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CHAPTER 1
HOME, SWEET HOME
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CELESTE WAS UNSURE ABOUT her decision, even when she was standing right in front of the gigantic mountain. When she had left, so many years ago, she had promised herself she would never return.

That she would never have to see those ghosts of her past again.

But she clenched her fists and moved forward, the clouds her guide as she stepped on the path they formed, the tinkling of her golden bangles forming a melody in the air. She had to do this.
She had to.

For him.

When she set foot on the marble road, decorated with flowers of the richest colors on each side, she looked up at the gigantic palace in front of her. The white, intricate structure was a sight for sore eyes, built by Hephaistos himself, flecks of gold and silver twinkling in the rays of the sun. All around it were clouds, this marble path being the only way towards the silver steps of the palace she had spent so many years of her life in.

Here goes nothing.

Stepping inside the palace, the usual buzz of chatter and pure euphoria filled the air, ambrosia flowing as freely as water as she walked past the multiple gods that were standing in these halls. Few looked up, the sight of a new god at Olympus wasn't something new after all. The place was so huge it would have easily fit several thousand of them.

She walked straight ahead, following the steps of the spiral staircase. It was dotted with silver stars which seemed to have been plucked out straight from the skies and a small smile curled Celeste's lips up at the memory of Hephaistos working on the detailed art work.

At least she would be glad to see him.

When she was on the second floor, there were almost no gods to be seen. This level of the palace was only for the important, the heavy atmosphere of power easily succeeding in pressuring any curious eyes to leave.

It had been her home.

She walked the way towards the throne room with ease, a certain feeling of melancholy coming over her as she watched the halls decked with portraits and paintings. When she came across an empty spot on the wall, she bit her lip.

'Celeste?'

She would have recognized the voice out of thousands. It was a voice that had broken empires, one no man could ever resist.

'Aphrodite.'

She walked forward into the light of a mosaic window, an array of broken colors playing on her face. Long, luscious blonde locks fell around her, her face the epitome of beauty. Crystal blue eyes were filled with shock, an emotion Celeste had rarely seen Aphrodite show.

Hell, for all she knew the goddess only had two moods: amused and ready for seduction. Not like she ever had to do any hard work for it, there wasn't any man who would ever refuse her.

Troy having fallen was the perfect example of that.

'What are you doing here?' Aphrodite asked, closing the distance between them as her white gown swished on the floor,' I thought you were never coming back.'

As soon as she was standing in front of her, Celeste's facade broke.

Once, Aphrodite had been her best friend after all.

She quickly averted her gaze to hide her weakness, but Aphrodite had already pulled her into a tight hug. The familiar scent of jasmine and memories of everlasting love overwhelmed her, but she welcomed it.

'I've missed you,' Celeste breathed.

Aphrodite pulled back, gently, to watch Celeste's face.

'You still haven't answered my question,' she pointed out.

Celeste remained silent, instead looking at the empty spot on the wall again. As Aphrodite followed her gaze, her eyes softened.

'You used to hang there,' she said quietly.

'I used to be a lot of things,' Celeste said, before plastering a smile on her face,' but I'm fine now. Everything's fine.'

Aphrodite said nothing, her eyes still watching her with a certain sense of waryness.

'Alright,' she said,' I won't press you any further right now, but tonight, we're going to talk.'

Celeste was glad for the way Aphrodite immediately pulled her along, her gentle grip on her wrist as she walked straight ahead with the kind of grace no one could mimick.

'Where are you taking me?' she said.

Aphrodite didn't look back as she turned right in the maze of hallways, away from the light that spilled from the throne room.

'Dionysus is there right now,' she said,' you can't meet him like this. He will go insane.'

Celeste bit her lip, quietly going along with her friend.

'He searched everywhere for you, you know,' Aphrodite said,' when you disappeared so suddenly like that. Decades long, he's searched for you every day.'

She could hear the silent accusation hanging in the air between them, but didn't have it in her to defend herself. Immense guilt swallowed her all over again and for a moment, she felt like she couldn't breathe.

