Elementals: A New Dawn

Chapter 0: Once upon a time

Once upon a time…

In a world far, far away, the mighty gods ruled in total dominion over the entire earth. Led by Zeus, the gods guided humanity. They protected the humans, keeping their kingdom on the earth from harm. Safeguarding all of reality and watching over every aspect of life for all of their citizens, they reigned supreme.

Humanity naturally came to worship the gods above all else, for they were the absolute beings who made the world a safe and happy place to live in. Temples, each dedicated to a god, were as common as grass on a green meadow.

Every single god was an object of devotion and honor, for in truth, without them, humanity was defenseless and leaderless. Gods were divine beings, and everything about them was divine. Their divine forms emanated raw power such that only their priests could gaze upon them without going mad and blind. Their radiant divinity shone in a gold aura round them, which bore the properties of the primary divine aspect. Zeus aura was like a calm yet raging thunderstorm, Ares his son, the divine god of war possessed a blood red crazed aura around him, and it was this aura which led humans to name the gods elements, God of war, God of thunder.

Their forms were each chiseled and sculpted as if by divine hands. The male gods, all elements of natural perfection and unparalleled handsomeness. The female gods, like Hera and Aphrodite, were even more captivating. Their perfectly proportioned bodies would invoke lust crazed madness in all who gazed upon them should they have been humans. Their apparel a symbol of their domains of control. Ares as the god of war, dressed as a stern and victorious general, Aphrodite goddess of sensual beauty was lust and beauty personified.

Each god appeared, bearing their symbols of power. Zeus, his cackling thunderbolt. Poseidon, his mighty trident. Athena, her unbreakable shield. Hephaestus, his hot anvil and mighty hammer. Apollo, his ethereal lyre, and so on. In their pseudo mortal forms, which they used to interact with their creations, they were even more attractive as they were human sized and lacked the natural divine aura they bore in their divine forms. Like majesty given form. Each of them, although human sized, was very tall and of excellent stature. 6ft tall on the average, and their physical proportions and chiseled nature were even more outrageous. They were inspirations for artists far wide and elements of unattainable perfection.

Using their divine forms and their humanoid forms at will, they ruled and protected humanity from anything which could bring them harm. From their abode on the sacred Mount Olympus, they brought about perfect peace and salvation from any kind of evil. Be it diseases or wars, invasion from demons and creatures of the void or senseless battles between the kingdoms of the world. Even any internal struggles which threatened the balance the gods put a stop to them. No crime, no war, no disease, no famine, nothing detrimental to the utopian paradise the gods had made. This period of peace and protection continued for eons. The gods solved problem after problem and continued to maintain the paradise they created. Their temples stood firm, guiding the course of history and ensuring their will was done. However, nothing lasts forever.

The gods were mostly content with their way of life and everything was in order and persisted for eons.

Only one god voiced out his voice of disapproval, the chief God, the king of Olympus, Zeus. It had come to his attention that all of humanity had grown weak and complacent under his watch. Humans could not decide their own fate and relied entirely on the gods. If their crops didn’t do well, instead of trying to till the soil better, change the area of farming, use fertilizers or carry out irrigation, they would pray to the Demeter. If hunting was proving difficult, they would pray to Artemis to help them out. Instead of coming up with new techniques and strategies, they would resign to seeking the goddess’s aid. If they couldn’t do well in certain activities, they called upon Tyche to help them out with luck. Humanity was completely void of any sense of innovation, improvement, self-sustainability, or self-growth. Why would they grow or improve when their gods would do everything for them?

Zeus, the ruler of Mount Olympus and king of all the gods, called for an emergency summit. During the summit of the gods, he tabled his concerns. The concerns of the god king formed a very long list. His concerns revolved around the issue of humanities overdependence on the gods.

In a grand hall, whose size could be said to astronomical to the ordinary human, the summit of the gods was being held. It was presided over by the goddess Themis.

“We shall now begin this session of the summit of gods. Order!” she beckoned the other gods as the session started.

“Lord Zeus has brought a matter for us to discuss. This matter pertains to humanity. That is our main business for today.”

“Also related to it, the decline in power and influence of the negative side of the god sphere. Any further issues will be given time for discourse at the end” she added

“Lord Zeus, you have the floor” she said as she gestured with a show of her hand for him to mount the podium

“Thank you, Themis.” Zeus said with a slight nod of the head

Fellow Gods, I called this session today in order to bring your attention to some key happenings within humanity. We have guided and ruled humanity for eons. They have looked to us for help throughout all their hard times and we have helped them. We have brought them up like our own children, but unlike our own children, they have never learnt to do things for themselves and always look to us for help,” he said and the hall came abuzz with grunts of agreement from various gods.

“We interfere,” he continued.

“With both past, present and future. The natural and the divine, life and death. Humans can’t lead lives of their own and thus can’t grow.”

“A child cannot survive with milk for his entire life. He must gradually eat flesh and bone to sustain him as he grows. So, too, we need to let them experience their hardships and grow. Humanity must be able to fend for themselves.” Zeus firmly stated and paused, waiting for the gravity of his words to sink in.

“Too much of anything, no matter how good is harmful. Too much of peace is not good. They need dissonance and hardship. They need strife, discord, conflict, and adversity to prevail and become better versions of what they are.” Zeus said, continuing with a voice holding firm resolve as his oratory skill shone forth, such was the charisma of the king of the gods.

