Astoria: Goddesses Kisses - The Reincarnation of Hera

Eliana Sofia Alexander

The next morning Alex and Tessa sat on the couch, each with coffee in hand.

"I don't think I can keep letting people get hurt." Tessa lamented. "Especially Aphrodite; she's taken on so much work since Hera's passing."

Alex put a comforting arm over her shoulder. "Do not worry about my mother. She enjoys her work; all of it."

"But what about everyone else, Alex?" Tessa wondered. "All the Monsters and humans affected by this? What are they going to do just because I don't want to become Hera?"

"They will continue their lives. The agents will find other work, and the Monsters will—" Alex couldn't think of anything.

"And what about you? H.E.R.A. is a big part of your life."

"I do not know what I will do , Tessa; other than be there for you." Alex kissed her on the side of the head. "You are wondering what the right thing is are you not?"

Tessa nodded her head. "But I don't know what the right thing is. All I know is someone give for this to change. And it doesn't look like it'll be Zeus." She sighed. "Do you think he loves her?"

Alex couldn't answer that. "You can love someone and be bad for them; it happens all the time."

"That's true." She finally got the courage to say what was on her mind all morning. "Let's restart H.E.R.A. We can do it, Alex; I know we can."

"We would need a lot of files and histories we do not have. Not to mention we would be unable to do it without the Gods."

"We could do it without them." Tessa was sure. "And the files are just sitting in an empty building. We could just go get them."

"Absolutely not; I will not let you be murdered the same way your mother was."

Shock filled Tessa from head to toe. "What...what do you mean?" Alex's face fell as they went to their desk and pulled out a gilded file folder and handed it to Tessa. She opened it and the name at the top caught her eye. "Eliana Sofia Alexander. What is this, Alex?"

"An incident report...from the day of your mother's death." Tessa began reading as Alex told her the story. "The Gods had decided to shut down H.E.R.A., and so Eliana, some agents, and some Monsters stormed the place. A riot broke out and your mother was killed."

"Why, Alex? Why did this happen?"

"I do not know." They said honestly. "All I know is the bottom of the page says that the Gods were coming down to negotiate when it happened."

"You think the Gods were involved?"

"Perhaps."

Another thought came to her mind. "Alex? How did you get this?"

They began pacing the room out of guilt for having not shown it to her sooner. "Caritas; she gave it to me the day you were summoned to Olympus. My mother had asked her to give it to with a note that said, 'One of the last secrets the Gods have buried.'."

"They'd only hide this if they were involved." Tessa deduced. "We have to get the rest of the file."

"It would be in the God's private archives at...at H.E.R.A."

Tessa stood up and sat the file down on the table before turning to go to the bedroom. "Well, now we're definitely going."

"Please, Tessa." Alex blocked her path. "Think about this; you will be right under Olympus. If you get caught, they will march you straight back to Zeus."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Before they could say anything, she stopped them. "Alex, this is my mother we're talking about. Her death, her legacy. I've gotta do this."

Alex sighed in defeat. "Then we will do it together; always together, right?"

"Always."

------

It took one phone call to get into H.E.R.A. Nyela was on guard that night and was more than happy to let Alex and Tessa in, even if Aphrodite hadn't told her to do it.

When they arrived, Nyela waved them in. "You have two hours at most." She told them. "If anything happens, I'll raise an alarm." The couple nodded in understanding before Alex led Tessa through the general archives to the God's personal archives. The first door had been easy; they still hadn't deleted the codes and Alex's code worked fine. But getting in the God's archives was going to be another matter entirely.

Alex took a deep breath before standing in front of the doors. There was no code to get in, and it only had one way; Aura. Normally, it would take a Top Tier God's or Goddess' Aura, but they had to work with what they had. Alex placed both hands on the doors and called up their own Aura. Silver spun down their arms and pooled at their hands pressing against the door. At first it wouldn't open, so Alex put all the Aura they had into it and finally the doors lock released.

Alex slumped back into Tessa. "Are you okay?"

They took deep breaths and pulled themself up. "I will be alright in a moment; I simply used too much Aura at one time."

Tessa nodded in understanding before letting go of them and beelining for the file drawers. There were a few with the symbol of H.E.R.A., the colourful peacock feather sigil, while most held a symbol of the God or Goddess they belonged too. Between the two of them, they were able to cover a lot of ground. But finally, Tessa opened one of Zeus' last drawers to find multiple files with her surname on them.

"These must be it!" She began pulling some out finding information on her mother inside. "I'm taking all of them."

Alex nodded in agreement and Tessa handed a few to them. The sound of a growl broke through the silence of the archives, a sound Tessa didn't recognize at first. Nyela's Aura.

"We must go. Now."

------

Tessa and Alex arrived at Tessa's mother's apartment not long after. The couple was afraid to stay in one place too long and thus wouldn't return to their own apartment. They set the files down and immediately started going through them. Finding the file on her mother's death, Tessa read intently, finding out the truth.

"It was an accident." Tessa felt a sense of disbelief. "There was a stampede when the Gods came down and Mom got buried under it."

"Tessa." Alex reached for her, taking Tessa in their arms while she cried out all her tears.

"It was an accident; that's all." She pulled herself up. "I thought...maybe."

"Zeus is still to blame." Alex told her. "He is the one who closed H.E.R.A. to begin with."

"Maybe so, but at least now I know."

Alex cupped her face. "Will you be alright, Tessa?"

She nodded her head. "Eventually; but for now, we come up with a plan. I have an idea."

Alex waited for her to explain but realized what she had in mind. "No; I will not lose you the way your mother died. I will not let history repeat itself."

"It won't." She reassured them. "Zeus would never let that happen; because if I did die what would happen to Hera's potential?"

Alex frowned. "No one knows. As we have yet to have a child, there is no knowledge of where it would go."

"Exactly; Zeus can't let me die."

"But this is dangerous, Tessa." They pleaded with her. "Please, do not do this."

"We take back H.E.R.A., Alex. If they won't use the building, we will."

Alex sighed deeply. "Very well." They pulled Tessa into their arms again. "I am with you; always. I would topple Zeus' own throne for you, so this I will do for you as well."

Tessa kissed Alex sweetly. "Call in all the favours you have left; Monsters and agents. We'll need all the help we can get."

"Then we should start at the Boarback."