harmony & concord

“Yes, you count,” he said. How else was she supposed to know when she’d done enough? He would count too but he wasn’t about to tell her when she’d done enough, only if she stopped short. He was a hard arse like that. “And remember to breathe. I don’t need you passing out on me.”

He almost choked when she mentioned Scarlett and mother in the same breath. It was enough to make him abandon his half-baked plan to try and figure out if it was real or someone messing with him. What were the chances that Harmonia would find Aphrodite and then him if she didn’t remember who she was? He didn’t think it was a coincidence that she was there in his gym. And if’d thought about it he would have realised that her reason for being there was rubbish also. 

And if she was an imposter? Well, he’d always preferred handling things as they came up. Besides, better to know sooner than later, especially if she might be a threat to Aphrodite.

No time like the present to test his theory. 

“And me? Who do I remind you of.”

It would have been hard enough to remember to count and breathe under normal circumstances. Right now, Harmonia was so upset that she wasn’t entirely sure she manage even one of those orders, let alone both. Maybe he meant for her to count aloud but  she wasn’t going to. He could yell at her for that too if he didn’t like it; it would leave them in about the same spot that they were currently. She wouldn’t be here for that much longer anyway. It had become quite apparent that he didn’t have his memories, and this was only upsetting her.

Or he had his memories and didn’t care about her any longer. Harmonia didn’t know what had happened after she and Cadmus had turned into snakes. She didn’t know what her parents had thought after that. Maybe they didn’t care about her anymore.

Her whole life, she’d been so sure that her parents loved her and always would but confronted with this, that sure foundation was shaken, and badly. Harmonia’s concentration slipped - distracted by the thought that something could come between her and her parents. Even if he didn’t have his memories, there had to be something there, some sort of spark. Something to remind him who she was and what their relationship would be.

 This time, there wasn’t any way she could keep back the tears, and all she could do was hope that he didn’t notice them or at least he wouldn’t comment on them. Though she wasn’t really paying attention to the question, she’d heard it and enough registered for her to answer, even if she meant to hold that back. 

But there was only one answer to it. “My father.” The answer slipped out and then Harmonia froze, choking down a sob. This was stupid. It had been a stupid thought that she could do anything to bring back his memories. It was probably stupid to be around her mother too but too late to change that now. “This is stupid. I - I’m sorry, I’m - I’m wasting -” An unsteady breath slipped out and she turned her attention to the gloves, trying to get them off so she could get out.

He waited and watched, assessing her as she fumbled the gloves. He wanted to know that it was her before he let on that he had his memories. He wasn’t usually one for tactics, but after finding so many gods without their memories, he had to think that something was happening. He was pretty sure he hadn’t done it which meant it was entirely possible that someone was messing with him. And what better way than by sending in his daughter who was meant to be a snake?

“And you’re looking for them here?” he asked. He believed her reason but then he thought anyone else pretending to be Harmonia would try the same line. 

The punch though? That felt familiar.  

Ares had always wondered at just how he and Aphrodite had caused Harmonia. There was very little in either of their natures that they had passed on to their child, almost as though she had all of the traits that they did not have. Still, she threw a mean punch when she had to. 

“Light punches. You’re just warming up. Do a hundred then pushups. As many as you can.” She might have been probing at him, but he was going to push her as far as he could to see if she’d break. Might be easier to get some answers that way. 

“What do you do? For work.”

"I'm looking for them everywhere," she said, her tone a lot more irritated than was normal for her. "I don't have much to go on." It had been a fluke that she found any of them in the first place, but she wasn't complaining. That wasn't the sort of thing she could just blurt out though so she bit it back. Anyway, it had worked out for her this time - not that he knew that, or even cared about it. It was strange; she’d watched her father interact with other people for so long and she had always believed that he truly cared for them, somewhere deep down. Well, not everyone, but some of them. Being on this end of it, she found it was harder to gauge whether he truly cared or not. 

That was an unsettling and unhappy thought. Not for the first time, Harmonia considered just quitting. It wouldn’t be hard to walk away now - disappointing, certainly, but not hard. If there was no point in this, then she didn’t want to waste any more of her time. But if she left and he did remember, then that would be equally as bad. Torn between options, she decided just to stick it out a little longer.

Which was hard in a completely different way. She did yoga. This was so far out of her realm of experience that it was probably comical to all the people around her. Taking a breath, she tried to shake off her frustration and restrain herself. “Am I supposed to count?” 

It would be impossible to count and answer his questions, so she decided just to start punching and worry about the counting later. “I work with Scarlett Leclaire. She -” Harmonia hesitated, not sure what exactly to say that would indicate she had her memories but not make her sound crazy. She’s my mother - that would definitely get her into trouble. “She reminds me of my mom,” she finally said, blinking against unexpected tears.

