The Divine Delegates

The Opening Ceremony was one of the few times when both assemblys were together, mortals mixed with immortals in a blend that would have been impossible anywhere or anytime else. The 34 immortal delegates were sitting off to the right in two rows, and then there were 257 mortal delegates, proportional representation of every province in the union, from the two delegates from Freya's Vanahem islands to the 23 people representing the large and densely populated Thessalia-Ekarantanni.

The Ceremony took place in the Great Hall, which during regular sessions was used as the mortals assembley-hall. The immortals used Golden Hall, a smaller hall on the other side of the Grand Entrance. The Great Hall was a big almost circular room decorated in marble with purple and golden details. Pillars carried spectators balconies and opposite to the entrance was a podium with seats for the presidium and a platform for those addressing the forum. Behind the podium hung the purple Union Banner with its eight pointed golden star, flanked by all the member provinces' banners and coats of arms. The hall had a dome roof, abstract murals painted in the ceiling and surrounding the dome were large windows letting in daylight into the big hall, rays of sunlight shining upon dancing dust.

I ended up sitting next to Kandrios, the delegate from Elesios. He described himself as "an old fox". Elesios, just south of Thessalia-Ekarantanni, had been one of the earliest members in the Union, and Kandrios had been its delegate ever since. He was handsome in a kind of generic way. Olive skin, light-brown eyes. And he was more than pleased to point out all the delegates for rookies like me and Freya, starting with the immortals and adding his own private thoughts about them. Like:

- Aestarion of Crete. The Zeus-wannabe. I think they are related, but to top that Aest tries real hard to copy everything our great leader does. There was nothing even remotely ironic in that last remark. Kandrios was one of these die-hard admirers of Zeus who could have gone up against the whole Titan army had Zeus ever indicated such a thing. Oddly enough there seemed to be more fans of the God of the Ambrosian Curls (whatever that now meant!) these days than ever back in the Order of Blue Gold.
- Yeah, he does look like Zeus, said Freya. But he's bleaching his hair. I can tell that by the darker roots.

- Next to him sits Dione of Cyprus. She always agrees with the last one speaking. And beside her Protheus of Egarnathon. He keeps seeing Titans everywhere and wants to invest money in some kind of security organisation that is to gather intelligence about presumed Titan hideouts. Otherwise he's reasonable enough, although a little bit too conservative for my taste.
- Are there still Titan hideouts then? Freya asked. I thought there were all gone by now.
- Rumours has it that there are some left not rooted out in the Southern Continent. I'm not so sure about that, said Kandrios. Others claim that America is full of them. On the other hand you can say anything about America and people believe you.
- At least they are gone from our continent, I said.

- Then there's your party comrades Ra, Boreas, Apeliotes and whatshername, Kandrios went on.
- Scadé, I helped him. Of Valhall.
- And next to Scadé we have Orion of Attika and Galathea of Argolis. They are a couple, but not a happy one. Fight all the time, break up twice a session and are back together again one month later "happier than ever". A real drama.

I looked at the dark, large and atlethic man and the hourglass-shaped, auburn-haired woman who was resting her head at his sholder. And I got a feeling that I'd seen this Orion somewhere, but I couldn't remember where or when.
- They seem happy enough at the moment at least, I stated.

- Eridanus, the black man standing up over there, is the delegate from Akarnaiya, Kandrios went on. He's liberal like me. Smart guy but a bit of a bore. The brunette he's talking to is Mnemosyne, delegate from West Arcadia. She's the Libertarian head and rumour has it that she has had an affair with Zeus.
- Have I heard that before or not? I joked and Kandrios laughed and said:
- Same rumours about Aethra over there, radical from Raeiadia. Kandrios indicating a tall, pale-skinned girl with black hair in an elaborated hairdo.

- About Leto of COSWAU - Archipelago province that is - it's more than a rumour.
- Yes I know, the mother of the twins Apollon and Artemis, I answered.
- Yeah, and also member of the Olympos pantheon, even if she's sort of temporary out to be able to sit as a delegate in the Hyperpantheon. - Can't the Olympians be members of the Hyp? asked Freya.

