Forbidden Love

Vulcan sat in his temple, looking out at the morning sky. He could see all of the heavens from where he sat, including the part of which no one in his Pantheon was allowed to go, or Jupiter would have their heads. Not many realized that while the Roman and Greek Gods lived on different mountains, they shared the Heavens themselves but were a human to look upon them if it would seem as though an ocean separates them. One that was never to be crossed. Even the human race knew that the Greek and Roman Gods never fraternized, but no one who wasn't a God knew why. It is because, for every Roman God, there is, of course, a Greek counterpart. Therefore, they were forever at war, trying to decide who was better at their gift. Aphrodite and Venus spent hours doing their best to ensure one was more desirable than the other. How did they decipher this? Well, every God had underlings that would do their bidding. Venus and Aphrodite were known to use their children as spies because neither could have their children become more desirable than they were. When Venus wasn't too busy sending her children to spy or trying to make both Gods and men fall in love with her to do her bidding, she spent much of her time trying to catch Vulcan's eye. Jupiter had ordered that they would be married within a year. He had hoped to use Vulcan as a punishment for Venus. Compared to most Gods, he was not considered very attractive. As the Roman God of Fire, he had fiery red hair. It was shoulder-length, and he often kept it tied back away from his face. He had a mustache and beard to match. That, too, he kept trimmed to Jupiter's dismay. He never said it, but it was pretty evident that Jupiter wanted Vulcan to be as ugly as possible because what better way to punish a Goddess of Love is there than to give the Goddess of Love a hideous attachment. Vulcan could think of none, but it backfired horribly. This all started because Jupiter was stupid enough to fall for Venus's charms and had an affair. Juno caught them in bed together and hasn't stopped torturing Jupiter about it since. Vulcan, finding her distaste amusing wanted to keep it going as long as possible, so instead of being the hideous creature Jupiter wanted him to be, he began to take pride in his appearance just to piss Jupiter off. However, because he did so, he captured the attention of several Goddesses' eyes, including that of Venus. So, rather than be upset by their upcoming nuptials, she was thrilled. When Jupiter realized his plan was going to backfire, he had planned to change it. To find some other way to punish Venus and now Vulcan since he's the one who foiled Jupiters plan in the first place. Juno wouldn't hear of it. When she found out that Venus was thrilled to become Vulcan's wife couldn't have been happier. As he sat there, Vulcan replayed the scene of their marriage announcement in his mind. He and Venus were standing in front of Jupiter and Juno's thrones while they stared down at them. Venus peeked up through her lashes, refusing to look at Juno, but trying desperately to catch Jupiter's eye in the hopes that he may free her from whatever this confrontation was about to be. When Jupiter finally looked her way, he grimaced and shook his head solemnly at her. Vulcan laughed under his breath when he caught the exchange. Venus turned to glower at him. She was the only one of the three of them who had caught his laugh. Juno spoke first. "it has come to my attention that my husband has decided the two of you should be wed!" She exclaimed. Both he and Venus gave her confused looks. "If I may, My Lady, I'm quite certain that neither Venus nor I know what it is you speak of." He replied, giving Juno a quizzical look. Her eyes gleaned with excitement before she answered him. "Oh, of course not dear, boy, forgive me. You know not what has brought about these events, do you?" She asked. He could hear the surprise in her voice, which must mean that everyone else on Capitoline Hill knew what had led to this. "I'm afraid not, my Lady, but I would very much appreciate it if you could fill me in please" he gave her a sweet smile which she returned in kind. Many Gods and Goddesses claimed that Juno was an unfair Queen and a hard woman to deal with in general. Vulcan never found that to be true. The two of them had always gotten along. So, when she summoned him to the temple she shared with Jupiter, he thought nothing of it. "Well, you see, Vulcan, my husband has made the terrible mistake of sleeping with our Dear Venus here." Juno shot Jupiter a look while Vulcan did the same to Venus. "My husband and I have decided that it best we marry her off in an attempt to keep her from trying such foolishness again," said Juno in a stern tone. "He and I have decided that you are the perfect candidate for such a match! I know you well, and I'm quite sure you will make a fine husband!" He and Venus exchanged looks of shock before returning their gazes to Juno and Jupiter. Vulcan sighed, closing his eyes as he did so. "Juno, please don't do this to me." He said telepathically. It's one of all God and Goddess's many talents. Vulcan was more thankful for it now than he had ever been before. "I'm sorry, Vulcan, I haven't a choice. Jupiter insisted on punishing her to make it up to me, and what better way to punish her than marry her off?" She questioned. "You mean what better way to punisher than marry her off to ME." He said, emphasizing the word. "do you honestly think I don't know why Jupiter chose me? I'm no fool, Juno. He chose me because he finds me ugly. Giving the Goddess of unfailing beauty who's able to make anyone fall in love with her a heinous husband is a perfect punishment. You're right." Juno's expression softened at his words