1. Who Am I?
- "Peace, peace is all I ask for and alas... a request like this seems daunting and futile brother." Turning my head to match my brother's gaze. He has always had a problem addressing those seeking his audience. His attention forever fixated on the horizon. A vibrant gleam in those sapphire eyes, the same eyes that never reflected whatever his attention was on therefore, none were ever able to tell if what he gazed upon was true. My eyes scanned the horizon as did my brothers... I believe.
- "Is this not the peace ye seeks? If that be so, then I require elaboration..." To be vague in any sense was just to mask one's own ignorance, especially within the presence of a deity, such as him. I too was no novice, I was never a deity that allowed thyself to speak without logic and reason rationalizing my emotions before ever uttering a breath of them. He stood, the golden scales of his armor radiated power and poise. The scales he wraps himself in, a homage to his oceanic domain and its habitants shimmered reflecting the light of our nephew, Apollo the sun. I must say, in regard to presence and stature, even without considering power and intellect, my brother embodies the raw and true personification of the divine. An unfathomably perfect being. Holding his arms outstretched he gestured the horizon, for the first time in a millennium, I believe I am the first, of any and all, to gaze upon the same as he.
He continued - "I behold to ye, the embodiment of our essence and creation. All around ye is the colonization of our Divine intervention. We deities alone sculpted all that we could ever yearn. I ask of ye brother but one thing. With all the ye brought to fruition, is this not the peace ye seeks?" I turned to face him, knowing not if my brother could possibly understand, he was an astonishing being so proud yet stern. However, I stand in the league that far exceeds that of ability and prowess, intellect. And for him to intimately comprehend, I will need to come from a metaphysical stance.
- " Allow me to explain, hear me... Poseidon." Once again, turning away to address him in the horizon. - " We have orchestrated a realm where all are able to live prosperous and well. A realm where the divine are free to conjure, and claim the most marvelous of wonders, a realm where all things are pure and unwavering. Alas, has what we divine manipulated into fruition represented a true depiction of what we had envisioned? I have doubts of our ways. It is not as if we were deities born into power, we were created to be a channel of all that which already exist. Moreover, we are the pawns of another's inevitable, agenda. None of what we divine have done was of our own accord. I am certain we have undoubtedly orchestrated the peace that all divine, including thyself, have sought after since the dawn of our creation. But I ask of ye my younger sibling, I ask of the strongest of us all, this peace that ye refers to. To what will it cost?" Poseidon lowered his arms. They had remained outstretched the entire duration of my clarification. Had he been comprehending me at all I wondered. My shared fixation of the horizon was severed, in turn my attention was now on him. Was it validation that I was seeking within this moment? Never had any deity uttered such a sequence of words that would even imply that the way of the divine was one founded upon flawed beginnings. What is it that ye ponders brother? The way you lowered your arms, surely indicates something has troubled you. Never had I shared my thoughts with any, all I need to know is what does it mean to you, dear god of the sea?
Poseidon viciously turned to me, his head snapping to attention was such urgency I braced myself taking a step back and stumbled, the rubble I entrusted to bestow my weight upon had failed me. The crumbling gravel began to slide and give away, I lost my balance. What started as just a few pebbles losing their hold to the soil, without warning, turned to a violent display of nature. The abode we deities established our domain upon was to be unwavering, standing firm and enduring. Alas, from the slightest of motion the foundation of the cliffside we stood upon, was crumbling. I looked down, averting the glare of those sapphire eyes. My body was being thrashed off the cliff side we often met upon. Below I made out the raging waters ripping through the mountain. The breeze from the waves roared rigorously up the mountain, my hair flooded my face from its might, had I been any lighter I would have been hauled away. Turning my head back my eyes met with my brothers, he stood unfazed by the events transpiring, I could faintly discern where he stood and widen my eyes for the foundation he stood upon remain unwavering. Poseidon, was this of your own accord? Have I enraged you brother? I could feel the limitless power trapped behind the glare of those sapphire eyes.
Fortunately, I wasn't in any danger at all. Any other being in the presence of Poseidon would surely have perished, especially if they had enraged him. However, I am his older brother I stretched out my arms and flexed them behind my back, taking a hold of my robes, tearing away a portion from behind me to reveal my wings. The stained silk, black, feathered wings sprouted from the torn fabric, reaching full size within the instant consuming the Cliffside within their casted shadow. I flex them forward to catch my balance, having not fallen further than my initial step. I fixed my gaze to meet my brothers again.
