Once and Forever

Chapter 9; History

 "Where are we?" I ask as i look around me. We are standing on a square with tall stone building circling us. The buildings look roman and the people passing by are dressed in beautiful clothes. They look greek, or is it roman? Boys are running around on the piazza, fighting with small bronze daggers and the mothers are talking to each other, laughing and carrying fruit back to their houses. Their daughters walk behind them whispering to each other and giggling.

 "We're in Vetluna, a city in Etruria. Nowadays it's called Vetulonia." Tyler looks at me and when he notices, that I didn't understand one word he just told me he explains, "Etruria was a region in central Italy."

 "And that was how many years ago?"

 "We're in the 8th century BC." Tyler informs me and I gasp.

We walk through the small town. I'm observing the people interacting with each other. Tyler leads me through the town walls and out into the forest awaiting us outside.

 "Why are we here?" I ask him. He leads me further through a forrest, down hill.

 "I'm going to show you our history. You'll get to see how everything started." We struggle through the undergrowth until we reach a nice quiet place at a pond in the middle of a clearing. There's a young woman around my age sitting on a rock and singing. In her hands are flowers, which she intertwines with each other creating a beautiful crown. Her voice is the most beautiful voice I've ever heard.

 "Who is she?" I ask mesmerised with her pure beauty and the melody that comes from her lips.

 "This is Vela. She's sixteen years old." Tyler tells me as we go closer to her.

 "What is she doing here?"

 "She's escaping the village life. You see, the Etruscan had a grand appetite for sex. They has a lot of money and they were very open with their sexual lust. If you visit the cities nowadays, you can still see some remains from the frescoes they painted in the tombs. The paintings show men and women engaging each other in sexual positions. They do it with anyone who's near and then go to the next.
This young woman here does not agree with those customs and escapes whenever she can. She's a dreamer. Vela sings and writes stories of the day when she'll meet her one true love. In her stories is mentioned how she had this vision of a man coming out of the forest and meeting her here at this magical pond. Since she had the dream, she comes here every day to await her love." Just as I want to ask him to tell me more, I notice Vela has stopped singing. I look over to her and see her eyes glimmering with joy and love. I follow her gaze and find a young half naked man stepping through the dense trees.

 "Who is he?" I ask, again mesmerised by their beauty. Are all people from this era as beautiful as they are?

 "Meet the grand all-mighty Zeus."I turn around to Tyler, checking if he tells the truth. Apparently he is. Zeus walks around the pond to meet the beautiful girl on the rock. He takes her hand, bows down and kisses it. I see a light blush rising in Vela's cheeks.

 "Hello, beautiful woman. I've been dreaming of this day. You are the vision in my dreams." Zeus says to her, making her blush intensify.

 "I've been awaiting you my love. What took you so long?" She answers with more confidence. With her other hand she reaches out and cups his cheek in her palm. Her thumb brushes along his strong cheekbones and carries on with entangling her fingers in Zeus' fair hair. They are curled all over. Vela's hair was light brown, which she pinned up halfway. Her long hair reaches her lower back. She's wearing a white dress with golden seams and a thin golden rope, holding everything together.

 "I'm very sorry to have kept you waiting, love. I'm here now. Tell me you name, my beautiful." He kisses the palm of her hand, which is still clasped in his.