All right so hugging wasn’t a strong suit of hers, that she was able to admit to herself, or the fact Hera wasn’t comfortable with that in public. Yet she tried nonetheless, even giving Harmonia a couple pats on the back before pulling back to look at her. It would be laughable if others were aware of how Hera, Goddess of family, felt about such things. Thankfully she had a natural talent for faking it, that matronly air about her helped inmensely in that area. She nodded as she heard about Aphrodite’s current life; it seemed they were all finding each other, whether they were aware of it or not. “Yes, there are others. And I suspect many we are yet to find. Only you and Hephaestus seem to remember, as far as I know. Hades, Persephone and Nyx appear to be under whatever this is.” Of course she had met with others but those were the first three that came to her. “Your mother, what does she do now?” Hera did her best to bite down any remarks regarding beauty contests. Still bitter after so long.

Somehow, the embrace had bolstered Harmonia’s mood far more than she would have anticipated. Her smile, when Hera stepped back, was far more strong and steady than it had been moments before. She couldn’t be sure if it was a relief to hear that there were so many of them here or not. And it certainly wasn’t a relief to hear that Hephaestus was around and in full control of his memories - it struck her as immensely unfair that he had his memories, but her mother didn’t have hers and Harmonia was all alone. But she didn’t want to dwell on that. “Well, maybe now that there are more of us, we can come up with a plan or something.” It felt like a faint hope, but it was better than being alone. “She’s an editor at a magazine. It’s funny being there with her - it feels so similar to the past, but it’s not the same at all.”

Serena nodded, taking a deep breath, as she watched the sky. It didn’t matter if she spent a hundred lives walking the earth, she way the sky painted itself would always be a wonder for her. “I’m very partial to new beginnings, actually,” she said, one brow rising for the irony alone. The idea of new beginnings was a novel thought when spoken of in general or in passing, but to those not experiencing the change, Serena knew there was little to no understanding to be had. I mean, the entire world blamed her for a ten year war, as if her one decision was responsible for every single person’s part in the entire ordeal. 

Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull herself from the rabbit hole. “It is. Lovely, I mean,” she said, turning back to the girl. She was pretty, blonde and vivacious, and Serena wondered if those traits caused her more good or bad. “I always try to stop and watch them, you know? My version of smelling the roses, I guess.”

Harmonia nodded in understanding; new beginnings were much better than endings, and she felt certain most people would agree with that sentiment. Although … this was a new beginning, and she didn’t like it much. She felt quite confident that most of the other gods wouldn’t like it either, if they remembered. But this had to be some sort of special situation so it probably shouldn’t count.

“That sounds like a really lovely tradition. Before I came here, I tried to get up and see the sunrise every morning if I could. I don’t get to it so much anymore.” She turned, holding her hand out. “I’m Addie.”

battery park; sunset open @ohqstarters·

If she let her mind slip out of focus, she could almost imagine she was standing back on a balcony in Troy listening to the waves and watching the sun set as she waited for Paris to return to her. It was easy to pretend, to fall back into that lightness, pretend she was wearing a flowing dress rather than jeans and a pearl studded sweater, barefoot rather than shoes that cost entirely too much, and the longer she stood still, the easier it was to forget New York City at all. Serena, the girl who loved double shot espressos and puppy breath, easily faded to the background and so Helen, the weaker woman, could take hold, and it was in that moment that a small scoff escaped. Immaculately lined eyes widened, and her head canted as she realized no one missed Helen of Troy, not even her.

A white knuckled grasp on the rail was reminiscent to a stunningly revealing moment of the past, but there was no one sailing to drag Serena home, no one to rain on her parade except for the memories infringing on her new life. Muscles in her jaw flexed as she pulled herself back to the present, and after a moment, she turned to the person at her side, suddenly driven to feel connected to the present more than she wanted to give in to the call of the past. “You know, I’ve always been more of a sunrise person,” she murmured, turning back to admire the color streaking the sky. The sun was nearly gone now, leaving behind dark shadows among the peach and rose hues. “But my mother would say that’s because I’m better at starting things than I am finishing them.” Her brows rose on her face as she wondered which mother inspired that truth. 

Harmonia had a date that evening and while she honestly didn’t care much about dating anymore - she was far more worried about finding and keeping her family, and maybe working out what exactly had caused all this chaos. But keeping up appearances seemed important so she agreed to the date and even got all excited about it at work; luckily being Addie was easy for her and she made it through all the preliminaries. Now she was killing a bit of time before the actual date and had wandered around, ending up at the park almost by accident.

