Rise of the Goddess (****All proceeds from the Rise of the Goddess anthology will go to benefit the Elliott Public Library**** Book 1)

by Catherine Stovall

  "Why did you ignore this world for so long?"

  He bowed his head and exhaled heavily. "That too, is part of a greater tale."

  "Well, you'd better get started, before eternity runs its course." She laughed, but the sound was hollow.

  "It's best to begin at the beginning. You know of Gaia and Uranus?" He waited for her to answer.

  She sighed and swallowed her impatience. "How she saved her children and defeated him? Yes, but not what became of him, or how she became dormant."

  "Of course, that is glossed over in the legends." He puckered his mouth and stared at the clouds for a moment. "Gaia was rendered dormant by Saturn. Such was her punishment for helping to shield Jupiter from his murderous intent. He managed it before Jupiter defeated him, just as he had defeated his father before, with Gaia's help. Later, she became the playing field for the Great Game. Now she is simply called Earth."

  "And Uranus?"

  "Uranus was already dormant and imprisoned within another planet in this solar system. I ensured that when the planet was finally named, it retained the Latin translation of his original name, though many of the humans resisted my influence, at first."

  "And Saturn? How did he escape such imprisonment? Why did Jupiter not render him dormant? It would have been just, and saved all of us much grief?"

  "I don't know, honestly. If he had, the Great Game may never have come to pass, and the gods would still live on Olympus. I'm sure he regrets it now."

  "No. He does not." Carm corrected him. "The gods exist in a constant state of debauchery. Saturn has created a race of slave-creatures for Atlantis. The planet is crawling with them."

  His mouth fell open for the second time, but he regained his composure quickly. "Do they resemble these humans he created?" He asked.

  "Saturn created the humans? Why?"

  "You haven't answered my question. You first, and then I will answer."

  "No. The Atlantians are colourless, hairless and sexless. The only thing they have in common with humans is their general structure. Each has two arms, two legs and two eyes. They do not eat or drink, but absorb sustenance from the air of the planet. All of the food and drink is for the Deuses, uh, gods. Atlantians don't breed. Jupiter forms them from clay; Saturn breathes life into them. They exist to serve and provide everything to the Gods. Nothing they do is by their own will or thought."

  "Ah, so Saturn has learned something!" Prometheus smiled ruefully.

  "What do you mean?" Carm was skeptical.

  "Despite his carnal weaknesses and general debauchery, which are, sadly, a fundamental element of most divinities, Saturn does—or at least he did, attempt to deflect the Olympians from inflicting pain on one another."

  "I don't believe you." She said

  "What would I gain by a lie?" His voice was calm, but there was a hint of anger in the question.

  "If he cared all those millennia ago, he stopped caring just centuries ago. Now, he is the most abominable of a vile assembly—"

  "If I may continue?" He interrupted.

  Carm nodded with some reluctance.

  "After his defeat by Jupiter, Saturn was banished to the Island of Atlantis and bound by oath to never challenge the rule of Jupiter. Truthfully, Saturn was tired of battles by then. He welcomed the solitude. He passed his time making his tiny Island into a ring of islands, connected by ornate bridges and graced with beautiful towers and citadels. He built the citadels by hand, one pink grain of sand at a time, and fused together with the stolen heat of a volcano.

  "Come, I will show you where the first Atlantis was."

  He led her over Greece, the Ionian Sea and then they skimmed over the Mediterranean. It was only a few minutes before they passed through the Pillars of Hercules, to the vast Atlantic Ocean. As they left Corvo and Flores behind, the god took up his tale again.

  "While Saturn thrived in exile, his children, siblings and cousins were at constant war with one another. It was the time of the Gods, alone, and it was chaotic. Saturn could feel the pain, even in his exile. He worried the rest would destroy each other, and Gaia with them. Jupiter worried as well, and he finally sought out his father for advice.

