As the bright rays of the sun streamed into Euphrosyne’s bedroom and illuminated her beautiful face, the gorgeous Goddess groaned and turned over in her great silk bed away from the dawn light. Slowly opening her bloodshot and incredibly hungover eyes, she pulled the covers up over her head and smacked her dry parched lips. Her voice croaking, she called out.
“Ganymede, COFFEE!!!”
Mere seconds later her ever harried servant scurried in, a large amphora of coffee already in his hand.
“Good Morning oh beautiful Goddess of the Dawn, Radiant divine spirit of the sun, Great Powerful Gorg..”
“Please Ganymede, MY HEAD!” she softly begged as she held her left palm up to her head and placed her right forefinger on his lips. “The girls and I got a bit rambunctious last night and stayed out WAY WAY WAAAY too late!” Drinking down the sweet dark elixir she sighed. Now refreshed by the rich black caffeinated goodness she purred. "OH that most definitely hits the spot. My mouth felt like Cerberus had taken a long nap on my tongue, and I certainly want to recover by TONIGHT!” Now sitting up fully in her bed she grinned as Ganymede stood before her.
"You didn’t seem too late to Dionysus or I Goddess. In fact, it was not late at all, actually quite early.” He answered.
“That’s what YOU think!” she winked as a glorious memory of her endless months in the cave flashed through her mind. Now sitting up straight and rejuvenated by the coffee, her mind was slowly beginning to clear. As she sat up recovering, delicious aromas and scents wafted into her room from the kitchen on the opposite end of the palace. Sweet fruit, warm spicy nutmeg, woodsy cinnamon and exotic clove smells flooded her room as preparations were well underway for the feast later that evening. Drinking the delicious aromas deeply into her nose, Euphrosyne sighed and glanced over to Ganymede in his short white tunic.
“The smells coming from the kitchen are unbelievably delightful Ganymede. I cannot WAIT until tonight. I am sure this party will be the best of all times.” Blushing he looked down as she continued to speak. "I am sorry my sisters and I did not get a chance to inspect your decorations last night as, well, let’s just say we were all quite “tired”. I do ask though that today you leave the silk sheet in place over the “statue” we brought back from Spain last night. I want the big unveiling of that masterpiece to be tonight in front of everyone.”
"Understood Glorious Mistress, whose beauty rivals the daffodil in spring, whose voice brings envy to the Robin in May, Whose face…”
“Ganymede!” Euphrosyne cried, Interrupting his long litany of accolades. Pausing to take another long sip of coffee, she eyed Ganymede and smirked. "Speaking of unveiling, while we were gone the Muses and my sisters all discussed you and Di-Di’s uniforms for the party in GREAT detail.“ As she spoke, the Goddess seductively poked her naked foot out from under her silk sheets and began running her toes up Ganymede’s bare thigh. Gulping, the poor God struggled to keep his natural male reaction in check as his tunic began to grow tight and obscenely tent, but it was no use. "Solstice is that special time of year for ALL sorts of packages to be unveiled, and as you know, I just LOVE unwrapping presents!” Giggling as she saw him losing the battle to control his erection, she continued. "I will send round your uniform for the party this afternoon. I have NO doubt it will add a very special holiday twist to the festivities. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I need more sleep. I will want to save up ALL of my strength for TONIGHT!”
With his waist bent forward and his face pink, Ganymede backed slowly out of the room. Euphrosyne once again had gotten him incredibly hard and he wished more than anything she would release his lock as the pressure in his balls was incredible. Smiling as she watched her throbbing servant exit, the beautiful Goddess slunk back down into her bed and dozed off, her face grinning as her nostrils continued to drink in the delicious odors of the feast being prepared.
Back in Vesuvius, Hephaestus bounded through his lava red empty halls towards his private chambers. His palace was empty as the fire nymphs were already off preparing for the party, and he was running as fast as he could with his great lame leg plodding down the stony floors. Tossing open the doors to his office, his face brightened as he saw Talos standing alone by the desk.
Tall, bronze and smiling, Talos stood with his hands clasped before him, a sheepish grin on his face. “Master and God, I have brought back the criminal Demetrius as you commanded!” his loud metallic voice boomed.
"Wonderful, ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!! Good work Talos, GOOD WORK! When it took so long for you to return I had given up hope of you ever finding him, but obviously I should have had more patience and faith.”
Talos said nothing but just bowed, kneeling on the floor as he lifted his palms up and opened them. There in the center of his enormous hand was Ares, still in Demetrius form. Curled up into a fetal position, he had worn himself out trying desperately to meditate in the proper manner to reconfigure himself into his normal God body, but it was no use. There was not enough time (needing a week of absolute silence and concentration to perform the ritual) and the constant jostling of Talos kept waking him.
Now open to the air, Ares stood up defiantly in the palm and scowled. This had gone on long enough he thought and when he saw Hephaestus he sighed in premature relief.
“Thank Mother Gaia it’s YOU Hephaestus! Maybe now we can clear this whole little misunderstanding up!”
“Bold little fucker, don’t you think?” Hephaestus grinned at Talos who nodded in agreement.
“Yes Master, he put up quite a violent struggle in my hand. You should have heard the unending stream of profanities coming from inside my caged palm.”
“It’s funny, normally when humans come face to face with a God, especially an ANGRY God who holds their fate in their hand, they are afraid. This little Demetrius here is obviously quite brave. No wonder Aphrodite wanted to fuck him.” Shaking his head and grinning he continued “She is such an airhead, and always drops her panties for such foolhardy bravado!”
Laughing now in Talos’s palm, Ares yelled. “Hey, and that is the funny thing about all this. I am NOT a human at all, I am a God just like YOU!”
Raising his eyebrow, Hephaestus looked back into Talos’s bronze face. “Are you sure you didn’t squeeze him to hard? I think this boy has gone a bit soft in the head.” Reaching into Talo’s metal hand, Hephaestus lifted Ares out and dangled him by his ankle. Looking into Ares eyes, he continued. “So, which God are you then? Are you Apollo? You certainly are handsome enough!”
Giggling Talos added. “Why so Low, Hephaestus. I bet he is actually Zeus! Just look at him, so powerful and strong, surely you hold the King of the Gods in your hand now. You should put him down so we can worship him immediately!”
Laughing, Hephaestus swung Ares back and forth between his fingers. “I think you are right Talos.” Mockingly speaking in a false reverential tone he continued. “Oh Glorious God of Heaven, King of the Sky, we your unworthy servants do beg thee forgiveness!”
With both God and Bronze Giant laughing and joking, Ares tried to concentrate on a plan as he swung helplessly in the air. Growing dizzy and sick as he swung, he yelled up to his tormentors. “LOOK Hephaestus I am not kidding; I really AM a God! I am not Apollo or Zeus, I am, uh, I am, er…”
Laying him down on his desk, Hephaestus glowered. “Ok little Demetrius, I will play this game if you want. After all, what the future has in store for you is pretty bleak, so I can indulge in a little final levity as an act of divine mercy. So tell me, which God ARE you then?”