Visiting Pantheon and a sudden intruder!

Olympus

Athena ordered the huge marble door to open, shouting «άνοιξε». The massive marble door with the history of worlds sculpted on it starts to move as soon as Athena utters the word. The right side of the door slowly turns inwards revealing little by little its insides, the gods’ residence, the land and home of the gods. It is a rather slow movement, but that is to be expected for such a hefty door like this. The ground is shaking because of that movement! If I did not already know what causes the ground to shake that much, I could easily assume that an earthquake is happening right now.

“Does it usually take that long for the door to open up?” I ask Athena because a notable amount of time has passed since she has ordered the door to open, and it has started moving. If I could, I would have tried to move forward from the small opening in the right side. But I cannot go anywhere. In fact, I barely manage to stand. The shaking is too strong to allow any walking. Now that I look down, it seems that I am floating a little bit higher from the ground. It might be just a little bit, but it definitely helps me not to fall from the shaking. No doubt, that is Athena’s doing. It is her levitating powers. She knows that the door causes the ground to shake, so she is using her levitating powers to prevent me from falling. Still, I am low enough to feel the vibrations, hence I did not feel like walking to the right side of the door and pass through the small, though wide enough for a person to fit, opening. I do not even now if I can walk while I am on the air floating. I must ask Athena again and add that question too, since she is not responding to my previous one. She may did not hear me because of the noise from the door opening and the ground shaking.

“Can we not move through the opening on the right side? You can make us float with your levitating powers, so there is no waste of time such as walking there and keep falling or standing here waiting for the door to fully open.” I say with a louder voice than before, so that I can be heard now.

Athena turns her head and faces me. She elevates both of us a little higher and tells me; “We can certainly pass through the opening on the right side as the door is moving. And although you cannot walk there the same way you are used to walk on the ground, I can move us to any direction when levitating. But that would feel like sneaking, and I do not think you would like sneaking into your new home Isocrates. Let the door open completely and properly show you the beauty of Olympus, the beauty of the land home of gods.”

Athena is praising her home for its extreme beauty. After I have watched the city of Hephaestus and his nice work on the marble door, I am sure that the gods are capable of creating a beautiful home for themselves. But can this land be that attractive like Athena is suggesting?

The talk with Athena actually made the time pass quicker. The wait is over now. The door is totally open!

“Behold Isocrates your new home. Behold, Olympus!”

Athena is officially welcoming me to Olympus. And I must say that I should not have underestimated her words. The gods’ residence, their home is absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing.

A green field with all sorts of flowers also welcomes me. It is the very first thing Olympus’ bright sun highlights after the door has opened. The sun rays gently shine upon the flowers. It is almost the end of afternoon, and the sun is not at its peak thus emitting a softer light. There are many kinds of flowers covering up a wide variety, filling up the palette with a broad range of colours. The grass serves as the canvas, a light green colored one. It is clean and tidy; up to the proper height allowing the flowers to stand out. Some of them have dewdrops on their leaves making them look more fresh and even more pleasant to the eye.

“This is the garden of Olympus! Hera, Demetra and from time to time Apollon take care of it. They water and fertilize the soil. They remove any unwanted weeds and collect the old flowers when it is time for the new planting. They prepare the land for the new seeds.”

Athena informs me about the overseeing of the garden. She mentions the names of other gods. There is an important one among them; that is Hera, Zeus’s wife. To be honest though, I have no idea what kind of goddess she is, and I do not know what her powers are. Hera is eminent, but is it only because the king of gods is her husband? The only god between the three whom I am aware of their powers is Demetra. She is the goddess of flora and cultivation. I guess that is the reason why she is responsible for the gardening. However, I do not know of her powers either. Now that I think about it. I do not know what their powers are for any of the three gods. And in Apollon’s case it is even worse than it was for Hera as I have only heard his name very few times, hardly knowing he exists and that he is a male god. Should I ask Athena to tell me about their powers or should I wait to meet them and ask them instead? I wonder where do the gods meet. When will they meet me? So far, I have met only Athena and of course Zeus who chose me to be a god and brought me to Olympus. But since then, Zeus is absent leaving me alone with Athena. Can it be that the other gods do not know about me yet?

