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"FREYA!!"

I opened one of my eyes and peered through my lashes at my mother. She's always mad. I should be the angry one. I don't see her ever and I'm stuck with tutors all day, every day.

I close my eye. "What mom?" I ask, anticipating her whining.

"Why can't you be the woman I expect you to be?! You turned down the scholarship, you don't do a sport, you can't even put on appropriate clothes!" She yelled. She always compared me to some imaginary expectation she's had since she birthed me. And now, I'm done.

I stood up angrier than I've ever been. My hair started to grow longer and longer, vines weaving through my black strands.

"You know what mom? Fuck you! If you hate me so much, why keep me?! I've been in this garden for 117 years! You've never celebrated my birth once, it was always the nymphs who made an effort!" I screamed, tears falling down my face. "I've held onto the hope that if I did a good job with my studies, one day, you'll love me and let me out of this prison. But I don't think you'll ever love me."

I sprinted past my mother to the gate that I see her come through all the time. Knocking on it like I've seen her do numerous times, the door opens allowing me to dash through.

"OH MY ZEUS!!" A startled nymph cried. I didn't let that stop me.

I booked it to the forest, looking for a place to hide. I didn't know how to get out of here and asking a nymph was out of the question. I look around for a suitable hiding spot and see a glowing portal open in front of me. I approach it curiously.

'I can't just enter it not knowing where I'll end up.'

"FREYA!!!" My mother yelled. At that moment, I threw all caution to the wind and jumped through the portal.

'Anywhere is better than here!'

The portal looked like a galaxy inside. But as soon as I entered, I was thrown out on my hands and knees. I felt grass under my hands and cursed, removing my hair from in front of my face.

"Shit! I should've known not to trust that fucking portal! Stupid mother..."

I made eye contact with a yellow woman watering her plants, and a small yellow child hugging her legs. I awkwardly wiggle my fingers in greeting.

"Who are you?" The child asks.

"My name is Freya and you are?" I ask, putting my hair behind my ear. The small child raised a brow at me.

"I'm Hebe." She said.

I stood up and gave a formal greeting as the nymphs had taught me. "Hello, Hera."

She looked at me with disgust. "It's Queen to you."

I didn't expect Hera to be so... snobbish. It took me by surprise, and that surprise turned into anger. I raised from my lowered position and glared at her.

"Bees are attracted to honey, not salt." I said. "You are no queen to me." I scanned her reaction and wasn't affected when she got angry.

"I am a queen and you should treat me with due respect!" She yelled. I scoffed.

"Respect is earned, not given." I said.

Just as she goes to yell some more, a purple man comes out of the mansion.

"What's all the yelling for?" He asks. Hera points at me and I lift a brow at the disrespect.

"This bitch refuses to acknowledge my title!" She screeched.

"I'm controlled by no one and therefore, your title of 'queen' holds no meaning to me." I explained. My mother has been ruling my life for 118 years. I'm not gonna let some random person come and taint my freedom. The purple man walks up to the yellow woman and lays his hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"Hera, calm down, she's probably not from here." He said. He then turned to me with a smile. "Hey, I'm Zeus, king of Olympus, and I see you've met my wife, Hera. Please forgive her, she's always like this." At this, his wife gets angrier.

"Me? Check her!" She cried. "You're just happy with how she's dressed." I paid no mind to her, already annoyed, and stuck my hand out in a form of friendly gesture.

"Hello Zeus, I'm Freya. I'm not at liberty to say where I'm from, though I can say that I can't stand my mother." I said, shaking his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta find somewhere to be."

I began to walk off and Zeus grabbed my arm. "Wait, you can stay with us in our mansion. We have many rooms for you to choose from!" His wife goes to argue his decision, but I accept before she could start.

"Great! Come, this way!" He directed eagerly. I allowed him to direct me with his hands on my shoulders. He wasn't rough with me, so I was fine with it.

"So what tastes do you have, my lady?" He asked. The fire nymphs said he was the flirty type, but I can't tell if it's flirting or friendly banter. Wracking my brain, I ignored the little nickname.

