The Avatars -- Chapter 2: Crafty Women...and Clumsy Women
Aeolus, the King of the Winds, paused in his daily sweep of the earth when he passed by the familiar energy signature of his friend Zephyrus West-Wind. He paused in mid-air and materialized in his human form, waiting for his friend to notice his presence. If those who observed him could forget the fact that he was hanging in the sky, he appeared to be an exceedingly handsome, well-built young man with coal-black hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Zephyrus was chatting up a girl who was perched precariously on the edge of a well and who had hair and looks as fair as his; she was flaunting her cleavage quite unashamedly, and he was taking a shamelessly good look of the view while he worked his charm. Aeolus had watched his friend seduce scores of women with a basically unchanged routine, and he was always surprised to see how well it worked–since Zephyrus's pickup lines were practically as old as he was, which was about two and a half centuries.
However, the wind gods were babies in comparison to the deities of the Pantheon and sometimes treated as such, a matter which their pride failed to accept.
When Aeolus was tired of waiting (and somewhat disgusted by what was going on in plain sight beneath him), he landed on the packed earth beside the well with a soft thud. "Ahem. Excuse me! ZEPHYRUS!" he finally yelled when they failed to notice him.
The girl let out a high-pitched squeal and fell backwards into the fountain, her arms flailing wildly. She hit the water with a very loud splash, and Zephyr adjusted his tunic meticulously before peering down into the dark depths of the fountain. "Hello? Are you still alive?" he called down courteously.
"Machaon! Get me out of here!" she shrieked.
Aeolus, who was holding her head and shoulders above the water level so she wouldn't drown with his magic, raised his eyebrows. "Machaon? Is that who you are today?"
Zephyr smiled lazily. "For the moment. Of course, I'm at your service, my liege." He sketched low bow, and as he glanced up at his friend and king, the corners of his mouth quirked up in what could only be described as impudence. Both of them ignored her continued screams for help, as there was no danger of her drowning.
"But, ah, perhaps it might be more prudent next time if you called me in a different matter. You frightened my lady friend," Zephyr said with a lascivious wink.
Aeolus shook his head. "She could have died, you know," he informed his careless friend. "Why didn't you save her?"
Zephyrus shrugged. His substantial form was that of a youth slightly shorter and younger than Endymion; his body was lean and slender but still well-muscled and tanned from sun exposure. Zephyr's hair was a burnished copper-blonde in comparison to Eurus's lemon yellow hair, and his green eyes were always full of wicked humor.
"I knew that you, being the perfect gentleman, would catch her," Zephyr drawled, "so why should I bother? You're faster, more careful, and less likely than I to drown her, even accidentally."
The black-haired god frowned. "Stop being so lazy," Aeolus chided. "One day I might not be able to bail you out of a mess, and then where will you be?"
"At Zeus's tender mercies, I suppose? He likes me well enough...says my tricks remind him of Hermes'. Mine are better, I think. Although Zeus might be more partial to me if I was a female...do you think Boreas knows how to shapeshift into a woman?"
When he saw the look on his friend's face, Zephyr laughed merrily. "Oh, stop worrying, Aeolus! Come, let's seek out the others and have some fun, shall we?" he suggested, speaking of the other three winds, North, South, and East.
Aeolus nodded towards the well, where the mortal woman Zephyrus had been fooling around with before was now crying theatrically. "And what about your playfellow here?"
"Do what you like with her," was his unhelpful answer as the handsome god winked roguishly at his king and disappeared, leaving a shower of cherry blossoms in his wake.
Aeolus wrinkled his nose at the smell and sighed as he hauled the sopping woman out of the well.
"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she cried, throwing her arms around him (after she had noticed how good-looking he was). "Are you a friend of Machaon's? What is your name?"
He backed away nervously when she had let go. "Um...yes, I know M–Machaon. My name? My name is...Endymion," he lied quickly.
"Are you a soldier as well?"
He choked back his laughter, imagining his finicky, vain friend trying army life. Zephyr would discover that the food was awful, the ground cold and hard, mirrors were scarce, and he wouldn't be able to wash his hair five times a day. "No, I'm just a humble shepherd," he replied.
Her very red lips, artfully stained with the juice of berries, formed an O, and she looked down at her feet, disappointed. Shepherds, no matter how handsome, were not worth her time. She decided perhaps it would be a better idea to look up Nisus...
Aeolus, meanwhile, was wondering at her fickleness. "You must be looking for Machaon. Well, he had to...leave."
"Oh, that's all right," she said airily. "He knows where to find me when he comes to beg for my forgiveness." Again, Aeolus had to suppress the ludicrous mental image of Zephyrus begging anyone to forgive him. "I had best be going now, though. It was wonderful meeting you, Endis..."
"Endymion," he corrected.
"Yes, yes...Endmon, I know...but I must go now. It was lovely meeting you." She blew him a very distracted kiss as she meandered down the winding path, and Aeolus lingered only a minute longer, feeling very befuddled.
