Read the prologue first!! Please critique plot and characters, no nitpicks. Also, for clarity's sake, keep in mind that Mount Olympus is a 'seperate dimension' layered over Earth that the Gods live in and can bend to their will. We can't see them but they see us. They can tweak the rules of reality.
SECTION 1: ZEUS AND HERA
CHAPTER 1
Zeus
Zeus was in a rage. He found these sporadic cases of anger to be occurring more frequently as of late. Perhaps it was the time period he’d settled in for the week. Wars, lies, and betrayal- sometimes it seemed that was all mortals were good for. It was infuriating, as young as he was, for Zeus to contemplate ruling these insignificant lives.
As it was, he had found himself in this state after watching a man beat his wife, his children huddled on the floor in terror. It hurt his heart, right to the core. He thought of all the violence and betrayal and heartache and just got mad. Thus the thunderstorm.
His breathing boomed in and out, creating great claps of thunder around him. He was standing, head back, arms stiff and angry, lightning coursing through him. His hair flew around him with the howling cry of a storm wind. His muscles bulged and his eyes glowed with the energy he carried.
The lightning was flying fast, striking and retreating like so many snakes all attached to his fingertips. As his mouth opened in a great bellow, the electricity sprung to life from within his throat, cackling softly as it climbed up his throat steadily- like creeping ivy. A great bolt struck from his mouth, accompanied by the thunderous cry he loosed.
He clenched his fists, momentarily stemming the flow of electricity and seethed silently for a moment. The lightning protested inside of him, growling and surging with quiet rage. He squatted and peered down at a business man busy managing his finances. So pointless, so very pointless.
To calm himself, Zeus reached into the pliable mechanics of Mount Olympus and sent himself flying towards the sea. He needed to talk to Poseidon, his older brother, God of the Sea. Poseidon wasn’t always a reliable source of reassurance, but he was very blunt and his view of the world was untainted by wishful thinking.
As usual, Poseidon was under water and had bent the rules of reality to make it so that he could partially experience the mortal world through touch. Poseidon excelled at bending Earth’s rules, exhibiting the brilliance he held despite his silence.
At the moment he was busy observing a shark, the water stirring uneasily around him.
“Poseidon,” Zeus voice resonated through the silence, deep and gravelly like thunder.
“Nice storm, Zeus. What was it this time?” Poseidon cut to the chase, not bothering to turn around. His long hair and newly-grown beard swirled like tentacles in the current. The muscles in his broad back tensed. The oldest of them all, Poseidon was really beginning to look like the God of the Sea.
Zeus sighed and answered, “Much of the same, mortals and their doings. I fear I chose the hardest kingdom to rule. Perhaps I should switch with Hades.”
His light attempt at humor was lost on Poseidon, who appeared to be absorbed in thinking. He turned, his long face thoughtful, “We all know that only you could do it, Zeus. You know this as well. The mortals will be mortals. There’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Yes, that’s just the problem!” Zeus suddenly realized, “If I’m to rule them, why is my Influence lightning and sky? Shouldn’t I be able to bring a feeling of peace or -or understanding?! Lightning…. ah, all it does is shoot out when I’m mad!”
Poseidon’s ever changing eyes shifted from a tranquil blue to a darker one that boded ill for his mobile mood, “We can’t rule mortals. We can rule their world and some, like Aphrodite, can influence them. But we’re not meant to control them.” His voice was sharp and annoyed.
Zeus choked down his pride and declared, “Perhaps you’re right, Poseidon.”
“You can’t come to me every time you don’t quite understand, Zeus,” Poseidon snarled, and his annoyance was clear, “I have my own preparations to make. You are supposed to be a leader.”
That hurt. Zeus leaned forward aggressively, “I am a leader.” He knew it to be true. The one talent Zeus knew he possessed without doubt was leadership. His voice crackled with electricity, “And you would do well to remember it Poseidon. I was chosen to be King of the Gods.”
Poseidon eyes flashed white, and then returned to their flickering blue, “And I can see how well you’re doing Zeus, ordering us around as if your power outmatches our own!” Poseidon’s shifting moods had slid to angry.
“What, you think Mom chose wrong? Perhaps you would like to rule the Gods!”
Poseidon rose out of the sea, Zeus matching his ascension, and hurled a wave at his younger brother. It was very sudden, very brutal, and left him with a smug smile.
Zeus exploded in a display of light and power, making quick bolts of lightning and shooting them at Poseidon. They matched each other with the skies and the sea and the wind and the lightning all flying in every direction.
A weatherman in New York sat in his living room near the Pacific Ocean, feeling successful. His prediction had been right. There was a hurricane today. The signs had been there all week.
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It had been a day in mortal time since the beginning of the Gods’ small dispute, and a minute in Olympian time. What took the mortals hours to endure ended only moments after beginning for Poseidon and Zeus. That small instance when they unleashed a fraction of their power wreaked havoc on the mortal’s lives.
Luckily, this time, no mortals were killed- for Poseidon had been deep within the ocean when Zeus found him, far from civilization.
Zeus felt the lightning flow of his bloodstream die and dwindle until it was gone. Poseidon had begun laughing, his great voice booming out over the storm. The skies lightened, the seas calmed.
Zeus grinned halfheartedly at his strange brother. Poseidon was unpredictable and it often left Zeus feeling a bit unsteady. They clapped each other on their broad backs with thick hands and smirked.
“Well brother,” Poseidon began, “I suppose it’s only natural that you should want some advice. I am quite brilliant.”
Zeus rolled his eyes, “Yes, of course.”
Poseidon lifted a finger and swirled a current for a nearby fish to glide on. He watched with fascination as the fish instinctively coasted in this unexpected rest stop. “Mom picked right. If I had lightning, all the mortals would be roasted.” He laughed, his eyes showing the depth of a tide pool.
Zeus couldn’t help grinning. “It’s a lot to come to grips with Sei, a lot of responsibility.”
“Ah,” Poseidon began, grinning devilishly, his eyes teasing, “But you forget, my dear brother, that you won’t have to do it alone. What of your soon-to-be Queen?”
“Hera?” Zeus often forgot that Mother Earth had promised a Queen when he was old enough for the throne. He’d always known that Hera would rule by his side and it had made growing up with her very awkward. Besides, her Influence was Women and Marriage. What good would that do ruling sky, mortals, and Gods? No. He laughed and said sarcastically, “I’m sure she’ll be quite a help.”
Poseidon’s eyes darkened, “You underestimate her. You always have.”
“I think you simply overestimate her,” Zeus countered.
Poseidon rolled his eyes, and then grinned, “Ah well, things are as they are. Speaking of which, have you seen Hades lately?”
“Hades?” Zeus didn’t really understand the subject jump, “Not lately. Why?”
“Just wondering. He hardly ever visits me,” he said this with careful innocence; Zeus knew that their relationship was strained. Poseidon endlessly teased Hades.
“Perhaps because Cerberus doesn’t like water,” Zeus commented dryly. Cerberus was Zeus’ three-headed dog and Hades never went anywhere without him.
“Ah, of course! I should have known!” Poseidon played along, “Well then I’ll just have to visit him now, won’t I?”
“What? No- Poseidon, I don’t think that’s a good-“
But he was gone.
Zeus shook his great head and decided to follow him. Hades, like most of the Gods and Goddesses, would probably be at the Center of Mount Olympus, where the Greek-named Gods congregated. Zeus hadn’t been home in a while and he did miss his friends- they’d all grown up together.
