“We believe the boat is unsinkable.” - Philip A. S. Franklin
To think a single sentence would bring about the end of the world as we knew it.
The gods of old saw the sailing of this ship, this “Titanic”, and were filled with disgust and rage. To think these mere mortals could make such boastful claims was nothing less than an insult upon themselves; an insult which dug deep into the heart of Poseidon himself.
Across the seven seas he reigned supreme and if he decreed that a boat, however magnificent or ostentatious, was to sink then it would sink to the bottom of the oceans and be forgotten forever more.
On the maiden voyage of the Titanic Poseidon went to his brother Zeus, king of the gods, and asked his permission to punish the hubris of man. He would remind them of the power of the gods and to make such brazen displays would only further incur their wrath.
For his measure, Zeus too agreed with his brother. Long had been the days since man had made offerings to the pantheon and now they had grown to see themselves the master of this tiny world. To this end he proclaimed to all the gods that none were to interfere with his brother’s actions to sink the human ship “Titanic”. No sooner had the words left his brother’s mouth then did Poseidon turn to water and rain down upon the earth once more.
Using his strength he pulled a glacier from the far north and placed it directly in the path of the Titanic. He planned for the vessel to slam itself against the glacier and be torn asunder; casting the passengers down into the cold waters of the Atlantic where they would serve as a warning to all those who thought themselves above the gods.
In the dead of night the Titanic came and just as Poseidon had planned it did indeed smash headlong into the glacier. Yet to his surprise the hull was not torn asunder. Nay, it was not even damaged in the slightest. The metal hull of the ship charged headfirst into the glacier and shattered the frozen mountain into a thousand shards that slowly sank beneath the dark waves.
The passengers who had heard the commotion and come to the main deck to observe the event let out a great cheer and the night was soon lit by the chorus of celebratory fireworks and song.
Poseidon watched as his prey continued sailing past him unfretted in the slightest and flew into a great rage. The waters of the world swelled and shuddered at his wrath. Hundreds of other smaller ships were swept beneath the waves across the globe while those along the shores watched in horror as waves as high as the clouds themselves raced towards them.
Though the world shook and quaked under Poseidon’s wrath the Titanic continued sailing ever onward; undeterred by the ravages causing such chaos all around him.
As the vessel finally reached its destination, ahead of schedule mind you, Poseidon only further drove himself into bouts of pure rage.
He swore that for each year that ship remained afloat he would raise the levels of the sea one foot until all that was left was his all-encompassing oceans. This shocked and threw the rest of the pantheon into disorder as what few followers they had left would ultimately be wiped out by such an action. Yet to their dismay Zeus had made his degree and none were to interfere with Poseidon’s feud with the human vessel. Even Zeus himself, who now had come to know the madness now consuming his brother, could not break his own oath lest he invite civil war amongst the gods.
So as it went year by year Poseidon made true to his curse. The sea levels rose one foot each year and continued to rise with no sign of stopping.
At first the humans of the world saw little concern. Save for several island nations being swallowed up by the sea the majority of humanity went about their daily lives as if nothing was wrong. It wasn’t until the fifth year when nearly all of Europe was swallowed up did things begin to change.
Unaware of why the water levels were rising, humanity showed its greatest quality and once more adapted to face the rising challenge. Entire cities and communities transferred to living upon water craft, with the most ambitious ones lifting entire cities and creating floating islands that would rise with the oceans.
By the tenth year the planet had lost nearly 63% of its landmass to the rising oceans while the Titanic continued to sail.
Now converted into an almost religious object of worship, the Titanic had slowly been transformed into the largest floating city to sail the great ocean with new generations being born to only know the cold confines of its steel walls.
Nothing Poseidon had done had come close to sinking the Titanic and so his wrath had only deepened. Waves as tall as mountains bounced off the metal hull effortlessly while legions of sea creatures of every variety were repelled assault after assault by the human crew. With no signs of stopping the gods now grew more and more desperate to bring about an end to this matter once and for all.
It was true that while they had been forbidden from interfering, Zeus had said nothing of their offspring.
And so each god went to their demigod children and gave them one command. One command, which if carried out and fulfilled would earn them a place alongside them in the pantheon, to rule over the humans for all the days and nights of eternity.
Sink the Titanic.
