Danae Complex (3)
Tap tap tap… tap tap tap…
Creeeak……
Beneath the bright moon that Artemis cast down upon the earth, she slipped from the bedroom, leaving her soundly sleeping son behind, and appeared before the empty statues. Fearing someone might spy on her nighttime conduct, the servants even surveyed the surroundings; fortunately, no one was offering prayers through the small hours, and so she could stand alone and proud before the lined statues of the Twelve Gods.
After dismissing the servants and removing her veil, she was none other than Danae, mother of Perseus 2. Turning over the nonsense she had uttered that day, something seemed to have shifted in her heart; she looked up at the statues with more tender eyes than usual, and as a mother she bowed her head respectfully before the statue of Hera, guardian goddess of the household, and prayed.
"Lady Hera…… please punish this wretched woman……"
She was offering prayers with the rudeness of a late hour. In this age, even heaping offerings made it hard to receive so much as a single god. With no priest present and the hour so deep, she knew full well that no one would answer—yet the repeated prayer soon called forth a miracle.
"Ah."
Flash!
She was lucky. Today Zeus had gone up to Olympus and was boasting to everyone of his own glory, so Hera could answer even at such an hour. Star-fragments drifted down from the moonlit ceiling of the sky and soon took the form of a beautiful goddess—though Zeus’s boasting had run so long that her expression showed a faint displeasure, as if her ears had grown calluses.
"Ah—aah—I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry—!"
A goddess with dark, sharp eyes that looked as if they might hold poison appeared, irritably scratching at her disheveled black hair, and Danae could only tremble in terror. Hera’s exhausted state was hardly her fault; if anything, the goddess was even grateful to the one who had made a request at this timing.
"No, child of the lower world. I am not angry at you to appear like this, so you may raise your head. As the goddess of the household, how could I be angry at you—a mother of a family, and kin of Perseus?"
"Y-yes… yes…"
Hera approached Danae, her tiredness plain from having to play along with Zeus’s drunken self-praise. Ordinarily she carried herself with formidable presence, yet as the goddess of the household she was infinitely gentle toward Danae, a mother of a family.
"There now—you need not tremble. Calm your heart and still your body. ──Have you settled? Then speak slowly. Why does a mother of such a proud son seek me out so late at night and so desperately demand punishment?"
At Hera’s unexpected kindness, Danae trembled again with guilt—but she had come demanding punishment from the first, and so she could soon bare her true feelings.
"Lady Hera. I am a wretched woman. In my youth I lost my husband and raised the two children he left behind, living for the joy of watching them grow—yet I have harbored a desire that a mother must never hold."
"………?"
At Danae’s confession Hera’s brow twitched slightly. Danae feared the goddess’s coming rage, yet she did not stop speaking.
"Lady Hera may know—recently a small accident occurred, and Perseus, who was my entire life, collapsed. My heart felt as if it were tearing, but I endured the sorrow and nursed the unconscious child for half a year until he finally opened his eyes. Yet the Perseus who barely woke was so unrecognizably mature that I unconsciously harbored an ugly desire. Though he is my child, I looked upon him as a man—so I deserve to be punished by Lady Hera."
"And so you desperately sought me out to wish for punishment?"
"……That is so."
At those words Hera fell into brief contemplation. Had the woman still possessed a husband, as goddess of the household she would clearly have had to deliver a heavy punishment—but Danae was a widow. Moreover, Hera knew that in her youth Danae had been forcibly embraced by her husband to produce two children, and seeing Perseus’s excellent figure, she had not the slightest desire to punish the mother who had raised him.
This was Greece, after all.
Incest?
Who the fuck cares.
A kind-hearted and beautiful child. With a pure character befitting the mother who raised that Perseus, there is no reason to punish her. I could pretend not to have heard this and let it pass—but if I do that…
In Hera’s mind the face of her husband—Greece’s greatest stallion—rose with vivid clarity.
Zeus has set his sights on Perseus, so he will surely turn his gaze upon the mother Danae as well. Even if that rutting bastard has been quiet of late, there is no guarantee he will leave this child alone……
Danae was a good child, but Hera was by nature a deeply jealous woman. If Zeus violated Danae and a bastard she so hated was born, she would completely forget this matter and come to hate Danae.
Yes. A good scheme has come to mind.
For Danae’s sake, and for her own, Hera packaged the scheme that had occurred to her in plausible wrapping, added flesh and skin to it, and spoke it aloud.
"Danae? You are misunderstanding something."
"Misunderstanding?"
"That is so. As the goddess of the household, I would never scold you who have struggled alone without a husband. Moreover, just as men have ugly desires, so do women. You have not yet opened your body to another man and have lived chastely until now—so it is only natural that you would cast such a gaze upon the son to whom you have given so much love."
"But…"
"It is fine, my child. Think of it positively. You simply wish to give even greater love than before to the son you have raised with such care, the son you have cherished until now—do you not? Why would I scold you for wanting to share affection among family? Rather, I find myself wanting to support you."
"Lady Hera?"
At the unexpected words from her mouth, Danae raised her face in puzzlement—but Hera, as if hiding her scheme, tempted Danae with honeyed words.
"Be at ease. If I am a goddess who delivers severe punishment to those who bring discord to the family, I am also a goddess who bestows rewards upon those who protect the family. So quickly—without hesitation—speak the desire within you to the goddess of the household. I will neither laugh at nor condemn any desire."
"I-I…"
Succumbed to Hera’s coaxing, Danae bared her insides—the desire she had harbored that day, as a woman.
