Modern Day Gods
Aphrodite traced her body around the pole in the dim lit club waiting for her next dance. Seduction swirled from her lips and traced it’s way down her skin. As she collected the money strewn on the stage she breathed in the lust from the crowd. She breathed out a sigh as that limited power and energy flowed into her. She walked over to the bar and sat next to a man clothed in black.
“Uncle, you were not who I expected to see here. Has your wife grown tired of your sulking and your dog?” She asked snidely.
“Aphrodite dear- still sucking the crumbs from the table? Do these mortals sate your thirst? Is their worship enough? And how is your husband? Still crippled in a frozen forage?” Hades asked.
“You know as well as I do that we must take power anywhere we get it. Or do you forget- some of us must find worshipers wherever we can. Not all of us rule the dead.” Aphrodite bit off.
“And you remember that the souls no longer flow in my river. Like you I must take my power where I can find it.”
“Ha, as if any of us have a choice. The only ones who thrive now are the muses. They don’t need worship only energy. We were great once, now you patrol the streets looking for dying souls to offer a ferry, I feed off these scraps of lust and pleasure, Dionysus finds junkies chasing their next high, Artemis roams the streets to find men who prey on women, Apollo wanders the hospitals looking for desperation. We were great once. We were powerful once. What happened to us?” Aphrodite asked looking around at the mortals that filled the club.
“What happens to all old gods.” Hades shrugged. “We were replaced. The world changed. We are only as strong as those who worship us. Zeus sits rotting on his mountain, Poseidon drowns in his sea and I drink from a dry river. We are dying Aphrodite. Even the gods die when there is no one to give them tribute.”
“Modern gods- as pathetic as mortals. More so- they don’t need us to survive.” Aphrodite said bitterly staring at the energy around her. Lust filled the air and whenever any of it was directed at her, she drank it in. She could still manage to make them come to her caught up in her limited power but it was rarely worth it anymore. The energy wasn’t worth the scraps she found.
“No, without something to worship the mortals die. They are just no longer worshiping us, we don’t die when not worshiped. We just become weak. Artemis is the strongest of us all. It seems human nature doesn’t change even after thousands of years.”
“I think Uncle you mean men don’t change. They are molded after Zeus after all. He has yet to change for all he rots on that mountain top. A fitting place for a decaying idol.”
“Zeus has always been rotting my dear. Ever since he cracked our dear fathers head open and freed us from that hell. The mortals say it best about power and corruption.”
“What do the mortals say about it?“ Aphrodite asked.
“Absolute power currupts absolutely. You’ve been living among the mortals for centuries of their time. You know this to be true.”
“True or not Uncle we still feed from the scraps, Zeus still rots and you still ferry the dead. What good is this existence if we are to be robbed of our power to have it.”
“That my dear seems to be the question although we are gods and cursed not to die. You should sail on my river, come to eat with my wife and my dog. Bring your husband. It isn’t the feasts of the past but we have ambrosia and necter to share.” Hades offered.
“You do not make offers with out cause Uncle. What do you want?” Aphrodite demanded. She refused to play any more games.
“To take our power back my dear, what else? My wife grows tired of her empty halls and so do I. My brother has sat useless on his throne too long. There is a reason the mortals no longer worship us and I aim to change that. I aim to take back our power. Aren’t you curious to see if its possible?” Hades grin had too many teeth to be completely mortal just as Aphrodites figure was too perfect to be natural. The fallen goddess stared at her uncle and imagined what he said.
“We could return.” she muttered.
“Possibly.” Hades said, “If the universe is in our favor. We were great once, no reason we cannot be great again. I can return to my halls, you and your husband can return to a firey forage. Who knows. Maybe it’s time the mortals had something new to worship.”
“I shall speak to Artimis.” Aphrodite said. “We have gotten on good terms this century. She’d like more power to hunt her prey. She’ll come if I ask.”
“Good, I shall speak with Apollo and my brother Posiden. Hera already waits with Persphone in my halls. She has long been tired of her husbands games.”
“We shall meet in your halls in three suns time.” Aphrodite said as she stood. She walked out of the club ignoring the shouts of the manager behind her. Soon the mortals would remember who the old gods were. So idiot mortals like the one screaming the name she gave him would tremble at the sound of her true name. Soon Artimis would set her bow on the fools who thought that woman meant prey. Soon Apollo could heal in the hospital halls he wandered so desprately. Soon Zeus would continue to rot but not on his mountain top. He’d be cast from his throne and they would reign in all the splendor this new world could offer.
It was time to bring back the Old Religion to this new decrepit world.
