For who could ever learn to love The One who doesn't know love?
By Asso
Chapter Three
She could not help it. She hung her head in embarrassment. In shame, even.
Everyone was watching her.
Everyone.
All the Great Gods.
In addition to the whole world of the minor Gods, of the nymphs, of the naiads, of the centaurs, of the demigods...
Everyone.
Everyone!
Yes. True. That was her day.
The long awaited day.
But... it was terrible!
It was terrible being there. Alone. Without the comforting grasp of her mother's hand. There. Standing. In front of everyone.
Alone.
In the centre of that immense hall!
With her mother... with her mother there! Sitting on her throne! As the goddess that she was! Goddess among Gods!
Looking at her like... like the other Great Gods!
Her...
Young, small, insignificant new Goddess!
Newcomer – Newbie! Sheepish, ill at ease, on hot coals! - in that... in that gathering of Greats!
In that gigantic and majestic lounge!
Open on the infinite sky. Overlooking the infinite sea. Above the infinite earth.
The abode of the supernal Gods!
The dwelling of the sky Gods and the sea Gods and the earth Gods!
The palace of Zeus!
Her father. Sure!
But at that moment... at that moment just the Lord of the Gods!
The Lord of all!
His booming voice made her jump. Literally. Dramatically increasing her embarrassment and her discomfort.
"Persephone! Up your head!"
She complied. Immediately. With a sudden snap and definitely anything but appropriate to the dignity that a Goddess should have. Her eyes filled with reverential fear. Her hands looking for a place to stay.
Fortunately, her father's voice softened. Indeed, it became gently hortatory.
"Do not feel uncomfortable, my daughter. Do not be afraid. This is the world to which you belong."
A soft, low laugh echoed through the voice of her father, the father who had always been so gentle with her, the few times she had seen him, but so distant, so... so Lord of the Gods!
"Watch your equals, my daughter."
The voice became mighty again.
"Look at them! One by one. They are your family. The family of the Great Gods, exactly as you are."
And the puissance of the voice grew even more.
"Show them your face, my daughter. Show them the face of the Goddess of Spring, of the flowers, of the light that makes the world bloom again. Because this thou shalt be. So I, Zeus, your father, Lord of everything and everyone, consecrate you to be."
Persephone almost felt herself sinking.
There! It was made! She was the Goddess she was meant to be!
And as such she now had to show herself and appear to all members of the Sacred Divine Council of which her father, the great Zeus, had just called her to be part.
The Goddess of Spring! Of the flowers! Of... of the light that makes flourish again the world! O holy Uranus! Holy Gaia who everything generated! What... what a vast, sublime task! What an immeasurable divine gift had been placed in her young, fragile, uncertain hands!
And... unexpected, unfathomable, almost unfinished... an odd thought, a strange unspoken question, made its way into her mind.
Who... who ever would have been able to help her in that huge task? Who would have been able and eager to teach her?
Her mother? But her mother, the great Demeter, was... was Demeter! She had the power! She was born with power. Power was something innate in her. She was Demeter, one of the great Gods, one of the daughters of Cronos, one of those in whose hands the Destiny itself had placed power, after the great war against the Titans. She, her mother Demeter, could not understand her own fear of having the power!
Who? Who ever…?
But that thought did not even have time to fully reveal itself.
The booming voice of her father rang out again.
It echoed imposingly in the room, deep in the sky, on the distant land, on the sea, in the depths of its waters.
"Show yourself!"
Persephone raised her eyes in fear. She looked at her father.
She looked at him as he, standing before his throne, with his arms crossed on his mighty chest, was watching sternly her.
She looked at his wilful mouth, outcropping in the thick of his gray beard.
She looked at that mouth that was speaking to her.
The mouth of the Lord of the World.
"This is the supreme assembly of which, from now on, you are part, Persephone, Goddess of the sweet light of Spring. Let the radiant light of your beauty illuminate the faces and the hearts of those who sit on the thrones of their power. You are one of them, from now on, and... "
Zeus' hand sprung up. His fingers snapped. Hephaestus, the supreme maker, nodded and a throne - gorgeous, bright, radiant, made of pink marble and adorned with flowers carved in stone and of a thousand colours - suddenly appeared beside the throne of Demeter, magically gaining space for itself among all the others.
"... you will sit from now on your throne, the throne of the bright Lady of the, until now unknown, invigorating light of the Spring."
And, that said, without giving her even the time and the way to internalize fully the deep meaning of his words, her father, the supreme Zeus, advanced imperiously towards her.
He stopped and stood firm, tall and mighty, in front of her.
He looked at her with austere pride and yet with manifest sweetness.
And then... then he took her by the hand and led her.
He took her before the hemicycle of the thrones on which the Great Gods were sitting.
He took her to one of the extremes of the hemicycle and, still holding her by the hand, he made her walk slowly all along the hemicycle in the silence that reigned sovereign.
He made her stop and remain firm for some moments in front of every throne.
And in front of every throne, in front of each of the Gods and Goddesses who sat on them, she, with modesty and apprehension, bowed her head, Presenting herself - presenting her light, her beauty - to the God or the Goddess who on that throne sat.