~~~~*~~~~
Boreas's expression was, as usual, quite stony. He wondered how he kept getting themselves into these situations... Any other man, god or mortal, would have killed to be in his position, but the silver-haired North Wind thought he would have killed to get away from it all.
Aphrodite, considered the most beautiful goddess by far, was running her hand along the muscles of his chest, and it was proving very distracting. She wasn't subtle, and she was used to getting her way with men. But she was very persuasive, and, damn her, if she didn't stop that...
‘Boreas. Boreas? Where are you?'
He straightened up immediately and pushed Aphrodite away more forcefully than he intended. As a goddess, she was stronger than any mortal male and almost as strong as he was, but she played the part of the wounded female to perfection, her eyes filling with tears as she let out a shocked gasp. "Boreas!"
‘In a minute,' he responded hurriedly.
He looked down into her perfect face: gleaming blond hair, rich blue eyes, fair skin, blood-red lips... She made his heart race, but he wasn't going to be drawn in that easily. More gently, he grasped her hand and kissed it lightly. "My apologies, Aphrodite. But I must go–Aeolus is calling me."
‘And thank Gaia for that,' he thought to the earth-goddess who had mothered them with genuine fondness. Boreas never lied, and he was trying to come up with an excuse to leave when Aeolus, unknowingly, had saved him.
She pouted, sliding a fingertip along his stomach. She felt the muscles bunch and tense and smiled coyly, all traces of tears gone in an instant. "Don't go, Boreas. Aeolus will understand if you're a little late...don't you want to stay with me?"
Boreas stood stiffly, fastening the glittering silver belt at his waist. It was the only part of his attire that drew attention. "You know that any man would suffer greatly when denied your presence, Aphrodite."
"How ravishingly silver-tongued you are today!" Aphrodite exclaimed delightedly, her hands brushing his arm. "Don't tell me that Zephyrus has rubbed off on you at last?"
Inwardly, he seethed with jealousy, but he merely favored her with a slight smile. "Perhaps. Until the next time we meet, goddess."
She pressed herself against him daringly and planted a lingering kiss on his lips. "I'll be waiting," she said, releasing him at last.
Boreas raised his eyebrows, shaking his head as he backed away from her. "Why are you so determined to have me, Aphrodite? There are plenty of other men who are willing to oblige you...and you have a husband."
She ignored the mention of Hephaestus. "Because you are so determined not to have me, Boreas. Every man, every woman wants what they cannot have."
When he had teleported himself to the island of Aeolia, where Aeolus's castle sat, her lips pursed in anger, and she slammed down her golden brush upon the table in frustration. "One way or another, he will be mine!"
~~~~*~~~~
Eurus East Wind of the curling, flaxen hair and azure blue eyes barely repressed a smirk when the most senior of them arrived last, his hair and clothes rumpled by more than his method of transport, which was by wind.
Boreas settled himself at the table, trying to school the annoyance from his face. He glanced around–Aeolus, Zephyrus, Eurus, Notus...why were they all looking at him like that? Even Notus, who usually refrained from giving him grief, was smiling.
"Wipe that smirk off your face, Zephyrus," he ordered roughly, belatedly realizing the state of his ordinarily immaculate hair. As he smoothed the long silver strands, Zephyrus, his protégé, let loose the laughter he had managed to hold back.
"By the gods, Boreas, you look as mad as a hornet!" he chuckled merrily. "If only you could see yourself now...and being late to one of our meetings. Unacceptable, Boreas," he said, trying to emulate the tone of voice Boreas used when addressing one of his constant misdemeanors.
Eurus sighed. Sometimes his friend failed to recognize when to keep his mouth shut. He himself, of course, had much more class.
"Be quiet," Boreas shot back, an ominous look on his face.
"Oh, but–"
Zephyrus never had a chance to finish his sentence, because Boreas had now leaned out of his seat and grabbed a fistful of his shimmering turquoise robes. "If you know what's good for you," he began in a threatening voice.
Mildly, Aeolus said, "That's enough, you two." He took hold of Zephyrus, although his hold was much gentler, and Notus pulled Boreas back into his seat. Eurus remained seated, observing their actions with a small smile on his face.
"Turquoise isn't your color," Boreas muttered as an afterthought.
Before Zephyr could protest, Aeolus spoke up hurriedly, calling them to order. They settled down at once, peaceable expressions on each of their faces as four different colored spirals shone from beside their hearts. His own was an amber-gold hue.
"Now, if we can get started...your report first, Eurus," Aeolus commanded his friend. The cynical look on Eurus's face sometimes made him more nervous that he would have liked to admit.
"Strong waves near Delos," was his concise observation. "Other than that, Ocean seems quite still."
The king nodded. "Very well. And you, Notus?"
The brown-haired South Wind smiled, ignoring Boreas's dark remarks about Zephyr's impudence. "The winds were getting a bit out of hand over by Nauplia, but I had a word with them. Overexcited, I suspect, about the news of gathering of all the gods and goddesses on Olympus. They tend to let the office of being messengers get to their heads."
