Chapter 79
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Zeus's True Intentions (2)
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There are many who possess the power of prophecy and foresight.
The seer Prometheus.
Apollo, who slew the giant serpent Python and gained the divinity of prophecy.
Hermes, who obtains foresight at the crossroads where past, present, and future intersect.
Hecate, who foresees the future through ancient mysteries.
And Dionysus, who shares the prophecies of Delphi with Apollo, glimpsing the future through drunken visions and ecstatic trances.
Zeus began to move in earnest during the winter some ten years ago, right after Dionysus's prophecy.
In the desolate temple of Delphi, devoid of gods, wine, or even pilgrims, Dionysus lay sprawled across the altar, drunk and issuing oracles. When he saw Zeus, he weakly waved a hand.
As always, Zeus assumed his wandering son in Greece was simply drunk, missing his father after so long, and had called out to him in his inebriation without worshippers or wine.
Just as he approached to help him up, interpreting it that way...
Dionysus, his eyes blurred with intoxication, lunged at him and whispered a single oracle into his ear.
"Dionysus's oracle?"
"You know how messy and convoluted prophecies from the god of wine can be."
If not for the divine power flickering in those drunken, hazy eyes, Zeus would have dismissed it as the god of wine merely performing his divine duty.
No, even that divine power he tried to pass off as a manifestation of drunkenness.
But at that moment, Dionysus uttered a single name as if leaving his last words, then fainted dead away.
"Prometheus. Dionysus left the seer's name and collapsed."
The true prophet who foresees the future in its genuine sense—Prometheus, the sole god of prophecy.
The seer above all seers, the creator above all creators.
The great titan who uniquely sees all futures was bound to the rocky mountain of Cocyssus for the crime of stealing the gods' fire and giving it to humanity, enduring the punishment of an eagle pecking at his liver.
Zeus wished to hear the prophecy known only to him in exchange for freeing Prometheus, but Prometheus remained silent, steadfastly enduring thousands of years of torment to assert his righteousness.
No matter how many times Zeus visited to persuade or threaten him, the titan always kept his eyes closed and mouth shut. Yet when Zeus brought Dionysus's oracle, he opened his mouth for the first time in millennia.
"Even Prometheus, chained to the mountain, set aside his long-held grudge upon hearing Dionysus's oracle and interpreted it for me."
"Even Prometheus?"
Hera's eyes widened at the fact that the titan, who had always silently proclaimed his innocence, had spoken.
"So, was Prometheus freed?"
"No, that's..."
Tsk, that stubborn old coot.
What a rigid old man, Zeus muttered under his breath.
"Given the gravity of the matter, since he helped with the interpretation, I told him to reveal the prophecy already and find some peace."
"But he clammed up again."
"Zeus, still..."
"Hera. No more talk of this.
If he insists on silence even after all that, it must mean this is an event as crucial as that child you cherish.
How can I tolerate a prophet withholding prophecy from those who seek it?"
Hera had been about to suggest forgiving Prometheus since he had lent his aid to such a grave affair, but Zeus roared with lightning flashing in his eyes.
-Kaboom!
In sync with the thunder god's fury, a bolt of lightning crashed down from Olympus's skies, and fierce winds swept across the peak.
"Ugh!"
"S-Sorry. I got too worked up..."
Hera groaned under the supreme god's suddenly lashing divine power, prompting Zeus to snap out of it and apologize.
But she caught the unmistakable anxiety and agitation in his eyes.
"Sigh... What's the use of me saying anything."
The supreme god cloaked in thunderbolts, her youngest brother Zeus, often puffed out his chest pretending to be bold and magnanimous. But in her eyes, he was still the trembling boy from Mount Lykaion who had feared Cronus.
"Ahem, sorry. Anyway, as compensation for Prometheus's cooperation, the eagle has been kept at bay for now.
Try to understand."
"Anyway, what was that oracle...?"
"That's... Sorry, I don't know the details either."
"...What?"
No, wait.
After making his wife—the queen of the gods—swear by the Styx,
and even telling her where the oracle came from, now he was shutting his mouth again?
"Are you really seeing this through to the end?"
"C-Calm down, sis! There's a reason I can't say!"
"If you don't convince me before I count to ten, one of us will be vacating the throne today.
King of the gods, great lord Zeus."
Rather than her angry sputtering, it was Hera's deliberate warning that made Zeus tremble as he quickly explained.
"Prometheus said it's not a fixed prophecy but one that can change based on interpretation at any time, so he strictly forbade me from ever speaking it aloud—that's why I can't say!"
"...Hm."
Zeus explained the situation as swiftly as the lightning he hurled.
A prophecy depicting an uncertain, opaque future.
