Marble Duo
Part 1
In the far away kingdom of Cyprus, there was a very beautiful and quiet king named Heero, who spent his waking hours devoted to creating statues of the gods and goddesses. He never knew of love and never imagined to experience it for Aphrodite was upset at him.
The great goddess of love scorned the young man for he couldn't produce a perfect likeness to her in the cold marble stone. She would whisper in his ears that the stone was too cold, the nose was not thin enough or the thigh was not shapely.
So Heero would brood over his project, smashing the inferior stone to a fine powered and then tried to resurrect another.
Finally his day came as he put the finishing touches before the invisible goddess, his eyes were red with tiredness and his hands ached of the fine details of the fine hair that spin around the body and the smooth flesh of the sea fair skin.
The young king felt wan as he sat on the floor to admire the towering goddess. Aphrodite smiled with satisfaction that a mortal that never saw her could produce such a fine work that could be more beautiful then herself. She slipped her hand over his eyes as he went straight to sleep. "Young King, I shall give you one wish by the power of the gods. Anything you want, you may have it." Her ocean eyes looked down at his smooth sharp face and the bare strong arms. She lifted up a tendril of sea foam hair to brush across his face as he murmured in a soft voice. "Love." His voice whispered across his fine pale pink lips. Salty tears fled her eyes as she looked at the simple creature. No thing ever sent such emotion, so he should deserve the best. "Your wish is my command." She laid upon his forehead a gentle kiss that felt like the flutter of butterfly wings and she disappeared into her light.
Awaking on the floor, Heero's servants were around him trying to rise their master. "Sire, you wake! Joy to the gods that you are safe with us." Rubbing the sleep from his deep blue eyes, he looked around the room for his stature that sat proudly in the window, facing the rising sun. "I must have been tired, for I surely do not remember moving the statue." "She was there when we rose." Heero just stared at it in disbelief, "Strange things the gods chose to be."
~*~*~
Aphrodite looked around the kingdom for the perfect bride for the young king, but none had enough virtue, or not kind enough. Others were too spiteful or proud and that wouldn't do the mortal good. Sure she didn't mind setting people up for fun and just letting them beat each other into love, but this was special, Heero was special.
He spent month's alone working on the little gift for her and asked for no help, nor did he just throw the hammer and give up. He kept going, and that caught the goddess's eye.
No one had what it took in her opinion; not even a god would do Heero justice. No one. He was destined to be alone. She began to feel the tears coming out of her eyes again, but out of sorrow that her promise would be broken.
Around her, she felt the soft hands wrap around her body. She looked up to her lover's eyes. "Why does love cry?"
She sniffled as Aries kissed the gentle tears, "I failed. I promised a King a lover and I couldn't find anyone. Not a single soul is worth a grain of salt to him, not even me."
Sighing softly in the goddess's hair, "Well, why is this human so special?" "He gave me something. Come see it!"
The blonde began to smile at the thought of the gift, but her heart still hurt that she couldn't repay him.
~*~*~
The light tapping of the immortal's feet fell on deaf ears as Aries looked at the window.
The pale moonlight shed it's light onto the statue, making it seem as if it was alive itself, making the dark eyes of the god of war to shimmer. "I have an idea. He could make his own lover so then both of you would be happy." Looking up to the god and then to the statue, she hugged his neck tightly; "Yes! That would work! I could ask Somnus to make Heero dream and he would make that statue!"
The pair went off to the Cave of Sleep where they executed the plan, now it was up to Heero to finish it.
~*~*~
From his fitful slumber, Heero thrashed about in his bed, knocking away the large pillows placed around for decoration and throwing away the large silken sheets.
The dream was awful and harsh; a man with a long snake wrapped around his throat pinned him to the bed. He felt the hot breath and the slippery tongue of the snake across his naked chest as the man touched his sex with a soft cold hand. The large dark eyes peered at him through the dark long lashes, filling him with dread that he may be killed or worse by the horrible creature.
Leaning down closer and closer to his face, Heero felt the serpent slide down to his stomach and react to its owners movements and travel back to his face. Lips pressed against his ear and with the most soothing voice he heard; "Set me free."
He awoke in a pool of his sweat, shaking from the dream. 'What could it of meant?' He looked at Apollo's chariot beginning its run in the sky, and put the large robe around himself.
Heero sat on the large couch and rubbed his temples gently. 'Why would something that has me captive want to be set free. Is it a prisoner? I wonder.'
A knock on the door relieved the young man of his musings, "Yes?"
"A new pillar of marble came in for you sir."
Scrunching his eyes, "I wish to make no more statues. I am tired of it." He got up to storm to the carving room and break apart the cold stone.
Servants ran to the other side of the hallway as they saw their master's eyes a flame with furry and hoped it wasn't with them. Others hid behind plants because they never saw him so upset.
Throwing back the curtain to the room, Heero eyed the large quarried block and raised his hammer about to strike when something faint whispered from the back of his mind.
"Set me free."
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