Chapter 8:

The Future???

A New Olympian God


Olympus

“Isocrates, come on, wake up! Wake up! Now!!!”

“We have no other choice, Athena! I will carry him on my back. We will wake him up later, as we are moving. We have to leave. Now!

“No! He will hold us back this way! Absolutely, no! He must wake up now!”

Smack!

—Plaaap!— A loud, sharp noise is being heard echoing inside the room! Zeus has slapped the sleeping Isocrates. It was a somewhat hard slap with sufficient power to awaken someone from their plain sleep. Not to mention that judging by the sound, it was enough to cause a lot of pain to the receiver. Isocrates’ cheek has become red already, and Zeus’s palm has left its mark on his face. But the situation is much worse, a mark from a slap is the last thing Zeus and Athena care for.

“It is pointless!!! Completely pointless!!! Someone must have put him to sleep using some sort of drug! There is no other explanation!”

Zeus grabs the unconscious Isocrates and tries to lift his body and put in on his back.

“No, let him down! I will wake him up!” Zeus lets go of Isocrates’ body. He lays him down on the bed again.

“There has to be something that we can do!” Athena is pondering. She desperately wants to rouse Isocrates from his deep slumber, but it seems she has no idea how!

“I believed you had an inkling of how to wake him up! That is enough, my daughter! I will not wait any longer for you to think of a solution that might work! We do not need that! We need to leave and keep him safe! Right now!”

Btooom!

Baaam!

Loud noises are being heard from outside the room. They are the sounds of crashing! Someone or something is smashing things out there! The sound causes vibrations, the ground is shaking!

Zeus grabs Isocrates from his arms and back to lift him up once more. Athena stops him right away by grasping his wrist tightly.

“I have an idea! I will need your powers for it to work!” Athena has thought of something. She nods at Zeus to accept her plan.

“Tell what you want me to do, and I will do it.” Zeus pushes her hand away pulling his arm.

“I want you to concentrate thunder energy on your hand. You will use it on Isocrates, it will wake him up!”

“You want me to attack him?” Zeus looks at her in utter disbelief!

“Athena, you know that if I use my thunderbolt on him, then he will die! Immediately!”

“I did not tell you to do any of that! You will just gather some thunder energy in your hands. I will use my shield as a mean to release your thunder on his body. The shock will wake him up. We must cover a large enough area for him to feel it, but not too much power so that we avoid frying him dead.”

Zeus is slightly gaping in wonder. It seems that the goddess of wisdom is putting her specialty to the test. Her idea might be fatal, and this will only lead to problems. Zeus wants to keep Isocrates alive at all costs.

“I will use only a fraction of my power, otherwise I might kill him!” Zeus says that in a way like he is asking for approval. Athena’s idea has left him bewildered.

“There is no need for raw power! We just need it to be concentrated!” Athena further explains how they are going to do it. She may have expected his confusion. Her idea is... unconventional, unusual.

“The drug might be more dangerous than we think, and we cannot analyze it. We do not know what its purpose is. If we let Isocrates sleeping, then he might end up dead! We must wake him up! It is better this way. We cannot risk it!” She adds to convince Zeus, to dispel his doubts. After all, he has to take part in the process. He better be sure about it.

“Fine, I will trust you! I hope that your idea will work, my wise daughter.”

Btooom!

Baaam!

The trembling and outside turmoil continue steadily, gradually increasing in magnitude. The roof of the room in which Zeus, Athena and Isocrates are, is ready to collapse. Small pieces of rock are falling from above. The ceiling is cracking it will not last much longer. Zeus and Athena must hurry, if they want to save Isocrates!

—tsssk— Zeus is creating a thunder in his hand. It looks extremely small, more like a sparkle. It is barely noticeable. Only the distinguished light blue, turquoise colour suggests that Zeus has indeed something on his palm resembling a thunder.

Athena is looking at the roof that it starts falling apart. She lowers her head and stares at Zeus who is concentrating more and more little thunder sparks on his hand. It now looks like a ball consisting of small tree roots.

“I am ready when you tell me! I am waiting for your instructions!”

Zeus bends his knees forward changing his stance, preparing his mind and body. He needs to be alert. Same goes for Athena who seems composed, but she stands extremely silent. She does not speak at all! She needs a few seconds as well, before she initializes the process. She is raising her head, she straightens her body posture! She takes a deep breath. Mind clear and focused, she is now ready to begin!

