Love or Not

Chapter 22: Consequences

The room became a vacuum. Even Nyx was shocked that Zeus had the gall to hit her father. Zeus may be the Ruler of the Gods, but he forgot that Phanes is the Deity of the Universe.

Nyx remembered the day clearly. The grand ballroom was filled with warmth and laughter. The room was filled with projections of the Earth's misty, moist atmosphere on all surfaces.

It was a celebration of a transition in the evolution of the Earth. According to Phane's grand plan for the Earth, they hope to enjoy one for decades before the next leap forward. Everyone loved the brochure that Phane's assistants handed out to each God. It was a detailed plan of how the Earth would evolve for a hundred and sixty-five million years.

Seconds before, the room, full of Nyx, remembered the day clearly. The grand ballroom was filled with warmth and laughter—projections of the Earth's misty, moist atmosphere. The room filled with wonder and joy, just mere seconds ago, was now dead silent.

The guests looked at Zeus in shock. As they all stood stunned, they began to feel an electric current in the air. The hair on their arms and neck stood on end.

They all knew this would not end well for them. It was as if the air had come alive, was seeking what offended its God, and was determined to eliminate the threat. The guests started to feel ill as if their strength was seeping from their pores.

The gods in the room knew that Phanes could lose it at any minute, and they all found the nearest corner, hoping that he would not see them. It was ludicrous, they knew, but they had hoped that his anger would be directed at that which offended him. Zeus.

No matter how silly it sounded, they truly believed they could somehow survive the night if they were not in his line of sight. None of them wanted to sleep for decades to heal after being attacked by Phanes.

"Father, don't," Nyx pleaded.

Phanes looked back at his daughter as her thoughts filled his being. He almost forgot that this blockhead would be one of the fathers to the grandson he had been waiting for—the apple of his eye. A son named Nu. The pure drop of water searching for his own tree of life. Zee.

The prophesied child would eventually take the throne from Zeus and become the Godhead of Olympus and all the worlds. He would be more than Zeus could ever be. With his King's consort by his side, he will rule it all. Phanes would finally have a proper heir.

If Zeus only knew his fate. He would realize that Phanes was not the threat he had been seeking. His threat would come in the form of a child that all of Olympus would love and defend.

Zeus did not have a chance. If he tried to hurt Nu, the gods of Olympus would turn on Zeus, and he would be the only residence of his creation, Tartarus.

Never to step foot on the Isle of the Blessed or rule as he had in the past. He would be a sad version of himself. He hoped that Zeus would accept his fate and not become the broken God he saw in one of his visions.

One of his gifts was to see all scenarios played simultaneously in his mind to their natural conclusion based on free will. A gift that the creator of all worlds would naturally have. He hoped Zeus would grow up just a little and realize he could not change his fate.

He just needed to bide his time and watch the drama unfold. He must not destroy Zeus. Phane's evil grin spread across his lips, and evil shone in his eyes when he felt the joy of Zeus's fall. His mind wandered to all the ways that Zeus would pay for his actions, but then, as an actual deity, he shifted to the sadness of such a fall.

A tear fell from Phane's eye at the possibility that one with so much potential would become something pitiful. His creations are so disappointing. He created, he did not dictate, and Zeus is the person he had carved himself out to be. If only the choices were wiser.