The God of Gravity part 2: Olympus

The True Ruler of the Realm

"I'M GONNA BE THE KING OF OLYMPUS!!!!" I screamed.

And Darius screamed: "WELL, I'M GONNA SURPASS EVERY KING OF OLYMPUS!!!"

"YAAAAARGHH!!!!!!"

Then....

My vision suddenly went black... The ground is falling onto my face.....

I can't think straight...

Darius is still standing...

He's up there above the slope...

No....

It can't be...

"NOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed in desperation pushing my right knee to stop me from falling! "I WILL WIN!!!"

Darius still looks like he can still go on, but "AAArgh-" he cried before stopping before he fell forward like a log. Although I couldn't see well, I heard the loud thud he made.

Now, I just have to stay standing or this will be a draw...

"One!"

The count started for Darius to stand up....

"Two!"

I feel that the count is for me for some reason.....

"Three!"

It's a count if I can stay standing up for ten seconds....

"Four!"

It is hard... It feels like an eternity...

"Five!"

Come on... finish it already...

"Six!"

My legs are trembling in exhaustion....

"Seven!"

My lungs are barely taking in air...

"Eight!"

I can't hear anything anymore.....

-

*

"LEO!!!" screamed Sander and Philip as they leaned forward to the screen.

"SON!!!" cried the parents of Leo.

"LEO!!!" cried Hera.

"NINE!!!" counted the referee, the announcer. and the crowd.

"IMBECILE!!!" yelled Mila.

"LEONA!!!" squealed Aurelia.

"TEHHHHNNNNNN!!!!" cried all of the people in the stadium.

They all gasped as they saw Leo raising his right fist into the air while standing on his own two feet. A second later, he fell down on his face like Darius.

Then it is like a bomb of emotion and cries that filled every part of the stadium! Even before the announcer screamed, "THE CHAMPION IS LEONIDE PADINE!!!!"

"DAMN, LEEEEOOOO!!!!" screamed Philip in joy that the tears gushed out from his eyes while sitting on his bed.

"THAT'S OUR FRIEND, DAMMIT!!!" cried Sander as he massaged his eyes with his fingers.

Leo's father fainted and his wife cried while hugging her daughter.

"WAAAAAARGHHH!!!!" roared Aurelia while letting out arcs of electricity.

"YES!!!" celebrated Mila and Juliet smiled at her. She cleared her throat, showed no emotion, and said "Big deal, he won...." sarcastically.

"Yeah," said Juliet with a smile and looked at Hyeon. "What the heck, Hyeon?"

He is sobbing. "There's nothing more heart-provoking than a fight between real men," he said and Juliet cringed.

Then that's it.

Enzo's place on Olympus is safe.

And our champion can now become a god on Olympus.

This night of excitement ended spectacularly but started something on the other side of the world, particularly in the Ra Desert. In the village, among the houses of mud, Sayuri is sitting on a chair beside the window as the cold desert wind of the night blew on her face and entered the room. She's alone in the room with her thoughts as she rests her head on her hand while looking at the starry sky.

It is an astounding view. Millions of stars and stardust with different colors contrasted against the darkness of space. And the Andromeda Galaxy, already combining with the stars of the Milky Way. It feels as if the stars could light up the whole universe. This vibrant form of the sky at night can be seen on the young goddess's eyes. Any man would have his heart torn apart if he sees her beautiful eyes reflecting the stars if not for her frown. This little amusement on the sky cannot extinguish the vengeance in her heart. She just remembered something awful. Something that it would be best to not bother describing it.

"My lady?" knocked someone at the wooden plank door. "Your dinner is ready, my lady."

She went to the door, opened it, and saw Hiroki smiling at her while holding her water and food on the plate. It is steak. She grabbed them and closed the door on his face. He expected her to thank him as she did not too long ago. Although it is not what he expected, he felt glad serving her. He returned to his other companions sitting on their chairs gathered around the hearth in the middle of the living room while eating their dinner. The ground is made out of hardened mud as well as the bricks that surrounded the hearth. The burning wood cracked as the fire danced on top of it.

The light from the fire lit up the room and the face of Jasper as he reminisced in his mind on a memory. The firelight lit up his eyes as he stared at it.

"Let's eat," said Hiroki while sitting on his chair beside Jasper - who just got startled back into the present.

"Okay," he said and ate his food on his lap.

They put some pieces of meat on the fire using a stick, then eating it as soon as it is cooked. Jasper's face is still showing the face of deep thought as he ate and stared at the fire.

Hiroki noticed. "The fire will go out if you keep staring at it like that," he said.

"Oh, uh...," stammered Jasper as he looked at his companions - looking concerned about what he is thinking about. "It's nothing. Just a memory."

Jack nodded and continued to eat whereas Hiroki impaled a piece of meat and put it near the fire. The crackling fire gets louder and louder as the minutes of silence between them is unceasing until Jasper spoke.

"Who do you think rules Olympus?" he asked out of nowhere.

"What?" asked Hiroki confusingly. "What do you mean?"

"Who really rules Olympus?"

Hiroki stopped for a moment after he swallowed his food then spoke. "Well, if you asked me, it's the people."