Hearing the voice, she turned to the other woman with a smile. “Oh, there’s something so lovely about a fresh start though, isn’t there?” She obviously couldn’t know if that was true, about starting things and not finishing them, but that wasn’t always a terrible thing. “I like sunrises too. But this is a really lovely sunset, isn’t it?”

Scarlett was used to people coming to her for such advice, though her normal contacts weren’t typically so invested in her opinions. It was flattering of course, and she certainly knew what she was talking about, but still. She gave very few, if any, assistants this much attention. There was something special about the girl that had intrigued Scarlett, causing her to take her under her wing in such a way.

“What do you think, Adelaide?” She joined the girl in the frame of the mirror, standing behind her as she looked forward at the image presented in front of them. “You know that every outfit tells a story. What story are you trying to tell tonight?”

There was something beautifully, painfully familiar about this situation. Harmonia couldn't be sure if they had actuallydone it before or if it was just something she could imagine doing with her mother in the past. Either way, it felt as if they had been in this sort of position many times before, with Harmonia asking her mother for advice on clothing or how to deal with someone she fancied or any number of romance related ailments. She had to shake away the vestiges of the past and reconnect with who she was currently. Which was easier said than done, truthfully; at the moment, she just wanted to be Harmonia and revel in the moment with her mother.

But she did her best, reaching through the painful and wonderful memories to find Addie again. Addie had reasons for this first date; Addie had something she was trying to communicate with the man - honestly, she couldn’t even remember his name at this point, and she wasn’t sure she cared enough to try. “I want to seem . . . fun but in a more grown-up way? I’m trying not to be so wild anymore.” Neither Addie nor Harmonia had ever been wild exactly but she had certainly turned a corner since she remembered who she was. Tonight was a good chance to show that.

“You don’t get to decide what happens in this gym,” he snapped, more aggressively than the situation warranted. The trainer she had been looking at turned his back and tried to wander off like his first instinct hadn’t been to shoot a flirty wink right back at Harmonia. “My gym, my rules.”

It wasn’t often these days that Aaron’s memories intruded into his own, that they overlapped and gave him pause to know what was really his. He knew it was Harmonia, his daughter, standing in front of him - or at least a very convincing imitation. But then there were Aaron’s memories telling him his family was two parents, several siblings, a few nieces and nephews scattered about. No children. But Harmonia was here looking for her parents. Was it possible she had her memories? “I have a family,” he grunted and threw some boxing gloves at her before he held up his hands, palm out, for her to punch into. 

“What happened to them?”

It took a great deal of effort for Harmonia not to repeat her father's words in a mocking tone; she didn't remember if she had done that before but it felt like something she should do now. She didn't though. He didn't seem to recognize her and she didn't want to do something to make him angry enough to lose this thread. And she could be amused by it as well; how many times had she heard him say something similar to that in the past? It was such an iconic dad line. In the past, when she wasn't so on edge, it was something that was more amusing than it was in the moment.

She was a bit taken aback by the boxing gloves - not that she hadn’t believed him, but this situation was so far removed from anything that she had done - as Harmonia or Addie - that she couldn’t believe it was her. She fumbled the gloves, dropping one and flushing. Her instincts screamed at her to get out; she didn’t belong here. She never truly belonged in Ares’ domain. Though she had spent as much time with him as she could, even going so far as to visit him and his men during times of war, it had never been comfortable. But when she looked up, with an excuse on her tongue, it died before she could say anything. Because it was him. Father. She couldn’t give up before she had started. 

So she managed to get the gloves on as he continued, mentally shrugging away his grumblings about a family. She knew Addie had a family - or she did in memory; sometimes Harmonia wasn’t sure that she believed they were real. They could just be figments of her imagination, brought into existence only in her mind. For now though, she focused on the question, trying to sort out an answer that wasn’t just repeating herself. “We were separated,” she finally said, letting the frustration build up and fuel her punch into his hand. That was something Ares had taught her, long ago, and she hoped she remembered the lesson. It was easy too - the emotions of their separation - all the pain and loss and fear after she lost Cadmus were never far from the surface, and had fueled several nightmare-filled evenings. “And now I need to find them and the rest of my family.”

She wouldn’t say it was comforting to know Aphrodite was still alive like the rest of them, but for lack of a better word or even concept it sufficed. Hera listened in silence as Harmonia spoke, seemingly giving her clues to her state of mind as well as her knowledge over herself. “I knew it was you. I recognised you the moment I saw you.” She confirmed, perhaps a tad too condescending with her words. “Does this mean you know where Aphrodite is? I haven’t seen her since… Well, before whatever this is happened.” It felt as if they all were meeting again, in this strange world. A part of her, the very same that surfaced when she spoke to her son, was rearing its head making her want to comfort Harmonia by wrapping her arms around her. As it happened back then, it felt just as strange and she did her best to ignore it for the time being. “Have you come across any others?”

