ToZ Bk 2: The Time of Typhon
Copyright© 2024 by Carlos Santiago
Epilogue: Legacies
“Where tree leaves dance ... one shall find flames ... the fire’s shadow will illuminate the village ... and once again, tree leaves shall bud anew.”
— Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, in Naruto, Chapter 1 (1999), written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. Originally published in Weekly Shōnen Jump by Shueisha. English translation published by VIZ Media. Copyright © 1999 by Masashi Kishimoto. All rights reserved.
In the early morning on Olympus, the twin brothers toiled away in their workshop. Prometheus and Epimetheus worked best by being nestled away from others. They could not appreciate that the once-devastated landscape had been repaired and made to look more glorious than ever.
Within the confines of their workshop, their final masterpiece was being sculpted. The first human woman would be marvelous. It had taken weeks to restore what had been destroyed by Cratus. They had not intended to restart their project. What was the point if another god would destroy their work?
With the gift of Metis’ divine power, Prometheus suspected the creation would thrive and survive, and he would go so far as to believe she would propagate and become the mother of a species. He also guessed that the late Oceanis was correct about Zeus.
“And you’re sure?” Epimetheus asked
“I heard the lie from Zeus’ lips himself,” Prometheus muttered as they had the heated bronze statue on the marble table.
Epimetheus held the heated meat with tongs as Prometheus used his power and slowly poured Metis’ magic into the statue. infusing it with the essence of life itself.
As they worked, the statue became more solid in the semblance of their goal. The curves of her form were the height of femininity. The eyes sparkled with the wisdom of Metis. While the statue did not come to life, the work was closer to coming to fruition than ever before.
As the rays of sunlight washed over the workshop, Prometheus and Epimetheus exchanged a look of joy as another piece of the work was done. Like any artists, they enjoyed that their masterpiece was coming together.
Her eyes snapped open within a new realm of boundless imagination. She looked left to right and realized she was in a mindscape of infinite possibility.
Of course she was. She had been consumed by Zeus: mind, body, and soul. She was not dead, so the realm of the Underworld would not be open to her. She was now part of Zeus until his demise.
She let out a snort of laughter. The Fates had been right, and she was too late to stop him. Had she truly understood, she might have made different choices. How many must have felt similar? Coeus, Cronos, Ouranos? All beings who had the foolishness to regret when it was far too late.
The lingering essence of Metis wondered how long she would be able to reside in a realm beyond the constraints of the physical. If she were in him, this must have been his subconscious mind, specifically in a place he overlooked or ignored.
The realm within Zeus’ subconscious was ever changing. That was not how she thought the inner mind might be. The ground beneath her feet started to shift and ripple like the properties of water going from steam to liquid to ice back to liquid and finishing as steam only to repeat the process all over again.
Giant pillars of marble showed up out of the void, reminding Metis of Olympus. Strange flora were scattered throughout the realm. In the distance, Metis could see an enormous chair with cracks and a cushion on it. Above her head was just a white blank canvas that might have been unsettling.
But when, the ground beneath her gave way, and Metis fell down a chasm of everlasting darkness. She fell for what felt like a thousand years but must have been merely moments.
She did not so much land as she did float over an enormous baby girl in the womb of someone. Metis could see the resemblance between the child and her parents, Zeus and Metis.
“My baby,” she breathed. “My little Athena.”
Metis caressed her child’s head even if Metis’ hand only really covered a portion of the baby’s gigantic noggin.
“You will be better than me, better than those who came before me. Learn from my mistakes. The needs of Olympus come before all else. Do not be blinded by your affections for any one person. Do not falter. Preserve all you can, my child. My little love, go on. Be better than I could ever be.”
Tears started to stream down Metis’ face.