I apologize again for the mistakes. Punctuation in dialogues in my native language is very different from English.
Early September 1941
"Father! We have to do something!" Athena screamed, standing in the center of the throne room, "They've gone completely crazy!"
"For once, I agree with Athena, brother," Poseidon began, rising from the throne, "Mortals have always been distinguished by their love of cruelty, but this already rivals Titanomachy itself! We...
"SHUT UP!!" Zeus struck the marble floor with lightning bolts with such force that cracks appeared. "I'm the king!! And here I decide what to do and what not to do!"
"Zeus…"
The thunder God abruptly turned his head in the direction from which the voice came.
"I think Athena and Poseidon are right. We cannot ignore this problem like others."
"Do you dare to contradict me?" Zeus's face turned crimson with anger, "Are you contradicting me, Hera?!"
Zeus raised his lightning bolts again, towards Hera. But before he could swing, he was met by a trident and a sword near his throat. Hades and Poseidon stood up for their sister.
"You wouldn't dare, brother."
"Who are you to order me around?"
"Your brothers and sisters, in case you've forgotten." a child's voice rang out from the hearth, and a little girl of about eight looked up at Zeus with blazing eyes, but cold as ice. Hestia never interfered in disputes, preferring to observe from the sidelines. But she always ended all the Council's quarrels with the simplest words, preventing them from escalating into a bloody war.
Zeus's face turned even redder at his older sister's words, but he lowered the lightning bolts, sitting heavily back on the throne.
"Well, who else is in favor of helping these pathetic people?"
Three… Five... eleven hands flew into the air. No one cared except Zeus. Zeus and Ares, but he doesn't have a brain. He doesn't count.
"This is not a unanimous decision. The Council will not do anything!"
And so it was every time. It's the same thing, at every damn council for almost a year and a half. The gods want to intervene, Zeus is afraid for power and believes that everyone in this room is asleep and sees how to overthrow him. Nothing new. But it was already overstepping all bounds.
Artemis, living in the forests, used to ignore the affairs of mortals. Men remained the same as in ancient times - arrogant, arrogant, worried only about themselves and their ego. Nothing has changed since then. They also want to prove their superiority, strive for power, and want to rule the world. And this time was no exception.
She had been following the actions of Nazi Germany for a long time, not focusing on it at first. People are constantly fighting. Over the years, the goddess has learned to ignore their skirmishes and not interfere in them. And the Ancient Laws did not provide a special opportunity — just as people are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the gods, so the gods are forbidden to help them. Especially in the war.
But it was too much. Something new, more brutal than in the past millennia. The World War, the genocide. History has never seen such open cruelty. The sickest part of humanity became Nazis, and those who simply did not want to go against the regime stood next to them. The rest stopped being human in their eyes. Children, adults, and the elderly were mercilessly killed, indiscriminately. The most biased attitude was towards Jews, Germany just needed to find an extreme one. They became Jews. The Nazis blamed them for all their failures. Jews were considered a product of chaos, designed only for destruction. This is the second war of this scale. People, why?
Nazism was rapidly taking over Europe. In just forty-five days, the German armed forces defeated the armies of Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the British Expeditionary Force; in 38 days they occupied almost the entire territory of France. Incredible speed. The Moon Goddess had witnessed dozens of wars and battles between both gods and humans, but this one was getting more and more violent. It is necessary to intervene in this genocide. It is impossible to calmly watch the murder of so many innocent people, even if half of them were men.
Fortunately, Apollo supported the Council - he also wanted to stop the war. Or at least do something to end it. His children remained on earth, many of them very infants.
The council is tomorrow. All the gods, except Ares, who is brainless, decided to bring up this topic again and try their best to persuade Zeus to do at least something. Not necessarily by ourselves, just to give the go-ahead to intervene in the war. No one could sit on the sidelines and calmly watch the horror happening in the world. Thank the primordial Chaos, for so many years the boundaries of morality have not been completely erased. Unlike some people. There was only hope that Zeus had at least a thin strip of morality somewhere deep inside.
Otherwise, you have to go to extreme measures - to violate the laws of the universe.
"What do you mean you want to interfere? The gods are forbidden, have you forgotten the laws?"
"Of course not," Artemis said softly, feigning fright. Years of communication with her father had taught her how to get what she wanted from him. You just have to agree with him, carefully directing the conversation in the right direction. "How could you think that we would forget about our duty?"
"Father, I did not think that you had such a low opinion of us," smiling radiantly, Apollo approached his sister.
