meeting deep sapphire blue that sparkled with harmful glee.
Ever since Harmonia was a little goddess, her mother had tried again and again to make her a vain little thing, with no regards to mortal or other immortal life. Unfortunately for Aphrodite, or fortunately as Harmonia saw it, the love goddess was unsuccessful, and Harmonia did not hate Eris, or even Nyx for that matter. She had grown out of the 'Lady Nyx' title years ago, learning that Aphrodite called the night primordial 'Lady' solely to gain favor in the face of Nyx's rage. Harmonia refused to sink to that level of flattery, and she also saw another way to diverge from her mother's actions, and therefore it was a way to defy her mother.
The next thing Harmonia saw was that Eris had not changed much in appearance. Just like the goddess of harmony, the goddess of strife kept her past eye color, though Eris' eyes had lightened considerably as she looked at Harmonia. Harmonia, too, smiled slightly as she looked at her old friend. She felt a fluttering in her chest, had she eaten too much ambrosia? Nevermind that, Harmonia just meant to say that Eris was rather pretty, despite what many gods and goddesses said.
"Eris, daughter of Nyx, do you accept your position as the balancer of harmony?" Eleni asked. Harmonia gave an almost unnoticeable jolt as she snapped out of her daze. Judging from the smirk that Eris was giving her, the other goddess had noticed.
"Yes, I accept." Eris spoke with a light tone, amusement clearly audible. "After all, it's not exactly like I have a choice…?" From where he was sitting, Zeus noticeably pursed his lips, while Nyx's eyes grew shiny as she smiled in pride at her daughter's absolute rudeness.
"I suppose not," Eleni smiled in amusement, before turning to Harmonia. "After that beautiful display of logic, it seems silly to ask, but do you accept the position of the order to chaos, Harmonia, daughter of Aphrodite?" Harmonia ran a hand through her hair with an awkward smile and a small laugh.
"Yes, I suppose not. I do accept the position of my own free will, however."
"Hail Eris and Harmonia, war and peace, chaos and order, danger and safety. You are officially balanced of domains, as witnessed by Eleni, daughter of Demeter, Zeus, king of the gods, Hemera, goddess of the day, and both of those included in this ceremony!" Eleni spoke again, voice echoing through the pavilion. A ring of fire surrounded Eris and Harmonia, gold blended into silver, which faded into black, and it rose higher and higher, before disappearing suddenly.
Eris and Harmonia went back to the benches, where they secretly smiled at each other, before turning back to their mothers. Evidently, Aphrodite couldn't be fooled that easily.
"Harmonia, you can't start a friendship with, with HER!" Harmonia's mother yelled in a whisper.
"I can pick my own friends, thank you for the input mother!" Harmonia snapped.
"Why can you not just trust me?" Aphrodite glowered at her stubborn daughter. "I have more experience than you'll ever have!"
"Mother!" Harmonia hissed, well aware of Eris' eyes resting on the pair with curiosity.
For some reason… for some reason, Harmonia couldn't bear the thought of Eris thinking any less of her. Whenever she thought of it, a little piece of her started dying, but it came back to life even stronger when Eris just gave her a smile. That one smile.
Actually, it sounded an awful lot like 'love', the thing Aphrodite had always talked so much about, and Harmonia barely listened, too busy thinking of other things. Of other people. Of Eris. That fluttery feeling that the harmony goddess always got, was that… love?
No, no, Harmonia probably had eaten too much at the daily meal. Well, Aphrodite had warned her daughter… it was Harmonia that chose not to listen!
Yes, too much Ambrosia, that was it! After all, opposite genders belong together, not the same. That's what Harmonia's mother had always said. Never once did Harmonia consider that her mother wasn't considering something, or keeping something from her daughter.
Yet again, Aphrodite did not listen to Harmonia's wishes. "Honestly, if I didn't know better I'd say…" she gave her daughter a threatening smile. She knew what Harmonia had told no one, and she was threatening to reveal it in one second. It wasn't the first time that blackmail had been used against her, actually, Harmonia mused. For her entire life, Aphrodite had controlled her every decision by using unignorable leverage against her daughter.
Harmonia finally snapped. For years, YEARS, Harmonia had dealt with her mother slandering her secret friend and not saying anything. She had tried to love Aphrodite, she really did, but for a love goddess, Aphrodite was rather hard to deal with, nevermind actually love. She had dealt with her mother going on and on about how she couldn't be a 'proper' heartbreaker because her job was so 'nice'.
Harmonia wasn't sure if that was how she should go into her job, since from what she knew about Eris, which was a lot, was that the other goddess, Harmonia's opposition, the goddess of gods-damned-STRIFE wasn't going to make this easy for her.
