Pyro

Before the reign of the Olympians, a great war between the Titans and the Olympians took place. The War of the Titans resulted in the Olympians becoming the supreme rulers of Earth, and the Titans were banished to Tartarus.

It should not be said that the Titans did not put up a good fight; the war was a constant struggle between the two factions. The Titans were powerful, capable of ultimate creation and destruction. Pyro, Titan of Fire, was a tremendous example of this. Fighting against the Olympians, Pyro formed the first volcanos with his blows upon the Earth. These instruments of destruction wreaked havoc on the Olympians, giving the Titans the lead for quite some time. All of the Titans were fierce fighters; who knows what the world would be like today if the Titans stayed in power.

    As is known, this reality did not come true thanks to the switching sides of some of the Titans, most notably Prometheus. As the Titan of Foresight, he predicted that the best choice to make was to join the side of the Gods, the inevitable victors. He convinced his brother, Epimetheus, to switch allegiance along with him, but he also convinced another, Pyro. The two were inseparable, the best of friends. Although a burning passion boiled within his build, Pyro did have a strong belief of righteousness, and with the help of Prometheus, he eventually realized that he was fighting for the wrong people, whose motives were unlike his own. With these new reinforcements, the Olympians turned the tides of war and ended up victorious.

    Not all destructive forces are evil forces; destruction is often followed with creation and beauty. Pyro's volcanos created countless amounts of land on Earth, that life has thrived on for billions of years. One of Pyro's volcanos became the towering Mount Olympus, the paradise of the Gods. Pyro was embodied by this idea of destruction and creation; he could be quite destructive, sometimes blinded by his emotions, but he did have good values at heart.

    Pyro became quite fond of the humans, Prometheus's creation, and he was a bit appalled by how Zeus was starting to treat them. During the great war, Pyro never thought anything bad of the Olympians, since the monstrosities that were the Titans consumed all of his attention. At the dawn of the new Olympian regime, Pyro obeyed and agreed with what the Olympians were doing. He helped Zeus by heating up the Earth, sustaining an inhabitable temperature for all life on Earth, and Pyro continue to be in charge of maintaining this temperature henceforth.

    However, after a while, his views of the Gods started to change now that the Titans weren't clouding his vision. His instinct was telling him that the Gods were starting to act irresponsibly with their newly gained power. Pyro began to observe this through Zeus's proclamation of what the humans should become. He decreed them subservient creatures, needing the Gods' protection in order to survive. To Pyro, this decision simply looked like a calculated move to retain absolute power, but he quickly dismissed this accusation, as the Gods replaced a far worse supremacy; surely this must make the Gods saints.

    But this perspective of his changed when Zeus forbade the use of fire on Earth, and the humans were deprived of this valuable resource. Pyro was enraged; not only did this undermine Prometheus's creation, but Zeus took away the resource that was Pyro's gift, fire. Now he was starting to reassess the Gods' actions, and feared things would only get worse. He scolded Zeus on what he had done, as his actions were outrageous and insensible. However, Zeus's sentiments did not change, and Pyro didn't dare disobey the Lord of the Sky. Although he could not sway Zeus's stance on the matter, Pyro did go to Prometheus for guidance.

    Pyro told Prometheus of his suspicions, and he forced Prometheus to look into the future and see what the Gods would become; what atrocious acts they might commit. Although Prometheus was reluctant, he gave in and told Pyro what was to come. He foresaw that the Gods would start to misuse their power, as Pyro feared. Prometheus saw maidens being kidnapped by the Gods for the Gods' own pleasure; people being punished for questioning or disregarding the wills of the Olympians; whole wars starting because of disputes between the divine.

    Pyro was furious. He demanded that Prometheus give him permission to give fire back to the humans to help them out; it was a way to get revenge on the Olympians for their brutal behavior. Prometheus insisted that Pyro disregard what he had said, that there was nothing to worry about, and Pyro believed him. However, Prometheus did agree that it was a necessity to give fire back to the humans.

    "Thank you my friend," spoke Prometheus. "But it is not you who must do the deed. The humans are my creation, and it is I who shall give fire back to the humans." Pyro was disinclined to let his friend go forth with his plan, but Prometheus insisted that he must. He went to the forges of Hephaestus and Athena, stole the fire burning within the forges, and then brought it down to the people. It helped human civilization thrive and dominate the natural order, but Prometheus was brutally punished for his betrayal. He was to be chained to the mountain, Caucasus, where a vulture would tear out his liver every day.

    This was Pyro's last straw. Inflamed with anger at the horrid treatment of his best friend, Pyro knew it was time for rebellion. Madness exploded within him, and in response to his behavior, volcanos started popping out of the ground. Pyro started heating up the Earth, causing catastrophe for civilization and for the Gods. He went to Olympus to try to take charge, but he wasn't thinking straight; he was blinded by his rage. The Gods were able to outsmart and defeat Pyro, banishing him to the core of the Earth. He lay dormant there for millions of years, but he swore that someday he would get revenge on the Earth and at the Gods.

    Over time, Prometheus's vision came true, and many people realized the Gods were indeed misusing their power. Maidens like Europa, Danae, and Io were raped by Zeus, and children were punished by Hera for Zeus's disloyalty. When Persephone was kidnapped by Hades, Demeter mourned, and as a result, she created famines and starvation for human civilization, to no fault of their own. The Trojan War, where thousands died only for a stolen maiden, was started because of jealousy within Olympus, and the list goes on and on. Some figures, like Arachne, reflected Pyro's beliefs, but were dearly punished for questioning the Gods' behavior. The common belief was that the Gods were saints for overthrowing the terrible rule of the Titans, but as Pyro proved, people can end up forming regimes just as ruinous as the previous ones they claimed to destroy.

    The Gods tried their best to suppress Pyro's story, and they did well with this task. But history has been repeating itself, and Pyro's sentiment is shining through once more. Augustus, Napoleon, Lenin, Castro: all world leaders who abolished a previous, horrific system of leadership, only to end up replacing it with another. In addition, not only his sentiments, but Pyro himself has started becoming more relevant in recent human civilization. While the Gods succeeded in keeping Pyro dormant for millions of years, he has recently became more alive again. With the Industrial Revolution, humans have started becoming more active below the Earth. Their expeditions underground have slowly started to awaken Pyro, and in his continuous resentment to the Gods, he has started to take revenge on their kingdom. Species have been now going extinct, sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting, and more problems are starting to emerge. Because of Pyro, the Earth is warming.