perfect_wife (perfect_wife) wrote in olympian_rewind, @ 2010-11-15 12:29:00 |
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Entry tags: | demeter, hera, june marris, madeline scott |
Who: June (Hera) and Madeline (Demeter)
What: Confrontations and confessions.
Where: Jube Hotel
When: Recent
Warnings: Hera is a cruel bitch? Maybe?
She hadn't intended on placing herself in front of the entrance of the Jube Hotel, but somehow Demeter's schedule for the day took her in the general area of her brother's former place of business. Once there, it seemed almost as if she were running on autopilot, combination of nostalgia and longing moving her as she went inside the elegant establishment. As she stood silently in the lobby, memories replayed themselves in her mind. Some good. Some painful. All involved him.
Out of sheer morbid curiosity, she went over to the front desk, where a man she'd never seen before stood working. "Excuse me," Demeter said quietly. "But does Trystan Jube still have his offices within this hotel?"
The desk clerk shook his head. "I'm sorry, but Mr. Jube passed on over a year ago."
It was the answer she expected. "I see. Thank you, sir." She began to turn to leave, wondering why she continued to torture herself like this. She knew he was dead. So why did she still look for him?
As he spoke, a blonde, well dressed woman stepped from the office space to the side of the desk through the open door, a number of papers within her hands. Her focus was on the desk clerks, a frown coming upon her face at the answer. "My husband only died earlier this year, Tyler. Do not make his life shorter than it was." As the clerk muttered some apology, June was already looking away to the woman who had asked. "Is there something that you need?" she asked, polite if slightly stiff with the question, not yet recognizing who it was that had asked.
Husband? That single word set off all sorts of red flags and warning sirens inside Demeter's conscious mind. She paled considerably despite herself as she looked at the woman who had been her enemy and rival in ages past, and was quite possibly one of the last people in the world she wanted to be near. "No," she said hastily. "I... was just curious. Sorry to disturb you." She took several steps backwards before turning to head towards the exit. She couldn't remember having seen her younger sister since The Fall, even when she lived in Miami those years ago. She hoped that Hera wouldn't recognize her.
The nervousness brought Hera up on instant alert, the woman's face seeming vaguely familar, as if she had seen it some place before. Mixed together she immediately wondered if somehow this was another woman her husband had knocked up and walked away from. "Wait," she said, then took quick steps to follow after her. Now was the time for the charm...
Moving to stand before the stranger, she held the papers casually in her hands and smiled slightly. "I am June Marris, owner of the Jube hotels after my husband's death." She searched the other's eyes, trying to place her, looking for the clue. "Did you know my husband personally?" she asked politely, her tone slightly forced, perhaps as a widow still in grief.
Her escape route abruptly cut off, Demeter couldn't help but meet the gaze of the woman Zeus ultimately always loved and chose above all others, despite how he had professed to love her as well. She met Hera's gaze for a moment, then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I really don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry for your loss, but I really need to leave." She tried to sidestep her way around the one blocking her path.
June stood still, allowing the woman to leave, even as the sense that she should know her was right there, on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to say something sharp, to grab the woman's arm and force her to tell the truth, but she restrained. Turning she caught the woman in profile, and a name immediately leaped to her lips. "Madeline." She held still, seeing if the other would look or not.
Demeter stopped and stood stock still for a moment at the sound of her mortal alias. Hera might as well have grabbed her arm, it was just as effective. She glanced over her shoulder and looked at her sister, eyes flashing green before returning to their disguised brown hue within a blink.
Hera raised an eyebrow, and slowly walked toward her sister, watching her carefully. She'd caught the flash of color, and was now putting together a hint better just who she was facing. Once she was at her side, Hera gave Demeter a once over, then smiled slightly. "Would you like to come to my office and have something to drink? Or eat perhaps? We can have room service bring something by."
"Thank you, but no," Demeter said politely, though her expression and body language were extremely guarded, almost as if she expected a physical or verbal attack to strike her any moment now.
"Then why did you come by?" The question seemed obvious to ask, though the answer seemed just as obvious. Dememter had not expected to run into her sister, and clearly did not want to. Did she know Hera knew about the child? It was more than possible, if he daughter had decided to mention it. However, why was the child not with her? Was she hiding them from the family?
Demeter's expression faltered. Never good at hiding her emotions, she didn't even bother trying. "Attempting to deny the new reality," she murmured, the grief thick in her soft voice.
Hera's voice softened. "Then you will only delay it, and linger in your grief." Lightly, she brushed a hand down her sister's arm. "Come. We can sit and remember him together."