'Tell me one thing, Celeste,' Aphrodite said, stopping suddenly and turning around,' do you still love him? Because if it isn't him you have come back for, even I could only call that cruel.'

'I do,' she thought,' but I don't deserve him.'

'You're the goddess of love,' she said instead,' why don't you tell me?'

Aphrodite looked her into the eyes and Celeste was afraid they would spill all her secrets, all her pain straight into those crystal blues.

'You do,' she then said,' I know you do. But please do right by him, Celeste. I know it's rich coming from me, but even my cold heart has started to feel something after watching him search for you all these years.'

'Don't do that to yourself,' Celeste said, looking at the girl who had broken so many hearts in the name of love, only to have hers shattered as well,' you know you're a loving person.'

'Tell that to Ares,' she said bitterly as they walked into Aphrodite's room, a heaven of pink and white.

'What happened to him?' Celeste said,' the last time I was here you had a huge fight with him, but that was decades ago.'

It wasn't like anyone could have missed the fight. Ares' his screams had resulted into multiple wars, his anger in bloodshed all over the world as the shattered pieces of Aphrodite's heart were audible in her words.

As he had broken the heart of the goddess of love, so had the earth been ridden of warmth for several days, until he came back into her arms again.

'He's off fighting somewhere,' she said,' the usual. We haven't talked much.'

It was Celeste this time who hugged Aphrodite. No matter how cold the goddess may seem sometimes, love filled the air around her when she was with Ares, a warmth she only gave others brightening her eyes. She hadn't seen her like that with anyone other than Adonis before and when he had died, Celeste almost had thought her friend would never recover again.

But if there was anything Aphrodite possessed, it was strength. It had been that, not her usual allure that had attracted Ares to begin with. The god of war was fickle, aggressive to the point of being almost self-destructive and short-tempered, but he had actually been good around Aphrodite.

Her softness had managed to make the earth peaceful for years as he had found love in her eyes. So although Celeste hadn't talked to her friend in years, she had always been able to somehow keep up with her love life.

'It's war down there,' Celeste said,' it's the reason I asked. What has he done this time?'

'He called me selfish,' she spat out, arms curling around herself,' because I didn't want him to go on some stupid war journey again.'

'It's going to be fine,' Celeste promised,' you know how he is. He may leave, but he always comes back to you. Although he isn't here, his heart is yours, Aphrodite, you know that.'

'I can't,' Aphrodite said,' you should know how fickle the gods are. It's you who has left me alone too for years after all.'

Celeste opened her mouth to apologize, to say anything at all, but couldn't find the right words.

'It's alright,' Aphrodite said, straightening her back as she shook out her blonde waves,' I'm fine. I've shown enough emotion for the day, or for the rest of eternity if it's up to me.'

'You have,' Celeste said, a faint smile on her lips,' it's almost uncharacteristic.'

'You shocked me,' Aphrodite said,' I haven't been so startled since Hades abducted Persephone and then married the girl.'

'They suit each other,' Celeste shrugged.

'No they don't,' Aphrodite said, scrunching up her nose,' he's the king of the underworld. He couldn't have found someone less suited to be queen.'

'Speaking of queens,' Celeste said, breaching the topic she had been dreading all day,' where is Hera?'

'You're lucky,' Aphrodite said,' she's off blessing a few temples or something, you know, the usual boring obligations she does. It's just Hephaistos and Dionysus in the throne room right now.'

'I thought you couldn't stand being in the same room as him,' Celeste said, slightly happy at the thought of Aphrodite's ex-husband being here.

At least there would be another friendly face.

'That's because he still isn't over me,' Aphrodite said, before waving it off with a perfectly manicured hand,' you know I can't stand being in the room with almost all of Olympus, so it's fine.'

'So I'm assuming Zeus isn't here either?'

'No, he's probably off after some human girl,' Aphrodite said, disgust clearly visible on her face now,' or you know, whatever moves. The usual.'

Celeste released a breath she didn't know she had been holding and finally felt herself relax now it had been confirmed both Hera and Zeus were out. At least that was one confrontation she could avoid today.

Now it was time for the most important one though.

'Let's go meet Dionysus.'