Every single being in this world is finite. We are here one second and gone the next. We finite beings, wished to be remembered even when our time was done. The quest for popularity and fame is the attempt at making the finite into something infinite. Power is a drug known quite well to the young and old throughout time. If you had power, the world was yours for the taking. Populations would quite simply, hand over what was important to them simply because you had power.
"Become someone so when you perish they dig up who you wished to be and not who you truly were."
My brother had said those words to me and I never understood the implications behind his words until now. I stood in front of a statue, rudimentary in appearance but quite evidently erected in an effort to appease my brother. He had damned himself not only for this life, but the one that was to follow after our Creator passed judgement. His name would forever be associated with polytheism, something that could never be forgiven, especially by our Creator. If there was one thing that was unforgivable to our Lord, it was assigning a partner to Him.
"You see?" Iblis asked now standing next to me.
"I will never see what you see," I whispered and turned away.
"Humans, Zrous! Humans! In the end they will stray away from our Creator and rely on every tree, every bird, and every fish they deem lucky. He wanted me to bow to THEM? When I am made of fire and they were made of dirt? He is All Knowing and He KNEW they would act this way," Iblis growled.
"I will not get into semantics with you about our Creator. We are no better. You chose your path. You chose to disobey as did my brother. I'm choosing differently," I whispered and continued on my trek. Iblis didn't follow as I headed up Olympus to where my old village had been located. Athena's curiosity had led us back here, the place where this all started from. The trek was long and I didn't have Denit to help me fly up to the summit. I could understand why my elders had chosen the location where our village had been. It was almost a physical impossibility for humans to trek to there. I was definitely risking running into other Olympians with this trek which was why I had forbidden Denit from accompanying me.
Athena had informed me that the Olympians were heading to a nearby forest for a meetings with other "gods" from a distant land. This would be my only chance to show her the truth about her father. Hades and Hephaestus had yet to interact with me again so I had to take things into my own hands. With that in mind, I continued my silent journey.
Once I arrived at the site of my former village, I looked at the vaguely familiar setting. Any remains of our civilization had been reclaimed by nature. I walked slowly over to where my house would have been and smirked sadly before running my hand over the boulders that now stood elegantly amongst the remains of my community. The boulders most probably had cascaded down from higher areas after years of wear and tear against the elements. I still couldn't understand how my brother thought he was omnipotent when he witnessed his own friend's demise at the hands of our village. If anything, that should have cemented the fact that we were as vulnerable as the humans he despised.
I strolled through my old village and now stood in the exact spot I had been centuries ago when Ityan was to be executed. Mother Nature had taken over this area as well, covering all remnants of that fateful day with rocky debris and overgrowth.
"Life goes on," I murmured to myself and now stood where I had been doused. I smiled at the small tree that had spouted from the ground on that very spot. The world seemed to have recovered and was now thriving in the once place I had never considered life would continue. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds that now inhabited my childhood home. The wind whistled, the trees swayed, and the birds chirped.
"Life goes on," I whispered again with my eyes closed. For the first time in a while, I could sense a type of serenity that I wished upon the world. I knew it would be short-lived, but I felt blessed to still be standing after what I had been through. I was only granted a few moments of that bliss before I felt a strange energy near me.
"What is that? It's almost-," I began in thought and finished with a whisper, "electric."
Zeus stood exactly where Ityan had been executed and looked at me with a conflicted face. His stance showed fury yet his eyes showed confusion. I looked at him and smirked which in turn threw the older jinni off guard. I was standing where I had been doused and he was standing where his friend had been executed. If that wasn't poetic symbolism, I don't know what was.
"You are becoming a nuisance. Why didn't you die when Hera dealt with you?" Zeus asked as he made his way towards me.
"It wasn't my time to die, Zeus. You should make her understand that she controls nothing. You won't kill me either," I smirked again. Zeus stopped a little ways away from me and bared his teeth.
"You do not tell ME what I have in store for you. What is your purpose here?" Zeus asked while raising his fist. A ball of electricity formed on his palm and crackled menacingly.
I chuckled and whispered, "Do you honestly think I'll die by your lightning? I didn't even die when I was destined to."
Zeus frowned, fury still emanating from his every move, "Why are you HERE? This is HALLOWED ground."