“Ασπίδα, εμφανίσου τώρα στο χέρι μου!” (“Shield, come to my hand now!”)

Athena shouts with an unwavering voice! A symbol of a shield with a spear behind it, a helmet in front of it and an owl standing on top of it holding an olive branch pops up. The helmet is made of silver. It is shining brightly. The wooden spear has also a silver tip. And the shield is made of fine rigid metal hence it looks quite solid and it must be rather heavy as well. The owl really resembles Athena in her owl form. It is dark brown in colour with some light orange pieces on her wings and feathers, and small dark grey lines on her chest that they look like little spikes from distance. The owl is staring with curious, steady, very perceptive eyes. It gives you the impression that it is watching at every direction at any time. Whatever it is going on around the owl, the owl watches it and is aware of it. It seems that there is something else there as well, behind the shield, but it is not clearly visible at all. It is barely discernible behind all those stuffs.

Then a circular shield appears in Athena’s hand. It is one of the shields which Athenians use in battles, fights and training. She holds it firmly and goes to the bed Isocrates is lying unconscious, standing over him.

“So, what you have to do is this. Transfer the thunders carefully on my shield. You have to engulf my entire shield with your thunders. Try not to leave any empty spot. You have to keep the thunders as small as you can too, and with all the concentrated thunder energy in them retained. I will place my shield over Isocrates’ body, and you will force a thunder discharge onto his body. It has to be very short in duration and not extremely powerful, try to keep the impact at a low level. We do not need any lethal effects.”

“I will use the lowest thunder power I can produce. We will start using this, and I will increase the power as we go to see if there is any progress made.”

Zeus’s suggestion is a thoughtful one. For once he stole the wisdom from his daughter Athena. Starting off low and increasing the thunder energy as they progress with the implementation of Athena’s idea is a very good suggestion. They do not the thunder power needed for it to work, so it is better if they start out with a thunder power which will not cause any harm to Isocrates.

“We can, but do not release the lowest thunder power you can produce. Go a little higher, try to release enough power to produce heat, burn his skin just a little. Alright?”

Athena understands that Zeus has a point. Still, she suggests starting with a higher thunder power than the lowest one. She really needs to awaken Isocrates from his sleep.”

“I will release the lowest on my first try and I will increase the power drastically from the second.”

Zeus tells Athena decisively. He does not agree with her suggestion to start off using the lowest thunder power.

“Fine, you can do that. Now, let us start. We have to hurry.”

Athena knows very well from his attitude that Zeus has already set his mind on doing it his way. So, she does not fight back. She replies only to tell him that it is time to start doing instead of just speaking about it. There is no time for talk. In fact, there is not much time in general. They have to move fast in order to save Isocrates. Wake him up from his slumber or protect him from the vicious attack happening in Olympus at the moment.

The thunder sparkles, the small thunders concentrated on Zeus’s hand split apart. They start moving, they are going at the direction he is deciding. At whatever direction he wants them to go. They are being transferred all over Athena’s arm in which she is holding the shield, circling around it. Along the way, the travelling thunders collide with each other, and small explosion sounds are being emitted. Of course, they are much smaller in magnitude and loudness. The thunder sparkles are also lacking the impact of a full-on thunder strike. They are much weaker hence Athena did not even flinch when they suddenly headed her way, being transferred through her arm. She must not have felt anything. She should not have, that is if Zeus was focused on his task. And he has done it successfully so far. At least the easy part is gone because the tough, the really important task starts from now on. The small thunders are all being gathered together into Athena’s hand and from there, finally to the shield charging it up with plenty of thunder energy.

Athena who is standing over Isocrates’ unconscious body laid on top of the bed in his room, lowers her upper body. She is bending over his body gripping her shield firmly using both her hands, holding it from the leather strap attached on its back part.

She puts the shield above his abdomen and chest. She is moving the shield little by little, bringing it closer to Isocrates’ body. The shield has a convex outer shape which means that not the whole surface of the shield is making contact with Isocrates’ body. The shield though is big enough in size to cover his thorax and stomach entirely.