- " A bit unhinged, wouldn't ye agree..." I blinked. within that instant. Poseidon had my left arm trapped within the grasp of his right hand and my right wing trapped within the grass of his left, he immobilized me. Suspended over the edge of the cliffside we met upon after an attempt to make me fall to the depths of the sea he commanded below. For the moment he and I both remained silent, matching his gaze had always been an enigma to us all. While being suspended over the cliffside, the raging waters and the roar of the wind filled the empty silence. Behind him, I make out the foot of our glorious abode. One could not simply bear witness to its summit.
Bronze clouds, tumbling over one another, just to brace the feet of us divine, their purpose became to be the foundation we reside upon. They dance under our feet as any of us move about, this in turn creating and changing the course of weather below. The golden arches I brought onto fruition were set ablaze by the dusk of Apollo. My, if it weren't for the one eyed beings, and their architectural ingenious, none of what firmly ascended far beyond the comprehension of reality would have been brought to fruition. A domain that exist, whose structure remains incalculable, and whose might remains unmeasurable. - " To what will this cost us I so humbly wonder, do you not ponder the same brother?" My marvel of the abode we collectively reside within was ceased.
There was a shimmer within my brothers eye, the radiant spark made me squint my eyes. My dear brother, although inexplicably superior to thyself physically, your emotional intelligence is comparable to that of thine own. So what of my opinion could have possibly troubled you? I beg for the revelation that lays in wait behind sapphire eyes. He was calm, his face showed little sentiment. I became so mesmerized by his presence that within his grasp I was Pacific. Well aware of the deafening roar of wind due to the raging tide below, and the previous quake and debris of the decimated land around me. However, within the presence of Poseidon, I felt intimacy from my allurement. I was defenseless within this moment, within his grasp. I had to battle the impulse to insinuate my brother to take me, take me dear ruler of the sea, my body is yours. I closed my eyes.
Reality was but a grevious unruly concept we will forever know terrifyingly little of, and I fear I will forever be the only one that can acknowledge and except this. A deity that understands the limit to their divinity? Should they be feared and cast away? Or should they be commended, their divine insight and wisdom adjured. I slowly opened my eyes. Reality, whether it be that of triumph or despair, my reality was unclear. All reality had in store for thyself was a reflection, a reflection of thyself within those sapphire eyes. For the first time since the dawn of our creation, no being looked upon the same as him no being ever existed within the leukocoria of him. But on this day, at this very moment, for the first time, I was able to behold thy true self within sapphire eyes.
- " Brother, of the most chivalrous and sublime. The very deity that is beloved by all, what is it the ye implies? Ye brought forth to my attention that we divine have lost our way? Ye are one of us are ye not? To what accord does ye not apply thyself in correlation to us divine? What has ye believed the truth, all we have sacrificed, the bloodshed for thine own kind. All was justified. We have establish peace to pave the way for prosperity. All was necessary to initiate order to a universe that was once consumed by chaos. So tell me, the most chivalrous of us all, what flaws has ye witnessed among thine own kind. Tell me now brother!" What was it that made us different so? I studied the eyes of Poseidon, there I am. Within his grasp it felt as though reality did not exist, within this moment neither of us seemed to waver, neither of us acting on impulse or consumed by the ignorance of anger. Within his eyes, I was introduced to realities illimitable capacity, a capacity that ceases to intrigue me for within sapphire eyes, in place of my reflection, there stood a being I had never feasted my eyes upon before.
Who was this being? I have never been a stranger to thyself. I have looked upon vast bodies of water and mirrors, reflecting my entire being in never have I been aloof to thine own literal essence. I am far too familiar with my pallor skin that engulfed my essence with its faint, smoked hue. Eyes of molten gold that have been deemed the most pristine among all creation, the same eyes that are said to behold the most insight to the fate of the deities, the same eyes that are harbored by a truly astonishing being that believes they were never to have resided among the Olympians. Hair so fine it flowed effortlessly, even during breezeless days and wildly during storm reading nights, its platinum follicles absorbed all sources of light emitting its own eternal glow. Hair that ascends from my scalp down my 14 meter long body and traces the floor that I stand upon. The body of an ectomorph that is draped in an umbra fleece, who's trimming is the very same gold I illustrated our abode in. I am all too familiar with the deity that awaits me upon every reflective surface. However, for the first time, the being that met me on the other end of Poseidon's gaze, the being within my reflection was that of a premonition I did not know I should be weary of.
