When Zeus sent the message to his children, he was already in the final stage of merging.
So he gathered his children in front of him, because he knew it might be the last time he would meet them face‑to‑face in his current body.
He would speak to them afterward through their souls, or in their dreams or visions.
And when he felt his children approaching him, and every time they took a step, they felt as if they were in imminent danger, as if they were approaching something dangerous they should not see, but their father's orders commanded them to come to the center of the island, and they could not disobey his orders.
And after a while, they reached him from different directions, but they arrived at the same time. He did not care to welcome them after these years, nor did he wait for them to speak to one another.
When they were in front of him, he gave his order to kneel immediately, and they did so at once.
And when they knelt, he directed his gaze toward Odin, the eldest and strongest of them, and said:
"You have done the thing I could not do. You absorbed the sky into your body, and you have controlled it well. Now… you have become worthy of the title Ruler of the Sky."
Then he looked at Hades and said to him:
"You have always been different from Odin, and you may think that I prefer him more than you because he inherited my power, but he is not better or lesser than any of you. I did that so you would awaken your powers, and you have indeed succeeded. You discovered the energy that resonates with your soul — the energy of the Underworld — and you absorbed it into your soul, and now you have become worthy of the title Ruler of the Underworld."
And after he finished speaking to Hades, he looked at Athena and said:
"Athena, you have become the person I expected you to be. You realized that the harmony of your soul comes from the energy of wars and battles, and you have earned the title Ruler of Wars."
And then he directed his gaze toward Poseidon and said:
"Poseidon, you found your soul in the ocean. I have always let you do whatever you wished, and at last you have become what you aimed for. You found your soul resonating with the ocean, and you succeeded in making your soul devour the ocean's energy, and now you have earned the title Ruler of the Oceans."
And after that he said:
"My children, I did not gather you here to grant you titles, but I gathered you because this may be the last time you see me in my current form.
For I will ascend now. I have gathered you to tell you who will succeed me and become your king, you rulers. And I believe you already know that it is Odin.
He has truly earned it, and you all know that. So I want you to obey him in everything he says, as long as it does not harm Asgard.
And my children… in order for you not to die and to become immortal, you must have offspring. For when the time of your death comes, you will be able to reincarnate into the body of someone from your lineage. And your lineage must be large and great so that you may live forever. As long as your descendants remain… you remain, and the opposite is true.
And also, if any one of your descendants awakens their power and becomes a ruler, they will become immortal like you as long as your lineage remains on Earth."
And when he finished speaking, he wondered if he had done the right thing by swallowing the souls of everyone on his island, as that had helped him greatly to absorb this island and transfer his soul into it.
And he thought of the slaves he had brought from different races; those children who would be born from them were still copies of him, with a small chance that they might awaken their powers. Nevertheless, every person who had not fully awakened their power was at least 3 to 10 times stronger than ordinary humans.
And if his soul died, the island would absorb it to become part of him, but if he awakened his power, he would be able to reincarnate like his children.
And when he felt that the time for his merging had come, he looked at Odin and said:
"Odin, you are now the ruler of rulers. I will leave a gift for you and for Asgard."
And when he said that, he did not care about his children's desire to speak or their comments and opinions. After he said what he wanted to say, a strong light emanated from his body, and he said in a loud voice that could be heard throughout the island: "I am Asgard!"
And when he said that, the entire island trembled as if it were a living body. Afterward, the trembling stopped, and the light from Zeus' body ceased, and he lay still.
When his children saw that, they looked at each other, and amazement, reverence, and shock filled their faces from what had happened and from the sudden decisions.
The first to break the silence was Poseidon, shock evident on his face, and he said:
"What just happened?"
But no one answered; no one knew what had happened. After a period of silence, Odin said in a solemn voice:
"I believe our father has merged with the island, my brothers."
Before anyone could respond to Odin, Zeus' body, which had been motionless, shimmered, and a destructive force erupted from it, causing his body to evaporate into particles, and the force shot toward the sky and merged with it at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
All of this happened extremely quickly, and no one could react or act at that moment, as everything occurred at an astonishing pace.
And when that happened, Athena screamed:
"What is happening? Damn it!"
Everyone was shocked and didn't know what was happening, as events unfolded one after another without any warning.
But Odin alone felt and sensed what was happening; he felt something changing in the power of the sky.
And when he sensed that, he understood that this was his father's gift to him, for he had infused the power of the sky into his body. His body could not withstand the power, so it was destroyed, and the power of the sky that had been in Zeus' body, along with a strand of his soul's power, merged with the sky.
And the strand in the sky controlled the power of the sky, and he felt a connection linking him to the strand, so he felt he could control it and wield the power of the sky according to his will, without exerting any effort or energy of his own.
He smiled happily and said to his brothers, who did not understand what had happened and were discussing it:
"As I told you, my brothers… our father has become the island we now stand on, Asgard, and his body has become part of the energy of the sky. This was the gift he spoke of in his final words."
When his brothers heard what he said, they fell silent as if they were processing what they had heard. The first to react quietly was Hades, who said:
"So… our father has become the island."
When Athena and Poseidon heard what he said, they felt the strangeness of the statement, but no one denied it. Then Poseidon spoke, saying:
"So… what do we do now without our father?"
When Poseidon said that, no one answered, but Odin spoke, saying:
"We must do as our father said to do."
When they heard Odin, Athena said:
"Do you mean that we should create our lineage on the island?"
Before Odin could respond, Hades replied, saying:
"Of course, Athena, haven't you heard our father speak about reincarnation through our lineage?"
Then Poseidon spoke quickly, saying:
"So… that's why he brought the slaves with us to the island, so that we can create our lineage with them."
After that, Odin spoke, saying:
"Exactly. Father brought slaves from different races to the island so that the next generation would be strong, not weak. This was the plan he had thought of a long time ago, I believe."
When his brothers heard that, they fell silent, thinking that Odin was right; their father never did anything without careful thought.
Then Poseidon spoke, looking left and right:
"So… where are the slaves, my brothers?"
When he said that, Odin pointed in their direction and said:
"They are there, living in the caves. I think they settled there long ago to live and shelter from the cold and the wind."
After Odin said that, they looked in the direction he pointed, and Athena said:
"They were very close to our father, so I think no creature of the island attacked them."
When she said that, her siblings agreed with her opinion. Then Poseidon laughed, imitating the voice of a wise man:
"Are you ready to start the matter of our lineage, or do you want to take your time to prepare? This is an important stage in your lives."
Everyone laughed at his words, but no one really cared; they were neither humans nor ordinary beings, so they did not have those silly feelings. All that occupied their minds was one thing only: that lineage was tied to reincarnation and eternal life.
When they thought of that, it consumed all their thoughts. Odin said quietly:
"It is an important matter; we must do it carefully so that our lineage is not weak."
When he said that, everyone agreed with him, then he said:
"You should go now if there is anything you want to do, and we will meet here afterward to choose a place to build our home. As for me, I will bring the slaves."
When Odin said that, each of his brothers thought of the beings they had been connected to over the years and agreed to it, and they arranged to meet again after a few hours, then they dispersed.
And each of them knew that a new era in their lives had begun.