"Today… while caressing that child’s body… if… if this child were an adult… I thought I would have mixed bodies with him without hesitation… My cute child… if it were Perseus’s request, I could do any shameful thing… while imagining that grown child’s body… with the hands of a sturdy Perseus… being subjected to the shameful pranks that only naughty boys would do… I wished to be toyed with as he pleased… I harbored such… perverted desires…"
To speak of sexual hobbies before a god required tremendous courage. Danae’s ears turned red, but Hera nodded as if affirming her desire as a fellow woman.
"There are quite a few mothers who love their children so much that in the end they wish to take charge of even the sexual aspects. Your desire is nothing to be ashamed of."
This much was genuine. After all, this was a fucked-up era, and over a long time Hera had seen even greater desires. Danae’s desire was at a laughable level—there was nothing to scold.
"Since opening his eyes, along with becoming clever, he seems to have properly opened his eyes to sexual matters, reacting more sensitively than before… Thinking it was the young age and that it had built up unconsciously, I even tried touching him today—and it was certain…"
"So you, as his mother, wanted to accept that desire of your own child?"
"Yes… My child Perseus has always been a mischievous child, but… I can accept anything… Whatever desire he harbors beneath that clever mask… I will be happy…"
"Then if this Hera were to fulfill that desire, you would surely be glad?"
"Yes. That is so…"
When Danae became completely honest, Hera bared her fangs.
"Then make a promise before me. I will unhesitatingly fulfill that desire of yours to take charge of your son Perseus’s sexual needs—so swear that you will never mix bodies with any other man. If you break this promise and mix bodies, you will die on the spot."
"It is a very simple promise, but I am a woman. In the unlikely event that someone forces me…"
"I shall specially bestow a blessing for that as well."
"—Ah."
With Hera’s gesture, Danae’s right hip glowed slightly. Using the light blooming all around as a mirror, Danae looked at her right hip and could confirm that a lioness’s mark had been stamped there.
"Due to this blessing, your chastity will only permit intrusion to the man to whom you have given your heart. Conversely, if you sleep with another man despite this blessing, it means you have betrayed me. At that time, I will unhesitatingly take your life and lock you in the lowest layer of Tartarus."
"I will never forget that warning…"
Looking down at Danae, who repeatedly bowed her head, Hera could not hide her sly smile. Because of this promise, Zeus would be unable to touch Danae—so of course she smiled. In effect, while it was a curse in words, in reality it was the same as warning, Zeus! I claimed this woman first!
"You may raise your head. Now I shall fulfill your wish…"
Hera thought briefly, then answered shortly.
"Shall I make your son Perseus into an adult?"
"Ah—th-that is an insolent request, but… I do not wish to take away young Perseus’s childhood… I am sorry…"
"Hmm. It becomes a difficult request."
"W-was it an unreasonable request after all?"
"Do not be so apologetic. There is nothing impossible for the Queen of Heaven—so open your two eyes wide and behold the miracle."
Hera rolled the matter through her mind and immediately produced an answer.
"Then let us do it this way."
"?"
"I shall place a curse upon Perseus so that whenever he feels sexual excitement, he temporarily becomes an adult. Would this not suit your request?"
"Ah—!"
At Danae’s surprised and joyful cry, Hera thought this was the answer, scattered light, and sent it to the room where Perseus was sleeping.
Flash!
Having used her power for the first time in a long while, Hera looked infinitely refreshed—and Perseus, knowing nothing of it, slept peacefully even as his body glowed. Eventually, when it subsided, a lioness’s seal was stamped on Perseus’s back just like the one on his mother’s hip.
"There. That is done. In the name of this Hera, I bless the relationship between you two."
"Thank you… Lady Hera… I do not know how to express my gratitude, and I am ashamed and apologetic……"
"I have received something from your son Perseus, so you need not take this matter to heart. However, I only hope that you will not end with a single effort and will continue to show good appearances in the future."
"………Yes. I will never disappoint you."
Hera smiled faintly and slowly rose toward the sky. Having given blessings to this family faster than anyone, and even left a warning directed at Zeus, she wanted to provide a bit more service—so before leaving she gave a final warning.
"It is fine to fall into happiness, but do not lose your reason within the temple where our statues stand. And it would be good to prepare offerings to send to Hades later. He has much coldness and loneliness like the land he rules, so if he hears of this commotion, he may do something petty to Perseus."
"But… the place where he resides is where the dead are ruled… Unlike Olympus, will offerings be able to reach…"
"If you prepare offerings and give a signal, we will send a messenger from here, so do not worry. If you do well as this time, he will not show his pettiness to Perseus either."
"I deeply appreciate your consideration. I will surely convey it to that child."
"Mm."
With those final words, Hera transformed her body into a lioness, soared high, and disappeared. The stardust the goddess left behind circled near the temple for a while as if blessing this place, but as time passed it faded away.
"Ah… could it have been a dream… Did I see an insolent hallucination from my excessive greed……"
Even after Hera left, Danae could not believe that her request had reached the goddess and paced around. It was something that did not quite hit home, so even with her eyes open she tilted her head—but when she called the servants and had them confirm her hip, she could fortunately learn that the mark Hera left remained clearly.
Ah, Perseus…
Thump!
Realizing that what she had seen was not a dream, Danae could no longer hold back her heart beating so hard. She would not pounce right away—but the fact that she could couple with him at any time, and the unbelievable reality that Hera, Queen of Heaven and goddess of the household, was supporting her, made her shoulders shrug with excitement.
Later, the servants who saw such a Danae said:
"That smile was deep as a swamp, and her eyes that received the moonlight were steeped in madness."