Aides (COMPLETED)

Sixty Four

Kore
(Still disguised as Hera)

How did I find that blasted room last time? I vaguely remember the night: Aides had just captured me as his prisoner and I was desperate to find an escape.

Was it a brick wall?
No!
Maybe it was a secret handle?
Or maybe...
Shoot! I could not remember how I found those stupid fates last time.
I remember it was in a hidden room of some sort? Of course! I remember now!
It was a desolate room that appeared if one was depressed enough. I had to be sad to allow it to materialize.

I walk the hallways before purposely collapsing to the floor in anguish, pretending to cry emphatically. "Oh! I cannot believe Zeus cheated on me again" I sobbed, throwing my palms to my eyes. I pretend to be visibly upset, letting fake tears stream down my eyes, and in a matter of seconds, exposed brick appears by the wall, forming a path into a secret dark tunnel.

I snatch a cone of fire from the wall, using it to guide my path into the darkness. Further and further I ventured, finally walking into an open enclave of potions and brews. The three fates are in the middle of the room,  skipping around their cauldron bubbling with a brew of some sort.

"With this thread, Clotho spins; the promise of life to no life's end.
Lachesis the precise is my name I say, measuring the length of thread at bay
Cut, cut, cut, Atropos says she, cutting the thread of life to be. 🎵"

The three of them danced around the black pot, allowing the smoke of the cauldron to rise to the ceiling.

"You three sound worse than when I last saw you" I interrupted them, forcing them to shift their attention on me.

"Hera!!!" They screamed in the jubilee, running over to skip around me.
"Look how beautiful you look!" The oldest named Clotho gasps.
"Your eyes shine like emeralds Hera" the shortest curses with jealousy.

"That is enough!!" I snapped, lulling them to complete silence. "If I needed insignificant praise and admiration I would go to my husband" I smirked, fluffing the end of Hera's perfect packer curls.

These three sisters were quite tiresome. Now I remember why I hated coming here.

"So what brings you here Hera" Clotho smirks, mischief filling her features.

"Yes, Hera! Need another potion for Zeus to stop his philandering ways"

"Like that worked in the past" I muttered beneath a tired breath.

"Or need to see into his future? Or perhaps...yours?" The shortest hinted. The three sisters still skipped around me, still high off of whatever potion they decided to sniff.

"No, none of that. And stop jumping around! You know I get motion sickness." They ignored me, still skipping and jumping.

"I need to know the plan"

"The plan," they all said in unison. Their skipping stopped abruptly.

"Yes you know, the plan. Where I ...you know? With that stupid flower girl"

If the silence in the room could engulf me, it would. The three sisters sized me up, their eyes scanned my features carefully.

"Why?" They went to the cauldron to continue stirring.

"To make sure there are no gaps or faults in the successful completion of the plan.
Everything must go perfectly before Eris's wedding. And to be honest...I have some doubts"

They looked at each other and started their bothersome skipping.

"What a tangled web of lies we weave.
Self-doubt on Eris's eve.
The goodness of beauty blessed with brains
But factors outside her control are or no domain🎵"

"Hurry up!" I shouted, cutting them off before they could go into their second stanza. I still had a dinner party to attend with Zeus.

"Anything for you Hera. "

Shoot!
Why did they emphasize my name like that? Did they know?

They pushed their wrinkly hands in the cauldron before reciting their incantation.

"A specious of Icy dust!" Clotho pulls a puff from her black cloak and throws it in.
Lachesis runs to the shelf filled with dried Knick knacks and pulls a bottle from the highest shelf. "A wing of a bat, filled with rage"
"And the incandescent light from the star of darkness" Atropos shouted, throwing a bright light into the black stew.

BOOOOSH!

The cauldron flings it's juices and thick smoke into the air. A hazy cloud filled with rough images of a scene painted within it.

Clotho, the mouthpiece starts her vision."I see Eris, goddess of mischief transforming into Hera.
What's this? She goes to the three witches! Us!
We think it to be Hera but it is really"

"ERIS!!!" The three sisters scream in shock. It seemed as if Eris tricked the sisters too.

"Hmmm... doesn't feel so nice being fooled" I play along. I knew Eris and Hera were in cahoots together. But that is something the three witches did not see in the vision.

"Eris disguised as Hera? But why?" Clotho fumed.

"Why would Eris transform into Hera? It would be useless to try and deceive the sisters of fate?
No...No, she had something more to hide." I started planting my seeds of doubt. The sisters frowned in silence, looking defeatedly at the pot. I was so consumed with taking relish in their grief that I failed to realize one sister had slipped away.

"OUCH!" Atropos plucked my hair and tan to the base of the cauldron. "I got it sisters!!" She screamed dropping the curly strand into the hot brew.
I couldn't even sell my innocence. With one stir the cauldron would reveal who I truly was.

Kore! Kore! We knew it was you Kore!
We knew you couldn't stay away!🎵"

"Must you three sing everything!" I couldn't help the eye roll that followed.

The cauldron glowed green now and they skipped around it. My past life and was in full display, showing my fights with my mom and the time I spent on earth.

"So what now? You caught me! But may I remind you, you three deceived me as well? Remember that slick little move with the sword of Elesium?"

They pretended to be sad, covering their faces to cry "oh... whatever will we do!" They chuckled, relived Aides had no link to their involvement with my demise but little did they know...

"Shame what Aideoneus will do when I tell him of your involvement. He banished me to earth and I was his love. Imagine what he will do to you three" I sighed, skipping to the shelf full of potions.

"Ha! He will never believe you! You are an irrelevant flower nymph who was banished to desolate earth" Clotho scoffed, staring at me in spite.

"You are right" I pretended to pout, throwing my head down until I picked up a mirror on the last shelf and looked at my reflection. "Aides would never believe me...Hera. Goddess of beauty" I wipe each corner of my lip. Reminding them of my new appearance. I was not Kore no more.

"What to do? What to do" I tapped my perfectly manicured finger against my chin.

They twirled their fingers nervously, looking at my unique transformation. Maybe the switch to Hera would prove more beneficial than I believed.

"Kore" the skinniest stuttered.

"Huh? Who is that? I am Hera" my smile was almost wicked. They remained silent, shifting from one foot to another.

"So now that I know you three had a hand in this whole plan to not only have me killed but the reigning ruler of the realm, you three will help me"

"Or what!" Clotho spat. I lifted my finger, twisting their spines with my power.

"Ahhhhh!! Ahhh!!"

I let them go, allowing them to drop to the floor.

"You...you..."

"I suppose you didn't see that in your little black cauldron" I smiled bending down to meet their eyes. They cowered together to protect their bodies from my powers; they looked more fearful than before

"Now, here's what's going to happen"