Chapter 34: Love has Consequences
Rowan immediately ran towards him and hugged him, to the point where he lifted Gray’s body off the ground.
‘Wha—‘
“I saw what you were doing, man! I was about to interrupt you, but after I saw who you were talking to, I HAD to stop and see what moves my bro was plotting!”
“A-Alright I get it! Can you put me down now?” he pleaded.
“Dude, did you see yourself? You were so fucking cool!” Rowan exclaimed, ignoring his pleas.
“For real?” Gray asked dubiously.
“For real!” Rowan laughed, spinning his body around.
‘Wait, what if Nekare were to exit out of the room and see us like this?’ Gray suddenly thought.
‘SHE’S GOING TO THINK THAT I’M AN HOMOSEXUAL!!!!!!!!’
Gray forcefully got out of Rowan’s grip and immediately turned around.
Nekare didn’t seem to be there, or rather, she may have been, but he couldn’t perceive her with his senses.
The thought of her being invisible and seeing the whole scene playing embarrassed him a great deal.
“Come on, man,” Rowan said, looking down.
“Dude, what if she sees us and thinks we are… you know,” Gray shook his head.
Rowan looked at him with confusion, wondering on just what he was trying to accomplish with his words.
After a brief moment of silence, he understood.
“Yeah, thinking of it, you are right. You are completely right,” he added in a new-found acknowledgment regarding his past actions, nodding earnestly.
Gray sighed and the two started to go back to their classroom.
During the walk, he turned around a couple of times, noticing that Nekare was tailing behind them.
‘Phew, she didn’t see us.’
‘But why do I even care so much?’ Gray started to think, differing between the different options.
‘I don’t like her in ‘that’ way, but even then, I know I wouldn’t like to be seen by Nekare in such a way.’
’Or rather, is it because she’s a ‘girl?’
‘…It makes sense. ‘
‘I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want anyone to think I swung that way, even less if the person that saw appertained to a different gender.’
Gray sighed. ‘What am I even thinking of…’
Gray, Rowan and Nekare entered their classroom.
Most if not all every student had already sat on their chairs, so Gray, Nekare and Rowan were receiving glances from every student.
‘For the first time, I’m not the only one who receives this kind of treatment…’ Gray thought with amusement, not feeling the anxiety he would’ve felt had he been in that situation alone.
He and his friend scurried deeper into the classroom and sat in their corresponding places.
Soon after, the teacher of epic poetry, Marco Cazzognolo entered the class, his pompadour styled hair seeming bigger and plumper than usual.
‘Did he use a different gel?’ Gray mused silently.
Marco Cazzognolo was the only the only teacher with three whole different subjects with the same class: Grammar, epic poetry and literature.
Naturally, he was greatly familiar with the class—although his ego was too much to deal with, sometimes.
He was known to be a self centered and narcissistic person, though he may have used such personality trait as a mental shield for the horrible surname his parents had given him.
Author notes: Cazzo means dick.
There had been multiple instances where he kept on rambling about his achievements, to the point where the whole class program became stale.
After the school’s headmaster gave him an earful, he stopped his act almost entirely.
Sometimes he started talking about his achievements, but after remembering the headmaster’s words, he always shifted the conversation back to his teachings.
The students, however, weren’t happy about that change. While having to deal with his constant ramblings was a pain in the ass, it was still better than having a lesson.
Gray didn’t mind his continuous talks, for he was could sleep in class while the professor was too busy on flaunting himself.
That was only for grammar, though.
On literature and especially epic poetry, he wanted the lesson to progress as planned.
He liked epic poetry a great deal because it was the only time where different religions were taught in class, although they were mostly composed by greek mythology.
Had Gray’s memory not been wiped off by the amalgamations of shadows hidden in his mind, he would’ve been able to sort every mythological god and goddesses to their attributes of divinity.
At least, he was thankful of being able to reread the very poems and books he so enjoyed.
It was a small win in the big picture, but inside a tedious condition like his, it was still better than nothing.
Gray then asked himself, ‘Could there be hidden, esoteric knowledge that talks about the Nephilim in these ancient poems?’
‘…I really need to study.’
‘I’m pretty talented in this regard, so I might actually pursue a career out of it, though the job opportunities aren’t many.’
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
‘The only occupations I can think at the moment are a teacher and a museum guide.’
