I got confused and translate it at the last minute. The chapter ended up being very late.
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Posted on: 11/09/2023 (next date: 17/09/2023)
Love was in the air, and it wasn't even a joke. Aphrodite could actually smell the promiscuity wafting from the United Kingdom to the clouds in Heaven, tempting her to join in the fun bacchanalia. There was a head of blonde hair that certainly tempted her to think of some babies – yes, blondes with gray eyes... hmm...
It was in the hangover of November 1st that she noticed the celebration. She felt envious of how mortals had the energy to continue drinking throughout the next day, as if there was no end – whether in alcohol or in the unbridled sex that she could only admire happening in hidden places out there. Oh, how refreshing the danger of being caught is... she nodded gently at the children playing, proud of something only she understood with all her culture.
She is the Goddess of Love, what could you expect from her? Love flowed through the islands like wind and it made her groan with a headache, pouting at not being able to go down to Earth. Eros was flying wildly between Bristol and London, between London and South Shields, to Dublin, to Thurso and all the rest of the islands. She could only take comfort in knowing that her baby would tell her all the drama he witnessed.
— To Harry Potter!
— To Harry Potter!
This was something that made Aphrodite curious. Ever since she noticed the festive outburst, everything revolved around that little name. There were more than a few hundred celebrations and odes proclaimed within less than a few minutes of each other for this person, praising him wildly over drinks that almost reminded her of the parties that Dionysus threw in the old days. Ah, what parties – there were satyrs to lose sight of, and so many nymphs at their disposal... She smiled just thinking about it.
What is this Harry Potter like? Evidently he is a hero, but what would he be like? A beautiful Hyacinthus or a troglodyte Heracles? A handsome boy with a baby face and a slender body or a muscular brute with hot scars and straight hair in a military cut? So many possibilities, so many possibilities. All great as far as Aphrodite's palate is concerned.
If it were any other goddess, she would have already forgotten the reasons mortals have for celebrating something; but she is not just any goddess, but the Goddess of Love. Nothing could interest her more than why some girls were getting gold-digger and the most interesting orgies were taking place since the end of the dick-measuring contest between the sons of Zeus, Hades and Poseidon in the 1940s.
Throwing herself back onto the bed (alone, having kicked Ares as soon as the Sun left the garage) she fell asleep instantly, her self-control perfectly gained to achieve the perfect tone of beauty sleep that no other divine could achieve. The Love invaded the Temple of Aphrodite and expanded throughout the world, giving the goddess omnipresent vision superior to any other divine on Olympus.
One thing little commented on (or little known in general, if you think about it correctly) about the divine domains is their dimensional superposition. Many gods may argue that it is the domain itself that guarantees the sustenance or power of a god, this is what Athena or Zeus may say as gods of Wisdom, but they are wrong: the true power of the domain lies in its own user. This is what makes the gods, even though they have joint domains, some stronger than the others – and what guaranteed the ancient titans supremacy in their own archetypes of power. Aphrodite, as the Lady of Love, had an instinctive refinement about her own understanding of love, which she absentmindedly named her "nose for drama." Her Mind Palace dwelt in the center of the heart, deeper in the Domain of Love than any other Greek deity could be in their own domains. Her vision was absolute about everything and everyone, gods or humans.
Her astral form formulated and glided over the British and Irish, watching the pleasant movements of their bodies and the sway of love they shared between each other's legs. It wasn't necessary, but she wanted to be sure of the love involved... probably. Finally, she watched the pink and red miasma covering the islands' festivities spiral into an immense tornado of pink clouds that formed over the archipelago and rotated over the London region, funneling until it hovered over the honoree. Aphrodite took advantage of the long path, passing thread by thread of miasma.
Harry Potter was in a small house on the outskirts of Surrey. Aphrodite earned a scowl when she saw none of the miasma there, immediately showing Private Drive's narrow-minded nature. If it wasn't just that, the plasticity and coldness of the automimetic architecture of each house and its very unnatural gardens made her turn up her nose because of the reaffirmation of the repressive essence of the place. She was almost offended to think that her new mortal champion was in such an obtuse place.
The tip of the funnel was floating over one of the houses. The garden was becoming opaque as autumn continued, the grass turning yellow and the purple flowers marked with red lines were what was making up most of the pots and side beds. The plaster flamingos were very clean and pink, as if they were real creatures. Aphrodite could almost find it beautiful, if it weren't for the similarity with the other houses. She climbed the steps and entered the house, going through the door.
The house was very clean, which pleased the goddess. A well-organized house meant more things to mess up during a party – and a way to charm any potential partner who went there. The couch was too small to do anything on it, though. And the stairs leading to the rooms were also very long. Well, mortals can't think of all the tricks either, otherwise she wouldn't have a job.