“Demetra loves the plants. She spends quite the time here in the garden. She wants to be sure that everything is in order. She does not want to neglect something and end up using her powers to fix the problem. She wants the garden to be her garden made with her own actions and care. Rather than resorting to her godly abilities she likes to use her skills as a gardener and let mother nature handle the rest.”

Demetra does not use her powers to take care of the garden. Does she enjoy it this way, letting the process to be natural? She might want to feel closer to nature like a human gardener without special powers. She may not like her powers at all.

“O-oh, what a great aroma!” I suddenly shout as a strong and nice smell is detected through my senses catching me by surprise.

“It is the scent of the garden. It took you long enough to notice it, although we have just entered the garden. It usually needs less time, fewer steps.”

This is such a nice aroma. It is the aroma of fragrant flowers. It is strong but sweet, certainly not heavy. It is so refreshing and pleasing. The aroma stimulates my nose so much that I want to grab a flower and smell it up-close. Though I would like to not cut any flowers ruining the decoration and Demetra’s hard work.

“This wonderful aroma is the reason why Demetra does not want to use her powers. This is the scent of naturally blossomed flowers.” Athena tells me while cutting and smelling a rose. In her face a small but noticeable smile appears, it is the smile of pleasure. Pleasure coming from the flowers’ aroma.

“Can her powers control the blossoming of plants?”

“Not just that! Her powers can do much more. Demetra is the goddess of cultivation and flora as such she freely manipulates all the flora. Sha can easily control any kind of plant. Trees tall or short, shrubs, flowers, plant roots and trunks, the whole flora succumbs to her will.”

I already knew that Demetra is the goddess of flora and cultivation, but I could only guess that she would be able to make the plants grow and blossom. But Athena says that Demetra’s powers are much stronger. What can a goddess who controls and handles flora do other than cultivate lands and support the harvesting?

“I hope that you enjoyed the garden of Olympus, Isocrates. It is one among the many jewels of our homeland.”

We have reached the end of the garden. The small, paved path allowing us to walk without stepping on the flowers widens. It takes the shape of a road. The road is part of the gods’ residence, the road of Olympus’ one and only city. In front of me emerges a round fountain with a slowly rotating statue in the center. It is the statue of a small boy spraying water from his male part. The fountain is made with marble and its base has animals carved on it, and it is also painted with lively colours. The base is a representation of animals drinking water from a river’s bank. As we move around the fountain while I am looking on its base painting, I notice that it is not entirely circular. In the rear side there is a statue of Zeus standing upon rocks on a rectangular base and holding a thunder with his right hand ready to send it into the fountain and splash the water.

“This fountain is called Fontana di Olympus (το συντριβάνι του Ολύμπου). It is built and sculptured by Hephaestus, and the painting is done by Hera.” says Athena while moving behind the statue of Zeus at the rear end of the fountain. She stands there and waits for me giving me the chance to observe the fountain a little bit more.

After passing the fountain, a circular array of twelve statues is situated before my eyes. In the middle of it stands tall a big, long temple-like building. Again, it is an Olympus construction made with fine marble. The front door is a silver, shining gate behind the two equally distant columns located on the sides supporting the entrance arch. In the building’s sides there are several cylindrical columns one after the other in a straight line serving as its pillars supporting the roof. The two frontal columns have a different design than the others. They are bulkier with a broader diameter, and they are shaped like a woman’s body with all its features.

“This is the place where all meetings of the gods are held. We call it Pantheon. The statues surrounding it are the statues of the twelve gods of Olympus and all Greece. After so many years my father decided to change that fact. Now that you have also become a god among us you need to have your statue built here. Though you are not a god yet, and we can find you a spot without rearranging any of the statues nor reconstructing any near building.”

Athena acting as my guide informs me once more about what I am seeing. But she said something strange. Why am I not a god yet? Zeus himself hand-picked me and came personally to take me from the temple of Delphi this morning.

‘Did Zeus not make me a god this morning?”