"I have an ethereal aesthetic." I said.

"I-I don't know what that entails, but I know a room you can decorate to your heart's content!" He directed me to a room on the second floor, all the way at the end of the hall. I go to open the door but Zeus puts a hand on mine, lowering it from the handle.

"Wait, I gotta get it ready real quick. No one's been in it, so it's pretty dusty." He explained. I nodded and waited as he disappeared behind the door.

After a few seconds, I heard glass breaking, thunder crashing, and the wind howling. I was about to open the door and offer my assistance when he emerged from the room, his hair disheveled. He looked sexy as hell, not gonna lie. He's married though, so that's off-limits.

"D-Done!" He huffed, opening the door for me. I walk in and look around. The room was huge and spotless. Ideas on how to decorate the room ran through my mind. I gave a slight bow to Zeus and let all my gratitude pour through.

"Thank you." I said, giving him a small, genuine smile.

"It's no problem, really." He said, beaming. "Is there anything you need me to get? For your room?"

I nodded my head. "I need a bed...and some furniture."

Zeus looked around my room and pulled out his wallet. "I guess we've got some shopping to do." He said. "But first, we need to buy you clothes."

I looked down at myself, slightly offended. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"Nothing, nothing! It's just...not normal to walk around in such clothes. You can wear this around the house if you like." He compromised. I agreed and we exited the room, Zeus locking the door behind us.

"Why are you locking the door?" I ask, cocking my head to the side. He shows me the key and puts it in his shirt pocket.

"It's for privacy. My wife likes to claim things, so it's protecting your room." I accept his explanation and begin to walk away. He grabs my waist, startling me a bit.

"I know a great place to get clothes and a quicker way to get there! Is this alright?" He asks. I nodded and allowed him to take me into a room further up the hall, jumping through one of the large windows.

"Hang on!" He said. Meanwhile, I'm screaming and hanging onto him for dear life. I hid my face in his neck, silently cursing him for kamikaze-ing into the ground. I waited for impact.

And waited...

And waited...

Finally, I decided to chance a look. I mean what do I have left to lose? My life?

I open my eyes, turning slowly to look in front of me. The city was below us, the sun illuminating the skyline of the cities I've read so much about.

"Oh my god..."

"Which one?" Zeus joked. I paid no mind to it, too enthralled by the view and my raising excitement.

"Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, Zeus how are you doing this!" I squealed.

Zeus squeezed me closer, no doubt making sure he doesn't drop me. "All gods can take to the skies. We just do it differently." He laughs.

My mood deflated a bit. "Aww..but I wanna do it too though..."

A bird comes out of nowhere, singing its song. I immediately held out my arms. "Awe~ com'ere my cute Lil birdie!" I cooed. Zeus chuckled.

"It's a bird. They don't just come when you want them to."

As if trying to prove Zeus wrong, the bird makes a b-line for me. Rubbing against my neck, the little bird hops to my breasts and snuggles into my cleavage. Meanwhile, I rub my victory in Zeus's face.

"HAH! See? he came over!"

Zeus stared at the little bird, surprised. "What? Are you a goddess or something?" He asked. I just shrugged.

"I don't know. But I do know that I can control elements and animals love me. The babies like my breasts best, since they're warm and my heart lulls them to sleep." I give a little more thought to the question. "Ya, I might be a goddess. None of the nymphs could do what I do."

As we were talking, Zeus descended in front of a shop.

'Savior Wear?'

Zeus's POV

I took us to Savior Wear to get her clothes. I heard through the grapevine that this was a new high-end store with top-quality clothes. With one last look at the black-haired beauty next to me, I decided that this store was on her level.

I take her in and she looked around in awe. It was pretty cute. The way she was dressed fit well with her curious cluelessness. She looked ethereal. Like she was meant to be a goddess.

"Hello sir, I'm Acantha. How can I help you?" I look to the new voice to find a lilac nymph standing in front of us.

"I'm looking for clothes for my friend here. She's not from around here, so I figure I'd help her blend in." Acantha nodded her head and gestured to follow her.