There were pictures in the hallway in front of the entrance, which Aphrodite leaned over to take a look. The most abominable creatures were there: a mustachioed seal-man, a horse-woman and a mini-fridge in the shape of a baby. They were all disproportionate to each other, which made her think about how they couldn't even make a coherent whole and made everything more aesthetically grotesque than should be. It became evident that Harry Potter was not one of them, probably a relative passing through. The sun was in the middle of the sky, so she headed to the kitchen to see if the hero was having lunch with his family.
In the kitchen, the horse-woman and the mini-fridge were facing each other, the woman crouched down while flying for the mini-fridge on top of a small chair. On the other side of the table, sitting on a chair and with his forehead barely reaching the height of the table, a little boy was quietly drinking a bottle without any problems. Aphrodite's jaw dropped when she saw the boy.
He was a small, cute thing, with green eyes and fluffy hair that was messy everywhere and very voluminous on top of his head. He was a little chubby and was holding onto the bottle with great interest, but being very polite without making any noise and eating slowly. Although it was a very rare cutie, it wasn't that that caught Aphrodite's attention, but the glow that the little boy was emitting.
Normally, demigods are born with supernatural grace, their own kind of brilliance. This glow is a reflection of the dominance of their divine parents, which bathes them like sunlight reflects on the Moon. The boy, the compact and very cute little boy with greenish eyes, glowed such an intense gold that he could even scare the gods. That glow was very familiar to Aphrodite, as it was the same gold that her babies had and that enchanted her so much. But it was a different kind of gold, which made her go into shock a second time when she realized what kind it was.
Oh. My. Gosh. The Goddess of Love shivered, before joy exploded in her chest and a gigantic smile spread across her face in hundredths of a second. Finally, finally, finally it happened. Finally the twelfth type of half-blood emerged. The shock was so strong that Aphrodite burst out of her sleep, jumping to her feet on top of her bed and raising her arms as she let out a hysterical scream. The nymphs outside paused for a single moment, before going back to doing their jobs – it wasn't a scream of anger, so they didn't need to despair over their own boyfriends.
Aphrodite fell onto her back, the mattress rippling with the movement. She jumped onto face down and crawled across the sheets, hastily searching for her cell phone and holding it up in triumph when she found it. It was obvious what she was going to do.
HERMES!
QUICKLY!
YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT I DISCOVERED!
what happened, aphrodite? i'm working
You will not believe!
I went out for a walk
"And I...", was what was floating in the message box that Aphrodite didn't send before realizing something. Harry is Hera's son. Hera is the Queen of Olympus. Aphrodite is an Olympian goddess.
Harry - Hera - Olympus. Olympus - Aphrodite. Hera - Olympus - Aphrodite. Hera - Aphrodite.
Oh damn.
Hera was impatient, pacing back and forth in her private quarters. A day and a night had passed since she was there, walking without stopping and not noticing the passage of Apollo's chariot through the window. Miliá, the epimelide of Hera's orchard and her personal attendant, calmly placed a pitcher of apple juice on the dresser next to the bed and filled a golden cup with the juice, handing it to the goddess. Hera took it absently, without stopping her turns.
"Lady Hera" the nymph bowed to Hera.
"What?" the goddess asked, without stopping walking.
"Lady Aphrodite is at the temple door." Miliá replied, still bent down. "She is requesting an audience with you."
"Tell them I'm busy" Hera replied, drinking the juice.
"She said she knows about your protégé."
Hera immediately spat out all of the juice, with enough force that the heavier drops sank into the wall like projectiles. She turned around with fury in her eyes, but calmed down when she saw the bent figure of Miliá, who did not move due to the goddess' anger. She could only sigh, rubbing her irritated temple. It was going to be one of those days.
"Send her in. Bring her here, I won't see her in my sanctuary. Send away any assistants."
"Yes ma'am." Miliá bowed a little more, rising and turning elegantly and floating out of the room.
The Temple of Hera is not the largest on Olympus, but it was still large. There was a single corridor that connected the back to the entrance, with a dozen corridors opening on the sides of it, five on one side and five on the other. Each of them opened the way to six rooms, three on each side of the corridor. The entire structure formed a large marble parallelepiped with a roof shaped like a triangular prism. At the end of the great hall was the Sanctuary of Hera, where the original statue of Hera, who inhabited the Zeus' temple at the base of Mount Olympus, stood on a pillar and surrounded by flowers and statues of peacocks. Hera's room was in the corridor to the left of those heading inside, just before the sanctuary - and only he and Miliá's room were in that corridor, all the other attendants having their trees and small lakes to stay in the garden in the back temple funds. Miliá walked through the wide central corridor, under a vault and surrounded by pillars filled with reliefs in the shape of peacocks.
