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☸ Be Forewarned, The Night has Come • Zeus/Prometheus
Be Forewarned, The Night has Come
Zeus/Prometheus
• 1.5k
• written for ruins_of_sodom to celebrate his GROWN UP JOB!
• clockwork universe
• with a side helping of Zeus/Ganymedes because, well.
Zeus looked up from his desk, his faceplate impassive. I don't believe you.
Like all gods, he spoke through a direct electrical signal - something that had taken Prometheus a long time to get used to, and it always left a coppery buzz in his mouth afterward. "You have to. You both need to let this go, but you even more, Zeus."
The older brother was seated in a chair by the window, his scales glinting and his helmet, growing algae under the sharp ridges. You'll forgive us if we don't exactly trust you.
Prometheus threw up his hands. Why did he even bother? "I heard it from Eagle who heard it from the Oracle of Delphi herself. Are you going to test the worth of the Pythia?"
There was a static bark of laughter from Poseidon, but Zeus, Prometheus could see, looked troubled. ...If it is as important as you say, why has Apollo not informed me directly?
"He doesn't hear all the Pythia says. You know that. He is the conduit; she interprets his signals. And she's never wrong." He tried to pour as much honesty into his tone as he could; he never quite knew whether the gods could differentiate, or if they were such different creatures as to be completely untranslatable.
Poseidon's blank helmet turned to his brother's. You're not seriously going to listen to him, are you?
Zeus's head snapped up and his neck creaked; Prometheus felt his fingers twitch. He was behind on his oiling again. Wouldn't he ever learn?
I won't become my father, Poseidon, Zeus let out in a hiss and crackle of electricity. And I refuse to allow you to spawn our demise.
And if he's lying? Poseidon had no love for Prometheus, this he well knew. It was like, once Zeus's temper towards him had cooled, Poseidon had felt it necessary to pick up the slack in his brother's grudge. Prometheus didn't understand it. Things had made more sense when Zeus still hated him.
Zeus slammed his hand down on the table and the creak became a wrenching squeal. Then he's lying! What have we got to lose? Thetis? You can find a hundred like her. Or make them. She's from one of your blueprints, anyway, and Prometheus could hear that Zeus had his mind made up. He was done with Thetis, and so was Poseidon. We should marry her off before anyone gets any more ideas.
We?! Poseidon surged up in his chair, and Prometheus began backing away - when the brothers got their fight on, the best place to be was far, far away. I will not stand for -
"Try Peleus," Prometheus offered, just before Zeus brushed him away irritably.
Leave, he zapped shortly, and the demi-titan left before his hair began to singe.
☸
It didn't seem like such a big thing at the start. Eagle told him all about it, as she was cheerfully gauging his liver out with one hand. That was his price to pay for her information - she would let the torture drag out for as long as she needed to tell it to him.
"...Then Zeus panicked and foisted it off on Hermes, who chose a boy at random - turned out to be a Prince of Troy, Paris or something. You know how Zeus is with Trojan princes," and Prometheus did know, it was right around then that Zeus had abruptly forgiven him. "So anyway, the girls all give him each a prize for saying they're the prettiest, and you know where this is going, don't you? You'd have to be mentally incapacitated to think that choosing between Hera, Athene, or Aphrodite is ever a good idea. But, he's a young man, and all young men think with their - "
"Please, Eagle, can we speed this up a notch?" He was fairly certain she was going to skewer one of his kidneys by accident, also the pain had started to edge on blackout levels, and he didn't want to miss the story.
"Right. So Aphrodite offers Helen, you know, Helen of Sparta, and his little Paris decides that this is the best choice."
"Seems-" he gasped and hissed- "fair to me. Not much of a choice, there."
"Yes, but it's terrible. Athene and Hera will be out for blood, now."
Prometheus groaned; he'd had just about as much as he could take, and could Eagle please kindly fuck off?
"See you tomorrow, sweetie," the angel-shaped automaton said with a wicked little grin.
Prometheus didn't even dignify that with a response.
☸
He heard the story in bits and pieces over the next ten years. For all that Herakles had freed him of his chains, he was still no rocket-powered God, and boats made him fairly ill. He stuck close to Olympus during his free hours, teaching, influencing, and generally being a bother. Besides, he liked wars almost as much as he liked Poseidon. At least wars were more interesting to hear about.
It was only after, when everything was over, that he was summoned up to Zeus's office, all the way up the rickety iron spires of Olympus. Prometheus sighed and set out. The least he could do was send a chariot, or one of those infernal gas-burning pegasi. But no. Zeus wanted to see him and he never thought about anything but himself, so he had to work for it.
When he stepped in, he knew that this was going to be a bad, bad meeting.
Zeus's office was something like the inside of a massive clock. Everything went tick, but unevenly, because the tick of the Cosmos was not so orderly that it could be confined to one particular rhythm.
It was impossibly irritating.
Prometheus, and Zeus's voice scraped and snarled along his skin. What have you done.
