Divine Ascension: Reborn as a God of Power-Chapter 31: Calm before the Storm

A few days after the meeting, everything seemed to return to normal. Life in the garden was peaceful as always. However...

There was something in the air, a stillness that was too perfect, like the whisper before a storm. But neither Akhon nor the Hesperides seemed to notice. For now, they simply lived their lives as normal.

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The morning sun filtered through the golden leaves of the eternal trees, filling the garden with warm, vibrant light. Flowers opened their petals elegantly, perfuming the air with an intoxicating scent. Bright butterflies fluttered among the bushes, and the distant songs of birds wove a soft, enveloping melody.

Meanwhile, I lay on the grass with my arms behind my head, gazing up at the cloudless sky. Aegle sat beside me, cross-legged, weaving a crown of flowers with delicate, almost ceremonial movements.

"You're very quiet today," I said with a soft smile.

"It's not every day I get to see a guardian god lying on the grass like a lazy mortal," Aegle replied without looking up, but with a slight, amused curve to her lips.

"That's a lie. Most of the time I'm lying on the grass like a lazy mortal. Besides, isn't that what you want? For me to take my days easy and calm? You know, no meetings, no threats of divine destruction."

"It is," she replied, more sincerely this time. "It's just... sometimes I find it hard to believe that this is real. That the world outside this garden still exists when everything here seems eternal."

At that, I turned my head slightly to look at her. "It's real because you're here."

Before Aegle could respond, a stream of water fell directly on her head, disarming her flower crown. She squealed in surprise, and I couldn't help but laugh, while she looked at me somewhat angrily. So I stopped laughing for my own good, and Aegle and I turned in unison to see Erytheia with a jug in her hand, smiling with a smug expression of victory.

"So, 'romance on the prairie' today? How adorable. I almost threw up." Erytheia set the jug aside and flopped down near them, sprawling out like a satisfied cat.

"Couldn't you have ruined the moment some other way?" Aegle muttered, brushing wet petals from her hair.

"It could have been mud," Erytheia replied with a mischievous smile.

"Gods, you two are unbearable." The voice came from Hesperia, who arrived carrying a bowl of fresh figs and an air of stoic peace that contrasted with the scene. She sat down elegantly, as if nothing could disturb her composure.

I sat up a little, watching the three of them. Aegle drying herself in the sun, Erytheia reclining with her arms behind her head and her gaze lost in the clouds, and Hesperia eating a fig with absolute calm.

"This is paradise," I said softly.

"Yeah, right, until something comes up in Kaeron or someone calls you back for another 'sacred mission,'" Erytheia muttered sarcastically, though her voice had a hint of concern.

"Shhh," Hesperia said, "don't ruin it. Let him have peace, even if it's just for a day."

"Shhh," Hesperia said with a calm smile, without even opening her eyes. "Don't ruin it. Let him have peace, even if it's just for one day."

I just smiled.

It had been about twenty years since the mission in the Underworld, when we rescued Persephone. Twenty years... and yet it didn't feel like it. For me, it was as if time had lost its weight. As if the days had become mere sighs, and the years, they seemed like a few days passed. Everything slipped by with an unsettling speed, like a river that could no longer be stopped. I supposed it was part of this... of becoming a god. I no longer thought of the passage of time as a mortal. I no longer suffered or waited for it. I just let it run its course.

But for them, for the Hesperides, nothing seemed to have changed. They laughed the same, talked the same, lived in the garden as if there were no urgency or end. As if it had always been this way. And really it was.

I wondered if they never cared about time, probably it was the case.

My train of thought was interrupted by the soft touch of a hand on my shoulder. A warm, careful gesture, as if she didn't want to abruptly pull me out of my calm.

I opened my eyes, which I had closed when I leaned back, and found Aegle's golden eyes fixed on me. They had a spark of concern. She leaned in a little closer to get a better look at me.

"Love? Honey? Are you okay?" she asked in a low, calm voice, but with a barely perceptible tension behind her sweetness.

I nodded, stretching a little.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I asked you something a while ago, and you didn't answer me. I thought you were distracted by something... or worried."