The earth goddess jolted at her sister's touch, startled by the seemingly gentle gesture. Was her sister offering her something resembling kindness? That she even touched her elder sister was a shock. Demeter couldn't remember the last time she'd touched her sister, only that it was probably sometime before the Fall, and most likely long before Zeus had shown any interest in either of them.
Catching the look of shock, and the surprise in her sister's reaction. Hera pulled her hand away, stepped back, and straightened just a hair. It was as though she were once more drawing into herself, closing the door and preparing to, once again, simply be the strong over bearing youngest sister. Demeter had made no response, and she took that as a no. "Very well." She gave her a small nod. "Say hello to the young one." Turning, Hera began to step away, expecting her sister to also turn and go.
Demeter looked at Hera with confusion. "I'm sorry... but... young one?" What was her younger sister talking about? Surely she didn't mean... Unconsciously, she took a step towards Hera.
Hera slowed her steps, and looked over her shoulder back to her sister. She was still stiff in her body, though her eyes roamed over her sister once again, then back up to her eyes. How could she not know what she was talking about?
For a long moment, Hera was silent, choosing out words, and trying to remain outwardly cool, calm. "You are the one with children not yet adults."
Demeter shook her head. No... She couldn't have known about... "I only have two children who are not yet adults," she said hesitantly. "One is with his elder sister, and the other with her father across the sea."
"Really? I thought that there was another..." She stared directly at her sister. The words and tone could have been as if she were asking, and simply mistaken, but the look of her eyes, the solid stance of her body, indicated something else. That she knew something more, and was pushing to see if Demeter would admit it.
Demeter's eyes widened in surprise. So Hera knew?! But how?! Then surprise faded into sorrow. Not like it mattered now anyways. She dropped her gaze and wrapped her arms around herself. "There was..." she admitted. "...but he or she is with their father now." Though she felt the keen ache of loss deep within her heart and body, she was forcing herself to try and remain calm. The last thing she wanted was to break down in front of Hera, who she was more than half expecting to visibly gloat at her misfortune, if she caught the meaning of her statement about her lost child.
There was a flash of true anger in Hera's eyes, her jaw tightening and the papers wrinkling in her grip. There was no reason for her surprise, she had already heard that it was true from her husband, but once more she was faced with it. Only now... The meaning sunk in quickly. "I am sure that he would find it unfortunate to find that his last child did not die as a hero," she replied, her voice tight and careful.
Ah, that expression... Demeter knew it well. She sighed. "Be glad, sister," she said softly. "That you will likely never know the feeling of a cherished life dying within you." The earth goddess's words held no heat. No hostility. Just sadness. What was the point in this ages old feud between the two of them anymore? The god they both loved, and who loved them each in his own way, was dead, and in the end Hera still came out on top in matters of the heart and matrimony. In Demeter's mind, her sister had won. Game over.
Softly, she replied, "I am honestly surprised that you did." And she was. She had not expected for a moment that such a goddess of life would loose a child while it was still within the womb, especially if there had been no outward cause. Somehow, in all the various plans she had considered, this was not one that had ever come to mind. "It is not what I wished for you."
Demeter had her theories as to why she lost her last child, most stemming from everything that she'd endured since moving to Miami. "Who was it that told you?" she asked. "Was it him?" She couldn't have imagined that Zeus would've betrayed her trust. Hadn't they both agreed to keep her child a secret from Hera, as well as their affair? If he had... Well that was just one more nail in the coffin for her trust of men and their promises.
"No." A hint of her anger seemed to subside, and she once again relaxed her arms before her, the papers she'd been holding nearing to a crumpled mess. Her eyes darted about the lobby once more. They were mostly ignored, but she had also been warned by Alana what terrible gossips the building held. Her eyes went back to her sister, and she wondered if she would yet get to feel at least a hint of vengeance for past crimes of more than one person. "[But tell me sister, do you really wish to continue this conversation here, or would you prefer somewhere more private. I have no fear of my reputation within my own building. They would be most wise to consider me heartless and cruel.]"
"[Somewhere, but not here,]" Demeter said quietly, glancing towards the doors leading outside. She did not want to be in this building anymore. She felt unwelcomed here.
Hera's eyes flicked to the outside, then back to her sister. She had an idea where they could do, though she was unsure how Demeter would take it. Perhaps that was exactly why Hera wished for them to go there. "[Very well. I know a private enough location.]" Turning, she headed for the elevators, assuming her sister would follow after.