Excuse me? What have I done? He blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
This, all of this! The god swept a hand in a furious array. The War! The death of Achilles! And you said we should marry her to Peleus. HA. Just look at how that turned out.
It took Prometheus a distressingly long time to piece it all together - how one thing had led to another, and yes, perhaps, if he'd said something different, none of this would've occurred at all.
He doubted that.
"Zeus. It was a ten-year war. You and I know that such things have a way of happening no matter what."
But what if the price was different? What if it was Athens, or Sparta - anywhere but...
Troy. So this was about Ganymedes, and Prometheus told that horrible jealous voice in his squishy human heart to go away.
He watched, dumbstruck, as the God - yes, the God, that clockwork being with no heart - fell slowly to his knees in a horrible rending screech. You did this, you did this. You started this all.
"No - Zeus, I didn't - "
You said it was a prophecy! Prometheus felt the snap crackle of the God's words sizzle over him; he knew his hair would start to smoke and he didn't even care. I listened to you! I trusted you! It was all a lie, wasn't it? You've always known where to hit me hardest--
"Oh, Zeus." Prometheus couldn't take it; his heart was too soft, too warm, too delicate for this much grief. He, too, fell to his knees, wrapped his fingers around those lovely clockwork hands. "Zeus. Of course it wasn't a lie. I was trying to protect you; I always have been." Kronos. Pandora. Even Deukalion, though they were still in disagreement about that. Always for Zeus. "I said Peleus's name at random. I was just trying to protect you, and Olympus."
Gods did not cry, not really. But there was a sound they made, like a spring being wound too tight, and when Prometheus heard it he knew that Zeus had crossed some sort of line, broken in some irreparable way, or perhaps realized that all these things Prometheus had been telling him for ages upon ages were really rather true.
But Prometheus knew it wouldn't last. It couldn't. Zeus was a God, he was made of metal and thought and more things than a half-titan could understand. He didn't know what Ganymedes was to cause such a change in a creature thought to be unchangeable, but humans were made for extraordinary things. He would know. He made them.
"And your boy? Ganymedes?" Prometheus stroked the top of Zeus's platinum helmet. "Where is he?"
Mourning, of course, Zeus hummed, right against Prometheus's bones. I expect he'll be ignoring me for a good long while this time.
Understandably, though Prometheus didn't say that. "Then, let me get your joints. You haven't been oiled in a while, have you?"
Too long, Zeus said like a whisper, bouncing in a deep hollow space. Before the war.
It wouldn't last, but to those who had eternity, the smallest breath of time sometimes meant more than forever.
Zeus/Prometheus
• 1.5k
• written for ruins_of_sodom to celebrate his GROWN UP JOB!
• clockwork universe
• with a side helping of Zeus/Ganymedes because, well.
Zeus looked up from his desk, his faceplate impassive. I don't believe you.
Like all gods, he spoke through a direct electrical signal - something that had taken Prometheus a long time to get used to, and it always left a coppery buzz in his mouth afterward. "You have to. You both need to let this go, but you even more, Zeus."
The older brother was seated in a chair by the window, his scales glinting and his helmet, growing algae under the sharp ridges. You'll forgive us if we don't exactly trust you.
Prometheus threw up his hands. Why did he even bother? "I heard it from Eagle who heard it from the Oracle of Delphi herself. Are you going to test the worth of the Pythia?"
There was a static bark of laughter from Poseidon, but Zeus, Prometheus could see, looked troubled. ...If it is as important as you say, why has Apollo not informed me directly?
"He doesn't hear all the Pythia says. You know that. He is the conduit; she interprets his signals. And she's never wrong." He tried to pour as much honesty into his tone as he could; he never quite knew whether the gods could differentiate, or if they were such different creatures as to be completely untranslatable.
Poseidon's blank helmet turned to his brother's. You're not seriously going to listen to him, are you?
Zeus's head snapped up and his neck creaked; Prometheus felt his fingers twitch. He was behind on his oiling again. Wouldn't he ever learn?
I won't become my father, Poseidon, Zeus let out in a hiss and crackle of electricity. And I refuse to allow you to spawn our demise.
And if he's lying? Poseidon had no love for Prometheus, this he well knew. It was like, once Zeus's temper towards him had cooled, Poseidon had felt it necessary to pick up the slack in his brother's grudge. Prometheus didn't understand it. Things had made more sense when Zeus still hated him.
Zeus slammed his hand down on the table and the creak became a wrenching squeal. Then he's lying! What have we got to lose? Thetis? You can find a hundred like her. Or make them. She's from one of your blueprints, anyway, and Prometheus could hear that Zeus had his mind made up. He was done with Thetis, and so was Poseidon. We should marry her off before anyone gets any more ideas.
We?! Poseidon surged up in his chair, and Prometheus began backing away - when the brothers got their fight on, the best place to be was far, far away. I will not stand for -
"Try Peleus," Prometheus offered, just before Zeus brushed him away irritably.
