The Claiming of the Children (The Veil of Death) Read online

  She closed her eyes and stood quietly for many mortal minutes, thinking as to what she should do.

  Opening her eyes, she walked over toward the area of the meadow where she knew the illusion of the party existed - but with mortal eyes, she saw it no more.

  “Soar out from your costumes of dress!” She shouted out to all those she knew to be within Hera’s party. “It is a trap to bind you to mortality and attach you to Mother Earth!”

  But her attempt at trying to be heard, seen or felt was met only with failure.

  Eventually, she turned and walked out of the meadow and travelled the Earth far and wide, seeking an answer as to how she could undo what Hera had done. But wherever Athena travelled, she realised that the mortals either feared her or idolised her.

  She became known as; ‘the woman who wore the Armour of Divine Protection, whose stature of height no man or woman could equal. Athena, the woman who would not be possessed, controlled or captured by any other person.’

  “I am the power-force of Wisdom and I come from the Universe,” Athena would tell the mortals who tried to capture her. “Let it be written that it is Earth who has claimed me, not any one of her creatures.”

  The mortals who feared her tried to silence her - but no spear; knife or weapon of their time could pierce into her human body.

  And those who possessed the knowledge of the potions never used it to kill her because they stood in support of this fearless creature; this woman called Athena.

  ∞

  Eurynome observed Athena’s first mortal lifetime all within a blink of an eye.

  She looked at Athena’s dead body and waited for her life-force to arise out of it.

  Zeus who was still unable to move away from the window called out to Eurynome. “Does my daughter live within her first mortal life?”

  “She has lived it.” She answered him with sadness. “The power-force of Wisdom walks now upon the Earth.”

  Zeus collected up the last of his daughter’s stardust and raced over to the portal. “In what creature does she live out her second mortal life?”

  Eurynome shook her head. “I have yet to see her life-force rise up.”

  “Thank the stars.” He whispered, “My daughter’s attachment to the Earth can be severed with the unity of her stardust.”

  They stood and waited for Athena’s life-force to appear.

  “There she is!” Zeus called out at the sighting of his daughter’s energies but within a blinking of an eye, she vanished?

  Athena had not risen, soared or danced as Zeus and Eurynome had expected - but hurtled out with such velocity and was caught up within a maelstrom of noise, light, colours and energies of Earth’s reincarnation.

  Zeus tightened his grip around the small silver cup and searched every mortal being, “She is somewhere… someone?”

  But Zeus could not see her… find her.

  “Where is my daughter?!” He roared out to the Realm of the Sky.

  The Sky answered him back with the sounds of its own thunder and lightning.

  Eurynome in the meantime had decided to search beyond the physical form of the human body. She looked instead within the auras, energies and emotions created from every object and symbol… she searched a second time… and then a third_.

  But another claim rippled throughout the Universe and made itself known unto another one of Zeus’s children:

  As is the ruling of the Universe those who mark deep my earth become a part of it. Rejoice! Artemis.[vi] Rejoice! You are free from the Dance of the Cosmos. Enjoy your life as it lives within the Cycle of my Reincarnation.

  Zeus and Eurynome looked out at the Gallery of Stars and onto the constellation of Artemis.

  Her stars burst and crumbled; speckles of silvery-whites, yellowy-oranges and hues of red, lit up the Universe.

  Zeus rushed back to the window and collected up the falling stardust of his daughter, Artemis.

  Eurynome turned now to the frozen icicles that were hovering in mid-air, “Shatter the illusion that Hera has trapped the children within.” She ordered.

  One thousand frozen arrows of ice hurtled into the barrier but not a tear, dent or speck could they make.

  In fact all but the intended target had been cut, sliced, beheaded; blades of grass, wild flowers, the barks of the trees and the fur and feathers of the creatures who lived within the meadow.

  Eurynome gazed down onto the Earth and discovered that within her attempts at destroying Hera’s barrier, Artemis had lived some 20 mortal years and the body was upon the point of dying.

  “Zeus!” she called. “Your daughter’s mortal heart beats its last beat.”

  But Zeus could not move from the window until he had collected the last of Artemis’s stardust falling from the Universe.

  A breath of air could be heard as it exhaled from Artemis’s mouth and realising it to be her last, Eurynome encased Artemis’s life-force to try and slow down her journey toward the cycle of Mother Earth’s reincarnation.

  But the orb exploded.

  Ice and water showered down and around the corpse of Artemis and Eurynome stared on in horror as she witnessed another Immortal caught up within a maelstrom of noise, light, colours and energies before vanishing into its second mortal lifetime.

  Tremors rippled throughout The Gallery of Stars.

  The Universe glistened and glittered with an array of silvery-white particles as the stardust of more Immortals fell down toward Mother Earth.

  ∞

  Dionysus: [vii] Dionysus was transformed into the form of the grape vine. He spent his first mortal lifetime ensuring that his harvest of grapes would be bitter and sour believing that the wine produced would not suit the taste buds of the mortals.

  What party continued without the flow of wine?

  But the opposite happened; the new flavour suited the palate of the humans and even when the harvest of that particular fruit wine died, the flavour did not.

