Holy Tyrant
- Location
- Brazil
A priori, that which is assumed to exist divorced from any previous condition that predate it.
Where does a person begins? Who came to be first, the egg or the chicken? Alpha or Omega?
Megumi or Zeus?
Or maybe further beyond still? In the Before. In Buddhist devas are not immortal. Their lives as devas began sometime in the past when they died and were reborn. They are said to live for very long but finite periods of time, ranging from thousands to (at least) billions of years. When they pass away, they are reborn as some other sort of being, perhaps a different type of deva, perhaps a human or something beyond comprehension. The Lamrim mentions that devas are often reborn into lower realms of suffering like the Narakas and Pretas because their existence consumes a lot of good karma, but they can also be reborn as humans and animals.
If Buddhism is right after all and there is no such a thing as a perpetual, eternal and true Self then does that mean life itself has no meaning or does this elevate validate its sacred nature of life, precisely because of its fleetness?
Does it even matter? Was it even our choice to begin with? Megumi might have chosen Zeus or Zeus may have been the one that choose Megumi yet, if pressed both have the same answer.
The moment they met that bashful smile that shined like the Daybreak and were backed in the Love that it emitted as easily as the Sun does sunlight, they were the ones chosen. From that moment, and forevermore, being the Sky that support that brilliant star up to the heavens was their conjoined purpose, so they reached together and toiled against the frames of the World that tried to strangle that light.
That is what fathers are for. To be a parent IS the closest mortals get to experience godhood. They simple decided to live up to said mantle.
Whether one's existence is horn or ivory hardly mattered in the face of such task. If it is required to assume the mantle of SKY FATHER to see one's son happiness then all Heavens and the Fates themselves will learn to shake at sight of this Father.
Be a mortal, god or otherwise, all will know the price to cross the Silver Bright Holy Tyrant of Usurped Heaven.
RAGING HEAVEN.
-//-
Victory is mine, and with it comes the responsibility for what follows. The snare Fate had set my way crumbled like sand around my godly might. This is the ruinous price for those who suffer defeat from the jaws of victory. The Divinity of the Shinigami was like a glass statue, perfect and pristine until the moment it was subjected to the slightest pressure.
Now it is just trash scattered across the floor.
Kurama and myself are not so brittle… we are gods that endure. Hades and Zeus are the spine of Olympus Mons that pierce from Hell to Heaven. And with this new standing comes the power to turn this Death Trap that was meant to be our tomb into the foundation for our new Regime.
Divine Power,
[Shinjutsu]
Authority.
Its name is superfluous compared to its content. Divinity labor within rails. The power of the Archetypes is manifested through twelve primary templates. While the Olympian gods have a fun dance of chairs game going among themselves, no god bear more than two Archetypes within their Divine Frame.
An absolute restriction that looks really paltry when one is confronted by the magnitude of these powers.
Jiraiya is dying right now. It is simple the way of the world. Those touched by Death are dammed to join its ranks. The old toads' effort is futile, even the me from one minute ago would be powerless to save him.
That is unfair, the Shinigami broke before the man himself did, yet he was still getting his undeserved payment.
This is the kind of unfairness I would never have to tolerate ever again.
For I am THE KING!
The King Archetype is primal and closest to the definitively godhood. The link between the human and the divine realm. It bears two main powers. ORDERING & BLESSING.
ORDERING invoke the King's nature as the central Archetype, the central place where the King oversees and rule the World. This isn't a hyperbole either, the boundaries of the Anima Mundi, the part of reality that is ordered and organized by the King. Outside it lies non-creation, chaos and the demonic.
The power to draw a line in the sand between the sacred and the profane.
The first task of the king is to know where the Kingdom begins and where it ends. It must be clearly defined… even if its boundaries happen to be an entire planet. A lonely peddle drifting inside the cosmos. Is it too much to ask for just the world? Clearly not. Zeus was once the master of the entire Cosmos.
I take this world in hand, the raging power contained within the Manse that once threatened to overwhelm me now submits as it was proper. For that is my will. The power races throughout the dragon lines to the entire planet at the speed of light. The same way I once breathed life into air inside my lungs into elementals I now give this world the awareness to know its monarch. From the breeze to the drop of water and grain of sand, it is by Zeus that they name King.
This Right Order is the manifestation of the divine principles of the universe I have internalized inside myself. This is Justice, and as King, so am I. The Cosmic and Moral structure are the Left and Right Hands of Power.
The line between what is right and what is wrong.
This is a King's crown and a King's burden. The King embodies these very principles, then, now and forevermore in his own person, living them into his own life. If the King embody these principles successfully everything in his realm will also go according to the Right Order and the Kingdom will flourish.
Jiraiya's shallow breath suddenly rebounded as his battered heart find new strength within itself to keep going. The shadow of death is chased away. He is going to live and the old frog couple has enough enlightenment to understand it was my hand that saved him.
This is BLESSING. From the Right Order derives prosperity. The King and Kingdom are mirrors. If the King is health and righteous then his own Realm would follow in his nature. Fertile and Prosperous. This blessing mend both soul, body and mind.
By praising and affirming his Right Order in his deeds and praising those that walk the righteous path, the King affirm the virtue and good of its people. By acknowledging people in their true worth they feel healed and made whole. Filling the nameless emptiness all people feel inside themselves. One that can only be filled by blessing from the King Archetype.
Whatever the Death God toke from Jiraiya, he is getting it back.
This is Justice.
That is the easy part though.
"Your names were Pa and Ma, right?" I inquire the two sages once again. Their faces are laced with both relief and worry. For themselves, their charge and the world that just changed under their own feet.
"Time to hold court. I am the Great God Zeus, King of Olympus. I have terms to dictate, information to share and explanations to give. Due to the rocky circumstances I will have to impose in your hospitality until Jiraiya is conscious again. So, where do you want to go from here?"
The two toads looked at each other and then shared a solemn node, sharing the implicit understanding that their lives depend on their cooperation.
This is going to get old fast; I am start to under both the phase of my life as Touko/Aoko and Zeus's old proclivities for disguise a little bit better. I might be the King of Cosmos but I am also the God of Hospitality (Xenia). I even dismembered half of Hestia's Innocent Authority for myself due to hard rules on the number of seats I am working with inside Olympus. Having people act as if hosting me is some kind of deadly hurdle really piss me off.
I am so going to teach those stupid toads how a proper relation between guest and host owe to be! They better be thankful!
-//-
"Eat up! I pulled out all the stop." Lady Shima, from the Two Great Sage Toads, proclaims proudly, in the way only a true dedicated matron that labored for decades to master her craft could… her best certainly look the part as well. An exquisite yet elegant full course meals comprised of the most colorful and exotic diversity of insects I have ever seen in my entire life. Every single one prepared with refinement and presented with panache that made my own culinary skill seem paltry.
