love is Just a game of chess

CHAPTER ONE-THE FLASH BACK

She looked at the mirror that morning, admiring her fairly white skin that almost looked pale, her well-defined asymmetrical face, her quite seductive eyes that looked like a lioness who had just seen her prey, her shaped lips that had a radiant blend of pink, slight purple, and a nude brown. Her well-defined cheekbones were accentuated by a hint of pink on her cheeks that made it look like a blush; her eyebrows were well-shaped with her long eyelashes and her pointed nose. Each part of her body complemented the other, but her hair had an undefined color. It was like the name of the color never existed. It looked like pink but wasn't pink, a pigment of red but didn't quite look like red, a slight resemblance to brown but wasn't exactly brown. Her hair had a color that even she, herself, did not know what it was.

She picked up her comb to comb her hair. While combing her hair, which was almost knee-length, she suddenly had a FLASHBACK.

Her mother sat her down in front of the mirror and began to comb her hair. Then, she asked her mother why her hair was this way. Her mother had once told her it was because she had a very special power, but she didn't see it that way, or maybe she didn't understand what her mother meant by she was special.

"Mother, may I ask you a question?"
she said to her mother, curious to know whether her mother would have a different answer to her question this time.

"Yes, my darling, go ahead, you may ask," her mother said.

"Mother, why can't I be like every other person in the kingdom? I mean like every other child who learns about the gods and goddesses, why do I have to always learn about fantasy stories like Cinderella, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and other princesses? Why can't I do the things others do, why am I always locked up in the palace?" She asked her mother. She was shocked at the way she blurted it out, but it didn't matter; all she wanted to know were the answers to her questions, and yes, she was tired of hearing it was for her safety and that when the right time came, she would understand.

"Aphrodite, my love, I guess the right time has come for you to know why you are subjected to so many things," her mother told her. She told Aphrodite to come sit beside her on the bed, and then her mom took a deep breath before she began to talk again.

"Who am I other than just your mother, the queen of the kingdom of universal power?"

Aphrodite began to think because she only knew her mother by these titles, what else could her mother mean? She remembered once when her aunty had told her a story of a queen who was a goddess, and her aunty told her that in this kingdom and beyond, they are all gods and goddesses, but she didn't quite understand what that meant, and her aunty said to her, "When the right time comes, you will understand."

"You are a goddess?" Aphrodite said in uncertainty.

"Yes, I am a goddess, but not any kind of goddess. I am the goddess of reasoning, wisdom, and unknown knowledge. I am still the goddess of everything, it's just that I have the gift of wisdom," her mother said to her. Aphrodite was confused but tried to mask her confusion.

"My love, you see, in the realm we live in, we are all gifted and talented, and you, my dear, you are very special, more than you can imagine. You see, Aphrodite, we have many realms, but each one is a player of the game."

"But mother, what game could that be? Is it a game of hide and seek or the game of asking a question? Mother, what is my gift or talent?". Aphrodite found this information fascinating, and it was way better than all her other stories on princesses or fantasy.

Her mother seemed to be doubting her decision. It was more like she was contemplating whether or not to tell Aphrodite. She hesitated before she replied, "It is a game of chess."

Aphrodite tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help but laugh. She could not see the sense in what her mother had just said; for a moment, she thought that they should have named her mother the goddess of jokes instead of wisdom.

"Aphrodite, I am serious. Every kingdom is on a mission to capture the other kingdom's King, and when they do so, everyone in that kingdom either becomes slaves, they could be killed, or even suffer, and so many things you would not want to imagine." That is why they say, "LOVE IS JUST A GAME OF CHESS."