Chapter Text
One hour.
…
Two hours.
…
Ten hours.
…
A whole day.
…
A whole week.
…
No sign. Not one fucking sign.
Not a feather on the ground, not a whisper of her name.
Nothing.
Metis was gone.
And Hera had no idea where she went.
It started small, just one hour. Hera stayed by that cliff for a bit after Metis left, moving to sit on the edge, paws dangling gently as the wind rushed around her.
She picked at the grass below her, a small bit of hope lingering in her chest.
Metis had smiled again, albeit tired of course, but she smiled.
She got through to her today, and maybe they were going to be okay.
Hera let the sound of the wind drown out her worries, the natural white noise relaxing her.
Everything was going to be okay she told herself.
A false hope…
Two hours.
Hera moved from the cliffside, feeling the cold start to get to her as she stared up at the night sky, she breathed out. Her heart was rushing with excitement at that smile. She day dreamed- or rather night dreamed- about kissing that smile, waking up to that smile every morning.
She went back to her room, sparing a glance to Metis's. The lights were off, and Hera smiled again.
At least Metis was getting some sleep.
Ten hours.
Morning had arrived on Olympus, Helios's sunlight drifting through her window.
Hera sat up and stretched, feeling her hair curl and fall down her back, light brushes against her shoulders.
She took a deep breath in, slipping out of bed and pulling on her clothes, ready to start her day. She stepped out into the daylight, glancing her way to Metis's room.
No light still.
She brushed it aside, it's better to let her rest for the baby.
She couldn't wait for Metis to be with her again, to hold her hand.
Hera moved on with her day, the sky was clear, the sun was warm, it was nice.
Everything was nice.
One day.
All day Hera was talking, she asked their siblings if they had seen Metis anywhere, all of them shaking her heads no, which broke her heart just a little.
She was a bit sad, was Metis avoiding them again? Was the simple conversation not enough?
Hera felt stupid, of course it wasn't enough, one smile doesn't fix everything.
One kiss doesn't change what happened.
Hera cursed herself, everyone she asked, not one saw her recently. She refused to go to Zeus, perhaps fearing the worst, perhaps fearing his annoyance.
Hestia had offered her a pottery lesson, to which she accepted.
The cold clay that stuck to her fingers gave a temporary distraction, her mind empty as she sculpted, pushing her thumbs deeper into the clay to get a more pronounced shape.
“Hera. Hera you're shaking the table-”
She looked up to Hestia, and then to herself. She was shaking her leg absently, Hera hadn't even noticed.
She sighed, moving to stand up then instead.
She dunked her hands in the bowl of water by Hestia to get most of clay off, though some stayed under her nails.
“Sorry, ‘Es.”
Hestia said nothing in return, just watching as Hera left.
When heading back to her room for the night, she paused, looking to Metis's room. It seemed untouched, though she wouldn't admit- it looked vacant.
She decided to walk up, hesitantly knocking on the door.
No answer.
She gently tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, as if it were locked or something prevented the door from opening.
This only worsened her fear, was Metis turning her away? Was she too pushy?
She gave one last, sorrowful glance to Metis's room, brows furrowed before going back to her own room.
Metis hates her now, doesn't she?
Why else would she avoid her?
One week.
This can't be right, Metis had been unseen for far too long.
Everyday Hera knocked on her door, everyday she tried to open the door.
No budge.
But each day she seemed to get further progress on whatever was blocking the door. Or perhaps it was her hopeless hope talking.
Hera was desperately worried, her siblings too. Posiedon even met up with other Okeanids, asking if she returned back to the ocean.
It was Hera's last hope, and her heart nearly crumbled when they too, said no.
Was it overdramatic to say her whole world seemed to fall apart?
Hera missed her, missed her hustled movements through the halls, even if she seemed frantic. At least she saw her. This, whatever it was, was decidedly worse.
The only person who did not seem worried was Zeus. Whenever Hestia or Hades asked if he knew where she was, he'd tell them to be quiet and to stop bothering him. Did he not care? Was he ungrateful for all the help she had gifted them? Did he even notice she was missing?
Hera found herself at Metis's door again, just standing there, gazing at the wood, all the little seams as if the very fibers would tell her where she went.