I hope it taste like sea food… please, let it taste like sea food!
The third time owe to be the charm, right?
Right?
I look her way once again. Despite the rocky first meeting and overhaul tense situation, she is still so happy Jiraiya not only survived but is in the mend that her eyes shine full of granny energy. Which is actually kind of cute and endearing for an old frog lady.
Turns out this meeting was a blessing. Animal clans live in keen awareness with nature, my coronation is the hottest news stirring policies around the animal clans and the Toads of Mount Myōboku are the foremost seers of the animal kingdom. This made the place the perfect rub for news and to control the panic and furor.
After I explain the situation around that Manse and divulge the bad news about the Demonic Statue of the Other Path it was a quickly wrap. Now elders from all animal kingdom are flocking the place to pay their respect to their new King. Who would have guessed everything you needed to get the trust of sentient animal society was taking measures so we wouldn't all die?
All in favor of not dying! That is my slogan.
The flood of blessings also helped smooth things over. The prospect of Land of Wind becoming a lush paradise one day by itself was enough to gather the eternal loyalty of all clans in that region.
Considering the seriousness of the treat of the return of the Ten Tails, most clans are bending the knee and pledge themselves to me. Something they actually kind of have to do, as this planet is my Kingdom for all legal and metaphysical purposes. My approval goes a long way and they want to have a good live where we don't all get killed by some primal monster of darkness.
That is how my stay here changed from a hostage situation to guess of honor, and how I got to know Lady Chima over the last days. I still kind broke almost every bone Jiraiya had with my single attack so the toads were reticent about me ministering his medical attention. His bad reputation with women screwing with him again.
She certainly has taken great care of me. In Xenia, intention is King.
I can't escape this.
Grannies, Zeus's greatest tribulation.
"Thank you for the meal!"
"That is right, Megumi-chan. A young woman should eat with gusto! I will make sure to prepare so desert too, just you wait! You will need the extra energy when meeting with those stuck up pricks all day."
This is not like Zootopia at all, Disney lied to me!
"Jiraiya-dono has awoken!" A yellow and orange frog with a batman mask screams to Lady Shima direction, completely oblivious to my presence until our eyes cross while bursting through the door. There was a god after all! Saved by the gong.
"And I presume that Elder Fukasaku just forgot to mention that to me until now, right?" My tone was casual but the young toad still froze up, concerned about involvement in his elder's policies.
I sighed, "I am not going to bite your head off, boy. You can only ever answer for your own actions. The Toads of Mount Myōboku offered me their hospitality so I am the guest here. This is still your home, act like it."
"You honor me beyond words, Lord Zeus! Please, follow me!" The boy bowed as far as he was able while jumping in joy at my compliment. Lady Shima just sighed in exasperation but followed behind me without complains.
That was a mouthful but necessary statement to stop the boy from collapsing like a pile of nerves. I have come to understand why Zeus liked to use disguises so frequently. As a fully realized, manifested and liberated god my true nature is self-evident. Chakra is the binding force of the Universe, even to the most rudimentary lifeform is sensible to its touch… and effects.
Aletheia. Greek word meaning something not occult, opaque, concealed or dissimulated. The Truth is self-evident to the eyes of the body and spirit; Truth is the manifestation of that which exist as it is, resonating through one's entire tripartite soul (Logos/Pathos/Eros).
There is a reason Lady Shima has gained so much face with me the last few days. Despite her unassuming appearance she still is one of this world's foremost mystics, and this shows. The fact she can see through the Omega Aura of the Silver Bright Holy Tyrant of Usurped Heaven and still witness the young Megumi in Alpha is a feat beyond most people.
Even when self-evident, Truth remains complicated, it seems.
I walk through the gorgeous sight of the land of toads at a sedated pace, as the cause of disruption I had no room to complain about the curiosity my presence stirred over the community. From young to old, small to gargantuan, all eyes turn to my direction as I cross the fields with as much dignity and grace as I could manage… I already said this before, but this is getting old fast.
For someone that tried to live as quietly and freely as possible this whole King of the World thing is more a hurdle. I have to put up with due to family reasons than personal interest. Though I doubt that I come out like that for most people. Between killing the Shinigami, taking ownership of the planet, freeing and recruiting the Tailed Beasts under my banner, subverting the Shinobi system with own bloodline, and finally, genocide the Otsutsuki people of the Moon for a crime I have no evidence of…
Is it any wonder I am putting the fear of God in people? Even the treat of the Ten Tails looks more like a flimsy excuse a power-hungry tyrant would use to seize and freely exert power. Especially when everything they can see is the lines of broken bodies of my previous rivals.
Is it ivory or is it horn? Cause might have started in Alpha but now only Omega can be seemed. To the Animal Clans my presence is implicit ultimatum, they can fall in line behind me or be struck down by thunder bolt out of the blue sky. The very World is my Kingdom, barring someone from using sage arts would be trivial. Their backs are already against the wall.
Even my show of clemency toward Monkey King Enma only solidified this view. As Sarutobi's oldest and truest companion he is intimately aware of the man's nature, so I can't help but approve of his proactive actions. At the same time, Son Goku is so livid by what he sees as betrayal that only my hand stayed a summary execution.
We hashed things out with prejudicious use of Ninshu augmented speech, and as the executioner of Orochimari, the greatest pox to Hiruzen's legacy, a common ground was established. Enma and me wanted the same thing for the old Hokage, so conciliation was well within reach… as long as he capitulated to my demands.
It certainly made me look the part of the magnanimous and august monarch. Truth itself was insubstantial compared to the ability to bend the mind of enemies until they became allies. What I proved was that one way or another, by crock or hook, Zeus always gets what he wants.
And so, they are watching me keenly, because they rightly guessed I intend to do the same to Jiraiya. Stent an olive branch to a former enemy… and see for themselves what happens if my, oh so kind offer happens to be rejected.
-//-
Soon enough we reach the private room Jiraiya is located, the man himself looked grim but energetic, despite the battered appearance. Good for him, moping really doesn't suit him at all.
The other toads are quickly to rush out, leaving me with the man himself and the Two Great Sage Toads in the room. Fukasaku look downright panicking internally, he probable intended to take his time talking with Jiraiya before I barged here. A schemer old geezer, this one, even if well intentioned.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Jiraiya, I would like to say I am sorry for ruining your great last standing, but we both know this would be a lie. While I am flattened you thought me the woman destined to spend eternity together with, I am at my core a flighty and free-spirited soul. Don't take me turning you down so badly that you have to die again, ok?"
Despite the tense situation, my ridiculous proclamation extracts a snort from the man. Typical of him, I suppose. Reducing a decisive battle for the fate of the world as a bad breakup, another romantic fiasco to his legendary tally.
We stare at each other in silence, until he caved. "What do you want from me, Megumi?"
