Chapter 2: Zeus's Agony
The King of the Gods was not a happy man. Something had been irritating him for days, but no one had taken any time to ask him. Most feared his wrath at a suggestion of inability, but most truly did not have time. Zeus was one of the only Gods who remained at Olympus anymore. Poseidon remained in his own realm rebuilding his palace and taking care of the sea. The God of the Sea hardly cared for Zeus's troubles and actually preferred to watch Zeus's irritation. Hermes was probably the busiest God these days because he carried so many messages from the mortals to the Gods. The mortals had highly advanced as a civilization and had started having more and more demands for the Gods. Zeus had vowed that if these requests didn't stop he would severely punish the mortals. Artemis was almost always away whether she is hunting or teaching her mortal followers. Hephaestus remained at his forges creating whatever he created, and being his wife Aphrodite supposedly spent her time there too whenever she wasn't out creating "love" between the mortals. Zeus was left to share Olympus with his wife Hera, his sister Demeter, and his children Athena, Dionysus, Ares, and Apollo. None of his family seemed to care about his problems. Zeus just assumed it was because they believed Zeus only worried about unimportant things such as not having his King sized bed ready in time for his King anniversary. But what they didn't realize is that this time his irritation was not something to be overlooked. Something had really baffled the King of the Gods.
Then suddenly Zeus locked himself in his chamber and just sat their concentrating on something. He replied to no one. He simply stopped doing anything. The Gods were not too worried as time was almost nothing for the Gods as they were immortal. It was so much so that when Zeus finally did return from solitude there was no one there to question him or worry. The King could care less, as he liked to solve his problems on his own. He kept pacing around his throne in deep thought. So much as a crop of water started irritating him, and everyone kept their distance from him.
Finally it was the Queen Hera who questioned her husband, "My Lord, what pains you so to cause you this agony."
"My Queen, the sky itself has started to disobey me. I, the god of the sky, is starting to lose his own grip on his realm", the pain in the voice of the God was uncanny. The queen understood his pain. Of all of his siblings it was Zeus that was given the honor to castrate his father by Rhea. Zeus proved his might by slaying his father and cutting him into pieces. In the process he had saved all of his siblings including his own future wife, Hera. His ego was fed even more when he crushed the Titans in the war and threw them all in Tartarus. He was unquestionable crowned the King of the Gods. The title King was simply a means to feed the ego of the holder and make him believe he or she was great. A simple lie that could trick anyone, including the mighty Zeus. If the sky was truly disobeying Zeus then Zeus's confidence would be highly damaged, confidence that Zeus takes most pride in having. The loss of this confidence would eat him from the inside and could easily explain this behavior.
At that moment Hermes burst through the door panting. Zeus would usually have welcomed his son with a pat on the back but he was clearly in no mood to do so. Hermes also had other things on his mind, "Father….Atlas has dropped the sky."
Zeus was so startled that he dropped his lightning bolt which sent a big bolt of lightning all across the world. His voice boomed across Olympus, "WHAT! How could Atlas drop the sky on his account? It is impossible. It was his eternal punishment. But what does his dropping the sky mean? "Not a soul had an answer to Zeus's question. But Zeus was sure this was the cause of his agony. Something had happened at Mount Tam that no one was informed about.
Hermes cleared his throat and spoke once again, "There is more Father, a baby was in the Garden under mount Tam along with his mother. His mother was….Calypso, the daughter of Atlas that we sentenced to eternity on her island." The meaning of Hermes words was clear. Atlas had not died on his own account. Something caused the unprecedented death and had also freed the Goddess Calypso from her imprisonment.
"Who is the father of this child?" Zeus asked, having a clear curiosity in the subject.
"That I'm afraid is unknown my Lord, but he is definitely the son of a God." Hermes replied a little less enthusiastically. All of Olympus was in thought of an explanation. After moments of silence, Ares grew bored and walked away which disturbed everyone's thoughts.
Zeus, obviously irritated, said, "Alas, time will tell the fate of this child." That was it, there was no more talk of the child. Athena walked after Ares scolding him for his stupidity. It was over for everyone, but the King of the Gods. He was certain this Child was somehow related to his loss of power. He would keep a close eye on this child.
Zeus was not the only God who seemed to take high interest in this child. Poseidon had heard the whole conversation from his palace. He could also tell that Zeus would want this child to help solve his problem. Poseidon simply could not allow for Zeus to retain all his power. He wanted to make sure his rival brother would not surpass his in power ever again. Too many times Zeus had rubbed in his face is superiority. Poseidon knew he must give this boy a protector, so that was exactly what he did. He called forth his son Triton, and gave him the task to watch over the kid. Triton was perfect for the job. He was uncannily friendly and also very strong. He would surely make sure no harm came to this child.
