Ok well here's part two, it's more serious and mythic like. Enjoy, and remember r&r!
The Little Goddess can remember a great deal of things. She can remember very far back, before she existed, before existence, when emptiness was coated with nothing. It wasn't dark so it wasn't light, there can be no light without darkness. (Her father Grim Lord Hades taught her that. He taught her that neither light nor darkness could exist by themselves because one defines the other. Darkness is the absence of light and light is the exclusion of darkness. Either alone is nothing, it is when you mix them together that you get so many beautiful colors.) It just was. Her mother Persephone once told her that this is not really memory. She says that it's connection. She told her all the deathless gods can feel this because they were once a part of it "Chaos has a place in all of us Adonia" she said, that is what her mother, Demeter, said to her when she was younger.
The Little Goddess can also remember things that have not yet happened. Her Mother said this is not real memory either. This, she said, she can feel because she has a part of the Great Mother Prophet Gaea's life in her. Adonia thinks it still feels like memory. Once Adonia asked her Mother if she could remember forward. Her Mother became very cross and reminded her once again that you do not remember forward, you glimpse a part of the future. It made Adonia sad that she was angry. Her Grandmother Demeter told her to be patient with her mother, Persephone, because a large part of her is just as much a child as Adonia is.
There is one time the Little Goddess cannot clearly remember. It was a time when everything was dark, a kind of darkness that was saturated with the warmest and deepest of colors. Her mother said this is the beginning of her personal existence. This period of Adonia's life has no time, an order of events, but no time. She has discovered that other children do not remember this period of their lives. Her mother said that this is because they are mortal. Mortals are cut off from a part of life because they die. She said that they only remember what matters to them. Adonia's father said that this is not true. He said mortals are not only a part of life but that they are life. He can feel it every time a shade crosses the river Styx and into his Kingdome. Adonia has never seen her fathers Kingdome; her mother will not let her go there. She made her vow on the river Styx that she would never try. Her father became very angry when he discovered his wife had done this, but he also told Adonia that she must never ever break this vow. She will not. In truth, her father's Kingdome frightens her. She told this to her Grandmother once. She thought her Grandmother would tell her that there was really nothing to be afraid of. She did not. She did not say anything at all. Adonia does not think her Grandmother likes her father.
The Little Goddess's mother and father fight often. One of the earliest memories of her existence involves a fight between the two of them. It was that late part of summer when things begin to smell old and the first crisp winds of autumn begin to cut into the warm air. Her mother was in a lovely Garden in Sicily collecting the last of the wildflowers with her wood nymphs. Back then Adonia always knew where her mother was and what she was doing. She could here things her mother heard and see things her mother saw, only Adonia saw them in the blurred warm colors of her cocoon. She knew her mother was worried, she knew her mother was frightened of something. It made her frightened too. Persephone told Adonia not to worry, she said "Do not worry my darling, he will not touch you, you are innocence in it's purest form, not even the Grim Lord of Tarturus could bring harm to you" but her voice was shaky and her fingers could barely clasp the stem of blossom she has just picked.
Suddenly there was a loud noise, like the crash of a waterfall or the roar of a fire, it got louder and louder. It hurt Adonia's ears at first, and then her body. Everything was shaking and tumbling, it felt like she was being crushed, or trampled. She begged her mother to make it stop. Persephone cried, she said she couldn't and that she was sorry. Adonia could not see the world anymore because her mother could not see the world. Everything in her mind was focused on this one single figure, this awesome, towering man. She cannot recall any particular feature about him only that he emanated pure power and rage, like personified thunder. That was her world, this horrible idol. That was all her mothers mind could contain, almost, Adonia was in her thoughts too. The Little Goddess knew this because before then she had no idea what she herself looked like. For less then a second a flash of something else cut through that black anger. A shining creature with four small appendages and a round spherical object decorated with bright coppery curls. She had never seen colors like that before, they were vivid, and beautiful, and bright and she knew she was seeing herself.
The image was gone in a blink. The man had taken hold of her Mother and was attempting to drag her away from the garden. The moment he touched her Adonia felt fire burn into her mother's veins. She could almost see the rage curl up into black ringlets inside her hiding place. She was being smothered by this rage, choking on it. It burned, her entire home was burning and she could find no way out. And then she felt hatred for the first time, hatred for her mother. She hated that she was feeling this pain and her mother was not, that her mother was keeping her locked inside of here, she hated that she had promised to protect her.
