Chava was a gift.

It was a rainy day, not in the conventional way people usually hate, but a sweet one. The water was crisp against her skin, the moss under her toes an emerald green. The river's surface churned almost as perilously as her stomach. Outside of the city walls she walked alone. It was an inclination she'd developed since time immemorial, and so was the reason. Of course, her being her, she couldn't help but strain her brain to.

There was hardly a time when she could remember when things weren't... well, as they were. Even though there was most definitely a time in which it was as it wasn't. Chava was a gift. If there were a poorer couple in all of Greece, the sky may have soured green. A dirt farmer and a wife with a loss of dowry. But in the way that her mother tells the story, it took nearly 3 days to birth her. Such was the pain that she nearly died. And then, when Chava was finally pushed into this world, she was swept away on a river of little red gems. No one could believe their eyes at the miracle, so much that no one cared if the woman had committed infidelity with some supernatural being(which was the rumor everyone believed). These treasures—each the size of a fingernail—swept from every corner of the room were traded at the market for a luxurious house, fresh clothes, and the dowry that would be given over to Chava's one-day husband.

Perseus—named after the Perseus, respectively—arranged to have many guests from faraway places stay with them today. No expense spared, the sofas were cut from fragrant pine. Delicacies of every kind littered the tables, and exotic dancers from Magnesia glittered from head to toe. She nibbled her custard while he spoke in good health to others. Then suddenly, he turned to her and said,

"If only my wife didn't die, I never would have married you." She said nothing and then he slapped her. When she clutched the side of her face the tears started flowing. The rubies became a pile as every guest in the room roared, shaking their goblets with approval.

"How extraordinary! I've never seen anything like this."

"What a lucky man you are,"

"She is a rare prize, is she not?" He looked around grinning from ear to ear, so obviously pleased with himself. And Chava sat there, crying enough rubies for each to take home as a souvenir.

Events similar gave her the sense to know he didn't mean these things that he said. He loved her tears. Already having heard of him before they were married, she knew he was a very wealthy king. He would not marry her for financial aid or even love, but for the prestige of owning something other men only dreamed of.

Many days she wondered if it were so terribly bad to jump into the river. It must be cool, refreshing. Today, she was really considering it. She didn't know why. The rain seemed more gentle than ever, soothing the ache in her jaw where she'd been struck. A sob stuck in her throat and she felt herself weeping again, her face warm and large painful tears slipping down her cheeks and hardening into something else, as they so often did. The reflection in the river told her as it was, a blotchy faced nobody whose hair was limp with rain. She struck the surface and fell onto her back. She may jump into the river. Most likely today, while she still had such nerve, but it was nice to lie on the grass like this, even if it muddied her arse. This was ordained the last pleasure before she was swept away from all her problems. She curled onto her side, breathing deeply. The wet earth smell cloyed sweetly in her lungs. She once had a habit of playing with mud, and her mother beat her severely for it, but the memory was good. The earth was softer than ever...

Recline, Chava.

Lay down and go to sleep, for you are in your mother's womb.

Gaia, Gaia, Gaia

She had dozed off. But only for a few minutes, she felt. What woke her was the jarring sensation of the ground sinking beneath her. When she opened her eyes she saw 2 shifts of dirt caving in on both sides. She barely let out a scream before she was swallowed into the earth whole.