’Teachers have horrible pay and have to deal with noisy students and parents, so that’s a no for me.’
He shook his head.
’Museum guides have to deal with many people too, though…’
‘Oh, there are historians too…’
‘I have no idea of the work they actually do, though. If the job itself is silent enough, I might decide to pursue it.’
‘That reminds me of a particular character inside a novel I’d read…’
Just then, Marco Cazzognolo told the class to bring their books out, specifying the page number they needed to open.
Gray listened to him, and when he found the right page, he read the title.
“Prometheus, The Thief of Fire, The Traitor of the gods, and The Creator of Humanity.”
While the title of the page helped him in remembering the actions Prometheus had done, he couldn’t remember anything else about his myths.
Therefore, since he wanted to accumulate the knowledge he had lost, he eagerly listened his teacher’s words.
Marco Cazzagnolo spoke of how Prometheus; son of Iapetus, the Titan of Mortality, and Asia, a member of the three-thousand Oceanids; the daughters of the Titan Oceanus and Tethys, created humanity from clay, and his trick towards Zeus for the benefit of his own creation, in an event that is known as, “Trick at Mecone.”
For the students’ sake, he also did a summary about the beginning of the cosmology belonging to the myth.
“In the beginning of the universe, after Khaos expelled Gaia, the personification of earth; Tartarus, the underworld; Eros, the primordial personification of love, and the genealogy of Uranus and Gaia, of whom the former was created by her as means of companionship, the world was ruled and seized by the Titans, the sons of the primordial gods.”
“Prometheus was one of them—he had the power to foresee the future. With his ability, he could see the outcome of the Titanomachy, the war of between the titans and the olympians—the younger generation of gods—following by the win of the latter, ruled by Zeus, the god of thunder.”
“Since Prometheus didn’t want to fight against Zeus in a losing battle, to then be forced into Tartarus, so he decided not to oppose him.”
“After the war ended, Zeus gave the order to Prometheus; meaning forethought, and his brother, Epimetheus; meaning afterthought, to populate Earth by creating many animals.”
“Upon their creation, each animal was given a positive attribute by Epimetheus.”
”To some, he gave the ability of flight; to some, he gave the ability to live under water; and to the rest, he gave other unique qualities.”
“But by his lack of foresight, he noticed that the talents had run out, leaving humanity to be left alone, vulnerable to the world and dependent on the other gods.”
“The gods then decided to meet the humans at Mecone, to settle the sacrificial method humans had to follow for their sacrifices towards the gods.”
“Prometheus, out of love for his creation, decided to act in benefit of it.”
”He slew an ox and divided it two piles. In one side he put all the best parts of the meat, covering the interior with the disgusting ox stomach, while on the other, he put the bones, covering the interior with glistening fat.”
“When he invited Zeus to choose, he choose the pile of bones, fooled by the exterior made of fat.”
“Angered, the god of thunder prohibited the use of fire to humanity, leaving them helpless against the natural order.”
”They could no longer cook food. They could no longer see in the night, and could no longer bask under its heat.”
“Feeling pity for his creation, he scaled Mount Olympus to steal the fire belonging to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Ephestus, the god of fire and forgery.”
“He hid it inside an hollow fennel stock and brought it to the humankind, freeing them from their misery.”
”Now, they could harness its strength more than before. Now, they could use it to dominate nature.”
“When Zeus saw his work, he was furious. Prometheus was chained on a cliff, to be visited by a vulture who would tear and eat his liver.”
“Each night, the organ would regenerate, becoming a precursor to his next torment.”
While Marco Cazzognolo was about to continue on speaking about Prometheus, a student suddenly asked, “Professor, wasn’t he able to predict the future? Why would he steal the fire if he knew about his punishment?”
“Love is truly something illogical ,” the professor sighed. “People abandon their city, country, or even continents to stay with their loved ones, even though it means abandoning everything they had ever known.”
“While we are inherently flawed, greedy, and even downright selfish, for this irrational emotion we know as love, we decide to pursue it, facing every consequence with a brave heart, no matter how brute, painful, or even deadly.”
He brought his gaze towards the class.
The sun was shining on every student, their figures casting long, thin shadows on the walls.
“This is the story of Prometheus’ son, and his primary reason for his treachery,” he spoke.