"I'm sure they'll quiet down now that you've talked to them. Zephyr? Did you accomplish anything besides flirting this morning?"
Zephyr's green eyes lit up. "Well, now that you mention it, I did make some more progress with–um, I mean..." He had caught the menacing look in Boreas's eyes that promised little good for him. He cleared his throat. "All quiet on Mount Ida," he reported dutifully. "The flowers are in bloom."
‘And all the young maidens are out picking them,' Eurus thought with a sardonic smile, ‘while he picks from among them.'
Aeolus, however, was not thinking about the indiscreet activities of the West Wind. "What about you, Boreas? Were you able to see anything before you were waylaid by Aphrodite?"
The silver-haired god, who had just taken a gulp of the wine set before them, choked. "How did you know about that?"
"The entire Pantheon knows about that," Aeolus sighed. "And myself only too well. Tell me, did Aphrodite know it was I who called you away?" When Boreas nodded, his hopeful expression crumpled. "Oh, damn it all to Hades! She's already on my case, nagging me about how I could influence you to be more agreeable and what bad manners my winds have. Wipe that smirk off your face, Zephyrus, before I do it for you," he added, his usually good nature turning grumpy when he thought of the scolding he would receive the next time he and Aphrodite came face to face.
Brushing back his carefully-styled copper hair with an injured look, Zephyr replied, "My manners are charming, Aeolus. Ask anyone!"
"You mean any girl you haven't cast aside yet," Eurus corrected with a perfectly straight face. "There aren't that many of them left, in my thinking."
Instead of protesting, the green-eyed wind smiled beatifically. "There are more of them than there should be, my friend. But I'm always happy to share. Are you doing any better with that dryad, Notus?"
"Out of order!" Boreas barked, still red-faced from his encounter with Aphrodite and anger with his friends.
"This meeting is adjourned," Aeolus said in disgust, leaning back in his chair as the two blondes and brunet began to speak of women. The spiral ciphers on their chests faded so that they looked like ordinary but overly-handsome young men once again.
He turned to offer Boreas some of the free-flowing ambrosia that a soft-footed servant brought in. Her coils of dark mahogany hair caught the light, glinting with bronze tones, and Aeolus smiled at her warmly before he turned his attention to his friend. "Are you all right, Boreas?"
"Just fine," he grumbled with a sulky look on his face.
"What I don't understand is why–"
"I appreciate the concern," Boreas cut in brusquely, "but I can handle these affairs myself, Aeolus."
The ebony-haired man subsided without another word, but the matter remained in his mind as it stuck in Boreas's. Late that night, asleep in the spacious palace across the hall from Aeolus and with Notus in the room to his right and Zephyr to his left (with company, no doubt), he turned the problem over and over in his mind.
Aphrodite was everything he wanted in a woman–except fidelity. But she had separated herself from Ares for him, declared herself chaste during the time she had been pursuing him, and he believed her. She was beautiful, so beautiful. He had seen many beautiful women in his life and had never been taken in by them, but something about her threw him off-balance. Sometimes Boreas wondered if she was enchanting him with her magic girdle, Cestus, but pushed the thought out of his mind.
If he did give in...well, what was wrong with that? He had centuries–forever–to heal his broken heart, and he wasn't expecting their love to last as long as their lives. But she had a husband, the long-suffering Hephaestus. Surely he was used to her affairs by now. It was a crime to tie the crippled smith-god, no matter how kind his heart, to such a lovely, youthful goddess.
Aphrodite was his idol, his model for every other woman he had compared to her and found lacking. Boreas had seen her for the first time when he had first entered Olympus and become infatuated with her then, her charms, her grace, her beauty... Even though he felt himself utterly lost when he was around her, he managed to resist her still. He loved her, but he would teach her a lesson–he would leave a lasting imprint on her fickle heart.
Boreas sighed, shifting restlessly in the silken sheets. Tomorrow, perhaps, or another day in the near future, he would speak with one of his brethren. All of them were younger than he but much more skilled when it came to love and women. Everyone knew who Zephyr was pursuing at any given moment (provided they could keep his women straight); no one ever knew how Eurus handled his lovers, only that he, too had them. Notus managed to make his relationships last, for he was a sweet and considerate lover, but he would mope for days in self-imposed solitude when they ended.
Tomorrow held much more in store for Boreas than he anticipated, and he never would get around to questioning Zephyrus, Eurus, or Notus about Aphrodite...
~~~~*~~~~
AN: Mm...is this what you expected? ^.~ Boreas (Kunzite) is slightly out of character, I realize, but he's young yet. In Chapter 3, the senshi meet the Shittenou at last, and we learn a bit more on why Kassia (Rei) is so grumpy and how Rhoswen (Serenity) handles Apollo. And, of course, much more is coming forth... Thank you for reading! ^^
~Ice
The Avatars