"Straight to the point then, very well. Do you remember what I said to you about the Will of Ninjas? Despite admiring the Sage of Six Paths and his legacy, I have always held some contempt for the world that rejected and forsoke him… but that might have just been me. My own biases speaking due to the stress of circumstances beyond my control."
Jiraiya now look genuinely surprised at my frank admission. I have to give it to him, for someone parachuted into this mess out of nowhere, he is taking things in strides very well.
"A bit late for that, don't you think? You won. Everything. You are literally the King of the World."
"Yeah, it is. I am the King of the World… so now everything that follows is on my head. I don't really regret it… no, I feel remorseful that so many people needlessly lost their lives. But I can't and wouldn't take those choices away either. So, everything that is left is for me to take responsibility… and how."
That is when Fukasaku cuts in, excitedly. "Are you really going to spare Jiraiya-boy?"
His tactless interference incense Shima, so things soon degenerate once again to a marital bickering between them. "Of course, Megumi-chan is going to spare the boy, she was the one that saved him back then! You flea for brain of a husband, she has been nothing but kind to us. Is it so bad that those stupid old prophecies turned out to be fudge tall tales?"
At the word prophecy, Fukakuso's old body tense like a well coiled string. Why the hell… no way. It can't be that, right?
Enough, I have become a busy person as it is. I can't waste time on this comedic skip.
"My point, and that also serves for the two of you." I empathize so they would take the hint and shut up. "Is that everyone has to come with terms with this new World Order, including me. Ninshu didn't pan out like Hagomoro expected… but it didn't fail either. Even if conflict can't be avoided, Ninshu still shined as a force for good, capable of mending even as it was subverted to perform harm."
I closed the gap between Jiraiya and myself, then extend my hand to his direction in the Sign of Reconciliation. Jiraiya stare blankly at my extended hand, mile yard stare. His mind was elsewhere, even as he stared in disbelief at my hand.
"You toke everything from me…", he almost whimper.
"Did I really? I told you before, didn't I? Everything my Apollo has I gave to him. That was my honest assessment… until I met you. Godfather, un? I guess you dropped the ball. But when, what the hell do I even know about your circumstances here? When I drop the ball, genocides happen. I owe to keep my own nose clean first. The world still is in danger as long as the treat of the Ten Tails looms over our heads… and I am scared."
My confession shocked the older man. Considering he experienced my power with his own body, the idea I would be intimidated by anything must seem laughable. He lacks contest, something I have from my intimate understanding of Kurama, and the dark implication brought to light by the existence of the Otsutsuki clan.
"Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Progenitor of Chakra, mother of the Sage of Six Path… in Buddhism it is said that there are 3 million realms, as this is not my first rodeo with transmigration I myself up some trust in this. That is how I know to watch out for you, Jiraiya. Your name is that big that I knew of it… and you still almost killed me. No, you would have succeeded hadn't my brother put everything on the line to change that… and you are just a famous folklore fairy tale."
"And this Kaguya is a god, like you." Jiraiya completed my trail of thought.
"Zeus might be a big name in some circles but The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest surviving monogatari. She is that big of a deal, and she was a total hoe, despoiled goddess and devouring mother some thousands of years ago. To the point her sons had to put her to the sword. That is how the legend of the Sage of Six Paths came to be."
Now the man looked downright panicked at the news. If only it ended there.
"My own divine ancestry is tied to her, meaning she might even be getting to ride the Ethos of my name. Zeus is the grandson of Gaia, Primordial Mother Gods and all-around cunt and troublemaker. There is a reason nuking the planet with the Moon sounded a sensible course of action under these conditions."
"What it is required of me, then?" The man asks for marching orders before he realize it himself. I knew I was right about him, after all.
"This world is my son's home. If the oath as godfather genuinely mean anything to you at all, now that the hold of old prophecy was broken, help me defend it. I won't let you make a liar out of me; Apollo's life is his to live from now on… and how much from Naruto he decides to pick up will be up to him. And it is up to you to offer those things to him, as his godfather."
"… you think you are going to die. No, you are either going for broke, even if it kills you. You are covering your bases." His assessment is calculated thing, make sense considering his profession.
"Zeus is the one that Hold the Aegis, whatever flaw I might have, cowardice is not one." I confessed. I was not seating back for this one and being Zeus wasn't a sure promise of victory either.
"The world simples move on, Jiraiya. There is always something happening. Succession or World Orders is as natural as the passing of the seasons. This happened to Kaguya, Hagomoro, Hashirama… and eventually it will also reach me. I won't lose any sleep over it either. So, help me please."
"HE ACCEPTDS!" Fukasaku screams out of the top of his lungs, startling Jiraiya and me out of our own skins. The man even fell out of the bed in fright as the combination of injuries and old reflexes tangled him into the ground.
What the fuck?
No.
No, no, no, no, no!
MOTHER FUCKER!
The light of lightning turn night into day and the sound of thunder deafens the world as my Kingdom take it upon itself the express the stent of my displeasure.
The old toad looks my way as if seeing his own death. That is what pass for wise now-a-days, I guess. He figured out the obvious.
With a smile so sweet it was almost rotten I turn his way.
"Teel me, gramps. Did Gamamaru, Great Honourable Geezer, so happens to release a new prophecy mixtape recently? You know, the kind that involves regicide and patricide?"
Fukasaku opens his mouth but no sounds come out. My attention by itself is withering the old toad into an early grave but I frankly don't care. That is how pissed off I am right now.
"What the hell is going on?" Jiraiya screams, diverting my attention for long enough for the old toad sage to collapse like a puppet without strings.
"So you actually doesn't known of it just yet. I guess this too is fate working in you favor."
"There is a new prophecy?" Jiraiya asks in wonderment.
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'new' either. More like the Last Whimpering Cries of Powerless Heaven. Just a parting poison." I dismiss the thing with as much disdain I could express while crossing my eyes.
"What is it about then?" He persisted, intrigued despite himself. Fool.
Fukasaku pulls through and deliver the 'good news' with a breathless voice. "The Great God Zeus is destined to be overthrow by a son that will be more powerful than himself."
To the man's credit the first thing that enter his expression is worry and panic. I might have really smitten him down right here otherwise. The idiot connects the dots, I only have one son right now. One who was meant to be a Child of Prophecy. The Fates are literally baiting me into killing my own son, the very cause I overthrew their design in the first place.
Cunts.
The sound of thunderstorm is deafening, it really looks like the fucking end of the world from the window. Someone really owe to do something about this.
"And you somehow knew of it?" he inquired, trying to untangle the knot.
"I have known about before I even realized, or remembered, that I was Zeus. Remember Gaia? That was her curse, you could say. She laid it on her husband Uranus, causing him to be overthrow by her son, Cronus who then proceeded to be just as big as a douche bag. This led his son, Zeus," I point at myself, "to overthrow him. Guess what happens next?"