And, at her bow of the head, each God and each Goddess bowed the head in turn, in greeting and in welcome, and no one uttered a word.
Nobody.
Except two Goddesses.
Aphrodite.
Sweet was her smile, while the Goddess of Beauty and Love spoke to her.
"I have seen you grow and get more and more beautiful, my girl and now, on this day ..." The voice of the Goddess who all males, Mortals and Gods, led to dream, shone of a gentle laugh. "...now... well it looks like now I've found an extremely dangerous rival." The silvery laugh of Aphrodite sounded again. "As if that damn girl, just to speak so obviously, of the bride of my son Eros, that damn Psyche, was not enough already!"
Aphrodite. The Goddess of Love and Beauty. So she spoke to her, who could not do anything else but blush.
And the other Goddess ... Oh Gaia!... the other Goddess who spoke was Hera! The Queen of the Gods! The wife of Zeus! The one who would have every reason to show, on that day, her harshness toward her, who was the result of her husband's betrayal, the supreme Zeus.
But Hera's words were not rancorous.
In truth, the Lady of the Gods had always been rather supercilious with her, but not rough, for nothing at all; she had shown no harshness towards her, indeed not infrequently she had smiled at her, something that few others could boast of having been gratified with.
But now... now... now the words of Hera, the Lady of the Gods, the wife of the one who, by betraying his august bride, had inseminated her mother Demeter with his mighty and immortal seed, overcame every possible sweet Persephone's dream.
"Welcome among us, sweet girl." And Hera smiled a broad smile, in saying this! "You are sweet and marvellously beautiful, and, with you, a new and brighter world will be born."
And Persephone perfectly sensed the sincerity of the words of Hera.
And she blushed even more.
And she felt overwhelmed by the most immense joy.
So much so that she not even noticed the dazzling smile of pride that her mother gave her as her father made her linger before her throne.
So much so that she almost did not notice that her father was driving her to sit on her own throne.
On the throne of the Goddess of Spring.
On her own throne!
Next to that of her mother!
She! Persephone!
She! Just her!
Goddess!
Among the Gods and Goddesses!
But the booming voice of her father brought her back from the dream. To make her sink into a dream even more dream.
"GODS AND GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS! APPLAUD THE NEW GODDESS!"
And so it was. The applause - unanimous - rose in the huge room.
But it was not over!
"AND YOU, ALL OF YOU - PEOPLE OF OLYMPUS - WELCOME AND GLORIFY THE GODDESS OF THE LIGHT OF THE SPRING!"
The powerful voice of her father. Again. And immediately after...
The hosannas! The cheers! Of welcome!
For her!
On the part of the entire immense crowd that filled the great hall and the surrounding fields of the abode of the Gods.
Her dwelling!
Then she felt the warm of his father's smile on her.
And she roused from her dream.
And she smiled at him.
Her shining warm smile.
And her father nodded softly and with pride.
And, slowly and majestically, he regained his own throne.
He sat down, mighty and proud, on it.
His voice echoed in the high sky.
"The proclamation was made. The new Goddess is now with us. Now ..." And his joyful and powerful laugh resounded into the high vault of heaven. "... now it is time to celebrate!"
His hand went up, in the silence of all.
"Go, o you who're not part of this High Council. Get out from the abode of the Gods, from the abode ..." His voice seemed to smile. "... of Persephone."
His grinning face turned towards her for one moment, addressing right after the crowd again.
"Out there in the fields, in the meadows, along the verdant banks of rivers and streams, around the lakes and to the sources, among the woods, fragrant and delicious food, and refreshing rivers of spiced red wine are ready for all. Go and celebrate the new Goddess."
Then, once more, his leonine head turned to smile to her. "While we, the Olympians..." Zeus' haughty gaze sparkled. "...will feast her official arrival among us savouring delicious ambrosia and raising to her our goblets full of redolent nectar."
The smile faded. The face of the King of the Gods became serious and austere as never, as he turned again to the throng. "And to perform so the ultimate act of Persephone's consecration."
And people hastened to obey.
And while everyone was hurrying to get out, while, amid the querulous and excited chatter of all, the fields surrounding the abode of the Olympian Gods became swiftly empty, Zeus and all other Gods and Goddesses remained sitting on their thrones, until silence reigned out and inside the olympian palace.
She too, Persephone.
Waiting, almost in disbelief, for the coming event, the one that would consecrate her definitely.
For the moment when she would be allowed to drink the beverage of the Gods.
At that moment her immortality would be enshrined forever.
An immortality made of eternal youth.
From that time on and forever, she would be… Persephone.
The sempiternal Goddess of Spring.
Eternally young, eternally beautiful.
Eternally as she was now.
And the moment came.
In the most total silence, Zeus stood up.
His aquiline gaze ranged over everyone.
Then, his muscular and powerful arm rose.
And his stentorian voice boomed.
"Hebe, bring the cups."
And Hebe, legitimate daughter of the King and Queen of the Gods, Lady of Youth and cupbearer of the Gods, bestower of everlasting youthfulness, appeared at the entrance of the enormous hall, between the two tall, huge pillars that delimited it.
