greek mythology stuff

Chapter 20
Kingdom of Eleusis.

night.

Demeter put the little prince Demophon in the furnace, calcined his mortal bones and mortal blood, and the divine power from the authority of abundance flowed meticulously in the little prince's body, and every time a trace of mortal blood was burned, the divine power surged up, It turned into divine blood to take its place.

This process has been going on for many days, and every night, Demeter will throw the little prince into the blazing fire.

but.

There are always accidents in everything, and it will not always go well.

Queen Metanera, the mother of the little prince Demophon, has not seen her child for many days. She wants to hug her child and kiss his cheek lovingly.

Missing her child, she came out of Demeter's room by some mysterious error.

She noticed the firelight inside the house.

The honored guest has not rested yet.

Metaneira was wandering outside the house. She wanted to go in and see her own flesh and blood, but she felt that she should not offend this mysterious and distinguished guest.

In her heart, heaven and man are at war, and her motherhood overwhelms her pursuit of interests.

She stepped forward and knocked on the door anxiously: "De'er, are you asleep?"

"I'm going to see my baby."

……

Inside the house, Demeter's complexion was pale and uncertain.

Metaneira's movements cannot be fooled by the goddess.

She saw the mother's wandering and difficult choices outside the door.

An emotion called jealousy appeared inexplicably in her heart, and she suddenly woke up.

Demophon, not her child.

The fire of jealousy is burning, and the desire to possess sprouts and breeds in Demeter's heart.

In the stove, Demophon, who was a baby in swaddling clothes, looked serene. In his sleep, he couldn't feel the heat of the flames.

Demeter studied the newborn carefully, her face illuminated by the firelight.

It was the face of a mortal woman, without the anxiety and confusion typical of middle-aged women in human beings, but with the chill that freezes people's hearts.

Outside the door, Metaneira continued to knock on the door.

"Deo, are you there?"

"De Russia?"

Demeter didn't respond, didn't move.

"Squeak!"

The door was opened.

Metanera, who could not bear the thought, entered the room.

She glanced around after entering the door, and immediately saw Demeter standing motionless by the fire.

"So you're here, Deer..."

……

The last "Russian" syllable stopped abruptly, as if suddenly being strangled by a beast.

Metanera, she saw Demophon in the furnace.

His own child, thrown into the fire, he will die, he is dead...

"Ahhh?!"

Like a banshee howling, a mournful cry echoed in the dark night.

It's hard to imagine that the cry of a mortal woman can contain such rich emotions that the listener can empathize with it and feel the pain to the bone.

Metaneira rushed frantically to the stove, ignoring the scorching flames, and reached for her child.

She held Demophon in her arms, trembling her fingers to feel the child's breath.

Breathing evenly and steadily, alive.

Metaneira breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Demeter.

There was fear in her eyes and an unrelenting conviction.

Can a person's eyes really express emotions better than words?
Demeter thought it was okay, because the example was right in front of her.

From the eyes of the woman holding the child in front of her, she miraculously saw love, ruthlessness, pity, incomprehension, and fear.

They come together, and in the eyes of a mortal woman, they are distinctly but miraculously merged, there is me in you, and you in me.

However, the brilliance of Metaneira's motherhood did not calm the fire of jealousy in Demeter's heart, but added an emotion called anger.

The flames of anger consumed what Demeter had left of sanity.

Her expression was cold, and her voice couldn't hear the ups and downs: "Are you laughing at me?"

"Laugh at me for not being a mother?"

"Laugh at me for not being able to love my own children like you?"

She stepped forward, getting so close to Metaneira, so close that Metanera could see the chill in her eyes.

"No...it's not."

"De'er, listen to my explanation..."

But Demeter didn't want to hear it.

She took the little prince Demophon out of the hands of Metanera, who was overwhelmed by the momentum, and the mother who was taken away even forgot to resist.

"No!"

With a heart-piercing cry, Demeter slammed Demophon to the ground.

Metaneira shuddered as she stretched out her fingers to feel the child's breath.

The fingertips did not feel the scratching breeze.

As if her energy was taken away, the child's mother sat slumped on the ground.

Outside the door, Kleus, who heard the sound, froze in place. He was the king, but he didn't know what to do at the moment. In his eyes, even the threshold became an insurmountable moat.

Demeter looked at them coldly.

In Huaguang, like the first snow meeting the warm sun, she shed her mortal appearance and revealed a radiant and beautiful true form.

Although it has become beautiful, there is still an eternal frost on that face.

"I'm Demeter," she said.

"The great god of abundance."

"Demophon he deserved eternal life."

"But because of your offence, I grant him death."

Keleus's strong arms firmly held his wife who was about to say something, and he forced her to kneel on the ground with him, so as to see the goddess in her true form.

Kneeling on the ground, Kleus swallowed, his mouth full of bitterness.

But he still insisted on himself and said, "Thank the goddess for her great love for him."

"Goddess...what else can I order?"

Demeter carefully looked at Keleus, who was kneeling on the ground. She had seen the mother among humans, and she was jealous and angry about it.

Now, she saw her human father again.

She admits in her heart that father and mother are indeed two different words, even if they are as small as a human being, having these two words can make her look different.

Her tone softened.

"Send one of your sons here tomorrow."

"I will bestow on him the glory that no human has ever had."

Kleus felt that his hands and feet could not be controlled, as if he had been chopped off and sank to the bottom of the icy lake.

He bent down mechanically, trying to bring his hands and feet to prostrate on the ground together.

There was a smile on his face, but it was uglier than crying.

"Thank you... Goddess for the reward."

Demeter was a little tired. She waved her hand and issued an oracle to the two kneeling on the ground:

"I'm tired, come see me tomorrow."

Metaneira seemed to have lost his soul, oblivious to what happened.

Kleus pressed her and responded with difficulty: "Yes."

After saying that, he silently dragged his wife and led her out of the room.

……

After closing the door, Demeter gently put Demophon back on the stove as if the ice and snow had melted.

The fingertips tainted with divine power lightly brushed his brows and eyes.

Until his chest began to rise and fall, and there was a faint sound of breathing.

Ignoring the dancing flames, Demeter kissed his little cheek.

She whispered softly to the sleeping child, like a bird singing:
"You are my child."

"Your name is... Plutus..."
-
ps: I can't write what everyone expects.

I'm starting to let myself go...

(End of this chapter)