It was just like Dionysus's style.
But if even Prometheus told Zeus to keep silent,
then spreading that oracle could, in the worst case, engulf not just Olympus but all of Greece in crisis.
"B-But one thing is certain: that child you're watching is the one connected to the oracle."
Zeus was far more meticulous and thorough than Hera imagined.
Indeed, if he had ruled merely by brute force like his father, he would have been dethroned long ago.
Yet to keep such a monumental event—perhaps an even greater upheaval than a grand prophecy—to himself, and even reach out to Dianes before her, sending him to the Heroes' Forest...
"At least it's fortunate that child has a favorable relationship with you. I'm grateful, Hera."
"...Really?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
What was this brazen husband saying right now?
"I'd be truly thankful if you'd just keep quiet. My lord."
"Uh... Hm..."
"Anyway, I understand your divine reticence. No wonder Hermes said nothing despite my obvious prying, even in this situation."
"Eh, come on~ I didn't know everything. Since it's the child you adore so much, I'm paying special attention too."
Hera eyed the creeping, coquettish Zeus with contempt,
but now she understood why he had sent Ares along: to support the hero she backed—who wasn't even her blood—by attaching him.
A secret prophecy he couldn't confide even to her.
And this young hero, who at such a tender age had won the favor of three among Olympus's twelve gods—with two in opposition—should be kept under Olympus's aegis, no matter what.
"Who knows this now...?"
"Up to now, just me, Dionysus, and Prometheus. Now four, including you."
"What about Apollo?"
"Dionysus told only me the prophecy and left Delphi immediately.
Even he seemed to have no memory of it, since it was in his drunken stupor."
"And sending Ares?"
"Hm... In addition to your discretion, that child's temperament seemed like he'd get along with Ares.
Ares seemed deeply intrigued by him too, so I sent him to build familiarity with your faction's sympathetic gods."
"Hm..."
Still, there were points that felt unresolved—many, very many.
But one thing was clear: Zeus was this Greece's king of gods, and his devotion to this land was genuine.
Even amid her such fury, his silence meant he truly couldn't reveal it.
His face paling blue at her threat—not just separate beds, but vacating the throne entirely—was no act.
"And there's the training aspect too."
"Ugh... Ahem, that's right."
Indeed, in manners, wisdom, or martial prowess, that child was already complete.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say there was nothing left for him to learn in the Heroes' Forest.
So in Hera's plan to have him solidify his foundation as a god with Nemesis and Eris during his stay there—with Chiron's permission—Zeus had gone further, arranging for Ares to meet the child.
"To reiterate, you agree to that child attaining divinity... That's how I should see it?"
"...Yes."
At that, Hera vaguely grasped Zeus's true intentions.
Zeus was preparing for something.
For that unknowable prophecy that even Dionysus brushed off in drunken haze, and Prometheus urged silence upon.
"Hmmm... Fine. I'll let it slide. I like that child too.
I'm looking forward to seeing how much more his true worth shines when he leaves the forest."
"Uh... Hera?"
"Yes?"
Hera turned back with a soft smile, and Zeus's eyes were twitching at the corners.
"Y-You like that child that much...?"
Oh my?
Hera, who had ghosted Zeus's reaction perfectly, hid her beautiful eyes beneath her smile.
"Well... He's not just anyone—Nyx's son, Nemesis and Eris's brother.
Hardly a stranger, is he?"
What's wrong?
Hera subtly turned to leave.
Zeus floundered, at a loss for words.
If Hermes had seen, he'd have plopped down excitedly to watch the spectacle.
"No, it's not like I have other intentions; it's just rare for you to take interest in demigods..."
"Ah...? Well, it's been ages since it wasn't some supreme god's seed. He hasn't forgotten reverence and wisdom toward goddesses, and he's a promising young hero-to-be, future god material...
Impossible not to pay attention."
"Reaaaally?"
Crackle! Hearing lightning spark behind her, the queen of the gods descended the peak with elegant steps.
'Child, hardship is essential for those seeking ancient mysteries.'
Born in an extraordinary vessel, with a soul of boundless potential within.
Overcome the queen's modest trial well.
"Urgh!?"
"Hey! What are you doing!?"
"Huh?"
-Thud crash!
The war god's fist blazed crimson as it swung unwittingly, sending the boy with his black hair whipping through the air.
In the midst of fiercely exchanging blows, his balance suddenly shattered.
The boy took a reflexive strike exploiting the gap dead on.
Bounced away, he smashed into the opposite rock cliff, but rather than worrying for his life,
he calmly cleared the debris, stood, and blankly gazed at the sky.
"Groan? Wh-What is it?"
No.
Was something even more unbearable than this happening now?