In each of her raised hands, well visible, a cup overflowing with a fragrant and arcanely glittering drink.
The nectar of Gods.
The source of their eternal youth.
She advanced slowly until to stop exactly in the centre of the vast hemicycle of thrones, and there she stood, her hands extended forward and up, to show everyone the cups.
And just then Zeus started to walk in turn, slowly and majestically, until he reached her, stopping just in front her.
They looked an instant at each other and then, finally, Hebe handed him the cups, stepping back soon after, as her gaze ran through the hall until to settle on Persephone, sitting, red in the face, in trepidation, on her throne.
Zeus took the cups and turned, holding them in his hand before him.
He watched significantly Persephone.
He advanced towards her throne.
He stopped in front of it.
He did not speak. Simply he nodded imperiously his head.
Persephone jumped up, in front of her father, her anxious face raised towards him.
Wordlessly, he handed her a cup.
She took it with both her shaking hands.
He nodded, solemn and stern.
He brought his cup to his lips.
He took a long sip, lifting his chin.
Then, he bowed his head towards her, lowering the cup, and looked at her in waiting.
And she, slowly, trepidatious, in turn brought her cup to her lips and, with closed eyes, she drank, throwing her head back.
And the inebriating warmth of the divine liquid went down her throat and more down.
More, more down.
Until to her most intimate being, until to her godly essence.
And she was, finally and completely, Persephone.
The Persephone from that moment on she would forever be.
"HOSANNA TO PERSEPHONE!"
The powerful and bombastic voice of her father made her open her eyes.
With the cup in her trembling hands she looked at him.
She looked at his fierce and proud smile. She listened rapt to his words.
"You are the Goddess of the world that is renewed, which blooms and blooms again, eternally, in the freshness of nature that buds to life. This is the form of the season you will bring into the world, this is its appearance. Your appearance, my daughter, your appearance of now, of the day of your sixteenth birthday, which, just for this reason, has been chosen as your day, the day of your consecration. The marvellous, burgeoning, fresh appearance of the youthfulness just blossomed. And this is the aspect that you will have forever. This is the appearance - and the substance - with which everyone, Gods and Mortals, will know you."
He raised his cup well at the top.
Turned around.
His imposing gaze enveloped all present.
"Stand up, o Gods and Goddesses of Olympus! Stand up! Hosanna to Persephone, I said! And hosannas to Persephone everyone must cry out! Stand up! To celebrate her and to celebrate together with her the last thing that it was necessary for her, for the Goddess she is now, Great Goddess among the Great Gods, to have. Lift up you too your cups and drink! Drink with her and to her! To the new and eternally blooming Immortal who sits among us! To the Goddess of the Spring!"
And everyone, absolutely everyone, Gods and Goddesses, stood up.
And they raised high the cup full of divine nectar that Hebe in the meantime had made appear in the hand of each of them.
And, sitting on her own throne, she too, Hebe, raised her own cup.
And all cried together.
"Hosanna to Persephone!"
And all drank.
Together with Persephone and for her and to her.
And Persephone drank together with the others, with eyes wide open, this time, savouring, incredulous and happy, her great and unique moment.
Then, as she looked blissful and dreamy at those who were now her companions, at her family, those with whom from now on she would share the path, there were long moments of sweet silence.
A silence full of things, thoughts, expectations.
As long as the joyful and powerful voice of her father broke it.
"Very well. Now everything is done. Really and in full. Now it's time to indulge in the pleasure of eating and conversing."
He laughed aloud.
"Sit down, friends and comrades, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers."
He snapped his fingers and dishes filled with ambrosia appeared on the dinner tables suddenly sprung in front of each.
"Sit down and eat. And speak. Of futile and beautiful things. Celebrate. With lightness and joy."
And so it was.
And even Persephone sat on her throne, really hers, now. And forever.
And, finally, she allowed herself the luxury to relax, to let free to roam her own thoughts, while all the others, all of her new companions of life - including her mother, including her father - immersed themselves in food and cheerful conversation, without bothering of her anymore.
And then - just then - while, quiet and satisfied and contented, she savoured for the first time the divine ambrosia and the beginning of the new course of her life, she became aware of something.
She realized something that previously she had not been able to notice, in the overpowering euphoria and anxiety of what was happening to her.
Not all the Gods had toasted with her and for her.
Not they all.
She had not perceived nor noticed it, but...
When she had passed, led by her father, in front of every throne…
When her father had made her stop in front of each of them…
He had made her slid in a hurry before a throne, without stopping in front of it.
She hadn't even notice it.
But now...
Now...
In the pleasant and welcome peace of the moment...
In her wondrous sensation of appeasement and satisfaction…
Now… she noticed it.
It was located to the left of the throne of Hera.
And it was a strange throne.
Made of dark ebony and white marble.
And totally unadorned.
And nevertheless it looked powerful.
Awe-inspiring.
It gave off an aura of...
Of oppressive darkness.
Of obscure might.
And it was empty.
For who could ever learn to love The One who doesn't know love?
End of Chapter Three
TBC