From the way Eris was grinning, she probably couldn't wait to get started either. Harmonia tried to pay attention, she faintly heard Eleni saying something about Nemesis and Tyche, but it was so hard when she was pointedly ignoring her mother. Finally, she decided to give up. While Aphrodite was silently relishing in her eventual victory, for Harmonia hadn't replied yet, Harmonia struck.
"You. Don't. Control. Me." Harmonia hissed. "I am my own person, and I will do what I want!" Aphrodite didn't look angry, just sympathetic.
"It's okay, Harmonia, I understand. Eris is messing with your emotions, making you unpredictable… it's fine, I know you agree…" no one else would have seen the warning look in her eyes, but Harmonia had dealt with Eris for so long, and the strife goddess had very few warning signs, so this was actually easier than dealing with Harmonia's friend. Even so, NO ONE said anything about Eris!
"NO! LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!" Harmonia yelled. She didn't want to hurt anyone in a fit of unreasonably large anger, so she quickly stood up and teleported away in a flash of golden flames. They burned some of Aphrodite's robes, and most of her hair off. Everyone was shocked, as Harmonia's power was generally peaceful, healing even.
Aphrodite turned to face Eris, ready to unravel her daughter in the next best thing. She would correlate Harmonia with her mother. Aphrodite. The more that Eris hated Aphrodite, the more she would have disdain for Harmonia. Aphrodite was convinced that this approach would work. She was an emotion-based goddess after all. "You. YOU! YOU HAVE TURNED MY OWN DAUGHTER AGAINST ME!" She screamed. Eris' eyes flashed golden. Ah, this should be perfect.
"I did nothing," she spoke quietly, but it echoed, a simple gesture of her calmness in the face of chaos. Later on people would wonder if this was what being the goddess of chaos could constitute. Complete calm, calmer than when peace was around. Able to do whatever she wished, for everyone else was panicking too much to stop her. And this… this idea chilled their bones.
Eris simply turned on her heel, golden sandals glinting in the high sun's light, and walked away. Aphrodite bared her teeth. How DARE this goddess walk away from her? Or that's what everyone else THOUGHT that she was thinking. Really, Aphrodite was just annoyed that her plan to infuriate Eris hadn't worked as well as Aphrodite had anticipated.
Every step was like Eris was walking on a cloud, they were slow but stable, elegant yet easy. Her blue chiton flowed in the breeze, though it was tied at the waist with a golden strip of twine in order to retain its shape. Now that… THAT would be chaos. Oh, how DARE a female wear men-like clothing, no the waist must be cinched at all times! Eris thought of many things as she walked. Namely, the outfit thing. Yeah, she was a goddess, she could call it a 'thing' if she wished, and Eris could also go as off-track as she wanted!
Aphrodite tried to follow her, and hopefully bring her 'rage' with her, but a wall of rabid monkeys blocked her off.
"WHAT THE—!" Aphrodite's screech was cut off by a sucker punch from Bia, goddess of force. Though one might argue that sucker punches were not invented yet, so in essence they didn't exist, and therefore Bia couldn't use one to knock Aphrodite out. Yes, that may be true, but they existed now that Bia used one. Also, in logic worthy of Athena, all had to concede that If the author wished to write it this way, then there wasn't anything to be done, for the author has supreme power over them all, they must bend to her will!
And thus, with Aphrodite sprawled across the aisle floor, the other immortals shared a shocked glance. She briefly mused that this was something that the love goddess hadn't anticipated. Then she lost full consciousness.
Looking at Bia with a scowl, Zeus spoke. "I SHOULD PUNISH YOU FOR THAT!" His voice boomed dramatically. "BUT I SHALL NOT, FOR HER SCREAMS WERE BECOMING TIRESOME! MAY THE FATES BLESS YOU, BIA GODDESS OF FORCE AND POWER!" Bia smiled and froze into a rock statue. There was a flash of light and the rocks came tumbling down, the goddess having teleported away.
"My life is a joke." Apollo said. "Bia flashed away from here," he continued thoughtfully. Everyone exchanged panicked glances, but alas, it was too late! "Where are the free snacks?"
"Your life can't be a joke!" Thalia giggled as if he was silly. Which he was.
"Thank yo—" she cut him off.
"Because we all know that jokes have meaning, stupid!" Apollo cried at this answer, and everyone ignored him. Mnesonyme gave Thalia a high-five.
"I'll have to remember that one." She said lightly.
No one ever did find out where Harmonia went…
Not sorry for anything. I was sitting in language arts and thought 'you know what I should add to my story? Rabid monkeys, that's what!' And… yeah… we ended up here! I don't miss my sanity, do you?