The new king

About a year after the fall of Cronos the immortals of the world got together and voted Zeus King of the Gods. It wasn't as much an election as a state of an already made fact. Zeus had taken the lead naturally after the war and since he had displayed all that enormous amount of power and on top of that had a large group of followers, there was no-one who questioned him, not even among the mighty gods in the east.

Most of the older gods were in fact more tempted by comfort and luxury than actual power, and preferred to leave the royal position to a younger, hungrier man.

There were also still Titans out there giving both gods and mortals trouble, but Zeus had his followers dealing with them while he started to build the world he had pictured in his mind.

Zeus hadn't believed it to be easy, and he sure got that right. Immortals wanted all kinds of things, pulled in every direction, schemed and plotted worse than any mortal assembly. And because of Zeus' hot tempers disagreements about how to run the world often ended up in disputes, which for an outsider must have appeared really terrible.

I especially remember the event with the Divine Light. Zeus' counsellor Prometheus believed that its amazing and magical qualities should be enjoyed by mortals as well as immortals. What Prometheus didn't take in mind, even if he's a sensible and intelligent man, was that the very magical qualities of Divine Light made it dangerous as well, especially for mortals, who lack abilities to control it.

Divine Light isn't like regular fire, which needs oxygen, heat and fuel to burn and can easily be put out using water or by ending the supply of oxygen. Divine Light only needs the slightest attention of a divine mind to keep on burning. Zeus' sister Hestia is especially skilled with it and she was the one who started that very special fire of Divine Light at Olympos. It was from her hearth Prometheus stole a flame when Zeus told him not to share the Divine Light with the mortals.

We were enjoying breakfast, sitting in the early morning sun at the east-facing terrace when Zeus' messenger Iris came flying with an upset and worried look upon her face, her rainbow-coloured veils trailing behind her. She halted just inches from crashing into the meal-table.

" Zeus! Zeus!" she called out.
Zeus hailed her but showed no concern. He knew that Iris sometimes over-reacted. This was no such time though:
" What is wrong, my friend? "
" Thaneria is on fire", the goddess exclaimed.

" What?" Zeus rose. Mumbles of concern broke out around him, Selene getting her nectar in the wrong throat and coughing upon it.
" The whole city is burning, and the mortals don't seem to be able to put out the fires. It appears that the fires are of the Divine kind. Of Hestia's kind."
" My kind?" Hestia's yellow eyes widened. "But I haven't - By Styx, I swear! "
" Prometheus!" Zeus raged, glaring around the table, but his counsellor was not around.

" He's sleeping in of course", the King of Gods went on. "But I am sure going to kick his sorry ass out of bed! Hestia! Go down there and retrieve your flames immediately before more damage is done! Helios! Hera! Poseidon! Eos! You follow and save what can be saved! Lives first!"

Zeus left his meal half-finished, and strode over to the elegant villa Prometheus had built for himself a bit away from the main palace. The King's aura was red with rage and Metis and I set after him, worried that he would do something reckless. Behind us Hestia and the others left the table too, to obey Zeus' order and try to salvage lives in the Thessalian city.

Zeus didn't bother with the door, he crashed right through the wall and pulled the drowsy Prometheus out of bed.
" You idiot!" He bellowed so the whole Olympos shook. "You fool, you arrogant, thick-brained knows-it-all! "
" What now? What the...?" Prometheus was shaking his dark head, trying to clear out the fumes of sleep, to understand what his lord meant.

" Didn't I tell you that this would be the case with mortals and Divine Fire? They don't have the skills to control it, they don't have the respect for it that takes. They think they can deal with it just as with normal, chemical fire, and they have trouble enough as it is with that kind. Now Thaneria is on fire and people down there are dying. That's your deed! "
"But I told them to leave the flame in my temple, where I could keep an eye on it until I would be able to teach them..."
"You can't teach them a skill they can't acquire, Prometheus! You could as well try to teach fishes to grow legs and walk on land. "
"Zeus, if we are to create a new kind of man, wouldn't it be..."

" Come on! Get real for once! Don't let your vain control you all the time! You want to be known as the Great Benefactor of man, and instead you burn down their cities. Probably a young mortal went into your temple and brought out the flame, trying to use it for cooking or heating or whatever and then lost control over it! "
" Zeus, it is not vain speaking, it is concern for those people down there who are toiling..."
" Go tell that bull to someone who might believe it!"

Zeus' face was dark with rage, sparkles of static were flowing from his brows and locks of hair and his knuckles were white when he drew the naked Prometheus into the white marble wall, damaging it even more.
" And on top of everything, you pluck flames from the Olympic hearth, trying to make it look like my sister did it! I thought you were too noble for such dirty tricks, but apparently I misjudged you."

Once more Zeus crashed the other God into the wall, and this time half the roof came crashing down, and I had to jump away to avoid getting hit by a falling beam.
" Now Hestia has gone to get her fire an the others are trying to save lives. That should really be your duty, but one God is not enough for such a labour. Now, don't ever let me catch you with your hands in Hestia's fire again, because then I swear I'll chain you to a rock and let the eagles feed on your liver. "
" Zeus..."
" Enough! Don't try my patience!"

Zeus let go of Prometheus, who fell to the floor, his hands around the neck where Zeus had grabbed him, black bruises after the King's fingers. Zeus left abruptly and took in the air, aiming for Thaneria, no doubt with helping the others in mind.

Prometheus crawled up to a somewhat sitting position, looking at me and Metis:
" I just wanted to help", he despaired. "But that power-corrupted, hard-hearted..."
" Shut up, you moron!" Metis snapped at him.
" Prometheus", I told him, "I know you wanted to help. But you did a dire mistake. People died down there in the fires."

