The Tormented Goddess

by Sarah Saint-Hilaire

  “Huge hard back ship breaking fish is the least of our worries Edward.” laughed Venus. She dragged Edward on the boat as they set sail for a quieter destination to modify the little boat. As they left the port Venus cheerfully waved goodbye to the Fisherman.

  As they reached Episkopi bay Venus set out to repair the rotting vessel and restore it to its former glory. Edward not aware of what she was up to thought that a little fishing might calm down his rumbling stomach, so he walked on the shores of the bay hoping to find his next meal. Venus adjusted the sail to facilitate the crossing and incorporated a compass to the interior shell of the boat. When she finished her numerous adjustments she sought out to find where Edward was. To her surprise he was plotting to catch the silver fish he followed all afternoon.

  Venus called out “So you can't fish either.” But right when she arrived to his side he finally caught the fish.

  “No I can fish.” He declared contradicting her accusation.

  Roasting the prey on the fire they feasted their midday meal eagerly wondering what awaited them. “We shall set sail at sun down.” Started Venus “... Atlantis has a blue dime star lighting our safe passage which only reveals itself with in the night.”

  One who a ventured in broad day light had no chance at all to survive the short journey. The two then awaited the night napping under the little light provided by the cliffs.

  The leaving solar light marked the beginning of a new adventure into the unknown pitch black sea. Strong winds blew them in, shortly after a blue light could be seen into the darkness. They steered their small boat towards the light for numerous hours in hope of finding what they seek for. Edward broke the silence of the sea asking Venus about his current concern. “You don't seem troubled at all about the hard back monsters the fisherman gratefully mentioned to us?”

  “Why should I, if such tale made its way to the ears of man it mustn't be so vicious.” Answered Venus, as she gazed in the distance she finally spotted the island. “There's the island!” She pointed towards the distant shape in glee. “We must now find its eastern bank and halt our ship a mile off its shore.” She courteously followed Vlad’s letter to the letter. Unable to think of anything else she still had his simple honest words flooding her conscience as she maneuvered the boat to its halt.

  Once arrived to the exact over precise location they threw the anchor over boat into the water. Venus instructed Edward “Go to sleep now for the few remaining hours till sunrise. I cannot venture in the water in the dark.”

  Edward slept soundly awaking to find Venus in a roman tunic reaching her knees. Her hands were moving back and forth in the waters. “You are going to freeze!” affirmed Edward.

  “Do not worry, my mother's ship sits at the bottom of this sea.” She told him as sweetly kissing him goodbye. “Leave if I am not back by night fall, if such is the case follow the moon. It will guide you to safe harbour.” Venus placed her feet into the water and said “One last thing, avoid any contact with the water.” She submerged herself completely into the ice cold water. As she swam deeper into the obscurity she saw her Edward disappear.

  One can insist that the visibility is rather lacking in such waters, but once you've been sealed from the world where no man could reach without perishing a deserted city sat awaiting the brave. Reaching the floor of the sea the city lighted up to welcome its guest. Out of breath her last gulp of air escaped to the surface leaving her lung emerged with water. Venus cannot die, but to drown alive is not much of a better fate. Crawling to the ruins of the city she spotted her mother’s ship, but it was empty. The continuous suffocation was unbearable, spotting a little roman temple beside the ship the sought to enter it in hope of an explanation.

  Swimming into the darkness of the temple, she swam up discovering a large alley saved from the waters. Coughing out the swallowed salt water she stood up and admired the lushes’ decorations of the alley. She walked forward as her feet brushed the marble floor. Entering a vast chamber the torches alit themselves. At the back of the chamber sat an old crumbling statue of Jupiter overseeing the temple. His left hand firmly held on the manuscripts. Venus bowed and approached the stone figurine to retrieve what she seek. As reaching for the papyrus the gods’ right hand grabbed her forearm and slowly stood up. His accumulated dust from over the years formed a cloud than fell upon her. Calling her name he spoke out in a loud voice that echoed vigorously into the long hallways of the temple. “Venus Singleton...” he continued his monologue. “...the living immortal forgotten beauty of the heavens that walks the earth.” Letting go of her he asked “Why do you desire to process own the deadly true words of the future?”

  “I do not seek to own them, but to destroy them.” She contested.

