Chapter 2 The weirdest bath of my entire life!

When I got home I felt like I had been walking on air. I sat down on my couch and Psycho jumped on my lap. I petted him till he had had enough. Then he promptly jumped out my window. Did I mention that Psycho is really the alley cat. I feed him and he sleeps here, but really he was here even before I moved in. I claim him. But so do most of the residents here.

After Psycho jumped out the window, I shut it and went to my room. I stripped and cleaned off all that makeup Pearl had put on me. I felt like I needed a chisel. I ran me a bath and sat down in the steam to read a book. I was not in the bath long however. I just could not get that guy off my mind. I could not believe I gave him my real phone number. I chided myself out loud. "I bet he does not even call! Stop overanalyzing! There is just no way he was that into you. He knows Pearl. He is probably just taking his time till they break up. That is usually how this ends anyway. I am not stupid! But boy, he was good looking." I pulled the shower door shut.

I was about to take my shower when, Knock, Knock, Knock came from the bathroom door. I was home alone! All the doors, and windows shut and locked! Who could possibly be here! I answered shakily, "Yes, who is it? Kevin if that is you! You should have called first!" Kevin is my brother, and I know he has a key. He could be knocking on my door just to annoy me.

A woman's voice answered rather sternly, "and who is this Kevin creature?"

I partially opened the door to see a dignified older lady sitting on my toilet. She looked, talked and acted like royalty. Her hair in an elegant up due, her dress finely tailored to fit her. I could not tell much about her height, except that she was close to my height or maybe slightly taller. She had a very stern look on her face, as she waited for my answer.

At the moment though, all I could think about was how very naked I was. Also, who the hell are you lady? Coming into my house uninvited. Then I remembered my phone was plugged in by my bed. As the panic rose, I tried to hide behind my glass shower doors. I was so glad that the glass had a smokey look. You could not see completely through them. You could however see a colorful silhouette! But it was still embarrassing.

I did finally answer her though. "Kevin is my brother."

She harrumphed at me, "well at least it is not a boyfriend."

At that I was shocked! "Mamm, I think you may have the wrong apartment. I apologize, for any of your inconvenience. But could you please tell me how you got in? This is my apartment!"

Staring daggers does not quite cover the look she gave me in that moment. I was the mouse and she was the hen. She said, "Young lady, your name is Joy Phoenix. There is no use in denying it. I am Hera Queen of the Gods. You are in my castle. I brought you here. I am going to train you. When I am done you may become a God yourself. My son fancies you. After I am done training you, he will pick you out of a line up of showers. If he picks you, you will be his new wife. Oh, and FYI I don't take no for an answer. You will do everything you are told or pay the consequences. Am I understood!"

With that, I knew she was not lying. I could feel it in the air, her voice, and in my soul. I can not explain it any better. I knew she was telling me the truth, and leaving me no room to argue. I on the other hand, was again struck stupid. All I could do was nod.

Hera stood up and nodded back at me. "Finish your shower. Wrap yourself in a towel. You will be looked at shortly. For now though stay in the shower in your towel." Hera turned and walked out of the bathroom.

I was pretty much left dumb founded. I closed the door and rubbed my eyes. I had to have been dreaming. I peeked out of the shower door again and it was like nothing had happened. I giggled to myself. My imagination sure does have a way of running away with me. I went ahead and took my shower.

When I came out I wrapped myself in a towel and began inspecting myself in the mirror. Once I had brushed my teeth and hair. I went to go to my bedroom to get dressed. However, when I opened the door my world was flipped in every direction you could think of. That includes inside out! On the other side of my bathroom door was a gallery of bathroom doors. There had to have been something like thirty doors. There were several other women peeking out into the hall besides me. All with wet hair and in a towel. All quite beautiful! Not one of them could believe they were in this alternate universe either.

There were things that looked like fawns. They were rushing around and pushing all of us back into our own bathrooms. They were saying things like "You had better do what Hera commands." "You do not want to be punished, just ask Hercules." The fawn that pushed me in even offered to brush my hair and put it up. I let him. This was just all to weird. I might as well enjoy being pampered in my own dreams though right!

As the fawn brushed my hair and braided it, he spun a story like I had never heard before. "Zeus, Hera, and Aries had a bet going. The bet was that he could not find the love of his life. The whole reason this came about. Well, that is a story all in its self. Zeus and Hera had had their fill of the scandalous nature of the relationship between Aries and Aphrodite. If Aries can prove that he can love another woman other than Aphrodite, they will not take his power's away."

"They had threatened to remove his Godly privileges millennia ago. But this last time that Hephaestus had caught them together was to much. Aphrodite had been punished already. They condemned her to be reborn as a human, and to earn her Godly powers back. However, nobody knows who or where she was reborn."