“He did choose you to be an Olympian god visiting Delphi to announce it and pick you up. But you have not become a god yet, Isocrates! Once you receive powers you will be an actual god. That is why Zeus left after he has brought you here. He left to search for a certain someone who can give you godly powers.” Athena explains me that I am still not a god because I have no godly powers given to me.

“Ah, when will I be given my powers then?” It would be better to acquire them as fast as possible. After all, I cannot be a god without them.

“You will have your powers soon enough. Do not be hasty for it can lead you to take bad decisions. Haste is not a wise advisor. This time though you are not wrong, obtaining your godly powers is crucial. It should not be late.” Athena advises me. It might seem out of nowhere, but she is the goddess of wisdom and my instructor to godhood.

“You are right Athena. We should not let any more time pass. Isocrates will receive his powers immediately, right now. Come, come…”

The silver doors of the temple’s gate open up as the voice is heard. The voice prompts us to enter Pantheon. It is a male voice with a deep tone.

“Come inside Pantheon, a new god is to be born.”

Hearing more of the voice I am able to distinguish whose voice it is. No doubt it belongs to Zeus.

“I await to see what human you chose. I look forward to meeting the new god. I anticipate a good and wise choice from you Zeus. I hope that he will bring prosperity to both gods and humans. A great asset for Olympus.”

Now a different voice is heard. It is the voice of a female, so it cannot be Zeus. It might be some other goddess. Athena moves forward, passing in front of me, nodding me to follow her into Pantheon. We pass the gate and enter; it is an even more spectacular building in the interior. On the left and right sides there are many well-made mosaics and paintings depicting what I assume are the gods in several places and occasions. Obviously, there are statues and busts of the gods everywhere. A very long, open, straight corridor starting from the front door all the way to the end of Pantheon connects everything, all the rooms and chambers located inside at any direction along the way. At the end of the corridor and Pantheon there is an impressive throne in the center surrounded sideways by three smaller, less stunning thrones. One on the left and two on the right. Around and before the four thrones, a semi-circular arrange of eight throne-like seats.

Zeus is sitting on the central throne which is the most magnificent and outstanding. Besides him a pitch-black shadow in human form is standing up. The shadow is a woman! The shadow has a female body; I can easily tell from the shape of it. Elegant curves but most importantly because of the chest. The shadow has breasts, not big ones but visible ones making her chest to differ from that of a man and stand out.

“Come closer Isocrates. Do not be afraid of the shadow. She has a role to fulfill today, and an important one. She is here to give you godly powers, to make you a god.” Zeus tells me and beckons me over with his left hand. By saying she, Zeus confirms my initial and immediate thought that the shadow is indeed a woman.

“Is she who I think she is? That darkness can only mean one person!” Athena mumbles with a very low voice but I can hear her clearly because I am close enough, just a step behind her.

“I am a godly being as well, Isocrates. I am a primordial god though, unlike Zeus and Athena. My name is—”

Crash!

I look up where the sound of collision came from, and I could not believe my eyes. Something or someone has just smashed the roof of Pantheon. The hole from the breaking is huge. The marble shatters in falling pieces. I am looking at the chunks of marble coming down to avoid them. I turn my head towards the thrones to move there.

“Who intervenes our ritual? What kind of foolishness is this?” – tsssk – Zeus is creating thunders in his hands – smash – he is throwing them at the marble pieces – bang, bang – completely destroying them.

“Show yourself!” Zeus is yelling at the intruder, while slowly elevating himself on the air.

“Isocrates stay behind me!” Athena stands in front of me covering me with herself acting as a human shield.

“Ασπίδα!” (“Shield!”) Athena shouts and a symbol of a shield with a spear behind it, a helmet in front of it and an owl on top of it holding an olive branch pops up, then a shield emerges in her hand.

A piece of marble comes flying towards Zeus with incredible speed. There is a muscular man on it, directing it at Zeus.

Boom!

Zeus fires a big thunder and destroys it. It was a solid and strong hit. The man behind it reveals himself and immediately attacks Zeus. Judging by his stance, it seems he was waiting for Zeus to destroy the marble piece and has already thought of his next move.

“Ares! You petulant child!” Zeus recognizes the man as he appears, he is a god. The god of war, Ares.