  “Such acts of bravery aren't common in your scrounging ancestors.”

  “To whom do I have the honor to speak to?”

  “I am Jupiter, King of the gods, with this stone body I can walk the earth, but not for long. Dear child do you answer truthfully?”

  “I swear that my intentions are good.”

  “Keep the manuscripts and destroy them by night fall. If you fail and your words were untruthful you will join your mother and be condemned into slavery till eternity in the underworld accompanied by the rest of your blood. But if you are successful I will restore you to your true divine form at your mortal death as the goddess you have always been.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Venus.

  “Your soul was casted into flesh to keep you safe after our heaven were weakened by Pluto's tyranny. You are not the child of profiteers; no you a creation of the heavens, Venus herself. Good time you shall learn the rest of your hidden past. But now you shan't waste time no longer, for your time is counted. Burn them on the grave of the old slave, before night fall.” His voice echoed greatly as the roman god he was!

  Venus held on the manuscripts and ran down the alley. She had no time to worry about the torture which waited; as the notorious translucent liquid of life submerged her lungs she kicked the water with her legs propelling herself to the surface.

  Edward continually looked overboard to see if she was back, then he wondered if she was humanely alright. Who in the world drowns themselves to rescue an old book? Increasingly worried he bent over towards the water when he spotted a dark figure coming to the surface. The figure grew mightier, all the sudden a wet hand touched his shoulder, it pulled him ferociously back on to the heart of the boat, to his great joy it was Venus at last. It made him wonder what was the shadow he'd seen in the water after all. He took Venus tightly into his arms and placed a blanket on her wet tunic and asked “Are you alright?”

  While she was still coughing on the swallowed water she stumbled as she tried to say “Better than ever, what about you? How did you manage?”

  “Rather well!” He answered.

  “The figure you saw in the water was a gigantic turtle, not a hard back monster which engulfs ships and drags them to the bottom of the seas.” She added delightfully guessing what presently troubled his mind.

  Edward Asked “So what are we up to now?”

  “We will accost Atlantis and destroy once and for all these manuscripts.” They sailed off the Island.

  Last Chapter

  After departing the depths of the seas Venus and Edward headed towards the invisible Island to man. Venus wondered what secrets where held in the manuscript of tomorrow, but Venus sensing his curiosity told him he already knew too much for a mortal. As their boat reached the shores of Atlantis they were shocked by the state of the island. Everything was dying, a complete paradox in comparison to its grandeur in the past. The paradise on earth lived no more, trees layered themselves dead on the ground, and the stones were eroded by time. It broke Venuses heart to think such was possible in so little time. They had no time to admire the lifeless fauna, Venus looked where the sun laid and assumed that time was running out. The sand quadrant that held her destiny was slowly emptying itself. They walked for a descent amount of time
, reaching a roman house destroyed by age they at once found the tomb of the oracle. They still had enough time to properly get rid of the manuscripts.

  As she was about to lit a match screams surfaced. The cries from the undead were insupportable to the living. Edward felt as if his cranium was boiling, holding miserably onto his head weeping in pain he fell unconsent onto the ground. Venus ran over to Edward, an old man appeared on the balcony. The man was so aged that wrinkles ran on top of his hairless head. Venus was left alone to fight for her mortality. The cries ceased when the old man spoke out with a heartless lifeless voice which echoed terror. “You died so young conveniently. My dear child do you remember me, haven't your blasted mother ever spoken of me. I am your father.”

  Insulted she replied “I do not know you stranger; insulting those I had never the chance to love won't earn you any respect from my behalf. I have lived numerous horrors, yet you lived here peacefully and insult your only daughter.”

  “Do not think living in a rotting corps a gift, I have done all I could to try to restore my mortality, even murdered my children. You evaded to rapidly thus I could not track you down, but your brothers on the other hand were well taken care of. Decapitated and quartered each piece of their body is presently sitting in the underworld as a gift to our mighty Pluto. Only their heads remain on Atlantis, buried by my old slave to welcome those who seek to visit her tomb with the screams of their suffering.”

  “You killed my father, you murdered my only family you... You the one who pretends to be my father in such a distasteful way gave in to Pluto's tyranny. Why you have no soul, the devil as possessed you humility and humanity. Have you ever see a noble warrior perish in battle, a famished child crying from hunger, have you ever seen life at all? No you have not, and never will. You have been blinded by immortality and today will be the day our family does what it was meant to do centuries ago.”