“Prometheus carved the first human from clay, tenderly shaping his features with his gentle hands, molding him into a creature of his liking, a creature of which he himself resembled.”
”He called him Phaenon, for he was as bright as the planets in the sky.”
“Prometheus held his creation by his arm as he first began to walk his first steps.”
”He was there when Phaenon first fell, and his was always the arm that lifted him up, encouraging him to try again.”
“Prometheus taught him how to live in the wild—how to survive in the world.”
“They lived together until Phaenon became a young man, and by then, many humans roamed the land, doing their best to thrive against the other animals full of talents of which they lacked.”
“They became crafty, using their intelligence to build clothes, tools and weapons and houses to live in.”
“Then one day, Phaenon fell in love.”
”And for the first time in his life, he left Prometheus’ side. Prometheus saw that his ‘son’ was ready, so he left earth, returning Mount Olympus,”
“When Zeus wanted the humans to worship the other gods with sacrifice, how could Prometheus let them be exploited of the little food they had?”
”They had no talents, damn it!”
“He tried to intercede for humanity with Zeus, but the god of thunder didn’t listen to him.”
“So he decided to trick him, so humanity could be slightly freed from the chains the gods had imposed upon them.”
“When humanity was punished for his actions in the Trick of Mecone, he saw them fall from their glory.”
”He saw them be unable to eat anymore, and he saw them unable to forge weapons.”
”The once strong, lively Phaenon was now shriveling in the dark, hidden in the depths beneath a cave with his wife.”
“With his foresight, Prometheus saw what punishment would befall him lest he dared to go against the words of Zeus.”
”So he gritted his teeth, hoping that somehow, humanity would save each-other by using their wits, the same tricks he had taught to his son, Phaenon.”
“But with every moment of their sufferings, his heart ached.”
“One day, he descended upon earth. He concealed himself, so nobody would be able to see him. He went where his son and his wife resided.”
“There, inside a dark, moist, and cold cave walls, he saw both of them.”
“His wife was on the floor, howling and crying in pain, her belly swollen. His son, Phaenon, was now older, skinnier, and with a long, untrimmed beard. He caressed her, his expression locked with fear.”
“Prometheus stood behind them, his expression conflicted.”
“Had this event been kept secret by the gods? Did they hide it from him, fearful of his reaction?”
“Prometheus didn’t need his foresight to know her future fate; she was going to die. Her face was blue, while her body temperature was almost nonexistent.”
“He finally understood everything.”
“The gods didn’t care about humanity—they never did.”
”The gods didn’t care about anything, only about themselves and their measly, senseless squabbles.”
“He didn’t want his creation his creation to he burdened by them anymore.”
”Resembling a father who only wanted his son to move out of his home, to live on his own, he wanted every single of his creation to be independent, no matter the cost.”
“He stole the fire from Athena and Haephestus, bringing it to his son’s wife. As she delivered her baby, aided by the heat from the fire, the god stayed there in silence, not uttering even a single word.”
“As they held their crying son, Phaenon and his wife hugged and kissed, tears from pain, joy, and thankfulness streaming from their eyes.”
“Just then, something miraculous happened.”
”The son of Phaenon, somehow able to see through his disguise, grasped the concealed Phrometheus’ hand.”
“The divinity stared at the newborn’s eyes, dumbfounded.”
”As he looked at his chubby, smiling face resembling Phaenon’s, a tear slowly slid from his divine eye.”
“Inside the newborn’s eyes, he began to see all of humanity’s progress.”
”Images of humans working together building crude vehicles, windmills, paper, hourglasses, microscopes, telescopes, rockets, and spacefaring machines flashed inside his mind.”
“He understood that his treachery would bring freedom—an age where humans would be free, independent from the gods.”
“And as he was chained and tortured because of his actions, instead of suffering and cursing his actions, he laughed with joy—for his pain was a testament, a stepping stone for the thriving of his creation…!”
The class was silent, amazed by Prometheus actions. They gazed at the professor, unaware of the knowledge he possessed.
“So the constant, persistent self-flaunting of his intelligence wasn’t baseless…” they all thought, not daring to voice their opinions.
The sun shone on Marco Cazzagno, enriching his blue eyes.
With a smile, he called out to the class,
“And you guys, what would you do for love?”
”Would you ever give up on everything, just to see their smile again?”