𝓞𝓯𝓯𝓼𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼

Throw yourselves into the unknown

There she sat. Her gaze directed downward toward the town lying infront of the mountain of gods. Olympus had gotten so quiet these days. As a child, Seferi used to run through the forests of Greece. Accompanied by her mother Athena, she would surround herself with all the beautiful things which life had oh so joyously to offer.

It had all been well. She was content with what life had to give. She loved her mother but most of all, she loved and valued the things which her mother taught her. She was the goddess of wisdom afterall, it was her duty to insure that said wisdom would also be passed down to her own children and those to come.
It is this duty, that sent Seferi to Mount Olympus in the first place. She was to learn all the beautiful things that the pentacle of Greece had to show her.

Although, it did get quite lonely. No one would even really speak to her, nor try to establish any good feelings for her. All the gods who frequented these holy halls payed her no mind. Because afterall, why would they. Not just was she not their responsibility, she was far below them. In all truthfulness, Seferi had always struggled with grasping the righteousness of these hierarchies. To her, they were nothing more than formalities everyone was tasked with to uphold for the sake of honoring those with command. Which to Seferi, already seemed like a conflict in it of itself. It was tradition of course, but once she thought about it, tradition had always limited her to being by herself. She wasn't allowed to be friends with anyone. As long as her mother wasn't friends with their parent of course.

Unfair. It was no fun. Unjust and unfounded.

Looking down at the town, her wishes became more apparent. She desperately longed to be like one of them. Have friends, or even love. Someone who she could share anything with. But she never dared to make that happen. Not just was it against the tradition, but, how would she even make such a friend? Afterall, these traditions applied to everyone. Their own stories weren't allowed to be told. Nor to even exit. They were there to replicate what their parents did and forge a new, yet old, greek mythology.

There was no way out of this fate. It was sealed and set in stone. As much as it was unjust, there was no changing it. Seferi was smart enough to not go against what the elderly gods asked from her. It was so simple yet unquestionably wrong. But she couldn't help but wonder, were there other people like her? If so, who were they? How were they? Were they kind? Would they like her? Did they feel the same way about the rules as her? Were they allowed to be friends? So many questions, but yet Seferi couldn't find a good answer. Because afterall, she had no reference points but herself.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the gold rays of the setting sun. She had witnessed the sun set many days, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by her mother. But still, they always looked the same. Except, from here, between the columns of marble, holding up the temple of Olympus, it all looked vastly different. It had a different feel to it. It seemed almost new. Despite the image still being the same. And for the first time, Seferi wished to just escape. To run away and never return. Live a life amongst the humans. Amongst the normal people. Those, who distributed the water equally. Or the farmers who grew crops of plenty, and worked relentlessly to feed their families and neighbors. The people who in return gave the farmers land to grow more, water to feed their plants or the seeds that held life. The people from the markets who carefully evaluated their choices of purchase. Everyone who participated in the market economy, they all knew what to sell, to buy, to bargain, to refuse. Like the olives that grew in luscious amounts were sold to foreigners who had never seen such delights, the people sold her the idea of what life could truly be like. An olive had many uses afterall. Its nourishment kept people alive, its oil which was used in lanterns illuminated the dark, its bark -when burned - kept people warm and even its twigs and leaves provided people with mattresses. And just like the olives, life had many things to offer.

At least that's what Seferi hoped. Even if her life had been dull up to this point, it was never too late to turn the rudder around, was it? She could hide amongst the humans, become a great thinker like the great humans before and with her. She could dance around the fire that the humans lit for festivals. She could watch the theatric plays on Dionysia, a festival held for the most joyous god she knew. It would never get quiet as a human, and first and foremost, she wouldn't have to feel alone anymore.

She could comment strategy for her people. In battle just as in organization. She could speak any languages, she held all the knowledge there was. She wished her story were to be like others. Considering the example of Achilles. She wanted an exciting life, a tragedy, a loving partner, and the power to go against her parents for what she believed was right. For anything she wished. As a consequence, she found that those rights, they were freedom. Something she had never had. Something she would probably never have.

The sun had vanished off the sky, and with it, Seferis wishes. They were nothing more than wild, unruly fantasies. If still, they did hold some kind of truth to them. Regardless, they did not matter. Afterall, "nobody is coming to save you, get up".

A lesson Athena had taught her daughter early into life. And so Seferi did. She arose from her seated position at the egde of the temple. Her
Peplos, a tunic like dress, fell into place against her radiant body. Her dark calculating eyes swiftly accumulated to the darkness of the night. She stretched every fiber of her body. Her arms, legs and torso. She turned her head in a circle, lightly cracking her neck in the process. Almost seemingly effortlessly, she was perfect. Everything about her was perfect. She had no flaws. No imprints of time. And she despised it. Some people might think that having devine blood, therefore being a divinity thyself, was a pleasure. That it was easy and fulfilling. And, in some ways, they would be correct. While everything did get served on a silver platter, it also took the opportunity to grow. Stuck in eternity. It was not something Seferi would wish upon even her worst enemies. That is of course, if would have any at all. Not just did she have no one aside from her mother who cared for her, she also had no one who did not approve of her. She simply did not matter. Or at least, she did not matter enough to be considered worthy of anyone's attention.

Slowly, she paced the corridors of the temple to Olympus. Her bare feet echoing through the halls. The sound as empty as ever. The massive columns to her sides looked like they were built to last for centuries, and in some way, that was true. With no doubt, these halls were built by the gods themselves, and therefore built for eternity. They were of humongous size. Seferi questioned how tall the columns were exactly, but couldn't find a destinct answer. From her point of view, it looked like they reached the sky, even if, of course, that wasn't correct. The darkness had engulfed the Parthenon and shrouded it in a feeling of quiet and peace. By daytime, the people, the gods would rush in again. They would hold heated discussions about how humanity evolved. How to punish those who went against them. And most importantly, they gossiped. They gossiped all day long. About who had affaires with who, who had a new love child, who had secret admirer, who said what behind closed doors. Seferi found it boring and despicable. She had no option sometimes but to listen, so she was very informed. To her dismay. This was the reason why she found the night to be most enjoyable. It was quiet and nobody could interrupt her thoughts through mindless chatter. Just like how no one spoke to her, the didn't acknowledge the fact that the was even there. So in truth, they did not care what she heard.

She couldn't help but wonder, if Nyx had been in. She was the goddess of the night sky afterall, and the only one who had at least acknowledged her by giving her a kind smile on her first night at the temple to Olympus, the Parthenon. They weren't too bad for a divinity, Seferi figured.

Her amble came to a halt as she had reached a door made from the finest wood. Her room. Leisurely, she opened the door and stepped inside. Ready stood her desk that seemed like it had been used by generations of gods who all didn't know how to care for things. Beside it, a side stand and a bed with white sheets of cloth who looked to be in the same condition of the desk. The room wasn't very spacious nor cozy. But, Seferi had always been happy to have any roof over her head. Even if the room she stayed in was cold, full of melancholy and soiled. Afterall, a home was never guaranteed.