Worship and blessing to Goddess Hera

Happy Christmas Eve to all!

Today I present to you a representation of a tale of @Father-of-All-Demons ^^

In which a child gives his worship to the goddess Hera with pink and purple flowers, and the goddess rewards him with wings and the power of lightning!

Story: https://sta.sh/0i4sph61hgy

Worship and Blessing

Birds soared above the hills surrounding a small lake in the middle of a valley. A little boy in medieval clothes followed their flights with his eyes, but his grandfather didn't seem so inspired by the sight. He yelled angrily several times: it had gotten harder to fish here in the last year, but today no fish were taking the bait!

- We will have to go downstream, there just aren't enough fish here anymore. Not even the juiciest worms seem to catch us anything!- the old man said as he changed the direction of their boat.

The little boy was a bit confused by the situation, just 2 years ago, he had been able to catch a huge blue fish! Enough meal for the entire family!

- I guess everyone just fished too much. It will take a few years for the lake to fill up with fish again- the grandfather explained. Suddenly the boy's fishing rod moved. The boy pulled up, and a very small fish jumped into the boat. But before the boy could grab it, a bird passed by and stole it. The boy sighed, almost wishing he could have chased after that bird. Perhaps not to retrieve the fish, which barely could fill half a stomach, but to touch the beautiful white tops of the proud clouds that crowned the valley that morning.

- That kid always with his damn head in the clouds!- the old man says, lamenting the loss of their only fish.

As they sailed downriver, they entered a dark and heavily forested part of the valley. The boy noticed old and abandoned buildings and asked his grandfather about them, who answered:

- Those ruins used to be temples of the ancient Gods, before the desert religion replaced them a thousand years ago

The boy looked around the dark structures, which looked like strange churches, adorned with sculptures of naked nymphs and mythical beasts. He especially liked the statues of winged beasts that stood at the entrance to one of the temples. As the current of the river carried them past the temples, the boy asked,

- Why did people abandon those temples?

- Well, if you read the myths, the ancient gods always answered people's prayers. But during the dark period, not even the greatest offerings of cattle and flowers seemed to get any miracles! So they realized the gods had been false the entire time!

The boy pondered for a moment, and then said:

- What if everyone had just prayed too much? It would take a few centuries for the Gods to gather their might again, right? I bet they are yearning to grant wishes once more!

LATER THAT DAY

He wasn't supposed to be there, he was supposed to be doing chores in the farm, yet here he was... Sunset was soon approaching, and this was the darkest part of the forest. In his right hand he carried a page from an old encyclopedia that his grandfather had lent him due to his sudden interest in those old ruins. "The temple of Hera Juno... she is the one... the Queen of the Clouds and the Stars..." the boy said, as he read the inscriptions of some big gates adorned with sculptures of star-bearing nymphs mounted on winged horses and dragons... the boy lamented that they seemed to be missing arms, heads, and even wings! But what a beautiful sight it would have been before the temple fell into ruin.

With him, the boy carried a candle and on his back a large bag full of flowers that he spent all afternoon collecting from the forest, especially roses and violets, which according to the book were her favorite colors. He pushed through a set of rotten doors and entered a large chamber, soon seeing the main altar… a sacred plate with oil in front of a table, on top of the table, a huge statue of a crowned woman in ancient dress. The boy let a spark fall from the candle into the plate, and suddenly the whole plate was ablaze with bright flames. He blew out the candle and put it back in the bag, and grabbed a handful of petals.

WORSHIP

- I do hope you like them!- said the boy, not quite sure how to talk to a statue of a deity. He hoped not to offend her, he had read that she was extremely proud, and also easy to anger! As he said a short prayer, he began to throw handfuls of the petals he had collected onto the flames of the sacrificial plate. Slowly, pink and purple clouds of scented smoke began to rise from the plate, twisting around the statue's limbs and body.