- In theory not, answered Kandrios. But there are only that many immortals and so many open positions that we have to stretch these rules a bit now when the democracy is still young. Later on I think these rules have to be enforced more to the letter.
- Why is there such a rule in the first place? Freya wanted to know.
- It has to do with the distribution and balance of power, I explained. Those rules were created to prevent Zeus from placing his pantheon members all over the Nexus. We don't want to turn the Union into an Olympic family company, do we?
- Sounds reasonable to me, Freya agreed. Then she commented on another woman, a late-comer who was running in and squeezing herself to an empty seat between Protheus and Hestia's old lover Pelaithas.

- Who's that with the dreads from a nightmare?
- That's Medusa of Aswee. She's a real nut case.
- What's she done?
- You don't wanna know.

Kandrios started to point out mortals and so he did until an expensive dressed man with dark hair in a strict ponytail entered the podium followed by two ladies. Chair Lord Iapetos. The chatter started to die down around us and was killed completely when a young girl banged three times on a big gong. The huge ringing sound echoed in the big hall and up towards the dome roof. After that all you heard was coughings, scraping of feet and the traffic noise from outside.

- Honourable ladies and gentlemen of the Union Nexus, take your seats, the 16:th session of the Nexus is about to begin. The one speaking was a mortal woman standing to the left of an empty throne in the middle of the podium. She was the Speaker of the House, an office always to be designated a mortal, and her name was Irala Aunoskeshera. Mortals carries surnames, we don't. Lady Aunoskeshera reminded silent after those words, and I got a feeling of "was that really it? No ceremonies or stuff?".

Then I saw him. Zeus. For the first time in 15 years, it felt almost surreal. He was entering through the great double doors, followed by a foursome of other immortals, of whom Demeter was the only one I recognised. People started to rise, if it was to salute the Divine King or just to see him better I couldn't tell. A lot also began cheering and applauding.

He had changed. Not only did he wear his platinum blond hair longer these days, his stance, his whole appearance was more regal. Like a king out of the ancient times before the tyrants. He wore a headband, similar to a crown, that held his now shoulder-lenght hair back from his handsome face, was dressed in togas of purple, white and gold and he carried a sceptre symbolising the Divine King's part of the rule over the Union. And most notable of all was his aura, such balance of outstanding powers, and such control over them all. I had never seen anything like that before.

I was staring. But I was not the only one. I heard voices behind me expressing the very thoughts that crossed my mind. And about some mortal delegate who was fainting and had to be carried away. I had to remind myself that this man once had been one of my best friends, and I felt almost giddy thinking of that.

Zeus and his foursome took place at the podium, Zeus in the empty throne in the middle. To the right of him Chair Lord Iapetus sat down and to the left Irala Aunoskeshera. I saw Zeus check out the crowds, taking in every face, and when his shining sky-blue eyes met mine I saw them flickering with recognition - and then a connection. A short "Hi" mindspoken in my head before he went further. The informality in it almost took my breath away. Like all those years hadn't gone by and we had talked with each other as late as yesterday.

Then I felt pain. I turned. It was Freya, clutching my right arm like desperate, her red nails almost piercing my skin. She was staring at Zeus, month wide open, totally enthralled. I turned to my friend:
- Hello! Freya! Earth calling! Get real, it's just another immortal. Not some kind of a... I realised I had no word.
- But it's Zeus, said the Norse. He's... He's... He's magnificent!
- I know. But he's a real guy at the same time. He drinks cocoa in the morning, puts honey on everything, likes music and to dance and stay up late. He's good at boardgame, knows the ancient language and collects old knowledge and ideas. And he can't wear light green.

- Uhu... Freya wasn't really paying attention, and I wondered how many of these things were relevant these days. Of course, the green thing still applied, something he was very aware of. I had only seen him in that colour once - when we had to dress in what was available after the nuclear firestorms over Merioly. Zeus had found a grass coloured jacket and very reluctantly put it on. The colour had made him look sick and Neario had offered him to trade his rusty brown coat instead.
- Don't ever tell poor Aestarion about the cocoa thing, said Kandrios. It will break his heart, he can't even stand the smell of that beverage.

Zeus held a speech that was inspiring and uplifting although I could hardly remember a word of it. I was busy just looking at him. Taking in every gesture, every move of his features, trying to tell what was different from back then. He had this new regal charisma and he was not as dramatic or over-energetic as I remembered him, but more held together. The frivolous teenager going on 30 was gone.