  ∞

  Apollo:[viii] Apollo was transformed into musical notes; decibels and sound waves. He rippled through the mind of the mortals and inspired them to create his music that told the story of what Hera had done.

  The rhythm, melody and tempo mirrored all that Apollo felt - his loss, grief and turmoil equalled that of his twin, Artemis.

  But his song and its meaning were lost within the music of the mortals.

  They played it when they took up ‘arms’ against their enemies - favouring the drum for it inspired into them courage when they marched upon the battle fields and the bugle, for its sound inspired remembrance on the occasions when the mortals needed to remember all those who had sacrificed their lives for the cause that they had fought for.

  ∞

  Hermes:[ix] Hermes was transformed into the mortal body of a man. But he could not cope with being bound to a creature that was unable to fly, soar or surf the element of air.

  He made wings out of bird’s feathers and added them to his clothing and leapt off of the ground so that he could feel the essence of flight. But all that his cumbersome body would do was jump up only to fall back down. His actions and behaviours delighted the crowds of people who looked upon; ‘the man who believed he could fly’.

  Hermes’s determination grew stronger with each failure. He climbed a structure of a great height believing that this would motivate his body into a momentum of flight. Sadly, Hermes’s final take-off was indeed his last.

  ∞

  Persephone:[x] Persephone was transformed into the mortal body of a woman.

  She cast off the name, Persephone and told the mortals that, “Hera had given to her a false name and she was the power-force of Shadow and Light.” But when she tried to ‘run with Lightness’ or ‘disappear within the shadows’ her mortal body would not allow it.

  And so she dedicated her first mortal lifetime travelling the Earth and healing the mortal’s mind, body and Soul from all sorts of illnesses - believing that this would bring to their world a greater understandin
g of the Universe.

  But when she taught them; ‘The Craft of Healing’ -there were those who liked not the fact that this woman held great authority and so they condemned her works to be that of ‘great evil’ and she ‘a creature of the Devil’ for her very name ‘Persephone’ represented ‘Destructive Slayer’.

  The mortals, fuelled with envy, fear and pride, hunted Persephone down and along with all of her followers, they tied them to stakes of wood and set them alight with flames of fire.

  ∞

  Hephaestus:[xi] Hephaestus was turned into a mortal man but his physical form was disfigured and misshapen to such an extent that the joints and bones screamed to him in fiery flames of pain; his face was deformed with scars, his skin mottled by angry burns. “What have you done unto me?!” Hephaestus shouted out to his mother, Hera. “Where is the share of the Victory that you promised me?!”

  ∞

  Zeus heard the words spoken from his son, “No!” he roared with anger at the discovery that his son’s allegiance had been to his mother, Hera. “Join those that I could not save because of what you and your mother have done!” He shouted out his rage and released all of his son’s stardust to Earth.

  Particles of oranges, reds and hues of cold blue, shone brightly and for a moment it looked as if the very soil was alight with flame of fire but all too quickly the stardust dimmed into a lighter shade of brown as it became Earth’s dust.

  Electrical storms lit up the sky and thunder crashed down onto Earth as Zeus continued to unleash an angry barrage of thunderbolts and lightning.

  His anger scorched the surface of Earth and set aflame many a tree, meadow and plant.

  Eurynome commanded the elements of water to douse out the flames. “Have you lost your senses?!” She screamed at Zeus. “You are killing all that our children are now a part of.”

  Tremors rippled throughout the Universe.

  Earth spun upon her axis.

  She travelled vast distances across the time known to Earth’s mortals as years, decades, centuries and eras.

  Mortals lived and died… died and lived.

  And… the claiming continued.

  Within the Universe and Mount Olympus, all but an intake of breath… a flickering of a flame had passed.

  Eurynome looked down in desperation at the sight of her daughters - the last three guests to be trapped within Hera’s party.

  As is the ruling of the Universe those who mark deep my earth become a part of it. Rejoice! The Graces of Three.[xii] Rejoice! You are free from the Dance of the Cosmos. Enjoy your lives as they live within the Cycle of my Reincarnation.

  The barrier that Hera had crafted began to crumble and disintegrate.

  ∞

  Each sister held the hand of the other and found that they could all but stand frozen - unable to move as their bodies set and tightened around their life-force of immortal energies.

  They stood as statues for two mortal days and when they were able to withstand the pain from the severance of the Universe, they moved.

  A stir of emotions did they create.

  “WOW!” A young girl shouted. “You’re for real.” And she laughed with the crowds of sightseers and clapped her hands in admiration.

  A middle-aged man gave unto one of the woman his woollen full-length overcoat and asked. “I am right aren’t I? You were depicting The Three Graces?”

  Another man and then a woman offered up their full-length coats to the other two women.

  The first of the sisters, Aglaia[xiii] stepped forward.

  “It seems that our reputation has preceded us.” She laughed with delight and joy at the attention that they were receiving from the mortals within the twenty-first century.

  Bright lights from hand held devices flashed and shone.

  Questions rang out.

  “You must be Charity the beautiful one!”