"… I take it she did not stop it at Cronus, then?"
"The witch is an engine of vitriol and powerlessness, making everybody as miserable as herself is her only motivation."
"What happens then? Were you actually overthrow?"
"No, you still don't get it! Divinity exists on rails. The success and failure of a King's Order is bond by his actions, and as he strays from the proper course so does his Kingdom."
Jiraiya looks uncertainly my way. Dread rising in his soul as he starts to see the invisible hand of… Kaguya? Gaia? Fates?
"The King Archetype binds all who bear it to its bipolar Shadow, the Dark King. He fears and hate new life, which he perceives as a treat to his kingship, because he is a weakling at heart. His crown is the core of his identity, so without it he fears being nothing because he was never that great to begin with."
"Poison meant to kill a King. Poison mean to despoil a Kingdom, an Killing Curse of Hatred aimed at the heart of a monarch." The man realizes. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Third time is the charm, after watching disgruntled children kill their tyrannical fathers twice it would make sense for someone to wise up and not make your children hate you." I turn my gaze to the toad geezer once again. "And I am especially outraged someone I meant to make peace with would plot to poison my son's heart against me!"
The tension returned to the room. Everyone here is genuinely question whether they will die now. Was I really that scary? I just wanted to live a fun, carefree life for myself and my new family without bothering anyone. Everything else I did was to help, yet here I am.
Is this what life would be like from now on? Will I have to watch out for strangers trying to poison my Apollo against me? Is it my fault for being too strong to be directly opposed? And what of any new child that might come my way? It was not exactly like I planned to be a parent and I am self-aware enough to admit… I am Zeus. Things are hopeless on the abstinence front.
"God-damnit, Shima! Don't look at me with eyes full of tears like I am the bad person here! I was trying to do things right, but there are limits to audacity! You know as I do what happen to fools led astray by the lure of prophecy! Minato is going to be gurgling mayonnaise for the rest of eternity as reward for putting his faith in it! Nagato didn't pass the smell test either! A false idol created as smoke screen by whoever stole the Demonic Statue of the Outer Realm. Now you are putting my son's neck on the chopping block as well!"
"Zeus, what did you say about my student?" Jiraiya inquired with the most level voice I have ever heard from him.
"There is no such a thing as a naturally occurring Rinnegan, Jiraiya. Even Hagomoro started out with the basic sharingan. He isn't the reincarnation of Hagomoro because bodhisattva can't reincarnate but exist within their Pure Land. The boy is a Fater, a puppet, misdirection and scapegoat."
"I am talking about Minato!"
Fuck, me and my big mouth… so that is why everything was innuendo with Kurama, wasn't it? The bastard figured out I was Zeus years ago. Now everything sounds like a sex joke… why am I even thinking this? Am I actually panicking?
You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it all.
"The Nine Tailed Fox is now the new God of Death, Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Who do you think is in the top of his shit list? He is certainly not having fun as his prisoner is now the owner of his soul. There were some forbidden jutsu designed to revert the Reaper Death Seal but they are all void now. Minato's soul is consigned to literal bureaucratic hell."
"He is Naruto's father!"
I raise an eyebrow in open contempt before I can think better of it, even as I am filled with regret for it. The Toad Sage doesn't take it well. At all.
"The world has degraded to such state because humans have freely enjoyed a 'good death', regardless of how sinful they had been in life, leaving a debt of bad karma for their children to bear. This is the rebalancing of the scales, the Justice of Olympus. Mortals will toil in Tartarus until they expiate the bad karma accrued in course of their lives. Then chose to go for the Pure Land or being reincarnated here after drinking from the river of oblivion. Is there any surprise the gods would hold some sins as beyond forgiveness, then?"
The fucker's fate sets in resolve, then stretches his hand to me in the Sign of Reconciliation. Eyes full of fire.
"You can't be fucking serious. Do you think you can win? Against me! Do you sincerely believe my Apollo is going to choose you over me? There is nothing but hags to the Naruto name compared to all the riches of a true Prince of the Earth! I was just throwing some pity your way!"
"Then there is no problem at all, after all… or are you telling me the Great God Zeus fear his own son will betray him?" Jiraiya answer with as much sarcasm and derision as he ever managed.
Motherfucker!
It is said that in Olympus only Zeus is truly free. He is the one that set down the rules that bind the gods themselves.
A King might still be his own person but the crown exists above one's head. By disconnecting one's ego from one's own desires when performing the functions of the King Archetype separate infantile grandiosity from mature greatness.
He acts out of the responsibility to his kingdom, for it is here that his transpersonal commitment lies, a devotion beyond himself and a reminder that even him too is a servant to something higher.
As a temporary steward, the King speak from an inner authority because he gives weight to the voice that lies at the center of every man. A voice that minimize punishment and maximizes praise. A voice that affirms clearly and calmly and with authority the human rights or all!
I am Justice itself. From here out and forevermore. As long as I act as a should then even this stupid prophecy is nothing but a promise that even if I were to fall, someone else would pick the mantle I left behind.
I won't lose!
"… Yeah, that is fucking right. And Jiraiya, if you use this to ever harm my son, I am going to chain you to the top of his fucking mountain and have eagles eating your liver every day for the rest of eternity, to you heard me?"
"It is his choice to make, after all. Or did you lie after all?"
"Apollo is not going to betray me, no son of mine ever will. You are going to realize it soon."
Our little pack when to the Epics as the most hostile Sign of Reconciliation in legends.
-//-
[AUTHOR'S ROOM]
Everybody asks What is Zeus and Who is Zeus, but nobody asks How is Zeus.
The reason I harped the danger of obliviousness all this time was precisely because Megumi was born with Zeus's credit card and today, she picked up the tab. The result is the Supreme Douche Bag of the Sky Fathers and all-around bad guy and videogame main villain, Zeus.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyxY3oxkwQ
People are afraid out of their wit's end, so from their point of view, Zeus' prophecy looked like a silver treat delivered from Heaven itself. From Megumi 's point of view is trying to groom his son into killing her… from everybody else things are more complicated.
Megumi and Jirayia were almost on the mend but the Poison of Prophecy worked as intended. Kaguya and the Ten Tails are an imminent treat and they both genuinely care for Apollo, but friendship is closed off.
Yeah, I did a self-reference to the tittle. Megumi was always a blast to write about because when you look at Zeus behavior from a pedestrian point of view, he is more interested in disguising himself as mortal and wander like a vagabond than rule from his throne. He didn't so much actually chooses to fight Cronus but was forced to.
To Megumi being King of the World is day job she has to put up with, so she is just as likely to delegate as much of it so she has more free time to go back at being a lazy bun.
I could not pass up that Tenacious D reference after last chapter either.