  “You mean to destroy the manuscripts?” asked the old foul. Venus nodded, her father continued to speak. “With the knowledge you have gained in all of your youth, do you not wish to share them with me. Introduce me to this mortal of yours. It is quiet strange for someone as young as you to be so eager to die.”

  “I wish to live not die. Restoring my mortality is the only way to keep my sanity. I have enough of being perpetually alive. I cannot live the joys of life, I cannot have children or they will die before my eyes, I cannot do anything. If you are indeed my father, care for me as a father should, understand that this is our time. The curse must be lifted at once.” The sun was beginning to close in as she spoke hoping her father would reason.

  “Why should I care for my offspring's who have deserted me all their life, I am not dying today, Yes I am old but why should I love the child who chose her mother above her father?”

  “How can you accuse me of such a crime, have you no heart at all, I was only an infant, your wife died the night we left. Keep your paternal love away from me for you are no father at all! Step back old man and meet your fate.” Venus began burning the manuscripts on the old slaves tomb. Angered by his daughter’s decision he knowingly aware that he will perish instantaneously out of old age in any second did not wish his daughter to outlive him thus inflicted her chest with an arrow. As he was about to end Edwards life as well his mortality rushed into his veins, obliterating him into dust. Venus touched her wound with her hand and smiled in tears as she saw her blood on her fingers, she was at last mortal.

  Minutes following the drama, Edward awoke. He sat up discovering Venus clasped in a pool of blood. He ran at the speed of lightning to her side. He took her and cradled her in his arms, desperate from his failure he was about to take his own life when all the sudden Venus murmured “Edward I have suffered from many other wound in the past but loosing you would be the worst. I love you Edward, promise me to live no matter what happens.” He nodded hoping it would appease her. Mumbling painfully she at last said “This was my fate no matter what. I am mortal again. You will always be my mortal prince, noble knight of me heart. I shall always love thee.” She then glared into the creamy sky and died.

  Edward was left crying in vain. As he let go of her hand he realised that she held a little thing rapped in her hand. He unfolded the paper discovering that it held a ruby pendant and a gold chain with her name carved onto it. He read the inscription written onto the wrapper. “Who wears this ruby pendant shall be safe of evil, and who wears this golden chain shall always have me close to their heart.”

  The singletons no longer roamed the earth. Edward kissed his deceased love for the last time, as he held her close to his heart she vanished into dust of the color of gold; the strong wind blew her out of his arms. Edward thus made his way back to Cyprus following the moon and then headed back to England to resume his classes’ morning his love. Disinherited by his father due to his disappearance he settled into one of Venus's palaces in the outskirts of London. He walked daily into the dormant gardens of his beloved. One early winter morning he walked again through the gardens with the snow crunching under his boots. All the sudden he thought he smelled roses. He thought to himself that it could not be, thus he followed the scent till its source. I the heart of Venus's woods he found a summer oasis. Filled with blooming roses he ventured into it discovering a sleeping newborn at the heart of the garden. Nestled in a basked dressed in white silk Edward took the baby into his arms as it slept as an angle. No bigger than his forearm, the infant slept beside an envelope ornamented with pearls. Edward put back the baby into its basket and opened the envelope finding a letter addressed to him.

  Dear Edward,

  I have chosen you to be the guardian of our child. Created in the heavens out of our love and anther she shall keep your heart warm. I named her Aphrodite after the first time you embraced me in her homeland. The child of a goddess holds an uncharted future, keeping the mystery of her past from her shall keep her safe for now, but one day you shall spill the truth to her ears. You will know when that day shall come. For now my handsome night take good care of our treasure. I will love you eternally.

  Yours forever,

  Venus

  He brought his little Aphrodite home into his heart. The oasis remained in full bloom throughout the years, defying the seasons. A tale as such has no comparisons especially in our rime. The factors common reality in this tale reminds us that though life may bring suffering we are blessed to have it. For it is the most beautiful poem of the universe. The smallest ray of light concurs all darkness. To grow old is a gift and not a curse. Live every moment like the last, since time has no price. Be wise and proud, for no shadow can ever overcome the human heart.

  The End

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