The Play of Eris
There is a pastime that the perfect, immortal gods, born into eternal splendor, find most exhilarating.
It is to transform into humans, seal away their divine powers, and wander through Greece to experience the life of a mortal.
The prime example of this was Dionysus, who, with his powers almost entirely sealed, traveled all the way to the eastern edge of the world where Rhea resides. Inspired by the fascinating tales of mortal life he shared, the gods of Olympus would occasionally disguise themselves as humans to observe Greece.
From Zeus, who frequently descended to seek out women with whom to share his love, to Athena, who wandered the land to witness the flashes of inspiration unique to humanity, and Ares, who roamed in search of worthy opponents—many Olympian gods hid their divinity to immerse themselves in human life, seeking fresh stimulation for their tedious, eternal existence.
Of course, not all gods were willing to endure such inconveniences for the sake of excitement.
Eris, for one, had never felt the need to transform into a human to find amusement in Greece. In a land that never knew a single day of peace, her divine domain—discord and strife—was a perpetual, blooming festival. Seeing warriors' corpses pile up like mountains and hearing the shrill voices of women quarreling was more than enough to ensure she was never bored.
And so, viewing Greece from this low, mortal perspective was a truly novel experience.
-Clop! Clop!
The dust rising from the earth was closer than the clouds adorning the sky. Her body, which had always glided gracefully through the heavens, swayed up and down with every stride of the horse. When she spread her powerful wings—wings so magnificent they drew praise even from the man her mother had destined for her—and soared high, even Olympus itself could not dare to obstruct her view. Yet here, a mere low hill behind the temple of Aphrodite stood stiffly in her way.
'Hmph! I don't like this!'
When she first passed through the city gates, she had wanted to spread her wings and fly into the sky immediately. This limited perspective, a burden mortals must bear, was an unbearable restriction for one whom even Zeus treated with deference.
"How is it? Your backside isn't hurting, is it?"
"...You lecher. The first thing you ask is about my backside?"
"Can't a man speak?"
However, for some reason, this perspective didn't seem so bad.
"Hehehe~"
There were the sturdy arms firmly supporting her swaying body, the solid sensation of his back that didn't budge an inch when she leaned against it, and the watchful gaze that adjusted their speed to ensure she wouldn't fall—all right where his breath could reach her.
"Hehehehe~"
"Look at that. My dear sister. There is a fragrance to be savored in the sky, but there is also a thrill to be found in racing across the land, isn't there?"
Even though she was being tossed about on a rough horse, Eris hummed a tune, feeling as light as if she were sitting on a cloud. Dianes, perhaps misinterpreting her mood, was rambling on about something else.
"G-gack... S-save..."
"Quiet. Pests."
-Squelch!
Mountains and forests swayed in shades of green like rising and falling waves. And in the midst of this hellscape, where corpses lay headless and limbless, and red blood flowed, stood only a black reaper holding a massive sword-spear, holding the Goddess of Discord in his arms, and the pure white horse that carried them.
"How troublesome."
"Hehe! I like it! Do you know how many places there are where I can smell such thick blood and the scent of steel?"
Acrocorinth. It was a mandatory pass to reach the port of Corinth, the gateway to the nearest Aegean Sea. However, Acrocorinth was home to the famous Great Temple of Aphrodite, and the rugged mountain ranges leading to it were infested with bandits eyeing the offerings of wealthy pilgrims and beasts that had developed a taste for human flesh.
Although Orthrus, Dianes's hound—now gaining fame as the hunting dog of Arcadia—was busy running across Arcadia to hunt down beasts and monsters, the mountain range leading to Acrocorinth bordered Corinth, the first ally of Arcadia, and was slightly removed from the usual hunting grounds of Pesa-Kaines or Orthrus.
Naturally, it was inevitable that the bands of thieves and bandits from Mount Taygetos in the west and Mount Erymanthos in the north would flock to the mountains near Acrocorinth.
Though he had not yet ascended to full manifestation, his power and enlightenment were enough to overturn the world. It was only natural that bandits, unaware that they were challenging a demigod and a goddess whom even the highest gods feared and respected, would rush in to bless their journey with their own blood and flesh.
"Look, a woman! There's a beautiful woman!"
"The man is quite handsome, too! It'll be quite profitable to have our fill and then sell him off!"
"Hahaha! That horse is mine! It's the finest steed!"
The mountain path was soaked in blood and corpses. To add to the pile, more sacrifices came running down the hillside with cheers.
"You bastards! My name is Paiones! I am the son of the renowned Ares! Hand over the woman right no—"
Among them was a boar-like demigod leading the charge, wielding a massive spear. His fierce momentum and the way he swung his spear, which looked capable of piercing a dragon's skull, would have struck fear into even a lion.
"Quiet."
-Slash!
