When the Gods Fight

They say that when the Gods fight the world feels the wrath. On this day, the rain fell torrentially which caused roads to flood and gutters to block. The wind howled and moaned as if it were in immense pain, causing bins to flip and humans to fall over on the wet pavement. However, if we look above the storms and into the heavens, behind the gates of Olympus, it was easier to see who was in fact the cause of the mighty storm.

The bellowing voice of Zeus cracked thunder down below as he flung lightning bolts of fury to the humans out of absolute anger. The muscular man stood as tall as the smallest skyscraper in the world with a beard as white as snow and hair as curly as a sheep.

Nonchalant energy sat just to the right of him on the edge of a white cloud. With tanned legs hanging off the edge, a beautiful girl in all gold armour admired the strength and persistence of the humans who walked in the rain. Her shoes wrapped up to her knees and gleamed gold with every bolt that screamed past her head. Her grey eyes glittered with aspiration and her raven hair blew backwards as the wind blew upwards towards her.

“Athena! For the last time, child! We as Gods do not, under any circumstances, go down to Earth! Humans are nothing but cruel creatures ever since the Devil Himself made the Sins.” 

Adjusting his chiton made of the finest and whitest silk in all of the heavens and pulling at his himation, Zeus sighed in a deep growl and closed his baby blue eyes as if every worry he had within that moment would melt away as soon as he opened up his eyes. However, they didn’t. Instead, he stared straight at his daughter with annoyance as she just stared down at the humans. 

“But, Father, can you not just see them? They are individually unique and just beautiful creatures I would just love to see them up close and get to understand how it is to be...mortal.” 

Athena’s ocean-like eyes stared downwards in wonderment as her mind wondered how it would be to not have to be responsible for the protection of these mortals. The goddess wondered how it would be to work. To play. To love. A soft sigh passed her crimson lips. How would she even begin to go down there? She could sneak off the Cloud of Olympus. That would be something...Wait. Athena’s eyes lit up brightly and a sneaky smile crossed her lips as she felt what she thought was knowledgeable warmth, but was instead Helios bringing the sun from behind the dark storm clouds to allow the mortals to see their way through the rain. 

“Now, your highnesses, there is no need to fight anymore. Sire, you are correct in this scenario. Athena, you cannot go down there. Do you know the chaos that would ensue if you were to leave Olympus? Who would restore wisdom to the people? Who would give law and justice? Strength? Skill?” 

Athena sighed once more and began to stand from her spot on the cloud and took one last look below her. The armour she wore shone in the sunlight and cast various beams of light since it was purely made of gold. She turned to the two men who seemingly crushed her dreams with a soft and defeated smile and walked towards where her sword was shoved into the cloud.

“We just want what is best for you, Athena. Olympus will be in peril if you were to leave. It would be as if Thoth were to come here and take over your position of knowledge and skill. I do apologise to Him, but a man with the head of an Ibis? That would…”

Zeus paused to let out a bellowing cackle that caused thunder to crack on the civilians below. Rain followed shortly after. 

“Sire, I just put the sun out. Please, do control yourself.”

Zeus apologised to the Sun as the two men just watched a defeated goddess walk towards the Gates.

“I have never seen the Goddess of War and Wrath so...well, defeated.” Helios queried to Zeus who just lowly chuckled and sighed.

“I’m her father. Whether God or mortal, you always will be defeated by your parents.”

---

In her bed chambers, Athena looked into her clothes in wonderment. Everything was solid gold and white. She was sick of these colours and wanted them to change. The same thought struck her as she had before. To sneak away. To see the mortal side. That’s just what she was going to do. 

Once her father had gone to bed, Athena raced back to her clothes and looked at them. They needed to change. Touching each piece, the Goddess changed each piece into current day clothing and shoved them into a large suitcase that she made appear. Tiptoeing, the young Goddess reach the edge of Olympus and stared downward. Noticing the night sky, Athena recounted the constellations with Cancer being high in the sky next to the full moon. It seemed peaceful in comparison to the day on Earth. Spinning around, Athena pulled out her sword and aimed it at her opponent. 

“Wow. Athena, the Goddess of Knowledge and War, running away from her duties. How...pathetic.” A spider-like woman cocked a toothy grin at Athena who just stared at her with anger and confusion.

“Why are you here? You know you do not belong here.” A cackle came from the spider as she knelt down on her legs to come face to face with Athena.

“Would you believe me if I said I walked? You made me this way, Athena. All because someone was better at tapestry than you.” 

The spider walked a circle around the Goddess as she stood there still confused.

“That is not true, Arachne, and you know--”

“Ah, ah, ah,” Arachne interrupted, “it is the truth and you know it. You see after you beat me with your shuttle, I became...well...depressed. Right after that stupid contest, I decided I could no longer live in the shame of being beaten by you and ended my own life. I then transformed into my lovely self and now we are at war.”

