The CAP... the continuing saga....
by Keleos
"Hello?" The sound bounced through the marble lined temple with only
it’s own echo in answer. Keleos tried again. "Hello? Anybody here?"
Again, she got no reply. The girl cautiously walked forward, looking about with large
eyes. She’d never been in this particular temple before and she was very unsure what
to expect. Like Mom always said, better to be onguard than to be caught offguard. Eyes
scanning the area around her, she continued forward towards the altar.
Pausing in front of the huge altar that dominated the room, Keleos called out,
"Yoohoo! Anybody home?"
As the echoes of her voice rebounded off the walls, Kel noticed a small door just
behind the altar. Perhaps that’s where everybody was. She hesitated only a moment,
the thought that maybe she shouldn’t be wandering into uninvited places in a
goddess’ temple flickering through her mind. But then she dismissed the idea. She
wasn’t leaving until she got to talk to SOMEbody.
Just as her hand closed on the knob of the door, a voice rang out like a shot.
"You there! Just what do you think you’re doing?"
"Oh good," smiled Keleos, "there IS somebody here. I was
wondering if you could..."
"You didn’t answer my question!" snarled the red-robed priest.
"What did you think you were doing?"
"I was looking for somebody," replied Kel, holding her temper remarkably
well.
"Who?" demanded the priest.
"ANYbody," shot back Kel. "There was nobody in here when I
entered, and I really need to..."
"You should not be snooping around in places you don’t belong,"
admonished the priest sternly.
"Look, uhh," Keleos paused, "what’s your name?"
The startled priest answered, "Herman."
Kel blinked. "Herman?"
"Is there something wrong with Herman?" demanded Herman defensively.
"Umm... not at all," answered the Amazon.
"It’s a good solid name," asserted Herman.
"Of course it is," nodded Kel. "Now look, Herman, I wasn’t
snooping. I called out several times, but nobody answered. I was just looking for..."
"You obviously didn’t call out very loudly or I would have heard you,"
sniffed Herman disbelievingly.
Keleos sighed, counted to ten, then counted to ten again, before she said, "I just
want to speak with Hera."
The priest looked at her in shock. Then burst out laughing. "You wanna see
Hera!"
"That is the point of my coming here, yes," said an exasperated Keleos.
Herman, by this time, had laughed so hard he’d fallen over. Sitting on the floor,
he was still laughing hard enough that tears rolled down his cheeks. "Oh that’s
funny."
"I don’t see what’s so funny about it."
"NObody sees Hera," chuckled Herman. "SHE sees you if she
chooses, not the other way around."
"Well, I don’t have time to wait for that. I need to see her now."
"Oh," Herman suddenly sobered. "You’re serious."
"Very," stated Kel.
"It’s... it’s... it’s just not done that way," stuttered the
priest.
Keleos sighed, "Well it’s about to be. You’re her priest... you must
know of SOME way of getting a message to her."
Herman continued shaking his head. "No, no, no... I can’t. You just...
don’t... no... it’s not done..."
Kel stomped her foot petulantly... and her temper simply snapped. With all her vocalist
training and years of practice of out-shouting her brother, she let out a scream of pure
frustration. Herman looked at her in horror and turned pale. Noticing this, the girl
calmed and began to apologize. "I’m sorry, Herman, it’s just that..."
"WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN HERE?" demanded a majestic voice.
"It wasn’t my fault, honest," quaked Herman, "I tried to tell
her..."
Keleos interrupted him. "I’m terribly sorry. I’m afraid I lost my
temper."
"You lost your temper?" a delicate brow arched. "In MY
temple?"
"Well, I was a bit frustrated, you see," explained the mortal girl. "I
very much wanted to speak to you and then your priest here said that..."
"You wanted to speak to me?" questioned Hera. "Why? If you’re here
to tell me Zeus got you pregnant..."
"Absolutely NOT!" yelled Keleos, desperate to head that thought off
before it could cause more trouble than even she could handle.
"Whyever not? Do you think you’re too good for Zeus?" anger blazed out
of Hera’s eyes.
"Now why would he want me, when he’s already got a beautiful, wise and
talented wife like you?" Kel pacified. She sighed inwardly, thinking that Hera was
just looking for a fight.
"Perfectly true," Hera preened a bit. "So why did you want to speak with
me?"
"Well, I’m not sure if you remember me," began Kel.
"I am a goddess!" boomed Hera. A crack or two appeared in the marble columns
from the force of the decibels flowing through the temple, and Herman scrambled unnoticed
under the altar. "I remember everything! Why wouldn’t I remember you? Are you
insinuating that I’m forgetful?"
"Not at all," replied the Amazon holding her ground. "It’s simply
that you’re a goddess, and I’m a mortal... why would you remember insignificant
little me?"
"Why indeed?" sniffed the queen of Mount Olympus.
"Well, if I may jog your memory," offered Keleos.
"It’s not necessary." In a sudden change of mood, a warm smile flickered
across Hera’s face. "You’re the little mortal that cured my headache when
everyone on Olympus was busy playing with those dreadful, noisy, smelly auto things."
Kel glowed with pleasure at being remembered so well. "Yes, that was me."
"Now why did you want to speak with me?" Hera asked in a tone that conveyed
both invitation and intimacy.
"Well, I need to ask a favor," Keleos started hesitantly.
"Why don’t you come back here, where it’s comfortable," smiled
Hera, leading the way to the door behind the altar. "We’ll sit on the pillows,
and you can tell me all about this favor you need."
Herman crawled out from under the altar and watched them disappear through the door arm
in arm. Shaking his head, he thought the combination of his goddess and THAT
specific Amazon did not bode well... in fact, it probably spelled disaster. He hurried off
to his quarters to pack. And possibly prepare for the end of the world.
Posted on Aug 05 1999, 12:29 AM
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