Omorfia (Beauty)

I.

I know it, I have always known it. I have seen it in your eyes. The first time you laid your eyes on me, I knew you have loved me.

You are another of the victims of my treacherous looks. You loved me, you wanted me and you had me.

They thought that if I were married, my deceitful ways would come to an end; if not, they wished me to be disgraced-the Goddess of Beauty married to the ugliest Olympian of all-the idea, no matter how anyone would look at it, is absurd.

We were a spectacle, a sight to behold.  Everyone else would talk about us but I acted indifferently, I have plotted vengeance for each of them, and that was enough to ease my rage. You were tormented. Unlike me, your heart was pure. Day and night you sit in your forge and do your duty to drown all thoughts of everyone, of how they stared and whispered and condemned you.

You are ambitious, they say and still do. But I know all you want is to be accepted.

But my pride was hurt and my anger was directed at you. I would go off each night to sleep with gods and mortals alike but never with you. I would talk longer to every other Olympian than I would my own husband.

But I see your eyes each time I go, I see your face every time I would ignore you and it was full of pain. I know you did not deserve all that I have done. But I am perfidious, disdainful and I continued to treat you as I would a common mortal.

But still, you stayed by my side.

I am the Goddess of Love and Beauty. I am unfit for my title. If anything, you embodied it.

They call you the ugly and lame God of the Forge but they do not know that you were purer than all of them. I know, I can see it, I can feel it.

I remember when you were punished by father. You were only trying to protect your mother. Your mother who despised you the day you were born. But you loved her just the same and suffered in her behalf. How can anyone ever think ugly of you after that?

I have always known about every tear you shed. I have always known that you look with pain and longing at my ever retreating back. I have always known about the sleepless nights that you have fervently wished that I would come home.

I know that you would have struck Ares with all your might each time you saw him but you refuse to listen to your whims, because you thought of me, even if you ache inside.

You have always thought of me. I am selfish, conceited, and treacherous; I deserve no such love. I am the cause of suffering of many and I have tricked and lied and caused torment to everybody.

You have always spoken words of love and devotion, quietly, shamefully, if you would find me alone. And I chose to ignore you as your head bowed to further shame.

And I am sorry.

I am sorry for causing too much pain. I am sorry for crushing your heart and your confidence. I am sorry for all the hurt you feel. I am sorry because you deserve none of them.

You are clean, untainted. You are pure. Your beauty is not one they can see but your beauty is of the best kind.

Your beauty comes from your heart.

And in my sick and twisted life, that kind of beauty is the only thing I can hold on to, nothing else.

I have loved you the very first time I saw you. I looked on and thought, how could such a beautiful being exist? Next to you, everyone else fades in comparison.  I could drown in your eyes and be intoxicated by your scent. I have loved you and somehow convinced Lord Zeus to make you my betrothed.

You were not happy. The gods talked about us and I understand, you are beautiful and I am ugly. It is that simple. I was a disgrace to your name but I am selfish and I chose to stay with you. I know you act indifferently but I know you are hurt. They all perceived you evil; beautiful but evil, it was all they saw of you.

You are devious, they say that and still do but I know you are only afraid of getting hurt.

You, of all divinities, have seen pain unlike any other. You have seen emotional torment. They blame it all on you but I know you never meant all of it, all you wanted was to spread love.

I am the lame and ugly God of the Forge and I deserve it for my form is of a monstrous kind.

You are the Goddess of Love and Beauty and nobody else is fit to be called that but you.

I have always known that you never meant to hurt me. I have always known that you are angry at yourself and not me. That is why I stay by your side. I have always known that it does not please you to sleep with gods and mortals. I have always known you did not come home at night so you cannot see me and feel guilty about what you have done.

I remember the time a mortal stabbed your wrist. You were trying to save your son; you were keeping him from harm. You fled back here in agony and they had the audacity to laugh at you. How could anyone laugh at a mother’s love?

I would have rampaged and killed every god and mortal who ever touched you but then I see you and your eyes are sad and I do not want to add any more.

You ignore me but I know, you are protecting your name and I understand. I have given you such a predicament. I choose to speak of my love, even if it is indolent because somehow, I want to comfort you, to assure you that my love is pure. I did not want your body; I did not want your favors. You could hate me for eternity and I would still love you.

I love you because you are beautiful-both in appearance and your heart.

You act treacherous, disdainful. You take all the blame when mortals and gods alike are hurt by love. You take all the harsh words and malicious stares sent your way.