Where does a person begins? Who came to be first, the egg or the chicken? Alpha or Omega?
Megumi or Zeus?
Or maybe further beyond still? In the Before. In Buddhist devas are not immortal. Their lives as devas began sometime in the past when they died and were reborn. They are said to live for very long but finite periods of time, ranging from thousands to (at least) billions of years. When they pass away, they are reborn as some other sort of being, perhaps a different type of deva, perhaps a human or something beyond comprehension. The Lamrim mentions that devas are often reborn into lower realms of suffering like the Narakas and Pretas because their existence consumes a lot of good karma, but they can also be reborn as humans and animals.
If Buddhism is right after all and there is no such a thing as a perpetual, eternal and true Self then does that mean life itself has no meaning or does this elevate validate its sacred nature of life, precisely because of its fleetness?
Does it even matter? Was it even our choice to begin with? Megumi might have chosen Zeus or Zeus may have been the one that choose Megumi yet, if pressed both have the same answer.
The moment they met that bashful smile that shined like the Daybreak and were backed in the Love that it emitted as easily as the Sun does sunlight, they were the ones chosen. From that moment, and forevermore, being the Sky that support that brilliant star up to the heavens was their conjoined purpose, so they reached together and toiled against the frames of the World that tried to strangle that light.
That is what fathers are for. To be a parent IS the closest mortals get to experience godhood. They simple decided to live up to said mantle.
Whether one's existence is horn or ivory hardly mattered in the face of such task. If it is required to assume the mantle of SKY FATHER to see one's son happiness then all Heavens and the Fates themselves will learn to shake at sight of this Father.
Be a mortal, god or otherwise, all will know the price to cross the Silver Bright Holy Tyrant of Usurped Heaven.
RAGING HEAVEN.
-//-
Victory is mine, and with it comes the responsibility for what follows. The snare Fate had set my way crumbled like sand around my godly might. This is the ruinous price for those who suffer defeat from the jaws of victory. The Divinity of the Shinigami was like a glass statue, perfect and pristine until the moment it was subjected to the slightest pressure.
Now it is just trash scattered across the floor.
Kurama and myself are not so brittle… we are gods that endure. Hades and Zeus are the spine of Olympus Mons that pierce from Hell to Heaven. And with this new standing comes the power to turn this Death Trap that was meant to be our tomb into the foundation for our new Regime.
Divine Power,
[Shinjutsu]
Authority.
Its name is superfluous compared to its content. Divinity labor within rails. The power of the Archetypes is manifested through twelve primary templates. While the Olympian gods have a fun dance of chairs game going among themselves, no god bear more than two Archetypes within their Divine Frame.
An absolute restriction that looks really paltry when one is confronted by the magnitude of these powers.
Jiraiya is dying right now. It is simple the way of the world. Those touched by Death are dammed to join its ranks. The old toads' effort is futile, even the me from one minute ago would be powerless to save him.
That is unfair, the Shinigami broke before the man himself did, yet he was still getting his undeserved payment.
This is the kind of unfairness I would never have to tolerate ever again.
For I am THE KING!
The King Archetype is primal and closest to the definitively godhood. The link between the human and the divine realm. It bears two main powers. ORDERING & BLESSING.
ORDERING invoke the King's nature as the central Archetype, the central place where the King oversees and rule the World. This isn't a hyperbole either, the boundaries of the Anima Mundi, the part of reality that is ordered and organized by the King. Outside it lies non-creation, chaos and the demonic.
The power to draw a line in the sand between the sacred and the profane.
The first task of the king is to know where the Kingdom begins and where it ends. It must be clearly defined… even if its boundaries happen to be an entire planet. A lonely peddle drifting inside the cosmos. Is it too much to ask for just the world? Clearly not. Zeus was once the master of the entire Cosmos.
I take this world in hand, the raging power contained within the Manse that once threatened to overwhelm me now submits as it was proper. For that is my will. The power races throughout the dragon lines to the entire planet at the speed of light. The same way I once breathed life into air inside my lungs into elementals I now give this world the awareness to know its monarch. From the breeze to the drop of water and grain of sand, it is by Zeus that they name King.
This Right Order is the manifestation of the divine principles of the universe I have internalized inside myself. This is Justice, and as King, so am I. The Cosmic and Moral structure are the Left and Right Hands of Power.
The line between what is right and what is wrong.
This is a King's crown and a King's burden. The King embodies these very principles, then, now and forevermore in his own person, living them into his own life. If the King embody these principles successfully everything in his realm will also go according to the Right Order and the Kingdom will flourish.
Jiraiya's shallow breath suddenly rebounded as his battered heart find new strength within itself to keep going. The shadow of death is chased away. He is going to live and the old frog couple has enough enlightenment to understand it was my hand that saved him.
This is BLESSING. From the Right Order derives prosperity. The King and Kingdom are mirrors. If the King is health and righteous then his own Realm would follow in his nature. Fertile and Prosperous. This blessing mend both soul, body and mind.
By praising and affirming his Right Order in his deeds and praising those that walk the righteous path, the King affirm the virtue and good of its people. By acknowledging people in their true worth they feel healed and made whole. Filling the nameless emptiness all people feel inside themselves. One that can only be filled by blessing from the King Archetype.
Whatever the Death God toke from Jiraiya, he is getting it back.
This is Justice.
That is the easy part though.
"Your names were Pa and Ma, right?" I inquire the two sages once again. Their faces are laced with both relief and worry. For themselves, their charge and the world that just changed under their own feet.
"Time to hold court. I am the Great God Zeus, King of Olympus. I have terms to dictate, information to share and explanations to give. Due to the rocky circumstances I will have to impose in your hospitality until Jiraiya is conscious again. So, where do you want to go from here?"
The two toads looked at each other and then shared a solemn node, sharing the implicit understanding that their lives depend on their cooperation.
This is going to get old fast; I am start to under both the phase of my life as Touko/Aoko and Zeus's old proclivities for disguise a little bit better. I might be the King of Cosmos but I am also the God of Hospitality (Xenia). I even dismembered half of Hestia's Innocent Authority for myself due to hard rules on the number of seats I am working with inside Olympus. Having people act as if hosting me is some kind of deadly hurdle really piss me off.
I am so going to teach those stupid toads how a proper relation between guest and host owe to be! They better be thankful!
-//-
"Eat up! I pulled out all the stop." Lady Shima, from the Two Great Sage Toads, proclaims proudly, in the way only a true dedicated matron that labored for decades to master her craft could… her best certainly look the part as well. An exquisite yet elegant full course meals comprised of the most colorful and exotic diversity of insects I have ever seen in my entire life. Every single one prepared with refinement and presented with panache that made my own culinary skill seem paltry.
I hope it taste like sea food… please, let it taste like sea food!
The third time owe to be the charm, right?
Right?