It's been almost two weeks since the last council. All this time, in secret from everyone, he and his brother, agreeing that either it was necessary to act now, or because it would be too late, were developing a plan to persuade Zeus. It was simple in itself, but it was not an easy task to recreate it in life - they simply did not know how Zeus would react. All hope was only for luck.
"Dad, it seems to me that these mortals have forgotten who is in charge here. Don't you think so?" Apollo continued, and Artemis smiled sweetly and nodded in agreement, but in fact barely restraining the nausea that rose in her throat.
"These mortals are completely out of control!" She continued to play her part.
"Well, at least someone in this shoddy Advice understands me," Zeus smiled at the twins, although it looked more like a grin. "But I don't see any problem. What's the matter?"
The goddess gasped for breath. The most difficult part has begun.
"Don't you see, Father? When Hitler came to power, mortals got completely out of hand. They began to forget about us, considering us a relic of the past. They destroy temples, spoil works of art. And they put their own brands on the fact that they can't destroy it."
"How dare they! This is unacceptable. I'll show them who's the king here!!"
Breath. Exhale. Zeus is angry at the Nazis, he does not understand what he is being told, he agrees with everything. Now is the time.
"Yes, this is completely unacceptable," Artemis began, hiding her excitement and trembling with all her might, "We want to intervene."
The goddess looked at her brother. He, pale and exhausted, with huge bruises under his eyes, spoiling a once beautiful face, and bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep, barely nodded to her. Apollo made it clear to her that he was there, he would not leave her.
"Artemis is right. We have to step in and show these mortals who's in charge."
"M-m," Zeus pulled thoughtfully, stroking his beard, "we need to show these mortals... yes, we need to… Since you have expressed a desire to fight for my name, I will help you. Yes, I will help…"
The twins looked at each other and, holding their breath, dared not move. And Zeus continued:
"But the gods can't interfere, although... look, I can send you, but on one condition."
"What is it, Father?" Apollo asked in a strangled voice.
"I'll take your powers away from you, but I'll keep your immortality. Yes, I will leave immortality… I'm a father."
Artemis snorted inwardly. Yeah, he's the father. But such a chance is unlikely to happen again. It was impossible to delay.
"Swear by the Styx."
"What?"
"I say," sighed Artemis, looking up at Zeus, "swear by the Sacred River Styx to fulfill what you just said."
Apollo stared at his sister in disbelief at her fearlessness. Zeus's eyes widened, but the god only grunted:
"Oh, good. I swear by the Styx to do what I just said."
Deafening thunder rang outside the throne room, sealing the oath. The job is done. Now Zeus had no choice.
"And also," Artemis began, "Father, gather a council tomorrow."
"And why is that?"
"Yes, that's it. To discuss a couple of questions," the goddess said, turning her back, and without waiting for an answer, strode to the gilded doors of the throne room. Her booming footsteps echoed in the silence until they were joined by another one. Her brother followed her. Leaving the hall and closing the doors behind her, she did something she would never have done in her life. She hugged Apollo. They did it.
Breaking off her embrace and saying goodbye to her brother, she ran as fast as she could to the palace of her sister Athena. Artemis climbed the marble steps and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, unhurried footsteps were heard and the door opened. A tall, dark-haired goddess in a light white dress with gray flashes resembling fire stood on the threshold. Her eyes, as stern as thunderclouds, studied her intently before the goddess's face relaxed and a slight smile replaced the severity.
"Hi, Sister. Why did you come?"
Artemis walked inside the palace.
"Good ones, I hope?" Athena turned around, closing the door tightly.
"More than enough."
"I'm listening." Athena leaned against the wall and stared at her, raising an eyebrow.
"Anyway," Artemis said, wringing her fingers, "Apollo and I persuaded Zeus to intervene."
"Come on!" The goddess recoiled from the wall and strode towards her sister, "But wait, you're sure he'll keep his word. You know his promises are worthless."
"I know, but he'll keep it. I made him swear on the River Styx."
"You... what? How?"
"I'll tell you about it later."
"But that's not all?" Athena narrowed her eyes. Artemis nodded.
"There is one condition."
"And what is it?" Athena asked, stretching her vowels.
"We will be sent to fight, but only if we are deprived of our divine powers."
"If you're deprived..." Her face hardened sharply, her eyebrows furrowed, and her lips formed a thin line. - if you wake up... ARTEMIS!!"
I will try to post chapters once a week, but maybe they will be published less often. I hope you enjoyed the beginning.
Cookies for everyone.
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