My feet stepped onto the path that led into the mountains, where gods shaped the fates of mortals. The time had come to raise my spear against those whose cruelty outweighed the worth of hundreds of thousands of lives.
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There was only one road straight to the summit. At first, it was merely a carved-out trail in the rock. But the higher I climbed, the more signs of architecture appeared: columns, arches, façades hewn from stone. Soon, my feet touched the stone steps that led directly to Olympus itself.
The warriors guarding the path below stood like statues, unmoving, ignoring my presence. And at the very top, I saw only one god Hermes.
He stood there, waiting for me. Just a few steps remained to reach the summit. I lifted my head and met his gaze, unwavering, full of resolve.
"You have only one chance," Hermes said. "Surrender. Swear your loyalty to Olympus. Hand over Pandora. Or die. Choose wisely."
My answer was simple. I raised my shield and leveled my spear at him. Let steel speak in my place.
Thunder.
A roar cracked through the sky, a flash of lightning lit the peak. Zeus's power on Olympus was at its zenith. No one could challenge him here.
"Don't hide behind walls and other gods," I bellowed. "Come out and face me! Answer for what you've done!"
My shout echoed through the slopes, reverberating for miles.
"You have earned your punishment," came a thunderous voice, merging with the rumble of the storm.
Zeus's words carried the fury of lightning itself. The sky split open, and a bolt of divine fire struck me down. The blast hurled me backwards with such force it felt as if the heavens themselves crashed onto my shoulders. Falling from that height, I felt pain greater than anything I had ever known.
I was slammed into the earth at the foot of Olympus. Electricity surged through me still lightning crawling over my flesh, searing every nerve. I rose, breathing heavily, and looked upward. More bolts split the sky, rushing toward me.
I reached for my helmet, lying nearby, and placed it upon my head. My eyes burned with will, and my body launched itself back into the storm. My spear carved a path through the lightning, its tip aimed at Olympus's peak. The full wrath of the skies struck down upon my weapon, but it defied the storm.
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I landed on a stone ledge, breaking part of the cliff. A wave of my will surged through the temple's columns they trembled at its force. From the depths of the clouds emerged the thunderer.
"Stubborn mortal," Zeus muttered, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes burned with arrogance and disdain.
"I came for answers and I won't leave without them," I said. The memory still cut like a blade. "There is a land of golden wheat, where the wind is soft and pure. Each breeze makes the skin tremble. The forests there are ever green and brimming with life. And on a small hill, there is a mill where I ground the grain and baked thick loaves of bread. That was my world. And you told Atrokus where it was. He killed Hephaestus. Then Demeter. And so many others. People whose lives I swore to protect."
"Then perhaps you should go back and bake your bread," Apollo mocked.
"When darkness threatened us all, I cast aside my grudges. I fought because honor and the lives of mortals mattered more than our quarrels. I believed we fought together. But you struck from behind when I least expected it. I no longer have faith in the gods. Your words are lies, wrapped in silk. You've forgotten what it means to lose."
Into every word, I poured the pain that tore me apart from within.
"You brought this upon yourself," Zeus replied calmly. "No one forced you to take Pandora and Hephaestus. You could've stayed in your pathetic little world, and no one would've touched you."
There was a grain of truth in his words. I had indeed invited much upon myself. But their sins were far greater.
"I didn't take them by force," I said. "They chose to walk beside me. You chained them like dogs. Let's not waste words. All I want… are answers."
"I give you one last chance," Zeus answered, his voice cold and resolute. "Do not test the limits of my mercy. Go back to your world. Stay out of this. Surrender Pandora."
In a single moment, everything is decided who you are, and what you're willing to fight for. I felt within me all the love for life that Demeter once carried. She never wanted war. She would've rather disappeared quietly from the world. But for what they had done, there had to be a reckoning.
I was alone. The odds were against me. Four gods stood before me: Hermes, Ares, Apollo and Zeus himself. But when had I ever feared facing those stronger than me?
Words no longer mattered.
My eyes blazed with will, my body ignited with raw power. Let every breath I take be a curse upon them. I would fight until I had my answers or until one of us fell forever.
"You've chosen your fate… Kill him!" Zeus thundered, his voice seething with rage.
Apollo struck first. His blazing bow loosed an arrow brimming with the sun's fury. The heat alone was unbearable everything in its path began to melt. My shield caught the blast, the projectile burst in a storm of sparks, and a wave of fire scorched my flesh. But the forge-fire of Hephaestus burned in my heart his dominion over flame flowed through me. It gave me strength to endure the blaze.
When the searing light faded, I caught a blur darting straight toward my head Hermes. Legends spoke of his speed, unmatched by any living thing. His movements were blinding, near invisible. But I held strength of my own. Time itself seemed to slow around me. I parried the strike with ease.
My spear pierced Hermes' shin, and my shield struck his head, knocking the breath from his lungs. He collapsed, skidding several feet across the stone floor.
Then came Ares.
His blade surged with wrath not his own, but the rage of hundreds of thousands slain in battle. His assault was relentless. I parried one blow, only to be struck by razor-sharp limbs that erupted from his back like a war-born storm. Each strike came faster, harder. I was forced back under the onslaught shield blocking some, spear deflecting others.
Ares lived up to his name the god of war in its purest, most brutal form. He gave no pause, no moment to breathe. I retreated step by step to the very edge of the arena.
Then my foot struck stone. And in that instant, my body surged with movement, every muscle ablaze with purpose. And inside me, something ignited will.
I surged forward, charging straight through his next attack. My spear found its mark, slicing through his storm of fury. A wave of force drove Ares back he flew through the air until his body collided with a stone column, my spear still buried deep in his flesh.
"Not bad," Ares muttered with a grin, wiping blood from his chin.
I dodged a second barrage of Apollo's arrows. In the next breath, I summoned my spear back to my hand and hurled it with everything body, mind, and soul. Apollo had no time to dodge. The spear pierced his chest. The sun god gasped, and then fell to the floor.
"Enough of your insolence!" roared Zeus.