I look her way once again. Despite the rocky first meeting and overhaul tense situation, she is still so happy Jiraiya not only survived but is in the mend that her eyes shine full of granny energy. Which is actually kind of cute and endearing for an old frog lady.
Turns out this meeting was a blessing. Animal clans live in keen awareness with nature, my coronation is the hottest news stirring policies around the animal clans and the Toads of Mount Myōboku are the foremost seers of the animal kingdom. This made the place the perfect rub for news and to control the panic and furor.
After I explain the situation around that Manse and divulge the bad news about the Demonic Statue of the Other Path it was a quickly wrap. Now elders from all animal kingdom are flocking the place to pay their respect to their new King. Who would have guessed everything you needed to get the trust of sentient animal society was taking measures so we wouldn't all die?
All in favor of not dying! That is my slogan.
The flood of blessings also helped smooth things over. The prospect of Land of Wind becoming a lush paradise one day by itself was enough to gather the eternal loyalty of all clans in that region.
Considering the seriousness of the treat of the return of the Ten Tails, most clans are bending the knee and pledge themselves to me. Something they actually kind of have to do, as this planet is my Kingdom for all legal and metaphysical purposes. My approval goes a long way and they want to have a good live where we don't all get killed by some primal monster of darkness.
That is how my stay here changed from a hostage situation to guess of honor, and how I got to know Lady Chima over the last days. I still kind broke almost every bone Jiraiya had with my single attack so the toads were reticent about me ministering his medical attention. His bad reputation with women screwing with him again.
She certainly has taken great care of me. In Xenia, intention is King.
I can't escape this.
Grannies, Zeus's greatest tribulation.
"Thank you for the meal!"
"That is right, Megumi-chan. A young woman should eat with gusto! I will make sure to prepare so desert too, just you wait! You will need the extra energy when meeting with those stuck up pricks all day."
This is not like Zootopia at all, Disney lied to me!
"Jiraiya-dono has awoken!" A yellow and orange frog with a batman mask screams to Lady Shima direction, completely oblivious to my presence until our eyes cross while bursting through the door. There was a god after all! Saved by the gong.
"And I presume that Elder Fukasaku just forgot to mention that to me until now, right?" My tone was casual but the young toad still froze up, concerned about involvement in his elder's policies.
I sighed, "I am not going to bite your head off, boy. You can only ever answer for your own actions. The Toads of Mount Myōboku offered me their hospitality so I am the guest here. This is still your home, act like it."
"You honor me beyond words, Lord Zeus! Please, follow me!" The boy bowed as far as he was able while jumping in joy at my compliment. Lady Shima just sighed in exasperation but followed behind me without complains.
That was a mouthful but necessary statement to stop the boy from collapsing like a pile of nerves. I have come to understand why Zeus liked to use disguises so frequently. As a fully realized, manifested and liberated god my true nature is self-evident. Chakra is the binding force of the Universe, even to the most rudimentary lifeform is sensible to its touch… and effects.
Aletheia. Greek word meaning something not occult, opaque, concealed or dissimulated. The Truth is self-evident to the eyes of the body and spirit; Truth is the manifestation of that which exist as it is, resonating through one's entire tripartite soul (Logos/Pathos/Eros).
There is a reason Lady Shima has gained so much face with me the last few days. Despite her unassuming appearance she still is one of this world's foremost mystics, and this shows. The fact she can see through the Omega Aura of the Silver Bright Holy Tyrant of Usurped Heaven and still witness the young Megumi in Alpha is a feat beyond most people.
Even when self-evident, Truth remains complicated, it seems.
I walk through the gorgeous sight of the land of toads at a sedated pace, as the cause of disruption I had no room to complain about the curiosity my presence stirred over the community. From young to old, small to gargantuan, all eyes turn to my direction as I cross the fields with as much dignity and grace as I could manage… I already said this before, but this is getting old fast.
For someone that tried to live as quietly and freely as possible this whole King of the World thing is more a hurdle. I have to put up with due to family reasons than personal interest. Though I doubt that I come out like that for most people. Between killing the Shinigami, taking ownership of the planet, freeing and recruiting the Tailed Beasts under my banner, subverting the Shinobi system with own bloodline, and finally, genocide the Otsutsuki people of the Moon for a crime I have no evidence of…
Is it any wonder I am putting the fear of God in people? Even the treat of the Ten Tails looks more like a flimsy excuse a power-hungry tyrant would use to seize and freely exert power. Especially when everything they can see is the lines of broken bodies of my previous rivals.
Is it ivory or is it horn? Cause might have started in Alpha but now only Omega can be seemed. To the Animal Clans my presence is implicit ultimatum, they can fall in line behind me or be struck down by thunder bolt out of the blue sky. The very World is my Kingdom, barring someone from using sage arts would be trivial. Their backs are already against the wall.
Even my show of clemency toward Monkey King Enma only solidified this view. As Sarutobi's oldest and truest companion he is intimately aware of the man's nature, so I can't help but approve of his proactive actions. At the same time, Son Goku is so livid by what he sees as betrayal that only my hand stayed a summary execution.
We hashed things out with prejudicious use of Ninshu augmented speech, and as the executioner of Orochimari, the greatest pox to Hiruzen's legacy, a common ground was established. Enma and me wanted the same thing for the old Hokage, so conciliation was well within reach… as long as he capitulated to my demands.
It certainly made me look the part of the magnanimous and august monarch. Truth itself was insubstantial compared to the ability to bend the mind of enemies until they became allies. What I proved was that one way or another, by crock or hook, Zeus always gets what he wants.
And so, they are watching me keenly, because they rightly guessed I intend to do the same to Jiraiya. Stent an olive branch to a former enemy… and see for themselves what happens if my, oh so kind offer happens to be rejected.
-//-
Soon enough we reach the private room Jiraiya is located, the man himself looked grim but energetic, despite the battered appearance. Good for him, moping really doesn't suit him at all.
The other toads are quickly to rush out, leaving me with the man himself and the Two Great Sage Toads in the room. Fukasaku look downright panicking internally, he probable intended to take his time talking with Jiraiya before I barged here. A schemer old geezer, this one, even if well intentioned.
"Welcome back to the land of the living Jiraiya, I would like to say I am sorry for ruining your great last standing, but we both know this would be a lie. While I am flattened you thought me the woman destined to spend eternity together with, I am at my core a flighty and free-spirited soul. Don't take me turning you down so badly that you have to die again, ok?"
Despite the tense situation, my ridiculous proclamation extracts a snort from the man. Typical of him, I suppose. Reducing a decisive battle for the fate of the world as a bad breakup, another romantic fiasco to his legendary tally.
We stare at each other in silence, until he caved. "What do you want from me, Megumi?"
