Demiurge (a Poseidon self-insert in Percy Jackson)

 

We built on the remains of our father’s reign a new foundation, a better one. We brought order to a chaotic world that had been such because its previous ruler didn't truly care for it.

 

We built our own home on the highest mountain and called it Othrys. We built a home with adamant and golden diamonds. We painted it like a canvas with our own divinities and domains making it us in any possible way. We built a home where we would not have to hide anymore. We built a home in a place where we would not have to evade the gaze of a stronger deity, being looked down on. We built this home so that this time, the ones being looked down on would not be us, so that the world could see and watch us without us feeling dread.

 

We freed from the stomach of the Pit the Hecatoncheires and Elder Cyclopes and dressed them in clothes of gold and obsidian. We worked to right the wrongs of our father.

 

We created laws that we engraved into reality itself. We changed through those laws the nature of the world and made it accommodate our will.

 

We cast off death away from our kingdom and made every creature immortal. My siblings and I  ensured harmony between the creatures of the Earth, the sky and the sea.

 

To do such, Tethys left them to go rule the body of Pontus. She left the home we made to ensure that nothing could topple it. She bound herself deeper and tighter with the ocean. She came back changed, metamorphosed into something different and terrible.

 

Gone was the laughing and playful Tethys. What had come back from the abyss was something different. Warmth was replaced with cold. Emotiveness with numbness. The empathy that was directed toward all was now only reserved for us, her direct siblings.

 

Tethys shouldn't be like this before. We had won! She wasn't supposed to become such a thing. It's as if we were cursed. Looking at Tethys, I could only ever see the twisted corpse of my sister looking back.

 

We didn't have the time to grieve or try to find a way to make Tethys go back to her original nature. There was always something new. There was always a new crisis. There was always something that had to be done.

 

Quelling rebellions, and fighting against extra and intra-terrestrial invasions. Fighting against    Mortal creatures that could due to their might be considered divine.

 

Fighting against Daemons and Deities that came differently from Khaos. Trying to do the right something, to build something with all those obstacles almost made me want to give up, to stop trying to be kind.

 

Why should I be kind when those I helped, and protected were the first to try to betray me because they wanted me lower than them or because they feared me?

 

I understood at that moment the last words of my father. All those problems were provoked by our kindness. Our kindness was seen as a weakness. Because of it, all our enemy thought it smart to pounce on them.

 

The reason I hadn't followed the example of his father was because of an unexpected event. That day, I  had been that day alone in Othrys.

 

All of my siblings except me had been out of our home, each working tirelessly to strengthen our reign. I had been lost in my mind at that time stuck into listening to the endless prayers of my subjects. Subjects I had thought would on the first occasion betray my siblings and I if they found a better alternative.

 

I had been found by Rhea that day. She had always been able to see through me even when I tried to hide it. She had me him and had just asked me to come with her on her walk.

 

I had accepted. I had nothing that I thought or considered more important. We hid under a spell that made us appear inconspicuous.

 

We wandered like the breeze through the cities of my subjects. Like wraiths, we flowed inside the lives of the people living under the reign of the Titans.

 

We saw a young dryad playing in a town square laughing and carefree surrounded by nature spirits with smiles inscribed on their faces. I blessed her so that time would never erase the joy she created in the hearts of others.

 

Another moment, we were following a pack of shapeshifting giant wolves. The Neuri was the name those creatures had decided to choose. I saw them running focused going in a direction only they were sure of. They arrived before a waterfall separating them from the place they wanted to reach. The waterfall was one that I knew was inhibited by a voracious sea spirit, a child of Pontus who liked to steal the souls of those falling into its grip.

 

We, Titans, may have made our subjects immortal but it was more a physical thing than the complete immortality deities were born with. All the wolves except one jumped and reached the other side of the waterfall.

 

The last wolf and the youngest it seemed hesitated before throwing himself up in a giant leap trying to reach his pack to the other side.

 

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to. The young Neuri jump hadn’t been well planned. I knew that He would fail to reach the other side.

 

I instinctively tried to act but my hand was grabbed by another one. I turned towards Rhea who had stopped me “The whelp is going to die. What was the point of us coming here if it was to contemplate a tragedy?”

 

“The importance of patience should never be discarded. You should know that very well lord of Time,” she said in a playful tone still looking at the young Neumi.

 

The young pup also realized as well that he wouldn't make it. I could see in perfect detail how fear and horror were etched on his face.

 

Under the young Neumi, the spirit of the waterfall, the son of Pontus was bubbling in anticipation, eager to consume the soul of the young wolf.

 

The canine body of the young Neumi fell closer and closer to the water.  The Neumi was falling into the grip of the waterfall until suddenly he wasn't.

 

His drop was stopped by a strong grip. I could see that the other Neumi hadn't been idle. They had used their own bodies as an improvised bridge to reach the falling pup.

 

“Let's go” Rhea whispered to me before disappearing. I gazed one last time at the Neumi tribe. Their youngest had been brought to the other side. He was surrounded by the pack that was checking on him to see if he was well. I blessed them so that the steps they take in nature will always be certain.