- What the hell am I doing! My granpa already said the Gods are...- the boy was starting to question his decision, when suddenly a loud moan came from the statue. The boy took a step back, his heart racing, his skin turning pale with fear… but he was also excited and curious. He took a deep breath and tossed a few more handfuls of flowers into the hungry flames on the plate.

- Goddess of the Clouds, Lady of the Stars... I wish I could touch the sky!

The swirling perfume seemed to turn stone to skin wherever it touched statue, until it no longer looked like a statue, but like a very tall woman, wearing a crown made of stars, and a dress adorned with peacock feathers, a dress that only partially hid her chest. She said some words in a very ancient language that the boy did not understand, and then a strange mist began to come out of her lips, forming clouds over the boy, clouds that began to rain sparkles on him as their misty tendrils slowly reached him. He suddenly felt as if all the fear in him was gone, he moved forward again and started to burn more and more flowers in the plate. The Lady moaned again and touched her own body, feeling the clouds of perfume rising from the flames licking and kissing her flesh as they intertwined with her dress, she grinned and more puffs of shimmering mist came from her lips, bathing the child's head and body with little stars.

BLESSING

These little stars fed an enchanted glow that now grew around the boy's body. Now it was he who moaned, feeling strange little feathers growing on his forehead, neck, back, and behinds. He stared captivated at the Deity, but she didn't even look back at him, she just stared over him as more swirls of magical mist exhaled from her divine mouth, feeding the cloud that rained sparks down on the kid. From the glow around the boy, two blazes formed behind him, resembling translucent wings made of light and mist. He tossed the last of the petals onto the plate of flames and then, feeling confused and overwhelmed, he started running for the door, even leaving his bag behind.

He turned around, ready to walk away, but the magical glow around him continued to grow. Suddenly he screamed and whimpered as two long, broad wings, made of gold, white and silver feathers, broke free from the flesh of his back, followed by a similar tail of feathers from his behinds. He dropped to his knees, as the glow slowly died down and his body adjusted to his new angelic form.

-Soon... soon I will touch your throne in the clouds... oh Lady of the Stars...- he said deliriously.

He smiled delighted when he saw his wings and tail, they were so beautiful... they made him feel extremely proud, but he could feel that was not all done to him. No, after centuries of gathering her magic, she couldn't just give a boy wings and call a day, she had to create something stunning and mighty, something she could be truly proud of! Suddenly a lightning ball appeared in his right hand. He ran out of the temple and grinned as he threw it, splitting a huge cloud in half, and making rain pour down! He wondered for a moment if this was what the ancients talked about when they spoke of the great miracles of the Ancient Age… but even now those miracles sounded pitiful compared to this.

DIVINE WRATH

But perhaps not even giving magical wings and lightning balls to a kid was enough to satisfy her unleashed blaze of magic. As he began to fly, he started to feel angry... A burning anger towards all the villages of this valley, who had allowed the Goddess' temple to rot!

- I will be your angel of punishment- he said suddenly in a voice unlike his own, as the magical glow around him grew again. More feathers began to sprout from his flesh, and his head began to ache as it became more like that of an angry rapacious bird.

- Have mercy on me please... Lady of the Clouds! Queen of the Stars!- he yelled to the skies in an ancient language, confused by the new transformation, as an additional pair of angry bird heads grew from his neck.

A huge winged beast with 3 heads flies above the clouds, and sings strange songs in ancient language to honor his Goddess. Then his mouths spew furious blazes of fiery lightning, as he descends to bring divine punishment to those who forgot the old Deities. Before long, huge statues are being erected to honor the image of Hera Juno in villages that have not yet been burned by this terrible beast, and chosen priestesses sacrifice dozens of cattle to appease the mighty monster. After a full feast, it seems to work, and Hera is finally appeased! The winged monster suddenly turns into an angelic winged kid, who now realizes all the destruction he caused and begins to fly back to the clouds very ashamed. An old man in the crowd recognizes him, and loudly exclaimes

- That kid always with his damn head in the clouds!