In this reimagining of the Myth of Sisyphus, the King of the Underworld is trapped in the mortal realm, leaving the world in an unprecedented predicament; only his queen will do whatever it takes to free him from his past demons and save humankind.
...
Amphitrite did not know the meaning of the word grudge. She didn't have any against her designated husband, Poseidon, after the suffering she had to put up with him. Nor was she angry at Hades over the death of Leuce or at Zeus for the disappearance of Metis; her tears were just the expression of her sadness for not being able to see her two sisters anymore.
She felt the same over the young Pallas' demise, Amphitrite, who was the first to forgive Athena against her own son Triton's grudge.
Just like she couldn't be upset at Demeter any longer.
Swimming nearer, Amphitrite's head broke through the peaceful undulation when she floated to the surface. Between the sea and the sand, Demeter was there, sat on a rock. The ocean was a mirror to her subconscious, with its never-ending waves to its tiny ripples. A place where she contemplated each disturbance of the water hitting against her legs, like she witnessed the different state of her own ache slowly devouring on her soul.
With a quick snort, Amphitrite took a deep breath and climbed over the rock, her arm resting over Demeter's shoulders.
"I looked at my father's kingdom once when I was little, wondering if there was an end or a beginning to all of this, but it's like chasing your own tail, isn't it?" Amphitrite smiled near an absent-minded Demeter. "Poseidon told me you were here, so I came to apologise to you." Her last sentence, though, caused Demeter to look away, only to see Amphitrite's pained expression as she then placed her shaking hands over those of Demeter. "I would do nothing against your own will. I love Daeira as if she is my own, and I want the best for her, just like for every one of my children."
Demeter's chin quiver at the sincerity of Amphitrite, and she took her right into her arms. "It's not your fault!" She sniffed, causing tears to roll down from Amphitrite's cheeks. "Please don't cry; my tears were enough for the two of us. I know you meant well for Daeira."
"Then what is it?" Amphitrite asked, detangling herself from Demeter's embrace. "I promise I will never teach Daeira about your past; I will ban all those lessons from her books."
Demeter only shook her head at the offer, her lips pressing together until it became only a fine cut over her skin.
"Do you remember when you shared with me of your ordeal with Poseidon?" Amphitrite nodded in answer to Demeter's question. "This is mine; I never got over it." Looking up, Demeter tried in vain to slow down the descent of more fresh tears from her already puffy eyes. "Sometimes in my sleep, I can still hear my cry and feel my own body being ripped apart. From Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, I, and Hera, none of us never talked about it, but I know deep down inside they are all hurt like I am."
The confession took a toll on Demeter as she felt herself losing ground to reality. Drown into her sudden outburst of tears, her hands covered her face with her chin stabbed into her chest and she grasped louder for air. All Demeter could now say was just a series of mumbling sorries, as if she were the perpetrator of the wrong committed against herself.
It was sad to see, aching to even believe that the great Demeter couldn't even make the difference between being a victim and her guilt at being hurt.
Amphitrite, Queen of Heart, Goddess of Mercy, couldn't help but to allow the broken Demeter to lay her head on her shoulder, and she stroked the back of her head, nurturing her back into life again.
"Don't you dare to cry, Demeter!" She paused between two shushes. "I will give everything I have to be able to exorcise the demon that haunts you. I even wish I could take the agony on my own shoulders instead of yours. You were born strong, Goddess of Harvest; always remember that."
"I'm not, believe me!" Demeter backed away from Amphitrite with her body curled tighter on herself. Engulfed into her suffering, she became a hermit crab concealed into a shell bigger than herself, a goddess born with a vulnerable heart who hadn't yet found her armour and she shook her head. "Not as strong as you are, I almost killed all the mortals because my daughter Persephone has been taken away from me, while you lost two of your own sisters, and you harmed no one in grudge. You had been sentenced to live with a man who doesn't love you, and despite everything, you turned the situation in your favour by being one of the most respected queens, reigning in equal with your king."
Only a sob now echoed deep down into Demeter's fortress of flesh, causing Amphitrite to knit her eyebrows in a powerless sympathy.
"You even taught your unique vision of life to everyone you reached. Just now, you barely know me, and you were ready to take all my sufferings on you."
"You think I'm strong, Demeter?" Amphitrite rolled her shoulders. "I couldn't even stop my father from marrying me to someone I didn't choose. No one ever asked the Great Demeter to become the consort of anyone; you live as a free goddess, going anywhere you pleased. Persephone loves and respects you dearly; Triton can't even stand my sight." Amphitrite giggled in bittersweetness. "This is the real me; I just move along with the waves like my mother always taught me because we can't do any better than this as Aquatic Deities."
While listening to Amphitrite, Demeter slowly unfolded herself, realising the Queen, she had put up on a celestial pedestal, was no different to her. The fact the woman could be envious of her life broke all the images she had conceived in her mind.
Amphitrite wasn't inaccessible.
With a hand stretched, Amphitrite lifted Demeter up on her rock, and they now both stood up tall over the ocean floor. "You are so much more than I could ever be; I can now see why Poseidon loves you so much."
Amphitrite felt sucked into the myth of Demeter, in the likeness of a frustrated Artemis who fell for Orion's gentle touch. Their hearts harboured secrets to stories that they could only express in agonising cries from their stitched mouths. Tales told sometimes in rivers of tears or other times with just caresses. After putting back one strand of Demeter's hair behind her ear, Amphitrite's hand wiped a tear off Demeter's face before lingering into a stroke until a kiss landed on the lips of Demeter.
... She loved her not at all.
With a shudder and widened eyes, Demeter instantly shoved Amphitrite away from her. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she could no longer cease to wipe her mouth before diving back into the ocean, abandoning the heartbroken Amphitrite.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
