I paused to look at my surroundings, evaluating whether I would be able to escape her view so that she wouldn’t be able to target me with her spells but the thick jungle was the only place I could run to. However, just as I was about to sprint toward the thick bushes, I noticed the undamaged britur retreat toward the one that had just been returned to life.
Upon reaching its friend and bumping its head to help it roll over onto its feet faster, the two beasts moved away and sloped into the water together. I was sure this had nothing to do with my superior battle skills, as both of the beasts rubbed themselves against Aphrodite’s alabaster legs as they retreated. She must have commanded them to leave.
“That was an impressive display of power, Zeus,” the woman said, her tone had changed completely.
“What was this test for?” I asked.
“I needed to see who I’m dealing with,” she said.
“Can I have my clothes now?” I repeated.
It wasn’t that I was embarrassed, but rather that I understood the shift in what was taking place here. This was not a battle anymore, at least not a physical one. The situation wasn’t completely devoid of hostility but the goddess was now interested in talking, which meant this was a battle of appearances and wit. If I could hide the fact that her aura was affecting me, all the better for me.
I tried to calm myself. Tried to think boring thoughts.
Chairs. I pictured a simple wooden chair and thought about how the wood was crafted and put together to make a sturdy piece of furniture. Though a few fine carvings wouldn’t hurt. And painted in regal leaf-gold of course. A chair truly worthy of a magical being such as her.
Fuck! Why is this so hard?
“Is everything okay there?” the woman said.
I realized she had already thrown the pile of clothes at me without me having noticed it all.
“Yes, I just remembered something,” I said as I picked up my pants.
I put them on and then proceeded to pull on my boots, which hadn’t actually dried completely but at least they would offer some protection from the rocks. Not that something as small as this would have any effect on my Physical Defense, but I hated the thought of stepping on jagged stones or, even worse, hidden crabs.
When I picked up my shirt, however, I looked over at Aphrodite who was patiently eyeing me as I was getting dressed, and decided to put it back in my inventory rather than put it on. If she wanted to play games of attraction, I wasn’t going to let her be the only player. After all, what was the point in literally having the body of a Greek god if I could not use it to my advantage?
“Kind of hot out here,” I said, flexing my abs, which were glistening with sweat under the last rays of the setting sun.
“Your attempts at charm are harder to miss than the sun on a summer midday,” she said.
“I wasn’t going for subtlety. What made you change your mind? Why do you want to talk all of a sudden?”
“It is rare that I have gods visit my island,” she explained. “And when they do, they come by proper means. They inform my priests and arrive by ship or other forms of transportation.”
“I’m not very fond of conventional means of transport,” I said, and looked over at the gigantic open oyster on the beach. “From what I can tell, neither are you.”
“I am not trespassing in another god’s domain, Zeus,” she said, stressing my name. “I would never come to Mount Orthys unannounced. Unless I was running from something, that is…”
She was clever. Dangerously so. She smelled power and turbulence and she was digging in to see how she could use it to her advantage.
“I know of you and your kin, Zeus, youngest son of Cronus, the titan king who sits on the throne of Mount Orthys.” She didn’t wait for my response before continuing. “I also happen to know that some terrible battle has taken place at the top of that mountain. Battles of its scale rarely go unnoticed, you know.”
“That doesn’t make it any of your concern,” I pointed out.
“Is it not?” she asked. “Not even when one of the gods who lives there washes up on my shores with nothing on him but formal wear? I don’t suppose that weapon of yours is what you usually wield either.”
“This old thing?” I looked at my makeshift wooden spear. “It’s one of my favorites.”
“See, now, I was thinking we were getting closer to helping each other,” she said, shaking her head, “but there you go speaking lies. Perhaps I could consider aiding you but I will need you to be completely honest with me.”
Consider aiding me?
She would have killed me already if she wasn’t interested in helping me. She might never admit it but the moment she scanned me and recognized my name, she’d probably already decided that she wasn’t going to hurt me. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who took the considerations of others into account, but then again, I wasn’t just anybody.
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As beautiful as she was, she was still a goddess, and one that seemed like she had ambitions. Having a god arrive on your doorstep, helpless and pursued, reeked of power and opportunity. The opportunity to climb up the ladder of power. This whole conversation was essentially her searching for the right way to use me. And I didn’t mind it one bit. She could use me all she wanted, but she would never manage to outsmart me.
“Alright,” I said, and sat on a rock, nodding at her to sit on another opposite me. “Is it the truth you want?”
“That is all I am asking,” she said.
“What do you know of the Greek Pantheon?” I asked.
She smiled. “I know there are many gods, like myself and my brother, who are powerful but haven’t pledged their allegiances to anyone. We have many followers of our own and aren’t interested in bending the knee. And then there is the older generation of gods. The titans.”
“What do you know of them?” I asked again.
“I know they are powerful and have many followers but do not care much about mortals,” she continued. “Except for a couple of titans who live at the top of Mount Orthys.”
“That’s correct,” I said. “Cronus and Rhea, my parents, are the king and queen of the titans—”
“Says who?”
“What do you mean says who?” I leaned forward. “That’s who they are.”