– pow – Ares punches Zeus who defends against the powerful hit joining his arms in a x shape ahead of his body, protecting his head and chest. Then, Zeus releases his arms pushing Ares backwards.

“It seems you did not expect me father! Did I spoil your little private party, father?” Ares says after rolling back from Zeus counter. He makes a smug smile, while looking directly at Zeus.

“What is it that you want Ares? What do you expect to achieve coming here?” Athena asks Ares with a stern look on her face. She clearly does not look, and she could not possible be pleased with his sudden arrival in Pantheon. Not only because it was a sudden arrival but also because it was a problematic one. Ares appeared after destroying the roof and attacking Zeus.

“I will not allow any questions today sister!” – bam – Ares attacks Athena as soon as he finishes his sentence. Athena blocks his attack with her shield. The sound of hitting metal echoes inside Pantheon.

“Your shield did well but how long will it last? For how long can your shield survive my attacks, Athena? Don’t you think it is time for you to step down and let your father do the fighting? Huh, sister!” Ares says words full of scorn. He is mocking Athena. Does he want her to attack him so that he can fight back? Or is he warning her so that she will not get badly hurt in a fight with him?

“Enough, Ares!” Zeus shouts at him and fires a thunder attack while flying towards him. Ares dodges the thunder strikes with excellent technique. But this way Zeus has closed the gap between him and us. Now he can help Athena and protect me.

“This a fight between us father. Pitiful attacks like these will not stop me but it seems that you want to protect your little, insignificant human. Why is that father? Really, what were you thinking when you decided to make him a god? What were you thinking when you chose a human to become a god with us?” Ares expresses great anger with his words.

“That is my choice to make, and you should respect it Ares, my child. I have no intention of harming any of the gods. In contrast, I want to help us. I want to soothe our pain once and for all.” Zeus tries to relieve the tension responding in a calm manner and without showing aggression anymore.

“Hahaha, do you father?” Ares starts moving while laughing loudly and expressively. He approaches Zeus and he is preparing his body to fight. He is doing some arm stretches and getting his fight stance ready.

“Listen to me brother, it is indeed a quick decision to let a human be a god. But we do not know what our father is planning. We should give him a chance to explain himself and his thinking behind that choice he made. You should at least hear him out.” Athena follows Zeus’s tactic and tries to rationalize the situation.

“I said quiet, sister! This is not your fight! This is not your decision to make! This is not your time to intervene with your wise words and attitude. Our father, the king of gods, Zeus, he decides everything. He is ultimate! His word becomes an indubitable truth. His choices and decisions, undeniable facts. I will obey his every order and accept his crazy impulsions no more! So, you better stay out of it and be quiet, sister. For your own good.”

Hearing Ares I have concluded that he is not angry with me. He is not here to fight me but to fight his father Zeus. It looks like a quarrel between father and son. But for what reason? That I do not understand. Ares is after Zeus but without good reason. I mean, I do understand that he is not content with Zeus’s decision to make me a god. Still, I do not understand what fighting Zeus instead of attacking me has to offer him. Athena’s recommendation to sit down and peacefully talk is a great idea. If he insists to stand against Zeus, then fighting might help. But a fight from the very beginning… What am I even talking about? I do not know the whole story in this case. I should better not jump to conclusions and assume that I am safe here. Ares might be fighting Zeus, but he can easily kill me if he wants to. I have no godly powers yet; he can simply kill me with a plain attack. Though even if I had powers from the time Zeus chose me and brought me to Olympus, I could not do much against him.

“So, father! This is your time! And I will show you no mercy at all!” Ares tells Zeus and attacks him right away. Ares is punching and kicking with great speed. He is attacking Zeus with every part of his body that can be used to deliver a hit. He is spinning, jumping, lowering and lifting his body combined with various attacks, all in an effort to strike Zeus down. His blows are accurate and strong. Zeus is defending vigorously. He is warding off Ares’ attacks creating small thunder shields. He is fending off Ares’ hits and parries with his own countermoves.

“You are quite good father, despite your age. You are still a strong opponent, but this farce will not continue for long. Your dictatorship ends here!” Ares declares with strong will in his eyes and words.

