Home

CALLIOPE: There have been many times, my dear listeners, where I have left you on a cliffhanger and refused to return to it the next episode. And with me addressing this, you are likely thinking that this is going to happen again. Rest assured, dear listeners, I will not be doing that to you today. I will just be subjecting you to other scenes first.

Welcome, dear listeners, to Forged Bonds. 

We are spending a day with various couples, each in different stages of their relationship. To start, we shall take a visit to see Demeter and Zeus, everyone’s least favorite power couple.

DEMETER: I just don’t understand it is all, Zeus.

ZEUS: What is there to understand? Or to misunderstand? I’ve told you what the truth of the matter is.

DEMETER: I don’t understand why though. Plenty of people get divorced! And you and Hera aren’t even seeing each other at all anymore because she refuses to see you. I don’t understand why you can’t just end the marriage outright, it’s not as if it truly changes anything.

ZEUS: It changes everything, Demeter. Hera and I are the queen and king of Olympus, revered by mortals and other Olympians alike. If we fall apart, it creates a poor image of me, one that I cannot afford to have if I am going to go through with another wedding. 

DEMETER: Do you still love her? Is that what this is?

ZEUS: Of course not. Hera and I haven’t been in love in many, many years. This isn’t about her, Demeter, this is about making sure there are no questions of my power or control over Olympus. Do you really think I would’ve orchestrated an entire wedding to hide the fact that we were together if I still loved Hera?

DEMETER: So, what? We just keep dancing around the fact that all of Olympus thinks the two of you are still married and in love while sneaking around? I am not a dirty little secret to be kept, Zeus. 

ZEUS: No one is saying you are–

DEMETER: No, you just imply it every day by refusing to leave Hera publicly. Do you even love me, Zeus? Or have you just been using me this entire time, just like Hera said you were?

CALLIOPE: It will not come as a surprise to you that Zeus is very good at lying. He’s also very good at manipulating a situation to his advantage, even when it seems as though his upper hand has been lost. 

ZEUS: Hera would need to be the one to start the divorce proceedings. Otherwise it makes me look like a spiteful, terrible king who is ditching one wife for another. Hera knows this and won’t start them herself, leaving us both trapped in this horrid dance. If you can get her to start the divorce process, I would be honored to marry you. It’s unfortunate that Hera is keeping us apart like this, but not necessarily surprising. 

DEMETER: And you don’t think she would leave you? I mean, it would be for both of your benefit if she did! You’re not in love, why wouldn’t she–

ZEUS: It’s all a powerplay for her. She knows that we no longer need to be together, but she also knows that if she divorces me it will make her look bad. It’s easier for her to just run off and live with my brother than it is for her to take responsibility for her actions and start the process that will set us both free. Hera knows full well that my position makes me incapable of doing so and she wants to hold that over me. That’s all this is. 

DEMETER: So we just wait her out? 

ZEUS: If you can find a way to convince her to end our marriage, fine by me. But until the opportunity presents itself, I’m afraid we are stuck with sneaking around. 

CALLIOPE: Little did Zeus know, a potential solution to Demeter’s problem– and further cause of problems for Zeus– was beginning to grow as he spoke. We shall turn your attention to the beach this time, where Hera and Poseidon are currently sitting, watching the waves roll in. 

HERA: Gods, it’s beautiful out here!

POSEIDON: It really is, isn’t it? 

HERA: I can’t even remember the last time I saw the ocean. It must’ve been before I married Zeus.

POSEIDON: (appalled) That long? Gods, Hera, no wonder you seem so sad, you haven’t had the joy of the ocean waves washing over you in centuries! (pause) Not– Not that you seem sad, I just… Gods, why did I say that?

HERA: (laughing) I don’t seem sad, I am sad. Or I was. A lot has changed since Aphrodite and Ares got married; I think this is the closest to happy I’ve been in years.