Harmonia didn’t even care about the tone of Hera’s words; she didn’t expect the queen of the gods to be overly friendly or familiar anyway, and at this point, she was just so happy to be around someone who knew her and was aware of their connection that the attitude didn’t matter. “Yes! She’s called Scarlett - I’m her assistant.” She all but melted into the embrace, her own arms moving to curl around Hera as well - tentatively at first but then with more force. “I’ve seen my father, and Eros, and Astraea.” Though she tried, she couldn’t place anyone else at the moment; her main focus had been her immediate family. “Are there any others?”

Hera had never been the most demonstrative of mothers with any of her children - the ones sired by Zeus never counted anyway -, and she wondered if any of them ever longed for her company, or love. Only Hephaestus seemed to seek her out, and that was due to their current extraordinary circumstances. Even so, it had been eons in her mind since she last saw Aphrodite. “You poor thing,” she said kindly, still unaware of whether Harmonia remembered herself - and she was starting to hate this anytime she ran into any deity as of late. “Feeling alone in the world. Where’s your mother? She’s not dead, is she?” The thought suddenly came to her, if they were trapped as mortals, could they actually die? She almost shuddered at the idea.

Harmonia’s eyes watered and she ducked her head. This was going far better than she would have expected, if only because Hera was still here, talking to her. Family was family. “No,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “She’s not dead. She just . . . doesn’t know me.” That could be explained away - there were many orphans who went in search of biological parents so her story wasn’t that strange. Or so she hoped. “It’s lonely.” Turning back to Hera, she took a breath and rubbed her hand over her eyes. There had to be something she could say that would make it easy to know if Hera knew who she truly was. “I'm -” She hesitated again, for a brief moment, before deciding it couldn’t hurt just to throw caution to the wind this once. “I’m Harmonia.” It could be explained away as a nickname or that her parents had been obsessed with Greek mythology or something - Harmonia wasn’t even that strange of a name, all things considered.

“Yes, I know who you are - always flickering around set like a butterfly.” He waved his hand to demonstrate what he meant and what he’d seen during his shoots prior. “Ah, mais oui…” he muttered in understanding, nodding as he pushed a hand through his hair. It was understandable that she had time like this - he knew how busy a woman Scarlett was. “Why not? Can you not sit still? Hold poses? Modeling is all about self control. If you have none, then, yes, perhaps it is not the job for you. But, if you do, talk to Scarlett about it. You have very bright eyes, they’d attract people’s gazes.”

She laughed again, less self-consciously this time; it was nice to be here with her brother. She had missed him, although she didn’t know it, during all those years that she lived as a mortal. “Oh - no, I have self control. Or I think I do, anyway. I just . . .” Flustered, she waved her hands. She had never thought about it in this mortal life, and Addie would never have thought she had the looks for it. “I’m not really sure I have the right look, but that’s very flattering.”

Scarlett nodded as the girl scurried off, though she didn’t take the seat that was offered. It wouldn’t have been proper to sit on the bed, and while the armchair looked inviting enough, she chose instead to observe the room. She certainly wasn’t prying, just taking an interest in her assistant. One could learn quite a bit about a person from their rooms, and she had taken a genuine liking to the girl. She couldn’t quite explain it, she had found most of her assistants irritating and lazy, but Adelaide was different.

It wasn’t long before the girl returned, and Scarlett turned, looking her up and down. The dress fit her nicely, and she looked good in it, but it was missing something. “You look cute,” the word wasn’t entirely a compliment, though it wasn’t meant to come out harsh either. “But it doesn’t make a statement.”

Addie turned to the full length mirror in the corner of her room - which she thought might be attributed to her mother’s influence, although it could just be a holdover from her mortal life - and frowned into it. Scarlett was, once again, right; it was a nice dress, and she looked nice in it, and it was suitable for any number of other occasions. But maybe not for a first date. 

“Do you think I should change something? Or maybe the right shoes will help?” She didn’t have a huge shoe collection - honestly, she preferred flats when possible, although she had her fair share of heels, of course. “Or I could pick another dress. What do you think?”

He always felt bad about interrupting people while they seemed to be thousands of miles away in thoughts, but never bad enough to stop doing so. Taking a drag from the cigarette he was holding, he shook his head. “No - no, no worries. I did not mean to disturb you, not… – well, I did not mean to startle you. You are Scarlett’s assistant, yes? I am surprised to see you are having free time in the middle of the day like this.” He chuckled, mostly to himself - he knew how much his friend ran this girl around town, but he also knew that her current job would lead to far more prestigious ones in the future. “She has not convinced you to model for her yet? She ought to - the jacket, it looks good on you.”