Her mother was screaming, telling the man that he had to let her go because he was hurting Adonia. She said that she was not going back with him, not this time. She refused to give birth to her child, their child, in a place as dark and dismal as the underworld, she did not even know if she could. He was furious with her, furious that she would make up such a tale simply to stay away from him. He did not believe that Adonia existed. Her mother begged him to try and feel Adonia's presence but he would not listen. He became angrier and insisted that she knew he was not able to do such a thing. He was the Lord of the dead, how could he feel something so early in life? She had made a promise; her fate had been sealed with the first pomegrate seed she placed between her teeth! The burning was getting worse, it consumed the Little Goddess.
And then, just when Adonia was beginning to believe that it was all simply going to end, because nothing could last like this, another figure appeared. It was just as powerful as the last one, but even more furious. It was a woman, a woman she had seen before, her Grandmother, Demeter. Adonia remembers her father releasing her mother and her mother running. She ran and ran and told her over and over how sorry she was, that He did not mean to hurt her. She begged Adonia not to hate her, she needn't have. As soon as she had run away from that garden the hatred had evaporated, like the morning dew on the blossom she had dropped.
The Little Goddess does not associate that awful figure with her father. She would not believe it was him at all if her Grandmother Demeter had not told her it was. That memory seems out of place to Adonia. A singularity, all on it's own. Her mother almost never cries, she is always laughing airily and twirling her about in her arms like a she was a child herself. Only one other time can Adonia recall her mother actually shedding tears.
It was after the Little Goddess was born, after she left her cozy enclosure of gentle nourishment. It was early spring so her mother was home on earth with Adonia's Grandmother in a charming little house in a secluded grove in Sicily. It was a truly gorgeous place. Her mother made flowers grow everywhere causing a lovely soft aroma to shift through the air. In the morning you could sit for hours simply watching the sunlight sparkle on the flower petals. Sometimes the dew causes a cascade of miniature rainbows to stretch across the grass.
This particular morning they had a visitor. It was a tall broad shouldered woman with a hard stern face and sleek black hair that contrasted so harshly with her pale complexion that it looked downright aggressive, especially when paired with her huge dark blue eyes framed by short pointy lashes. She was beautiful, nearly all the deathless gods are beautiful, but in an entirely different way then Adonia had ever seen before. Her name was Themis; she had come to reveal a prophecy to Adonia's mother. However this prophecy was for her mother alone. The great titan and Persephone went into a lone room and bolted the door.
A few moments later Adonia's Mother ran from the room shrieking. When a horribly offended Themis appeared seconds later her Mother screamed at her to get out, that she was a cruel liar and that such a thing could never come to pass. Then she collapsed on the floor in a fit of sobs. Neither Adonia nor Demeter could persuade her to move the rest of the day or the following night. She refused to speak of the prophecy.
The next morning the Little Goddess found herself being pulled off to Mount Olympus. Her mother told her she had to see Adonia's father and that she needed Adonia to come. This greatly surprised Adonia, she had never known her mother to go to her father other then during the fall or winter. Persephone did not look much better then the day before, her cheeks had sunken into her face giving her a cold hollow look. When they arrived Adonia's father greeted her warmly as usual, kissing her sweetly on the cheek. Adonia looked back at her mother, tears were running quietly down the goddess's face.
When her father saw her mother he instantly wrapped her into his arms, and for once, she let him. He whispered something into her ear and she nodded her head slightly. They made to go into a room to the left, when the Little Goddess tried to follow them her mother stopped her. "You must wait outside Adonia, just for a little while" she looked up pleadingly at her father but he made no move to contradict her mother.
Once again Adonia was on the outside of a bolted door. She pressed her ear up to it as hard as she could. She could hear them speaking, but she did not entirely understand. Her mother revealed to her father the prophecy, that Adonia's mother had passed her fate on to her, that Adonia would undergo the same imprisonment that she did.
Adonia did not know what they were talking about but she felt ice shoot through her veins at the mention of her name. Her mother told her father that though she had begged Themis to reveal who Adonia's capturer was to be, Themis insisted that she could not. Her father said something very quietly, in a low deep voice, almost a whisper. Adonia could not hear what it was, but it sent my mother into a tantrum.
