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The eternal springtime of Olympus was interrupted by dark clouds and dropping temperatures. The atmosphere became dank and a feeling of foreboding hung in the air. Gods stepped out of their temples into the diminishing light huddling into themselves and each other. As the initial shock wore off, fear and curiosity drove them to the Great Hall of Olympus to question their king, Zeus.
Zeus was in the dark (literally) as to what was causing this aberration of weather. When the last of the major Gods entered the great hall, a rainbow hued light strobed three times and resolved into the form of a God who was unknown to all.
Zeus walked up to the intruder with murderous intent and demanded, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" The stranger looked at Zeus with annoyance and answered, "My name is unimportant, and I am here to sort out the mess you have made of your pantheon."
Hearing this response as a threat, Zeus formed a thunderbolt and hurled it at the visitor. The thunderbolt was absorbed with a wave of the visitor's hand and Zeus was frozen to the spot where he stood, powerless. The visitor looked around the great hall and spoke with a gentle voice loud enough for all to hear. "I have come to undo the damage that Zeus has done to your pantheon. I have seen by your actions that you align yourselves with power, as mortals do. By doing this, you have allowed yourselves to be controlled by power and passion rather than reason. I am here to inject some reason into your pantheon."
Gaia narrowed her eyes at the visitor and a flash of recognition fell across her face.
"Zeus, you have abused your position as King of the Gods. You have allowed your pantheon to fall into such disarray that you have insured its destruction. The twilight of the Gods is at hand due to your negligence. I have come to sort this mess out personally, rather than have all the gods of the Greek pantheon die."
"Who are you to judge me! You have no right..." Zeus began. With the wave of a hand the visitor simply removed Zeus' mouth. Panic and terror filled Zeus' eyes, but he was blessedly silent.
"Since you have chosen your leaders by the level of their power, I claim the right to judge and command on that basis." The visitor said simply. "Now down to business. Zeus, since you have failed in your duty as king of the gods, I remove that title from you. You have performed your duties as god of the sky adequately so *that* you shall retain."
Whispers flew across the great hall, but at a glance from the visitor, the room fell into silence.
"As you all know, your jobs are to control and channel the passions or powers related to your godhoods. Without control of any kind there is chaos which leads to destruction and with absolute control you remove the element of randomness or choice from life which leads to stagnation and destruction." The visitor stopped at this point to see if the gods had any comprehension of their basic function. To his delight, more than half of them actually seemed to be following along with what he said.
"Over the course of the past decade three godhoods have been lost and not replaced. Chaos has been allowed to reign in their place and now it is boiling to a point where it will destroy you all. To correct this problem I ask Lord Hades of the Underworld to produce the shades of Dionysis and Strife." Hades gave the visitor a considering look, then nodded once and disappeared in a dark flash. The visitor waved his hand and Nemesis appeared by his side. Hades appeared a moment later with the transparent shades of Strife and Dionysis. The visitor motioned Nemesis to stand beside Strife then asked, "Strife, former god of mischief, your godhood has not been claimed by another since your death and is bound to your shade. Do you wish to return to life or transfer your godhood to a new god of mischief?"
Strife stood silent. He gave the visitor an unmistakable 'Who in Hades name do you think you are?' look. Then he looked around the assembled gods and his gaze stopped on Cupid and Psyche standing side by side. While looking into Cupid's eyes he said with a strong clear voice. "I'll stay dead. I got nothin here." Ares seemed annoyed by this answer, Eris seemed uninterested, and Cupid held Strife's gaze with a look of sorrow.
"Very well. Your godhood will be transferred into this symbol." And the visitor produced a necklace with a smirking face pendant. The visitor stepped forward and allowed Strife to place his insubstantial hand on the necklace. There was a sudden burst of deep blue light and then the visitor stepped back and said. "It is done, good rest and peace to you Strife."
With this Hades waved his hand and Strife's shade faded into nothingness. The visitor turned his gaze on Dionysis and asked the same question. Dionysis responded much as Strife had, except that Dionysis focused a venomous gaze toward Zeus when he answered. Dionysis transferred his godhood into a golden cup with a flash of purple light and faded as Strife had.
Then the visitor turned to Nemesis who said, "My godhood was removed years ago, I don't understand what I am doing here." The visitor shook his head and told her. "Access to your godhood was blocked, you still retain it. You have the choice to regain control of your godhood or to give up your godhood forever."
