章 116: A Thundering Essence 1
Dying was a strange experience.
It feels like being on the edge of a cliff, hanging on by one hand, with blood spilled on the ground below. You feel your grip slipping. Eventually, the weight on your body becomes too much, and you fall and fall and fall and fall.
It almost felt like a dream. Who knew going to Subway to get some lunch could end so badly?
I want to make a joke about terrible customer service, but that would just be in bad taste at this point.
"You really like talking to yourself, don't you?" A voice suddenly speaks, and as I turn around, I see a large golden being. It's neither an angel nor a human. It honestly just looks like a giant golden statue with piercing red eyes.
Not really knowing how to respond to that, I just continue to stare into the being's eyes. Honestly, they were quite beautiful, as within the reflections I could almost see entire civilizations being built and what looked to be magic, but I could tell it was pure science.
"While I am proud of the fact that you're admiring my form, I have a proposition for you." In response to that, I simply do my best to give him a spiritual thumbs-up to let him know I'm listening.
The giant gold statue seemed almost amused. "To be honest, I would tell you my name, but I have a feeling we will meet again, so I will leave it as a surprise. My offer to you is simple: you shall live again, no strings attached, other than to test my creation."
As he says this, four golden vials appear in front of me, but the liquid inside doesn't seem normal. It looks as if it's made entirely of crawling metal bugs.
"Unlike my other cohorts in our little guild, I cannot create biological essences. But nothing says I can't cheat and create mechanical versions. I understand that most wish to retain their fleshy forms, though. All I need you to do is accept this gift."
Not really seeing any other way out other than down, I float my way over to them. As I do so, I feel my soul being lifted into a giant golden palm. The being's eyes begin to glow as the two small drinks combine and spread across my very essence.
I didn't feel pain, which surprised me. And as I expected to be sent off somewhere, the giant statue simply cradled my soul—and, no homo, it felt nice.
Soon enough, I felt the process complete. Every single part of my being, other than my memories and my very soul identity, had been changed utterly and completely.
Soon enough, a rift formed in front of me, and as the giant statue looked at me, he gave me a nod. Again, I gave him a spiritual thumbs-up. This brought out a bit of a chuckle from him as I went through the portal and felt myself being shunted across entire universes.
Seconds felt like days, and minutes felt like months. But soon enough, I felt myself crash into something before going dark. If there's one thing I know, it's that I'm definitely not getting that sandwich anytime soon.
(Line Break)
The world was in turmoil as entire oceans churned, and the earth shook in both rage and pain.
"The fates be damned! Why is this one taking so long to come out?!" Rhea shouted as she lay on a stone table, attended to by Gaea and Melissa, a nymph. Gaea was overseeing the birth alongside Hecate.
"I can see his head, Lady Rhea—just a bit more," Melissa said as she focused on helping deliver the baby.
"You said that three hours ago! AHHH!" she screamed, as the skies above them thundered and crackled with electricity.
Soon enough, however, Rhea's suffering came to an end as the baby was finally in Melissa's hands. And as the child was born into the world, the largest crackle of thunder could be heard, shaking the entire continent.
The world itself accepted that a god had been born.
The Titaness of Motherhood took labored breaths. Melissa walked over to her and allowed her to see her son. As she gazed at him, the baby's eyes opened and looked directly at her. While she was somewhat surprised, what alarmed her more was the shocking amount of intelligence in those eyes.
But before she could say anything more, the baby reached out its tiny little hand and placed it on her head, as if trying to comfort her. The gesture made the woman smile with a radiance she hadn't known for a long time.
As the tired mother reached for her son, she could almost see lightning crackling through the young boy's hair.
"Zeus… that will be his name. He is going to be great. I love you, my son." Finally falling unconscious, the baby began to cry, but not for long. Soon enough, Gaia, in her smaller avatar form, took the baby carefully from the nymph's hands.
The stone-faced primordial of the Earth looked upon the newest god, her expression softening with amusement. She nodded to Hecate, then teleported herself and the child far away.
The Goddess of Witchcraft then took out four stones, and after placing them within a blanket, she uttered a few incoherent words, causing the stones to form into the small body of a child. As the blanket covered the baby, all that could be heard was the crying of a newborn.
Satisfied with her work, Hecate teleported herself away, leaving the swaddled rock with the forest nymph. Knowing her fate, the nymph took the rock child. With a grim expression, she looked to the doors of the chamber, and as they came tumbling down, she saw the King of the Titans in all his barbaric majesty.
No words were exchanged before he took the child from the nymph's arms and devoured it. As he looked to the spirit, he simply pointed at her, and soon enough, the nymph was transformed into a worm, which was tossed out of the palace. The Titan then left his wife to rest, satisfied that no one would challenge his rule.
(??? POV)
"You know, I'm genuinely surprised you made something like this," said a large figure sitting atop a golden palace.
"Well, you know me. I always like to experiment. And besides, you guys were handing out essences like candy, so I wanted to throw my hat in the ring," the golden statue said.
"I can understand that, but you made him Zeus, of all people? I mean, I admire the gumption, but this seems a little far from your strike zone, Amazo." The golden machine simply chuckled.