"Hallowed?" I chuckled and grasped the tree that stood proudly in front of me. I noticed movement behind Zeus and saw that Athena was hiding amongst the rocks, listening to our conversation out of her father's line of sight. "Hallowed. You call it hallowed as if what you did here was sacred. Your friend, Ityan, died here for his crimes. How is that hallowed?"
"You're far too young to know about Ityan so the question that begs to be asked is, who told you about him?" Zeus asked in thought.
"You know, it's funny. You come from some of the most pious jinn that ever existed and yet you abandoned everything they taught you. What I don't get is why. Why abandon everything Cronos and Rhea taught you? For Ityan? That one stuck by you only because you were powerful," I sighed. "You were always a fool for not realizing it. You went so far as to couple yourself with his sister? Wasn't it enough that she caused your brother's death?"
"How DARE you?" Zeus asked in fury as he threw a bolt of lightening at me. Thankfully my reflexes were much faster than when I was a child.
"The truth, that's what you want to hide, isn't it? You never cared for your family. You never cared for Zrous, did you?" I asked while glancing towards where Athena was hiding. "Gods? You call yourself gods? You're nothing more than an imposter, a self-important imposter. Now you're spreading your ways to distant lands because your ego can't understand that you are a mere speck in this world. You are nothing more than the smallest grain of sand on an infinite beach. You ARE NOTHING."
"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK HIS NAME?!" Zeus bellowed.
I knew the bolt of lightning was coming for me before it even left Zeus's hand. I had managed to survive all that his perverted followers had thrown at me so far, I somehow knew I'd survive this as well. The bolt collided with my shoulder which in turn knocked the wind out of me and sent me crashing backwards. I collided with a boulder and crumpled to the ground.
Zeus flew towards me and grasped me by my neck before lifting me into the air, "Answer me, boy! HOW do you know this? WHO told you these lies?!"
I smirked and whispered, "You're scared, aren't you? You're scared of the truth you tried hiding form everyone. You came from the faithful and you became the faithless. Restore order to this world, Zeus. Your Creator is watching."
The amount of hatred I saw behind Zeus's eyes as I muttered the word "creator" was beyond frightening. He bared his teeth and formed another bolt of lightening, this time ramming it deep into my side.
"Your Creator is dead. You need to follow him," Zeus spat out before tossing me aside.
"You really need some powers, Zrous," I thought to myself as I fought the excruciating pain that radiated from the embedded bolt in my side. After crashing to the ground, I looked up shakily and could see Zeus looking at me in nothing but abhorrence. He proceeded to descend from the heavens in front of me with his look solidified in place. Before his feet could touch the valley, something collided violently with him. I struggled to breath and let out a ragged breath as Denit smashed Zeus against the side of the mountain and quickly flew over to me to help me to my feet.
"Damn it, Zrous," Denit growled as he looked at the crackling bolt of energy in my side.
"W-why are you h-here?" I asked in disbelief.
"I'm not hiding anymore. I'm with you all the way," Denit whispered in reassurance.
Zeus had crumpled into a heap against the side of the mountain and looked up in a daze. I wasn't sure if it was because he was hurt or if he was astounded that someone had dared to attack him, but he looked out of his wits. Zeus shook his head and stood up slowly before looking at the two of us. I noticed that Athena was watching in horror from her cover as her father transformed into nothing short of a monster.
Zeus bared his teeth, fashioned another bolt of lightning and jetted towards Denit. Before the young jinni could react, I pulled out the bolt Zeus had gifted me with and deflected the bolt Zeus aimed at Denit. An unimaginable bright light blinded us as sparks flew as far as the eye could see. The shockwave from the colliding bolts launched all three of us into different directions. Denit and Zeus hit various obstacles and were out cold. I, however, was still conscious.
I scrambled to my feet and checked on Denit first. The young jinni believed in me more than I did. The last thing I would allow would for one of the Olympians, my brother no less, to kill him. Once I was sure he was okay, I looked at the wound in my side. Even though I was severely wounded, I was alive. Not only that, I had handled lightning without killing myself. That was a feat in itself.
I finally turned towards my brother's limp body and looked at the unconscious jinni. I pulled out the dagger I had pinched from Hephaestus and leaned over my brother's head.
"You didn't protect me, Zeus. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," I whispered before plunging the dagger downwards.