- " Brother for once open your eyes! Ye has been blinded by preeminence and swayed by the fragrance of sweet blissful ignorance. Victory that is vile and is at the cost of one owns moral is no victory at all! Even you have claimed that there was another way for us to have gained rule over the heavens, over he universe, over All that is. The peace that we all sought and shed blood for has done nothing but cost us our sanity, and we will pay dearly for it!" What was it that took me over in this moment? The words I am uttering do not feel as though they came from thine own tongue. What could this be? Blind passion, rebellious defiance, righteous retribution? All emotions that I am capable of, but would never allow myself to succumb to. However, the surge of emotions festering within begin to consume me, as if I was being possessed. My blood began to boil. I could feel my skin retracting to my once dormant sensations. The hairs upon my arms and neck arose without external command. At my core within, my heart, I could feel a blaze emerging, never before had I felt the function of my divine body until now. The flowing blood, the rapid pulsation of my heart, the chemical reactions of my skin and pores to what's occurring within me.
Externally, I was tormented by an inexplicable chill. I begin to feel my veins and arteries tense and thicken all throughout my body I could feel my blood as if I were a leaf that has fallen to the mercy of a raging river. I became aware of it all, and it called me into action. With the might I never knew I was capable of. I clenched my fist so tight one could distinctly discern the tension willowing as my muscles and ligaments flexed rigidly against my bones. Folding my appendages at the joints in casing my body into hey sphere fighting against the mighty hold of Poseidon, I to retracted my free wing, and attempted to do the same with my captured wing and hand. The muscles sculpting my face were bulging, I feel as though my jaw will shatter due to the pressure emitting from me clenching my teeth. I severed my connection to his eyes and began to tighten my core compressing myself. So tightly I felt an eruption brewing.
The cliff that my brother had crumbled just from a look was now rumbling. I could feel it quick through his grasp. The scales of his armor were ringing like the rhythmic tapping of dropped drachma on the floor. This quaking was different from before. Poseidon only shook the cliffside. I however, was rumbling all of the heavens. Was this display of power and emotion of my own accord due to my very own resolve? Nai, there was no need to ponder. I know this power meeting was of my own doing the tension building within me. I still needed him to see the error in our ways. A broken sentence was uttered from my younger in a distorted voice. All of this power was far too unstable to endure while in this form suspended over the cliffside. -" When will you come to the realization that our past and current way has become the catalyst of our inevitable damnation brother!" Boom... the brewing power that was building erupted. Poseidons hold on me no longer wasn't question, neither was that of the remaining cliffside of Olympus.
The crash of rubble and debris into the waters. Below seemed endless this phase of the mountain, the face of our abode that was once whole and unwavering what is the decimated by my hand. The rhythm of the swooping of my wings calmed my mind, however the events that just transpired left my mind and body unable to act on the magnitude of what just occurred. I threw my head back. My hair flooded around my face, and the faint tingle of the strands felt comforting, closing my eyes. I took a deep breath. The cool air flooded into my lungs further clearing my mind. This feeling reminds me of the moments I spent all my time meditating.
Back then there was nothing to gain from meditation, in turn I had lost aspects, both internal and external, that were a hindrance to my development of mind body and soul. However, I have not meditated for many years, and at one point, it was all I did all to better understand who am I. But ever since the war of Titanomachy, there's been no time to be present and focus on thyself. Restoring the universe to order from chaos is a never ending task Therefore, there has been no time for meditation. But within this moment, I feel as if it is the only thing that I can rely on to center myself and to truly comprehend what I have done or why it occurred. I took another deep breath. Oh how magnificent it truly felt, so magnificent In fact that I took another, then another each breath more refreshing than the last. It felt as though I had been suffocating for far too long, and within this moment for the first time in millennia, my lungs were captivated and freed by the beauty of air once again. No deity had need to breathe, ever. We weren't created to rely on natural resources we were created to provide them we needed not to eat rest, breathe, nor drink. However, not needing these things has made us gluttonous beings we deities or scorned with pride and greed.
