The Children of Thebes

They were all cursed. All of them. I bore Cadmus six children of his own and all were cursed. The only two immune from this curse were Cat and Xan. Then again, that was for the best I believe. Sometimes I believed my ex-lover was watching down and cursed the children of Cadmus for having been as they were. Then I knew also that he would not curse anything of mine. I also knew at that time, that Strife had not been to Asphodel. I plead to Hades after my first two children were born. I wanted to see my love to tell him.

"I cannot allow it." He said sternly.

"Please." I pleaded with him.

"No." It was the dead of winter and Persephone came to his side.

She frowned at him. "Why not tell her why you cannot allow it." Her voice was cold. "Harmonia," Hades motioned to argue and she stopped him. He said not a word for fear of angering her and having her leave early this year. "Strife never came to us. He has not been to the underworld at all."

"Then where is he?" I asked, crying again. It seemed that was all I did at that time in my life.

"I don't know."

So I moved on with my life. I still missed him daily. The only way I could make the sharing of flesh bearable with my husband was to visualize my ex-lover there. The first child of our union was a daughter named Autonoe. She suffered through her son, rather than on her own. The poor boy had the misfortune of seeing Artemis bathing and she turned him into a stag, with which his own hounds killed and feast upon. Thankfully, Cadmus did not live to see all of his children suffer so.

Agave was next born. I truly believe the child was mad from birth. She always did the oddest things. It came as no surprise to me when later in life she first beheaded her son merely because Dionysis thought it was a good idea. Then upon fleeing home murdered her husband as well. She married Lycotherses of Illyria and gave her kingdom to us.

Following Agave was Ino. First Ino became mistress to Athamas of Boeotia bearing him Learchus and Merlicertes. She demanded that Phrixus, Athamas's son, be sacrificed to Zeus. Hermes sent down a golden ram to save the boy. As revenge Athamas attempted to shoot her with an arrow where she fled to the ocean with Merlicertes. I haven't seen any of them since she dove into the icy water.

I am rather bitter as to the means of Semele's demise. First I was disgusted that my own grandfather would bed her. Let alone persue her continuously. She was a beautiful girl, but that is not an excuse at any length. She had just bore Dionysis to Zeus, the same Dionysis that drove my other daughter mad, when Hera approached her. Hera was always jealous of Zeus' various conquests and bastard children and so convinced Semele to ask her lover to see him as he truly was. When he finally appeared to her as his true self, she perished.

Polydorus was the first son I bore Cadmus. Instantly he was named heir to the Theban throne. I know Xander was slightly jealous of his younger half-brother but he took comfort in his immortality and let it slide. Polydorus would not suffer as his sisters had, but rather the curse would take effect in his grandchild. For Polydorus begot Labdacus who begot Laius. Then as the family follows Laius begot Oedipus.. need I go any further.

The only child of our shared flesh to not suffer was Illyrius. He grew up and ruled over Illyria. It was there that Cadmus would die and be buried. Truthfully, I cared not much for most of them. I did not weep at their deaths, nor did I scorn or punish those who inflicted it upon them. I simply continued about my life.

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I remember fondly of Xan and Cat's youth. Xander seemed to grow all too quickly. He shared the deep black curls of his father and his build, but his silver eyes were his own. Xan was an extremely intelligent child and I couldn't feed him full enough with knowledge. Soon he swept past me in height and I found myself longing for the days when he would toddle behind me crying "Mama." When had walked too far from him. He was a quiet child though, with a dark sense of humor. Eventually as the years went by, he would learn to loosen up and take things in stride, but for the remainder of his youth he had an eternal sullen look about him.

Now, Cat, she was exactly as her namesake told. She was a catastrophe. There was nothing that child touched that didn't either break or fall into ruin. It was a terrible power that she never learned to grasp very well. She shared the tight blonde curls of my mother, thankfully, I was the only oddball with straight hair. Her green eyes were mine. She was clumsy by nature, and over time, I learned to shrug it off. Getting upset did no good since she really couldn't control who she was. She did however, have her father's personality and wit.

Through the two of them I survived. They were my life, the one thing I lived for. Sometimes I'd look at them and I'd feel that if they had been smashed into one being, my love would have been standing before me. That would never be so, and I was content with my two wonderful children. None of us wept when Cadmus finally passed. I had felt bad, he had aged and grown old. I had not and I saw that it hurt him. After the funeral pyre finished it's last breath of air, we moved on. The three of us moved from Thebes to Corinth.

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Curses and Such

Rereading my last passage I realized that I spoke of the curse that destoyed my mortal children and their families, but I did not explain it's whereabouts. It started on a cool evening in September, Xan and Cat were two years of age. I was newly with child, the first child I would bear my husband. I lay in bed awaiting his return from Sparta. I tried desperately to keep myself awake, to share the news with him. Though, soon enough, my eyelids grew heavy and I drifted off.

