Aphrodite's Choice

Chapter 18 – The Unbidden Guest

The calmness of Aphrodite as she delicately walked along the path adorned with gold and pearls, which blossomed with flowers and glittered with starlight, clothed in Athena’s luxurious fabric, remained surprisingly unfaltering. The sight itself would encourage words of adoration, but Hephaestus, as his eyes caught Aphrodite’s, whose orbs contained the boundless ocean, only uttered a short greeting, if it could be called one.

“You’re here?” His words carried not a single hint of awe. Aphrodite answered equally, suppressing a frown, “Yes, I’m here.”

For Aphrodite, praise was to be responded in kind. Mimicking him, she did not utter a word of compliment for Hephaestus, who was elegantly dressed in layers of clothing and even wore a black-toothed crown, looking quite dignified.

Zeus, who was listening to the brief conversation between the bride and groom as if it piqued his interest, let out a cough. “Alright then, we’ll start the ceremony,” he gestured.

Hephaestus outstretched his arm towards his bride, and Aphrodite let go of Hera’s hand as if she was getting rid of a snake from her wrist. At the instant her hand was about to clasp his, somewhere, a cold stream of air rushed in as if it was suddenly winter. Every pair of eyes that had been fixated on the main characters of the wedding widened in surprise. Was it an illusion? But each one of them felt the same chill.

Oh my god, it’s cold? At Olympus? Such perplexity confounded their minds. It didn’t make sense, but it was real, occurring in their midst. The nymphs began to tremble, and the gods were curious yet fascinated by the blurry breath that came out of their mouths.

The sky, which was just a moment ago blue without a speck of cloud, was already frozen white.

“What is this about?”

“Yes, it was clear before.”

Anxiety mingled with every babble of voices. The twelve gods also rose from their seats with solemn expressions. Unlike the lower gods who felt trapped in the cold of ice, the higher gods sensed that a force was approaching over Olympus.

The same was true for Aphrodite. She stared north and found a dark object that spread like a bruise in the white sky. What was that? It was even headed towards their direction. As it grew, its shape was almost visible.

Aphrodite, squinting her eyes to have a clearer glimpse of the foreign object, caught a sigh from Hephaestus. He murmured to himself, “In the end, it’s here.”

“Huh? What?”

Only Aphrodite could hear the first sentence he spoke, as she stood close to him, but the answer Hephaestus gave as he held her hand was audible to everyone.

“That’s Erinyes.”

At his words, all the gods and spirits grew silent.

Erinyes!

When Cronus castrated Uranos in the past, there were three sisters who were born as the blood wetted the earth and combined with Gaia’s divine powers. Each deity was named Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera, and they ruled as gods. Erinyes was another name for the harsh and ruthless referees, of vengeance and curse. To match their terrifying prestige, they were clothed in a ferocious appearance.

Venomous snakes seethed over their heads and red blood dripped from their eyes. They wore the wings of a Sakaman bat as if it had dipped into darkness. Their complexion was pale, barely of color, and a thorn-like frame shone beneath their gleaming skin.

Casting fear like a shadow, Erinyes, who descended the heaven with its wings, stood side by side in the middle of the bride’s road.

Earlier, the gods, who were impatient to approach the uninvited visitor, were overcome with fright and withdrew their steps. Some quivered and stumbled, but no one laughed at the sight. Even Zeus lost his usual calmness. He spoke to Erinyes in a tone of great tension, “Welcome, Erinyes.”

One of the three, unknown, stared at Zeus. He didn’t know why, but her eyes were cold as if she were looking at something obscene. Even the other two jerked their heads away as if they didn’t want to witness such filth.

Erinyes, who looked at Zeus with glaring eyes, moved her purple lips.

[Zeus.]

The voice that echoed throughout was as eerie as the blade of a knife rising from the pitch black. Not even the higher gods were spared from fear; they shook at the heavy voice that grazed their ears. Worse, a number of the lower gods fainted as they were unable to withstand the crippling horror.