May the Gods Be Ever in Your Favour

*Third-Person POV*

The powerful god stood at the point of Mount Olympus, looking down at the world below him with a grim look on his face. He exhaled deeply, causing a great wind to blow down, creating little clouds here and there throughout the sky.

“Zeus,” the grave voice of his wife, Hera, said as she put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “It is time. All of us have made our choices. Have you made yours?”

He closed his eyes and turned to the goddess he had called his faithful wife for the past half millennia. He opened them to see that her usual calm and serene demeanor had disappeared, and was replaced with an exhausted and defeated expression. He figured that’s what five hundred years of staying faithful to a guy like himself does to someone, though. Poor girl. When they first met, he had found her beautiful, with her long brown hair and the body of any man’s dreams, and he was all hers. And he still did think she was quite gorgeous, it was just that any face can get old after five centuries.

It was time to say goodbye though. He and all the others had been chosen to live over four hundred years than what they were supposed to, and their time was up.

He cleared his throat and nodded.

Hera gave him a relieved look, and then slowly started to walk away before glancing behind and nervously holding out her hand for him to take.

He smiled at her warmly and took it, seeing as it only seemed right after all this time.

They walked through the golden streets of Olympus towards their court, hand in hand, just enjoying the last few minutes they had with each other.

“Promise me you’ll find me in Elysium?” He asked.

She looked at him, surprised. “Of course,” she said, although a bit confused.

“I’d rather spend my eternity there with you than with some wood nymph I met yesterday,” he said, looking down.

She gave him a genuine smile, tears starting to form in her eyes. “Oh, Zeus,” she said, throwing her arms around him for the first time in a long time.

They stood there for a few minutes, just embracing each other.

Finally, Hera let go. “We really do need to get going though.”

“Of course, of course,” Zeus nodded and took her hand in his once again, walking with her to the pearly gates of their empire.

The gates swung open, making way for a lavish set of stairs, which they gracefully walked up. As they walked between the grand columns, a wave of nostalgia washed over Zeus, and he found himself not wanting to go. He liked it here. He liked having control over just about everyone else, being able to go about and do as he pleased.

When they entered the court, everyone was waiting for them. He took his spot at the head of the long table with Hera at his side, and Poseidon and even Hades on his other.

“Brothers,” he said as he sat down, “sisters. It is time for us all to step down. Unless one of you have fulfilled the prophecy and have not informed me of it, it is time to say goodbye.” He waited a few moments, hoping that the Fates were wrong, but no one said a word. “Our memories will live on forever, but we, as ourselves, will not. We have been strong in our short time of reign here, and I know our memories have been too. It is time to pass those recollections on to the next generation. I wish the best for each and every one of you, and I hope to see all of you in Elysium,” he concluded. He figured it was best to keep this one short and sweet.

“Oh, Zeus-y. Forgetting something?” Hades taunted with an eyebrow raised. Well, Disney certainly did get the sassy and sarcastic aspect of his brother down pat.

“Yessss, something a bit important, don’t you…thhhhink?” Nemesis hissed from his seat quite a ways down.

“If you mean my decision, yes, I have made mine,” Zeus said, annoyed by his brother and glad that he’d never have to see him again if he didn’t want to.

“Well, big boy, what is it?” Hades pushed.

“I’LL GIVE YOU MY DAMN ANSWER WHEN I THINK IT’S DAMN TIME!!” Zeus seethed, pounding his fist on the table and making the entirety around and beneath them shake. Hera put a gentle hand on his arm, making him look down, realizing that he had jumped up in his rage. He composed himself and sat back down. “Don’t push me, Hades.”

“Aaaand that’s why we get switched out every five hundred years, because of those like you,” Alastor chimed in. Others around him broke out into conversations amongst themselves, immediately taking sides.

Zeus shot him an irritated look. He didn’t need the god of family feuds adding fuel to the fire at this point.

“Father, I really do think it would be a good time for you to give us your answer,” his daughter Athena said wisely. “Considering we’re all here and ready.”

He knew she was right; he just didn’t want to say goodbye. But he had to. They all did.

“Alright. I’ll give you my answer,” he sighed.

Everyone in the room was quiet, listening intently. They were all leaned forward, ready for his response. It was as though the entire world was waiting on him. Well, technically it was.

“My choice has been made, and it’s final,” he said quietly. The whole room seemed to have stopped breathing. Once he announced the name, that’d be it, it would be official, and they would all be separated, then off to Elysium sooner than later. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath before whispering, “Alex Gaskarth.”