Athena has lowered the shield close enough to his body. It is just touching his skin. The contact is there but you can barely notice it by looking with the naked eye.

“On my count of three release the thunders onto his body. Ready?” Athena is ready. She has put her shield in position. She is asking Zeus to get ready too. He needs to be focused on doing right many things. He has to control the thunder power to keep the output at the lowest level possible. And he has to release it onto Isocrates’ body for the slightest amount of time possible as well. It is not an easy task by any means and Athena is aware of that. She tells him if he needs to take more time.

“Let’s go!” Zeus nods in agreement, and with a serious look in his eyes lets her know that he is completely ready. They are good to go!

“One, two,... three!”

—tssssss…— Zeus is charging his small thunders gathered on Athena’s shield. The thunder sparkles are expanding a little bit protruding from the shield. They are touching Isocrates’ body.

—ptooof— Zeus releases the thunder power concentrated in the many small thunder sparkles. The impact does not look that strong. It seems that the lowest thunder power did not work at all. Isocrates’ body has remained still after Zeus released his thunders on it.

Athena lifts his tunic to check his body for any injuries.

“He is undamaged. We have to use more thunder power. Release more power!” She orders Zeus immediately after she is done with the check. He does not say anything in return, he is just getting prepared for another round. He creates small thunders again quickly transferring them at the shield.

“You must release multiple times more power now otherwise we are not going to make it in time. Ares will get to us before we are finished here, before we have awakened him. Do not hesitate, it will gravely cost us.”

Athena urges him to use more thunder power with a demanding and persuasive voice. Zeus remains silent and only moves his hands controlling and directing the small thunders.

—tssssss…— Zeus charges again. And with his order…

Ptoom!

The impact is stronger this time, much stronger than before. However, the thunder power is still under control retained at a low level. This time Isocrates’ body moved just a little bit. Athena is checking him again for any injuries caused from the impact.

“He is undamaged, again! That is good but we have not made any progress with those two tries. We will not achieve our target this way. Zeus, you must make the thunders more impactful!

Btooom!

The situation in Olympus becomes worse by the time. Every passing moment Ares is one step closer to find where exactly Zeus and Athena are located. One step closer to Isocrates. Buildings and statues are getting smashed. The sound of things crashing is being heard all over Olympus. Ares, and maybe his companion, are attacking everything standing in their way. With their powers they turn every sort of structure in

“Try to put more thunder power! We are running out of time here! Quickly! Zeus, do it now!”

Athena rapidly undresses Isocrates ripping apart his tunic. If you did not know what is going on here, you could easily assume that she is a maniac. She looks like she has lost it as she tears his tunic. She does that to free his upper body from clothes revealing his skin, so that the shield can make better contact with it.

She puts her shield above him slightly touching Isocrates’ half naked body. This time the shield clearly touches his body, no doubt. She turns her head at Zeus.

“This time use more thunder power, release more thunder power! Make it sufficient enough! Do it!”

Athena orders him, and Zeus moves his hands fast to create and direct the small thunder sparkles at her shield once again.

—tssssss…—

Btooof!

Isocrates’ body was shaken for a very short period of time.

It was only for a slight moment, but Zeus and Athena are enthusiastic with the result. However, Isocrates is still lying unconscious on top of his bed.

“Yes! Finally, that was something! That was definitely good, but we must push for more! We need more! Try one more time, and release even more thunder power. We are on a good way.”

Athena is certainly content with the outcome of the third effort. But it was not the last and lucky try. She wants him awake, and she asks for it. She presses Zeus to release even more thunder power. Isocrates entire body has jerked from the previous effort. Not too much, still the movement was very obvious. It was really easy to understand that some shock is being put on his body. You could feel that, even though you have not directly sensed it in anyway.

Athena regrasps the leather strap of her shield to get ready for the next try. She puts the shield a little higher. It covers up to his neck. Its central point is now Isocrates’ chest. It might be a crucial change. Athena wants it to be. She may have thought of something.

Zeus does the same thing once more. He creates the small thunder sparkles. With his hands, opening wide his fingers he forms a ball looking shape, and inside it the thunders are being gathered. He is concentrating the right amount of thunder power in them. He is immediately transforming them onto Athena’s shield, straight away without directing them through her arms.