She went into hysterics, screaming that he knew what he had done to her, how could he wish that upon his only child? Adonia no longer had to press her ear to the door. Her mother went on for what seemed like ages. The Little Goddess felt a hot blush creep into her cheeks; she was sure the whole of Olympus could hear her mother. Her screams turned to breathless sobs, then to soft hiccups and finally to awkward silence. Hades spoke carefully and calmly, or so it seemed. But Adonia knew him by then, she had known him for some seven years, and she knew that there was a twinge of something else being shoved sloppily behind that low timber. She was sure her mother new it too, or else she would have gone into another fit.
"What can I do to prevent it Persephone, my wife, I do not see a way for our child to escape her fate. I know that nothing on earth or heaven or even the murky and dismal depths or Tarturas could have prevented me from making you mine. You do not understand the power of Eros's bow, it is logged as deep in my heart now as it ever was, and its power radiates just as strong if not stronger."
"But what if you could stop this before Eros shoots his fatal arrow?" Persephone questioned.
Adonia's father was silent for a long stretch of time and then said "I do not see how this can be done, Eros is fickle and unpredictable, everyone knows that, I could never get a trustworthy promise from him, he does as he pleases."
"He has no interest in the love of children" Adonia's mother uttered quietly. "Keep her in her child form forever, if she can never grow a day older then she is today, if you, the owner of souls, take a part of hers from her now…"
"And what would Zeus say of this my Queen? Do you think he would approve? What of your mother? I know as well as anyone that she is not one to cross."
"I do not care what anyone thinks! She is my child." Adonia's mother answered "If you love me as you claim to, if my abduction had any reason let it be this, that I can come to you now for help and you will oblige me."
Hades sighed heavily "I do not think I could refuse you anything,"
"We both know that is not true" Persephone cut in hastily "but do not refuse me this."
"I do not intend to. But right here? You want me to do this right now? You are taking something very important away from her."
"Not as important as her freedom."
Adonia heard the two of them walk toward the door and she backed away quickly. She put all her effort into trying to look as though she had no idea what was going on but she could not completely mask her fear. She was terrified. They had spoken of stealing a part of her soul!
"Come Adonia" her mother said upon exiting the room, "go to your father" Adonia was hesitant. Did he mean to do it right now? Would it hurt? Would she die? A million questions were racing through her head. Adonia looked up at him, Lord Hades looked just as hesitant as she was.
He glanced at the Little Goddess's mother, and then he put his hand on Adonia's heart and closed his eyes. She put her hand on top of his. She had always thought her father's hands were monstrous. She liked looking at her hand next to his, it made her laugh. He backed away; she had not felt a thing. Her Mother looked at her husband suspiciously, like she did not believed it could be that simple.
"Done." He said finally.
Her mother took Adonia's hand, "We have to leave now Adonia," she said without another word to her father.
The two of them walked briskly down the hall together. They walked into the main court of Olympus. Where all the deathless gods gather to converse amongst each other, it is always full of gods and godlike creatures. Adonia saw a sort of commotion toward the back but thought nothing of it. Her Mother was pulling her so fast that she could not really concentrate on anything. However the commotion was coming closer to them. Adonia's mother was pulling her faster and faster but she could not seem to escape from it.
Quite suddenly the most beautiful woman the Little Goddess had even seen shot up in front of her. The goddess had long wavy hair that was neither blonde nor red but a bit of both. Everything about her seemed larger then life, bigger, realer somehow. She had huge green eyes with long delicate but decisive eyebrows and large red stained lips. Her skin was a rosy golden color that positively glowed under the deep garnet draping over her. It was Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She seemed extraordinarily upset and was glaring directly at Adonia's mother.
"Do you know what you have done to this child?" she yelled, it was entirely different from Adonia's mother's painful screams. It was deep and powerful it could have been a man's voice if it was not wrapped with such obvious feminity. "Do you have any idea what you have robbed her of?" Every person in the hall had become silent. "You have locked her in this child's body forever, do you know what that is going to be like? How lonely she is going to be? Why, she has not even been properly presented to Zeus yet! She is a baby!" Adonia's mother was silent. "I demand that you reverse this at once!"
"I cannot" her mother said quietly, almost shyly "and I would not if I could." She gained a little more strength in her voice "You do not know what her fate would have been. I had to do it!"
"An unwanted love is better then no love at all" the beautiful goddess whispered icily.
"You do not know what you speak of! The day your companion attacked my husband my life was finished. I did not want that for my child."
"Love is never an attack it is a gift!"
