✥ HEAR THE WIND SING ✥

"The weather up here is just the greatest! Would you like an orange, Hestia? The most vibrant citrus you could ever have~" Demeter told Hestia as they both gazed across the horizon that reflected off of Mount Olympus, the velvet orange beads of the sky dripping on the clouds below as they floated past. In the distance was a strange floating orb that seemed to be pulsing a white and holy light, it was different than anything Hestia had ever seen before; perhaps it was a god on their way, or a present to another? She was unaware, but she was anticipating the arrival of more. "A.. a citrus!! Yes! I, um- I would love a citrus! Maybe... we could eat together while we wait..?" the goddess of the hearth questioned excitedly as she turned to the goddess of the harvest, while she simply smiled in response. "Sure~! That would be so much fun! Here, let's sit!" Demeter happily said as she formed a picnic blanket under them made of flowers and wheat, soon causing Hestia to quickly hop down onto the blanket and cause the flowers around her to slightly darken in color. It was a side effect of being a goddess of flames ever so acquainted with the goddess of the harvest; the elements typically did not mix. However, as they were two of the kindest goddesses of the Olympians, they found that they were able to socialize and become friends rather quickly. From the day they met to the day they sat on this picnic blanket, the two goddesses established a separate tower toward the top of Mount Olympus for gazing across the sky; which was what they did now.


"The Olympians that are here now are you and I, in addition to Hephaestus, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Zeus, Hera, and Aphrodite. We are still waiting on Ares, Athena, Poseidon, and Hermes." Demeter told Hestia as she began to produce citrus upon citrus out of her hands, the blanket quickly being covered in different colors of oranges and yellows that spun with the multi-colored flowers below. "I... I wonder why everyone was called here, I mean- every Olympian hasn't been called here all at once in a very long time... thousands of years." Hestia told the goddess of the harvest as she bit into a piece of a peeled orange, gushing over the magnificent flavor. "I think it may involve that floating orb over there... I mean, look at it! It's huge! It is very pretty, howe-" Demeter began to say as a sword pierced through five of the oranges sitting on the blanket, pulsing in bright light as it cleaned the blade; something that oranges typically did. A gasp from Hestia and Demeter both as they looked toward the direction the blade was thrown from stood two different gods, one being nearly seven feet tall and the other a simple four; Hephaestus and Hermes.

"Long time no see, huh?" Hephaestus told them both as they advanced forward, Hermes giggling as he picked up the sword and gave it back to the smith of the gods. "I knew he would throw it, I apologize. It's what he does, ya know. A tangerine, please." he told them as he bent down toward the blanket, the sword disappearing into the air around them while what appeared to be a large golden chain twinkled on the side of his body. As Hephaestus began to eat Hermes approached and began to levitate above them, staring down at the oranges while the colors of his clothing began to twirl through the air above them. "We aren't here to eat. Everyone is here, Zeus sent us to bring you two to the room of thrones and meetings!" Hermes exclaimed as the colors began to develop around the room, and with that, the four were immediately teleported to the room in which was the most populated and where many of the gods resided; it was a powerful room that consisted of thirteen thrones, one sitting as the head while the rest sat next to each-other in two rows. The gods and goddesses were scattered about the room as Zeus sat in his throne toward the head, the beautiful gold being decorated with various precious jewels and red roses. The four that had just teleported into the room sat at the foot of the thrones that sat in a line, right next to the goddess Athena having a conversation with Dionysus. Quickly Demeter had caused the blanket and all of the citruses to disappear, and the four had shot upward onto their feet and dispersed around the room.

"Attention. Everyone, please sit. We have things to discuss." a large booming voice said as storm-clouds circled around the ceiling of the room, resulting in each god and goddess to get to their thrones. The voice was produced by Zeus, the king of the gods, the one expressed to have the most power. After a minute, nearly every throne was filled, except for the one that sat across from Hera; Poseidon's. Hestia sat directly across from Demeter, and right next to Ares and Athena. Diagonally across from her was Dionysus and Apollo. The table was filled with confusion, the only two sitting at the table knowing what was to occur being Zeus and Hera; it was a large mystery what was to happen, it was assumed that there was to be news of chaos or a major threat. As the table began to speak to each-other, a formation of water began to form on Poseidon's throne, and with that, he immediately shifted into his typical form of a god; they were all there. The bright brick that sat on Hestia's throne began to smoke and flame slightly, she was nervous as to what was to be announced; the last time this had happened, they all had to fight a giant beast that was set to devour each and every one of the gods; it was definitely a scary thought to have to relive that moment. As she looked across the table, Demeter seemed to be in the same situation; a small tear began to roll down her face as she picked the petals off of a delicate pink rose, watching them slowly drift downward and fade as they hit the ground. Artemis and Apollo seemed to be staring into each-others eyes in nervousness, and Athena was tapping her foot on the ground and her fingers on the table. Dionysus was drinking wine out of a large chalice, and the list went on and on; they all appeared to be nervous except Zeus, which was smiling.