Biting her lip, Demeter reluctantly followed, though at first glance it seemed that they were going in the opposite direction of where she wanted to be. She wanted to leave the hotel, not go further into it. But ultimately what drove her was to learn who it was who had betrayed her to Hera. If Zeus had not done it, then who? The list of those who knew about her child was blessedly short. Surely none of them...
Reaching the elevators, Hera pushed the button to go up, and stepped into the first that was free. She held the door for her sister, then had it close quickly behind. She pushed the button for the top floor, where the restaurant stood with its might views of the sky, and a few penthouse suites reserved and expensive. She spoke none within the elevator itself, peering instead at the papers until the doors opened on the final floor. Stepping out, Hera lead the way to the end of the hall, and opened a door with a security card. She held the door open for her sister.
While in the elevator, Demeter fond herself settling in a corner at the rear of the small car and out of her sister's line of sight. She despised being in small, closed off spaces, and elevators topped her list of places she never ever wanted to be trapped in. She was relieved when they finally made their way out and onto the roof. Though the height was dizzying, and being so far from her natral element made her slightly nauseous, at least there were a few plants around the rooftop patio to help keep her grounded, so to speak.
Following behind, Hera paused only long enough to leave the papers under a large rock to be gathered again later, in a spot where the wind was least likely to tear them away. She looked over the space critically, checking that none of her employees were about, before daring to speak again, near her sister. "[He enjoyed this space.]"
Demeter nodded as she took a seat closest to the plants. "[It seems the kind of place suited to him.]" Though she was trying to remain calm, her natural affect on the flora around her reflected her inner turmoil. Blooming flowers closed up tight, and even just the greenery seemed to draw in a little closer and hunker down in their various pots and boxes.
Hera pulled her eyes away from the sky scape before her and instead turned to her sister. She took a seat, facing her directly, and neatly tucked her legs under the chair. Inwardly, she was now wondering if this had been the best choice. Her husband may have enjoyed the location, but as the owner of the hotel, how many others had he brought up here as well? He would not have kept the place to himself, not, at least in such a regard. But it was not a spot that he had ever brought Demeter. That was clear as well. "[And now sit two women who were suited to him as well.]"
Demeter turned her eyes to her sister. "[Though one seemed to suit him better than the other.]" There was a twinge of jealousy in her voice that she couldn't help. Yes she envied her sister. Whether or not she would actually admit it aloud was one thing, but it was not something she would deny if pressed.
The comment gained a small lift of the eyebrow. "[Perhaps.]" She nearly said more, but pressed her lips together, preventing the following comment. Her eyes narrowed the smallest amount and she looked away from Demeter, out once more to the sky. "[It is more likely that in order to suit him you merely need give him something he wished. In such a regard, many were suited to him, if only briefly in their mortality.]"
"[Then what was it you offered him, that kept him coming back to you, leaving all others to fend for themselves when he lost interest?]" Demeter shifted to tuck her legs beneath her and curl up against the wind that continued to whip around them.
Her eyes darted back to her sister, and the frown increased. "[His crown.]"
Demeter took that in and grew silent. Power... His role as their leader before the Fall, and then even once they began to gather in Miami...
Love... Her love for him would never have been enough to satisfy, would it? His love for her couldn't drown out the stronger longing for power... She, who was arguably the weakest of the six of them two years ago, had no chance for the illusion of happiness she'd woven around herself when she concieved her last lost child.
Something inside her heart was icing over. Perhaps it was for the best.
"[So now that Zeus is gone, you are married to Hestia?]" she stated simply, out of the blue.
Had Demeter continued on the topic of Zeus, Hera would have pointed out how weak his love for his power was after the Fall, and how little she had to offer him beyond the mere illusions. But she had not.
Hera nodded at the question, a subtle shift in her posture relaxing the faintest bit at the reminder of her wife. She studied her sister, and tilted her head slightly. "[Do you fault me for my marriage?]"
Demeter shook her head. "[No... She chose you, and to fault you for your marriage would be to insult her better judgement.]" She then looked at Hera out of the corner of her eyes. "[I just do not want to see her, or those others who might be close to her, become hurt or worse.]"
"[I have no intention of bringing grief to my wife. Unlike our brother, I do not see it likely she shall ever betray our marriage.]" She paused, forming the words that she suspected would put Demeter more at ease. She has seen the look and heard all the words, and idly Hera almost wondered just who she thought was in danger. It mattered not. If they were, than there would be good reason for it. "[I am also not so cruel to not realize she may one day wish for a husband instead of a wife. I will not prevent her from doing so, if that happens to be her desire.]"