"Straight to the point then, very well. Do you remember what I said to you about the Will of Ninjas? Despite admiring the Sage of Six Paths and his legacy, I have always held some contempt for the world that rejected and forsoke him… but that might have just been me. My own biases speaking due to the stress of circumstances beyond my control."
Jiraiya now look genuinely surprised at my frank admission. I have to give it to him, for someone parachuted into this mess out of nowhere, he is taking things in strides very well.
"A bit late for that, don't you think? You won. Everything. You are literally the King of the World."
"Yeah, it is. I am the King of the World… so now everything that follows is on my head. I don't really regret it… no, I feel remorseful that so many people needlessly lost their lives. But I can't and wouldn't take those choices away either. So, everything that is left is for me to take responsibility… and how."
That is when Fukasaku cuts in, excitedly. "Are you really going to spare Jiraiya-boy?"
His tactless interference incense Shima, so things soon degenerate once again to a marital bickering between them. "Of course, Megumi-chan is going to spare the boy, she was the one that saved him back then! You flea for brain of a husband, she has been nothing but kind to us. Is it so bad that those stupid old prophecies turned out to be fudge tall tales?"
At the word prophecy, Fukakuso's old body tense like a well coiled string. Why the hell… no way. It can't be that, right?
Enough, I have become a busy person as it is. I can't waste time on this comedic skip.
"My point, and that also serves for the two of you." I empathize so they would take the hint and shut up. "Is that everyone has to come with terms with this new World Order, including me. Ninshu didn't pan out like Hagomoro expected… but it didn't fail either. Even if conflict can't be avoided, Ninshu still shined as a force for good, capable of mending even as it was subverted to perform harm."
I closed the gap between Jiraiya and myself, then extend my hand to his direction in the Sign of Reconciliation. Jiraiya stare blankly at my extended hand, mile yard stare. His mind was elsewhere, even as he stared in disbelief at my hand.
"You toke everything from me…", he almost whimper.
"Did I really? I told you before, didn't I? Everything my Apollo has I gave to him. That was my honest assessment… until I met you. Godfather, un? I guess you dropped the ball. But when, what the hell do I even know about your circumstances here? When I drop the ball, genocides happen. I owe to keep my own nose clean first. The world still is in danger as long as the treat of the Ten Tails looms over our heads… and I am scared."
My confession shocked the older man. Considering he experienced my power with his own body, the idea I would be intimidated by anything must seem laughable. He lacks contest, something I have from my intimate understanding of Kurama, and the dark implication brought to light by the existence of the Otsutsuki clan.
"Kaguya Otsutsuki, the Progenitor of Chakra, mother of the Sage of Six Path… in Buddhism it is said that there are 3 million realms, as this is not my first rodeo with transmigration I myself up some trust in this. That is how I know to watch out for you, Jiraiya. Your name is that big that I knew of it… and you still almost killed me. No, you would have succeeded hadn't my brother put everything on the line to change that… and you are just a famous folklore fairy tale."
"And this Kaguya is a god, like you." Jiraiya completed my trail of thought.
"Zeus might be a big name in some circles but The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is considered the oldest surviving monogatari. She is that big of a deal, and she was a total hoe, despoiled goddess and devouring mother some thousands of years ago. To the point her sons had to put her to the sword. That is how the legend of the Sage of Six Paths came to be."
Now the man looked downright panicked at the news. If only it ended there.
"My own divine ancestry is tied to her, meaning she might even be getting to ride the Ethos of my name. Zeus is the grandson of Gaia, Primordial Mother Gods and all-around cunt and troublemaker. There is a reason nuking the planet with the Moon sounded a sensible course of action under these conditions."
"What it is required of me, then?" The man asks for marching orders before he realize it himself. I knew I was right about him, after all.
"This world is my son's home. If the oath as godfather genuinely mean anything to you at all, now that the hold of old prophecy was broken, help me defend it. I won't let you make a liar out of me; Apollo's life is his to live from now on… and how much from Naruto he decides to pick up will be up to him. And it is up to you to offer those things to him, as his godfather."
"… you think you are going to die. No, you are either going for broke, even if it kills you. You are covering your bases." His assessment is calculated thing, make sense considering his profession.
"Zeus is the one that Hold the Aegis, whatever flaw I might have, cowardice is not one." I confessed. I was not seating back for this one and being Zeus wasn't a sure promise of victory either.
"The world simples move on, Jiraiya. There is always something happening. Succession or World Orders is as natural as the passing of the seasons. This happened to Kaguya, Hagomoro, Hashirama… and eventually it will also reach me. I won't lose any sleep over it either. So, help me please."
"HE ACCEPTDS!" Fukasaku screams out of the top of his lungs, startling Jiraiya and me out of our own skins. The man even fell out of the bed in fright as the combination of injuries and old reflexes tangled him into the ground.
What the fuck?
No.
No, no, no, no, no!
MOTHER FUCKER!
The light of lightning turn night into day and the sound of thunder deafens the world as my Kingdom take it upon itself the express the stent of my displeasure.
The old toad looks my way as if seeing his own death. That is what pass for wise now-a-days, I guess. He figured out the obvious.
With a smile so sweet it was almost rotten I turn his way.
"Teel me, gramps. Did Gamamaru, Great Honourable Geezer, so happens to release a new prophecy mixtape recently? You know, the kind that involves regicide and patricide?"
Fukasaku opens his mouth but no sounds come out. My attention by itself is withering the old toad into an early grave but I frankly don't care. That is how pissed off I am right now.
"What the hell is going on?" Jiraiya screams, diverting my attention for long enough for the old toad sage to collapse like a puppet without strings.
"So you actually doesn't known of it just yet. I guess this too is fate working in you favor."
"There is a new prophecy?" Jiraiya asks in wonderment.
"I wouldn't exactly call it 'new' either. More like the Last Whimpering Cries of Powerless Heaven. Just a parting poison." I dismiss the thing with as much disdain I could express while crossing my eyes.
"What is it about then?" He persisted, intrigued despite himself. Fool.
Fukasaku pulls through and deliver the 'good news' with a breathless voice. "The Great God Zeus is destined to be overthrow by a son that will be more powerful than himself."
To the man's credit the first thing that enter his expression is worry and panic. I might have really smitten him down right here otherwise. The idiot connects the dots, I only have one son right now. One who was meant to be a Child of Prophecy. The Fates are literally baiting me into killing my own son, the very cause I overthrew their design in the first place.
Cunts.
The sound of thunderstorm is deafening, it really looks like the fucking end of the world from the window. Someone really owe to do something about this.
"And you somehow knew of it?" he inquired, trying to untangle the knot.
"I have known about before I even realized, or remembered, that I was Zeus. Remember Gaia? That was her curse, you could say. She laid it on her husband Uranus, causing him to be overthrow by her son, Cronus who then proceeded to be just as big as a douche bag. This led his son, Zeus," I point at myself, "to overthrow him. Guess what happens next?"