POSEIDON: Hera–

HERA: Don’t apologize again, Poseidon. There really wasn’t anything you could do about it. For the longest time, I didn’t even know if I wanted anyone to do anything about it. Sometimes it felt like being trapped beneath Zeus’s thumb was what I deserved; it was my penance for having been foolish enough to love him in the first place. But now… Now I’m here, sitting by the ocean, knowing that I’m going to see my daughter later this week, doing all sorts of things Zeus never wanted me to do. Now I’ve left that dreadful house behind me and have found a place where I feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in gods only know how long. Now I’m free. 

POSEIDON: I’m glad you’re out of there.

HERA: I am too. 

POSEIDON: …I’m also glad you called.

HERA: (laughing) I told you I would! Did you really think I would just say that and never contact you again?

POSEIDON: (laughing) Well when you put it like that it sounds silly! (pause, then more somber) I guess I was just a little worried that you’d see me as another extension of Zeus. That’s what Hades thought when I went down there the first time, that I was just coming to do Zeus’s bidding. He apologized for that, and I’m not upset about it, I’m just worried. Worried that you’ll think that this is somehow Zeus’s doing when it’s really my own. 

HERA: You’re far too genuine of a person to be here on Zeus’s behalf. And besides, if that were really true, Hades never would’ve let things get as far as Demeter showing up in the Underworld. Hades trusts you, so I do too. 

POSEIDON: Is it really that easy though?

HERA: It can be. I’ve never thought poorly of you, Si. You were just Zeus and Hades’s little brother, a person I would see at a few parties and who always seemed kind enough to the people around him. Sure, there have been… Less great things in your past, but that’s true of all of us. That’s definitely true of me, so who am I to judge you for it? You’re here right now, being kind to me, trying to make me feel better after all of the shit that happened this year. That’s more than enough for me. 

POSEIDON: I wish I knew you better back then. Before you and Zeus got together and he did everything he did. You always seemed so cool, and then after everything with Zeus it seemed like he crushed a bit of your spark. He has a way of doing that, always has, even when we were kids. He thought I wouldn’t amount to anything, so I guess I just didn’t. I left to the ocean and thought that was better. Now I’m thinking it was just lonelier.

HERA: I know that feeling well. So does Hephaestus. The way you talk reminds me so much of her– I really should have the two of you sit down and chat at some point. I think you’d like her.

POSEIDON: Is she… I mean, I hope he couldn’t chuck his own kid off Olympus but I wouldn’t put it past him.

HERA: No, she’s not his. She’s all mine. I took a page out of Athena’s book and just… Wanted her so badly that she came from my mind itself. And of course Zeus didn’t like that, so he, well. You know what happened. (growing tearful) And then she left. Not right away, and not without reason, but she left. And I couldn’t even follow after her because it would be bringing everything she didn’t want back into her life. 

POSEIDON: Now you have the ability to leave and to see her, right? 

HERA: I do. And she’s just as wonderful as the day she left Olympus. (pause) You’re just as lovely as the day you left Olympus too.

POSEIDON: (flustered) I– What?

HERA: (laughing) I should head back, I promised Hades I’d help him with dinner. When you figure it out, you know where to find me. (pause) Thank you for today, Si. It was wonderful.

CALLIOPE: Hera walked back through the door that led out to the beach from the Underworld, smiling brightly as she went. Poseidon, for his part, sat there in a bit of a stupor for a moment before a matching smile found its way onto his face. 

POSEIDON: I need to call Sephie about this. She’ll know– She’ll just know.

CALLIOPE: The time has finally come to turn our attention to where we left our story last week. I did promise you a return this episode and I thank you for bearing with me through the lead up. You’ll see why we didn’t lead with this in just a moment.

ARES: (calling out the door) Don’t forget to text me when you get home! (door closes) Alright, Aph, what’s up? You sounded… Not troubled, I guess, but a little worse for wear over the phone. And you made Hermes go home, so I know it’s serious.

APHRODITE: How did you know?

ARES: About what?

APHRODITE: About Hermes.