Finding Eros had been a happy accident, much like finding her father had been. She shouldn’t have been surprised that Eros was friends with Mother here, and it was nice to know that her family was at least somewhat together. But she shook off thoughts of the past and focused on being Addie. “It’s fine - and yes, I’m Addie, Scarlett’s assistant.” She shifted to face him. “I’m taking a long lunch - she’s in a meeting and I’m free for now so . . .” She shrugged, then laughed self-consciously at his comment. Modeling had never entered into Addie’s thoughts - or Harmonia’s, either. “I hardly think I’d be a good candidate for that, but thank you. That’s a lovely thing to say.”

This world had its ups and downs, if it weren’t for Hermione she knew she’d be completely lost trying to understand the way it worked. So she had to be thankful for that fake life if only for that. A small mercy in a midst of confusion. Hera had started to develop the habit of going for strolls whenever she didn’t have plans nor her schedule was packed with work, work and more work. Which led her to the sight of an absentminded Harmonia in the park; she was sitting on a bench near her, giving her the chance to look at her and remember her. “I said penny for your thoughts.” There was no malice in her tone as she repeated herself. “You seem rather lost,” she paused briefly, “are you?”

Harmonia hesitated as she eyed the goddess in front of her; her position as a child born out of wedlock had always made her a little uneasy before, and especially around Hera. “I’m not lost,” she said, resisting the urge to add my lady or perhaps curtsy, to show respect. “Just lost in thought. And . . . lonely. I miss my mother.” It was an innocuous statement by itself, if Hera didn’t have her memories, but it would carry another weight of meaning if she did. 

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it,” he snapped. It was probably harsher than he should have been, he could see that she was upset. But there was no way that he was going to let anyone else train her and especially not any of his trainers that she thought were cute. If she was Harmonia, if it was not a trick, then the only person getting anywhere near her in that gym would be him.  

Said cute trainer, no doubt seeing extra pay slipping through his fingers, pointed out, ‘But you don’t train beginners.’

Ares glared at him. “She’s not a beginner. She’s learning self-defence.”

He pointed a finger at Harmonia then at the boxing ring. “You. Ring.”

Well, that had provoked something. Harmonia’s spirits lifted ever so slightly, although she masked it under a flirty smile sent in the direction of the cute trainer. She might not take after her mother in all areas, but she had certainly learned how to handle men from Aphrodite. “Maybe I don’t want to train with you now.” She had so rarely done anything to defy either of her parents in the past but this uncertainty wasn’t helping her settle, and she just wanted to know if he remembered or not. 

Despite the defiant statement, however, she moved toward the boxing ring. This was very far out of her realm of experience but the chance to be with her father was stronger than her nerves. “You never answered my question. No family? I’m looking for my parents. We were separated. For a long time.” She chose her words carefully, trying to find ones to convey meaning on two levels - she had an explanation that would satisfy anyone who questioned her but she hoped she didn’t need it now.

Scarlett was always right. That was never a question. Still, something about Adelaide kept her calm, almost docile, as if she needed to protect the girl. She had never felt particularly like this about an assistant before, but something in Adelaide had struck an interest. She observed the apartment silently as the girl lead her through, impressed with the overall organization and style of the place. Perhaps the girl had surprises in her.

As she saw the dress, Scarlett reached forward, feeling the hem between her fingers, before pursing her lips. “If you’ve learned anything from watching photoshoots, Adelaide, let it be that you can never truly judge a dress on the hanger. It has to be seen on.” There was a slight twinkle in her eye as she made eye contact, raising a brow. “I’ll wait here.”

Harmonia kept back her urge to ask what her mother thought of her little home - or do something else to try and win her approval. It was enough for now that Scarlett wasn’t openly criticizing anything. Addie’s face heated up a little as she nodded. Of course she needed to try it on. “Yes, just give me a minute!” She turned toward the bathroom then stopped and waved at her bed and the nearby armchair. “You can sit, obviously, if you want.” She had friends over when she could manage it and was normally much better at hosting, but it was entirely different to have her mother here. Her mother, who didn’t know her. 

She was glad for the chance to compose herself a bit in the bathroom, as she pulled the dress on and settled it and ran her hands through her hair. The dress was a bit shorter than what she usually wore, which made it great for a date. “So here it is,” she said, stepping out and twirling for effect. “I really like it - but do you think it’s a good first date dress?”