“Και τώρα! Γενηθήτω κεραυνός!” (“And now! Let there be thunder!”)

—tssssss…—

Btoom!

Thus, there was thunder!

The impact!

This fourth try was a good effort. You could clearly feel the impact on his body!

Isocrates’ body was shaken again. His arms and legs jerked. His chest was lifted. The impact has jolted them, along with Athena’s shield that moved as well.

She moves the shield out of the way…

No!!!

“It cannot be!” Athena says.

Isocrates is still sleeping!

“He has not woken up!” Zeus adds.

Athena must be irritated. She is angry. Zeus as well. They both are not pleased with the result. Their efforts have not paid off, and there is not much time left for them to try again. Athena has to compromise. They just cannot wake Isocrates up from his deep slumber. It is a fact they could not change.

Athena is looking at Isocrates body. It seems that the last, earlier try did leave its mark on him. His chest is injured at the spot the shield was making contact. His skin there has become dark, it has a black colour. Athena watches the harm caused in his body by the impact, and she understands that she cannot risk putting more power in Zeus’s thunder releases. Despite wanting to rouse him from his sleep, she also wants to keep him alive and protected. She has to stop here. She knows it is over.

Nonetheless the look on her face is not sad or anything similar. She is pondering about something.

“No!”

She spontaneously says as she is wondering.

“No, no!”

She continues saying the same thing. She is in denial. She goes back and forth.

“Athena we tried. We could not do it unfortunately. But we have to move. We can save Isocrates. We must take him out of here. You will take him out of here. Go find my brother Poseidon, and I will delay them as much as I can. If it is Ares alone, then I can win the fight. Though I am afraid he has brought some company. Still, I can win the battle. You know that I can win it, so do not worry about me. My daughter, take Isocrates and leave. Right now!”

The whole time Zeus was speaking, Athena was thinking.

“No! One more try. It will be the final. We will awaken him this time. For sure!”

“What are you saying, we cannot keep doing— we cannot repeat the same thing over and over again, Athena!”

Athena is not listening to his words. She does not even pay attention to Zeus at all. She has thought of something that might work. And she has decided to have a try. She is ready to implement her new idea.

“Ασπίδες, ελάτε στο χέρι μου μικρές για να χωρέσετε!” (“Shields, appear small enough to fit on my hands!”) She throws away the normal sized shield and shouts.

The same symbol with the shield, spear, helmet and owl appears again and along with it two small shields emerge in each of her hands. They are just a little bigger than Athena’s hands covering them completely. Each of the small shields has a leather strap attached on its edges. It is tied around Athena’s hands, so that she can properly hold the shield on her hands.

She is going to try again but why with a smaller shield?! And two of them! What can the difference in size possibly do? Or the increase in number?! Is Athena so overwhelmed by the fact that her idea to awaken Isocrates did not go as planned that she is just desperately trying the same thing. Is she so fixed to her necessity to wake him up that she cannot think clearly anymore? She cannot see the facts anymore! But the goddess of wisdom was never so stubborn about anything. Her ability to evaluate a situation and act as she should act, is an essential characteristic of hers. A real trait of her character which she does not let go even in the most difficult of events. In really hard to deal situations, like this particular one happening right now, she remains composed.

“Athena, listen to me! We have no more time to try anything other than fleeing. We cannot afford to do the same thing of all things available in a desperate effort to wake him up. You have to take him and leave this place right now. Do you understand me?”

Zeus seems to believe as well that Athena is acting strange. She is not her normal self anymore. He wants her to leave immediately taking Isocrates to a safe place. He cannot stay in Olympus, in this state, any longer. Ares will find them soon enough, and then the battle will start. Zeus is certain that he can win, even if Ares has brought mighty warriors, mythical beasts or whatever else with him. Though can he beat Ares, even if he has brought other gods or divine beings with him? Zeus is certainly full of himself and his capabilities, but his skills and abilities have been proven in battle. He has fought and won over Ares yesterday and many other times as well. However, he cannot do that and protect Isocrates at the same time. Athena might be able to defend herself from the incoming attacks, but still, that might not be able to keep him safe. If Athena finds herself in a tough spot, Isocrates cannot even protect himself from a mosquito bite in his state.

“I hear your words, but do you want to hear mine?” Athena responds in an unusual manner. She is not used to answer questions in a vague, implying way.