“Πανοπλία ντύσε με! Σπαθί εμφανίσου!” (“Armor, protect me! Sword, fight alongside me!”) Ares shouts and a symbol of a shield with a vulture on top, a spear in its left side and a sword in its right side emerges. A thin and short sword appears in Ares’ right hand. Suddenly an armor, somewhat lightweight covers his upper body.

Clash!

Ares attacks again. This time with his sword and Zeus defends himself using a bigger, average, medium-sized, round shield made from the manipulation of thunder. Ares’ swing is strong, definitely more powerful than his bare-handed strikes forcing Zeus to take a step back after being hit by it.

“Δόρυ, έλα στο χέρι μου!” (“Spear, come to my hand!”) Ares shouts frantically with rage filling his eyes. A spear appears in his left hand. He grips it tightly and tries to pierce Zeus uncovered, defenseless right side of abdomen.

Athena witnesses Zeus’s severe situation, he is in a tight spot. She acts quickly transforming into her owl form and flying towards Ares. When she reaches near enough his spear-holding hand she transforms back into her human form, – bam – using her shield she blocks Ares’ attack.

“Athena, I told you to stay out of it!”

“If you are still angry about the incident with Hades, you should stop already. Fighting with Zeus will not improve anything. Now is not the time for that old dispute of yours, we have a special guest.”

“You filthy bitch! I shall teach you how to conduct yourself, you should have properly behaved! Hope you will learn from your mistake.” Ares turns his malice intend towards Athena. He tries to kick her while using Zeus’s and her shield as a support for his arms so that his body can have the proper momentum for a powerful attack.

Bam!

Ares’ attack is so powerful it creates a wave of air hitting even me. A cloud of dust has formed around them hiding the result. I do not know what it takes to kill a god, but I think Ares landed a critical hit. Athena will be badly injured, if not gravely damaged to the point of no return. Though a strong hit like that should have thrown Athena to the pillar columns of Pantheon. But I did not see anyone having come out of that dust cloud since Ares’ strike. The cloud fades and disappears. Oh, my! Athena is intact! Zeus has stopped the kick with his right arm.

“Ares, how dare you try to kill your sister? You have gone too far this time, and I must stop you! I must prevent you from doing any more harm. You are also my son, but I will tolerate your insolence no more!” Zeus is now starting to emit rays of thunder from his right hand. A thunder – tsssk, tsssk – is forming in his hand. – btooom – a lightning is discharged sending Ares flying away from the spot, smashing a statue first and crashing onto a pillar column then. The collision is hard creating a deep hole in the column. The impact leaves its mark on Ares who becomes unable to stand up and continue the fight. Athena is also being thrown to the sides of Pantheon. She crashes onto a chamber door, but her crash does not seem that bad. She falls on her knees using her hands to prevent her from falling and hitting the ground. She coughs and breaths heavily, she stands up stumbling. She shakes her head and stands straight.

“You have gone too far, and I must stop you! You know the reason, why Hades was chosen to be a god. Nothing else could have been done. Yet you did not agree with my decision. You wanted more power for yourself. You demanded more believers because you felt mistreated. Even though you had become greedy, you could not tell. You had not understood what you were demanding for and why you could not get it. Why you should not get it! You decided to do the same thing back then. You fought with me, you attacked me like you did today. But you had only gone against me! This time though you decided to annihilate everyone standing in your way, am I right son? You came here to kill me and everyone else you would find here. I will not allow it. I will not let you to have your way. You have gone too far, and I must punish you!” Zeus furiously says as he is approaching Ares while emitting more and more rays of thunder through his whole body. Ares was half unconscious after hitting the pillar column, but it seems he is regaining consciousness. He starts moving his arms and legs again, he seems to recover from the effect of the impact. He gets back on his feet pressing his hand against the column to help him stand up.

“I should not have underestimated you father! Loot at the situation your earlier strike left me, but do not fear I will provide a better fight from now on. So far, I have not unleashed my full power, but if I want to stand a chance winning this fight then I have to get serious. And I need to defeat you.” Ares steadily tells Zeus. He wants to resume the fight as he already has gotten over the hit with the pillar column.

