Chapter Text
Untitled as of yet(I'd welcome title suggestions)
by Phynix
(The scene opens on a meeting of the gods). The gods are having their usual argument. Quite a few of the gods are blaming all of their problems in the gods in the House of Aggression (as always).
"It's all the blonde bimbo's fault!"
"No it's not Mom's fault!"
Suddenly an unknown woman/goddess appeared in the room. She was beautiful in a strong peaceful and loving way. All of the gods under Ares' command/care immediately noticed her and became quiet. They weren't sure who she was or how she got there, but they knew better than to just dismiss her.
She stood there quietly observing the gods arguing like spoiled three year olds. Slowly the gods fell silent as they noticed the stranger in their midst.
"Who Are You?!" Zeus demanded loudly.
The strange goddess/woman turned to Zeus and said, "My name is not important. I was sent here to judge if the Greek Pantheon was salvageable, If so was it worth the effort it would take to save it, and if not, to determine which of the gods could be saved."
This announcement caused a furor among the gods.
"Who are you to be making that decision?! What gives you the right to judge us?!"
"I have been observing this pantheon for the last five years. I must say that I am disappointed in most of you. You have used your abilities for your own petty interests while ignoring, using or deliberately harming those given to you to protect and nurture. You have been fighting amongst yourselves while ignoring your charges and duties until things became too critical to ignore. You then placed the blame and responsibility for saving all of you on the members of your family that you had been denigrating and despising." The goddess had a disappointed and saddened look on her face as she made her pronouncement. The room erupted into shouts and accusations, most of which eventually wound up aimed at the House of Aggression.
After watching and listening to the shouting and blaming, the goddess noticed that not everyone who was to be involved in the final judgment was there. She made a few passes with her hands and chanted quietly for a few seconds. There was a muted flash of light and six people appeared in one of the corners of the room. She made a few more passes with her hands and chanted more strongly for a bit. This time there was a brighter flash of light and three women appeared in the center of the room.
"Who dares to summon the Fates?" the women demanded as one.
This got the attention of the bickering gods as well as the six in the corner. It also got the attention of the House of Aggression who until now had been mostly quiet and keeping to themselves.
"My name is not important. As I have said, I am here to judge who in this pantheon is worthy of the effort to save them from the coming Twilight." "What gives you the right to judge the Greek Pantheon?!"
Members of the House of Aggression stared at the speaker, Hercules, in incredulity for his fixation on the minor part of the announcement, while ignoring the mention of the Twilight.
"I was sent to observe all of you five years ago because I was judged by my peers to be the one most able to judge impartially and fairly," the goddess explained in much the same voice used to explain things to a particularly slow child.
"Never mind that, what do you mean the Twilight?" Athena asked, effectively dismissing Hercules as unimportant.
"Two years ago the Greek god of Mischief died and most of those here were glad. So glad that you did not bother to replace him," the mysterious goddess said with a slightly angry frown on her usually peaceful features.
"Good riddance!" Hercules spat. "The Greek people didn't need that loser and are better off without him!"
"Yeah!" exclaimed the blonde harpy, I mean Gabrielle.
"The Greek people are much better off without the likes of him!" Gabrielle expounded while Hercules nodded in agreement.
(A/N: I was tempted to do the whole "Wish Granted!" + Evil cackle bit. But…) "If that is how you truly feel, then you shall get your wish, and you shall see the full results of that wish. The immortality that you tossed away so many years ago, Hercules, shall be returned to you. So that you cannot retreat into the oblivion of madness or illness, you shall remain sane and healthy."
"As for you Gabrielle and Xena, for the betrayal of your sworn gods you shall not be granted immorality, but will instead be reincarnated again and again with no more than 50 years between each death and rebirth. In the time between you shall remember everything that you have done, caused, and experienced. If in future reincarnations you should somehow regain your past memories, the current persona shall be dominant!" At this pronouncement a flash of bright-multicolored light surrounded the three "heroes".
"What about the Twilight?!" demanded Athena once again.
"It is too late to stop the Twilight now."
With this Athena turned to Zeus. "Why weren't we warned? Why didn't you do something before now?!"
"How dare you question me? I am the King of the Gods!" Zeus shouted, appalled that his favorite godly child would question anything he did.
"Hercules, you have repeatedly stated that the Greek people do not need, and in fact would be better off without the Gods. You have been particularly vocal about the Gods in the House of Aggression," the unnamed goddess said.
"Damn right!" Gabrielle shouted while the other three who had been transported in with Hercules, Xena, and she stared at her in disbelief and disgust. Did she not remember the times that Ares' Sword of War had been taken from him?
"You shall now see the results of what you have said that you wanted," the goddess continued as if the blonde harpy had not interrupted her. With this she rose into the air and began to glow.
"From sundown today the Gods of the House of Aggression shall sleep. They shall retain some very slight control of their god hoods so that Greece does not immediately destroy itself from the uncontrolled aggressive tendencies that you, Hercules, seem to think the Greek people can control on their own.
