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shanastoryteller · 7 years

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i know you're probably getting a lot of requests, but do you think you would be able to write about the weirdest greek myth ever, the birth of the Minotaur?

There are times whenHermes’s role as the messenger god weighs on him. Declaration of war have lefthis lips, the words he’s carried have ended whole countries and damned villagesto a slow painful death. The secrets he carries tears at him, the horrors he’shad to face only so he could later tell of them, the warnings he repeats thatare ignored and all he’s witnessed is for nothing, since it happens all overagain in front of him.

There are times the newshe brings that tears at him, eats at his soul like necrosis – the death ofKore, Poseidon destroying another seaside village, every whisper of Pandora, informingAres of yet another war.

This –

– isn’t one of thosetimes.

Aphrodite’s lovely faceis slack with surprise. At her side Hephaestus rubs his chin and says, “Thatseems physically improbable.”

“How did she manage tonot die?” Aphrodite demands, thensays, “Wait, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”

Hermes grins, and doesn’tbother to hide the complete delight he’s taking in this, “But my lady, it is my sacred duty to tell you these things. When Queen Pasiphae ensnaredDaedalus’s help to bemounted by the bull–”

She gives him a crosslook and is gone in a powerful gust of wind, and he has to grab onto thevolcano wall to keep from falling over.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Hephaestussays, off hand. It’s clear he’s still thinking of the mechanics of a human-bullhybrid.

“I’ve been accused ofbeing many things,” Hermes says cheerfully, “nice is not among them.”

Artemis lounges in hertent with one of her huntress’s face between her thighs, inexperienced buteager, and she so does love taking onnew women.

“Sister!” Apollo shouts,appearing at her side and glaring down at her. “Have you lost your mind?”

Her huntress startles andfreezes, unsure whether to leave or continue. Artemis rolls her hips up, andthe girl ignores the appearance of the sun god and continues with her task.

“Not that I know of,” shesays, tilting her head up so she can look at her brother without altering herposition, “Why do you ask?”

“Poseidon cursed a mortalqueen to fall in love with a bull, and she gave birth to a bull headed monstertoday,” he crosses his arms and glares.

She swallows the laughthat bubbles up, but she must not be entirely successful because he startstapping his foot. “Well, isn’t that interesting. I’m not sure what it has to dowith me.”

“Sister dear, Artemis,patron goddess of childbirth,” he says with syrup thick sweetness, “why onearth did you bless that child? There’s no way it could have been born withoutyour help. It had to have been you.”

Her huntress pauses again,and Artemis will answer her questions later.She squeezes her thighs about her ears, and the girl resumes. “Oh come on, don’tgive me that look. This is hysterical. People are going to be talking aboutthis for years.”

He considers this for along moment, then uncrosses his arms, “Okay, you have a point.”

“I know. Now if you don’tmind, I’m a little busy,” she gestures to the huntress between her legs.

Apollo snorts, “Get a fewmore girls in here, and maybe I’ll consider that busy.”

He slips away, butArtemis’s eyes narrow. That sounds like a challenge.

The girl replaces hermouth with a hand and asks, “Should I gather the other huntresses, ladygoddess?”

“I like you,” Artemissays, and the girl laughs, cheeks flushed and lips shiny.

Hermes appears in themiddle of the garden of Hades’s palace, and blinks twice.

The queen of theunderworld is half naked and on top of Amphitrite, and several things fall inplace at once. “Is this why you don’t get upset with Hades for his affair withHecate?”

“There is no affair withHecate, you’re just an indiscriminate gossip,” Persephone retorts. “And if theywere having an affair, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, and it wouldn’t haveanything to do with Amphitrite.”

“Oh,” he says. He feelsrather derailed from his original point. “I came here to–”

“If this is about theminotaur, we already heard about it,” she says, “You can go now.”

They’ve already heard about it! “From who?!”This is the best news in centuries, and this person is ruining it.

“Aphrodite,” Amphitritesays, “She’s cross with you.”

Oh, this is war.

Ares feels a shiver godown his spine, and looks across the battle field. People are dying around him,but people are always dying around him. He doesn’t see anything particularly horrendous,so he doesn’t know who could have invoked him so powerfully that he felt it.

A young woman who hadshared the last piece of sweet bread with him last night gets a spear shovedstraight through her chest, and Ares decides he has more important things toworry about.

Athena is halfway througha tapestry that is to hang in Hestia’s rooms when Aphrodite appears next to herand says cheerfully, “Guess what Poseidon did?”

Normally Athena wouldfling anyone who dare to disturb her to the depths of Tartarus, but she’salways willing to talk of Poseidon’s misdeeds. “I’m listening.”

Hermes appears on herother side, glaring. “You trollop.”

“He made a queen fall inlove with a bull, and she just had the kid. It’s got a bull head.” Her sister’ssmile is positively vicious.

“I’ll make you suffer,”Hermes hisses, and slips away. Aphrodite follows, the sounds of her laughterechoing in the room.

Athena blinks, lookingback to her loom, but is unable to concentrate.

Even she hadn’t seen thatone coming.

Hera doesn’t getinvolved, she does not have opinions, as a rule if it doesn’t concern her then it doesn’t concern her.

She waits for her husbandto leave, and tries not to worry about his mutterings about bulls, thequeen-mother Europa, and how Pasiphae had the right idea of it. She steps intothe throne room, and the fire burns cheerful and bright in the center of it.

She sits beside it, and nosooner has she done so than Hestia appears at her side. “You’ve heard then?”

“Hermes told me,” she rubsat her temples.

“Aphrodite got to mefirst,” Hestia says, and the goddess of the hearth seems entirely too cheerful,“I can say, of all the misdeeds Poseidon has wrought, this one is certainly …unique.”

She slumps and buries herface in her hands, “This whole family is mad, and we’re doomed to only becomeworse.”

Hestia laughs and puts anarm around her shoulder, “Come now, I think Hades is quite reasonable.”

Hera shifts enough onlyso that she can glare, “Hades chose to rule the dead and married Kore. He’sthe maddest of us all.”

Hestia can’t refute that,so she starts finger combing Hera’s long, curly hair. Hera slumps back into herhands, and Hestia’s smile is soft as they sit there in silence, the only noisethat of the crackling fire.

When Hephaestus returnsto the volcano, it’s to his wife sitting in his throne with her arms crossed. “Whatdid you do?” she asks.

“I just gave him a littlesuggestion, is all,” he says, and scoops Aphrodite into his arms so that he mayreclaim his throne. She snuggles into his side, and if she’s trying to convincehim that she’s mad at him, she’s doing a terrible job of it. “Daedalus hasalways been a very devout follower; he deserves a few good ideas.”

“He’s had enough ideas,”she says, because without his help the queen wouldn’t have found a way to consummateher love of the bull, “I don’t think he needs anymore.”

“Maybe,” Hephaestusmurmurs, dragging his nose up her temple, “but imagine this – a labyrinth, bigger than any other, than thiswhole volcano.”

“That’s nice, dear,”Aphrodite says, and then proves to be distracting enough that Hephaestus putshis ideas aside.

At least for a littlewhile.

gods and monsters series, part xii

read more from the gods and monsters series here

#gods and monsters series #anon thank you for this ask it was fun #a break from your regularly scheduled Serious Programming to bring you this #minotaur #hermes #aphrodite #hephaestus #apollo #artemis #amphitrite #persephone #hestia #hera #athena #greek mythology #greek myth #long post #Anonymous

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