  "When Jupiter saw the great crystal towers and citadels of Atlantis, he admired their beauty and function. With Saturn's encouragement, he set the Gods a first task. He demanded they build a citadel atop Olympus. Rather than sand-to-crystal, though, the Olympians chose—"

  "White marble. Yes, it is the centre of the city on Atlantis now. 'Pro Contione', they call it in Latin, and it's used as a meeting hall.

  "Well, it was originally the palace of the Olympians."

  "They occupy the towers in the rings of the city now. I cannot imagine the thousands of divinities living in such a small space. "

  Prometheus chuckled and thunder tumbled through the sky. "There were far fewer in those days, though that didn't last long. See, with so many hands to the task, and the large blocks of marble used, the citadel was completed in a trifling. It wasn't long before the gods were at loose ends, and each others' throats, again.

  "Ah, here it is! This was where Atlantis stood, before the gods took it to the other end of the universe." He swept an ethereal arm over a bit of green, barely visible, in the great blue water.

  Carm peered at a small archipelago atop what appeared to be an underwater mountain."

  He gestured to the middle of the archipelago. "This is where they placed the marble citadel. It was the very center of the crystal city and had been a lake until the citadel displaced the water."

  "Why did they leave this bit behind?" she asked.

  "When they took the crystal city, they found a fault in the bedrock. It was simplest to take everything above the fault and leave the rest, and so they did. In time, the ocean brought sediment and deposited it here. When humans finally discovered the lonely little Island, they would never have guessed it was once a sacred place, but for the aura of strangeness about it. Many myths and superstitions have grown up around this tiny bit of land.

  "A century passed and Jupiter sought out Saturn again, begging for assistance in bringing the deities to heel. Together, the two Gods created the Great Game, a challenge really."

  "I heard much whispering about the Great Game, but never in Saturn's presence, and never with detail. What was this game?"

  "When the gods first came to power, youngling, they were all equal. Despite what the legends tell, none of them had a clearly defined realm of influence, aside from Jupiter's position of leadership. Saturn believed that the bickering and infighting was a direct result of the lack of focus, responsibility and goals.

  There was water, fire, earth and air, but there was also life. It was tiny, nearly imperceptible life, but it lived. With these five tools, the gods and goddesses would create the flora and fauna, which now populate this planet. He, or she, who created the most complex and beautiful life form, would control the planet and rule over the other Olympians. Jupiter would retire to Atlantis with his father. First, they had to swear an oath to cease the direct battles between them. The gods embraced the challenge, and all agreed to swear the oath."

  Now the diversity of this planet made some sense to Carm. She peered at the clouds, willing them to part, but they did not move.

  "Patience. I will show you more when you understand why it exists. Perhaps then you will not be so resolute to awaken Gaia and destroy it all."

  Carm flinched. Were her thoughts so transparent?

  "Nearly as tangible as my own." He chuckled again. "You are young, and I have more experience at such things.

  "The competition was fierce, but the planet was eventually covered with millions of new species. Some were beautiful in their simplicity, some overwhelmingly complex. At least the deities were no longer trying to destroy one another.

  "As the beauty of Earth increased, so did Jupiter's desire to remain in control of it. He returned to Atlantis. With Saturn's assistance, Jupiter secretly worked on his own contribution. Unlike the other crea
tures the gods created, which were drawn from the imagination and desire, the models for this creature were the Olympians."

  "Humans."

  "Yes, the humans. A male human, to be exact, though Jupiter didn't breathe life into his man until he'd also fashioned him a female companion, a woman. Even then, he refrained from revealing his masterpieces. He was patient.

  "The gods were becoming frustrated with the contest. Each looked at the creations of the others and worried that their creations weren't good enough. They were weary of trying to outdo each other. Some focused, instead, on altering their creations and setting them upon each other. These creatures would then devour and destroy their competitors. The deities changed the rules among themselves, coming to an agreement that the creature that defeated all of the others would be declared the winner."

  "And then Jupiter revealed the humans."

  "No. Not right away. However, with the co-operation of all of the deities, he put limitations on how the creations could be altered, and he set a deadline for the judging to begin. He convinced the others that Saturn should judge, as the only god not participating in the competition.

