16 Dance of the Peacock

The deafening silence in the palace of the Gods was immediately shattered by the gasps of Aphrodite and Demeter.

Hades and Poseidon seemed surprised. Helios literally face-palmed himself now while Selene looked at the descending Artemis. Hestia lost her smile; her eyes became solemn. Leto held her head high, though her worried expression was obvious.

All the while, Zeus sat on his throne, his expression calm. He just watched on, like a bystander, without intervening.

Before pandemonium could erupt, Hera raised her golden lotus staff and struck the floor.

A wave erupted, rattling the entire Olympus to its core. It spread out, sweeping the clouds and impacting the land, sending out a tremor throughout the lush fields of Europa, causing the entire continent to rumble lightly.

"Silence!" Her voice boomed in the throne room, as colossal pillars cracked and debris fell onto the floor.

And then there was silence. Hera rose from her throne, her lotus staff in hand.

"He is just a child." Demeter rose from her throne, saying desperately. "He doesn't understand what he is saying."

"Hera. Reconsider." Hestia spoke up as well, rising from her throne.

But Hera ignored them, descending towards Apollo. Seeing this, they too tried to descend, but Hades and Poseidon stopped them, their inquisitive eyes still on Apollo.

Meanwhile, Leto looked at her son, her hands clenched on the armrest, cracking it, while Artemis stood behind Apollo, her hands clasped, a wisp of moonlight erupting.

The one who caused it all, Apollo, still had a calm countenance, his hands caressing the diamonds on the purple necklace flashily.

The air was exploding in tension and pressure with each step of the Queen of Gods. Her white-gold lotus staff gleamed in brilliance.

Hera finally descended before Apollo. Her eyes were bright and her face was frosty. Everyone could feel her anger as her divine aura boiled and surged, like a super volcano that was about to erupt and consume it all in its infernal pits of hell.

She drew closer towards Apollo, her eyes meeting his, becoming dangerously bright. Her lotus staff was raised high.

"You are truly a bastard, through and through, aren't you?" She seethed out, her teeth gritting.

"My lady." Apollo said, still calmly. But just this sent another bout of volatile anger through Hera.

A languid smile hung on his lips. "Hasn't anyone told you the truth? Face to-face. It seems not, looking at you now. So I shall take the honour of being the first."

"You, the Queen of the Gods, Hera, are a spiteful, unpleasant, venomous, and coarse woman."

He leaned as the divine aura of Hera surged higher and became more volatile. The Olympus trembled. Europa itself trembled heavily in agony under her repressed fury.

Their faces were inches apart, as the golden surging eyes of the Eternal Blazing Sun met the resplendent blue eyes of the Queen of Olympus, both brighter than any star in the cosmos.

"Now that I think about it. You absolutely embody who you are, the epitome of it all, the true Bitch."

Boom!

Hera's divine face contracted. Her divine aura literally exploded. The colossal pillars collapsed. The doomed ceiling shattered in an instant. The slithering cracks spread across the evergreen lands of Europa. The volcanos across the continent erupted in scorching ash that trashed into the atmosphere, signifying the wrath of the Queen of Gods.

In the ruined palace of gods, The Queen of Gods and Eternal Blazing Sun confronted under the eyes of gods.

In and around Hera, thousands upon thousands of peacocks manifested in an instant.

Hera's hair grew longer and longer, so long, in fact, that it started curling up, forming a peacock tail full spread. It was the sacred symbol of the Queen of the Gods.

Hera's hair was dyed in a myriad of colours, from red to blue, pink to green, even platinum and gold, all creating a kaleidoscope of luminescent feathers, illuminating Olympus, Greece, Europa, and the entire northern hemisphere in chromatic light.

Meanwhile, Apollo's figure underwent a violent change as well. From his back, four fiery wings emerged, composed of golden and white feathers, burning brilliantly in the flames of the sun.

A symbol of the blazing sun graced his glabella, as a divine halo graced his back. His wavy brown hair had turned white, as had his iris. A terrifying divine aura erupted and collided with the aura of the queen of gods, cracking the fabric of space.

The sun in the sky across the northern hemisphere was shaded white, expanding and enlarging, emitting an infinite amount of pure light, which concentrated into a massive colossal pillar that shone down on Apollo.

Hera raised her lotus staff high, and the thousands of peacocks swayed their tails in unison. They danced and capered brilliantly in chromatic light that seemed brighter than the blaze of the sun, unleashing millions of sharp feathers, each the size of a mountain, bathed in kaleidoscopic light.

She coldly spat. "You vile and wretched bastard! I will first tear your tongue out and rip your mouth apart. Then, I will split your body into millions of pieces! And throw it into the deepest pits of Tartarus!"

Hera swung her staff down at Apollo.

Boom!

The feathers shot towards Apollo with incredible velocity, shattering space like a broken mirror.

Apollo raised his hand. Thousands upon thousands of small suns bloomed in brilliance around him. They swirled around him, faster and faster, morphing into an ocean of light. A swirling galaxy.

Out of swirling light came millions of arrows made out of pure light, hurling towards the kaleidoscopic feathers, leaving a trail of white light. The entire world trembled under their might, unleashing volatile power throughout the realms of gods.

The Eternal Blazing Sun and the Queen of Gods confronted each other in infinite brilliance, bathed in pure and kaleidoscopic light.

"Enough!" A thunderous voice boomed. A colossal blot of white lightning descended in the middle of them, submerging Hera, Apollo, and Artemis. And the world turned white.

Then, as the lightning faded, the world returned to normal. Apollo and Hera still faced each other, but the magnificent peacocks and blazing suns had disappeared. Their figures had changed back. The palace of the gods had been restored to its magnificence, with no signs of ruins. For a moment, it looked as though the confrontation was nothing more than a mere illusion.

However, the gods slumped on their intact thrones, except Poseidon and Hades, their eyes wide at Apollo and Hera, shattering the illusion.

In the middle of Apollo and Hera, Zeus stood, his hands pressing on the shoulders of them. The king of the gods finally seemed to decide to intervene, after just letting everything happen under his presence.

Apollo still seemed calm, as if he had already expected this, while Hera looked at her husband with her eyes wide in utter shock.

Zeus' expression was stormy. His grey eyes darkened with haze, like a brewing cataclysmic storm.

"I will not allow such insolence anymore." His voice boomed like the loudest thunder in the cosmos. Then, his cataclysmic eyes turned to Apollo, his figure shrouded in lightning.

"Phoebus Apollo! Enough of your impudence! This is your first and final warning! Dare to repeat such acts of impenitence again! I will personally banish you, not to Tartarus..." His eyes were filled with white lightning, and he leant down. "But to infinite hell!"

"I won't, father." Apollo said coolly.

Zeus peered deeply at his son before turning towards his still stunned wife. "Return to your throne at once, Hera."

The shock in the eyes of Hera faded with his words, replaced by sheer and utter indifference, but she gave Apollo a frosty look before ascending to her throne with Zeus at her side.

avataravatar
Next chapter