Fairytales Aren't Perfect

Prologue

Prologue

The Goddess of Love stood above her floating bowl of cotton-like time and stared down into the lonely faces of mortals. She felt so incredibly bored it wasn't even border-lining on funny.

                It was as though she'd been forced under house arrest; she was well past a million years old and Zeus had better realise that next time he decided to threaten her with one of his damn lightning bolts. She was even older than him! It wasn't like he was her father, no her father was just the original god of the skies! But had Zeus cared one bit about that? No. It was like she had to have been eaten by Kronos just to get a little attention around Olympus.

                She sniffed and glared down into the cauldron. Everyone was always looking down on her and it absolutely was unacceptable. She was the Goddess of Love! She was the essence of passion, her child was the founder of Rome! But did anyone care about that? No, they just couldn't let the whole Paris and Helena thing go.

                Romeo and Juliet flickered across the cotton fluff pouring out the sides of the bowl and she smiled and touched Romeo's face with the tip of her finger. Now Shakespeare had been a guy with the right idea. Who cares if he had killed his characters in the end, it had been awfully romantic! A forbidden love between two warring households. Suicide – twice! – Over the thought of never being with the one they loved.

                The scene flickered and it scrolled on to an image of a small blonde teenager sitting cross legged in her bed, a worn notebook perched in her lap as she scribbled away. Melody, the word caressed her mind like the wind. Her shirt was baggy and worn through, ugly tears peeking through the long sleeves near the wrists and elbows. Aphrodite bet that she was petite enough that if she had stood up her shirt would be a dress.

                Aphrodite studied Melody’s face. She had a small, dainty nose; wide rosebud lips the color of the sky at dawn, and eyes that just brewed with a heaviness better suited for someone older. The goddess smiled. She was perfect! Troubled and alone, and, she was a writer. They always turned out to be such tortured souls and the best ones for interesting romances

                Without further ado, Aphrodite reached out a slender hand and touched the girls face gently, closing her eyes and concentrated until her mind was accessible. It was always easiest, getting into the ones with romantic souls; the dreamers were simply more open to stranger possibilities, more open to magic.

                Entering her mind was like walking through a door of light, the warm glow of her thoughts thrumming with ideas, dreams and feelings. The strong flash burst and she was on the other side of the door standing in the hallway of a school.

                She could tell it was a school for one of three reasons; the lighting was terrible and even though she looked stunning in any light, terrible lighting just was unacceptable.

                Whispers made her turn around, a low male voice and then the giggling sound of a girl who seemed far too pleased. They were leaned against the lockers, his broad shoulders trapping her body to the row of metal rectangles.

                He was good looking, what Aphrodite could see of him. Strong chin and jaw line complete with high cheekbones and a broad forehead and cheeks that were stained with red from excitement. His hair was dark and had the superman curl thing going for him. His eyes were like two dark sapphires. He was like a dark haired Adonis.

                The girl however was hardly anything to look at, plastered with makeup - there was nothing Aphrodite didn't like more than the overdone look - and her shirt showed no adept to modesty on her stick-like physique.

                They hadn't noticed her yet, or the person who was walking down the hallway of the school. Who was looked very much like she wanted to disappear. Aphrodite squinted at the girl, there was something off about her. Her eyes were a spectacular shade of mossy green and her curls were barely bound by the hair elastic she wore, but there was something else there. Aphrodite cocked her head to the side, perhaps it was the tenseness lining her slender shoulders?

                Before Aphrodite could put much thought into the matter the girl tripped over her own feet. Perhaps it had been a tile that stuck up at the wrong angle or the shrill giggle the other girl emitted, Aphrodite didn't know. And didn’t care in the slightest to.

The goddess tilted her head to the side and watched as the boy’s eyes flash to where the girl had fallen. His eyes became hooded and cold, flashing with bitterness before he swooped in and captured the immodest girl’s lips with his own, companied by a fierceness that startled even Aphrodite. Something hard flared in the other girl’s eyes from her spot on the floor. Her hands were clenched, the nails leaving red welts in her palms in anger.

 Aphrodite smiled. What a story this would turn out to be!

                With the recklessness that often belonged to a child, the goddess made her presence known on the scene with a smile. Sashaying her toga-clad hips toward the couple who clung to one another; She would bet she looked like an angel come down to earth, or at least, into this girl’s head.

                She came stopped just in front of the boy, who was now turned and looking at her with a mix of uncertainty and bewilderment, but she could tell he found her beautiful, they all did. She flipped the loose tendrils of her hair over her shoulder with her hand, revealing the smooth creamy white surface of her skin. The boy’s eyes were immediately drawn to her shoulder before flickering back to her face. The corner of his mouth lifted and he stepped away from the girl and moved towards the goddess herself who was reeling him in with a smile.

                Something stirred in the scene and it frazzled itself around the edges and Aphrodite knew that the girl knew there was something wrong happening in her head and she was shutting down.

                She reached out as he came to meet her, something flashing in his dark blue gems. Aphrodite knew she couldn’t wait a moment longer without fear of exploding by the amount of magic that was currently pulsating through her veins.  It was amazing, the feeling that was bottled up inside of her, so much energy straining at every pore. Very little pours might she add.

Lifting a polished finger, she touched his chest and traced it down to his belly button, causing him to shiver.

Ian, the voice hummed in her head.  Aphrodite stepped closer until she was almost pressing her chest against his, feeling his heart rate fall in short crescendos.  Something stirred inside of him, changing him, releasing him, freeing him.

                "It's time to let your story begin," She whispered and smiled. The magic burst from her in a sudden spurt and she gasped, quickly falling back and away from the boy as if he had burnt her. She barely caught the look of surprise and pain that was etched onto the lines of his handsome face before she was thrown back with a hell load of force. She was spewed out the door to Melody’s mind and landed on her back on the cold floor of her temple.

Aphrodite moaned and rolled onto her side, rubbing her head as she put an elbow to the ground for support. A smile curled her lips at how different and light she already felt. And despite the queasiness that rolled in with the sudden release of magic nothing could dampen her mood whenever she began a new epic romance.

This was all just the beginning for Melody and Ian.