"[You say that now, but only time will tell.]" Her words held no heat, but had the tone of someone who was certain history would one day repeat itself. Clearly she had no faith in her younger sister's promises... or the promises of any of her siblings save Hestia. "[Hopefully, all Hestia will ever know is happiness with you.]"
"[Despite your clear distrust and dislike for me Sister, I am a good wife. I am not the one who went about and slept with those whom she knew were married, and have so little consideration for the wife to take the husband's seed and create a child. To imply that I am less than a good wife, would be the same insult as to say you that you could not grow even a patch of weeds or wildflowers.]" There was a controlled heat and vehemence to her words, clearly saying a fraction of something she had wanted to say for a long time. They had danced about the issue of her actual affair with Zeus, and the implication that Hestia would regret the marriage was insult enough to bring it out.
"[You speak as if I actively sought the beds of those who were already married,]" Demeter said coldly, green eyes flashing. The wind around the two sisters began to stir up faster, pulling at their hair and clothing. "[They came to me! With honeyed promises of love and affection. With charming smiles and warm embraces that made me feel like I was actually important to them!]" Memories of Zeus and of Poseidon swirled in her mind...
...and became tainted.
"[Gaea!]" she swore, rising to her feet. "[Yes I knew it was wrong, and I'm sorry you were hurt. I'm sorry! But at least you had your chosen husband! I chose a husband! Yes he was mortal, but he loved only me, and you know what happened?! My Iasion was killed by him!]" Demeter stabbed a finger at the hotel. Then she shook her head, raking her fingers through her hair, even as the wind continued to blow it wildly about. She then stalked over to the edge of the rooftop and leaned against the railing that prevented anyone from accidently falling over the side, trying to still the turmoil raging inside.
Hera did not stand and follow, nor did she appear to take any notice of the growing wind. She had stood through wind storms before, and temper storms as well. But she held her tongue through her sister's barrage, waiting until she had finished to respond. "[Yes, my husband killed your husband, because he cared so little about you that he would rather see you free to be taken by him at his whim than concern himself with a mortal. I had my husband so to myself that I never had to even think or worry about about bastard children within the court, and holding on to the little that I had. My courtship was all sweets and flowers, without a bit of trickery, such as a bird within a storm. It is not as though I first denied him, or thought that perhaps I would marry another. Oh no, as you say, I had my chosen husband. What as a wife did I ever have to worry of? Clearly, nothing at all. Marriage is my domain after all. How could I possibly be offended by anything that may happen within it?]" she retorted back, the sarcasm thick and heavy with each word. She did not move nor raise her voice, despite each word holding a weight of her own anger and hurt.
Demeter stared down from the dizzying height, trying to use it as a distraction, but failing. She already felt like she was spiraling downward. "[Did he ever truly love us?]" she wondered aloud. "[Or was it all lies to get and keep what he wanted?]"
"[He loved us.]" She rose now to stand at the railing, not leaning against it, and not close enough to touch her sister, but still to look past it all to the sky and the view it offered. "[Perhaps at first more for what we represented, the parts of us that were of use to him. He was the youngest, and mighty for his birth. He may have believe his love for us truly, but he loved himself and his power more.]" It had to stopped her from loving him. Hating him at times as well, but she would not deny how much she grew to care for him, not only as a brother as she had at first, but as a husband and king. There were many things that never made it into the myths, for they were subtle and had no appeal to the story tellers.
"[I had only barely returned to him when he was gifting another a child,]" she said bitterly, after a break. "[If you doubt that he cared for you, than perhaps you should consider what children meant to him, compared to his wife.]" She turned then to look at Demeter. "[You are a fool to doubt that he loved you.]"
Demeter's heart ached at her sister's words. She might've preferred it if Hera had actually slapped her physically. The expression in her face as she looked back at her sister was stricken. Her emotions felt as tumultous as the wind on the rooftop. "[No...]" she murmured with a shake of her head as her eyes slid closed. "[...I was a fool to allow him back into my heart in the first place, just as I was a fool to allow Poseidon when we were reunited. If I had just kept my distance, and kept my heart closed, then none of this would've happened.]"
Hera's eyes narrowed at her sister. "[Do you truly believe you could have kept your heart closed? Or that you would have been content truly to do so?]" Was her sister such a blatant fool? As though one could so easily control their heart. Close her legs, perhaps, but not her heart. "[You may wish now that, seeing the results. But at the time did you think it so poor to be blessed once more with a child?]" Hera knew that Zeus had not. He cherished every child, and said bluntly to her so.