  "But that isn't fair! Saturn was participating. He was helping Jupiter."

  "Correct, but the other gods didn't know that. Jupiter went back to Saturn, and they altered his humans. Saturn gave them tremendous potential to learn and evolve on their own. He gave them the capacity to think, plan, design, and implement. Jupiter gave them a digestive design that would allow them to survive on an incredible diversity of sustenance. He designed them to rule over all of the other creatures.

  "Jupiter waited until the last possible moment, and then he released his humans into the world, securing his throne on Olympus."

  "So he won the contest, but why did the gods leave Earth? Why abandon all of their work?"

  "Well, as the humans bred and evolved, flaws in their design became apparent. These first humans knew the divine intimately. The Olympians were fascinated with the men and women, and appalled by them. They looked and acted like the gods, with little of the greater power the divinities possessed. Some thrived, while others withered. Some succumbed to the baser qualities with which the gods were imbued.

  "The divinities couldn't resist meddling in the lives of the humans, playing with them like living toys, or pets. Often, a god or goddess would find a favourite man or woman to pamper, and another would meddle. The infighting resurfaced, and it was worse than ever. To forestall the battles, Jupiter called all of them to Olympus and decreed limitations to all interaction with the humans.

  "Boundaries were drawn for each of them. They were to have control only over certain aspects of the human lives. That was when the divinities were assigned their spheres of influence. The plan achieved peace for a while, but the Gods have never been proficient at keeping within boundaries, or following rules."

  He ignored her chuff of caustic laughter, continuing his tale.

  "When the first human woman conceived of a god, Jupiter was appeared furious at the apparent defiance. When the woman was brought to Olympus, however, she revealed that it was Jupiter himself who had fathered her unborn child. His inability to abide his own laws opened the floodgate. Soon all of the divinities were cavorting with humans and the age of demigods began."

  "What is a demigod?"

  The God jumped. His eyes were wide as he stared at Carm as though he'd forgotten she was there.

  "Demigods are the children of women fathered by gods, or the children of goddesses fathered by men. They are not immortal, as the Olympians were, nor as powerful. They are far more powerful and longer-lived than humans. Demigods were also less worshipful than the humans. By this time, the Gods had fashioned a new game. It began that the deity with the most worshipers was the victor, but the human population was growing rapidly, and it soon became impossible to keep count. So, the divinities demanded that their humans show fealty with offerings, gifts and sacrifices. The demigods were defiant. They refused to worship their divine parents and began to meddle in the affairs of the humans.

  "The humans revered the demigods as prophets and oracles. The sacrifices dwindled, but so did the peace among the humans. The Olympians were bound by their oath to bring no harm to one another, and by extension, their offspring. However, Saturn had sworn no such oath. He had sworn only to let Jupiter rule unchallenged.

  "At Jupiter's entreaty, Saturn planned to eliminate the humans."

  "But that doesn't make sense! The humans, animals, plants, insects and birds; they are here, still!"

  "Yes." Prometheus' voice was barely audible, as he mumbled the word into his beard. "My greatest coup, and my most terrible mistake."

  "I know this story. You gave the humans fire."

  "No. They had discovered fire on their own, centuries before. I was caught when I tried to give them a bit of the eternal flame. No, my mistake was giving them an escape from Saturn's wrath."

  "You saved all of the humans?"

  "No. I saved two former demigods, my son Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha. When the demigods' defiance became intolerable, Saturn enlisted Neptune to cleanse the Earth, much the way you attempted to do. Most of the flora would renew itself in time, and the gods and goddesses brought breeding pairs of the best fauna to Olympus. All of the demigods were summoned to the foot of Jupiter to swear fealty. Jupiter granted those who did so sanctuary and a place in the Pantheon as full gods. The rest were sent back to Earth, stripped of their divinity, though they retained longevity. Deucalion and Pyrrha refused to bow to Jupiter. I was proud of them for their defiance and courage, even as I wept for their coming demise." The god hung his head and his shoulders sagged. "Next, the gods and goddesses, old and newly made, knelt to give oath that we would not interfere on behalf of our pet humans. With so many crowded into the citadel, my absence went unnoticed."

