The God of Clay and Fennel Fire: A Retelling of The Golden Goose

Chapter VIII: The Moon Glows on Olympus

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning back.

"Where are you going?"

"Mount Olympus. Where are you going?"

"Did you really think we're going to walk there?"

Deucalion glanced around. "I don't see any pegasi around and, unfortunately, we seem to be out of winged sandals."

Prometheus rolled his eyes, but secretly he was pleased that Deucalion was willing to walk the entire way. "I have a friend who will be able to help us."

Deucalion walked back to Prometheus' side. "Who is it?"

"Iris, the goddess of rainbows." Prometheus took out a drachma and performed the ritual to call the goddess.

Deucalion didn't look too convinced. "Are you sure? She has a bit of a loose tongue, doesn't she? Are you not afraid that she'll let it slip that we're breaking into Olympus?"

"She will, but a bribe will keep her quiet until our work is done."

The rainbow glimmered like a million stars against the night sky. Deucalion watched it suspiciously, biting his tongue as if tasting something bitter.

When the goddess landed them at the golden gate, it was clear she and Deucalion didn't like each other. He didn't trust her and she didn't like anyone that didn't like her. Prometheus barely had time to slip her a few extra drachmas before she spun on her heel and huffed away.

"You could have been friendlier," Prometheus told Deucalion.

"She's flaky. I don't trust her. If we get caught, I swear she'll be the one behind it all."

"She may not be the most trustworthy of the gods, but she is far from being the least trustworthy."

Deucalion shrugged. He was a lot more relaxed now that she was gone. He turned to the gates and placed his hands on his hips. It towered over him, the height of four grown men and just as wide. "Now, what do we do about his nuisance? Ah." He noticed the small gate inlayed. He pulled on the handle, but it didn't budge. He jiggled it again.

Deucalion looked over his shoulder to Prometheus. "You wouldn't have a key on you, would you?"

Prometheus narrowed his eyes at the small door and turned away. He walked to the edge of the gate and waved his hand over the pillar of cloud. It vanished revealing a smaller gate, just as brilliant as the main.

Deucalion joined him. "What did you do? Why not use the main gate?"

"You mean that giant dinner bell? I though you didn't want to be turned to ash?"

"That wouldn't be the ideal situation, but what about the smaller one? Don't you usually use it?"

"I do. But we can't this time. It would take too long to make a key and opening that gate alerts Hermes and Zeus. That way they can't be surprised by any uninvited guests."

Deucalion nodded slowly. "But how did you know this one was here?"

Prometheus swung his bag off his shoulder and knelt, eye-level with the lock. "Hephaestus trusts me more than most of the other gods do. When he was drawing up the design for this gate, he called me to him."

He pulled out a leather binder, and opened it to reveal a collection of metal tools. "He asked me to use my gift and see if the design needed to be changed. I told him that the gods would have need for a secret side gate. We just never knew which god."

Deucalion crossed his arms and leaned forward to watch as Prometheus began to work. "Are you really just going to break into it with mortal tools? You don't need something a little stronger?"