Tears of joy

Sitting up slowly, the Muses looked around cautiously. What had happened? Gasping as one, they clutched their stomachs. How had this happened? They were impregnated! One by one they began to remember what had happened. Most just remembered a blinding white light before they passed out. Terpsichore realized that Apollo had entered their minds, causing them to think happy thoughts and thus the baby was created.

Little time, the Muses had, because when a goddess is pregnant with a child, the child is born in a short time, due to the lack of mortality. Realizing that if they did not find a way to get the children out of their stomach, they would all become mortals, their immortality would be stripped because they had sworn on the River Styx that they would not have children.

" We are doomed! We will no longer be beautiful goddesses! We will wither and die!" cried Melpomene.

"Oh be quiet you're always so melodramatic, everything will be alright" snapped Calliope. "The stars say we will remain gods, but we will need some help", declared Urania breathily.

"What will we do? Who do we ask for help? Erato, you're the one who is most in touch with love and such, how do we fix this problem?" shouted all. " I DON'T KNOW" shouted Erato. "DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE?".

" Oh pray to Zeus I think I might so crazy if all of you all don't SHUTUP. Sisters, make an offering to Iris (goddess of messages). Send this message to Mount Olympus..we need Artemis, Hera and Persephone, fast". Calliope demanded, (she was sort of the leader in the group).

Shortly thereafter the message was sent, puffs of pink glitter spread throughout the clearing, signaling Hera had arrived. Dressed smartly in a cocktail dress and classy high-heels, Hera looked the part of the Queen of Olympus, there was no doubt about it. Her blonde hair was twisted high above her head in a eighteenth-century fashion with diamond studs on her nails.

Appearing behind her in a less-formal fashion, Persephone arrived, wearing a simple Grecian gown, with golden snakes wrapped around her upper-arms. This goddess actually looked sort of fearsome, not at all like the goddess of flowers.

Last, but not least came Artemis, astride a great and large silver wolf. Clothed in light, silky white robes, she was the perfect example of feminine grace, poise and strength. Her dark brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, falling in waves.

Sliding off of her wolf, she whispered "Talla, you know what must be done". Slipping away quietly, the she-wolf disappeared into the brush and was gone in the blink of an eye.

" What is the problem here? I constantly am being called on by mortals, who have no idea what they are doing by the way, and I have to tell them off for being careless."

Looking around at each other in wariness, the Muses were hesitating to speak in fear of angering the Queen. "W-we have a slight..problem Hera..it seems that we are..going to have children?" ,stuttered Euterpe in a questioning voice, almost as if she didn't believe it herself. Shifting from foot to foot, restlessly, they waited for the verbal abuse.

"Well then, I guess you won't be goddesses anymore! That settles it..we'll just have to find mortal replacements" Oh not now, I can't find replacements..that's actually impossible..hmmm..what can we do…feigning boredom, Hera picked at her nails while contemplating the situation.

"You CAN'T just stand there and act like it's NOTHING, we can't have this happening! The world will be dark once more no inspiration, music, poetry, nothing! Oh OH YOU MISSY act like you're the only important one!" yelled Artemis, her dangerous side beginning to show. Her features took on a dangerous edge. Artemis was not afraid of Hera, after all, they were both immortal what could happen?

"Calm down little-pink-princess", retorted Hera. "We'll figure it out geesh don't worry."

"Fine whatever you say oh my great Queen." I am going to get her one of these days, I have still never forgiven her for trying to murder me and my brother [Apollo] when we were born. She's just jealous because she can't have Zeus to herself. This will have to be done by me, I am the goddess of childbirth. "The child will be my niece, from what I have already gathered, Apollo is the father, (who else could it be), and I want my niece to be taken care of. Now, I have a suggestion. With Hera's help of course, we could extract the child from all of your stomachs and combine it into one child, this would only work of course if all the children inside your wombs were of one sex. The problem is what to do after that".

Persephone, who had been watching silently spoke up, " I could make a flower..that could hold the child until she is ready to blossom. The child will grow like a mortal, but reaching the young age of 16, she will stop growing and will become a full goddess, this will be due to multiple godly parents."

"Will is hurt the child? We all ready know that all of our children are females, there are no males children within us" asked Melpomene. All of the Muses had all ready become quite attached to the child within.

"it will not hurt you, nor them, but first, we must consult my irresponsible brother..APOOOOOLLO GET YOUR SORRY ARSE IN HERE", Artemis shouted.

POP. "Sheesh you don't have to yell sis…whoah why..and you..and her..and them..and WHAT? Why are all of you pregnant? Apollo demanded.

"That's what we would like to know" sighed Hera. "it seems that this is all your fault, and thus you must fix the mistake".

"My fault? What are you talking about you deranged woman! I nev.e..r…oh dear" for the love of Zeus's lightning bolt…they're right it IS my fault..I impregnated them. Oh well I will do everything in my power to help…but I could've sworn I never..

"Hmph" Artemis looked at Apollo pointedly. "Do you see now? It is your fault! All fo these goddesses are pregnant..because of you, if they lose their immorality, it'll be on you when the world comes falling down all depressed-like. Anywho, while you were..away, we figured out a plan. We are going to extract the children from their stomachs, combine them into one child, who will have all of their gifts (including yours), and put the female child into Persephone's flower, where the child will stay for a couple of days until she will "blossom"

Looking slightly unnerved, Apollo agreed. He would do anything possible to help. "Then let's start girlies, we got ourselves a child to make.

Artemis instructed the Muses to lay in a circle, feet facing the inside of the circle. They did so, and Artemis began to chant in ancient Greek. Not daring to look, the Muses closed their eyes, but felt a soft, pulling sensation on their stomachs. Looking up at once, they saw an..almost spirit-like thing floating in the air, where it became solid and was encased within the flower.

Looking awed, no one spoke and waited silently for something exciting to happen