At the door of the temple, dressed in purple silk and covered with fine cashmere of the same color, Aphrodite waited anxiously. Mind you, not out of nervousness, but out of pure anticipation – the gossip would get out, she just needed to know that Hera would be informed before it could blow up in her face. Maybe spilling a little more about the Queen of the Gods' dirty little secret could happen.
"Lady Aphrodite" Miliá bowed to the goddess. "My lady awaits you in her chambers. Please follow me, I will take you to her."
"Let's go dear!" Aphrodite jumped happily, crossing the arch of the door in one leap. The nymph didn't comment anything, just turned and walked back down the corridor of peacock figures.
Hera had been sitting on the bed for the last few minutes, playing with the glass of apple juice between her fingers. She was slowly refreshing herself, preparing herself with the liquor to deal with Aphrodite.
"Hera~!"
She was going to need more liquor.
"What do you want, Aphrodite?" A vein was visible on the Goddess of Marriage's left temple, but this escaped the Goddess of Love's notice.
"I know everything! Don't hide anything!" Aphrodite accused against Hera, bending over with her hands on her hips and staring at Hera. Hera's vein throbbed.
"Everything that, Aphrodite?" Hera asked, anger barely contained in her voice. Unfortunately, this went over Aphrodite's head.
"I know about Harry!" Aphrodite looked triumphant at this. "He's so handsome! Congratulations, Hera, I always knew your son would be handsome! What's his father like? I doubt his father is the fat one from that weird house, are they related? He's so cute! What do you think? What does his father work with? I can..."
Aphrodite swallowed her words, finally realizing the deep expression of hatred on Hera's face. The fury of the Queen of the Gods is something known by every being in the Greek Pantheon, feared even by the King of the Greek Gods. And, at the moment, the look of pure fury was directed at Aphrodite. Excitement drained from her along with the ichor, the divine blood, from her face, leaving it immensely pale.
"You... dare..." Hera rose from the bed, her hands shaking and unconsciously crumpling the cup as if it were paper. She grew several meters in the seconds she took her from the bed to the floor, towering over Aphrodite menacingly. "Me? My son? Mine? Who do you think I am, Aphrodite, one of the cheap prostitutes who visit your temple to get a cursed spell to win over a man even if he doesn't desire her? I am the Goddess of Matrimony, of the Family and FAMILY LOVE!" Hera exploded, causing cracks to spread beneath her feet and crawl across the floor and walls. Miliá collected the tray with the jug of liquor before the dresser exploded, cracks rising from behind the wreckage of it. "DON'T INSULT ME, APHRODITE, OR I'LL CUT YOUR TENDONS AND HANG YOU ON THE DOOR OF MY TEMPLE!"
To say Aphrodite was terrified would be an understatement. It had been a long time since she stepped on Hera's wrong side, so she didn't expect everything to turn out like this, even if it was about Hera's first demigod.
"B-b-but... the boy...! Your domain...!" Aphrodite fumbled, huddled in her place. Hera's gaze crackled, and Aphrodite totally felt sorry for Zeus.
"He's not mine, you retarded whore!" Hera snapped, making Aphrodite flinch a little more. "I blessed his mother, that's all! I will never betray Zeus, stop this delusion!"
"Wait, what?!" Aphrodite screamed, amazed. "Isn't he a demigod?"
"Of course not!"
"But... he shines like your domain!"
"That's because he...!" Hera's mouth snapped shut, her fury ending suddenly. A frown grew on the goddess's beautiful face, and this disfigurement alone frightened Aphrodite.
Hera stared at Aphrodite intensely for seven minutes, during which time Aphrodite didn't dare move, sweating nervously. She let out a squeak when Hera finally opened her mouth to speak, which made the Queen of the Gods let out a snort.
"Promise," Hera ordered. "Promise on the Styx that you won't say anything about what we're going to talk about here. Never."
Unlike what Artemis could say, Aphrodite could think. A genius, in her own opinion. And that genius was called into question upon realizing what kind of secret she was engaging in. But... it was a secret... aaah... what the hell!
"I swear by the Styx that I will never reveal what I hear in this conversation unless I have permission to do so!" The words fell easily from Aphrodite's lips, the thoughts going out the metaphorical window in a moment.
Hera let out a sigh sitting back on her bed and reforming into her barely 3 meters tall form. A wave of the hand made all the cracks disappear and the dresser remade itself chip by chip. Miliá, who was quietly in the corner, placed the tray back on the dresser and filled the other glass she had brought with liquor and took it to Hera, who immediately took a sip.
"You can ask the questions now, Aphrodite," Hera rubbed her forehead.
"Um..." the Goddess of Love had a shy look. As her domain, all of her emotions changed in an instant, away from all the fear she just felt. "Is the father handsome?"
And the vein began to throb again in Hera's temple. It was going to be one of those days.
