Zeus = Poseidon

The fifth cloud. Zeus's palace.

~Pallas~

"Έρχεται η Αθηνά"

One of the two watchdogs at the gate of the great palace of Zeus called. Pallas just bowed her way towards the gate and was about to walk through when the other muttered,

"Η επίμονη πριγκίπισσα που τοποθετεί έναν θνητό πάνω από τον πατέρα της"

She spun towards the giant fellow cladded in heifer's skin. His head heavy for his neck, eyes neon, face smeared with scars. She was tempted to make him pay for what he had just said. But confided in a wry chuckle and shot at him,

"So says the man whose father shares dwelling with the orangutans."

Even if the giant wanted to do a thing, he had no choice. He could only wish. Not only because Athena was the daughter of Zeus, but because, even if they were to duel, he wouldn't last half a round.

She headed into the hallway of the palace as the gate behind her shut heavily, in tune to her submerged rage. The hallway was filled with fog. And on both sides of the aisle were threads of dancing flames of fire.

Twas time for her to use her spiritual eyes, in order to see through the fog.

-----

If a mortal by any chance was to find the Palace of Zeus and made it inside, all the fellow would see were threads of fire and fogs, complemented by creepy sounds of unseen growling creatures. If such fellow is not destroyed by his own fears, the strange swell of annihilating chirruping would burst him, split him into confetti.

-----

Now that her eyes are changed, she could only but see a hallway whose aisle was spread out in gold, decked out in every wall with Sapphire and onyx. It didn't take her forever to get to the small body of lake up ahead of her, which separated Zeus's throne from every activities ongoing before it.

She halted at the front of the blue lake, which had a current of yellowish red lava coursing around its half-circular surface. She looked past the lake towards the throne of her father.

She was greeted by the roar of the two Olympus' lions at both sides of the throne. But when she supplanted her gaze on who was seated on the throne. Her heart missed a beat. Twasnt who she had expected.

"Twas a wonder to us all."

The strange male voice from behind her nudged her outta the shock. She turned to the owner of the voice.

"Aurelius?"

The old man with drooping white beards, wrinkled face and staff wrought cedar with a sphinx handle wielded a saggy smile.

Pallas looked away too quickly from the old man to the person seated on the throne.

"Where's father?"

She had turned back to the old man whose thick voice sort out the explanation,

"Two moons after you left for earth, he left too. Without telling any of us where to. And ever since then has Persephone taken the throne. And none of your sisters argued with her. Or should I say, none could overrule their fears. But bless be Zeus, you're here."

"How about Hera? She's the eldest, what art makes her interest quaver?!"

The old man took two steps forward to match the same border as her pace,

"You know too well. Even if she claimed the throne while Zeus is away, for how long would she stay? When every minutes, mortals give their daughters out for marriage. Isn't it her duty to be their to bless such heartwarming alliances?"

Athena sighed.

"Artemis?"

She quizzed. After Hera, who was the first daughter was her, then Artemis before Persephone.

"Say not. She found a mystery in an African wilderness and had let her rogue ecstasy dictate what choice should be elevated as her priority. And do not ask about the rest, they are all cowering like cornered animals!"

Pallas glared at him and a red laser shot from her eyes. But the old man was too quick to dodge before a hole would be drilled in his forehead. Though old, 733 years old, his limbs were lighter than that of a gazelle. He had pleaded with Zeus to clothe him in the disguise of old age that almost anyone would be fooled, and at the same time awed at his skills.

"I will not have you speak of my sisters in such manner."

Aurelius bowed softly, his aching back feigning the trick of cracking.

"I shall go now. I think I know where father is. I need him at the moment."

She walked off, turning her back to the lake and the throne. Then a feminine but audacious voice, trained by vigour swept past the lips of the lake, borne by the wandering winds to her ears,

"I thought we were past that, sister?!"

Persephone's argument. Pallas halted and turned.

"I'm not sure sister. If you'd quit being childish, we would be past that."

Persephone let out a quaking chortle.

"And what do you call maturity, sister? Running after a mere mortal? Haven't you imagine how lovely that tale would be on the lips of the mortals... The great goddess of wisdom and Warfree fled her duties to lie in the bosom of a defiant and defiled weak crumb, in the name of love."

She paused and added,

"Methinks Aphrodite would had walked you through his course."

Pallas took a strode.

"I'm impressed, sister. But unlike you, I know what I want. I don't hop around like a crazed hyenna, pecking off everything I could get a bite of. Not hunting my game but feigning to."

She turned and began to walk away. Persephone countenance fell and her silver eyes bulged. She called as loudly as she could,

"You would walk away too? Too scared of challenging me like the rest?"

She chuckled,

"What would your own excuse be? Hera's was the marriage of a princess and her slave. She wanted to be there because twas a great course of love. Would yours be of hero too? Or what... tell me?"

