Chapter 6: To Have and to Hold

That day had finally come. Helios hung low in the sky to cast a golden glow over the mountaintop called Olympus. Every palace and pillar had decorations (from garland of flowers to added gold and white tapestries) for the grand event. The anticipation was palpable even among the murmurs and laughter of gods and goddesses coming and going to celebrate the forthcoming nuptials between Zeus and Hera.

One by one, beings descended from the Great Progenitor came. Some were familiar, like Hestia and Prometheus, but others came too.

A thin, gaunt goddess called Leto contrasted sharply with the exuberant surroundings. Draped in a dress of black, her golden eyes observed every part of the godly city. She was a lesser titan to some, and she had not walked on Olympus in the time of Cronos until the Great War, where she had deemed it unnecessary to do battle in the war of Cronos versus his children, and as such, she had not sided with the Lightning Lord nor the Mad Titan.

Prometheus towered at the event at nearly eight feet tall. His rugged, strong yet lean frame was nothing unusual to the divine; however, the weak black circles around this eyes from countless sleepless nights was something altogether different. His visible stubble on his jawline made him look distinguished.

Hestia had mousy brown hair bound up in a simple style. Her warm, fire-red eyes offered a welcoming nature to the festivities. Her dress, unlike so many other goddesses, was modest and covered all of the parts that a leering god like Zeus might want to see.

Demeter was tanned skin with a tinge of a green hue that gave her a more leaf-like radiance. Since Zeus’ proclamation to marry Hera, she was staying away from the god city. She had built a castle in the lower realm, hoping to make a life for herself. Her earthy brown hair was streaked with dark violet near the roots and strands of silver at the top and sides. It fell in like watery waves down her back, bound with golden accessories that shimmered in the fading light. Her gown was that of green and purple, but it was loose. Her mother’s prediction about her pregnancy was coming to pass. For that, she could not hide simmering discontent in her eyes.

There was a collective hush fell over some of the onlookers when a long blonde haired goddess in a nearly sheer dress that left little to the imagination arrived. She had an aura of irresistibility about her that demanded attention.

Rhea arrived in a dress of blue and silver that flowed around her like liquid moonlight. Her long dirty blonde hair framed a face with the grace that spoke of her status as the Titaness Queen. She moved through the throng of deities with her unparalleled air of authority.

Gaia appeared from the mountain itself as a towering ten-foot figure composed of bark, wood, vines, stone, and earth. Her presence was a living comfort for most. She was the Primordial by which most of the Titans and gods had come. She had been birthed from raw power and embodied the essence of nature itself. Each step she took resonated with the heartbeat of the world, and she was awarded with the attention of most of the gods on that very mountain.

As more of the gods and goddesses gathered, there was a growing sense of anticipation for the two that would exchange their vows, yet there was also the beginnings of a celebration of epic proportions where wine would be poured, food would be eaten, and revelry that would be only matched by the celebration of the Titanomachy’s end

Only one being was not excited by the events. A bronze sandaled god darted back and forth, ensuring every deity from the land of Greece was there. Beads of sweat were falling from his forehead as he grew more and more stressed.

It had been nearly one hundred days walking from Chinese Heaven to the land of Greece.it might have taken others nearly two hundred days to make this journey, but Subhūti was a great sage and advisor to the Jade Emperor.

There was no task so great or deed too difficult. If it were within Subhūti’s power, he would obey. Yuhuang had won the war between the gods and demons, united the dragons, and created order on and below Chinese Heaven. For the stability they had earned under this ruler, Subhūti would do all he could for his emperor.

When the sun dipped low on the Grecian horizon, the venerable sage moved silently through the land with his steps as light as air. He needed to reach the mountain of these gods without drawing the attention of the Olympian gods.

In that regard, the Jade Emperor’s command had been explicit: remain unseen; remain unknown.

Subhūti paused atop a hill for a moment. Something was amiss. Sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch were all aligned, but when he closed his eyes, he extended his senses, beyond the immediate physical realm.

This sixth sense had been honed through centuries of meditation and practice; it allowed him to be aware of presences even if he could not not see them, hear them, feel them through his extremities, but he felt them in an intangible way, in his mind, maybe even his soul. This feeling brushed against an ancient presence, one older than even the Jade Emperor.

A shiver ran down Subhūti’s spine when he perceived a being of gray material with faces coming out of their body. They were bathed in a realm of liquid blackness, of starlight, of pillars. The vision racked his mind, dropping him to his knees. Shaking his head, he tried to re-center himself. The presence of this higher being ... Was it a warning? An omen? A threat?