Athena began to breathe heavily as the spider disappeared from view. All she could hear was her cackles and murmurs from everywhere.

“Now tell me, Goddess. What happens if a God were to fall from Olympus?” The spider suddenly appeared in front of her with a smirk. “Let’s see, shall we?”

Athena was then pushed from the heavens with her sword falling one way and her body the other. All that was left to hear was the cackles from the spider before...impact. 

----

In a bright blue Jeep, two teens looked over the city. The lights glittered under the full moon and the sounds of the breeze brushing through the trees put everyone’s minds at ease. The two teens was a girl and a boy, but not in that way. They were platonic and everyone knew. They just enjoyed each other’s company.

In the driver’s seat was the boy. His physic was almost ‘dad-bod’esque with ocean blue eyes, auburn hair and olive-toned skin. His face was scattered with freckles and his laughter and smile seemed contagious. The boy’s style seemed skater-casual with a black beanie covering his curly hair, a long black shirt that went mid-thigh and denim jeans that had patches and holes in all sides. On his right was the girl. The complete opposite of the boy.

This girl had waist-length blonde hair that was straightened every day. Her brown eyes contrasted her pale skin and popped through the make-up she wore. The make-up was smokey and immaculately placed to bring out her most important features. Gold hoops hung off her ears with matching necklaces and bracelets showing emblems of Gods. she rocked a black jean and shirt combo that was put together with a long brown trench coat. The pair wore matching white Vans to show their commitment to each other.

The car smelt of McDonald’s as they laughed and sang along to a musical album. Looking up from her fries, the blonde girl squinted at the sky to see what seemed like a shooting star made of gold coming closer and closer. Pushing her friend, the pair stared in wonderment. 

“Bailey..what..” 

“Caitlyn?”

The pair questioned each other before screaming and holding each other. The comet came close to them and crashed into the grass next to their car. Opening their eyes slowly, they both looked at each other.

“You look at it. No, you look at it. No, you look at it!” The pair bickered before screaming as a hand used the open window to pull up the weight of a body.

“That was not according to plan.”

Athena rubbed her eyes and looked to the sky and winced. Her father was going to kill her. Looking down at herself, she could see that she was…

“Y-you’re...uhhhhh….” With a cheesy and uncomfortable grin, Athena asked for a towel and, after a few minutes of conversation, hopped into the car and began scoffing down the McDonald’s. The friends sat in silence for a long time before one of them broke it.

“Uhhhhhh, so. You are…” Rolling her eyes, Athena swallowed and gave the girl some attitude.

“I am Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge. My father is Zeus, who will show his wrath until I meet him again. However, I cannot do that until I find my sword which should not be hard because I have almost like a force to it so I know where it is. I thought I gave you humans wisdom. Must have gone amiss with you guys.”

Caitlyn scoffed as Bailey smiled and looked at her with kind eyes.

“You’re the one taking her in. Not me.”

----

One month later

“I still cannot believe I have yet to find my items. Also at the fact that Father has yet to punish the Earth, but mostly that I have not found my items. Maybe I am turning mortal.” Athena paced the room until she caught herself in the mirror. She had never, seen herself like this before. Although she knew she had immortal beauty, she was baffled by her looks every day that she caught them.

“Athena, you can wear this.” 

Standing in the mirror, Athena looked at herself in a tall wall mirror that was mounted against a peach coloured wall and fluffed her hair. She had yet to see herself in the flesh. 

“You’re very confident in yourself. You never stop looking. I mean, if I look at least half like you I would do the same.” The girls giggled as Athen took off the large shirt that Bailey gave to her and ran to the bathroom.

“These garments that hold your breasts are most uncomfortable.” The bathroom was small yet magnificent in Athena’s eyes. The room was white with accents of gold and marbled countertops. 

Tugging on skinny black jeans, a white blouse and pulling on a faux brown leather jacket with wool on the inside, she continued to marvel at the beauty of herself. 

“In Olympus, we do not have any mirrors. It is deemed a sin by the four horsemen, however, I see how humans could give in to the sin. I look absolutely beautiful.”

The Goddess exited to see Caitlyn wearing baggy high-waisted denim jeans, a black crop top and a cropped grey cardigan. The girl smiled and walked to Athena to tuck in the blouse and fluff it out a bit to make it more presentable before passing over a pair of black pumps.

“Well, y’know. We’re all a little too into ourselves these days with social media and things like that.” 

The blonde girl lead Athena to a counter with a larger mirror and began applying makeup to her face. 

“Social media? What is that, child?” 

“First off, if you are going to be living with me until you find your thingy..”

