Jinxed

000

It all started when the queen of Olympus, goddess of marriage and family, the only one in Greek mythology designed to be loyal to her spouse, had a baby with a mortal. Hera should've killed it the second the woman birthed the thing. Its existence would send Olympus into chaos. Still, she let it live.

Hera wasn't known for having mercy, she frequently cursed women Zeus cheated on her with, she gave harsh punishments on the daily. So why did she feel remorse for the infant?

It was sleeping peacefully in its crib, illuminated by the moonlight slipping through the red curtains. The night was pretty and Hera happened to be in a good mood. Zeus had been behaving recently. But that was no reason to keep the thing alive. It went against everything Hera was. She was the goddess of marriage for heaven's sake. So why did she feel the need to let it live? 

It was a dirty little secret, that had Hera feeling oddly satisfied. Zeus would get a taste of his own medicine if she let the baby live. He would feel how she felt every time one of his spawn popped up. He'd writher in jealousy just like she had for eternities. Hera knew it was wrong to let the thing live for her selfish desires. She knew that yet she wanted the baby to live almost as much as she wanted to kill Zeus' bastard kids.

Hera was deep in thought when she found herself caressing the thing's cheek. It was terribly risky. If the baby woke and started crying, the woman in the room next door would surely run in the nursery and find Hera standing over the thing, debating its demise. 

Its eyelids fluttered open softly, meeting the eyes of the goddess looming over it. Hera flinched and stopped petting the baby. She'd not once seen eyes so delightful. Hera never had a favorite eye color, she supposed Zeus' were her favorite, told everyone so, but right then and there she knew her favorite eye color was her child's. Her daughter's eyes were dull green with golden brown swirls surrounding the pupil. Maybe it was because Hera was in a good mood that night. Or maybe it was because the goddess was stricken by the beauty of her daughter's eyes. But Hera let her daughter live, effectively damning the child for life.

That morning the woman who seduced the goddess of Olympus, found a small piece of paper in her child's crib with four letters on it. 

J-Y-N-X