“From where I stand,” she said, “that is what they are claiming. But all gods outside their circle know they only make that claim because Cronus seized power from his father.”
“It matters not,” I replied, not wanting to get into the specifics of titan politics. “All that matters is that Cronus and Rhea are the titan lords of the Greek domains.”
“Okay, let’s continue,” she said with a scowl, but didn’t push the subject further.
“I am in line for the throne, should something happen to my father—”
“I thought you were last in line for the throne,” she interrupted again, trying to take away every possible bargaining chip I had. “Aren’t you the youngest of four offspring?”
“Indeed,” I agreed. “Hades was the firstborn, then Demeter, Poseidon, and then me. The reason why I ended up a naked castaway here is because I am next in the line of succession now.”
“You mean your siblings...” she started, but then changed her mind.
“A prophecy was delivered to my father by an oracle,” I continued. “One predicting that his children would overthrow him and claim his throne and power. Cronus was always paranoid about people conspiring against him and this was what tipped the scales. He summoned us all to his audience chamber and devoured them.”
“But you managed to escape,” she noted.
“I did, but only because I was late and because my mother fought him while I got away.”
“Your mother, the titan…” she muttered. “So this was the battle that happened on the mountaintop? Two titans fighting over you?”
“It was a mother protecting her last son from an abusive father,” I said, trying to maneuver her closer to the personal nature of this issue.
After all, it wasn’t about power. I’d never cared about becoming more powerful than my brothers or Demeter, much less taking control of the Greek realms from my father.
“Just who believes in prophecies like that anyway?” Aphrodite said. “If anything, those kind of divinations tend to be self-fulfilling.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, using my ignorance as a mask.
She was about to make her move. No doubt she would want to latch onto me as I tried to get my revenge. Perhaps she would even help me, though I had no doubt she would do it while remaining slightly removed. If I became victorious, she’d claim her share of the spoils but if I failed, she would retreat into the shadows.
“What I mean is that if your father had not assaulted you, you would never have considered fighting him,” she said, exactly as I had expected.
“I was perfectly happy with my life, and none of us wanted anything to do with killing our father,” I said.
“Yet now you do?” she asked, pushing her point.
“Not for the power,” I said. What I was saying was mostly true, which helped me sound more honest. “Not even for revenge. But to save my siblings.”
“You think you can save them?” she said, and reached out her hand to grab my knee.
I wasn’t sure if she was buying what I was selling and was sympathetic to my struggle or if she was simply falling back to her seduction tactics. Perhaps it was a combination of both. What mattered was that she was on the path that I wanted her to be. She would assume that I was spellbound by her nature and underestimate me.
Playing my role, I made a point of looking at her chest, as she leaned forward.
“I don’t know if I can,” I replied, “but I’m certainly going to try.”
Her eyes flashed with the light of possibilities and ambition, but only momentarily. It was at that moment I knew that I had her exactly where I wanted her.
“I escaped Mount Orthys and sailed away,” I said, “but my father’s minions sank the ship I was on and that’s how I found myself here. I did not mean to intrude and I thank you for taking an interest in my fate and not shutting your door.”
“A great injustice was done to you, Zeus,” she said, “and I would not be the goddess of love if I turned you away in your direst time of need.”
And there it was. The inevitable upsell. She was making sure I knew that she was helping me when I needed help the most.
“Thank you for allowing me to enter your realm,” I said, trying to limit the amount of assistance she was claiming she’d offered.
“Happy to help a god in need,” she said. “What are your plans now?”
“My father rules over all four domains,” I explained. “The skies, the earth, the seas, and the underworld. I need to find a place where I can set up defenses and grow stronger, and that place needs to be between his domains. Or else I won’t stand a chance against him.”
The goddess crossed her legs, thinking about what I had just revealed to her.
“Do you know of a place like this?” I asked, forcing my eyes to remain on her face.
“As a matter of fact, I do know just the right place for you, Zeus, son of Cronus,” she said, standing up, “and I am going to help you reach it and make it your domain. But I’m going to need two things from you in return.”
“Name them, Aphrodite,” I said, mocking her formality.
“I can see you are destined for great things,” she said.
I let myself smile at her compliment. It wouldn’t hurt having her believe she could affect me so easily.
“I can tell you that I am destined for great things too,” she continued. “I will not waste my godhood on this small island when I have the potential to rule over millions. I plan to become the goddess of beauty, love, and sex worshipped by all mortals.”
“Are you proposing I aid you in realizing your full potential?”
“I am proposing an alliance of equals,” she said finally.
I paused for a bit, acting as if I was considering what she had just said. Not that I had any choice in the matter, and nor could I see anything negative in working with her. If anything, I needed all the allies I could find just to hide from my father’s grasp, let alone consider fighting back.
“I promise you that if you help me fight my father and we manage to come into power, you will be sitting right next to me on the throne,” I said. “You will be the queen, and you will be revered as the absolute avatar of beauty that you are.”
“You know just what to say,” she purred, and moved closer to me.
“What is the second thing you want of me?”
“I think you know very well,” she said, and pulled up her dress.