Dance of the Immortals
Mt Olympus

The meeting of the gods happened rarely, and yet, once the call went out, no god or goddess was able to refuse to attend. To anger Zeus was something that few gods would risk. The Grecian king of Gods had a notorious temper, one that no one was safe from.
Gathered together at the top of Mt. Olympus, gods and goddesses from all over the world sat together, the various pantheons eyeing one another with distaste. Their common ground being that all were awaiting the council that had yet to start. In all of existence, only once before had all the gods gathered together.
Lugh, god of the sun, sat quietly watching as the others chatted, schemed and flirted. He had no interest in talking with the other gods; he was only here to hear what was going on. The others seemed to not realize that only something dire could force all of them together. The gods only came together like this when something was so wrong it required all their powers to set it to rights.
His thought turned from the other, his deep golden eyes narrowed as he noticed the gorgeous blonde sauntering up to him. He’d heard numerous tales of Aphrodite and her never satiated lust. For a long time now she’d been chasing after him, it was getting harder and harder to turn her down. The only way he’d managed to do so was by reminding himself that he, unlike some of the other gods, was not a toy for a female to play with.
Her soft red lips smiled in welcome as she leaned over the table, giving him a generous look at her cleavage. She was going to be the death of him someday; he just knew it.
“So, Lugh, it’s been a while since I last saw you. How are things in your lands?”
Her sultry voice washed over him, in most it would have probably inspired lust, but Lugh was made of stronger stuff than most. At least that was what he kept telling himself, it wasn’t lust he was feeling, just indigestion.
“Things are well, Aphrodite. I needn’t ask how things are going for you. I can practically smell the trail of broken hearts left in your wake. Tell me, did you think to add me to their ranks?” he asked.
Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed in anger, her luscious lips thinning.
“Who are you to refuse me? I am Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty! No man refuses me!”
A slight smirk crossed his lips and shook his head.
“Beautiful you are, but no matter how beautiful you might be, if you come to close to the sun it’s heat will still burn you alive, my lady.”
The buxom blonde stalked off, leaving Lugh with the desire to laugh. Pissing Aphrodite off had lessened the boredom for a few moments anyway. Now that he thought about it, he’d spent the last gathering pissing her off too.
The constant chatter died down, leaving the room quiet. Leaning forward, Lugh caught sight of Zeus who’d finally made an appearance. The king of the gods had changed and not for the better.
Lugh stared at Zeus, fighting to keep the surprise off his face, the same surprise that was present on the face of every god in the room. Instead of the normally strong, vibrant and glowing form he usually presented, Zeus now looked wore down and almost mortal in his tiredness.
The king of the gods wiped a hand across his face and took his seat at the head of the table.
“It is not often that I call all of you here, it’s only happened once before and that was to battle against the titans. We now face an enemy that even all our combined strength may not be able to defeat. We have one chance to defeat this beast, and it will take all of us to do it,” he said.
The silence shattered as the gods began talking and yelling amongst themselves. Lugh stayed quiet, knowing that no amount of yelling would make the king of the gods continue until everything was once more silent.
“What is the meaning of this,” Odin yelled from his corner of the room, “There is nothing that can stand against the combined might of all of us!”
“That’s right,” Loki yelled, always eager to stir the pot a little more.
Lugh got to his feet, this was getting out of hand.
“Shut up!” he roared, “Give Zeus a chance to fill us in before you all start acting like idiots!”
He sat back down, ignoring the looks of surprise being shot in his direction. His eyes met those of Loki and Lugh shook his head in warning. It was too easy to spot the mischief dancing in the trickster’s eyes.
“Damn tricksters,” Lugh muttered, not taking his eyes off Loki’s grinning face. He extended his hand under the table aiming toward Loki and let a ball of fire fly from his fingertips.
Laughter erupted in the hall as Loki’s chair flew backward, dumping the trickster into the floor, his feet encased in flames.
Slapping at the flames, Loki turned his dancing eyes to Lugh and nodded, making the sun god let loose a sigh of relief. Loki would behave himself, for the moment anyway.
When the clamor died down, Zeus continued.
“We’ve all heard of the new religion that is taking root down in the realm of the mortals. Most of us have thought of it as a short-lived thing. We were wrong. The beliefs have taken hold and now through the power of that belief there is a great evil stalking the world.
“The humans call this creature Lucifer. According to the lore, he was a servant of their new god. This Lucifer supposedly became greedy and wanted to take over. The result was the he was cast out, reduced to ruling a place worse than the underworld… err no offense brother.”
Hades snorted. “Sure, Zeus, you never mean to offend.”
“Can we please get back on topic here,” Cerridwyn asked. The mother goddess looked to be fed up with the fighting and petty squabbles.
Zeus blushed and nodded, picking at his robe as he said, “I believe Lugh has had a few encounters with the beast. That being the case, Lugh, would you share your insights?”
With a frown, Lugh removed his feet from the table and stood up.
