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Messing with another god, now that can cause a civil war.
Fucking with the wrong nymph, that can piss off their patron immortal.
But humans. Humans would have no recourse. No power in their corner to prevent the deities from doing what they wished.
Tugging my new book in tow, I trace the gold painted title, Titanomachy: The War Against the Olympians.
Taking my time, I wander through every square inch of the bottom floor. Past each statue. Nothing hangs on the walls here.
Exasperated, I climbed up one level. Retracing my steps to leave when I find it.
The portrait is large. My wingspan is barely able to reach all the way across. At the center stands a scorched-out figure.
To one side stands Apollo and Artemis. To the other stands two sons. From the plate below it appears those two sons are named Ares and Hephaestus. Along the back row stands a whole line of others. Athena instantly jumps out at me. Standing directly behind the scorched figure of what can only be Zeus. Then there’s also Dionysus and Hermes.
“I suppose Artemis won’t need to improve her sketches after all.” Apollo laughs as he presses a kiss into my cheek.
What in Hades name is going on?
Jumping, I turn quickly to him, raising my hands. “Sorry! I was curious—”
“No need to explain yourself.” He grins mischievously. “My sister has spent far more time in the library than ever before. For a while, I was wondering if Artemis and Athena switched places.”
“I- I- I- Artemis and I were talking about your family… I was curious about who they were and what they looked like,” my voice waivers. I know that he said that I didn’t need to explain myself, but the words fell from my lips. Tumbling onto the ground between us.
“Mhmm,” Apollo states skeptically. “Who were you looking for?”
Shifting, I contemplate what to say. How much should I tell him? “When I was younger, I spotted a god in the woods.” I let my eyes rest on the portrait. “I was curious if I would be able to identify him through these portraits and Artemis was helping me.”
Apollo stands only inches away from me. Taking a couple of moments before asking, “Why are you so set on finding him?”
I need to tell him.
Gulping, I shift my weight between my feet. “My dad was taken by that god.” Lifting my gaze, I watch as Apollo’s eyes go wide.
“He was abducted?” Apollo confirms as though he simply must have heard me wrong.
“Yep. I guess like father like daughter holds true with us.” I give a halfhearted chuckle.
Gods, if dad knew where I was now, he’d have lost his mind.
“Did anyone look familiar?” he asks in a tired voice. “Did you find who you were looking for?”
“No.” I sigh. “These people are much too young. The person that grabbed dad was older. Haggard. Had these intense blue eyes,” I drawled on.
“Odd. this is all so odd,” murmurs Apollo.
“To make matters worse, I think my dad was taken by mistake,” I reveal. Thinking about the book mentioning how Prometheus was banished from Olympus by Zeus. “In the woods, my dad was called Prometheus by the god who took him. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. What do you know of the real Prometheus?”
Apollo shoots a tentative smile off to one side. “He was the father of Persephone. Married to Demeter. He also made my dad furious. To the point that he forced him to leave the land of the immortals and leave his family.”
“What would cause something like that? That sounds like such a severe punishment,” I remark. “Which one was Zeus?”
“Here. I did this after the coup which ousted my father.” Apollo taps the scorched image at the center of the frame. “As for Prometheus, no one is quite certain what happened. Some believe that he was staging an uprising. There were rumors that he’s the one who organize to have Zeus’s lightning bolt stolen right out from under him.” Apollo touches the scorched face on the canvas. Smoothing out the curled section, a silvery blue bolt rests in the figure's hands.
From even the photo, I can almost feel the electricity sizzling. “What’s so special about the bolt?”
“Well, whoever holds the bolt rules Olympus. It’s key to Mount Olympus and the realm’s powers.” He explains, “But it has not been seen since the time of the coup. Others believe that Zeus hid it so that he could try to take back his realm at another date.”