  "You didn't swear to anything!"

  "I did not. Come, I will show you a simple wonder."

  He took her back to Greece. She thought, at first, that they were returning to Olympus, but he drew her further south to another mountain.

  "This is Parnassus," he indicated the mountain, "and here," he waved a hand over the southern face of it, "is what the humans have titled 'the Corycian Cave.'"

  Carm peered at the hole in the rock face. It was small, to her, but quite large enough for humans. She watched a group of them enter it with varying degrees of reverence and awe. It didn't look like much to her, rather dark and damp, really. There was a stone at the entrance with something green clinging to it. Inside, the stalactites of the same colour dripped murky water onto the earth floor.

  "What is so special about this cave?" she asked the god.

  "I hid Deucalion and Pyrrha here for forty years. They survived on food and drink I took from the halls of Olympus. I brought them wood to burn, for warmth, but it ran out before the Earth was dry again. After the years of effort to save them, I couldn't let them die of the cold." He chuckled, a bitter sound.

  ~The humans in the cave cringed, looking to the ceiling with eyes widened by fear, as the boom echoed through the depths. ~

  "Your birth mother caught me stealing some of the eternal flame from the citadel. Jupiter was furious, but he was too busy with keeping order among the other gods to deal with me. He turned my fate over to your foster mother."

  "Your coup was worthy of Mercury." She laughed. The sound of it was the roar of wind and wave, and the quaking of the stone. It was the first time she had truly laughed in decades.

  ~Some of the humans urged the others out of the caves. No few of them were shouting and crying. ~

  Prometheus beckoned her away, and they drifted back to Olympus.

  "Justitia would not condemn me without knowing the circumstances. It was she who discovered the Deucalion and Pyrrha, and she who passed my eternal judgement. Since I had gone to such lengths to save humankind, I would be responsible for their protection forever."

  "But the other gods—"

  "Were weary of
the Great Game." He finished for her. "They no longer cared for the humans, or their fate. Saturn was furious at being thwarted, and Jupiter at being deceived, but they had given Justitia the decision, and she had made her decree. I was to be the last remaining god on Earth." He settled back on the mountaintop again, and she sat across from him.

  "But how—"

  "Oh, it was easily done. The gods gifted Deucalion and Pyrrha a new set of memories. Mercury rewrote some of our best tales and made them the work of a single deity, instead of a pantheon. Then all of the other divinities retired to Atlantis. They took the citadel with them, along with the peak of Olympus. We sit on barely half of the original mountain, as we speak."

  "So you are responsible for all of humanity. There were no chains, no great eagle feasting on your liver daily?" Carm felt her mouth quirking as she teased him.

  "No, child." There was no laughter from him, now. "They set me a greater torment than that. I was to watch my descendants suffer all manner of torture in life. Even those who do not suffer, but thrive, must wither and die within a century, as I do nothing but observe.

  "But why? Why not intervene? Why have you let them come to this?"

  "I'm not permitted to do more, nor do I have the will for it anymore. It has been more than two millennia since I have had the consciousness to even watch them." His eyes had turned black once more, and he stared at her feet. Pain radiated from him with force enough to render her immobile for several moments.

  "What happened, Prometheus?" Her eyes were wide and her voice a breezy whisper.

  "My son, Carmaterdea. They took him. They are my descendants, every one of them, and they utterly destroyed him."

  He looked back up at her, his eyes flaming red orbs. Tiny bolts of lightning shot through his hair and beard. Carm cringed, and threw her hands up on instinct.

  "Easy, child. I am no Saturn, nor Jupiter." His voice had lost the anger.

  When she lowered her hands, she was startled by his eyes. They were now the blue-green of the ocean depths, and water streamed down his face.

  "I do not understand. If they live just one hundred years, Deucalion must have been long expired by the time you—"