"There are some dresses on this side of the store. They're sorted by event, so it's easy to find a dress for every occasion." She explained, leading us to a door on the right side of the store. I thanked her as she held the door for us. She nodded and closed the door behind us. Turning around, I was stunned at the number of dresses this room held.

The room was as big as a large ballroom. Its walls were rows of dresses and the floor had rows of dresses on racks. On the far right, I can see the dressing rooms. I look around and see that only a handful of Olympians are shopping in this place. Some women were by themselves and others were with men of the older variety. I feel arms wrap around mine and look down to see Freya looking uncomfortable.

"I—we don't need to shop here. It looks like it'll take forever. It probably costs too much anyways." She whispered. I chuckled a bit at her cuteness.

"Nonsense! I have a budget of 1 million drachmae. You'll be able to have at least 3 dresses from this place." I said, escorting her to the dresses.

'Hera is gonna be mad at me...meh, fuck Hera!'

We looked through the rows of dresses, tried on a few, and found 4 dresses for her to wear. I wanted to keep looking but she was getting annoyed. I guess she doesn't like shopping a lot. The dresses in total cost about 3,569 drachmae. That barely scratched my budget so I threw in some shoes and jewelry for her. That bumped the cost up to 3,780 drachmae.

I paid and quickly took her to a new store, carrying the bags of course.

"I thought we were buying me clothes to wear.." She said.

"We are. I'm throwing a party next week and I wanted you to meet a few people. I'll take you to get regular clothes now. And then afterward, we can go get furniture for your room." I explain. She nods and continues to look around with child-like curiosity as she followed me.

It took a while, but we finally made it to the store my wife likes a lot. She always talks about Vailies's quality and prices, so I know it's good.

Taking Freya into the store, I buy her many outfits: Inside clothes, pajamas, classy clothes, elegant clothes, comfy clothes; anything she wanted, she got.

Again, it didn't dent my budget, totaling 9,392 drachmae. The prices were great, considering how high quality the clothes were and how many clothes I bought. Freya would keep trying to convince me not to spend so much on her, but I'd always tell her it was fine.

"Okay, I'm gonna put on one of the outfits. I'll be out in a minute and then we can go furniture hunting." She said, disappearing into the bathroom to change.

5 minutes later, she emerged dressed in a casual shirt and skinny jeans. It was an off-shoulder shirt, but she pulled one side up and left the other side down. Her hair was disheveled from our flight earlier, giving her outfit a different effect. It left me in awe of how she could pull off a look like that by accident. Cause I know she doesn't know how to put clothes on properly, besides dresses and shoes.

I'm not trying to buy her with gifts, but I do think it earns brownie points. Towards what? That's up to her. She's not side piece material, that's for sure. The most I spent on Thetis was about 600 drachma for a designer purse. That's nowhere near as much as I'm spending on Freya at the moment, who is currently looking at a twin-size mattress.

"Are you sure you don't want a king bed? It has more room for you to sleep on and it doesn't cost a lot." I asked.

She nods. "Yes, I'm sure. I don't want to take too much from you. You've already bought me enough." She said. I swear, she's an angel. A feisty, independent angel. Her first impression with my wife was pretty bad, but it taught me something:

She's not good with authority.

She told my wife her title 'Queen' meant nothing to her. It was new and thrilling. No one opposed my wife like that except me. I mean, yeah I'm her husband and all, but Hera is a tough woman. I'd expect a person who was new to this world of gods and goddesses to be scared of her, or at least a bit worried about pissing her off.

I think her unyieldingly strong spirit is what drew me to her. She's not like the Thetis. She doesn't want money, she doesn't know much about me, and she doesn't flirt, though I don't doubt her powers in the art of seduction. Hell, she makes me doubt my chances with her. Normally, women either throw themselves at me or I insinuate it and they accept. She's not offering and I'm kinda intimidated to shoot my shot, not that I'll tell anyone that.

My phone rang and I looked at the contact. I immediately hung up, not wanting her to spoil my relaxing time. If I'm being honest, shopping might be fun if you're with the right person.

'...she's gonna yell again...'

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