The sky is so calm here, so tranquil and poise, I opened my eyes. Up here, what can truly discern the plethora of hues, such as pinks golds, bronzes, and reds that are balanced by the indigos of the universe beyond. Reflecting on my existence, and all that it has caused and brought into fruition. All the senseless battles go to the foundation to all the beauty we have forged, all the ignorance that has been a catalyst for our collective resolve a resolve, I am becoming a stranger to more and more each passing moment. I feel torn. Is there any hope for us at all? Or has a countdown to our collective demise already begun? What was it that made me aware of this especially now of all times why am I the only one that can tell all is not well? Another inhalation flooding my lungs with air, so clean, so pure I feel as though I should do this more often, be present, and take hold of what has been taken for granted, and taken advantage of, I will do the opposite of my kind. I will be so much more. Nai, I am no different from the rest of them. I will be but a guide for us divine a guide that will transcend all adversity transcend us all to so much more than we are eternally bound to. This I swear.
- " Do you truly believe they are capable of change?" This existential experience was abruptly adjourned. How could this be? Poseidon is not with me and I now hear a voice, unlike any I had ever witnessed before, and up here? Looking down, I realize the sudden change of scape, what happened? It is reasonable to believe that this occurred while within the state of suspended animation, the state like my once practiced meditation. The calming rhythm of my swooping wings combined with the hypnotizing breaths of fresh air could very well have led me here so further than I had ever flown before higher than any deity has ever been. But still not nearing the summit of Olympus I looked down, the earth seeming to have dissolved below me, made my mind grow uneasy causing the once rhythmic swooping of my wings grow to a violent flutter. The irregular pattern and uncontrollable flutter led my mind to even more unease. I begin to frantically thrash my head into every direction. The medallions scattered across my robes, waved and defied gravity, leaving my side, and returning due to the chains that bound them to me. What has occurred, I wondered.
My mind raced frantically for answers, I needed but an ounce of clarity now, the picturesque sky was sullied by the obscure pattern of my flapping wings. Clouds that remained still were scattered and dissipated. Focus, focus, calm thyself. I fully extended my wings and arms, extending them far above my head, and thrusting them both down, directing them to the earth below this sent a shock wave that caused the sky to ring propelling me far, far beyond that I have ever ascended to. Higher and higher, though I believe it impossible, I feel as though I am nearing the summit of the heavens. While jettisoning through the sky, I closed my eyes again. Due to my velocity back I could no longer make out the universe around me, I was a slave to the akinetopsia robbing me of my perception of motion. With my eyes closed all I could think of was Poseidon.
My dear brother, what has become of ye? Ye seemed to only ponder why I feel the way I do, negating the truth that could lay and wait within my words. Ye only pondered what was the error in our ways that I deemed undignified, recalling what my outburst led to. I could only worry for my brother, I must be sure he is all right. Surely the mightiest of us can hold his own however, I couldn't even recall how I got up to this point the outburst of power fueled by emotion, the very thing that let me here. Let me to feeling astray and culpable whilst on the run from my actions. I would confidently sooner face the full wrath of all the divine at once, rather than the personal display of resolve from Poseidon.
I opened my eyes and flexed my wings forward to bring myself to an immediate halt, a shockwave was sent from me out in all directions due to the abrupt stop. I was now far be on the base of our abode and just beyond my reach I am able to discern and bare witness to that which none of the divine may ever know. The peak of the home of the gods Olympus, the summit of the heavens. I am far too inexperienced to make sense what my eyes are beholding, my mind is far too under developed to comprehend its essence. I tilted my head back and inhaled once more to fully relieve my nerves of all the events that have just transpired. Avoiding the one thing that truly unsettled me, the voice. I shut my eyes again, I calmed my mind and connected to my body, exhaling the air felt superb as I had come to understand it always would. I inhaled once more, this time it was for pleasure, in an attempt to satisfy my new found addiction that is a breath of air. However, I was unable to. My lungs remained empty. The air around me grew stale, and was stiff.
- "What will it cost us?" Life around me became a stranger. Was it I, that did not belong? The hairs protruding from me arose again. My wings, as if not of my own doing, retracted into my spine, the voice I attempted to avoid breached again. - " It will cost ye, everything!" My eyes widened, my limbs raised above me, as I began to plummet to the earth from beyond the heavens.