He could not even be sure such an entity can communicate as lower beings. If that was the case, he could not allow these thoughts to overcome him.

Exhaling, he found his calm center and focused himself. To his relief, the presence did not react further to his intrusion.

The smallest thought that this higher deity was either unaware of him or simply indifferent to his existence.

He needed to fix his attention on the upcoming matter of the wedding of this Zeus character. With that in mind, he extended his mental sense to feel a conglomerate of powerful deities. It was similar to the celestial domain of Chinese Heaven. This must be the supposed Mount Olympus.

There was more to this realm than just one mountain of the gods. He could feel a few other outliers. One near the center. Two more darker entities. Those must have been gods that ruled over the lands, maybe even the ‘demons’ of this realm. Subhūti could not entirely be sure.

His attention split in two directions from there. He perceived not one, but two distinct auras from the northern direction. They were formidable when it came to power, but their power felt as foreign to Subhūti as the gods of Olympus, but in a different direction.

They must have been from another land. Those could be gods from ... where was it? Hyperion called the land Norvegia. Their essences were marked by the chill of the icy realms with a small hinting energy of battle. At the same time, to the southern edge of Greece, he detected the refined auras of different deities that felt like a dry heat. They must have come from the land that Hyperion recognized as Aígyptos. Their presence was as steady as a river.

Subhūti paused. What could this mean? Were other gods invited? It would make sense. This was a celebration after all, but then, who sent the invitation? Hyperion? This Zeus? Someone else? The more he thought, the more questions were raised. There was more to this than he first thought.

He could return to Chinese Heaven with the knowledge he had gained, but then what? This would not do. He would be presenting the Jade Emperor with half of the story. There was more information to be gleaned from this, but trying to disguise himself as any other Chinese deity or appearing as himself was out of the picture. He did not want to explain his ruler’s absence if this ‘Zeus’ was one to take offense. A verbal deception might be caught onto by this ruler or his counselors.

This confluence of divine beings converging on this land was momentous and needed to be treated as such. If all were oblivious to his presence at that moment, they must have been preoccupied with their own affairs.

Their own affairs ... That was it. One or two deities must be involved in their own life and would be too busy to attend this wedding. That was Subhūti’s opening. That would be how he could attend without them knowing it was him.

With an exhaled breath, his body began to morph. Bones painlessly restructured, muscles rippled and fur sprouted. The godly sage disappeared only to be replaced by a magnificent lion with a golden mane. No deity would suspect this animal, no matter how beautiful, of being anything more than an amazing specimen.

As a lion, he could roam the lands of Greece to find an outlier.

There was nothing else comparable in the land of Greece when Mount Olympus glowed in celebration. From the roads to the halls to the gardens, there was music echoing through the ethereal peaks. Far and wide did not even begin to describe the distance some had traveled.

Prometheus towered over most of the gods, but he carried on conversations with one person after another. His eyes were always darting from one deity to another. He might not have been able to take them all in, but he started to see patterns.

Sisters Demeter (with her green-tinged skin and luxurious hair adorned with golden accessories and dressed in a gown of green and purple) and Hestia (with her mousy brown hair bound up and her gentle, fire-red eyes) were as different as two people could be. Still, they spoke cordially by the Great Hearth.

By the fire titan’s observation, throngs were made with some people at the center of it. Leto had people admiring her black hair and golden eyes.

Hermes flitted about, from one being to another. His wreath of gold upon his head let all know he was the son of Zeus while bronze sandals only accentuated his prodigious speed as they glinted from his movements.

Cratus, and his siblings, stood tall and proud in his white and gold attire. Though Cratus lacked the wings of his siblings, it was clear that the gods flocked to him for his prestigious position as the leader of Zeus’ protectors.

Poseidon had his coral blue attire tinged with silver and platinum. People formed around him like beach sand congregating next to the ocean. His indigo coral crown and bioluminescent markings on his body gave him a unique aura; to which, the onlookers gaped at this king of the seas one-of-a-kind appearance.

The second son of Cronos and Rhea had grown up by Prometheus’ estimation. Where the war could not impart maturity, it would seem ruling had given him prestige at the very least. Prometheus was hoping, with time, Poseidon could build on his growth and become a better person. It could translate to him being a better god and king.

For all of those collectives, the festivities continued with a swirling atmosphere of frivolity, anticipation, and joyfulness. Gods and goddesses laughed, danced, and drank.

