Two Meetings with Venus

As Venus made her way across the cracked ground of the red, rocky terrain of the Aries desert, she came back to the phrase she’d tell herself when hopelessness and fatigue would start to take over her mind- “You can do this, you’ve been through worse, and your people need you.”

She had nearly made it to the halfway point, marked by a towering plateau in the center of the Aries basin which could have been a mile high. She was parched, sunburned and weighed down by the heavy iron sword strapped to her back. Every now and then she’d come across a dead soldier, left behind from one of the constant battles that raged through Aries. She assumed they must be fighting over the lack of water. 

She had thanked the heavens when she spotted the splayed soldier with an erect sword driven directly through his heart casting a long shadow like a sundial. She could tell by the smell on the breeze that this particular soldier was in her least favorite stage of decay. With held breath and averted eyes, she stepped one foot onto the fallen soldier’s chest and tugged on the sword of black iron. As it came free, she exhaled with relief. She could use her new sword as protection should she confront any violent eyed warriors. In a quieter part of her mind, she pictured how she’d use it to feed herself if she came across any animals slower than her. Normally, she couldn’t stand the idea of harming one of nature’s creatures, but it wasn’t  herself she needed to stay alive for. The Taurean gardens she was responsible for fed one third of all of Zodiac. If she died of starvation in this ruthless desert, there could be catastrophic results for the world. 

As she lifted and shielded her eyes from the scorching sun, she caught something odd in the periphery of her vision. She squinted toward the north, and as she focused in on what she saw, her heart jumped. Not since she left the cool forests of Pisces had she seen a single cloud. For reasons unknown to her, it gave her hope. As her eyes took one more sweep over the corpse at her feet, they rested on the etched symbol upon the helmet of the fallen soldier. It was the same symbol she’d seen on the breastplate of her companion Mars, who had helped her through the last time life was difficult. The symbol was a V with peaks curled outward. “V for Venus,” she thought with a faint smile. She made her way toward Aries’ towering midpoint as more clouds rolled in.

Most nights in Aries were tolerable for Venus, thanks to the stored warmth in the rocky ground from the blazing daytime sun. She’d sleep under the stars and think of her beautiful gardens in Taurus. Tonight however, there was a chill in the air and the whipping winds were fierce. She searched for shelter. As she scanned the distance, her eyes settled  on a faint orange flicker radiating from a cave beneath a rocky cliff. It could be brutal warriors, crazed from violent battles who might want to hurt her. On the other hand, she had taken a risk when teaming up with Mars who ended up helping her. Her eyes welled up when remembering how warm he’d kept her at night in the frigid Capricorn mountains. Venus had been so lonely since starting her desert journey. She decided to at least get closer to the flickering fire to investigate.

She made it to the edge of the cave, quietly listening for sounds of rowdy soldiers. The cave was quiet, so she drew her sword and peered in. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, they focused on the cave’s inhabitant- a centaur. His equine bottom half lay on the ground, one withered leg splayed at an unnatural angle. His soulful brown eyes gazed into the fire as tears rolled down into his beard. There was no choking back the tears, just solemn acceptance of sadness. The centaur not only seemed harmless, but perhaps in need of companionship as was she.  Sword at her side, she entered the cave.

A flicker of brightness sparked in the centaur’s watery eyes when he spotted Venus’ approach. Although she was sun weathered and gaunt from dehydration, there was a softness about her that was a stark contrast to the hardened warriors trained as killing machines he usually encountered in the desert. He immediately offered her one of the roasted lizards on his skewer and cactus nectar from a heavy iron goblet. Venus abandoned all of her graces and wolfed down the offerings greedily. She had been weakened by hunger and thirst and was instantly grateful to the centaur whose name was Chiron. 

Chiron had been living in the cave for the last four years, doing the work of offering healing and counsel to soldiers damaged by the ravages of war. In exchange for his services, the army kept him fed, hydrated, and protected from violence. As a centaur who couldn’t run and had a severe limp due to a chronically injured leg, he gladly accepted the trade. While Chiron felt his services were truly needed in the war torn desert, the work definitely took its toll on his heart. The men who sought his healing abilities, although trained to kill, were not unaffected by the violence they experienced. They all shared the same gaze- unfocused and filled with horror, unable to cry. 

 Chiron confided in Venus that his healing work had gotten to him. For every soldier who felt lighter upon leaving his cave, Chiron felt a little heavier. His shoulders rounded and stooped under the weight as tears fell. Venus was saddened for this creature. She wished she had more to offer him than her affection. With a full belly, her eyelids became heavy. Chiron accepted her offer of an embrace and they lay by the fire where Venus held the creature and caressed his mane and furrowed brow until it was softened by sleep. 

In the morning, they awakened to the sound of tapping and a familiar scent which filled her with simultaneous longing and relief. As rivulets of water made fractal paths across the floor of the cave it dawned on them what was happening. Rain. The desert hadn’t seen rain in well over a decade, hence the ceaseless wars over water. Venus emerged from Chiron’s cave, arms outstretched, mouth open as she drank in the precious drops. It tasted like home. 

As Venus offered one last embrace to Chiron before her journey onward, he seemed a little lighter. His brow was almost free from worry and he sat taller than he had the night before. Thanking Venus for her generous gift of affection, he sent her on her way with three more roasted lizards and two cactus fruits for the road. She set off with a spring in her step as the falling water rinsed the red dust from her hair and skin.