“Athena, please will you—” Zeus tries to—

“No, you listen to me! All we have to do is transfer the thunder powers through his body, and as the thunders pass by his heart…”

Athena raises her arms!

“That is! He will wake up! All we have to do is direct the thunder power straight at his heart, and the shock from the thunders will do the rest for us. It will restart him!”

Zeus is left speechless. He believed that Athena had lost her mind, but she has suggested a truly logical idea instead. Her new, revised idea is not irrational at all. It is an improved method of the process they tried so far. And it is doable as well. Zeus does not have to change anything or prepare for something from the beginning. He knows what he has to do, but he has to do it slightly different. That is all, and nothing else. Athena is brilliant! Still, let us see if her idea will work this time.

“What are you waiting for? Let us try it. Do it, now!”

Crash!

—Btooooom— A huge piece of marble comes flying at the building in which Isocrates, Zeus and Athena are inside one of his rooms. It is the house of Isocrates in Olympus, and the room is his bedroom. The boulder smashes the roof. Fortunately, the boulder of marble hits the other half leaving the room they are in untouched and unharmed. It is enough to alert Zeus and Athena though.

“Come on, move!!! Hurry!” Athena yells at Zeus who initializes the process once more.

He creates the small thunder sparkles.

She places one hand at the right side of Isocrates’ chest, right onto his ribs. And she does the same for the other hand putting it at the left side but a little nearer to his heart.

Then Zeus transfers the small thunders onto Athena’s two shields.

—tssssss…— He charges right away. He now knows the right amount of thunder power needed. So, he does not have to be careful anymore!

He releases!

Btoom!

Huh!!! What is going on? Why am I in pain? I was asleep!

Well, I am awake now! I open up my eyes. My day starts now!

Good morning—

“Isocrates, you are awake! It worked” Zeus is staring at me completely amazed.

“Yes, it was successful! Finally, you are up! No more sleep!” Athena is celebrating and she also shows a little amazement. What has happened?!

“Yes, I am awake. I am not going to sleep anymore, but why are you two in my room? What is going on?” I ask being in utter wonder. I have no idea why Zeus and Athena are in my bedroom. And to top it off, what are they saying?! What did it work? And why are they happy that I am awakened?

“There is no time to talk about it! Hurry! Stand up, we must leave at once! Can you walk? Quickly, move!”

Athena orders me to stand up and move. She says that we must go, that we must leave! To go where? Are we leaving Olympus? Why is that?

“Follow my daughter, Isocrates. Put your faith in Athena. I will handle the rest.”

Zeus tells me as he is grabbing me by my arm. He places my arm on his back, over his shoulders to support me. He is lending me a hand to help me stand up. He then puts his arm under my shoulder grasping my chest firmly with his hand on my right side. He lifts me.

“I am fine, Zeus. I am really alright. I can stand on my own, and I can walk on my own too.” I do not understand what is happening! They do not offer me any explanation. Zeus stops his support after hearing my words. Now that I am standing up after I have been woken up from my sleep, I can feel some disturbance. I am hearing noises coming from outside. It feels like the ground is shaking as well. And with those two being in my room, I can sense that something bad is happening.

Athena seizes my hand.

“We must leave now. Come on, let us go.” I do not resist at all. Still…

“Fine. But please, at least tell me where we are go—”

Btoooooom!

Smash!

The roof of my house in Olympus is being crashed. A hole has been opened on the room’s ceiling.

“I do not think you are going anywhere, Isocrates! I will not allow it this time!”

It is Ares who speaks and appears behind the clouds of dust created by the collision. He is smiling as he utters those words.

Athena stands before me acting as my protector. It is not the first time she does that. Also, the first time was not long ago too. Just yesterday when Zeus brought me here to Olympus, she has done the same thing. Ares attacked us before Nyx could give me the godly powers, and Athena was my human, no, my god shield.

“Oh, father, forgive me! Where are my manners? How shameful of me!” Ares says with a smile on his face full of sneer.

“Αδερφή!” (“Sister!”) He faces Athena. He brings his hands near the waist as if he would lightly grasp and raise a tunic, and then he slightly bows his head moving his left foot behind the right at the same time. Impersonating a female bow, the bow of a little girl to be more precise. This way he shows disrespect at Athena.