" Get out of here, Miladies, please!" he begged us.
" You are the one who should leave", Metis returned. "Leave Olympos. It's not the first time you've messed up my husbands plans. I'm only surprised he hasn't lost patience with you earlier. Feeding your sorry liver to the eagles would only seem fitting after killing all those people down there with your so called help."

Interlude

Some mortal must have heard that eagle-and-liver story and passed it on to the next guy and then to the next and then they went on believing it happened. What really happened was that Prometheus and Zeus kept on having disagreements about the society of mankind, mostly because Prometheus wanted to run ahead with all kinds of experiments, while Zeus believed in threading more carefully.

After several fights like that Zeus took Metis' advice and told Prometheus his services was not needed within Olympos anymore. So Prometheus took his things and left, his somewhat witless brother Epimetheus trailing after him.

But he's still out there doing his thing, caring for humanity. From time to time I hear about his whereabouts, mostly in disguise of a mortal. Sometimes when reading between the lines in the newspaper about a new kind of medicine or a smart gadget, I might guess it's Prometheus who have left the faint traces.

" Apparently he's in DC now, lobbying for the Space Research programme. So he's probably going to bump into a certain Joe Peters. And that should be interesting."
I look at Hestia, who's sitting at the railing of my balcony, swaying too and from, letting the wind catch her long, blond hair.
" Yes, I know about Joe Peters. Saw him on TV the other day. But please come down from there! If a mortal see you..."

" They won't. "
" Invisible stunt?"
" Nope, are no mortals around up here. Just some American gods. "
" Where?"
" Over at the Chrysler Building. Sitting on top of it. Wonder what they are up to. "
" Oh - yes, I see them too. Hudson's 'homies'."
" Hudson's what?"
" His pals!"
" Oh, Thea, now you've started talking like him too. What are we going to do with you?"

Hestia smiles and let go of the railing, somersaulting twice in the air before jumping back at the balcony. Just in time, because a helicopter filled to the brim with mortals comes flying by. Men in suits and ties who waves at Hestia and me, no doubt intrigued by the sight of two women in bikinis at the penthouse terrace.

Interlude ends

Metis was sitting on the couch crying her eyes out while I was holding her new-born daughter. It sure felt like being rewinded some 40 years back in time while looking at little Athena. Same pretty nose and big, blue eyes as her father, she even smelled the same. Yet her mother was devastated.

" I don't know where it went wrong", she wept, "I thought he loved me, that what we had was special. And then... he goes on... doing that... THING. I never thought... And with Themis of all people, that self-righteous, haughty old hag!"
" Metis, dear", Rhea comforted, holding the younger woman. "Come on, tell us from the start, what happened? "

" I came home to Olympos a bit earlier", Metis started. "I planned to surprise Zeus by sneaking in upon him, but he wasn't in the office. Then I heard strange sounds from the bedroom. Like some were - you know. I hesitated, but then I thought 'that's my bedroom too' and opened the door. Only to find him - my husband, the father of my child - in bed with that... that whore! Metis spat, wrinkling her sweet face in disgust. "

The goddess told how she had just stood there paralysed, not wanting to believe what she was seeing, and that Zeus and Themis had appeared just as surprised. Then Themis wisped off, the immortal way of transcending the space-dimensions, and Metis had started to cry. Zeus sought to comfort her, told her that it meant nothing, just being 'some fun with a friend and no big deal'.
" But I didn't see it that way", Metis dried her tears upon her silk scarf. "To me these things you do as woman and man are special. Am I wrong on this?"
" No, you certainly are not", Rhea said. "My son must have been mislead by that woman. She's several decades older than any of us and no doubt well bewandered in how to turn a man on. I'm going to talk to my son about this. He must not be mislead in that way. People might use it against his position. "

" I don't care about his position", Metis said. "He destroyed something in me with that betrayal. I can not love him anymore. It's over. He can do it with Themis or Eurynome or Leto or anyone for all I care. "
" He do love you", Rhea insisted. "I'm sure this was a mistake. A one-time slip. Come on now, take Athena and go back to Olympos. Tell him you forgive him if it won't happen again. "
" But it will", I told the other women. "Once a man has got the taste for adultery he'll have a hard time to stop. That was what ended my parents' relationship. My father finding comfort with other women, and my mother learning about it. Metis, you and Athena are welcome to stay here."
" I'd love that. For a while at least. To catch my breath and think. And stroll in Demeter's beautiful garden. She really has made something special here. "

Oceanos' daughter was right, Demeter had turned the old war-training turf into a magnificent park, with flowers of all kinds and then some which the young goddess had invented. There were fruits and vegetables, there were herbs, spices and parfumers, there were flowers for every season, even those who blossomed in winter time. And I guess it was a sign of the times that what had once been a place for martial arts was now a garden full of living, growing beauty. The sign of peace.

Metis stayed longer than expected, and befriended Demeter quite a bit. Together we walked in Demeter's garden where birds sang and small ponds glittered in the sunlight. And one day we were reached by the news that Leto was pregnant with a child of Zeus.
" He sure didn't wait to replace Athena", Metis scorned.
" Please don't see it that way", I tried to tell. "I'm sure Zeus loves his daughter in spite of being a bit reckless when it comes to horizontal entertainment. "

Leto soon followed Metis example, leaving with one twin child on each arm, when Zeus chose Hera instead of her. But Hera entered another tactic upon being cheated on. She remained with Zeus and finally, after several millennia and about a handful immortal and hundreds of mortal bastard children, the King of Gods tired of wandering from arms to arms and chose to stay true to the matrimonial promise he had once given Hera.

But at that time he and his co-workers had stopped being the Gods in the human minds and moved on to become the hidden rulers of the world, and instead created a simpler religion for the mortals.