"[Perhaps I was, but never again. The Fates have made their lesson perfectly clear this time.]" Demeter spoke more calmly now. "[I overstepped my bounds... I tread on ground I had no business being on, and for that I was punished. I was stripped of that which I loved most. If that wasn't a sign, then what was?]"
"[Perhaps I would simply read the sign differently than you,]" Hera responded, turning her attention once more to the skyscape. Her sister would simply have to see in time for herself what the worth was of staying apart from all others, from denying herself even the love of another mortal..."[Perhaps you should try your luck with another mortal. There is no Zeus to come and kill him this time,]" she murmured under her breath, expecting the words to be stolen by the wind. She saw no reason to attempt to bring her sister back to peace after her actions. Except, perhaps, that it is what Hestia would ask of her.
Her wife. Inwardly she sighed, while outwardly she only straightened her back a fraction. "[But you will do whatever it is you wish. I see no reason that you will take my council.]"
Demeter turned her head slightly at Hera's suggestion, catching it just faintly with the wind. It was not one that she would even dream of entertaining at this point, though. After everything she'd experienced up to this point, she had developed a healthy terror of falling in love or having children ever again. The fear reflected in her eyes. "[No... No more love... I have my still living children and my work. That will be enough. Besides... I've already caused you far too much trouble. I'm probably the last being you want to spend any time around anyways.]"
Turning, Hera considered her sister straight on. The words reminded her again of Hestia, and they were easy to her in their sister's voice. She wondered how falling in love or having more children had to do with herself. There were of Demeter's own life and business, and the only need for their paths to cross on such a matter would be if she intended to court Hestia.
Slowly Hera's eyes went over her sister, calculating and cataloguing. Eventually she brought her eyes once more to Demeter's. She could be kind, she could be cruel. Was vengeance yet paid? Were the balances even between them? Hera could not see it as so. There was still debt, and forgiveness could not be given until it was paid. "[You should be pleased your child was not born...]" She stepped closer, near enough that it would seem she would touch Demeter, though holding herself a hair away, as she dropped her voice. "[Now you do not need to raise them with fear...]" She held her sister's eyes for a moment, then turn away, beginning to walk to the door that was the exit of the roof.
Demeter stood there, stock still, as Hera spoke to her. Her ichor ran cold at her sister's words. But was she surprised?
Of course not.
It was part of the reason why she and Zeus had decided to keep her pregnancy a secret from the rest of the family in the first place. It was a part of the reason why she left Miami. She'd lumped Hera in as a dangerous threat to herself and her unborn child, along with the Egyptians and the Subrosa. It was an empty comfort to confirm now that the fears that moved her two years ago were not unfounded.
Still. That left just one more question still on Demeter's mind...
"[Who?]" she asked, willing the wind to carry her voice to her sister instead of away. "[Who betrayed me to you?]"
Hera could be dangerous at times of her choosing, cruel and unreasonable as well. But she also knew kindness. Demeter would never have believed that the child could have possibly been safe, and Hera felt no mercy to attempt to alleviate that worry. Threat could do far more damage, than action. So she stepped further, then paused, considering and weighing how to answer, and if to answer at all. Slowly she turned to face her. There was no smile. "[Your betrayer is your own daughter.]" She looked at Demeter only long enough to be sure she understood. Then turned to continue to the door once more.
The news was crushing. "[No,]" she murmured. "[That's not true. It can't be.]" Her face crumbled as the full weight of her sister's words settled on her heart, breaking it. If she couldn't trust even her own beloved children not to plunge a dagger in her back, then who could she ever turn to? She brought her hands up to her lips, tears in her eyes as she began the process of teleporting away back to the sanctuary of her Grove.
Hera kept her eyes tuned for any pleads or questions, claims that it was impossible, and that Hera was daring to lie. Bending as she reached near the door, she recovered her papers, not bothering to glance back to her sister. She was not in a mood for kindness. "If you do not believe me, [sister dear], ask her yourself," she mentioned over her shoulder, than reached for the door, opening it to allow herself in.
Demeter said not a word to her sister after that. She did not trust herself to speak without sobbing. With a swirl of leaves, the earth goddess faded away from view. A remnant of her grief was left behind, in that every plant on that balcony lost all traces of hue from their leaves and flowers. Everything was grey.
Summary: Madeline is out doing errands when she stops at the Jube hotel. To her poor fortune, June is there at the front desk, and recognizes her. This needs into... discussions. That probably needed to be had.