The Sundering
A loud explosion was the last thing Zeus heard before blacking out.
Strong winds and harsh temperatures were all he felt before his senses shut down.
A bright flash was all he saw before he saw no more.
Next thing he knew, he was dreaming. Which was already odd, if you didn’t take into account what had just happened, as gods, even powerful ones like Zeus, didn’t dream.
Yet here he was, looking at a blurry scene.
Three old ladies were panicking, their speech fumbled and distorted. Zeus could see the many tapestries hanging from the walls, from the columns, from a weaving machine. They were beautiful, mesmerizing, and Zeus had never seen such pretty weaving before, and he would never say so to his precious daughter, Athena.
Was Athena ok? She had been in the throne room with him and the council when he blacked out. Only Apollo, Artemis and Hestia were not there, having flashed to Delos to comfort his wayward son. Tch- the young god was only trouble in Zeus’ eyes, loud and obnoxious. He deserved to be punished, and the god king had planned to do so when the sun god would come back.
Looks like it would have to wait.
Turning his attention over to the old ladies he recognized as the Fates, he thought how odd it was to see them panicked. What had happened for them to be so nervous? They knew all, they saw all. What could surprise them?
“Clotho! Come look at this!” Atropos said, gesturing over to the tapestry she was examining. The other grandmother sprinted with abnormal speed towards her sister, ripping the tapestry out of the other’s hands.
“By Chaos… it’s like all the other ones! It has changed!” She exclaimed surprised, while Atropos’ face turned pale.
“And not by our doing… how will we deal with this? Their domains are going rampant! If left alone, they’ll destroy modern civilization!”
Lachesis approached, weaving through the mess the Fates’ place was. She had a solemn expression on her riddled face, an odd sight. Zeus saw a scroll in her arms, a seal he didn’t recognize on each end.
“Sisters, a letter from Theos Chaos has arrived. They said they’ll take care the rampaging domains for us, though we’ll need to take care of the rest. They think it’s time for a new generation of deities.”
Another surprised look passed over the two other ladies’ faces, before they turned to resolution and solemnity like Lachesis’.
“Well, if Theos Chaos says so, we must follow their plan. As for the new generation..” Zeus struggled to listen to Clotho’s word as he drifted off farther away from the scene. Despite his best attempts, he heard nothing more than those confusing words.
What did it mean that domains were going rampant? Had he faded? Indeed, he knew that, were he to fade, his domains would go rampant unless someone either got his permission before his fading to take them, like Helios and Selene had done with Apollo and Artemis, or they would do their own chaotic thing.
He had never considered the possibility of fading, especially with how known he was, even as they were thought to just be myths. In light of such thinking, he had never made a line of succession.
Thinking about it, he would either give his domains to Athena or Hera. Or Heracles.
He thought of many things in his time dreaming, and remembered none of it as he woke up in a place he didn’t know.
It looked to be a bedroom, but it wasn’t his. The bed was single sized, and the bedding was simple yet one look made Zeus realize how much they would cost. They were very comfortable, and the frame of the bed didn’t even creak when he sat up.
“Ah, sleeping beauty rises at last.” The mocking voice of his brother echoed from his right. Poseidon was not wearing his usual godly clothes, nor his mortal ones, which Zeus thought to be a good thing, since that Hawaiian shirt was an eyesore. He wore what seemed to be a mix of the two: a toga with jeans. It was blue, of course. But underneath his mocking expression, Zeus found worry. How long had he been out? Where was he?
“Oh, sod off Poseidon. Where are we? What happened? I swear, if this was another of your attempts-“ His brother stopped him by holding up his hand. Zeus noticed how it didn’t bear the tale tell marks of trident wielding as they usually did. Taking a moment back, he looked at Poseidon again. He looked younger, fresher. Like when they had just been crowned.
“Peace, brother. It isn’t. We are in an inn, apparently. All the Olympians are
here, except for Apollo, Artemis and Hestia. Hades is with us too.” He calmed his little brother down. The way Poseidon was talking made Zeus feel like a child. He didn’t need explaining, he was the king of the gods, for crying out loud!
“What do you mean, “apparently”?!” He said, searching unconsciously for his bolt. It wasn’t there. Anxiety built up in his throat.
“Chill, mate! We all woke up here, no one knows how or where exactly we are. None of us have our weapons or symbols, and we are unable to flash elsewhere. Actually, if you focus, none of us can connect to our domains. Not fully anyways.”
That stopped Zeus for good. Indeed, he couldn’t feel the winds outside, or the clouds in the sky. It felt wrong, in a sense. Normally, he felt all the movements. Now, it felt empty. His bolt felt far, far away, and when he tried pulling to flash away, the winds outside only blew harder. Poseidon hummed next to him before getting up and putting the fancy chair he was sitting on back where Zeus presumed he had taken it.
