The Wrath of Gaia
Introduction:
A story of a young man making a simple decision for the fate of mankind, but his decision brings a new set of choices: will he stand by his decision?
Of the many fables told about Apollo, greek god of music, one that was very prevalent was that Apollo was never seen without a golden laurel wreath, the laurel being Apollo’s tree, upon his head. It was even thought that Apollo wore it while he rested as well, so when it was not discovered upon his head one early morning, Apollo would search for the wreath. This wreath would be the reason the Gods would not find peace in the near future, if only they had known not to look for it, but pride is a hubris no God lacks. At first, Apollo kept the theft secret, not wanting to seem weak Infront of the others, but as time passed, the absence of the wreath did not go unnoticed. Within a week’s time Apollo had officially announced the theft, leading to a full search for Apollo’s wreath, yet nothing had turned up. With no leads, the task of finding the wreath fell upon Catarsus, daughter of Artemis and the only rival to Artemis’ hunting abilities. If Cartasus could not track down the wreath, then it would be because it no longer existed. For 17 days, Catarsus traveled the Earth, searching for any sign, but to no avail. When all signs pointed to the wreaths destruction, a shimmer of light that could only be made by the wreath, shone through the canopy of a small forest outside a rural town inland of Poseidon’s home. Leaping upon her noble white wolf Catarsus descended upon the forest, but what she found was not what any of the gods could have imagined.
The dull thud of my hammer pushing yet another nail into the beam of wood was all the sound I needed to know that my hard work was soon to pay off. A look over my shoulder confirmed these thoughts as I watched the children happily playing outside of the garden. The children are not mine, nor is the house I am building, but that didn’t stop me from happily working hard on finishing the roof of this bedroom today. This orphanage was going to shelter many children in need and help give them a chance at life that I never received. Knowing this motivated me to work hard and over the span of a month I had put together a sturdy 2 story orphanage outside of the walls of the altar to help Agnis, the woman who runs and services the altar, take care of the abandoned children. Putting the last nail in to place, I stepped down from my stool to admire my work. The children outside had stopped to rest along side the statue of Poseidon.
“You have done a service that Artemis herself would be proud of. Thank you Justin” the words coming from Agnis, only succeeded in making me frown while looking up at the roof. Agnis was a loving person, but her beliefs on the gods were simply too different from my own. I wanted nothing to do with these gods, and I was going to live a happy, good life without them.
“My hope is that every human would be proud of this” I reply, avoiding her obvious attempt to make me accept her belief. I would not falter that easily, not after the life I had lived. If there really were gods, then I must have killed one in a past life to make them hate me as they had. Looking back at Agnis, she still held that soothing smile she always wore. It is hard to stay mad at someone so caring and gentle. A single sigh left my lips before continuing,” I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude, but you know my beliefs differ from yours. Look, the roof still needs to be sanded down and I need to collect more wood first so that I can start on that desk of yours before nightfall. Could you do me a favor and keep the children out of the room until I return? I’d like for them to see it after its fully finished and I don’t think the roof is completely safe yet. I’ll hopefully be back in a few hours”.
“Of course dear, but do be careful. If you spend all your time worrying about the children, you’ll be the one to wind up in trouble”. Agnis handed me my bag before walking me to the door and watching me leave. I started a light jog, moving steadily towards the edge of town, and beyond, moving towards the forest that sat to the south of the town opposite of the ocean. The jog lasted around 20 minutes, and when I had reached the forest I had worked up a good amount of sweat. Pausing by the river splitting the forest in half to catch my breath, I gazed at my reflection on the surface of the water. Being 19 years old I feel like I am not too far behind most athletes my ages in terms of fitness unless you count my lack of pure muscles. I keep myself in good shape due to having to work so often, but I haven’t once lifted a weight, leaving most of my exercises to just running outside of work. Standing at 5′ 11″, I doubt I weighed more than 190 pounds, but I still had close to a six pack without the overall definition of it. A short, ruffled set of dirty blonde hair sat upon my head to go with my blue eyes and a pair of dimples that made most women like, even if I had no time for them. My work attire consisted of my only set of clothes: a simple pair of old, faded work jeans, a grey and black three-quarter shirt, and a pair of beaten down black work shoes. While transfixed upon my reflection, I had failed to notice the woman sneak up on me, or maybe she had been there all along…..either way, it was only once she spoke to me that I even noticed her.
“What benefit do you get from helping others?” She asked with a loving smile. She looked like no other woman I had ever seen before. She wasn’t perfect in terms of being curvy, but she wasn’t fat either. Every part of her body seemed to fit her perfectly. She was sitting upon a rock next to the water’s edge wearing a robe-like toga that covered her figure, exposing nothing to the eyes between her shoulder blades or above her knees, but nothing about her said I was supposed to see more. I felt more like my mother was talking to me than anything else. It was for this reason that I felt even more confused by her question.
“What do you mean benefit?” I asked dumbfoundedly.
“You built a house that you will not stay in for someone else. Did they offer you something to do it?” She asked almost as if she was genuinely confused by my act. It was as if she had never seen generosity before.
“Well, no they didn’t offer me anything. I just didn’t want to see them have to live out in the cold, so I wanted to help them.”
The grass around her seemed more lively and green than anywhere else for some odd reason, and while I spoke I watched a fawn come within mere feet of her without feeling threatened and even started to eat the grass. I couldn’t quite grasp what was going on, but I felt as though I couldn’t move. This wasn’t a normal conversation between two adults anymore, this was an adult telling a child what he should be saying, and I was saying exactly what she wanted.
“So you would help others, even at the expense of your own happiness, without any reward at all? Just so that others could be happy?” I gulped loudly, not enjoying where this conversation was leading, but still answered.
“Yes…..yeah I would”
Without saying anything, the woman turned her head to the left, and for the first time I noticed something shiny at the base of one of the trees.
“There are some people who need your help Justin. Will you help them?” All reason had flown out the window for me at this point as I moved towards the object. As I got closer I saw that it was what looked like a crown, made of golden leaves. real gold, it felt heavy in my hands and I could even see the slight fingerprints my hands had left on the gold after picking it up
“Yes…..I will help them…..How do I help?” As I looked up again, I saw that she was gone. The grass was back to normal, the fawn was gone, and all was like it should be, except that the wreath was still in my hands. It was then that I heard her voice once more float across the treetops.
“At the strike of 12, the equal will come to power……Remember my words and trust your heart for it will only lie when you let your brain deceive it”. Her words slowly fell off and the forest was silent again. I held the wreath up watching the sunlight dance across the leaves, amazed at what I was actually holding. One moment it was in my hands, the next I watched as a gust of wind flew by my face, carrying the crown out of my hands and against the trunk of a tree. The crown was held in the air by an arrow hanging from the trunk as I realized just how close to death I had just come. Turning to where the arrow came from, what I saw did nothing short of make my blood run dry. Standing just on the edge of the forest’s shadow was pure white wolf, and beside it, what could only be described as a women prepared for war. Her chest armor, leggings, and boots looked to all be made of fur, and her bow in hand seemed to glow at certain points in the groove without any light bouncing off it.
“You have been ordered to come in front of the council.” These were the last words I heard before watching the woman charge and effectively swing her bow before I could even react. Her bow connected with the side of my jaw, and I had hit the ground before my eyes had closed, knocking me out cold with one hit.
Too be continued depending on reviews I get.
