Friends
Written by Amazonia V
Chapter 10:
Cassie and Connor were at Themyscira House.
Cassie had stopped by to pick up some of her school work and Connor had simply followed her in. As they made their way to Cassie’s bedroom, a dark shape separated itself from the shadows and blocked their path. Connor reacted instantly letting heat rays shoot out from his eyes on to the shape.
“Owww,” Connor yelled in pain, a second later. The heat rays had been deflected back at him and had hit his arm, leaving burn marks as they skimmed the surface of his skin.
Cassie pushed him back, behind her.
Her keen nose had already picked up the faint smell of ichor, the signature of the gods of Mount Olympus. This was no ordinary mortal here, not even a meta, this strange shape was surely a god.
“Who are you?” Cassie asked the dark shape in front of her.
“Ah, child, do you not recognize me?” The words were soft, the voice was dulcet – Cassie frowned. She had heard that voice before. It was familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
“Cassandra, daughter of Zeus, open your eyes and see for yourself. It is I, Aphrodite, and unless you acknowledge me now, prepare to lose the young hero you hide behind you,” the voice was more firm now as the shape dropped the hood that covered its head, and Aphrodite’s golden beauty was revealed.
No god then, but a goddess.
Stunned, Cassie knelt at once, her head bowed, saying, “Goddess, you honor me with your presence, how am I so blessed by a vision of you?”
Connor refused to kneel – so this was the famous Aphrodite. He could see why men would do anything she said. Aphrodite was a paragon of beauty and she oozed sex appeal. But Connor knelt to no one.
Aphrodite looked at the young couple in front of her and smiled. Young love was her favorite kind. Not that she was so old that she could not remember how it was to feel the heady glow of loving. Timeless she may be, but good loving was timeless too. And with a hero such as Connor, she might choose to experiment herself, explore his firm, young body, teach him thing or two….
Oh yes, she well knew that the hero did not acknowledge her, but Aphrodite held absolute sway over the kingdom of love. And Cassie was certainly her subject.
She shifted her gaze now to Cassie, still kneeling in homage before her and spoke, “Cassandra, I have need of you. Your sister refuses to acknowledge me and in doing so, incurs my wrath. You will need to aid her in remembering that I exist. Too long have I been content for her to be Athena’s champion. All beings must know love and suffer the pain of it or bask in the glory. You must choose now. Do you aid your sister to honor me or do you desist and in doing so, condemn her to a life with Hades? For Athena will not cross me in this and I have Zeus’ blessing.”
Cassie looked up, into the face of Divine Beauty and felt overwhelming love. Suffused with the glow, she said to Aphrodite, “Goddess, forgive me. Of which sister do you speak?”
At this, the goddess smiled. “Rise, young Cassie,” she said, “that we may speak more freely. Your sister, Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, is of whom I speak.”
Cassie wondered how she had gotten into this mess. But careful to keep her face neutral, she responded, “But Diana has attempted to find love – there has been…” Her voice trailed off, she didn’t want to share Diana’s secrets with Connor. Not yet.
Aphrodite smiled, “That boy with the golden tresses who thinks he is Adonis but fails miserably to match up? Or that dark, menacing man who thinks he’s the son of Hades? Neither are right for her. And neither would have worked. For Diana to know true love, she must first submerge herself, lose her very being and all that she holds dear.”
Cassie was quick to defend Diana, “But surely, Diana is all-loving and compassionate. There is no one who can love better than Diana.”
“But only when you can accept love as generously as you give it, can you truly know love. To love is not the same as to allow oneself to be loved. To be loved, you need to trust. To trust means you need to let down your defenses and let in loved ones. Being afraid of being hurt is being afraid of being loved,” said the Goddess now. Looking at Connor, she continued speaking to Cassie, “Look at the young man there, and think of the love you share. He is stronger, perhaps, than you, but allows himself to be loved by you. Do you not do the same with him?”
Cassie thought about Aphrodite’s words. Thought about the hurt she had felt when Connor had died. Thought about the uncertainty of allowing herself to let him close to her on his return. Of learning to trust him again. Of the incandescent glow she felt whenever they were together. Perhaps, Aphrodite was right. But she was a goddess, wasn’t she? It was easy to be right.
“How do you want me to help?” she asked Aphrodite. “I don’t know the first thing about playing match-maker.”
Aphrodite responded, “You’ve already begun to do that. I dispatched Hermes and my son Eros, a few days ago to send the thoughts to you. It was my divine will that the hero talks to Diana and you talk to the demi-god they call Superman. And that you have done.”
Connor was tired of being ignored.
Goddess or no, he was not going to stand by and allow Kal’s life to be taken over by a bunch of well-meaning but meddlesome women. He completely forgot about his own role in meddling in Kal and Diana’s relationship.
He spoke up, “Uhh…Lady Aphrodite…when I spoke to Diana…” his voice trailed off.
The look on their faces stopped him cold. Both were forbidding, but it was Cassie’s face that disturbed him the most. If looks could kill, if Cassie had been made of kryptonite, he would be dead, for a second time.
Connor learned something new. When two women are talking, don’t interrupt.
“I know what Diana said to you and I know what this Superman said. Each has responded as they will. Superman trusts Diana. Completely. Diana trusts Superman, as a colleague, as a friend, as the dearest man she knows. But has yet to learn to trust him as a woman. She does not let herself relax,” smiled Aphrodite at Connor.
Cassie just continued glaring at him.
Connor was uncomfortable. What had he done wrong? Why was Cassie glaring at him?
“Now, I charge you to be my champions. To help Diana understand that she cannot continue to deny me anymore. She must learn to love and allow herself to love. If Diana cannot do this, then she does not use the gifts that I have given her to their fullest. You must help her find the path. I leave Erato behind to help you,” and Aphrodite waved her hand.
A beautiful, shapely young woman materialized next to her. “She will be available whenever you need her, and be my sentinel on your course.”
Both Aphrodite and Erato disappeared.
Cassie turned to Connor, “You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? First, you show her no respect, then you want to tell her everything about Diana. And you haven’t even told me what she said.”
“But, Cassie,” responded Connor, “this is the first we’ve met since then. And you’ve not told me what Kal said, too.”
Cassie’s temper cooled down as quickly as it had simmered. Connor was right. It was just the aftermath of a celestial visit. Gods and goddesses always left this trail of discord behind when they left. “Well, Kal was very noble. He told me that the choice was with Diana. That’s not saying much. What did Diana say?”
“Well,” said Connor, “Diana told me that Kal was her best friend. And that really, more than that, was none of my business. At least that’s what I think she said.”
Cassie sighed. This was going to be difficult. It was a good thing Erato was there to help them.