“That is what I brought before the council today” he said, looking at Themis.

“And what is the proposal you want us to delegate on?” she asked him.

“I propose the gods leave humanity to fend for itself and grow with their own capabilities away from our influence.” Zeus firmly stated.

Again, the hall came abuzz with murmurings among the gods. What Zeus had just said was a very drastic action and it was more than just a simple ask.

“Order!” Themis said and before long, the hall was silent.

“As is our tradition, 3 Gods who support the proposal will voice their opinion and 3 Gods who oppose it will give their opinion as well. Then we will take our decision by voting.”

“First off, those for the motion, please indicate with a show of divinity” Themis said and three gods glowed up in the crowd.

“Ok then. Hera, you have the floor first.”

“Greetings fellow gods and goddesses. It is I who tabled the second order of business. As you all know, the god sphere is split into two parts, the negative side and the positive side. We gods all thrive on the psionic energies released when our spheres are touched by our followers. Humanity has been in peace for a long time and the positive spectrum has thrived. The reverse however, is true for the negative spectrum. No war, no discord, there is less and less negativity every day and the gods who are to be feeding on negative psionic energies are feeling their powers wane.” She said in the tone of a mother berating her children.

“Ares if you will” Hera said and Ares released his divinity and started building up. Other gods began to look at Ares with a curious expression, not at all bothered by the chaotic cackling in the air. His aura of war climbed and surged, tumultuously building up until all of a sudden, it vanished into thin air and it was as though the chaotic feeling previously felt but a dream.

“As you all have seen, Ares’s sphere of war is almost completely exhausted and he can’t even manifest it completely. He’s just one example of how much our babysitting of humanity is costing us. Negativity and positivity, chaos and order, they were meant to coexist in balance. None was meant to overshadow the other.”

“I rest my case.” Hera said, and held her peace.

“Next up is Athena” Themis said and Athena was given the floor.

“Greetings esteemed gods. Hera has said much of what was on my mind. I will only add a little to what she and Zeus have said.”

“Mortals have an unimaginable capacity for growth and development. Their potential for greatness is undeniable but it is all wasted and for naught if they cannot think for themselves. Humans no longer do anything for themselves. If the hunting strategy they know fails them, they do not seek innovation, they turn to Artemis for help, if their crops do not do well, they turn to Demeter for help. Time would fail me to list instances where the mortals have shown to regress over time because of our continued interference. This cannot be allowed to go on. “

“To conclude for those in favor of the notion, Hades,” Themis said as a dark aura fell upon the hall. Hades, as the god of the netherworld, was not allowed to leave his domain often and thus, he momentarily manifested his sphere of death in the hall. Its aura was chilling and daunting and even made some gods have cold sweats.

“Greetings. As god of the underworld, my dealings with humans have always been lesser than other gods. However, because of the constant interference of you gods, the death rate is at an all-time low. No wars, no famine, no natural disasters and the number of deaths is infinitesimal compared to the normal. People only die from old age, which now, thanks to the gods, is far higher than normal. Now, what I am saying may sound ominous and don’t get me wrong, it is. But death is a part of life. Life is meant to end in death. No deaths, means the population on earth keeps climbing. Birth rates are on the increase, and without death to balance it, how long do you think it will be before the space on earth is full? Gods should stop interfering with the natural cycle of life. Let humanity know death like they were meant to!” Hades firmly stated.

“That will be all,” he said and vanished from the hall. His disappearance caused another bout of silence.

He may have been right, but that did not make his statement sound any less disturbing

“On the side of those against the proposal, 2 candidates have opted out of the hearing as their views have changed after those for the proposal have spoken.”

Thus, we will have Hermes speak on behalf of those against”

“Fellow gods. While most of what has been said is true, us guiding humanity is not without its merits. Our temples throughout the planet siphon psionic energies for our individual god spheres. The faith energies we gather are being used to supporting our individual spheres. Whilst the negative gods have less influence, all their temples still serve as conduits for their divinity and they gather energy. I do not see why we have to resort to the drastic measure of completely abandoning humanity. As for humans not growing or progressing, we could take a more hands-off approach to ruling them, but I still think leaving humans to their own devices is still too drastic of a measure. I rest my case.”

“Very well. We shall have 10 minutes for everyone to think and then conduct the vote,” Themis said.

And the hall came alive with deliberations. This was a very serious decision, and it had to be taken with care.

“For the second matter, it has been incorporated within the first, so voting takes place only once. All those in favor?”

The gods voted by raising their divine auras.

“Those against?”

The gods against also voted.

“The vote is tied and, as is our tradition, I shall be the deal breaker.” Themis said, and the gods nodded. As the goddess of justice, order, balance and impartiality, she couldn’t be unfair even if she wanted to and thus, her being a tie breaker was as fair as anything could be

“My judgement shall be just and fair. I vote for the proposal. My reason? Order and chaos are meant to exist in balance. Only in constant struggle will there be progress and innovation.”

After much thought and discussion, the 12 Olympians and other gods concluded. They would leave humanity and stop their interference in their matters. They would protect their creations from external harm but not interfere with their futures as they had done in time past. Their temples would no longer serve as control towers for humanity. Their oracles, no longer serving as mouthpieces to the gods. And so, the gods left the humans and vanished into obscurity. All of humanity’s problems would now be theirs to solve. But then all hell broke loose.