After Zeus was done Iapetus held his speech which was too long and way too boring. I started to check out the mortal part of the Nexus instead. Mostly white-haired ladies and gentlemen. More solemn and stiff and at the same time more impressed.

Irala Aunoskeshera turned out to be a much better speaker than the Chair Lord. The pudgy old lady was even funny in parts, and got both mortals and immortals to laugh. Even Zeus enjoyed her, I saw. He had been paying attention to the girl by the gong when the Chair Lord was speaking.

o-o-o

That night there was a banquet and a reception, which I remembered as an endless row of new faces and names. I have always been god at connecting names with faces, but this was too much. At least when it came to the mortals - they all tend to look the same after a while. 34 persons of my own kind were easier to remember.

I talked quite a bit with Xenon of Thessalia-Ekarantanni, mostly about the dificulties for new delegates to find housing.
- Yes, we are aware of that problem too. We've been debating building some kind of apartment hotel for delegates, but there has not really been much more than talking, since the Nexus thinks the City of Ekarantanni should pay for it and the City of course thinks the opposite.

That was Union politics in a nutshell. Always the idea that someone else should bring up the money for things.

Then I talked with Amaterasu, also a newbie, and delegate for Nippon. She was lovely, light-hearted and funny and we connected immediately. She was also having housing problems, and had a terrific solution for it.
- If they don't get us anything soon we have to move into the Orimpu.

- The what?
- The Orimpu. Zeus's mountain.
- The Olympos. Yeah! Way to go girl! I got teary-eyed with laughter. You're right. Imagine the look upon his face when Zeus finds 34 Hyp delegates outside his doors at sunrise tomorrow.
- And the mortars. They're 257.

Xenon thought we were crazy of course. He said something about "foreigners". Just because he had a splendid villa in a posh area with an outlook over the sea. He shook his head and left us where we were standing with our glasses of wine, fit with laughter over Zeus's imagined facial expression.

Soon I felt someone looking at me, and I turned around to find that very same man on the other side of the room checking us out. I pinched Amaterasu at her shoulder and nodded at Zeus. Then we laughed even more, just because his puzzled expression in real life seemed to fit so well with what we were picturing in our minds.

I went on mingling and around midnight Neyta came up to me and gossiped that Scadé had left hand in hand with Apeliotes and then I noticed that the reception hall was slowly being emptied of people.
- Guess this is it, said Neyta. And is this girl tired or what? So many impressions, my poor head is spinning. Beyond Neyta's shoulder I noticed Zeus saying good-bye to Protheus and Xenon and started out through the door. It was now or never if I was to catch him tonight, I understood. I gathered all the courage I could find inside, bade Neyta my excuses, and followed the Olympian out of the room.

- Zeus, I called. He turned around, looking at me where I stepped out of the door frame. He stopped in his movement. Flashback to our first meeting almost 25 years ago in that old factory building in Erandoro. I was just as nervous as I had been back then. Maybe even more.

- Hera! Good to see you! I kept wondering when I'd get a chance to seek you out. It seems like I don't have to worry about that anymore. How have you been faring all these years?
- I... I've been doing... A lot. I've learned politics.
- Yes, I can tell that. You have become quite a pro to be honest. Bringing in Argos and several other regions to the Union! I should thank you for all that bravado.

- You look different, Eagle. More mature. You're regal.
- Eagle? No-one calls me that anymore. Suddenly his voice broke. He came up to me and took my hands, almost hesitating, almost insecure. I looked up in those glittering blue eyes, at the vibrant strength and intelligence there. And most of all the kindness.
- You look different too. The war princess in short hair and practical tunics is gone. That hairdo must have cost a fortune, not to mention the dress. When did you go haute couture?

- When I came here, to Ekarantanni. I felt that I could not look like an average rural goddess anymore. The warrior was trashed already when I came to Argos.
- You must tell me your story once. We really must get time to talk. There are so many things I want to say to you.
- And you must tell me... Hestia told me you've been through some terrible things.
- That's true. But Hera, when are you...

Then someone called out Zeus's name. It was Paladin of Reroro, Nyx' husband and the delegate from COSEAU. And the spell was broken.