"Aries, on the other hand, had made this bet. He has a special castle that he will be spending time with his new bride at. They will be going back in time. To the day when the bet was made. That is many millennia in the past. Back in the days of the Gods. If Aries can prove that he loves this girl and she loves him back, Aries keeps his godly power. If she proves she loves him back she will become a immortal as well. If she cant love him or him her, he will be stripped of all godly power, and she will be returned home as if she never left. It is quite a unique situation."

"Aries and Hera are going to be coming down through this hall shortly. They will be entering into every bathroom. While the bathrooms are in this hall they are in a form of suspended animation. Basically, we are frozen in time. Anyway, Aries will get five minutes with each girl asking questions. After he has gone through every bathroom he will pick a girl. All he will be able to see of the girl will be her silhouette. He will have the knowledge she will be wrapped in a towel. He can not see her fully till their first night in the castle. If they make it through five years together. That will be the tell tell all."

My fawn backed away from me after he was through. My hair looked very lovely in the mirror. He had made several braids and braided them all together. Then he wrapped it into a bun on the back of my head, with cute little curly cues hanging down. I was actually amazed. There were no flighty hairs at all. He made it look amazing. Unfortunately, while I was checking out my hair, the little bugger snuck out of the door locking it behind him. Somehow he had locked it from the outside.

His stupid story had captivated me, then his hair skills were amazing! But he tricked me. I had more questions. Really though, I guess he actually told me more than he should have. I am apparently only going to be given limited information. Well so be it.

I am a go with the flow kind of person normally anyway. But I cant help but wonder if Hera has done something to me to make me more open to this idea. I feel very conflicted. But you know honestly, I do not even know if this guy is good looking or not. Great! Another blind date. Not just any blind date either. It sounds like I will be trapped with this guy for five years or till we both decide we have had enough. Wait! Is this supposed to be like a honeymoon period? No, NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!!!!! I will insist he marry me first! I do actually have morals after all! And isn't Hera supposed to be the Goddess of marriage! Wait I do not want to be married to a guy I don't know for five years! Oh great! What a dilemma! Please, Aries pick someone else!

Knock, Knock, Knock! Oh! Crap! Someone is at the door. I hurriedly jumped into the shower and closed the glass shower door trying to hide behind the towel hanging on the handle. I heard a male voice and Hera as they entered. I know the sound of that voice! Could it be the guy from the club? Oops! He was asking me a question. I said, "Please forgive me, I was deep in thought. What was your question?" Aries sighed, "What is your name young lady?"

Wow! He does not sound like he wants to be here any more than I do. Poor guy! I answered, "Joy Phoenix." Aries took a short breath in. I felt my heart thud in my chest. Aries asked, "What do you think of war young Miss Phoenix?" I thought for a moment of how best to answer his question. "I believe in the electric chair." Hera spoke up, "That is not what he asked stupid child!" Aries laughed loudly, "I do believe I understand you. But you might explain this to my mother."

Again I found my self deep in thought of how best to answer. Then it hit me, "War is a necessary thing. Just the same as the electric chair. I believe in executing murders, pedophiles, and rapists. It is a necessity. Otherwise, we are looking at over crowding situations, repeat offenders, and escalations on previous crimes. War is necessary because it shows people are willing to fight for what they feel is right. If you are not willing to fight for your cause, your cause is not worth fighting for. Such as freedom, equal rights, and religion. All of which as caused some of the most famous wars in history. I do not agree with fighting over territory, or boarder land. I feel there should be an equal exchange for goods. Those equal exchanges should not ever include blood. But there are those who disagree. There will always be someone who has a different opinion than you. That should not mean war either. If should mean an open discussion with the understanding that both sides have differing opinions. I think that is the best definition I can give."

Hera and Aries were quiet! I could see their silhouette's that appeared to be staring at me. I could feel myself breaking out into a cold sweat the longer I stood there. The silence lingered for the next few minutes. It was like the room itself had been frozen in time.

Then Hera broke the silence finally, by clapping. "Well we probably should go to the next girls bathroom."

Aries laughed out loud and heartedly. "Mother what is the point! You know very well we have just found the perfect match."

"All these other girls would only give single word answers. Yes, no, maybe. This girl just schooled us all on my war mongering skills. It was short and sweet to. With ever courtesy in the mix. You will not even have to train her."

"I have chosen! She is the one."

Hera giggled, "my son there are twenty candidates left for you to examine. Check them out, then make your decision.

Aries sighed again, "We shall see mother. Send all the ones home we have already gone through please."

I heard the bathroom door open and shut again. I finally felt like I could breathe again. I came out of the shower timidly. There was no one there. I breathed out a sigh of relief. I must be just that tired. My brain is working over time. I opened the door to my room slowly, and I was back in my own apartment. Boy I have a wild imagination. I had a good laugh at myself. I got myself ready for bed in my favorite, silken, red night gown.

I went ahead and left my hair up. I never even thought twice about my hair to be honest. It was still in the up due from the fawn. But I felt a wave of exhaustion wash over me. It was all I could do to make it to my bed. I curled up in my bed, pulling my soft warm sheets and blanket up over my head, and went to sleep.