Theomachy is the name given to a historical event which nowadays falls to legend, yet there are still those who remember it. It is also known under the names of “Godslaying”, “War of Olympus”, “Fall of Olympus”, “Fall of the gods”, “Divine war”, and many others. As its name suggests, it was the war in which mortals stood up against the increasingly tyrannical Zeus and the gods and mortals which stood by his side, aided by rebelling gods, such as Poseidon and Apollo, the two infamous division commanders of One Shot pirates, Athena, and above all, Hecate and Prometheus, the two titans who set this chain of events in motion.
Tyranny of Zeus
Nearly two milennia had passed since Zeus appeared amongst mortals in all his glory, as the rightful new king of gods, and lead an army of mortals, titans and gods against the forces of Chronos. The ruins in the Divine Lands surrounding the massive Othrys and colossal Olympus were the only reminder left of those dark times. During all those years, Zeus had ruled over gods and mortals, ensuring stability and peace across the world, and he watched as mortals, primarily humans, advanced, grew in power, their realms stretching on.
Alas, a far darker scar had been left in his memory from the Titanomachy. In the many years he spent in solitude atop mount Olympus, he had begun to fear mortals. Those who had once marched behind him upon mount Othrys didn’t remain in his memory as his powerful allies, but as the primary cause behind the downfall of Chronos, the king of the world before him. Thus, he grew increasingly paranoid and fearful of mortals, terrified of the possibility another may appear one day to topple him with their help.
He would not take action, however, until one night. During a grand festival of the summer solstice, when all the mortals brought tributes to the gods, at the height of the celebration, when all the gods gathered around a pyre lit on an altar from which flowed out molten aurem, turning to ambrosia and nectar, that Apollo suddenly had a vision. Just as Zeus had raised his chalice filled with nectar, the young god’s body stiffened, his eyes turning white, as he uttered words.
The wheel of Nemesis shalt turn once more.
Those who are down shalt rise up,
And those who sit high shalt fall down.
The crown hang by the tip of the blade,
Yet that tip shalt be the crown’s death.
Fear the many, thou who art feared by many.
These words instilled utter terror into Zeus, as he believed his suspicions to be proven, and his terror was so great he cut the feast short, storming out of the hall. In the following months, he would become more and more opressive of all the Olympian gods, prohibiting first the major, but later even the lesser gods from leaving it. He banned the creation of relics and divine curses without his approval, even going as far as to demanding all gods to seek out their priests and have them bring back relics and divine curses in hopes of keeping them away from mortals. He watched closely the gods’ activities, and rewarded those he thought to be loyal with nectar and ambrosia.
However, as it often happens with prophecies, his desperate attempts to prevent or at least slow down his doom only sped it up. While a handful of gods did obey him, many others saw him as insane, and in reality started creating more relics to give to their followers in hopes of amassing a large enough following if a war broke out. It was also impossible for Zeus to keep track of all the gods, so both major and lesser gods often snuck out of Olympus to perform miracles for their worshippers.
The first among these two were Hecate and Prometheus. The rebellious pair, who had originally helped Zeus overthrow Chronos, now felt Zeus was becoming Chronos like he was in his downfall. The two felt they needed to act, like they had a part to play in order to topple the old order and put in a new one yet again. Prometheus’s gift of foresight seemingly only confirmed this. As he gazed into the future, he saw pilgrims bringing vast offerings of aurem to Hecate and him, mortals wielding magic and casting spells, a massive army marching upon mount Olympus, and above all, he saw himself standing above a defeated Zeus as he took his crown and crowned himself the new king of Olympus.
Thousands of evils and sorrows might have been avoided had the young titan not succumbed to his own pride!
Having told Hecate of this vision, the two conspired and came up with a plan. Prometheus would act with utmost loyalty towards Zeus, going out into the world and actively confiscating relics and divine curses from followers of gods who seemed most loyal to Zeus. By bringing them back to Olympus, he could earn Zeus’s trust and grow his own power with nectar and ambrosia. Hecate, meanwhile, would work against Zeus, spreading whispers of doubt and war into the ears of mortals and gods alike.
For 10 long years, Prometheus dilligently served Zeus, gathering as many relics from loyal gods as he could. Doing this, he earned himself many enemies, such as Hestia, who saw through his plans, Artemis, Haephestus, Demeter, and innumerable lesser gods. Meanwhile, his power grew immense thanks to all the ambrosia and nectar, but Zeus, blinded with fear, saw inside him only utter loyalty, and thus failed to realize the power he had by then given Prometheus. However, as less and less gods reacted to offerings, aurem became increasingly scarce on Olympus, and Prometheus was aware he couldn’t stand up to Zeus yet.
So, on the winter solstice of his tenth year of servitude, he broke into the vaults of mount Olympus, stealing every relic, including the ones he locked into the vaults himself, as well as many of the divine curses. He then absorbed all the remaining aurem at mount Olympus and escaped from the fortress it had become to meet up with Hecate within the ruins of the Divine lands.
The very next morning, before the hunt from mount Olympus could catch up, Hecate blessed him with a portion of her magic, lit his way with her divine torches which would only shine for him and give him a key to enter the nearby city of Ian’s Cross. However, unbeknownst to him at first, a handful of other gods were on his side as well. Athena was swift to follow him, having seen through his plans before all others. She knew it was time for Zeus to fall. Thus, she disguised Prometheus into an old monk, a change he didn’t even notice at the time, and blessed his tattered monk garments to withstand the blows of mortals for as long as he carries them.
Prometheus approached the closed and locked gates of Ian’s Cross early in the morning. The guards were suspicious of the strange man approaching them so early, so they tried to block his way. However, Prometheus avoided their crossed halberds, calmly approached the gates, pulled out Hecate’s key, fit it into the lock, opened the city gates and entered, leaving behind locked doors.
In panic, a guard on the gates sounded the alarm, while the archers aimed their bows at him and unleash a volley of arrows. Enormous was their horror when, instead of dropping dead, slain by several dozen arrows, the monk continued walking as the arrows shattered on his dusty, dirty and torn garments. By now, however, the alarm was sounded, and tens of guards armed with swords and spears rushed towards the intruder.
Yet, the monk calmly walked through the innumerable blows, following a trail of torches he alone could see. Nothing the guards did, not a physical blockade, not verbal orders, nothing could stop the monk’s slow but steady march. By now, the entire city had been alerted, and people, woken up by the noise, were starting to show up on doors and windows to see the strange visitor. The word had even reached king Cross and his family.
And so, by the time the monk reached the central city square, a monumental plaza with statues and memorials of past heroes, nearly the entire city had gathered to see what would happen, unaware of the coming dawn. King Cross approached the visitor, ready to fight him if necessary. He spoke firmly to the cloaked monk.
“I know thee not, stranger, and it is beyond me how thou hath entered through the gates which most certainly hath been locked, or how thou hath withstood a rain of arrows and a hurricane of blades which fell upon thee. However, be warned, I shalt not stand by if thou intend to harm my subjects! State thy intentions loudly and clearly!”
At that moment, the dawn broke over the city walls, yet its magnificent shine was overshadowed by Prometheus who had revealed himself. He threw off the rags covering him, Athena’s blessing making him appear in all his glory. He appeared glowing with magic. In an incredible show of power which no words will ever do justice, he created flames from thin air, summoned lightning to strike a nearby tree, unleashed a wave of water and a gust of wind, raised himself upon a pillar of stone, and finally conjured a brilliant white star and a pulsing black orb and threw them into the air far above him, creating an explosion of white and black high above the heads of denizens of Ian’s Cross.
And thus, humanity learned of magic.