It was a dark night, the winds were howling. A blizzard of ice and snow covered everything, even the peaks of the tallest trees. In the woods, a human was lost. This man stumbled through the storm, keeping an arm above his face to protect himself from the harsh weather as best he could. Through the dense mist he saw a meadow, up ahead. There was no snow there. Instead, the sun was shining and the ground was covered in lush greens. There was someone there, he could tell, and he hoped, against all hope, that these people could help him. This poor, defenseless man remained oblivious to the secret he was about to intrude upon. The individuals he had vaguely seen had not been human. While having a humanoid build, they were impossibly tall and radiated a luminous glow. This man was heedless to the feasible danger he was inadvertently putting himself in. And so, with his final, dying energy, the feeble human stumbled through the last scrawling saplings and burst into this clearing. The last thing he saw, before he passed out, was a woman with ageless features and piercing white eyes.
He woke to loud quarreling, brash voices pounding against his head. Through hazy vision he found he was in a cozy lodge on a small cot. He let out a moan of discomfort and the voices instantly stopped as a figure came into his line of vision. It was the same woman he had seen before, the woman with the disturbing white eyes and rich chocolate locks. She pressed something against his lips, and he swallowed obligingly. Warm golden liquid ran down his parched throat, clearing his sight. The man greedily gulped, feeling energy feeding back into his body. He felt the goblet being pulled away and frowned. The woman shook her head lightly and helped him to sit up.
His eyes widened in fright when he saw seven regal looking figures behind her. She moved back and bowed as a tall man stepped forth. He had ice blue eyes and strong, chiseled features and held a lightning bolt that was crackling with energy.
He spoke in an arrogant voice, “State your business, mortal.”
The unfortunate, trembling man began to speak but was interrupted by a woman with a silky voice. “Leave him be, Zeus, the poor man must be utterly afraid. Maybe I should take care of him.”
The human faced her and was taken aback when she licked her cherry red lips. She had long platinum blonde hair and emerald green eyes; she wore a skimpy gown of a glittering golden colour that clung to her every curve. Her eyes followed his every move the way a lion’s would its prey.
A burly, red-eyed man spoke this time. He had rugged looks and dark, onyx hair; he had a frown of pure rage on his face as he roared, “Aphrodite! You will not meddle with this puny human. Restrain yourself for you are mine!”
The golden woman, Aphrodite, pouted charmingly. A woman with copper robes and eyes the colour of molasses cut in, “Calm your temper, Ares!” She turned to the human, “Now, child. Be a dear and pass me the goblet.” There was a hungry gleam in her eyes. He obliged and she gulped it down with large swallows.
All the beings save one groaned, and rolled their eyes. This roused another figure with greying hair and navy blue robes. He opened his ocean green eyes to complain, “Woman! Stop your ranting, some of us are trying to sleep here!” He promptly fell back into a deep slumber on his plush divan.
A beautiful woman with imperial robes was perched on a throne of solid crystal. She had eyes of molten gold. A royal headdress studded with precious gems nestled amongst a mass of chestnut hair. Her arms jingled as hundreds of bracelets clanged against each other and her neck was weighed down by streams of necklaces. She held an old fashioned telephone in one ring studded hand, and a large catalog in the other. She was speaking rapidly into the phone, ordering thousands of things from the catalog. “Yes, items 3876, 293, 7635, and number 90517. Oh! Add number 4537 as well! What? Oh no, money is no problem, I need more! Mail to Hera, Queen of the Gods.”
Again, a shrewd voice cut through the air and a dreary man with stormy grey eyes muttered, “Gaia gets to eat and stay thin. Zeus is the king of the Gods. Poseidon never has to do anything. Hera’s a spoilt brat and buys whatever the hell she wants. What do I get? A bunch of dead people to rule over!”
The white-eyed woman spoke for the first time; her voice a lilting melody like a spring creek rushing over pebbles and stones. “Now, now, my dears. There is no need to argue.”
The other figures quieted down, gazing at her with respect and admiration. Well most of them did, the man with the lightning bolt just sneered haughtily.
She turned to the human, introduced herself and then gestured to those surrounding her, “I am Hestia, Goddess of the hearth and these are the other Gods and Goddesses.”
She pointed to the man with the lightning bolt and he smirked, “Zeus is our High King.”
“Hera, our empress Queen,” this turned out to be the woman with the catalog, who was still ordering things.
“This is Aphrodite”, she pointed out the golden woman, who winked slyly.
The red-eyed man was enraged, fists shaking as he was introduced, “Ares, God of War.”
The dark man was pointed out and introduced as Hades, he glowered at the mortal.
“Gaia,” the woman whom had asked for his goblet smiled when she was introduced and then returned to stuffing her face with truffles.
“And this sleeping oaf is Poseidon,” Hestia grabbed a pillow and playfully nudged him. He gave no reaction.
“We are the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. You see, quite a short time ago, the Oracle foresaw the Prophecy. This Prophecy told of a time in which seven Chosen Ones would take upon themselves the Seven Deadly Sins; Cardinal Sins if you may. The ones you see before you are those Chosen Ones. I was elected as caretaker until they are able to hold sway over this power.” She looked over at them and mused, “As you can see, they are not quite the epitome of grace at the moment!”
The mortal man was shocked. It was surprising to believe that these Gods, of so long ago, would take upon themselves such responsibility and not place it on the mortals. Greek mythology spoke of power hungry Gods whom would do anything to rise to the top. It seemed, however, that it was not truly so. These Gods had changed over time, and were now under the influence of the seven Deadly Sins. It was not clear if the Gods were taking the brunt onto themselves for the good of humanity or if they had some other, ulterior motive. He supposed that in this modern age, less people believed in the Gods and therefore their power must be diminishing. At one point, they would cease to exist.
Hestia sprinkled glowing ashes over the human and his wounds instantly closed over. He stood on two strong legs once again; any previous signs of ill-condition had disappeared. Hestia took him by the arm and led into another room.
Hestia’s voice floated in the air, “Now, let’s get you home to your family. Wouldn’t want them to worry, now would we?” There was a rush of wind, and the mortal was gone.
Hestia walked back into the room, dusting her hands on her dress.
Zeus spoke questioningly, “Why must we help the mortals?”
She turned to him, her white eyes glowing eerily and answered; her voice a whisper in the wind.
“Faith, my dear King; faith shall set you free. One mortal at a time, we will rebuild our empire, and return to our ruling glory.”