Nemesis answered without a second thought. "I made the choice to give up my godhood many years ago and I have never regretted it. I choose to give up my godhood now." With that, The visitor transferred her godhood into a golden bow. Then he sent her back from whence she came.
The visitor looked at the assembled host of Olympus and said, "Three new gods will now be created to fill the vacant positions." With another wave of his hand, three identical men appeared. Ares looked like he was going to faint for a moment, Aphrodite bounced a little in excitement but remained silent. A murmur went through the crowd and the visitor spoke up to regain everyone's attention. "Jett, king of assassins, step forward." Jett did so and The visitor looked him in the eye as he spoke. "Jett, I am offering you the godhood of retribution, will you be willing to serve?" As the words and surroundings began to make sense to Jett, a huge smile came across his face and he simply answered, "Yes."
The visitor picked up the golden bow and it changed into a silver dagger. He handed Jett the dagger and a green light momentarily surrounded his body. The assembled host of Olympus felt the birth of a new god as the symbol of power transferred the essence of retribution and made the host of that power into a full god. "May I introduce to the host of Olympus, Jett, God of Retribution and Retaliation."
The visitor turned his attention to the remaining brothers. "Jace, Lord of Dance, step forward." Jace did so and the visitor looked him in the eye as he spoke. "Jace, I am offering you the godhood of Debauchery, will you be willing to serve?" A smile of delight crossed Jace's face and he answered, "Yes."
The visitor handed Jace the golden chalice and Jace took a deep drink from it. A purple glow surrounded him and the host of Olympus felt another god awaken. "May I introduce to the host of Olympus, Jace, God of Wine and Debauchery."
The visitor looked at Joxer and he stepped forward. With a smile of approval the visitor asked, "Joxer the Mighty, I am offering you the godhood of Mischief, will you be willing to serve?" Joxer looked at Ares who smiled and nodded, then Joxer happily answered, "Yes."
The visitor handed Joxer the golden necklace and Joxer carefully and reverently put it on. A deep blue light surrounded Joxer and the host of Olympus felt his godhood awaken. "May I introduce to the host of Olympus, Joxer, God of Mischief and Divorce."
"Now that the powers are all being channeled, lets reorganize the power structure a little. Zeus, can you behave yourself? Or shall I leave you as you are?" Zeus responded with a murderous glare at the visitor and the visitor just shrugged his shoulders.
"Oh well, to reiterate, Zeus will no longer be king of the gods, it was his mismanagement that allowed the chaos to gain a foothold in Greece and nearly destroy you all. He will not be left in a position to allow that to happen again. Henceforth, Zeus is God of the Sky."
"Lady Hera, as goddess of marriage and childbirth you have made decisions and taken actions contrary to your godhood. As goddess of marriage it was your responsibility to lead by example. Your husband's infidelity should have given you the opportunity to demonstrate how a wife should handle such problems with grace and dignity. And his bastard children have no fault in their own creation and shouldn't be a target for your hatred. As goddess of childbirth, your relationship with your own children should be a shining example to all others of how a mother should nurture and love her children. Instead you manipulate your children into hating each other in hopes that they will not unite against you."
Lady Hera stood in shock as the charges against her were raised. "Since you are unfit for your godhood, it shall be removed and a more suitable godhood shall be bestowed." With a wave of the visitor's hand Hera began to glow a bright blue, then the blue began to brighten through the colors of the rainbow to become yellow. The golden yellow glow started to streak with darkness and the golden yellow became a cloudy pus colored yellow then a festering brown-yellow. There the color stabilized and The visitor announced, "May I introduce to the host of Olympus, Lady Hera, Goddess of Vengeance and Betrayal."
The gasps and murmurs again filled the great hall. The visitor waited for a moment and when silence again settled on the room he started his next revelation. "Hephaistos, Aphrodite, Cupid, Psyche, and Bliss, please come forward." A few moments later, they all made their way to the front of the Great Hall. All of them, even 5-year old Bliss, looked as though they were walking to their execution. "Hephaistos, God of the Forge, in recognition of your wisdom, patience, and great paternal skill I bestow on you the title King of the Gods." At this revelation, all attention turned not to Hephaistos but to Ares, rightful heir to Olympus. The visitor noticed this and spoke to Ares. "Ares, God of War, as you have been rightful heir to Olympus, so shall you be. To preserve Greece, you are needed where you are. In the event that Hephaistos is deposed as ruler of Olympus, you are next in line of succession. This would not be necessary if Zeus hadn't made such a mess of the power structure of Greece in the last decade. We will speak of this later, privately." The visitor then turned his attention back to Hephaistos and his family. "Host of Olympus, I present to you Hephaistos, God of the Forge and King of the Gods."
