9 009.

Temple of Hera.

The residence of the Queen of Olympus was in complete calm and silence, while the first rays of the sun began to cover the world and with this indicating the arrival of a new day.

This calm was entirely due to the fact that the inhabitants of Olympus did not dare to offend their queen. It was because of this reason that no one approached Hera's residence under normal circumstances.

After all, most of the beings who had come to offend her suffered a less than desirable end, so despite the fact that the goddess seemed to have changed her ways, the truth is that no one wanted to risk their lives.

Currently, the Queen of Olympus was lying on the bed in her chambers. Her body was covered by a simple light tunic; however, this was more than enough to make her beauty stand out in a great way.

Her long, shapely legs could be seen perfectly due to the short length of her tunic, while her upper body formed a large, lush valley that more than one would want to explore.

Although the position in which she was in could not be considered suggestive or indecent, the truth is that the goddess had an aura of charm and a strong magnetism that always attracted the attention of others.

After a short period of time, the previously closed eyes of the Queen of Olympus were opened, revealing a beautiful blue color. Immediately it was that Hera's gaze was drawn to the right side of the bed.

Her beautiful face revealed a sorrowful expression as she noticed the absence of Hephaestus. At this point, it had been about a week since Hephaestus had to make a trip to the Underworld due to a business deal with Hades.

It was not the first time something like this had happened, in fact one could say that circumstances like this were relatively common. This was because the business relationship between the two involved Hephaestus making constant trips to the Underworld.

Although Hera knew this, the truth is that she has never been able to get used to such a fact, one could even say that she was completely disgusted with such a situation, in her mind the only place where Hephaestus should be was by her side.

On more than one occasion she had gone to the extreme of forbidding Hephaestus to take any kind of work, this in order to be able to spend time together, but she ended up giving in to the charms of her adorable son.

A slight sigh came from her thin lips in annoyance, then after a brief thought she forced herself to stop thinking about Hephaestus, although she knew she could only do it temporarily.

Then the beautiful goddess began to rise from her comfortable and expansive bed, stretching a little in the process. Since she had promised to meet with her sister in the afternoon.

While she still had plenty of time before the appointment, she preferred to begin her preparations immediately, at least with this type of activity she could keep herself distracted for a while.

The Queen of Olympus proceeded to take a long toga that left little skin exposed and that had small embroideries on its surface to soon after begin to take off the clothes with which she spent the night and begin to put on the clothes with which she would spend the day.

The daily and casual movements made by the beautiful goddess caused the creation of an extremely touching scene for all beings, but one that few have had the pleasure of seeing.

After changing her clothing, she made her way to an area of the room where a wooden closet with numerous details and lines forming the image of a beautiful lotus flower was located.

As she opened the cabinet, Hera's blue eyes could see innumerable jewels, each one more beautiful than the others. However, in her gaze could only be found indifference as she took her hand to a small compartment of the cabinet.

There was only a small bracelet of pure gold with a beautiful jewel, and the instant she saw it, the blue orbs of the goddess revealed an overwhelming warmth and affection. She calmly took the bracelet and with one of her fingers traced the fine lines that formed the image of a peacock.

In the end Hephaestus had succeeded in his mission after all, whenever she saw the bracelet it was impossible for Hera not to think of Hephaestus it was just as he always wanted it to be.

A soft smile formed on the goddess' face as she placed the bracelet on her left arm, from the moment Hephaestus gave it to her it became her favorite accessory.

After a short period of time Hera finished with the preparations for her date with her sister, so she began her journey, although her arrival would be earlier than agreed, she did not think that Hestia would scold her for that simple fact.

…

After spending all morning and part of the afternoon at her sister's home, Hera returned to her place of residence. Although their time together consisted only of small chats accompanied by cookies, it was an extremely pleasant activity.

Now she was alone again, for a moment she had hoped that once she returned home she would meet Hephaestus. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

A part of her knew that she shouldn't even have had that hope in the first place, after all, Hephaestus' trips to the Underworld usually took weeks. Still, she couldn't help but feel disappointed when she returned home only to realize that no one was waiting for her.

After a brief thought, the goddess' footsteps began to head towards one of the areas in her temple that always managed to reassure and comfort her when she found herself in this kind of situation.

Her destination was a building annexed to her temple. Such a building was constructed of pure marble and although it had a relatively simple architecture, it would not lose against any of the other buildings that were in Olympus.

The interior of the building served as a storehouse of all the creations and personal projects that Hephaestus had made over the years, including those that could be considered failures.

Hera's steps were slow as she appreciated with nostalgia and infinite love the things her beloved son had created. The goddess was slightly lost in her memories, but at no time did she stop moving through the interior of the building.

So soon she came to a long corridor connected to several rooms, a corridor that seemed to have no end. In a quick way she entered the first room, and as soon as she stepped inside she could observe the beautiful image of a beautiful garden full of flowers in their blooming stage.

Anyone who saw such a scenario would be amazed to the point that they would not even notice one important detail, this being that the flowers were not at all common, but were all creations made of metal.