"Thank you all for coming. I assume you saw the orb floating in the east when you came here. Now, before you all get worried, this news is not in any way regarding anything outside of our throne room. It only involves us, we do not carry an outside threat, right darling?" Zeus looked toward Hera as a tear rolled down her face, the crown that stood on her head sparkling just like the droplet. "He is telling the truth. As we have existed as gods and goddesses, we have each grown in strength due to the personal experiences we have served for our own personal benefit, for others, and for our kind. I am so proud to be a goddess here on this mountain, here with my beautiful husband... we are proud of each and every one of you." she reached over and grabbed his hand, tears beginning to roll down her eyes as their hands intertwined. "We have noticed that many of you are reaching much higher levels of strength, which is why we have decided to enact a bit of a test to prove how strong each and every one of you are. Hephaestus, the chain." Zeus looked over toward the god sitting near the end of the table, which appeared to be holding a large golden chain that looked to be expertly forged; which it was. The god holding the chain pushed it through the air via levitation toward Zeus and eventually caused it to land in his hands, beginning to glow with electricity until it was broken into thirteen smaller chains, like necklaces. Upon the snap of his fingers, the disappeared and reformed around the necks of everyone at the table, sitting perfectly around each neck with the chain producing a small and empty pendant that appeared to be able to fit a smaller orb inside.

"The Olympian Competition. A competition between gods. Follow me." the king of the gods stated as he stood from his throne and walked toward the east entrance, followed by Hera and the rest of the Olympians. Hestia stood and met Demeter toward the back of the walking mass of the gods and held her hand as they walked down the corridors toward a large balcony-type clearing, which looked to be nearly empty besides two pedestals that lead upward nearly ten feet. The orb seemed to be floating parallel to this platform, pulsing nearly perfectly like a beating heart. The gods and goddesses were confused and whispering to each-other, not even noticing that the pendants upon their necklaces were pulsing the same; they were made in unison. "The Olympian Competition is something that I have been planning for the last two weeks, it is similar to a scavenger hunt if you will. It is a competition to see which god or goddess can gather each shard that is scattered about the world of mortals, every crack, every fold. Artemis, Apollo, please step forward on the pedestals with your bows and prepare for a shot each in unison." Zeus ordered the twins, in which they did; they stood upon the pedestals and drew back their bows in unison, each preparing a singular shot with their best arrows. Artemis's arrow looked to be glowing a white-blue light that developed her entire body, while Apollo's did the same with a red-orange. "Fire." Zeus ordered, and immediately their arrows flew quickly toward the floating orb in the sky.


Upon impact, the orb looked to begin to shatter, producing a large array of purple and white light across the sky in all directions. Zeus began to smile as gasping began to be heard from the group behind him; Demeter began to cry. "What the fuck is going on, Zeus?" Athena approached her father and was quickly blown backwards, his body shifting around and facing each and every god; he looked to be peering into their eyes, and behind him the orb began to shatter more and more until it eventually broke into a large array of shards that shrunk into what would be able to make an orb that would fit perfectly into their pendants. Upon another snap of his fingers the shards looked to reign down into the sky below, some looking to fly as far away as possible. "You are all to try and gather these shards, eventually to be able to make the orb with each individual shard; like a puzzle that assembles automatically. The prize is recognition as the most powerful Olympian, in addition to an extremely powerful weapon of your choice, courtesy of Hephaestus. Correct?" Zeus looked toward to Hephaestus and caught him off guard, his face nodding in response as he was unaware as to what was just said. "Good. Each shard holds magical properties that makes them unable to be manipulated in order of discovery. You cannot track them magically, they are to be found just like a human looking for a needle in a haystack. However, you may find that your pendant can possibly glow or send a signal when near a shard; but what do I know? Besides that, there are no rules. The Olympic Competition has begun, good luck." he said as Hermes immediately vanished, along with Ares and Athena; they wished to go and find them as soon as possible.

"You do realize what will come out of this, right Zeus?" Poseidon approached, his white hair floating like water in the sea. "There will be a war between gods because of this competition. In addition to this, Olympus will be nearly empty until the orb is reconstructed." the god of the ocean spoke, and Demeter began to sob even more. "Demeter, wait..!" Hestia began to shout as the goddess of the harvest began to run away and sink into a flurry of flowers; she was gone. Following her were the two archers and Dionysus, vanishing one by one in order to search. "I am well aware. It is something we need to test. Just think of it like a game, brother." Zeus began to say as Poseidon burst into a splash of rain, following god after god; soon, only three remained in the area; Zeus and Hera holding hands, and Hestia standing there in pure shock. She did not know what to think of this situation, it was entirely unexpected in her mind. "Hestia dear, are you going to go soon? My speech earlier symbolized you as well, I feel as though you have grown in power the most out of the rest of us." Hera spoke as Hestia looked down at her feet in nervousness, her brain ticking through every situation that could occur with this competition. Poseidon was correct, there would be war between gods as a result; it frightened her, as she was seen to be the weakest of the Olympians that sat upon one of the thrones. Fear ran through her body as similarly as there was a motivation; she could prove herself with this competition. She could showcase what she was truly capable of if she did win, or even came close; it could mean that she would not be seen as the weakest anymore.

"I... I'll be going." the goddess of the hearth stated as she quickly ran across the platform and jet into the sky with six bright crystals of fire and magma behind her back, her short hair gusting through the wind as she flew downwards. Upon a simple teleportation, she would find herself in a city of Earthland, a city she had not been to in years upon years. Removing a scarf from her pocket as she stood upon the top of a large skyscraper, she tied it around her neck to shield the necklace from being shown to those around her. She was nervous but also determined, as many of the other Olympians most likely were in this situation. They each wanted to prove themselves to those around them in the form of victory, it was something that would cause them to be seen as powerful; perhaps even more powerful than the big three. They were unaware how long this would take, and what would happen in the process; alliances, backstabbing, joy and sadness- nearly anything was possible in this competition. Hopping down from the roof of the building onto the ground below, she began to walk the streets of the city in search of the shards she was bound to hunt for. It would not be easy for her, let alone any god to find these shards; not even Zeus. It would be hard, and duels were definitely to be fought.

wc: 2,545 / 1,000

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