ARES: Oh. Oh. Oh, Aph, are you–

APHRODITE: (exasperated but fond) Just answer the question dipshit.

ARES: We had been talking and, I don’t know, I guess I was beating myself up a bit. It was… It was a weird time, that’s all. But Hermes wouldn’t stand for it, he tackled me and held me in his arms and I looked up at him and it just… It just clicked into place. Everything I had ever felt about him fell neatly into one section of my brain and I just… I knew that I loved him. I could feel the fact settling into my heart, his name beating in time with my pulse as if it always had been. Then I came home and I told you and… And now we’re here.

APHRODITE: (softly) And now you’re here.

ARES: Dite, did something happen?

APHRODITE: I was talking to Hephaestus and, I don’t know. She was doing the same thing as you, beating herself up for no reason, and as I was talking I could just… I could feel something growing in my chest, trying desperately to claw its way out. And then as the words finally left my mouth I felt that connection firing in my brain and all I could think about was….

ARES: Was?

APHRODITE: I really, really care about her. In a way that makes me want to make our relationship different. That makes it feel like our relationship is already different.

ARES: Good different or bad different?

APHRODITE: Good different. Not better or worse, just different. I… I might be in love with her, Air. I don’t know– I never thought– I don’t know what to do with this, I wasn’t prepared–

ARES: I think you of all people should know that love can just happen. It isn’t always fated, it grows with people. You’re not required to do anything with the feeling.

APHRODITE: I think I might want to. But I don’t… I’m just not sure.

ARES: I think this is the kind of thing you should be sure about, Dite. Nothing has to change, not unless you want it to.

APHRODITE: It just feels so… I don’t know. I want to hold onto her and just… never let her go. I want her in my arms with me at all times and I’ve never felt this way before about anyone or anything. Is this how you feel?

ARES: About Hermes? Oh yeah. I was with him all morning and he just left but I already miss him. It’s like a physical ache of knowing he’s not here with me, that I can’t just grab his hand and be connected to him. He’s my person. Or one of my people, at least, since you’re also my person; best friends no matter what and all that.

APHRODITE: I’m already gonna cry, Air, you don’t need to make me even more emotional. Gods, I don’t know how you did it. Just running to Hermes once you realized like it was the easiest thing in the world to do. I’m terrified right now, Air. I’m terrified I’m going to mess it up and lose my friend or that it will be good and I won’t be able to handle it. 

ARES: Have you considered that you deserve good things? 

APHRODITE: She’s not just good things though. She’s… I’m the first friend she made in centuries. If I ruin this for her– I can’t handle that, Air. I’m not like you, I can’t just run headfirst into the scary thing and pretend that it isn’t scary.

ARES: It’s gonna be okay, Aph. You don’t have to do anything, not now, not ever. 

APHRODITE: And if I want to?

ARES: Then we can figure out the way forward for you. For right now, I think the best thing you can do is just. Talk about it. It can help to get the emotions out of your head and into the world.

APHRODITE: What, just sit here and tell you about my crush like some kind of mortal preteen? 

ARES: Yup.

APHRODITE: You’d really do that for me?

ARES: Aph I literally married you. This is hardly a hardship, especially compared to the things that we’ve been willing to do for each other. You’d kill for me, I’d marry you for less annoying press coverage, you’d divorce me to let me be with the man I’d love, and I’d listen to you talk about Hephaestus. These are the kinds of things we do for each other, Aph. And it’s an honor to be able to help my best friend the same way that she helps me.

APHRODITE: I love you so much, you know that right?

ARES: I love you too, Aph. So. Tell me about her?

APHRODITE: Yeah, alright.

CALLIOPE: And that, my dear listeners, is where we shall close this chapter. We are halfway through this section of our story, if you can believe that. I most certainly cannot, but as your humble narrator it is my duty to provide you with the facts. For now, I will leave you with thoughts of budding romance and parallelism. Until next time, and as always, thank you for listening.