Hera's attention was immediately drawn to a lotus flower, this flower stood out from the others both for its beauty and the position it occupied in the room. It was simple to notice that the flower was the most prominent piece of all.

The goddess' movements slowed down for a second; however, soon after, her long legs began to move in the direction of that flower. Her beautiful blue eyes revealed various feelings as she looked at it attentively.

In them were longing, fondness and a small amount of embarrassment. After a moment's hesitation, she took the flower in her hands. This was one of her most treasured possessions, but every time she saw it, her mind was filled with a bitter but warm memory.

…

The years that passed after the birth of Hephaestus were completely wonderful, so much so that she could easily say that they were the happiest years she had ever had in her long life.

However, such a brilliant period of time was not without its problems. In all the years Zeus would continue to have one or more affairs with other goddesses, mortals or simply anything he found attractive enough.

Her attitude to such occurrences did not change, so every time that news of a new Zeus affair reached her ears, she did what she had always done. At the end of the day, punishing his lovers was the only way she could possibly retaliate against him.

She continued that way for a while, at least until Hephaestus discovered her actions. That was the first and only time she had a real conflict with her son.

Hephaestus tried to reason with her, to make her see that her actions were unjustified, but in her eyes such action on the part of her beloved son was only seen as an act of betrayal. She had to use all her self-control not to react violently.

She knew instinctively that if she let herself be controlled by her anger, she would end up committing an act that she would regret some time later. It was because of this incident that her relationship with Hephaestus became somewhat strange and uncomfortable.

In addition to the fact that in those moments Hephaestus seemed to be avoiding her constantly, in her mind Hephaestus' actions were his way of letting her see that he was disappointed with her and even though the estrangement she had with her son made her sad, there was no way for her to ask for forgiveness, her pride would not allow it.

In this way time passed and after a few months her relationship with Hephaestus had not improved, it could even be said that it got slightly worse. At that time there were few occasions when he was in the temple, instead he spent all his time in his workshop.

However, the next time Zeus cheated on her, Hephaestus approached her and embraced her while whispering words of love and affection, a love as sincere and pure as no other.

After reassuring her, Hephaestus guided her to his workshop, specifically to one of the many rooms inside, where there was a garden full of beautiful flowers, each one more beautiful than the one before it.

It didn't take long for her to realize that the flowers were made of metal; however, this would only be noticed by someone with great observational skills or a flower enthusiast.

Realization hit her unexpectedly as she intuited what was happening, but despite this, she remained silent as Hephaestus patiently and lovingly explained to her the reason for her actions over the past months.

The beautiful garden was a gift meant to pacify her anger, while at the same time reminding her that she was extremely loved by someone. Hephaestus' explanation caused a steady flow of tears to spill from her eyes.

Because of this she returned to the warm embrace of her son, he wiped her tear-stained face with love and care as he continued in his attempt to pacify her state of mind and even once he succeeded he never left her.

It is possible that from that moment on, the Hera who punished the lovers of the one who called himself her husband ceased to exist. Hephaestus was always with her in those moments, calming her anger and thirst for revenge.

The only one who dared to try and the only one who could succeed. Since then, every time Zeus had a new adventure, Hera was overwhelmed with gifts and love from Hephaestus.

…

In the beautiful eyes of the Queen of Olympus could be seen different emotions as she lost herself in her memories. The truth is that Hephaestus' actions at that moment deeply moved her heart.

To the point where she tried to change her actions, for someone proud like her, it was extremely difficult to accept that her actions were wrong, but if it was for Hephaestus, then she was more than willing to try.

However, despite this it was not an easy process, but thanks to always having Hephaestus by her side she could manage to contain her anger every time the news of a new adventure of Zeus reached her ears.

After a few seconds, Hera shook her head slightly, forcing herself to stop thinking about the past, because even with all the difficulties in those days she was now extremely happy and that was the only thing that mattered.

As the seconds passed she returned the lotus flower to its original position, after all Hephaestus could be considered as someone extremely obsessive with the order and perfection of his creations.

That thought about her beloved son resulted in a loving smile forming on the face of the goddess. Shortly afterwards, she began to make her way towards the exit of the room.

Her visit to the creations of Hephaestus had caused a strong desire to be with him to surge through her body, so she planned to go to the Underworld in order to see him.

Anyway, Hephaestus wasn't strong-willed enough to refuse her requests and as for what Hades might think, well, it wasn't something she really cared about.

With that thought, Hera opened the door to the room, but before she could take a step out of the room, she could feel all her strength leave her completely.

This caused her body to fall to the floor without being able to put up any resistance to this fact. For a few moments Hera remained in that position, not even trying to move, if anyone was in the room they would panic at the sight of the queen's appearance,

Hera's face was completely pale while a deep and undisguised fear could be seen in her blue eyes, her body was paralyzed because of the panic she was feeling.

This because the moment her strength left her, she could feel it, feel the divinity of Hephaestus disappear completely.