Leave, he zapped shortly, and the demi-titan left before his hair began to singe.
☸
It didn't seem like such a big thing at the start. Eagle told him all about it, as she was cheerfully gauging his liver out with one hand. That was his price to pay for her information - she would let the torture drag out for as long as she needed to tell it to him.
"...Then Zeus panicked and foisted it off on Hermes, who chose a boy at random - turned out to be a Prince of Troy, Paris or something. You know how Zeus is with Trojan princes," and Prometheus did know, it was right around then that Zeus had abruptly forgiven him. "So anyway, the girls all give him each a prize for saying they're the prettiest, and you know where this is going, don't you? You'd have to be mentally incapacitated to think that choosing between Hera, Athene, or Aphrodite is ever a good idea. But, he's a young man, and all young men think with their - "
"Please, Eagle, can we speed this up a notch?" He was fairly certain she was going to skewer one of his kidneys by accident, also the pain had started to edge on blackout levels, and he didn't want to miss the story.
"Right. So Aphrodite offers Helen, you know, Helen of Sparta, and his little Paris decides that this is the best choice."
"Seems-" he gasped and hissed- "fair to me. Not much of a choice, there."
"Yes, but it's terrible. Athene and Hera will be out for blood, now."
Prometheus groaned; he'd had just about as much as he could take, and could Eagle please kindly fuck off?
"See you tomorrow, sweetie," the angel-shaped automaton said with a wicked little grin.
Prometheus didn't even dignify that with a response.
☸
He heard the story in bits and pieces over the next ten years. For all that Herakles had freed him of his chains, he was still no rocket-powered God, and boats made him fairly ill. He stuck close to Olympus during his free hours, teaching, influencing, and generally being a bother. Besides, he liked wars almost as much as he liked Poseidon. At least wars were more interesting to hear about.
It was only after, when everything was over, that he was summoned up to Zeus's office, all the way up the rickety iron spires of Olympus. Prometheus sighed and set out. The least he could do was send a chariot, or one of those infernal gas-burning pegasi. But no. Zeus wanted to see him and he never thought about anything but himself, so he had to work for it.
When he stepped in, he knew that this was going to be a bad, bad meeting.
Zeus's office was something like the inside of a massive clock. Everything went tick, but unevenly, because the tick of the Cosmos was not so orderly that it could be confined to one particular rhythm.
It was impossibly irritating.
Prometheus, and Zeus's voice scraped and snarled along his skin. What have you done.
Excuse me? What have I done? He blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"
This, all of this! The god swept a hand in a furious array. The War! The death of Achilles! And you said we should marry her to Peleus. HA. Just look at how that turned out.
It took Prometheus a distressingly long time to piece it all together - how one thing had led to another, and yes, perhaps, if he'd said something different, none of this would've occurred at all.
He doubted that.
"Zeus. It was a ten-year war. You and I know that such things have a way of happening no matter what."
But what if the price was different? What if it was Athens, or Sparta - anywhere but...
Troy. So this was about Ganymedes, and Prometheus told that horrible jealous voice in his squishy human heart to go away.
He watched, dumbstruck, as the God - yes, the God, that clockwork being with no heart - fell slowly to his knees in a horrible rending screech. You did this, you did this. You started this all.
"No - Zeus, I didn't - "
You said it was a prophecy! Prometheus felt the snap crackle of the God's words sizzle over him; he knew his hair would start to smoke and he didn't even care. I listened to you! I trusted you! It was all a lie, wasn't it? You've always known where to hit me hardest--
"Oh, Zeus." Prometheus couldn't take it; his heart was too soft, too warm, too delicate for this much grief. He, too, fell to his knees, wrapped his fingers around those lovely clockwork hands. "Zeus. Of course it wasn't a lie. I was trying to protect you; I always have been." Kronos. Pandora. Even Deukalion, though they were still in disagreement about that. Always for Zeus. "I said Peleus's name at random. I was just trying to protect you, and Olympus."
Gods did not cry, not really. But there was a sound they made, like a spring being wound too tight, and when Prometheus heard it he knew that Zeus had crossed some sort of line, broken in some irreparable way, or perhaps realized that all these things Prometheus had been telling him for ages upon ages were really rather true.
But Prometheus knew it wouldn't last. It couldn't. Zeus was a God, he was made of metal and thought and more things than a half-titan could understand. He didn't know what Ganymedes was to cause such a change in a creature thought to be unchangeable, but humans were made for extraordinary things. He would know. He made them.
"And your boy? Ganymedes?" Prometheus stroked the top of Zeus's platinum helmet. "Where is he?"
Mourning, of course, Zeus hummed, right against Prometheus's bones. I expect he'll be ignoring me for a good long while this time.
Understandably, though Prometheus didn't say that. "Then, let me get your joints. You haven't been oiled in a while, have you?"
Too long, Zeus said like a whisper, bouncing in a deep hollow space. Before the war.
It wouldn't last, but to those who had eternity, the smallest breath of time sometimes meant more than forever.