  “Can we have your autograph?”

  “You can bless me any day of the week!”

  “Your skin is soooo perfect. How do you do it?”

  “Tell us your secret?”

  Aglaia used her immortal abilities – whilst she still possessed them - to gift the mortals with what they desired the most: Youth and Beauty – Fame and Fortune.

  The second of the sisters, Thalia[xiv] looked around at the amount of people gathering around her and her sisters. She also clapped her hands in delight to see such energies of laughter, merriment and festivity within the auras of the mortals. “Come sisters…” she said, “… Earth is now the hostess and thus to her creatures we must attend.

  Thalia used her immortal abilities – whilst she still possessed them – to ensure the flow of the Festivities of Life: Laughter, food, song, dance and wine never ran dry.

  The third of the sisters, Euphrosyne[xv] looked at the mortals and realised that they did not see or hear the ghosts who shared the earth with them.

  And so, Euphrosyne used her immortal abilities – whilst she still possessed them - to offer comfort and tranquillity to the mortals and their ghosts.

  ∞

  “They are using their abilities wisely.” Eurynome whispered to Zeus as she looked down upon the scene with a mixture of pride, sadness and loss.

  Each Grace still possessed immortal abilities because of their Unity of Three. But now that they were a part of the Earth, that Unity would eventually become severed and their immortal abilities would be lost to them. The knowledge of that particular severance was only known unto Mother Earth.

  Eurynome continued to watch as her daughters shared their gifts and abilities with the mortals before turning her attentions unto the barrier.

  Pieces of it were caught up within the branches of the surrounding trees and the threads sourced from the Immortal children’s memories and the Fabric of Life, looked no more than discarded rags of tattered and torn material.

  She closed her eyes and commanded a breeze to stir up the threads and when they arrived into Mount Olympus, Eurynome collected them up so that they were safe within her own energies and auras. “I vow to protect your memories,” she whispered, “and when the moment arrives they will be returned to each and every one of you.”

  She looked over to Zeus who was still over by the window saving the children’s stardust. “The party has ended. Hera must now be punished.”

  Using her senses, Eurynome sought the scent of what Hera could never hide; the venomous sting of her Jealousy that spat and burnt anything that it came into contact with; the stench of decay that pierced into lightness; the sourness of envy’s acidity that was capable of eating the essence of compassion.

  But her senses found nothing - not even within a faded memory. “There is no creature that is capable of concealing all that you are!” She shouted down to Hera and concentrated her senses onto the things that were not made up of muscle, tissue, bone, blood and flesh.

  She smelt wood, water, rocks, pebbles, sand and roots – plastic, metals, liquids and material and suddenly her attention was drawn to a structure made up of glass, wood and sand.

  Within the colours of the sandy-creamy yellows, Eurynome sighted the tell-tale signs of the colours and energies of Hera’s vanity. “Your vanity betrays you,” she whispered. “Only you would not be content with but the colours of the sands.”

  Sparks of Eurynome’s energy - born from her words – fused together and pierced into the glass and wood of the hourglass. As their shards and splinters dropped to the floor, Hera transformed herself back into the costume of a mortal woman that she had used to greet her guests, when she had hosted her party.

  Within that moment, a claiming rippled throughout the Universe and Eurynome tried to get Hera to Mount Olympus before she became bound to mortality.

  But alas it was all too late.

  As is the ruling of the Universe those who mark deep my earth become a part of it. Rejoice! Hera. Rejoice! You are free from the Dance of the Cosmos. Enjoy your life as it lives within the Cycle of my Reincarnation.

  The phys
ical form of the human body set and tightened around the energies of Hera’s life-force and she looked up toward the sky and taunted Eurynome with the sounds of laughter.

  “When I die, I will forget who it is that I am… what I have done. But you will never forget what it is that I have done unto your children.”

  “No Hera,” Eurynome whispered words with ice-blue coldness. “I might not have the power to claim you now that you are of mortal flesh but I can kill that flesh of yours and turn you into a Human Ghost. You will live with the memory of what it is that you have done.”

  She unleashed a command to her frozen arrows of ice. “Kill the mortal woman called Hera!”

  They soared into flesh, tissue, muscle and bone and settled within the mortal heart.

  Eurynome made known another command. “Freeze the life-force of Jealousy!” And this time, she strengthened her Orb of Ice with the discarded threads from the Fabric of Life.

  Zeus, having collected the last of the stardust, raced over toward Eurynome and struck down his trident unto the marbled flooring.

  Sparks from the metal were created and he sent them flying amongst his statues of twelve Golden Eagles.

  “Soar down my majestic birds and gather up Eurynome’s orb of ice. Clench it tight within your grip of yellowed talons…” he raised his voice. “Squeeze tight that grip until you feel only the particles of ash!”

  Flight of feather & air joined that of water & ice and their claws cut through the orb of ice with deft and precision.

  The Golden Eagles took up a piece within their talons and molten lava melted the ice… intense heat of orange and red; acid of yellow and green glowed within the white and blue of coldness.

  Colours and energies shifted from one extreme to the other - hot lava – cold ice.