36 Tides of Change

Times change, and so does life.

It moves on without hesitation, constantly in a state of change, improvement or tragedy.

Mortal lives thrived, with the gift of fire, and with the sacrifice of the Titan Prometheus, the thief. They had used the fire cleverly, creating all kinds of innovations in order to survive. They had learned that light scared the weaker monsters away, granting them a modicum of security. They also learned the crafty art of cooking. Unfortunately, it was no art, just some simple meat over fire.

And with the not-so-secret interference on Athena, had taught them the art of extracting copper and metal from the earth and forging them into spears and crude swords, allowing them to discard the previous stone tools that proved useless against the creatures of the night.

The Humanity project was a success, so far. They had developed their camps into more complex villages, with their numbers in the thousands. Sadly, with the absence of Prometheus, they would no longer be able to welcome new people within their homes.

And the Gods, specifically King Zeus, thought up both a solution... and punishment. You see, the King of the Olympians was not simply content with the punishment the fool received. Of course, that was not the whole picture, Zeus was not that hotheaded, at least in this inter-pantheon collaboration.

The absence of the thief had stagnated the human's numbers, and with their short, fleeting lives, they would most likely all die like an oil lamp in a midnight breeze.

And so, the Olympians had held a gathering, during a particularly cold solstice.

" So... you want me to make a woman? " Hephaestus asked incredulously with an eyebrow raised.

Hephaestus was the God of Fire and the Forge. He was a pureblood God, born from Hera's fury and vengeance against Zeus' many scandalous adventures throughout the years, most especially when Athena was born from Zeus alone.

And so she sought to birth a child in a similar way, unbeknownst to her however, Athena's mother was Metis, who was pregnant when Zeus... "tricked" her into becoming a fly.. and swallowing her.

It was clear this wasn't ending well.

It didn't.

In the end, Hephaestus was born lame and completely hideous, or so his family proclaims, resulting in him being exiled from Olympus when his mother, Hera, threw him off the mountain, leading him to spend his childhood not among his divine kin.

In terms of looks, he had flaming red hair and a similarly long beard, so lively it looked like it could burn. As well as a bronze complexion from his days in the sweltering forge, and a face wrinkly and aged, despite being one of the youngest of his siblings. His eyelids were sunken, yet they did nothing to hide the brilliant golden sheen his eyes bore. He wore a royal drake skin leather apron as well as powerful copper gauntlets.

All in all, he looked like what a God of Dwarves would probably look like.

He was currently sitting on his seat in the throne room of Olympus, with each Olympian sitting comfortably within their thrones.

" Y-y... you're not gonna do... anything... to it... Are ya? Cus' I'm not makin' it if so. " He stared suspiciously.

Despite years of abuse and and ridicule, the God of the Forge was always steady and determined to prove him wrong, he.. did have a completely honest tongue.. however.

" Argh! No! I'm not going to do anything! Hephaestus, this is a serious matter! " Zeus yelled impatiently.

" Don't talk to your King like that! " Hera chided venomously, not bothering to even address him properly as she sat on her throne.

" No matter! Hephaestus! You are to make the first mortal woman! She shall reveal humanity's path forward from now on, as well as giving them independence, at the same time. " The King explained.

" Is this how we will distribute them throughout the world? Quite clever, and we don't even need to interact with the other pantheons to do it! How grand! " A voice echoed calmly.

It was Apollo, one of the younger Olympians. Born to the Titaness Leto, he and his older sister, Artemis, were accepted into the ranks of the Gods.

He was the God of the Sun, Prophecy, Light, Healing, Music, Poetry, Archery, Plague... Disease... and Protection of the young... and practically everything he could get his hands on.

Though Gods are born with a main divinity, it is not rare for them to comprehend, develop, grow and connect with another over the course of their eternity. Of course, their main divinity, the one they were born with, was always the strongest, and having many divinities bore many advantages and disadvantages.

For one, a God's strength lies not in the number of their divinities, but how important that divinity is to the world. Of course, times change and depending on the era, some divinities are stronger than others, but the more essential they are to the world, the stronger.

So developing tens of minor domains might not be as powerful as one would assume. However it did allow Apollo to become a jack-of-all-trades, making him especially fearsome.

