Chapter Text
"Gran?" Castor, just seven years old, had leaned against the legs of the old woman who had raised them. "Can you tell us again?"
Pollux watched, nibbling at the tips of his fingers as Gran smiled down, a gnarled hand burying itself into soft blonde curls. She motioned to him to come closer, and then waited as he took wobbly steps across the cold linoleum floor of their kitchen to reach the place where she always seemed to be sat. Fingers with skin so worn it had become soft gently wrapped around his wrist to tug his hand from his face. Once he'd lowered the limb, and then lowered himself to lean against the leg opposite of where his twin sat, she sighed long and slow and low.
"Well now," Gran said, voice deep with the scratch of someone who had smoked heavily in their youth but had avoided lung cancer long enough to live to old age. "I s'ppose I could tell you a story, if that's what you're asking. Although you'd have to tell me which, can't expect an old woman like me to know what's floating through your young mind."
"You know," Castor stubbornly insisted, a hint of a whine to his voice. "The story!"
Gran hummed, and looked down to meet Pollux's eyes. "Well now, do you wanna hear the story?"
Pollux shook his head quietly, eyes flickering away from his grandmother's to land on his twin's. Castor rolled his eyes impatiently when he noticed. "C'mon! Please, it's just a story, Pollux! It isn't real!"
His brother, from the moment they'd been born, had always been the louder of the two.
Their grandmother chuckled, before offering, "Well, why don't we start with your story, then we'll tell your brother's favorite?"
"Fine," Castor relented, dragging out the 'i' sound as long as he could without running out of breath.
Fingers worked their way into Pollux's hair and he leaned into the warmth of the old woman's palm. She steadied herself, taking a deep breath to steady herself the way she always did when she was about to tell a story or go into battle with the monstrous entity known as 'taxes'.
"A very long time ago," the old woman finally started, her words thoughtfully slow to come, althoug she'd told the same story many times over, "there was a beautiful queen of Sparta named Leda. She lived in lands where gods were known to roam, and beauty was a dangerous thing to possess.
"Unfortunately for her, such a danger came to pass when her beauty came to catch the eye of Zeus, King of the Gods himself, who visited her disguised as a swan."
Here, she paused. Castor openly boo-ed as Pollux hissed and curled himself tighter against her leg. She chuckled at this, although it wasn't something she'd taught them to do when they were very small.
"After his visit, the queen laid two eggs, bless her soul. I can't imagine what those midwifes thought... Oh the talk! I would've just died, was bad enough giving birth to your mother... Anyways. Out of the two eggs came two sets of twins, one pair of girls and one pair of boys. Each set of twins had one child whose daddy was Zeus, and the other was her husband Tyndareus. Helen, whose face would some day launch a thousand ships, was a demigoddess, but dearly beloved her half-twin Clytemnestra. Similarly, although Pollux was the twin with the blood of a god-king, he and Castor would never be seperated."
The Castor who was only seven leaned over slightly, just enough to put his hand in the space between them.
"C'mon Gran, they were never seperated?" He teased, prompting the rest of the story from their caregiver.
"They went on many adventures together," Gran gave in. "But they would not be seperated until death came for Castor. The two picked a fight with their cousins, and the all-mortal was killed."
Pollux wailed softly, lunging across the space to grab at his twin's hand. Castor frowned, "Shh! Stop or she won't tell the end!"
Thankfully, Gran wasn't stopped as she continued on, "Pollux grieved so deeply and earnestly, he pleaded up to his father for help to be reunited. And, for all the harm that man did, in that moment he chose mercy. He scooped up both boys, and put them up in the stars so that they'd never be seperated, causin' trouble and guiding sailors home forever."
"You're so silly!" Castor stuck his tongue out. "See, it's okay! They're together forever, just like you and me! And we don't even have any cousins, so I'm never gonna die. Duh."
Gran laughed at that. "Well, when your mother told me those names, I was hoping that you'd be so close and look after each other so fondly as them. You boys better promise to never give up on each other, yeah?"
"I promise!" Pollux wailed and Castor laughed it out.
"Alright, alright then," Gran hummed. "Enough of that crying. A happy story now, yeah?"
Pollux nodded, eyes glued to the woman as he let go of her leg to slide across the linoleum and squish himself against his brother.
Waiting for the boys to calm down before beginning, Gran cleared her throat once, twice. "Right. Well, I suppose you know the beginning part of the story well enough. Once, a hero named Theseus was meant to defeat a creature called the Minotaur, who lived in a big maze and had been fed children by the evil king Minos. Theseus was what some people called a hero, handsome, and not too bad with a sword, but even with all these skills it would have been impossible for him to defeat the monster without the help of--"
"Ariadne!" Both boys cheered. Despite not having wanted to hear the story, Castor leaned in just as much as Pollux did.