“I don’t know much, every time I’ve run into the tricky little bastard he’s disappeared before the fight can really start. He came to my lands not very long ago, the gods of Eriu, both the Fir Bolg and we of Mother Danu, sensed an evil presence arrive on our shores. It was enough to stop our battle for the time being.
“I was chosen to go and find out what was going on. The source of the disruption proved to look nothing like I’d have thought. He looked like a god to be honest. I asked him what he was doing in Eriu, he talked around the question but it was obvious that he was searching for something.”
“Did you manage to discover what it was he was searching for?” Pan asked.
Lugh shook his head. “No, and to be honest, we really didn’t care, that kind of darkness should never step foot on our shore.”
There was silence for a moment, and then Athena got to her feet.
“Am I to understand that you wish us to join arms and go to battle against this thing? Why should we? Lugh himself states that he was looking for something, now, since he fled, it obviously isn’t a fight he’s looking for,” she said.
“Athena has a point,” Lugh cut in, “He could have stayed and fought me, and he possibly could have defeated me. Admittedly, I did wish to destroy him, but that was mostly because I didn’t want him on my isle.”
Lugh sank back into his seat, popping his feet back up on the table. He’d come to the meeting, but he had no desire to join in a fight against this ‘Lucifer’, as long as the bastard stayed out of his lands.
“Sun gods, always so eager to fight, never eager to ask question,” Epona said, a slight sniff in her voice.
Lugh glared at the maiden goddess, his eyes glowing in anger. Before he could say anything, Apollo jumped to his feet.
“Ah yes, and then we have you maiden goddesses, so full of love and peace. Tell me something, Epona, how well did all your love and joy work against the Titans? The answer is it didn’t, you had to be saved by us ‘eager to fight’ sun gods! Perhaps we shouldn’t have bothered to save your oh so peaceful ass?” Apollo asked.
Epona’s face reddened, knowing this was going to lead to a fight of massive proportions, Lugh got to his feet.
“Well, I must say it has been a true pleasure to see all of you again, however I will not be joining in this little crusade. I see no reason for us to band together and destroy this Lucifer. Let’s face it, we probably can’t win anyway. If any of us were honest, we’d admit the truth about what recent developments have done to us. Yet, that is one topic we obviously will never broach.”
“Lugh, I thought we agreed not to bring that up?” Zeus asked, eyeing the angry sun god wearily.
“I agree with Lugh,” Odin said, “We have more to worry about than trying to pick a fight with this Lucifer. Everyday finds our lands suffering, finds us unable to protect those who rely on us. What actions shall we take to correct that?”
Zeus slammed his hand down on the table and glared, sparks dancing around his fingertips. “That is not the issue we’re here to discuss!” he yelled.
“Of course not, Zeus, of course not. Since the subject that I want to discuss is not the topic of the evening, I bid you all a fond farewell,” Lugh answered.
Giving a small backward wave, Lugh strode from the Olympian Palace. Enough was enough, the others could argue from now until the sun fell from the sky, it would make no difference.
He’d almost reached the steps when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and hid a smirk as he saw Aphrodite rushing after him.
Her golden hair flowed out behind her; its silky strands caught up by the breeze that seemed to always float with her. Her cheeks glowed with a slight blush, her blue eyes sparkling with something he couldn’t quite decipher.
“What?” he asked.
She frowned at him. “You really aren’t moved by me, I truly have no effect on you?” she asked.
“Nope, none at all,” he lied, “Now what did you want?”
She shifted her weight to one foot and sighed.
“What did you mean in there? When you said that recent developments had done something to us?” she asked.
“You really don’t know?” he asked, “I would have thought that even you, mighty breaker of hearts, would have figured it out by now.”
“Just tell me, Lugh!”
He smirked at her angry face. “Very well, my lovely pain in the ass. In recent times, with humanity’s new preoccupation with logic and their new gods, our power has begun to wane. We all know that in spite of the myths that state we were the ones who created humans, it is in fact the opposite. They created us; they gave us our powers. Now that they no longer need us, our powers are weakening.”
“You don’t mean that we will fade away?”
Lugh shook his head, he hadn’t meant to frighten her.
“No, Aphrodite, I don’t believe we’ll fade away, once something is given life it remains alive. I do think that eventually, we’ll be reduced in our powers until our strength and abilities are little more than those of a witch are. That is my theory,” he answered.
“So then, what should we do?”
He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.
“That is something you must decide for yourself. As for me, I think I’ll live among the humans. It’s where most of us will end up anyway, so why prolong the inevitable?”
Her hand shot out, hitting his face with a stinging burn. He looked at her, surprised to see fury on her beautiful face.
“So you will flee, live among the humans and pretend you were never a god? You really don’t love me! I had thought that eventually you would see that we are perfect for one another.
“Fine, go ahead and run, run away and pretend that you are just accepting what is to come. We both know though, that you are not accepting anything, you’re simply giving up!” she yelled.
Lugh touched his stinging cheek and bowed slightly.
“You see it your way, and I see it mine, my lady” he said.
With a light grin he disappeared, never noticing the tears that began to make their way down her face.