Her brows furrowed, her gaze unyielding as a sudden burst of determination hits her hard.
She braces up against the door, shoulder pressed hard as she just kept pushing.
Pushing hard with her back legs, until at last she heard a crack, and before she knew it the door's latch had snapped and she went tumbling inside.
She almost fell before catching herself, pausing for a second to take in the fact she had broken Metis's door before she stopped.
She expected to see the mess she saw last time, and yet the floor was clean. She had no time to be confused as she looked up to the rest of the room.
It was empty.
And not just the fact that Metis wasn't there, no, it was quite literally empty.
None of her furniture was inside, none of her sketches, or her books, or her supplies. Nothing.
Just a bare, empty room.
Hera felt crazy, felt so confused and concerned, where had all Metis's stuff gone?
She felt her confusion well up into anger. This had to be Zeus.
Hera turned around swiftly, she had no patience to fear and avoid him any longer. She was going to confront him.
She kept her gaze trained on Zeus's throne room, the memory of Metis's last kiss at the front of her mind, the way she was just starting to accept her situation, accepting what happened to her.
She doesn't just disappear.
Her footsteps were heavier, full of emotions that swirled in her mind, in her heart.
She entered the throne room abruptly, nearly shoving the door away, not caring for manners.
And of course he, Zeus, just sat there, brow raised and his cold-white eyes staring her down as she walked up.
“Zeus. What has happened to Metis's room? Where are her belongings?”
She felt her voice raise just a bit, feeling her throat tighten nervously as Zeus's eyes narrowed, his hand raising.
“Be silent, Hera. All of your jabbers disrupt my work.”
She could hear the venom dripping in his tone.
HE was annoyed?
She wasn't going to be turned down so easily. She stepped forward, voice accusing.
“No... no! You're going to answer me brother! You were the last one to talk to her, last to see her, you know where she is!”
She didn't back down. Didn't soften her tone, not even as Zeus stood from his seat, face shifting from irritation to genuine anger. She didn't hold back in her tone.
“Answer me! I know what you did, I know you raped her!”
“Where is Metis?”
She expected yelling, she expected a counter, she expected an explanation.
But instead, she was met with a brutal backhand against her cheek.
A yelp escaped her throat, head forced in the direction just from the sheer force. Her cheek stung. Badly. She blinked away a few tears that beaded in her eyes, Zeus's voice raising to a booming volume.
“You dare speak of her in front of me!?”
He was aggressive, he grabbed her upper arm roughly, grip tight as if threatening to break the very bone.
His teeth were clenched, grit, jaw firm, eyes zapping with an angry fire she had only ever seen once before when he fought Kronos. She felt her breath falter, Zeus continued.
“You do not speak of her anymore. You shall never say her name on this mountain again, forget about her if you must. Do you hear me!?”
Hera stayed silent. Was she shocked?
Her face hurt, her arm hurt, her mind blank as she took in his anger. Something happened. Something happened to Metis. Why else would he be so angry? And to her?
His anger died down after a few moments as he hadn't just yelled and threatened her. A small, choked whimper escaped her throat, a single tear falling over her burning cheek. Zeus reached his hand up -she flinched slightly- using his thumb to wipe her tears away.
Her eyes were wide, body frozen and her breath panicked. Her hands shook slightly, she remembered why she didn't want to talk to him. His voice softened, voice now grossly gentle.
“My dear, don't cry.”
He pulled her closer, voice low, the small hint of a threat still lingered.
“You needn't worry about her anymore.”
He released her arm and she immediately backed up, rubbing the area tenderly, breathing quickening as she made haste just to leave.
Tears began brimming her eyes again, whether it be about Metis or Zeus she could not tell.
She ran, the worst scenario playing out in her mind as immediately began looking for Hades. She scoured, tears falling freely as she barely held a sob back.
She searched frantically, she had to find him. She brushed past some Nymphs, ignoring their snickers at her predicament.
Eventually, she stumbled upon Hades walking with Poseidon, just chatting.
She placed her hands on her knees, panting for a few seconds before sprinting to him.
He jumped back slightly, surprised as Hera began shaking him by his shoulders frantically.
“Has Metis descended to the Underworld?!”