“So, this is how it is going to be, this is how you want it to be, my son. Then, let us finish it! Come, show me your strength and will, but I should warn you for the last time, the consequences will be harsh if you lose here, even death might await you.” Zeus responds as he stares at Ares. He looks calm and concentrated, he is serious. He is getting ready to fight Ares full on.

“No, please wait father. Now is not the right time. Look at him, he is injured and nowhere near in a good shape to fight you. You are going to kill him! Is that what you really want?” Athena sprints to get in between of Zeus and Ares. She is standing in front of Zeus not letting him to get close to Ares.

“You have a good daughter among your children, Zeus. And I have a good sister, father. Don’t you agree? It would be bad if my previous kick had found its target hitting her, wouldn’t it? I think it is time to tell her, take the human and run. This way your good daughter and your precious human can escape untouched. And we can freely fight till the end.” Ares has not given up yet. Despite being injured he still wants to fight Zeus.

“Athena, listen to me. You should protect Isocrates at all costs. We need him! Also, we cannot tell humans that he died the day I chose him to be a god and brought him here. So, take him and leave. I will be fine; I just need to teach my problematic son a lesson.” Zeus does not want the fight to end without reaching its conclusion. He is prepared to take it until the very end, teaching Ares a lesson. He is certain that he will not lose no matter what.

“Yes, Athena. Do what your father says. Let us fight and do not worry, your turn will come too!” Ares’ lips form a wide laugh as he tells Athena.

“No, I cannot do that! I cannot leave and let you two kill each other. Ares you should already stop this nonsense fight. What happened with Hades was a long time ago and it did not affect you that much, not to say it did not affect you at all. If you are after Isocrates, you should also stop! Fighting Zeus will not lead you anywhere. You cannot kill him and you know it. All you are going to win is a serious punishment since you have angered him.” Athena tries again to stop the fight between them. She once more refers to the incident with Hades but says nothing else. I do not know what happened and made Ares so mad. Also, I do not know if that incident is Ares’ true reason to be mad. Or if it is just an excuse to come here and fight Zeus, if there is another reason behind him wanting Zeus dead. Or if he wants me dead and he knows that he has to kill Zeus first to come after me.

“Well, then you do not leave me any other choice sister, I have to prepare for a battle of three. Help your father or die along his side.” Ares comes forward, closer to Athena and Zeus. He then raises up both his hands.

“Πανοπλία, σπαθί μεγαλώστε!” (“Armor and sword, upgrade!”) Ares shouts and the same symbol with the shield, vulture, spear and sword pops up before him. His enlarged armor, now covering his whole body, is being repaired and a longer, more solid sword appears in his right hand.

“Δόρυ επέστρεψε!” (“Spear, return to my hand!”) Ares shouts again and the spear comes back to his left hand.

“Μεγάλωσε!” (“Upgrade!”) Ares shouts as soon as the spear returns to his hand, and the spear’s tip becomes sharper and thicker. Five more spear tips grow out of the wood and together with the spear pole they become thicker as well. Having all his weapons Ares prepares his body for battle assuming his fight stance.

Zeus is emitting even more rays of thunder and his entire body gets covered. They are also stronger, having more electrical power creating small explosions around him. He passes by Athena and clenches his fists.

“Let’s finish it!” They both say and start running towards each other.

A pitch-black, expanded like a stretched sail, figure suddenly emerges between them. The figure is shrinking taking the form of a human body.

“Enough!” loudly yells the black figure. So loud that both Zeus and Ares instantly freeze.

“This fight ends here! It seems to me that Olympian gods are still as foolish as they used to be! They have forgotten the misery battles are bringing!” tells the figure. It is the shape of a woman; it is the shadow from before. I have completely forgotten about her. I overlooked her presence since the fight has started. After all it is a pitch-black shadow I just met. I do not even know her name. If I recall correctly, she was about to introduce herself when Ares intruded into Pantheon.

Note from the author, that's me! The Greek phrases have their English counterparts “following” them, written right after them. The English counterparts are NOT exact, word to word translation. Instead, they are what I thought befits the context in English while maintaining some relevance to the Greek phrase and wording. The Greek phrases are the “original”. Revelation, I'm Greek!