Page 1 of The Don's Soulmate

Prologue

Jupiter

Mount Olympus quakes violently from the rage seeping through me at what I see going on below. Hundreds of earthlings, androgynous beings with two faces, four arms and four legs, all kneeling, arms all outstretched towards one of their own.

The one they are hailing is sitting atop a golden throne, fit for a divine being, accepting offerings and imparting blessings, as though this creature were one of us gods. All around their finite idol, the earthlings chant one name on their lips:Guillerme, Guillerme, Guillerme,until their praises reach the heavens.

“Friends,” the puffed-up mortal shouts into the gathering. “I offer you the guidance you seek to make all your dreams come true, to appease your fears, to pave your destiny.”

The perishable one speaks with confidence, exuding an aura of power rivaled only by a deity. Earthlings grow stronger under its tutelage, bolder in their dismissal of the gods. It bestows upon them knowledge of self-empowerment and teaches them to rely on their own insight rather than on ours.

My chiton flaps wildly under my golden armor, and the sound of thunder booms throughout the earth’s sphere as I drop to earth in an instant, shaking the very ground they kneel upon. If my golden crown wreathed with olive leaves does not inspire their respect, the lightning spewing from my eyes, hair and beard surely causes them to cower in fear.

“You dare blaspheme the gods!” I roar in fury.

“Forgive us, mighty Jupiter,” they shout in unison, but I silence their futile pleas.

“You were fashioned from the mud by Prometheus, and for your insolence, to the mud you shall return.”

With a thunderous roar, the earth trembles from the storm raging around me. The north and east winds howl in protest as lightning crackles from my fingertips. Earthlings scatter in fear as I unleash my wrath upon them, smiting them where they stand.

The pillars of the Earth quaked, tearing open its crust, hungrily swallowing all that dared defy me.

As swiftly as the judgment was fulfilled, it receded again. The seams of the lacerated earth close and heal up, the storm ceases, and the sun once again peeks through the clouds. On the eerily empty ground, only one remains—the Guillerme mortal. Once proud and defiant, it is now on its knees, its eyes filled with fear and regret. I strive towards it, my presence casting a shadow over its trembling form.

“Why have you spared me,” Guillerme asks, hiding two faces behind four hands.

“Your pride provoked the wrath of the gods. Your punishment shall serve as a reminder to all. Henceforth, you shall wander the earth in agony, never finding true peace or be whole again.” Summoning the full extent of my divine power, I reach out toward the finite being, my fingers brushing the air mere inches from its trembling form. With a fusion of energy, I execute the sentencing.

"Noooo!" Guillerme’s mouths cry out, struggling as its neck contorts and snaps apart, its form separating, detaching, all the way down between the legs. The molecules split apart, divorcing it into a male and female half – a physical manifestation of the division Guillerme sowed between the earthlings and the gods.

A voice, rough and male, blends with the wind that has picked up again, carrying its anguish and desperation to my ears. "Please, Jupiter! Please do not do this to me! I beg of you!"

Both their screams, his and hers, echo through the storm-torn sky. Two figures, one with hair whipping around her face, try tohold on to each other. Their clothes now lie torn, fallen to the ground, and their naked bodies try to reconnect, rejoin. Their shrieks sound like that of a wolf being ripped apart alive.

I walk forward, grabbing the woman by her waist to pull her away. The woman screams in terror while the man reaches for her with an outstretched arm, so helpless, so pained.

The tempest rages on as I witness the woman, now severed from her other half, attempting to scramble away from me. Her eyes, wide with terror, dart back and forth between her other half and myself. Desperation fuels her movements, a wounded animal trying to find shelter.

"Please!" she cries out, her voice barely audible above the howling wind. "Make us whole again.”

"Lord Jupiter,” the man pleads, tears streaming down his face. "Have mercy on us."

"Mercy?" My laughter booms through the storm, cold and cruel. "I am granting you far more mercy than you deserve. Had I chosen, I could have ended your lives in an instant.”

The man falls to his knees. The damage is done, and they feel it. The two halves now remain separated, one on the earth, one in my arm. Each yearning for the other half of their soul. Both are tortured with despair, loneliness, and longing.

"Listen well, for this shall be your eternal curse: You both shall spend eternity seeking one another but never finding truesatisfaction. Your hearts will be forever haunted by an intense loss, a longing that can never be fulfilled until death claims you both."

"Noooo!" The woman screams a wail of anguish that pierces the roaring wind and rain. She claws at me to battle against my unyielding grip, trying to reach the man dragging himself towards her, unable to get up on his new, unused legs.

"Every moment apart will be agony," I continue, reveling in the prospect of their suffering. "And should you manage to find one another, the briefest taste of love's sweet embrace shall only serve to remind you of what you've lost, for you shall be ripped apart over and over and over again.”

"Curse you, Jupiter!" the man snarls, his eyes burning with hatred. "We will find a way to break this vile spell! We will defy you; I swear it!"

"Bold words from one so thoroughly defeated," I sneer. "But by all means, continue to cling to your futile hopes.”

With a flick of my wrist, I send the woman hurtling through the stormy skies. She vanishes into the tempest; her cries drowned out by thunderous roars of lightning as I transport her to a dense, dark forest at the farthest reaches of the earth. There she lies, bruised and battered, sobbing for the loss of her other half. Her pleas re-echo off the tree tops, each lamentation a pleasing symphony to my ears.

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