Poseidon and Hades seemed shocked at the question, mouth falling agape slightly.
She continued crying, probably looking crazed now.
Hades gently held her shoulders back, shaking his head.
“Hera, Metis isn't in the Underworld, I would know. Hera, what's going on?”
Hades barely had time to catch her as her knees buckled beneath her, a raw, guttural sound came from her throat.
Poseidon came down with both of them, eyebrows knit together in concern.
Hera pressed her hands against her face as she just sobbed, shaking her head frantically.
“No..! She has to be there! She has too! She was healing!”
Hades seemed confused on what to do, awkwardly giving Hera's back a pat as he shushed her softly. Poseidon spoke up, voice quiet.
“Hera, what's going on? Why would Metis be in the Underworld?”
Hera took a few seconds to answer, and she was glad for their patience.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she barely managed to retell what happened, how Metis's room was empty, the way Zeus yelled, the way he's claimed to “deal with her”.
They both were shocked, then sympathetic as they all just sat there for a few moments.
“I'll never see her again…”
Hera spoke.
Poseidon and Hades said nothing.
They did nothing but wait until Hera had finished her sobs.
She gave a small hiccup, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.
“I'm sorry…”
She said to no one in particular. Hades reached to pull Hera up by her shoulders, Poseidon humming.
“Get some rest.”
They both had told her. She complied, and they continued on their way silently, the news clearly fresh and hard to process.
Hera wiped the wetness of her cheeks as she walked, barely stumbled, back to her room.
She couldn't bear to gaze at Metis's place as she went inside her own.
Her footsteps began to drag as she more or less flopped unceremoniously onto her bed, burying her face in the sheets.
She reached and clawed her shirt off her back and over her head, not even being mindful of her horns and she brought it up to cry into again.
Metis had made her mission to make something nice for everyone as a gift and congratulations for defeating Kronos, each of her siblings received something hand sewn and embroidered from Metis, and Hera was holding hers now.
The red fabric was soft in-between her fingers, now running her thumb over the embroidered peacock feathers in the sleeves.
She whimpered, hugging it closer.
How foolish she had been to let Metis go alone- such a coward she was.
“I love you, Metis.”
She whispered into the shirt she held.
--------------------------------------
It had been a year since Metis's disappearance.
All of her siblings had gotten together to express their sadness that she's gone -all but one, Zeus remained as distant as a king could be-
Hera began to write letters to Metis, keeping her handwriting as neat as Metis taught her as she sat on the cliffside.
It wasn't windy today, but still a bit cool, the sky a dark blue as Helios descended.
Hera wrote about life on Olympus, things she might want to know.
She wrote about how Zeus had offered the same proposal to her as he did to Metis, and her fear of rejecting him. Zeus was a scary, horrid man.
He did not take no for an answer anymore.
She wiped her tears away before they could fall on the letter, sniffing as she folded the paper in two, then rolling it and tying the parchment into a simple letter.
She left the cliffside to move to the ocean shore, finding herself on her knees in front of the calm, cold water.
“Metis…”
She waited, as if expecting someone to answer.
“Here, another letter for you to read…”
She dropped the letter onto the surface of the water, watching it slowly get dragged out further to see.
She knew deep down it was futile, and a waste of her time and paper. But her heart, how it longed every day for a letter to come back, knowing one wouldn't.
She let out a shuddering breath, barely visible in the air.
“Come back… please…”
“She won't answer.”
Hera whipped around, only to be met with another sea Nymph. Their dark hair floated around the air as if she was still under water.
Hera nodded.
“I'm aware.”
“The King of Olympus will one day discover these letters you are sending, I foretell.”
Hera listened carefully, sighing.
“This is it then. She's really gone..”
Hera felt the Nymphs hand on her shoulder.
“Save your grief for in your dreams, where Zeus may not watch you.”
Before Hera could turn to face the Nymph again, they were gone.
Hera stood, rubbing her eyes as the sun set fully.
The letter was far out now, Hera could barely see it.
She turned around and walked back to Olympus.
Perched in the trees tops was an eagle, chest puffed and powerful.
The eagle, it swooped down over the water, claws briefly touching the surface.
It extended its claws and grabbed the letter in one fluid motion before it too flew back to Olympus.