So I am sorry.

I am sorry because you are trapped as the wife of the ugliest of us all. I am sorry because I can do nothing to help you. I am sorry because I do not even have the courage to tell them that you have never wished for anything more than pure love. I am sorry I am lame and ugly and undeserving of you.

They may not know but I do.

You are clean, untainted. You are pure. Your beauty is one they can see as only skin deep but your beauty is of the best kind.

Your real beauty comes from your heart.

And I know that because of that I will never stop loving you.

 --

and here's chapter 16's preview for OUAFP:

Hades sipped on his goblet and leaned back on his chair and relived the moments that made him choke with self-loathing.

You have taken my love away.

I have made everyone suffer as I have. I did not touch you for him.

Everything she said felt like venom and yet, he saw, through her blind rage, all the pain hidden behind her eyes.

Agony.

What has he done? The full impact of everything he did hit him now. It felt like the flames of Tartarus threatened to engulf him. It felt like a giant just swung a full-forced blow on him. It felt like he was hit with a thunderbolt and yet, he had a feeling that even taking on such pains literally would not be enough. Nothing would ever be enough.

The sheer weight of his unforgivable actions blew him away. He has never been one to lose control, or fail or even feel regret. Yet, there he was, accomplishing those things that should be absent at the advent of his being the Lord of the Underworld.

But he was not stupid. He can never fully understand. He knew that. No matter how much he would loathe himself, how much worse he felt, he cannot truly gauge the anguish he has caused.

And it made him reel into self-contained and self-directed fury.

He closed his eyes and hoped for sleep.

Time for the dreaded notes for chapter 13!!!

1: ichor= sorta like the blood of immortals

2: Daphne= a nymph pursued by Apollo who turned into the laurel tree.

Pytis= a nymph who hated marriage but was pursued by pan, she disappeared into the soil

Syrinx=a nymph pursued by pan, she asked to be transformed to water reeds (pan’s instrument was

made of this to immortalize her memory and because pan thought the sound it made in water was great)

Klytie=she loved Helios but Helios didn’t, she waited for him everyday as he passed through the sky, she was eventually stuck in the ground as she changed to a plant.

Otus and Ephialtes=foolish giants who pursued Artemis and Hera, they killed each other by a trap courtesy of Artemis

There are probably a lot of other versions

 
here's ch. 14's preview (I've written some of it):

Chapter 14: Shadowy Silence

“Hades.”

The Dark Lord faced the source of the voice.

“Hecate.”

“I am not here to denounce you Hades.”

Hades nodded in understanding. Hecate was never one to condemn and brood over things past. Hecate was a goddess of actions. With Hecate, it was always solutions.

“I am here to tell you that if you ask for her forgiveness, she eventually will. She is willing to forget everything given enough time.”

“Will she?”                      

“You know she will Hades.”

“I am despicable. How will she ever forgive me?”

“Do not think so low of her. Her heart has endured, it still does but she cannot stay angry for long, especially not at you.”

“Why is that,” Hades asked with a humorless laugh.

“You have chosen her yourself. You know how pure her heart is and you know that she loves you too much.”

“I know,” he said, voice softer and his eyes more gentle.

“I can feel it,” the goddess of love said, her eyes looking out into the sky.

“What do you feel?”

“Unrest.”

“What?”

“A heart is full. It is too intense. It will have to….”

“What is it?”

“..release,” she said, eyes never leaving a cloud.

“I will go to her.”

“No.”

Demeter looked at her, face distressed and strained.

“I have to.”

--

“Marpessa!”

The elder goddess seemed stressed, her ancient eyes that have seen a thousand eons looked tired.

“Lady Hecate, what is it you need?”

“Where is Persephone?”

“I do not know my lady.”

“Come now, let us find her.”

A great crease in her forehead heightened the look of anguish the goddess was having. Marpessa knew something was happening. Something is wrong.

please go to Ch 12, the current chapter and review...thank you so much to all my beloved readers!

Prologue: Brush

I watch you from afar

Always from afar                      

Conspicuous yet subtle

And all too fragile

Always looking, never touching

Always looking, never touching

--                                                     

Her hair is pink. And everybody notices.

She is beautiful and graceful and lonely. And he sees her as she walks through the halls, as she passes him by the street, as she saunters with her head down, pink locks cascading over her face.

“Teme,” a blonde friend’s voice cuts through the silence, “what are you looking at?”