"I'm sorry, love. You're right, I got a little lost. What were you saying?"

She settled down beside me with a slight smile. "The girls and I were talking about something... curious. Tell me, have you heard about... what did you say they were called, Erytheia?"

"Nemesis," replied Hesperia from across the clearing, without looking up from the book she was leafing through. "They're a group that opposes Zeus' reign on Olympus. From what I've heard, they've gathered quite a lot of strength in recent years. Some even say they want to completely abolish the current political system on Olympus."

"How did you find out about that?" I asked, frowning. "I've never heard of them."

"Because you live under a rock, Akhon," said Erytheia with a smirk.

I looked at her, frowning. "What did you say?"

"What you heard. If I didn't know you, I'd say you are half turtle. You always come late to the party Akhon."

Before I could respond, Hesperia interjected, her voice barely containing her laughter:

"Haha, she burned you, dude."

Even Aegle was trying to hide a smile, and her gaze did nothing to calm my growing irritation.

"What? Honey, you can't deny that she, well... burned you," she said in a conciliatory tone, though she couldn't quite hide her amusement.

I sighed with theatrical resignation, letting my head fall back onto the grass. "I hate you two so much sometimes."

Erytheia snorted with amusement. "Don't play the victim, big guy. You like this game. Otherwise, you wouldn't always come back to the garden."

She was right, of course. There was something about the way she talked to me, teased me, joked lightly even about dark subjects, that reminded me that I was still... human, in a way.

I sat up a little, leaning on my elbows.

"Anyway," I said, looking now at Hesperia, "what else did you hear about this group? Nemesis... is that a symbolic name, or is there a real connection to the ancient goddess?"

"Both, it seems," she replied in a more serious tone. "It's not clear if she herself is involved, but many believe that the group's ideology is based on her figure. Retributive justice, natural balance, punishment for the excesses of power... you know."

"And how organized are they? Is it just an informal network or something more concrete?"

Erytheia answered this time. "I've also heard rumors about them. They say they don't have a formal leader, and if they do, it is very secretive, since no one knows who pulls the strings in the organization. Some say they hold their meetings in secret temples, have regular clandestine gatherings, and I've even heard that they made a pact with other secret group, the Sons of the Titan."

That name sounded familiar, so I asked Erytheia who they were.

"Wow, you really do live under a rock. The Sons of the Titan, or the Sons, are a group that advocates for the liberation of the Titans imprisoned in Tartarus."

"The Titans? Like Kronos or Oceanus? That kind of Titans?"

"Do you know any other Titans?" Erytheia asked sarcastically, which I ignored.

"And what exactly are they looking for? To remove Zeus? To put someone else in his place?" I asked.

"That's the most interesting part," Hesperia interrupted this time, closing her book gently. "Their motivations depend on who you ask. Some say their primary goal is to remove Zeus and leave Hera as Supreme Queen, others say they want to remove both and put a completely different god on the throne. And others claim outright that they don't want another king or queen. They don't want a throne at all. They want to destroy the very concept of a central authority on Olympus. That the time of kings is over, or something like that. Apparently the only thing they all agree on is that all the gods should have a voice. They even want to form an assembly with representatives elected by popular vote. Similar to what you did in your mortal city of Kaeron, curious, isn't it?"

I fell silent. She was right, the idea was... too similar to what I had done in Kaeron. Dangerously similar.

Aegle looked at me intently, as if trying to read my thoughts. Her hand still rested on my arm, warm and firm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She repeated, her softness contrasting with the disturbing words floating in the air.

I nodded once more, though not as confidently this time.

"I'm fine. Just... thinking."

But deep down I knew I wasn't okay. That those words, those ideas, could be thought to be mine. And that could put me or my acquaintances in danger. However, if I acted, I would look more suspicious, so the best thing to do for now would be to do nothing and see how things developed. Who knows, maybe this was all just smoke and mirrors. Organizing against Olympus was't going to be easy, or even possible, unless you have the backing of several of the gods there.

In any case, the only thing I knew for sure was that my respite, however beautiful it was, had an expiration date.