The House of Aggression shall sleep without waking for millennia to come. They will not begin to wake until the Empire of the Rising Sun sails East and kicks awake the Sleeping Giant of the West with an unprovoked attack on the Bay of Pearls." Her pronouncement finished she sank back to the ground.
Turning to Ares the mysterious goddess proclaimed, "Your House has until the sun falls below the horizon today to get their affairs into order. Any godly being with a spouse in the House of Aggression may choose to Sleep along with their spouse. The parent of any Godly Child may choose for him or her to Sleep along with the House.
I advise that those in the House of Aggression prepare their Temples for millennia of absence, for it will be a very long time until you return."
She then turned to Athena. "Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War, as you are a part of both the Houses of Intellect and Aggression, I am giving you a choice. Shall you Sleep or will you stay awake? Keep in mind that once your choice is made it cannot be changed."
Athena appeared to be deep in thought. "If I stay awake must I share in the downfall of Olympus, or can I escape it?"
At this the majority of the rest of the Pantheon looked outraged. "Athena!" came the shout from many.
The visitor replied, "That is up to you. If you choose not to sleep away the Ages with the House of Aggression you will still have the choice to leave those awake to their fates, or to join them and hope to survive what is coming." As this was happening the Gods of the House of Aggression were gradually leaving without making a sound.
"Why is this happening? So what if that idiot Strife was allowed to die and not allowed to come back?!" demanded Artemis.
"Yes! And why didn't the Fates warn us?!" shouted Apollo.
Turning as one the Fates replied, "We warned the Sky King 13 summers ago that an imbalance in the gods would lead to the Twilight."
"An imbalance?! Just because of Strife!?" shouted Apollo.
"Mischief is a necessary part of life," one of the Fates stated.
The Gods continued to argue amongst themselves each one blaming the others. While the Gods were arguing among themselves the mystery goddess pulled the mortals that she had brought to Olympus (but had not yet addressed) aside for an important discussion.
"King Iphicles, Autolocus, Iolaus you must be wondering why I brought you here. I have some very important things for you to do before Greece falls into the chaos to come," the goddess stated with a serious expression on her face. "First, King Iphicles, I need for you to have your Royal Scribes record what has happened in Greece and the surrounding areas for the last 50 years if they can manage it. At least the last ten years. They are to record these events onto stone, pottery or metal so that they will withstand the ravages of time. They must then be sealed into a container that is to be buried in a location that I will provide to you later this day. No one must know of this. These records could be vital to mankind in the future."
She then turned to Iolaus and Auto. "The task that I have for the two of you is as important as the one that I have given to King Iphicles, if not more so. There are a number of items of Power that I need for you two to "acquire" and stash in places that will be safe for millennia to come. Some of these places are in the territory of friendly or neutral pantheons. You Iolaus have the people skills and contacts to get the items to their hiding places safely. You Auto, have the skills to get the items, and to see to the security of the hiding places. The two of you would also see to it that if the items could not be hidden they would be destroyed."
"These tasks are of the utmost importance to mankind and the reemergence of the gods in the far future."
With this she proceeded to list the objects and places of hiding from them and provide maps to said hiding places that only they could read.
(Aphrodite's Temple, next to Cupid's)
"Mom!"
"Yes Cupie?" Aphrodite called out.
"Where was that secure vault again? I need to lock up my Equipment and Bliss' toys," Cupid said somewhat frantically.
"I've got it open now! I'm storing my potions things. Come on over, quickly! We still have a lot to pack."
"Coming Mom! Bliss bring me what you want to store," Cupid called to his young son.
Scenes such as this one were occurring in all of the Temples belonging to members of the House of Aggression.
The sun was just beginning to set as the House of Aggression gathered in the main meeting hall. Each of them had with them 2 large packs, things they couldn't bear to part with or that they didn't want to leave on Olympus. Things they thought they might need when they awoke.
The rest of the gods were still there not having left after the meeting earlier. Once the entire House of Aggression was assembled the mysterious goddess appeared before them.
"It is time to leave. Gather `round," she said.
They disappeared with an almost blindingly bright flash of pure white light.
(Halfway around the world)
The group appeared in a sealed cavern in a territory the feel of which none of the gods recognized.
"Where are we?" Ares asked the still unnamed goddess who had transported them to their current location.
"Someplace the others will not find you until it is time for you all to awaken. Some of them are even now planning to find and kill you all while you sleep," the goddess said. "They see this as their chance to rid themselves of a nuisance. You will be safe here as the centuries pass. The local gods know about you, if not your exact location, and have agreed to let you sleep on their holy ground. The gods of the Greek Pantheon do not even know that this land exists."
With that she led them further into the cavern to a place with a series of rock ledges covered in a thick layer of soft soil.
"This is where you will sleep and dream away the centuries. You may place what you have brought with you into the hollows beside each ledge. You will be safe from all outside this place."
The Gods stored their belongings and prepared to sleep for centuries. Once they were all in place the mysterious goddess began to cast the spell that would trigger their long sleep. It was complicated and took her three hours to complete. The other gods, however, fell asleep within seconds of the spell's beginning.
Once she was done she checked over the sleeping gods one last time and then allowed the pull of her home to take her to when she should be.
end part 1