"… I take it she did not stop it at Cronus, then?"
"The witch is an engine of vitriol and powerlessness, making everybody as miserable as herself is her only motivation."
"What happens then? Were you actually overthrow?"
"No, you still don't get it! Divinity exists on rails. The success and failure of a King's Order is bond by his actions, and as he strays from the proper course so does his Kingdom."
Jiraiya looks uncertainly my way. Dread rising in his soul as he starts to see the invisible hand of… Kaguya? Gaia? Fates?
"The King Archetype binds all who bear it to its bipolar Shadow, the Dark King. He fears and hate new life, which he perceives as a treat to his kingship, because he is a weakling at heart. His crown is the core of his identity, so without it he fears being nothing because he was never that great to begin with."
"Poison meant to kill a King. Poison mean to despoil a Kingdom, an Killing Curse of Hatred aimed at the heart of a monarch." The man realizes. A self-fulfilling prophecy.
"Third time is the charm, after watching disgruntled children kill their tyrannical fathers twice it would make sense for someone to wise up and not make your children hate you." I turn my gaze to the toad geezer once again. "And I am especially outraged someone I meant to make peace with would plot to poison my son's heart against me!"
The tension returned to the room. Everyone here is genuinely question whether they will die now. Was I really that scary? I just wanted to live a fun, carefree life for myself and my new family without bothering anyone. Everything else I did was to help, yet here I am.
Is this what life would be like from now on? Will I have to watch out for strangers trying to poison my Apollo against me? Is it my fault for being too strong to be directly opposed? And what of any new child that might come my way? It was not exactly like I planned to be a parent and I am self-aware enough to admit… I am Zeus. Things are hopeless on the abstinence front.
"God-damnit, Shima! Don't look at me with eyes full of tears like I am the bad person here! I was trying to do things right, but there are limits to audacity! You know as I do what happen to fools led astray by the lure of prophecy! Minato is going to be gurgling mayonnaise for the rest of eternity as reward for putting his faith in it! Nagato didn't pass the smell test either! A false idol created as smoke screen by whoever stole the Demonic Statue of the Outer Realm. Now you are putting my son's neck on the chopping block as well!"
"Zeus, what did you say about my student?" Jiraiya inquired with the most level voice I have ever heard from him.
"There is no such a thing as a naturally occurring Rinnegan, Jiraiya. Even Hagomoro started out with the basic sharingan. He isn't the reincarnation of Hagomoro because bodhisattva can't reincarnate but exist within their Pure Land. The boy is a Fater, a puppet, misdirection and scapegoat."
"I am talking about Minato!"
Fuck, me and my big mouth… so that is why everything was innuendo with Kurama, wasn't it? The bastard figured out I was Zeus years ago. Now everything sounds like a sex joke… why am I even thinking this? Am I actually panicking?
You know what? Fuck it. Fuck it all.
"The Nine Tailed Fox is now the new God of Death, Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Who do you think is in the top of his shit list? He is certainly not having fun as his prisoner is now the owner of his soul. There were some forbidden jutsu designed to revert the Reaper Death Seal but they are all void now. Minato's soul is consigned to literal bureaucratic hell."
"He is Naruto's father!"
I raise an eyebrow in open contempt before I can think better of it, even as I am filled with regret for it. The Toad Sage doesn't take it well. At all.
"The world has degraded to such state because humans have freely enjoyed a 'good death', regardless of how sinful they had been in life, leaving a debt of bad karma for their children to bear. This is the rebalancing of the scales, the Justice of Olympus. Mortals will toil in Tartarus until they expiate the bad karma accrued in course of their lives. Then chose to go for the Pure Land or being reincarnated here after drinking from the river of oblivion. Is there any surprise the gods would hold some sins as beyond forgiveness, then?"
The fucker's fate sets in resolve, then stretches his hand to me in the Sign of Reconciliation. Eyes full of fire.
"You can't be fucking serious. Do you think you can win? Against me! Do you sincerely believe my Apollo is going to choose you over me? There is nothing but hags to the Naruto name compared to all the riches of a true Prince of the Earth! I was just throwing some pity your way!"
"Then there is no problem at all, after all… or are you telling me the Great God Zeus fear his own son will betray him?" Jiraiya answer with as much sarcasm and derision as he ever managed.
Motherfucker!
It is said that in Olympus only Zeus is truly free. He is the one that set down the rules that bind the gods themselves.
A King might still be his own person but the crown exists above one's head. By disconnecting one's ego from one's own desires when performing the functions of the King Archetype separate infantile grandiosity from mature greatness.
He acts out of the responsibility to his kingdom, for it is here that his transpersonal commitment lies, a devotion beyond himself and a reminder that even him too is a servant to something higher.
As a temporary steward, the King speak from an inner authority because he gives weight to the voice that lies at the center of every man. A voice that minimize punishment and maximizes praise. A voice that affirms clearly and calmly and with authority the human rights or all!
I am Justice itself. From here out and forevermore. As long as I act as a should then even this stupid prophecy is nothing but a promise that even if I were to fall, someone else would pick the mantle I left behind.
I won't lose!
"… Yeah, that is fucking right. And Jiraiya, if you use this to ever harm my son, I am going to chain you to the top of his fucking mountain and have eagles eating your liver every day for the rest of eternity, to you heard me?"
"It is his choice to make, after all. Or did you lie after all?"
"Apollo is not going to betray me, no son of mine ever will. You are going to realize it soon."
Our little pack when to the Epics as the most hostile Sign of Reconciliation in legends.
-//-
[AUTHOR'S ROOM]
Everybody asks What is Zeus and Who is Zeus, but nobody asks How is Zeus.
The reason I harped the danger of obliviousness all this time was precisely because Megumi was born with Zeus's credit card and today, she picked up the tab. The result is the Supreme Douche Bag of the Sky Fathers and all-around bad guy and videogame main villain, Zeus.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGyxY3oxkwQ
People are afraid out of their wit's end, so from their point of view, Zeus' prophecy looked like a silver treat delivered from Heaven itself. From Megumi 's point of view is trying to groom his son into killing her… from everybody else things are more complicated.
Megumi and Jirayia were almost on the mend but the Poison of Prophecy worked as intended. Kaguya and the Ten Tails are an imminent treat and they both genuinely care for Apollo, but friendship is closed off.
Yeah, I did a self-reference to the tittle. Megumi was always a blast to write about because when you look at Zeus behavior from a pedestrian point of view, he is more interested in disguising himself as mortal and wander like a vagabond than rule from his throne. He didn't so much actually chooses to fight Cronus but was forced to.
To Megumi being King of the World is day job she has to put up with, so she is just as likely to delegate as much of it so she has more free time to go back at being a lazy bun.
I could not pass up that Tenacious D reference after last chapter either.