"She can still love!" Adonia's mother shouted, though not quite as loud as she had been shouting at the Little Goddess's father earlier "I have not taken love away from her, I have only taken your kind of love away from her. You do not care about my child, you are only angry because today you lost someone you could have used your love to control!"
Aphrodite's face softened "You misjudge me completely Persephone, I am sorry. I only wish to express my pity for your daughter and to try to fix a terrible mistake. Allow me to help, please." She looked down at the earth and made a beautiful melodius sound by pursing her lips together slightly. A small fluffy bird flew up into the hall and landed in her hands. She held it out to the Little Goddess. "Take it my darling Adonia," she said sweetly.
Adonia looked to her mother for permission, she turned away but did not say no so Adonia took the little bunch of feathers into her arms. It was the softest thing she had ever felt and when it opened its beak it made the silliest noise she had ever heard.
"Goose" she said and he nodded his head.
"He will be your companion always" Aphrodite said to Adonia in the same honeyed voice she had used before "he will never grow a day older then you, I promise. He will be loyal to you always and follow you wherever you go until the day comes you no longer want him, then he will simply disappear."
She turned back to Adonia's mother "If you will not listen to me then perhaps you will listen to Zeus. A small gosling will not be companion enough for eternity. This child needs to be presented to him."
"In time" Adonia's mother answered politely as she could.
Aphrodite took Persephone's hand "No, now." She led her into the grandest room in the universe. There is not a single item in this room not exquisitely made from the finest and softest gold's of the earth, Hephaestus has seen to that. In the back wall of this room sits a number of jeweled thrones, the largest of course belonging to Zeus. Currently his was the only one occupied.
Zeus cannot be explained to anyone who has not seen him. Adonia had been to Olympus many times before this and the sight of him still left her awestruck. He is gold beyond gold, jewels beyond jewels, splendor beyond splendor. He cannot be described as magnificence because he is magnificence itself.
A number of people had gathered in behind them. One woman, another tall goddess with cool blonde hair was staring at Adonia venomously. Aphrodite was making some sort of announcement, though Adonia was not paying attention. She could not decide weather to focus her attention on the god ahead of her or Goose who was starting to squirm in her arms.
Much too soon she was being led toward Zeus. As soon as she was near enough he picked her up and sat her on his lap. "Finally" he said, "I get to properly meet my youngest grandchild"
Adonia looked up at him in surprise and doubt "You are not my Grandfather" she said.
He laughed, a gigantic laugh that shook the entire room, the Little Goddess had to hold on to his arm just so that she did not fall off his knee "Of course I am little child, what has Demeter been telling you?" Adonia did not know what to say so she remained silent. "Now what would you like?" he asked. She did not understand, she asked him what he meant, "A gift little one" he clarified "I am going to give you a gift and I would like to know what you would like."
"I do not know" Adonia replied sheepishly.
"Anything Adonia" he said, saying her name for the first time.
"Are you sure she deserves such a favor?" a cool clear voice rang out of the crowd. It was the tall goddess with the long icy blonde hair. "A child that can never grow? What use has she for the gifts of the Great Thunder Maker?"
Zeus turned to her "Artemis!" he said seeming mildly surprised "you least of anyone here should speak out against this! I am surprised I have anything left to give this child at all after you!" he let out another booming laugh and again Adonia clutched at his arm.
"I was the daughter of Leto and your daughter as well, I proved my worthiness by my heritage as well as by assertiveness. I have seen nothing to prove that this child is as worthy as I was." Adonia looked this cold goddess in the eye. It seemed as though she wanted her to.
"I will not ask for a gift if you do not want me to" said Adonia "but I believe that you are jealous" Zeus laughed for the third time and the room shook harder then ever. A small smile curved upwards on Artemis's face
"Perhaps I am. My father has never given another child the freedom to choose any gift of their likening. But do not allow me to the disturb bond just created. On the contrary, allow me to make a suggestion. Father, give the child a golden ball as she will have an eternity to play with it. And you young one, you are welcome to join me in my forest hunts anytime you like."
Zeus, thinking this an excellent suggestion, gathered golden fibers from the air and formed them into a shining ball. He placed it in Adonia's hands. The little goddess looked down excitedly at it. Then she looked up at Artemis "Can I really join you anytime I would like to?" she asked.
Artemis laughed softly "Yes, you may join me tomorrow morning if you like, just walk into the forest and I will find you" Adonia quickly nodded her head yes.