"Yes, Ariadne, the beautiful and clever daughter of king Minos. She took a ball of thick yarn that she'd spun, and instructed Theseus to tie one end to the start of the maze, unwinding it as he went to be able to find his way back out once he'd slain the beast. In return for her help, Theseus promised to take her back to his home and marry her, so long as she helped them escape when he made his way out.
"Sure enough, when he climbed from that dark place, the blood of the creature on his hands, she helped him escape her father and he swept her away with the promise of bringing her into his home. However--"
The twins clutched at each other, going absolutely still besides the widening of their eyes.
"--Theseus wanted everyone to think him an hero. And without Ariadne, he wouldn't have been able to make it back home. But, he thought to himself that if Ariadne never made it back to his home, how would anyone know the real story? And so, in the middle of the night he stopped at an abandoned island, and left the princess there as she slept."
Castor screeched in indignation as Pollux felt his hands curl up into angry fists and he shouted "That's not fair! She was brave and smart, Ariadne should be a hero too!"
Gran nodded sagely. "Yes, you're right. And when she woke up and figured out she'd been abandoned, Ariadne felt the same way. She screamed up at the heavens, and from up on Olympus, one god heard her plea. The god of wine and revelry, Dionysus himself went down to that island. He'd gone just to help her out, but was so taken by her beauty and her quick wits, he asked her to marry him."
"I wouldn't have married him," Pollux grunted, frowning. "I don't think I'd have married anyone if I'd just been tricked like that."
"Shut up," Castor elbowed him in the side. "Nobody asked you."
"That's a fair point," Gran said thoughtfully, pausing in her story to rub at her chin. "I suppose Dionysus must have been particularly charmin'. Or maybe he promised her something else too, somethin' she wasn't able to refuse."
"Oh-ehm-gee," Castor gasped, a far away look in his eyes. "Gods could do anything, right? I bet he promised her something super-awesome, like free fried mozzarella for life!"
"Dude," Pollux wiggled excitedly, unable to keep himself still. "Unlimited Lucky Charms cereal with extra marshmallows!"
"That's even better!" Castor began to wiggle too, eyes shining with excitement.
Gran cackled, "You're onto something I think. Alright, so Dionysus promised that he'd marry her and that she could have unlimited Lucky Charms cereal with as many marshmallows as she could ever want, even right before bed."
"Wow," Pollux gasped. "That's real love right there, for reals."
"When they wed," Gran continued on in that way she did that made their first grade teacher say naughty words and complain about something called 'selective hearing' that Pollux knew just meant that Gran didn't give a hoot about what the teacher had to say. "Dionysus took the crown she worn on her head and threw it up, up, and up, higher than you or you or I could ever throw. Up so high that it became a constellation in the sky so that everyone would remember that special day."
Castor gagged, "Love is gross."
"You're gross," Gran retorted, apparently unable to pass up the opportunity to stir up trouble. This also made the first grade teacher mad. And their kindergarden teacher last year. And the principal. The librarian liked her though, even though neither Castor nor Pollux could really read all that well. "They stayed married for a long, long time, and had a whole lotta boys together. Ariadne must've been a busy woman, running after them all. Just the two of you keep me on my creaky old toes!
"Dionysus loved that princess until she died. And then," Gran leaned in here, dropping her voice. "He realized he loved her beyond death. That young god, all spitfire and courage, would do something that Theseus would never even have considered. He was not only gonna refuse to leave her behind in the grave, he was going to bring her back from it."
"But not like a zombie," Pollux felt the need to clarify. "Right?"
"No, just back to life dear, not un-life," Gran confirmed.
"Boo," Castor pitched in. "A princess zombie wife would've been so cool!"
"No! That would've been scary!"
"Nu-uh!"
"Yeah-uh!"
"Nu--"
"Do y'all want me to finish this story or not?" Gran cut in. "Now, far as I reckon, zombies probably ain't good at giving hugs and they certainly can't eat no Lucky Charms. So, he wanted his wife back, not just a zombie version of her. So, he marched his godly behind down, down, down to the darkest parts of the land of the dead. 'Cept, he had to sneak past the guard dog, the pet of the king of the dead, Dionysus's uncle, the King Hades."
"Dog!" Both boys cheered.
"A big ol' thing with three heads," Gran grinned, "A good ol' boy named Cerberus. Dionysus made his way past the dog by distracting him with a kong toy filled with peanut butter."