The rain continued until the soft hills of her homeland came into view. The boundary between lands was almost indistinguishable, now that Aries was a bright green grassland from weeks of rain. What a relief it was to finally reach her home. 

 Venus’ arrival was met with much fanfare. Her people were of sturdy build and glowing complexion. With flutes and flower petals, they presented a chariot, decorated with roses and lilies, blossoms bigger than her head. As she stepped into her chariot, she paused to stick her nose into one of the giant blooms and breathed in deeply. But the intoxicating aroma she expected wasn’t there. The flowers didn’t have much scent at all in fact. She thought it odd, but her attention was quickly drawn to a delectable platter of fruit awaiting her within the coach. She marveled at the grapes as big as plums, plums as big as melons, and blueberries as blue as the sky. She decided to start with a particularly large, almost glowing pink apple. Her eyes closed with anticipation as she took a bite. But for all the flavor the beautiful apple promised, she was disappointed. It was less sweet than she had expected, less juicy too. Never one to be rude, she finished the apple graciously as the landscape of her home passed by through the carriage window.

It was a two week journey to the ivy covered castle Venus called home. The oxen who pulled her carriage were strong but slow. To Venus this was perfect, for her people were gracious hosts. Each night she would stop along the way, and a host would greet her with an herbal bath followed by a massage from one of the region’s gifted body workers. After that, there would be a feast of the very best of what the nearby gardens had to offer. Best of all was the company and conversation. She had many stories to tell of her travels and her admirers hung on her every word. It was even more fulfilling to listen to the words of her dinner companions as they filled her in on all of the happenings since she’d last been home.

The biggest talk of the land was centered around the wild-eyed genius, Uranus. Four years ago, Uranus took up residence in a tower on a hill near Venus’ castle home. He had been looking for a peaceful place to run his experiments, and in Taurus he had found it.  The rambling gardens that covered the land offered the perfect place to test one of his newest inventions, the super seed. Uranus’ super seeds promised to triple the yields harvested by the Taurean gardeners. What the seeds promised was delivered. The gardens produced three times the bushels of fruit and vegetables, bringing in three times the coin for the gardeners as well. Uranus was still working on bringing up the flavor and nutritional value to the level of that found in the unmodified produce.

As Venus made her way through her lush homeland, she noticed that the animals she saw had something peculiar about them. They were all slightly more muscular than what should normally be supported by their frame. Her beloved cows she loved to watch frolic in their pastures were bigger and seemed weighed down by the muscles bulging from their necks. Even the little black rabbits who hopped along the side of the road seemed denser and their hops were shorter and lower than usual. 

It didn’t take long to find out from her nightly social gatherings that Uranus had invented an additive to put in the streams that webbed their way through soft green hills of Taurus. From what she gathered, this additive would increase the muscle mass of any creature who drank from it. Most residents were in favor of the additive, as it made their beasts of burden stronger and cuts of meat bigger.

  Venus began to understand why Mercury had  issued concern over the goings on in Taurus. The reason everything was able to grow so easily in Taurus’ gardens was because life was predictable. The days were mild and sunny, with just enough rain to keep the soil moist. Because of this, it was nearly effortless to grow the sweetest fruit in all the land. The vegetables of Taurus grew plentifully and were always rich in color and nutrients, which gave her people their strength and beauty. It seemed that Uranus, in the name of progress, was interfering with perfection.

As her carriage drew closer to her home, the sky began to darken with heavy clouds. The ground became muddy and her crops were yellowed with moisture. Her castle appeared on the horizon looking dreary and sad instead of the bright welcoming green she expected. A loud crack in the sky drew her attention to Uranus’ tower on the hill. Blinding shards of white lightning struck the tower again and again. She directed her coachman to take her to Uranus at once.

Inside the tower she found Uranus amongst beakers and tubes of fluorescent fluids. Strange creatures with odd numbered limbs and even numbered heads were preserved in chaotically arranged jars. Lightning struck a metal rod outside the single window which Uranus observed excitedly. He was standing at some type of machine with hundreds of switches and knobs.

 “My latest creation” he explained as she approached. There was always something a bit unsettling about the genius Uranus, his eyes a bit too wide, his white hair unkept and standing on end. Today he had a manic grin as he showed her his new invention- a weather machine. “I’m still perfecting it,” he explained as a worried furrow crossed her brow. This explained her water-logged crops. “I sent a rainstorm to the desert, did you see?” he giggled excitedly. 

Venus asked that Uranus cease his experiments at once, but she was afraid too much damage had already been done. The muscular creatures and flavorless fruit were disturbing. She expressed her fear that the repercussions of altering nature would be irreversible, to which Uranus scoffed. Uranus was unpredictable, so it was hard to say whether he would honor her request or not.

With a sense of urgency, Venus raced down the hill and into her castle. She grabbed a sweet pastry from the table of food that greeted her and raced up the stairs to her secret room. She glanced longingly at the plush, turned down bed waiting for her but there was no time to rest. As she lifted a lever behind one of the books on her bookshelf, a section of the wall opened. Within a hidden room was a wall of small drawers, each labeled with a drawing of a plant. It was her collection of seeds that Mercury had helped her organize years ago. She collected a few of each type of seed into a velvet pouch which she would bring to the fertile fields of Virgo. Clutching her pouch, she hopped back into her carriage and directed her coachman onward. She would do all she could to protect the plants that fed so many. But as she tried to reassure herself, the sinking feeling in her stomach grew.