Solidified
In the woods.
~The King and his Queen / Ayla~
"How far more shall we go? No sign of it anywhere."
Vulcan considered the rift up ahead of them closely then held Athena's face in his gaze.
"It seems like we've come to a stop."
Her face was glued to the front as their horses came to a stop. He traced the side of her face to the direction. He already knew what to expect,
"You mean, the rift? We can't cross it?"
"Of course we can but it comes with greater risks."
She climbed off her white horse and walked towards the rift as Vulcan took suit. There were at least fifty horsemen behind them. But the warriors knew too well to keep their space between the royal horses and theirs.
"Help me understand."
He caught up with her. She was standing few steps away from the rift. There was a swelling fog at the other end of the rift. And at their end of the rift, there were green patches of sticky substances.
"Crossing over to that other side of the rift exposes us to more danger. As you know too well, that is the territory of Poseidon. And the ugly thing is, all the magical creatures at that end of the rift are already under his control."
He ignored the green patches and shot her a gaze tampered by curiosity,
"Wait. Does that mean we could actually subject these creatures to our own will? Like you could tie their desires to your will and make them do whatever you want?"
"As far as I am goddess."
His eyes widened,
"Then what's keeping you? Why do we have to fight that creepy, and ferocious monster? When we do have such beautiful and less complicated option? Talk to me."
He was excited, but more of jumpy. She smiled and took two steps closer to the rift.
"It's evil."
Her two simple argument.
"If making them your slaves to prevent them from killing us is evil, then what would you call losing majority of our warriors to the battle with them?"
"It's not as simple as that, husband."
He took the risk of closing the pace too, probably forgetting for a moment that he was just a mortal and didn't have the spiritual advantages Athena enjoyed.
"You'll drive me crazy, wife. Help me understand this."
She smiled and pointed at some of the green patches...
"You know what those means?"
He shook his head in denial.
"There are new batches of magical creatures awaiting their turns. And this new batch comes with more of humanoid monsters and demons. Demons who could take the form of the king and queen and do whatever they want. Demons who could create an artificial world and make you believe that it's your real world and when you wake back into reality, you might be very old already, just few years away from the grave, unable to enjoy the wealth of your youth hood."
He grabbed her hand suddenly and spun her to himself. He pulled her closer, forgetting or probably ignoring the fact she was a goddess.
"Is that really what you want, Athena? Let all this happen to the people when you can potentially stop it?"
Mysteriously, she nodded.
"If no harm comes to my love, my life, my joy. You, Vulcan, my Lord."
She pushed her face closer towards him. They were of the same height. She kissed him with wants and demands. He wasn't thinking. He couldn't think. Dopamine released in his head. He graced her effort. Then she let go.
"But that's selfish."
His eyes racing through her blue eyes. Her pupils seemed to change per time.
"No, it's not. I came to the earth just because of you, Vulcan and you know that. I didn't come to rule a land or save some people. Because no matter how devotedly you save humans, they continue to bring ruins upon themselves. It's how they've been fashioned. To always be defected!!"
She paused and continued,
"I only came to spend few days till my father would have a change of mind. Then with me, we would both travel to meet him... to have him bless our Union and find you a place amongst the eternals. And since you do poetry, you won't be useless in the midst of the supernals. Zeus loathes idleness greatly!"
He put both his hands on her cheek and pulled her face closer. He kissed her.
"Yet, I care about this people. I've never been this concerned about people all my life. I've never been useful and responsible. Not even to my earthly family before I found you. But now that I have one, now that you've made me earn one, why should I leave without a good reason? Why should I desert this people especially in such critical time as this?"
He pulled her into his chest and hugged her warmly. He wasn't sure of what he was doing.
"At least, until we have a child. Let stay here for a while. I'll impregnate you... have sex with you almost every hour till you're pregnant. Then after the child is fully grown, we can leave him and return to your father. I'm certain that the gods don't die. They live for eternity."
She pushed herself off his chest to hold his face in her gaze. She chuckled.
"You think Zeus would let his grandson live amongst the mortal? He might be hotheaded and stubborn but doesn't fiddle with offsprings."
"Then what do you propose?!"
He quizzed.
"The princess of the land wandering about with her mother -- I hope she already finds out."
"You mean Aynea is her mother?"
"We'll go into that details later."
He didn't fight the urge, allowing her to continue.
"When she gives birth, her child could be the king. She deserves it."
He seemed disturbed at those words.
"You loathe that idea?"
He feigned,
"I CHÓRA TOU VULCAN is quite lucky. Every of her ruler always has a trait of the spirituals."
"Come let's go."
She held his hand and pulled him with her. They walked towards the horse.
"Now about the creatures. We haven't come to a conclusion."
They were both on the horses now. They were left alone. They had dispersed the warriors. They were wandering in the woods all alone.
"Let's leave it a show for a while. Then we'll make a stance."
He grunted, throwing her a quirky gaze, their horses were side by side.
"Speak to me in plain language, wife."
"I'll do as you please, my Lord. But not today."
He chuckled,
"I love you."
She looked at him, all serious and keen.
"I don't hear that everyday."
They both laughed and concentrated on the path. Suddenly, he shot,
"What a beautiful Impala that is."
His eyes on the brown Impala few metres away from them. Its back was to the tree's bark, neck tossing and the front limb tapping on the earth.
"That's not an Impala."
Athena tapped at her horse and it halted. Vulcan did same and climbed off.
"How sure are you?"
He began to walk towards the creature, taking thoughtful steps.
"Isn't it obvious?"
He stopped and turned to Athena who was still on her horse. He had his back to the Impala.
"It's my Nymph."
She said.
"Ayla?"
He argued, looking almost immediately away from Athena back to the Impala who had recently transformed.
"Ayla."
His jaws dropped as Ayla began to run towards him. Before he could even figure out what was up, she had flung herself into his arms, grabbed his face and stole his lips.
Twas quite hard to catch his breath as she taunted his lips passionately and ruthlessly. She let him go finally and said,
"I'll come for you soon."
And at those words, she was gobbled up by the wandering winds.
"Where'd she go just now?"
Vulcan mumbled, trying to sort the right words. Probably snap back to reality.
He turned back to Athena who was still on her horse, staring as though nothing happened.
"Come, my love."
She called. Vulcan didn't know what to call that. Pretense or an ability to ignore jealousy as a goddess. He didn't get an answer to that but eventually walked back to her.
He was mad. Not sure why though.