“You better get dressed up and be ready, we’re going out soon. We’ll be downstairs.”
Zeus stayed upright in his bed for a moment after Poseidon left, realizing just how weird this situation was. Almost all the Olympians were here, wherever this inn was, and none of them could connect to their godly symbols, powers (well, not fully) nor could flash away. Zeus was beginning to have an idea of what was going on, but he’d have to confirm with Athena.
As he searched a wardrobe, his eyes fell upon a chiton with light blue fabric. Similarly to Poseidon, his clothes ended up being paired with jeans. They were uncharacteristically comfortable, Zeus noted. Nothing compared to his business suit he preferred when in a form mortals could see, or his peplos in his divine form, but still. As he passed a mirror, he saw that he too, like Poseidon, looked younger. His beard was gone, mainly, but he seemed more fit, too.
As he exited his room, he saw a staircase immediately to his right going down. It opened up into a large room that had Greek architecture like the rest of the building. Many other groups of young people were sat down at tables, and Zeus spotted his quite easily.
Indeed, like Poseidon had said, his family was almost all there. Among his siblings, he saw Poseidon again, who was animatedly speaking with Hades, who, except for the black coloring, was wearing exactly what both Poseidon and Zeus had chosen. Hera was talking fast with Aphrodite and Demeter. Among the second generation, Ares sat at the far end, scowling at Athena as she spoke to Hephaestus. Hermes and Dionysus were both wolfing down the food on the table. He sat down next to Ares, and next to Poseidon.
“Father, you’re awake. Here, your envelope.”
Athena handed him an envelope with a seal composed of a sun and moon as he ate his breakfast with more grace than his two sons.
“Thank you, Athena. What are these for?” He asked, curious. What did they need letters for?
“We are planning going to a place called Celestis today, father. These envelopes were in my room. There’s just enough for all of us. After interrogating many of the other guests, we found they had similar letters. They are invitation to a certain “Welcoming Feast” by people calling themselves Celestials, supposedly the masters of this place, Celestis.” She explained, gesturing to the other guests.
“Is that all?”
“I’m afraid so, father.”
He hummed as he finished his plate. The food was good, and it seemed to satisfy his body, which further strengthened his budding theory. Godly bodies would not be satisfied with mortal food, and the people around them, very mortal, seemed to be eating it without problem, so it wasn’t godly food like ambrosia.
“Daughter, do you have an idea as to what is going on?” He questioned. As king, he was duty bound to lead and knowing everything was a good way to not make mistakes. It was why Athena was his favorite daughter.
“We have established that we are in the same world, believe it or not. The Greek architecture was a big giveaway. We are also several years in the future, though we do not know how far into the future we are. Our bodies are that of demigods, or so we think. The explosion that occurred might have a connection to this situation. I do not know where we are, however.” Athena stated, counting off her points from a notepad she had.
“I do,” a voice from his right chimed. Poseidon raised his hand like a child. “I took a stroll outside the inn, while waiting to you all to wake up, and found a pond. Using my sense of direction in water, I found that we are somewhere in Greece.” Zeus thoughts ran at 600 miles per hour.
“After we go to Celestis, we should try to find Olympus.” He said, before receiving multiple nods from around the table. A person carrying a tray approached them.
“Olympus? Wow, you must come from far! Olympus is the previous name of Celestis, you must really not know anything about this place! I’m guessing you came simply because of the invitations?” He asked, amusement in his eyes. He had a strange accent, like a British trying to speak Ancient Greek. Don’t ask how Zeus knew that.
Besides, he was more confused at the man’s statement than anything. Celestis was Olympus? Did that mean that these “Celestials” had been the ones behind the explosion and had taken over after their… fading? Passing out? Zeus wasn’t sure, and he hated it. Hermes pulled him out of his thoughts.
“Yes indeed. We’ve been away from the mythological world for a while, and this seemed to be the best thing to reconnect.”
Give it to Hermes to dish out the best lies. After all, the best ones are the ones based on reality.
“I see, I see… well, if you continue up the road we are on, you’ll find yourselves at the gates. You can’t miss them. Anywho, have fun! May Connor and Travis bless your travels, friends!”
Zeus seemed to remember two demigods with similar names, some sons of Hermes if he wasn’t mistaken. The look upon his son’s face reinforced that idea.
When they all finished eating (or when Demeter stopped complaining about the lack of cereal), they went back to their rooms to prepare. Zeus was feeling quite out of his element, so he grabbed a cape which could turn into a cloak if needed to protect himself. He found a small knife in a drawer and, though it wasn’t his weapon of choice, equipped it.
When he reunited with his family downstairs, they finally set off towards the famous Celestis.