Raven hair sways as the boy with the onyx gaze turns his head in recognition. “Nothing.”

The blonde one sighs and plays with his food. “It’s her again, isn’t it?”

He doesn’t reply; a vague side glance is the only thing that says that he’s guilty. “Give it up, Sasuke. It’s pointless, ” another boy with an air of idleness speaks, arms extending over the table as he stretches in place.

“You think so.” It is not a question, merely a statement.  He sits still. “You…think so.”

Blue eyes meet brown and they share a look.

CRASH.

All eyes look to a man, apologizing to a pale girl on the floor, asking if he can help her. She shakes her head. No. He looks concerned so he reaches for her shoulder, meaning to hoist her up.

All eyes turn from the hustle bustle of lunch break to an interesting scene.

At the contact, she winces, as if in pain. Tears run to the corners of her eyes and she looks at the man, pleading, refusing. He releases her and looks confused.

She shakes her head once again, and then she slowly stands up as she gathers her things. As she faces him once again, she bows in gratitude, but her eyes remain dark.

Sasuke is at the edge of his seat, willing to stand up anytime. But no else does, no one else will help. Then Naruto placates him and Shikamaru shakes his head. He looks at them in abhorrence but he stays in place.

She walks to a table at the far end of the cafeteria. She sits alone. She is always alone.

Her clothes are the only things around her. They protect her from touch.

Because it burns and it hurts and it makes her want to cry.

One last longing gaze and he turns back to his food.

--

Her face was not meant to be hidden

Her eyes never meant to be blurred

Her skin shouldn’t have been so pale

Her stride was not meant to be slow

--

It is an accident.

He punches his locker in sheer frustration. His defective locker is keeping him from going to class on time. He kicks it, relieving the stress of having to walk in late as he enters class. And then, miraculously, it opens and he reaches for his books and almost crams them into his bag. He shuts it with a bang as he walks fast to his next class. He never runs. He doesn’t need to. He will be forgiven.

Because he is Uchiha Sasuke and he is intelligent and handsome. He is everybody’s pride. He can kill and nothing will change.

He walks fast, he walks faster. He reaches for a mint in his pocket as he turns his attention from the hall to his fruitless search.

He is walking too fast. And a feather-light touch grazes his shoulder.

He looks to his left and he sees her as she looks at him wide-eyed and he notices that her eyes are green and her lips are pink. She curls her arms closer to her body as she looks away from him and continues walking then she runs.

He stops and looks at her retreating back. He convinces himself that it is real.  It is their first contact. Shoulder to shoulder. Eye to eye.

It is vague and soft and fleeting. But it is their first contact.

It is an accident. It is just a brush. But it is still a touch.

--

I watch you from afar

I watch you from close by

Conspicuous yet subtle

And all too fragile

Always looking, with memories of an ephemeral touch

A lasting ephemeral touch

“My Queen,” Amus said as he curtsied,” A nymph is here to see you.”

Persephone’s expression must have varied considerably because Amus added, “she said she comes at your service my lady.”

“Then send her in Amus.”

Liasa walked in, half terrified, half-determined. She was not sure if this was the right decision. If the Queen was as cold as she thought her to be then she would be threading on dangerous ground by even mentioning that she was an acquaintance of Minthe.

She saw Persephone, and all her fears fled. Standing before her was not a merciless queen, but a monarch who smiled and graciously stood to welcome such a stranger as herself. It was because she can feel this queen’s pain, that all harsh words were drowned in her throat.

 
“Good day, young woman. What can I do for you?”

“Your majesty, forgive my intrusion but I am here because I am an acquaintance of Minthe.”

Persephone went slightly stiff but she beckoned Liasa to continue.

“My name is Liasa your majesty but I come for you, not Minthe.” This is it, no heading back now, she thought. “I came here to inform you of the suffering mortals.”

Persephone stepped down from her throne.

“Child,” she said softly, “I know.”

I think it will be posted some time on August whenever I finish writing and editing...good day and happy reading

p.s. Overprotected will be updated within the month...thanks for the 66 faves and 94 alerts....you guys are the best!

Summary: It was simply a dare but dares are stupid and they can lead to unexpected kisses, memories and all things in between. Who knew that after so long, they still had a connection? Then the prettiest girl is suddenly talking to the laziest genius; it could be trouble brewing or possibly...love? ShikaIno. AU.

Rating: K+

Genre: Romance/Humor

Link: Chapter 1

please drop by and review...it would really mean so much...thanks!

~ish