This was the first time I had slept alone in the two and a half years of our marriage and I was unaccustomed to the way the mattress lay without his weight. I was restless, but finally sleep came and with it a wonderful dream, or so I thought. It was so real.

I felt a hand caressing my cheek, soft warm and gentle. Only one person had ever touched me like that. I opened my eyes and met the face I had been longing to see for years. "This is dream." I said staring into his face. "You're not real."

"Oh, but I am real." He smiled his wicked smile and pulled my hand to his face to be sure.

I sighed deeply as my hand met actual flesh. "If this is a dream, I never want to wake." I sighed in pleasure as he went to my neck. It had been so long since I had been touched so. My mouth met his with desperation.

My hand went to remove his pants but he pulled me away. "In good time, love." I stopped for a moment and looked at him. "What?"

"You would never have said that."

He looked at me. "This is your dream." Strife smiled. I nodded in agreement.

It honestly felt so real. As his lips traced various patterns upon my breasts my back arched towards him, wanting more. The space between my thighs grew warm, a feeling Cadmus never gave me. Lovemaking with him was one-sided. When he finally entered me, I flew like a bird. With him, dream or real, I always climaxed, at least once.

The door burst open and my husband came in. "I heard a cry, are you alright."

It wasn't a dream. I opened my eyes and looked at Cadmus, horrified that I had been caught. Then the horror that hit me harder was the realization that if I wasn't dreaming, and Strife was dead, then who was ontop of me? Looking up I saw it. The golden hair, the wicked eyes with the evil smile. I had been tricked. "Surprise." He smiled and I screamed. "I always get what I want."

A serving girl fainted at seeing Apollo stand, naked as the day he was born, from the bed. I felt dirty and used. I was crying. Clutching a sheet tightly to my chest to protect the nakedness that deep down I knew had already been seen, I frantically wiped his seed from my thigh. I would never bear a child of his. I would abort the bastard or die first. Cadmus came to my side, not at all seeming upset with me. "GET OUT!" He ordered the deity. "You've done enough damage here."

"I was right, Harmonia." Apollo laughed. "Look at you. You're pathetic. Crying like the mortal you are now."

"I am not mortal." I hissed between sobs.

"Really?" He smiled. "Could've fooled me. You certainly act like one."

"GET OUT!" Cadmus ordered again.

Apollo chuckled for a moment. "You don't order me around, your highness." He was mocking us.

"GUARD."

"Yeah, proctect your pitiful wife. She doesn't love you, you know. And she never will." The guards surrounded him and he laughed openmouthed. "Ooh, I'm shaking." His eyes met mine. "A wonderful little romp my dear. Till next time." And he left.

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Cadmus understood, afterall he had been a part of our group in my days of parties and drink. His reaction of vengeance was not the best. That night, the Theban temple to Apollo was burned to the ground. All statues and vases were destroyed, his priests were murdered. It wasn't the wisest decision, but it was how Cadmus vented his anger. I knew that we would be punished for it, but at that time I didn’t know how. It is most obvious in the life of my great-grandson and his son, Laius and Oedipus.

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The Fall of Olympus

We found a home in Corinth. We farmed out of need rather than want. Father would have taken us in, no questions asked, but I preferred to stay independent. Damn my stubborn nature. The Romans had come to Greece by then, even with Caesar dead the empire lived on. Eventually it would die, as all great empires did, but that would not be for some time.

I was kneeling in the barn, milking, when the house sounded as if it would fall apart. Xander ran in from the field and I met him at the door. "Cat." I sighed, frowning at the disaster of pots and pans and fruit were scattered across the floor.

"I'm sorry, mama." She was a child at heart and I knew that regardless of her age, she would call me mama for life.

"Just clean it up." I sighed again. I could not hate her, and I could not stay mad at her either.

"What are you doing?"

I looked up and saw my brother as I relaxed at the table. "Sitting, Deimos. What does it look like?" He had grow a lot since Strife's death. He was forced into his position and had to learn much responsibility in a short amount of time. Father would settle for no less.

"Hey, Uncle Deimy!" Cat poked her head over the other side of the table.

He laughed. "Hey, kid." Deimos looked back at me and sat down. "No, I mean WHAT are you doing?" He was obviously indicating the farm.

"Trying to make a living. I do have to do that you know."

He put his arm on my shoulder. "You could come back with us. I'm sure Dad'll find somewhere where you don't have to be so," he paused briefly, "domestic."

"I like being domestic. It gives me a purpose." Deimos used his powers to give me water, which I sipped lazily. "How is father by the way? What has it been now? A year? Two?"