"Gack...?!"
The demigod, who could have easily cut down ten soldiers on the battlefield, had his head severed the moment he lunged.
"Argh! The, the boss was taken down?!"
-Slash!
"G-general! The Boar of Erymanthos was...!"
-Slash!
"S-surrender! I will follow you...!"
-Slash! Slash! Slash!
However. No matter if they carried the blood of the God of War, no matter if they were bandits who knew every inch of this mountain path—as if he were merely discarding an annoying awl from his pocket—he swung his massive sword-spear with one hand, never letting go of the reins or Eris, turning them all into headless corpses.
Everyone is equal before black death. They are all equally wretched and equally lowly. Just as he is so noble and so brilliant.
'As expected... I'm glad I followed him!'
Dianes. He was not purely forged by the hands of Nyx, but was the last brother born into this land as a demigod, blessed by the Protogenoi, with a soul strong enough to contain even the powers of the ancient Mother of Night. Perhaps because of his origin, or perhaps because his very soul was inherently like that, the moment he began to reveal himself to the world, all of Greece had begun to churn and overturn, making Eris delighted.
'Or perhaps, was he born with such a fate from the very beginning?'
The current era was the Age of Great Heroes. It was an era of war where the seeds sown by Zeus to create a single hero, and the lineages of gods that had continued for long ages, were all shining at once, competing in a fierce struggle.
"And in such an era, those who shine brightest devour other lights to fuel their own radiance. Those who cannot do so are embraced by the arms of Hades or lose their light and fall into ruin."
The bandits who had lunged at them, blinded by his and her beauty, were individuals whose capabilities would not have been out of place had they become kings or heroes of some nation under the blessings of the gods in the past. But they were not chosen by the era, they did not receive the blessings of the gods, and they were not called by destiny. They didn't even struggle to seize the era, they weren't pious enough to revere the gods, and they didn't shed tears of blood to grasp their fate.
The only place for such people was the edge of the world, the graveyard of the fallen. For the sin of failing to recognize a giant rising in an era of chaos, they all became food for Tartarus.
"Yes, I am truly amazed, too. That mere pests who only rob pilgrims in the mountains could dare to receive my sword and splatter their blood."
Shaking the blood off the crude divine artifact he had manifested with his own power, Dianes scoffed from behind her, sounding genuinely impressed.
"..."
Does he know? That the breath lightly tickling the back of her neck, the fighting spirit and battle-lust boiling between those deep breaths, and above all, that arrogant tone as if he feared nothing in the world—all of it made Eris's breath ragged and made the blood of the goddess boil.
'As expected, there is no one but you.'
She brings discord. No, she was discord itself. No matter how much she lowered her divinity or hid herself, her divinity, older than even Zeus, was not something that could be measured by the standards of the current generation of gods.
That was why she had always waited. For someone who could accept Eris—who is discord and strife itself—as she was, for a man with the power and divinity to handle her. A partner who could scoff at the discord she brought while holding her in his arms, and who could laugh and enjoy the strife she carried with her.
'As expected, there is no one but you.'
He had already brought Antaeus, the son of Poseidon who had fallen out of Zeus's favor, into his fold; he had twisted the fates of demigods with forbidden knowledge contrary to this era; and he had taken the children of Typhon into his own group.
This man, who scoffed at and crossed over feats and taboos that would shock even most gods, and yet remained unshaken—he was undoubtedly the one her mother had promised for her.
"Hehe, hehehe..."
"...Are you crazy?"
Eris was so happy that she didn't even notice Dianes looking at her with disgust, asking if she was laughing at the sight of corpses. It felt as if warmth was finally returning to her heart, which had been filled only with blood for thousands of years.
That warmth was so addictive and lovely that it made even the Goddess of Hatred desperate to hold onto it.
'You are mine!'
The situation was perfect. Dianes had already accepted Eris without resistance, and there was no meddling Sea Goddess or some cheeky Great Hero who had left their scent on her partner. If she continued this journey with Dianes, surely, at the end of it, Dianes would be standing beside her, holding their wedding ceremony with the blessings of Hera.
Since the Mother of Night had prophesied it, it could not be wrong.
"Come! Let's go! Quickly! Run, Whitey!"
-Neigh!
Eris, in high spirits, stroked the white horse's mane and shouted. The pure white divine horse snorted powerfully and raced across the mountain path.
The destination was beyond Acrocorinth, the great port of Corinth, the entrance to the Aegean Sea. The beautiful journey, overflowing with the strife needed to win his love, had only just begun!
* * *
"Dianes. You're late."
"I heard that the screams haven't stopped in the mountain range toward Acrocorinth. Was that your doing?"
"Iason, Heracles? What brings you to Corinth?"
That is, if only two dark, hulking figures hadn't interrupted her journey.