“Aegis and Sword.”

“Whatever, you don’t call anyone child or mortal. You call them by their names.”

“Oh, but I only call my friends by their names and, well, you, my child, are no friend of mine. Only by the fact that I am centuries older than you.”

Caitlyn gave out a scoff and smiled with her hands on her hips.

“Well then. Hi, my name is Caitlyn Daniels. I am 19 years old studying fashion design in New York City.”

Ms Daniels held out her hand and expected Athena to take it, but she just looked at it with worried eyes.

“Uh, you’re meant to like hold my hand and say your name and what you do and stuff.”

Athena obliged and stated her age, name and what she does.

“Do you, Caitlyn, have any family members?”

The room grew solemn as the question rattled inside the girl’s head.

“Well, they both died a little over two years ago and I was the only child so I never had anyone to turn to. I took over this house from them and had to create my own jewellery line to even get to where I need to be. Now I get to study in New York City which was always my mother’s dream.”

Athena’s head grew clouds that then filled with knowledge. 

“New York City?”

“Uh, you’re meant to like hold my hand and say your name and what you do and…”

“Caitlyn! I knew I found you for a reason! When is the next time you go to this New York City?”

“Today. That’s what we’re going to today?”

Suddenly, the door burst down as Bailey entered with car keys in one hand and three coffees in the other.

“Let’s go to New York bitches!”

--

Walking through the halls of the fashion design school, Athena marvelled at the sight of the large paintings that showed her and her siblings including her father and others from Olympus. However, she noticed a few flaws. There was no one inside and a few spiders began falling from their webs.

“Where is everyone? And why are there so many spiders?”

Caitlyn held onto Bailey’s arm and hid behind them as the trio moved forward. Suddenly, Caitlyn gasped as a long and pointed arm flew through her chest and ripped back out. The pair immediately ran to her aid. Athena’s tears began to flow as Bailey covered his mouth and walked backwards before getting attacked himself.

Falling to the floor in absolute agony, Bailey clutched his rib cage as Athena was busy trying to mend Caitlyn’s wounds to the chest. Arachne cackled loudly through the hall and flung her legs every which way only to pierce Athena in the forearm. This caused her to scream out in agony and stand up quickly. She looked over at her friends and became angrier and angrier. The way they looked so helpless. The way their blood became thick and dripped into pools on the floor. She could feel their lives draining away.

Sneaking over her shoulder, Arachni used a snake-like breath to speak to the Goddess.

“Look at these mortals. Helpless. Suffering. Just like all mortals do. They are just..well...painful to even look at and watch over.”

“These are not just any mortals.”

“Oh no. Of course not. They are your friends. They rely on you to help them. Your wisdom. They are pathetic.”

“No.”

“Worthless.”

“No.”

“Despicable kind that needs nothing but to torture and sin.”

“Noooooo!” 

Athena screamed. Holding out her hands, she caught her shield and sword as lightning struck the building and thunder cracked outside. Her father was fueling her rage to take this spider down.

“They are 19-year-olds Caitlyn Daniels and Bailey Evens. One studies fashion and the other supports her. Works for her. Breathes for her. He works at a restaurant as a busboy and she works as a waitress and hostess to cover the bills. They live together and love each other platonically. 

I am Athena! Daughter of Zeus and Goddess of Wisdom and War. I am centuries old and I love them platonically!” 

Lightning struck her sword as she held it to the heavens, causing the spider to shudder in fear. Looking at the arachnid dead in the eyes, Athen smirked and ran to her. Striking the blade through her heart.

“And they are my friends.”

All spiders melted like ice and drained through the floorboards. Arachni looked defeated and melted through the floorboards as well. Turning around, Athena notices that her friends were healed and together. Helping each other up and gawking at the sight of their hero.

“Athena you look…” Bailey stuttered.

Sighing, Athena moved with clinking gold armour to her new friends with sadness and heartbreak in her eyes as the trio hugged out their differences. 

“Athena?”

Looking down, Athena dropped her sword and shield and touched the friends on their foreheads, causing their eyes to go ghostly white.

“You will not remember any of this. You will not remember me plummeting to Earth. You will not remember taking me in…” Athena’s voice began to crack as she began to remember all the fun times she had in the past month. “You will not remember those tea trips that we had, pet shop visits and me being sick from all the chocolate that I indulged in. you will erase your memory of anything that involved me and, instead, remember it with just the two of you. You have yet to confess your feelings, but you will. I will see you soon.”

------------

“Still wishing to be mortal, my child?” Zeus put a hand on his daughter's shoulder and watched as she smiled into a glass orb.

“No. I do not. I am mortal, however.”

“Who is this baby you are looking over?”

“Athena. Athena Evans.”