"Well said," supported Jack. "The Olympians are there sitting on their places because of the prayers of the people."

"If that's what you guys think," says Jasper. "then you two are wrong."

"We are in the age of true Democracy," argued Hiroki. "The people can now choose who to put in charge that they believe will do what they expect that is beneficial for them."

"Yeah," nodded Jack. "I agree with him." Hiroki nodded in response, feeling glad that Jack is with him in this argument.

Jasper shook his head while bowing down and grinning. "That's right, I almost forgot you guys are humans. Well, my bad because I feel that we belong in the same kind. We gods have tricks in our sleeves to get your prayers while keeping you believing that."

Hiroki Jack got a feeling of uneasiness as Jasper put his hands behind his head, smiling and looking at the straw ceiling.

"If that was the case that humans rule the Realm," said Jasper. "then everything wouldn't be the way it is now."

"I'm confused," said Jack.

"Well, it is complicated so it is right to be confused as I am confused myself."

"Then tell us," says Hiroki.

"Okay," nodded Jasper as he sat properly while rubbing his chin. "Where do I start? Hmm.... Oh! Who do you think manages the election of the new Olympians?"

"The Five Great Oracles of Delphi, of course," answered Hiroki.

"But who then rules them all?"

"The God of Oracles or something?" guessed Hiroki.

Jasper laughed. "Hilarious, but there is no god for that."

"Oh."

"The Oracles are one of the oldest beings in the Realm. They have done this election for more than two thousand years. They probably know more than anyone in this Realm."

"But, are they deities?" asked Jack.

"No. Definitely not. They are human beings that have been gifted by the Original Olympians in ancient times. They have the power to see far into the future, but only glimpses that are very unclear because they are just a piece of something grand. Think about it like this: We are blind men touching a leg of an elephant and conclude that it is a tree trunk. That is why some deities don't like these oracles because they often mislead the masses. A lot of people say that the Oracles are sometimes right and sometimes wrong. What I think is that it is the interpretations of the people about the visions of these Oracles are wrong but today, most people disbelieve them. We can't really tell if they are not making up what they are saying, because they don't communicate normally. Ask them 'What time is it?' and they will slowly answer 'Fourteen Billion Years blag blah blah.' - which is not very helpful in the least. I asked them that and I found it funny. Very old, yet humorous."

"So, what's your point?" asked Hiroki.

"They uttered about a prophecy a hundred and fifty years ago. They said, 'New stars bring forth chaos'."

"What does it mean?"

"I'm not sure, but considering that our galaxy is already colliding with Andromeda Galaxy, we can assume that they are the 'new stars' that these old guys talk about. We can expect that there will be invaders that could be more powerful than our civilization. We are still a Type-two Civilization since we can now live in different planets of the solar system. The universe is fourteen billion years old - that is a fact and there could be more powerful beings than our current deities for the reason that they already have a great deal of head-start than us. Also, the first titans were formerly interstellar beings like Gaia - the mother of all the deities."

"So, aliens will invade us," said Jack.

"Exactly. But what bothers me is what could be their motivation in terraforming planets? After all, nobody believes in the visions of the Oracles these days. How could they have convinced humanity to go and terraforming other planets? The obvious answer is expansion because Earth is getting smaller as the population increases and that also means insufficient resources. Also, a sense of achievement. Who doesn't dream about our civilization becoming an interstellar civilization or intergalactic civilization?"

"How does this help in telling us who really rules the Realm?" asked Hiroki.

"Good question. These fifteen decades of pursuing that goal, couldn't possibly be achieved by different rulers governing every decade or so. There has to be a ready-made-plan for it. It is called 'The Code'. What is surprising, is that Olympus became more stable after this was implemented. And who devised it? It was the Goddess of Wisdom of that time but she already died, did she not? There has to be someone or an organization to ensure that the plan is being followed well. The Realm has been running according to the Code. Even the Olympians fell in line with it.

"That is why it's almost as if the Oracles are ruling the Realm because their visions guided the Code. Are they really subordinates of someone? We could say no because they have been neutral for as long as two thousand years. If yes, then who is it? Who could be the most important person that they chose to fall subordinates to that person? Then there were attempts to kill one of them, but none have succeeded and nobody knew how they were defeated. They just disappeared. Do the Oracles have that kind of power? I don't know. Everything is a mystery when it's about them. And what's puzzling me most is that nobody knows who really ensures that the Code is being followed. If I could find out who they are, my questions will be answered."

He sighed for a moment to prepare what he is about to say. Hiroki and Jack had their eyes wide open and their minds being pulled by their curiosity that they forgot to finish their food.

Jasper said in a serious calm tone: "Whoever governs The Code, is the one who truly rules the Realm. And is the key to every mystery." Hiroki and Jack swallowed then Jasper smiled brightly. "Now, let's eat! Our food is getting colder."

Hiroki just finished his food so he stood up and went to check on their goddess, while the thought still ran in his mind. He felt his hands trembling as he knocked on the door. He looked at Jasper - and he's back into his usual cheerful self. Hiroki wondered how much this companion of his, knows.

*

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