Apollo had bright golden hair that flowed with wild abandon, covering his nape. Along with a snow white complexion and shining golden eyes, he was a picture perfect example of handsome. He had androgynous features and a killer smile that could rock the hearts of the masses. He wore a pure white chiton and an especially white laurel crown.

" BORING! How about we just tell those lousy pantheons to either make their own humans or come take them from us, with force! Then we can show 'em who's boss! " A boisterous voice rang, uncaring of the irked expressions it caused.

It was Ares, the God of War. Ares is a pureblood Olympian, born from Zeus and Hera. The Olympian prince, you could say.

Ares himself had soft and curly chestnut hair, quite unexpected indeed. He had bronze skin, almost literally, because it was much, much stronger, and had incredibly masculine features and a jawline that could cut steel, also literally. He had burning red eyes that flickered every so often and a scowl that seemed to be almost permanent. He was eight feet tall, a full foot higher than most of the Olympians except Zeus and Poseidon with a full armory of sculpted masterpieces of war.

As one could probably tell, he was not the thinking kind. Like war, he was spurred almost entirely by desire and needless and burning... anger issues.

" That literally defeats every purpose we have... Really, the stupidest thing I've heard in centuries! " Apollo sneered, not bothering to explain to the one he had considered a blubbering oaf.

" Then why don't you propose an ACTUAL suggestion, like me! Instead of pretending to act wise!

EVERBODY.. and I mean EVERYBODY can tell, Apollo! Why don't you go develop another useless divinity, how about becoming a God of Fakers this time!?

So you'd learns something that would actually be useful to you! " Ares shot back, two red blazing orbs erupting from his eye sockets as he roared. A Godly instigator, as crass as he was.

" I am.. though.. " Apollo whispered, he was the God of the Arts too... But alas, he would not stay quiet for long, for an insulted God was a very, very loud one.

" Idiots, the lot of them. " A feminine voice whispered disdainfully, definitely sick of the shouting.

It was Artemis, who was sitting right beside Apollo, and therefore was caught straight in the crossfire.

She already had enough with her brother's antics, always desperately trying to look cool.. whatever that meant, he was weird like that, always making up new things, but she could not even be in Ares' presence without being annoyed.

' He's the God of the Sun... what's he talking about? Cool? Ridiculous...' She thought subconsciously in a bid to distract herself from the Chaos.

She was the Goddess of the Moon, Chastity and Hunting.

Artemis was quite the beauty, even among the divine. She bore flowing silver hair that reached her lower back, and accentuated her cold and professional look. She had delicate features and fierce magnificent silver eyes that could freeze prey with a glance. She had a slender frame, but was only a little shorter than her little brother Apollo. She wore a decorated and glimmering white chiton, wore all kinds of tight and thing golden bangles, and a delicate wooden crown that bore pure white leaves.

" I HEARD THAT! " Ares shouted in response to her comment, becoming even louder after he had set his sights on the twins.

" Oh great... just great.. " Athena exclaimed as she slumped into her chair subtly, she was just about to try diffusing the situation.

" Uhhh... how about we all calm down for a moment? I'm sure this is really important news.. " Demeter tried reasoning, yet her soft voice drowned in the noise, as Poseidon started joining in for the hell of it, having had a tiring day and wanting to vent, "trying to berate" Ares' unscrupulous and barbaric behavior.

Hera and Hestia also started to try calming the situation, yet for obvious and clearly different reasons.

Zeus was just looking blankly in clear disappointment, just watching as the mess unfolded. If word of this got out, to the Norse and Chaos forbid, the Egyptians.. he would be shamed to Tartarus and back.

Olympus was on a neutral relationship with every pantheon, yet Zeus always found it hard to talk to Ra and Osiris, they just seemed to have a weird affinity with each other, and by that I mean, prone to disagreements and debates as the Shinto and Norse pantheons watched bemused and the Mayans trying to subtly elevate it for fun.

And so, steeling himself for the events to come, breathed in and out, and yelled menacingly,

" S I L E N C E ! ! ! "

--- To Be Continued ---

( Hey guys, I bet you noticed the slower updates. Sorry bout' that, I've been especially busy this past two weeks and decided to focus on that for while.

Remember to support the novel if you like it. Power stones, comments, reviews especially, anything is appreciated! That's all bye! )