“State your business, Angel,” Zeus, my father, called out from his throne which sat slightly higher than the thrones of the rest of us Olympians.
I looked around at the numerous gods and goddesses that had gathered for this meeting. It was the first time in at least two centuries we had all gathered together like this. “Lord Zeus, Olympians, YWHW wishes to make a deal. Your powers and worshippers are dwindling. Soon you will all be nothing more than fables.” Murmurs erupted around me. I squeezed my beloved, Hades’, hand. We had spoken the night before about our power and that it seemed to be waning. The angel cleared his throat, politely quieting the murmurs, “My lord would like to protect you from that. You all may keep your powers, but you walk away from your holdings. Your followers become ours and you all live normal lives.”
“Normal lives?!” Hera screeched. “What use do we have for normal lives?”
The angel shrugged, “It could be fun. Living alongside humans. You would keep your powers and your immortality, you just would no longer have a say in how humans lived their lives.”
“What of the Underworld? We hold captive many evil beings, without Hades and I to hold them in, they will escape.” I said.
He turned slightly and bowed slightly, “Ah yes, your part of the Underworld. We can maintain it but the rest will come from your powers. Your powers create the binds on those monsters now and that will continue to hold so long as one of you is alive. We will have trusted souls and angels to maintain the realm in your absence.”
“And if we’re both killed?” Hades asked with one perfect eyebrow arched, “What will your lord do then?”
The angel scoffed, “Are you Olympians truly that easy to kill? Many of you have tried to kill one another, and I seem to remember it not being so easy, but perhaps I am mistaken.”
“There are a few ways to kill us,” Hades responded, “However, only a handful of us truly know how to do so.”
“So it sounds like you have no worries, Lord Hades.” He looked around at everyone gathered, “Unless you’re saying you don’t trust those among you.”
“Stop instigating, Angel,” Zeus said. “We will discuss YWHW’s proposition and get back to you.”
“Very well, Lord Zeus,” and with that, he vanished.
As soon as he was gone, chaos erupted in the Hall. Several hours later, no decision had been made. Hades sighed heavily beside me. “Zeus, brother, we aren’t going to come to a decision today, and quite frankly Sephie and I are sick of the shouting. We’re going home,” he said through the telepathic link we have with one another.
“You cannot leave. Once we reach a decision, we need to vote on it,” he commanded through the link.
“Our vote now and forever will be to step down and allow the angels to watch over our followers and the underworld,” I answered. “We cannot risk our power waning any further. The bonds on those imprisoned in the underworld are already weakening. The titans will be the first to break through if we wait any longer to step down.”
Hades held my hand tightly as we stood to take our leave. “Perhaps if the others don’t agree, we can speak with YWHW and accept the proposal ourselves; to ensure the binds hold firm,” he links just me.
“Do you think they would allow that?”
Author: Kailan Counahan 