“Ισοκράτη!” (“Isocrates!”) Ares directs his gaze towards me. He does not need to turn his body since I am standing behind Athena whom he has already bowed to. He clenches his hands, not too tightly, bringing them closer to his body. Then, he slightly bows his head again. This time he does not move his foot since I am not a female. His bow is even quicker and shorter than the previous one, and he smiles widely as he performs it. Ares tries to be as disrespectful as he can while bowing, an act supposed to show ultimate respect.

“Αγαπημένε μου πατέρα!” (“My beloved father!”) Ares announces Zeus. He raises his arms up high as he is making a pause in his speech to emphasize his gesture of supposed respect.

—tsssk— As soon as Ares mentions Zeus, he is getting prepared. He envelops himself in ray thunders. His entire body is emitting them.

“Άφησα την κεφαλή της οικογένειας και του Ολύμπου ολόκληρου, όλων των θεών, για το τέλος! Το μεγάλο φινάλε!” (“I left the head of the family and Olympus, the head of all gods for the end! The grand finale!”) He declares as he lowers and broadens his arms. The wide smile of his does not leave his face even for a second as he performs his grand act. He is trying to show as much arrogance as he can. He really wants to anger them, especially Zeus.

“Why are you being prepared for a fight, my dear father Zeus?! I am simply expressing my gratitude and respect here! I have not finished yet! Tch, tch, tch! You fell no shame at all, being so impatient?”

Zeus creates thunders in his hands. Thin, light blue rays of thunder cover his hands completely. They are denser than those covering his whole body which it is still clearly visible though. The rays are quite transparent.

“Then, I suppose I have to follow your lead! I cannot be left behind! Right?”

Ares kneels with only one of his legs touching the ground, it is the right one.

Now it is time to finish this once and for all!

“Ασπίδα!” (“Shield!”) Athena shouts right away, after Ares finishes his sentence. Her symbol with the shield, spear, helmet and owl appears. And a straight, long shield emerges in her hand. She assumes fighting stance as soon as she grabs the shield.

“Δόρυ έλα!” (“Spear, come to me!”) Ares says in a rather low voice, and his symbol of a shield with a vulture standing on top of it, a spear and a sword in its left and right side respectively, appears before him. Then, a spear emerges in his right hand. He is standing up bringing his right leg forward, and as he is doing so gaining momentum, he throws the spear at Zeus in the end of his movement.

Athena and Isocrates move together to the side letting the spear pass by them.

Ares is sprinting towards Zeus! He accelerates with every step!

—tssssss…—

Boom!

Zeus throws a thunder in response to Ares’ throw of spear. The thunder destroys the spear entirely! But Ares’ intent is not to hit Zeus with this spear. He threw it simply to make Athena and Isocrates move out of the way. The path to Zeus is wide open now!

—tssssss…— Zeus charges his thunders! He increases the thunder power, and…

Zeus is now throwing thunders at Ares as he is running towards him. His attacks are not that loud, actually they are almost completely silent. All you can hear is the charging effect and the sound from the small bursts as the thunder rays hit with each other travelling through the air. Still, you can feel the power packed in his thunder throws.

“Ασπίδα, στο χέρι μου τώρα!” (“Shield, to my hand now!”) Ares shouts and a round, small, light shield emerges in his hand right away without his symbol appearing first.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Ares blocks all his thunder throws with his shield. The impact holds him back a little, but it is not enough to stop him from keep on running. He continues heading towards Zeus with speed and malice. He is very decisive. He has come here to win the fight against Zeus this time.

“Ares, your attempt will be in vain! Your effort is futile! Stop fighting your father and listen to him instead! You have nothing to lose!” Athena says with a loud voice. One more time that she tries to persuade Ares. But to be honest, I believe that her effort is pointless as well.

“Athena, just take Isocrates and leave this place. Go where I told you. Go find my brother Poseidon, he will help you!” Zeus stops throwing thunders at Ares and tells Athena that she must stick to the plan they have already decided to follow.

“Ares, my stupid son, I have already won you once and I can easily win you again. This time, I will not hesitate! If it comes to that, then I will even kill you! I will not just defeat you! I warn you; I have the responsibility to do so. But judging from our last fight and my previous warnings, then I guess my current one has no meaning. It makes no difference to you. You will not listen to word after all.”