in her head. She would not confirm what Vulcan had just said, but she knew it was the truth. In the time it took for Juno and Vulcan to have this silent conversation, Venus began having a fit. She threw herself at Jupiter's feet and begged him not to make her do this. "My word is final, Venus! You will do as I say or be banished to the mortal realm!" Venus hiccuped at his words, and her tears instantly stopped flowing from her eyes. She had been to the mortal realm before, but only to help Cupid find matches for humans who were deserving of love or visit one of her temples and watch human men fawn over the statue of her and collect the gifts they left behind. To be banished there would mean being stripped of her powers, and knowing Juno's distaste for her and Jupiter's endless attempts at trying to subdue his wife, they'd most likely strip her of her beauty as well. "As you wish, My Lord, I will do as you say. Please forgive my outburst. My Lady, let me say again how sorry I am that I have brought such pain to you and caused a strain in your marriage. I'm hopeful that one day I may love Vulcan the same way you do, Our Lord." She said, feigning sweetness. Without even looking at Juno, Vulcan knew that she didn't buy Venus's word for a second. "Very well then. You're both dismissed. Congratulations on your impending marriage. I'm sure it will be a lovely ceremony." Jupiter said as he waved them away. Vulcan took one last look before turning to leave. "I'm sorry," he heard in his head as he walked away. He could hear the sadness in those words. He knew that Juno meant what she was saying with all her heart. Vulcan decided then and there that if Jupiter were going to use him as a punishment for Venus, he would return the favor in kind and do something to punish Jupiter. While he had no interest in marrying Venus, it would be fun to see if he could manage to get her attention in some way. Should he succeed, it would appear as though their marriage wasn't a punishment to Venus. No matter what Vulcan did, it would be a punishment to himself, though. He must be one of the only Gods on Capitoline whose attention she hadn't managed to grab at one time or another. Venus wants everyone to want her. Except him, she'd never done anything to try and get his attention, and until now, that was just fine with him. After learning of his forced marriage, Vulcan made his way from Capitoline Hill to Mount Etna. His forge was just underneath it, and he spent a great deal of time there since no one on Capitoline could stand to look at him. When he reached the bottom of Etna, his friend Layla, the flower nymph, was waiting for him at the entrance to his forge. She was the only one who had always accepted him as he was. She didn't turn away in disgust at the mere sight of him. "What's wrong, Vulcan? You look terrible." "Juno is pissed off at Venus because Jupiter couldn't keep it in his pants and decided to crawl into bed with her." He said in an irritated tone. Layla looked at him, confused. "and this affects you how?" He rolled his eyes at her question. "Jupiter decided to make up the affair to Juno by punishing Venus. Her punishment is marriage." "And…?" Vulcan looked at her dumbfounded. Had she really not figured it out by now? "AND," he emphasized, "That marriage is to me. Look at me, Lay, you know everyone on Capitoline finds me hideous that's the punishment. Perfect, isn't it? Marry off the Goddess of Love and Beauty to the ugliest God there is." Layla stood there tapping her foot and chewing her nails as she took in everything Vulcan had said. Jupiter was right. Marrying Venus off is the perfect punishment. "What if we could change it? Make it, so it's not so much a punishment anymore, I mean," she asked. "And just how are we supposed to do that, Lay?" "We clean you up," she said with a smile as she pulled out the golden sheers she used to tend to the weeds around her flowers. He looked at her dumbfounded, unsure of what she meant by that and what exactly she intended to do with those sheers. "Clean me up; how?" "We cut your hair and trim your beard. I'll cut your hair to shoulder length, and you can tie it back to keep from hiding your face. You have beautiful eyes, Vulcan. You really ought to stop hiding them behind that hair and that damn helmet you always wear." He pulled his helmet down firmly on his head. "I happen to like my hair and helmet, thank you very much." "But don't you see if you make yourself more appealing to her, it isn't a punishment. It'll be more of a punishment to Jupiter because he'll have failed at exacting his revenge on her." "And what about me? I don't want to marry Venus anymore than she wants to marry me. If I make her want me, that may work in pissing Jupiter off, but it also saddles me with her." Layla rolled her eyes at his question. "Vulcan, she's the Goddess of love for Jupiter's sakes! Do you honestly believe she'll remain faithful to you? No one will expect that of her. It's merely the thought of her forced association with someone ugly that is appealing. If we make you more appealing to her, they don't win. Venus may fawn over you for a bit if we do a decent enough job at it, but eventually, someone else will come along. It's spring; Cupid always goes on a spree about this time of year and keeps Venus in tow. You'll be fine." Vulcan thought it over for a moment and said, "Okay, what do we do first?" Layla smiled at his question and opened and closed her fingers, causing the sheers to make the cutting sound. Taking him by the hand, she led him over to a nearby boulder and told him to sit down so she could set to work on his hair. "Leave it to me. By the time I'm done with you, none of the Goddess's on Capitoline with be able to take their eyes off of you.