 

Like the wind, I moved to the place where I could feel Rhea. I appeared at her side. They were now on an island which I could feel was deserted using my authority.

 

I could feel the grass under my feet. I could feel the sea breeze batting against my skin and ruffling through my dark locks of hair creating a dark halo around my head. Tall trees protected us from the harsh glare of Phanes. The location Rhea had selected was one eerily similar to the previous home my siblings and I  had before being forced to live underground due to our fear of Ouranos.

 

Rhea grabbed my hand and began walking towards the edge of the island. I let myself be pulled. We arrived at the spot where grass was replaced by sand.

 

Before us as if waiting was a napkin with diverse foods on top of it. I could see Ambrosia, Nectar, divinely cooked meat and what seemed to be a star in a transparent glass.

 

“You planned this, didn’t you?” I said to Rhea.

 

Rhea sat and with her gaze invited me to do the same. I did. I sat at her side. Not far away from them, the sea flowed and receded in an endless cycle.

 

“I did” Rhea admitted. “I had planned everything since the beginning. Does that displease you?” she questioned me.

 

“It should displease me yet it doesn't,” I answered her. “Tell me, Rhea. Except for making me come here, why did you show me all of what you did? What was the point? I know that there was some sort of motive behind every action you took”.

 

“You're right,” Rhea said. With one of her nails, she cut in a simple movement the meat of the beast that had been cooked at her wish and swallowed it like a shark with its prey. “I showed you all of this because even though you tried to hide, we all have seen how ruling has affected you.”

 

“What do you mean by all? Do you mean everyone in Othrys noticed?” I questioned the daughter of the Upper Sky.

 

“I meant only those that matter so only our siblings.” For the first time since our fight against Ouranos, I felt the undivided attention of Rhea on me. “You worry too much. You overthink too much to the point it could be a flaw that could prove itself fatal to you”.

 

“I have to worry Rhea. I have to think. There is always a new crisis. There is always a new problem. There is always someone dissatisfied. There is always something that could be done better that wasn't. We made a promise to be better than him but it is so… hard, so hard Rhea.” A crazed laugh escaped my lips. I leaned on one of my hands “Sometimes, I want to stop trying.”

 

“So stop”.

 

“What?”

 

Rhea repeated herself “Stop worrying, stop trying. There I s something you don't understand about crowns Kronos”. Rhea looked him in the eyes “Crowns are synonymous with tyranny. You may try to present it in another way but in the end, it was, is and will always be the same. You claimed this crown for you and your siblings through strength, courage and wits. You usurped it. Your usurpation was confirmed by Mother but tell me Kronos, it is fair?”

 

“What do you mean by asking if it is fair? We gained this crown through suffering. Of course, it is!” I declared.

 

Rhea answered calmly “Is that truly the case though? None of us is the strongest or the smartest or the wisest. I'm sure that some of your subjects or other deities are more compatible with those adjectives than us. Gaia would have not come to the Uranides if you weren't children of Ouranos. It is because of your blood, what you are and not who you are that you are where you are today.  I have wandered amongst the denizens of your realm and other realms Kronos.” Her gaze became vacant as if she was relieving memories “I watched them. I studied them. I saw their fears, their joys, their anger, their horrors. I could  never truly understand them. They all ask for a meaning to strive for something they think should be but isn't. I saw some of them try and succeed. I saw some of them fail in the most abject way.” Her full attention went back to the youngest Uranide “They all taught me one thing Kronos. Do you know what?”

 

“What?”

 

“They taught me Ô High king of Othrys that in the end, nothing mattered. All will vanish in the end. Everything except maybe the first one has an end. I know that you know this Kronos,” she told me.

 

I laughed “So your solution is to stop caring.”

 

“You can say that,” Rhea answered. “Stop caring because nothing matters.”

 

My gaze went downward. “Stop thinking and listen to me,” Rhea told me. “I didn't finish talking. Nothing matters.” Scarlet Flowers began to bloom from Rhea’s hair “So everything matters” she continued. “Stop thinking about things, about what you could do or could have done. Do what you think is the best going forward. If you want to be a tyrant, we'll support you. If you want to be kind, we'll be kind. We are the only things that matter. Nothing else does, so stop worrying and start leaning more on us.”

 

Rhea’s face was centimetres away from mine. Our eyes were fixed on each other. I looked into her beautiful green eyes, the most beautiful eyes that u had ever seen. I could glimpse stars in them. “Do you understand?” she asked me.

 

“Yes,” I breathed.

 

“Good,” she replied and then she kissed me. It wasn't a hard one trying to establish dominance or one that was full of lust. It was a chaste kiss yet, it felt as if I had been electrified from the inside, as if all of my nerves had been lit up.

 

After a moment that for me had lasted both too little and too long, Rhea withdrew from the kiss. “I hope you didn’t hate it,” Rhea spoke softly.

 

“No…, I didn’t” I whispered feeling lightheaded. I was an immortal. It should be impossible for me to be lightheaded!

 

A smile that was too perfect and bright even for the divine bloomed on her face. “Can I kiss you again?” she asked me.

 

I smiled. Instead of answering, I kissed her losing myself in her and the emotions she brought up in my divine essence.