Eyes turned towards the entrance as murmurs of a new divinity captured everyone’s attention. Some required instruments or a choir to proclaim their entrance. Some, like Zeus or Poseidon, needed no such pomp or circumstance. This being was one such as them. She made a grand entrance by simply walking in. She wore a plain, near see-through gown of white and silver, removing the need for the onlookers to have imagination. Her long blonde hair flowed like liquid sunfire with eyes of piercing blue (that had a tinge of violet on the edges). Her very aura commanded attention with each step she took and every sway of her hips.

Heads turned to admire her. Prometheus was amazed by this newcomer’s arrival before he had a good look at her because even Poseidon and Demeter looked her way. As she moved through the crowd, he understood this being’s danger and allure. Her beauty was undeniable in its nature. In the years to come, like in the years gone by, Prometheus understood there would be wars battled over land, kingdoms, even over crowns.

In those wars, weapons like Zeus’ Bolt or Poseidon’s Trident might be used to take the prizes people wanted, but Prometheus had a suspicion that the feelings created by this being would be cause enough for warfare or celebration.

This goddess answered to the name ‘Aphrodite’ from what the fire titan heard. So captivating was this goddess of unknown origin that others did not notice (unlike Prometheus who noticed everything) Rhea entered the party with her grace that belied her years as queen. Her long dirty blonde hair was tied up and an honorary crown sat upon her head.

The recent conflicts between herself and Zeus stole nothing from the majesty that was expected of her.

At her back was Gaia. Ever a towering figure of ten feet, her form composed of bark, wood, vines, stone, and earth. Prometheus admired how she was a living embodiment of the lands of Greece.

Prometheus wished he had someone to confide in. Metis might have done in the times gone by, but she was gone. He had to accept that fact. Epimetheus would not do. Perhaps to be different was the nature of their divinity from Chaos; after all, despite being Prometheus’ identical twin, Epimetheus was too ... flighty. He was physically his mirror, and in some ways, they were alike, especially in their love of creation. In others, he was the opposite, and this made Epimetheus a poor person to share his observations with.

He was lost in thought, wishing he had someone to share his thoughts with when something unexpected occurred.

As the gods of Olympus reveled in the arrivals of gods old and new from their lands, Hermes stared in bewilderment as two unfamiliar figures arrived with invitations similar to the ones he had distributed to the powerful gods of Greece.

A male with his Pharaoh’s crown and honey-gold eyes stood tall and imposing in his Egyptian skirt. His muscular form warned the fleet-footed son of Zeus that there was divine strength. Beside this nobel god was goddess of beauty that might have given this Aphrodite competition in Prometheus’ mind.

Her long black hair and curvaceous figure drew every eye at this event onto her, even the fire titan. Her tan of golden brown was not entirely foreign to the being’s of Greece, but on her, it made her appear statue-esque. Her dress of white and gold shimmered as she moved, making the audience choose between her and the aforementioned Aphrodite. Her brown eyes held the warmth and intensity of hot sand when she returned the attention to the hundreds of gazes on her.

“Young man,” Osiris began with a caution yet commanding tone. “I do believe this invitation allows us to be here.”

Hermes raised an eyebrow in curiosity even as he accepted the scroll. “I suppose it does,” he remarked, unsure of the origin of the invite. He looked the scroll over and found it nearly identical to the ones that he had delivered to the gods of his land.

Isis smiled cordially as a queen ought. “Is there a problem, godling?”

Hermes was still taken aback. “I must say, I am profoundly ... confused,” he admitted, looking at the elaborate invitation.

Osiris looked over the young god with care. “Was this not a gesture of goodwill between our realms?”

Hermes just stared at the parchment then the gods. He knew what his father would do if he had not obeyed Zeus’ order to guarantee the appearance of every god in the land of Greece. What Hermes did not know was how his father might react to newcomers from other lands. In that moment, he had to decide on a course of action. If their invitation was similar to the ones he had delivered, he had to assume there was a reason.

The Egyptian deities turned toward the throng of Grecian gods. Hermes stared at the invite and at the backs of the unexpected guests. What could it mean for him? There was no way Zeus would be entirely pleased with this turn of events.

Even with the seed of curiosity planted, the revelry continued.

Prometheus could tell that would develop into something. He could see the uncertainty of Hermes. While Prometheus did not know the lineage of the one called Aphrodite, he accepted the probability that she was of the line of Chaos because Hermes readily accepted her presence even without an invitation.