“Are you finished? Is your preaching time over, father? Do you have more nonsense to say? Anything else?” Ares abruptly stops his sprint as he blocks the last thunder throw of Zeus.

“Please, go ahead we will have plenty of time to discuss about everything concerning you. Please, do not hesitate even a little, father!” Ares turns his head to the side facing me and Athena.

“As for you two, do not worry as well. There is no need for such petty concerns without a reason!”

Fwuu weee!

A loud, sharp, high-pitched sound is being heard. Ares is whistling; he must be summoning someone or something. He is calling it or them to come here.

Bam!

A creature comes bursting through the door! It is a centaur! And he is not alone! Another creature comes from the hole in the roof flying downwards and landing beside Ares!

“Welcome, my friends! I am so happy to see you here!” Ares declares in joy as he pats both two heads of chimera. She, I can easily guess that chimera is the female since it is pretty obvious that the centaur is a male. Her two heads consist of one of a goat and one of a lion.

“Thank you for calling us, my lord!” The centaur speaks, it definitely has the voice of a male!

Gwrrr! Chimera does not speak. She can only growl producing the distinct guttural sound with her throat.

“So, what do you think of my friends? Now you cannot go anywhere, you will stay here with us! I summoned them here to keep you company! I do not want you to feel lonely as I am fighting Zeus. Please, be good friends with Isocrates and Athena! Alright, boy and girl? Oh, I took the initiative to bring one of each gender since you are a boy and a girl as well! I thought that you will not have a problem with that!”

Ares is referring to the centaur and chimera, as sarcastically as he can. They are male and female respectively like me and Athena. He then faces Zeus again.

“Back to you now, father! Let the kids play! We should take care of our business like the grown-ups do when their children are playing together! I hope they get along well —fufufu—! I am sure that you want to protect them, you want to keep your beloved children safe. Of course, for that to happen you have to get past me. So, do your best!”

“Oh, I almost forgot! You see, father, I know very well that I cannot beat you alone. I lack the followers, HUMAN BELIEVERS! So, I brought some certain old friend to help me as well. He will fight alongside me!

“Come!” Ares calls him.

ARES!!!” Zeus yells so loudly that his scream must being heard all over Olympus, echoing from one side to the other! The thunders enveloping his entire body grow bigger and brighter!

You have gone too far! I will not show you mercy! You will perish by my hands!"

———

“I think you should go and wake him up now. I will notify the others.”

Zeus and Athena are talking inside Pantheon. She leaves to go to Isocrates’ house. He leaves as well. They both have transformed in their bird forms.

~***~

Huh!

I jump out of bed. I have been woken up violently and suddenly by my own dream covered in sweat.

What was that? Was it just a dream? It felt so real though!

I look at my body to check.

No, my chest is fine! I have no marks. It was just a dream!

But I felt like I was truly agonizing!

My tunic is in shatters as well!

And the pain too, it felt like I could really feel it my skin!

Everything that happened on my dream!

Hoo hoooo!

I look at the window to find the owl Athena standing there.

“Good morning, Isocrates. Get ready. We have several and various things to do today.”

“Καλημέρα Αθηνά.” (“Good morning, Athena.”) I tell her as I am standing up rising from my bed.

I hide my torn tunic under the sheet, and I wear a new one which Athena said yesterday that she had put in my room before Zeus has brought me to Olympus. I will not tell her anything about the dream, at least not yet.

I wash my face in the next room, one of the many located in the upper floor. I poor water from the amphora into the phiale which is practically a basin having the shape of an elongated, rather shallow bowl. Still, it can contain enough water for me to wash. I place my joined hands inside the phiale gathering some water splashing it onto my face.

When I am stepping out of the bathroom, Athena is back in her human form. We are heading downstairs. I wear my sandals and we both exit my Olympian house.


So, this is the last chapter of my story since I am submitting it to the MAL x HoneyFeed contest which means that I must mark the 'A New Olympian God' as completed. Thank you for reading so far! Hope you liked it! If you did, then vote my story on MAL's mobile app from October 3 to November 6 and from November 14 to November 30 (if I make it that far)! Good luck to everyone entering the contest!

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