They'd decided this was how he'd done it last week, after Miss Gable down the street had let the twins play with her pitbull, Monkey. Pollux liked Monkey, he had a big head and crashed into walls a lot. He wondered if Cerberus had three big heads or if they were all different sizes. Did he have walls to crash into in the underworld? Or was it just big? How did three heads chase one tail?
"And then he made his way into the fields of Asphodel, where good regular people go to rest their souls beneath the poplar trees. Now, most people look the same down there, but Dionysus somehow knew where to go to find his lady-love. He reached out and grabbed her hand, and began to guide her away from that dark place. He knew which way to go because he'd done it before, back when he'd rescued his mama. But that's a different story for another day.
"He brought her back out, past the big ol' guard dog--"
"His mouth got all stuck together by the peanut butter!" Castor energetically informed them, miming along like his mouth had been glued shut. Pollux laughed, nearly topling himself over. HIs twin was so funny!
"He brought her out, because ol' Cerberus was all distracted by the peanut butter, and they both made sure to pat his three heads so he knew he was a good boy, and then they went back into the light of day. And Dionysus knew that he could never lose her again, so he made her an immortal goddess, someone who could live up in the heavens with him for forever, and they promised to love each other until the sun stopped shinin' and the world stopped turnin'. And far as I know, the sun'll be up again tomorrow, and this big ol' rock's still rockin', so I reckon they must still be together up there on Olympus, probably still married and in love, even though it's been a long long time now."
"People don't really love each other that long," Castor shook his head and scrunched his nose.
"And why not?" Gran shook a finger right back at him. "You saying you're not gonna love your brother in a few years time?"
"No, course not!" Castor huffed. "But that's different!"
"Ain't so different," Gran rebuffed. "Oh, I'm sure they've had their fights. I bet even gods gotta sleep out on the couch sometimes. There hasn't been a man that lived that hasn't forgotten to do the dishes on his nights or accidentally told her that those jeans made her butt look big when she asked. But lords know I promised once I'd love your Pops till we were both returned to the ground below. He might'a gone there first, but I still love him like when we was young. Sayin' that ain't real?"
"No," Castor sounded annoyed now. "But forever is an awful long time Gran."
"Yes it is," Gran hummed, sounding smug now. "But I'll tell you a secret. Time only sometimes passes the same, the hours in the day can bend and stretch like a cat in the sun. When you're besides someone you love, your love or your brother or your friend, it'll slip through your fingers faster than a three-legged-bobcat falls on a frozen lake."
"Hmn, okay, I guess," Castor rolled out the 'a' sound for a long time.
"Does time ever go slow?" Pollux asked, noticing that his twin seemed to be finished without asking the question.
Gran made a sad sigh. "Yessir, those times when you well and truly feel alone. But with the kindness of the gods it ain't ever gonna be something you have to know. Always together, always watch out for each other, y'hear?"
Both twins nodded.
"Alright. That's two stories, so off to bed with you!" Gran made a 'shoo'-ing motion with her hands, waiting for them to scramble to their feet before very slowly rising from her chair. Her joints creaked and popped as she stretched her back and kness, a groan escaping from deep in her chest.
Pollux took Castor's hand in his and the two scrambled to their shared bedroom. Against one wall sat one twin-sized bed, with a matching twin set against the other. The biggest difference between the two halves of the room sat snuggled up against the pillows.
Castor beelined towards the bed where a bright gold and black leopard plush lounged over the covers. Pollux watched him go before turning to his own bed where a purple and white bull was nestled against the blankets. Gran creaked into the room, nodding when she saw each boy was settling into his own bed in his own way (Castor very enthusiastically kicking his blankets down towards the foot of the bed while Pollux turned himself over and over again until he resembled a burrito more than a boy). "Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."
With that she flicked out the lights and gently shut the door. The only lights now were the brief flickers of moonlight that managed to break their way through the shadows of the tree branches outside the window. Once, two years ago when he'd been five and a baby, Pollux had been scared of the dark and insisted on a nightlight. But the bulb had gone out a few months ago, and Castor had loudly decided that they didn't need a new one.
"We're always together, so if a monster tries to eat you, I'll jump on it and beat it up. And if a monster does tries to eat me, you do the same, okay?" He'd said, head held high in that way that meant it wasn't really a question. It would've been a stupid question anyways, because Pollux knew he'd never let Castor get eaten. They were going to be together forever.
And that had been that.
He closed his eyes, and slid into dreams filled of far-away stars and big-headed dogs.