"He doesn't do it on purpose you know." He responded. "Things aren't well. This new war is different, they're.."

"Priests." I replied. "Priests of the one-god. The Christian one-god." Deimos looked at me, confused. "They've been here, asking my allegiance. I said that I would not ally againt my family." I took another sip. "They didn't seem to like that much."

He changed the subject. "Next week is Pallor's birthday. He'd like you to be there."

"We've never celebrated birthdays after…."

"I know." Deimos sighed. "Call him sentimental but he wants the family back together for once."

"I suppose." I nodded.

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I cannot blame him for trying. Since my marriage to Cadmus, the family sort of broke apart. I saw mother more than anyone else. Father was busy with all sorts of civil wars and such. My darling little brother, I would travel to great lengths to make him happy. And I did. Not all things went as planned. There was as strange horde of men in Corinth as we packed to leave. Temples were being burned to the ground.

We left not knowing what else to do. "Mother." Xander whispered as we built camp one evening. "Remember that priest that came by, the one with the dark eyes." I nodded. "He was there, burning the temple of Artemis." As I thought about it, it was true. Along the way, all the temples we saw destroyed had Christian priests standing guard now, all were being rebuilt with crosses.

"The gods will fight back." I assured him. "Especially your grandfather. He takes no fight lying down."

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"Shh.. Hide." The three of us were grabbed from behind and pulled into a shelter behind a few trees. Phobos held me, while Deimos and Pallor held Cat and Xander.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked when he finally let me go.

"Look." He pointed off towards the Halls of War. There were priests destroying the offering tables outside and setting bonfires. "Just about everyone is gone."

"What are you talking about?"

"Gone, Harmonia." Pallor frowned. "That man there," he pointed to the priest that we had seen in Corinth. "He has some sort of power in that staff of his."

"So blast it to bits." Cat smiled.

Deimos smiled. "Not so easy anymore. Our godhood is gone." I glared at him, jaw dropping to the ground. "You see, first they hit Zeus and Hera. Seizing their power in that staff and then doing who knows what with their bodies."

"Entombing them somehow." Phobos interrupted. "But we don't know where or how. After all, they can't take our immortality."

"Anyways…"Deimos glared at him. "Dad's the only one left. So he took our powers collectively so that he can fight stronger." I was baffled. Never had I thought the day would come when the gods would be overthrown.

We watched in horror, from our hiding spot, as father attacked the Christians ruthlessly. Then slowly, his power began to fade and they took their opportunity.

"When will they learn, there can be ONLY ONE GOD." The same priest's voice echoed. He raised his staff high and the glow of godhood left my father and absorbed itself into his staff. In that same instant the former god of war's body flew into the entrance to the halls of war where the mountain it was carved in, sealed behind him, showing no sign of the entrance.

"Dad…." I screamed but Deimos' hand covered my mouth, silencing the end.

The priest looked in our direction and made a motion. They saw us. "Shit." Phobos cursed. "Run." And we did, we ran for our lives, not entirely sure if they were in danger or not. The final god was brought down, Olympus had officially fallen to a new god. We stole horses from mortals in the villiage outside the Halls of War. We rode those horses to near exhaustion, Phobos and Pallor's finally falling to the ground, unable to move another step. The priest's followers were still on our tale as they caught my two brothers.

I stopped, ready to attack. "No." Pallor screamed. "Just go! Now."

"Come on.!" Deimos grabbed my arm. "They'll be fine."

Finally, they left us be, and we left the horses for dead. We found shelter in an abandoned house. I cried that night and so did my brother as we realized that we were alone. It was now just the four of us. We would find our brother's again, someday, but not for a long time.

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A New Home

The war of religions had been waged worldwide. One pathenon fell after another, which seemed to be the way of things. We were briefly nomadic and since no one outside Greece knew who we were, we had no fear. Gradually we were moving north.

Then the unthinkable happened. How long it had been since Greece we didn't know, but we did know the times were changing, as were the people. There was a castle near modern day Glastonbury that we somehow managed to inherit. Actually I know how it was done, and I'll assure you that the blood is not on my hands. It was out of need, and we were a violent crew when it became necessary. To say the obvious, Britannia became our new home. There we would stay for much of our lives, moving occasionally to nearby countries for change of scenery.

Sadly, here is where I choose to end my story. There are questions, as are always left at the end of a truly great epilogue. I'm sure every question is well founded. Should I continue, and make this novel thrice the size of War and Peace, I fear I would begin to bore you. However, every writer knows how to keep you interested... to keep you wanting more. I'll just leave some questions unanswered for the time being. Perhaps, if one day it fancies me again, I will return to my computer and dish out a sequel.

Only time will tell, and time is all I have.

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~The End~