Pallas walked back to the pool. Aurelius called,

"Ας είναι Αθηνά"

Pallas shot him a quick glance but looked away to the pool. She dipped her left foot in the pool and her foot up to her ankle glowed gold instead of burn by the lava.

"Do this sister and then you'll be in my league."

Persephone didn't make an attempt. She knew she couldn't. She had floated in the air past the lake when she wanted to assume the throne. Only Pallas and Zeus could walk through the lake.

Pallas removed her foot and added,

"We have a father, Persephone. Twould be an insult if I spanked you on his behalf. After all it's his throne."

"Spank me?"

Persephone scoffed, standing off the throne. Pallas didn't bat an eye,

"Such respect, I accord to father. A definition you can never place."

She stomped off the place, in quick and long strides till she was out of the palace as the gate opened before her.

"Το δώρο έρχεται"

She said to the dwarf at the left side of the gate. She didn't take the giant into consideration as she suspended herself in the air floating up and up until she was at the peak of the mountain, Olympus; the great place was situated in the heart of a large mountain.

She floated off zenith of the mountain and sprouted wings in her shoulder blades. She began to fly back towards earth.

For once, she stopped in the air and looked at her back, the mountain in the sky was no longer there.

"Ιερός"

She gave herself to the wills of Boreas.

"Let it not be."

She landed in the forest. The forest which leads to and out of I CHÓRA TOU VULCAN. A familiar land which is now strange to her. Where she was accepted before but now despised.

She landed before the cave. The cave of Poseidon. The cave was as twas before. Cold, quiet and damp, as though no one was there. But there was a slight change. She was beginning to hear the twinkling of water from nearby. She didn't have the luxury of time to figure out from where twas coming. She resorted to magic and the view was brought closer. She saw it. Twas a grotto. Beside the cave to the East.

"Now."

She dismissed the distraction and headed into the cave at once. The cave was dark. There was a single ray of light coming from the front. Up ahead was Poseidon seated in the air, with legs crossed, his back to her.

Without saying a word, she stretched her right arm, fisted her hand and released the fist. Out of it coursed a red cone of fire, traveling in crazed velocity.

The fire hit Poseidon and the force drove him till he planted his face in the cold hard wall up ahead of him.

"Is it you?"

Pallas quizzed and suspended herself in the air, then charged, with the speed of the wind, at Poseidon who had just turned to face her with a smile on his face.

She hurled a fist to punch him but he ducked, sending her rolling away with a mixture of red and blue ball of laser.

She stood up again and quizzed,

"Is it you?"

She stretched out both her arms, standing firmly as she brought them together in great force as though she was pulling two lionesses. And consequently, the cave began to quake from its root and crumbled.

She charged at him before the last rock would fall and levitated out of the ruins, hugging him tightly as they went high into the sky.

And with such great force, she slid her hands off him and climbed on his back, his spinal cords, still in the air, and with great pressure drove him towards the earth. Till he crashed his face in the damp earth, a wave of current swept past the whole forest, uprooting trees and eventually closed the rift.

She calmed down. Then turned him to face her. But as she turned him, a quick lump pushed itself down her throat. Her eyes widened as her lips sort,

"Father."

Her voice broke. The person lying there was no longer, Poseidon. Twas Zeus, her father. She held him firmly, and pulled his frame closer,

"Why father? Why didn't you fight back? Even though you can't die, I wouldn't had disrespected you this much."

His face broke into a quick smile as he coughed,

"My daughter matches up the title she holds."

"I'm sorry father."

She tried to hug him warmly but suddenly, she felt a force on her stomach and into the air she flew. She crashed few metres away from that spot.

Zeus sprung to his feet suddenly as though nothing ever happened. And in the twitch of an eye, he was already at where Pallas was.

"But she still lacks a basic training. And would be easily deceived by her opponent."

He offered her a hand to help her up. She took it and wanted to use it against him, but he was smart enough to withstand the trick.

"I could never had thought of it. That you impersonated your brother, Poseidon."

Pallas argued as they both walked through the forest in no precise direction.

"Which father wouldn't want to see what mortal turned his daughter crazy?"

She chuckled and slid her arm into his side, holding his firmly, pressing it to the side of her left rack.

"Then you should know about the surrogate who sent your daughter away."

He shot her a smile. She added,

"I want to end all this. I could had fought her but I didn't want to. I would have to destroy her. So, I went to Olympus to seek your counsel on how to win this battle without a brawl. But I met Persephone instead."

He nodded,

"You have it."

He kept on walking as she looked at the side of his face. His ability to keep things under control was just way too alluring. She wanted so much to be like him.

"If people married their fathers."

She muttered. He smiled at her and looked away,

"If the gods do that, what do you make of their subjects."

He dismissed as she held firmly unto him as they wandered on.