"That's the fun of an experiment, Emilio. You never know what the results are going to be. Besides, in nearly every single universe, every single version of Zeus we've run into, we've most likely killed or humiliated him for his philandering ways. I genuinely want to see what would happen in this scenario." The two shared a small laugh, which echoed across multiple dimensions.
The two respectfully bowed to each other and returned to their own realms. The golden cultivator left using his primordial ark, while the golden machine seemingly walked through a cave full of wires.
(Zeus POV)
I have a feeling I should be making a joke about life throwing someone lemons and making lemonade, but in this case, I feel like shouting, "Such misfortune."
Because while my ears are still developing, I definitely heard that my name was Zeus.
If I could speak coherently, I would be screaming right now.
I just wanted a damn Subway sandwich, man!
Taking a deep breath, I try to keep myself calm as I'm carried into what looks like some kind of cave system. The cave itself is rather interesting, to be honest. Nearly every wall is covered with glowing blue moss, along with multiple gemstones.
The temperature is cold, but I can barely feel it along my skin. Honestly, I'm wondering how I'm breathing right now. If we're so far beneath the earth, how is there any oxygen?
Then I remember the fact that I am now technically a god, and I don't actually need oxygen anymore. Yet I still feel like I need to breathe. Why is being a god so anatomically confusing?
"You know, for a newborn, you are surprisingly docile. I definitely appreciate the silence, but I am slightly worried there may be something wrong with you." The woman, seemingly made of wood and stone, lifts me up to her eyes. As I stare into what seem like emeralds carved from the depths of the earth, I manage to make some sputtering noises.
Seemingly satisfied, the woman continues to carry me in her arms. The walk lasts for a few more minutes before we meet the largest goat I have ever seen.
"I am unsure if you can understand me, but this is Amalthea. Since I am unable to provide you with nourishment, she shall do so in my place." Woman, that goat looks like it's big enough to eat me alive.
After introducing me to the mother goat, Gaia claps her hands, and from the earth, giant Centurion-looking warriors appear. They kneel before the primordial.
"All of you shall guard this place, and should the young god begin to make noise, slam your swords against your shields. If Kronos manages to find this place, I expect you all to sacrifice your lives for the child. Understood?" It was less of a question and more of an order. The guards remained kneeling.
The woman then raised her hand again and summoned what looked to be a cradle. After placing me inside, she walked away, seemingly melting into the cave itself.
The guards stood up and walked to the opposite side of the cave, simply waiting. Oddly enough, they were made entirely of flesh and not stone, yet it was hard to tell if they were or weren't.
So here I was, alone with my thoughts. But before I could even begin to form another line of thinking, a small message appeared above in golden, mechanical lettering.
[I hope this message finds you well, young Zeus. If it was not clear already, you are the new and possible future king of the gods—at least of the Greek pantheon, that is. I have high hopes for you. I am going to activate your gifts, but they will take time to grow to their full potential. Live long and prosper, and for Pete's sake, if you get a wife, don't cheat on her or start a damn harem or something.]
As the words disappeared, I felt something activate deep within my soul. From within, I felt two small crackles of lightning appear. But this was no ordinary lightning. This was the lightning of innovation.
From the first bit of lightning, I saw its purpose, for it was the key to boundless knowledge. Every day, I would gain new bits of knowledge from this world or others.
From the second, it felt entirely different. It was the key to endless power. Similar to the first, every day I would gain the ability to copy, transfer, modify, or enhance someone's powers. But there was a caveat: any powers that come from divinity cannot be taken or modified. The greatest thing was that I could create powers for myself, but that would take at least five charges.
I felt like there was more to it, and it became oh so clear when I felt everything. In front of my eyes, I saw the world crack and split into webs and kaleidoscopes. But as quickly as the kaleidoscope formed, it disappeared, and I felt it being locked away—which was good, because I could feel my brain beginning to melt just by looking into it.
The last power was a bit more subtle, as I could feel every inch of my form—every single biological process, from the godly blood moving through my veins to the various cells within my body. I could not change it, nor could I manipulate it, but there was definitely something to learn here.
But before I could begin to experiment, my eyes felt heavy. As I laid my head against the surprisingly soft dirt of the cradle, I wondered where I should go from here.
But plans are for later. Sleep is eternal.
(Well, we have another snippet on our hands. similarly to the Hades self-insert, this is a Zeus one with him in the Blood of Zeus universe instead of a comics one. But instead of focusing on an afterlife, this one is focusing on creating a true king of pantheons. For in his hands lies the abilities of Shaper, Kaleidoscope, and somewhat nerfed versions of Inspired Inventor and Power Manipulation. To be clear, he does not have immediate access to any of these nor does he have them at full power. He's going to have to grow up. although feel free to let me know if you want our Zeus to be single or to just go full harem.)
(Similarly to the other ones, the snippets are pure power fantasies—don't take them seriously.)
(Also feel free to recommend any technologies that you think are young God king could use. Although honestly, I'm just waiting for the Space Marine comments.)
Chosen Essences: Eternity, Honored One, Divine Spark, ???)
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