"Aphrodite, Goddess of Romantic Love and Head of the house of Love. By virtue of your successful marriage with Hephaistos, and the loving relationship with all your children, I confer on you the title of Queen of the Gods, and bestow the godhood of Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth." A pink aura pulsed around her and then shifted through the colors of the rainbow until it was bright blue.
The visitor then turned to Cupid and said, "Cupid, God of Infatuation and Obsession, I bestow on you the godhood of Romantic love and leadership of the House of Love." And Cupid's aura flared red and shifted ever so slightly to pink and dissolved. Not missing a beat, The visitor turned to Psyche and said, "Psyche, Goddess of Manipulation of the Mind, I bestow on you the godhood of Obsession to be used in conjunction with your current godhood. And Bliss, God of Happiness, I bestow on you the godhood of Infatuation to be used in conjunction with your current godhood." Psyche's aura flared from pale yellow to red. And Bliss' aura flared from a light shade of pink to a darker shade.
The visitor looked around, as if he were counting things down on his checklist and his gaze settled back on Hera. "Lady Hera, do you wish to remain married to Zeus, God of the Sky?" Hera shot a disgusted look at Zeus and answered, "I never wanted to be married to him."
The visitor then looked at Joxer and said, "Joxer, as God of Mischief and Divorce, it is in your power to dissolve the marriage bonds between Zeus and Hera." Joxer stepped forward and instinct took over. He placed his hand on Hera's forehead and asked quietly, "Do you desire the ending of this union?" She looked into Joxer's eyes and said a wholehearted, "Yes"
Through the power of his godhood, Joxer could see the truth of her desire to end her union. Joxer then spoke loudly enough that everyone in the room could hear, "Let it be known to all of Olympus that the marriage of Zeus and Hera has been dissolved." Joxer removed his hand and Hera smiled. Her brown-yellow power enveloped her and her appearance changed to that of a twenty-five year old woman. Most shocking to all, a HAPPY twenty-five year old woman.
The visitor then looked into the young Lady Hera's eyes and asked, "Lady Hera, would you do me the personal favor of training our new god of Retribution and Retaliation?" Hera looked at Jett, gave a shy smile and nodded happily. "Would the Goddess Lust come forward." The sinewy form of Lust made her way through the assembly of gods and rubbed herself against the visitor. He subtly took a step away from her and pointed at Jace, "Not me, him. Would you instruct him in his duties in the House of Debauchery?" Lust took a long look at Jace then said, "It would be my pleasure."
The visitor then looked at Ares. Ares just said, "I will." And it was understood by all.
The visitor then looked at Zeus. Thinking out loud he said, "I know I'm going to regret this..." and then waved his hand giving Zeus his mouth back. Zeus immediately began to sputter and gear up for an all out tirade when the visitor walked up and said, "You now have the power level of a minor God, you're on an equal footing with Bliss and Ganymede. Piss me off, I dare you, because I have no problem with changing you into a dung beetle and giving your godhood to the next random mortal I encounter! Now, did you have something to say?" Zeus stood silent, his face somewhere between red and purple with rage.
"That reminds me... Ganymede, would you come here?" And the beautiful form of Ganymede, cupbearer of Zeus came to the front of the Great Hall. He looked terrified enough to pass out. "How long have you been the cup bearer to Zeus?"
Ganymede answered in a barely audible whisper, "1523 years."
"Hephaistos, you don't need a cup bearer... Do you?"
Hephaistos smiled and shook his head.
The visitor then bent slightly to look Ganymede in the eyes and spoke quietly so that only Ganymede could hear, "I know that you've been used by Zeus for sex for the past fifteen hundred years. In light of that, I feel that you would be most adept at helping people who exploit or are exploited for their body. Would you be interested in being their God?"
Ganymede looked at the visitor with wide eyes and nodded. The visitor straightened up and announced for all to hear. "I assign Ganymede to the House of Debauchery and name him the God of Harlots." A scarlet glow enveloped Ganymede then faded.
"I think that was a good day's work, If anyone has questions about the new arrangement, meet me here tomorrow. I thank you for your attention." Then The visitor walked to Ares and began to talk quietly, after a moment they, along with Joxer, flashed out.
Realizing that they were dismissed, the other gods began milling around discussing the day's events with each other.