Marilla

| PROLOGUE |

In the beginning there was nothing. Then there was Chaos, not in the sense of disorder but pure darkness in the form of a chasm. Afterwards came three other creatures, the Earth Gaia, the monstrous Tartaros and Eros, the embodiment of sexual love. These creatures were the prerequisite for all acts resulting in the population of the cosmos.

From Gaia came the Sky (Ouranos), the Mountains and the Sea (Pontos). This story begins with the union of Ouranos and Gaia. They had twelve children: Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Theia, Coeus, Phoebe, Kronos, Rhea, Mnemosyne, Themis, Crius and Iapetus. Together these children formed what later became known as the first Titans.

Tired of the tyrannous reign of her husband, Ouranos, Gaia urged her youngest child, Kronos, to overthrow his father. He used a scythe to castrate Ouranos and banished him for eternity. Kronos then became the ruler over the whole cosmos and a so-called Golden Age began. He took his sister, Rhea, as his bride and they sired the first generation of the Olympian gods: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus.

A prophecy foretold Kronos’ demise by his children. So in fear, he swallowed each of them as soon as they were born. However, history always finds a way to repeat itself. Rhea, tired of the villainous reign of her husband, tricked him into eating a rock instead of their newborn babe and hid him in a cave with the nymph Amalthaea. There Zeus grew up to become a formidable warrior, who freed his brothers and sisters by cutting his father’s stomach open, and together they waged war on the Titans. A war that would later be known as the Titanomachy.

The Olympians emerged victoriously. Zeus took his father’s scythe and cut him into pieces, throwing his remains into the deepest pits of the underworld also known as Tartaros. The three brothers, Hades, Poseidon and Zeus, drew lots to determine who would become the leader. Zeus drew the winning lot, making him the supreme leader of the gods. He took his sister, Hera, the goddess of marriage, as his wife and together had Ares, the god of war.

Zeus proceeded to have many affairs. One of his affairs with Leto, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe, resulted in the birth of the twins Apollo, god of the music and sun, and Artemis, goddess of the wild and moon. Another affair with Maia, the eldest nymph of the constellation Pleiades, gave Zeus another bastard child. He was named Hermes and became Zeus’ messenger.

Zeus had another child. She sprang full grown in armour from Zeus’ head and thus had no mother. She was named Athena and became the goddess of wisdom, reason and purity. She was Zeus’ favourite child and was permitted to use his weapons. Including his beloved thunderbolt.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love, desire and beauty, arose from the sea foam on a giant scallop. Her arrival brought chaos over Olympus, making men and women alike fight for her attention. However, after she rejected Zeus, he forced her to marry Hephaestus. He was the child of Hera and had no father, and was the only god who was physically ugly. He became the smith and armourer of the gods, using a volcano as his forge.

And so the twelve Olympians were formed. Zeus, god of lightning and the supreme leader over the gods. Hera, goddess of marriage and wife to Zeus. Poseidon, god of the sea and brother to Zeus. Demeter, goddess of harvest, growth and nourishment. Athena, goddess of wisdom, reason and purity. Apollo, god of the music and the sun. Artemis, goddess of the wild and moon. Ares, god of violence and war. Aphrodite, goddess of love, desire and beauty. Hephaestus, god of fire and blacksmiths. Hermes, god of speed, trickery and trade. And finally Dionysus, god of the wine and madness. The last of the three brothers, Hades, became ruler of the underworld, forcing him to leave Olympus. He watched over the souls that had passed on from life.

∞

The first humans were created by Zeus. He placed them on earth, and often came down from the mountain to have affairs with the mortal women he created.

The other gods watched the creations of Zeus with interest. Many followed his footsteps and went down to live with the mortals for a short time. The mortals started to notice the gods that came from the mountain and build huge temples for them. They worshipped the gods, devoting their entire lives.

Artemis found the humans lacked one thing, companionship. So she bonded animals to the soul of humans. However, she never expected that the animals and humans would merge, and thus unknowingly created the first shifters. She became known as Luna and because she was the goddess of the moon, the shifters were weakest when the moon shone. It was nature’s way of keeping the world in balance.

The shifters had but one flaw. The balance between animal and human was difficult to find. They either became primal or they lost their connection to their animal. Artemis watched as her children suffered and died. So she eventually turned to Aphrodite, begging her to help. Aphrodite agreed to help, but only at a cost. Thus mates were created. Aphrodite gave each shifter a designated soulmate, bringing balance to the shifters. The internal struggle between human and animal disappeared as they found a common goal. Finding and protecting their mate. The shifters recovered and thrived. They found their respective mates and reproduced, making their numbers grow exponentially.

∞

Apollo, jealous of his twin sister, wanted creatures of his own. He wanted to be worshipped just like his sister. So he gave a few dying humans a drop of his golden blood, making the first vampires. The blood of Apollo froze their bodies in time. The vampires would become immortal, unable to reproduce and were weakest in the sunlight.

Apollo watched in horror as his creation backfired. The vampires developed a thirst for human blood and would stop at nothing to get it. He, ashamed of his creations, turned to Aphrodite for help. She agreed, but again at a cost. She made soulmates for the vampires, just as she did for the shifters. But she never told Apollo her price. The vampires started to regain control and were thriving. They discovered that they could turn other humans by giving them their blood when a human was on death’s bed. This was nature’s way of giving them their ability to produce children back.

∞

Poseidon created the sea creatures. The sirens, mermaids and Atlantians were his people. Sirens were feral mermaids who sang sailors to their deaths. They were cast out mermaids, who didn’t belong in society. The mermaids were half fish and half human. They couldn’t live above water, but had gills that made breathing underwater possible. The Atlantians, however, were former humans living on land. Poseidon took over Atlantis and crowned himself king. The city became the centre of the world. A booming trading centre, full of technical wonders.

One day Athena and Poseidon fought over a city. A city that would later be known as Athens. They both strived to be the main worshipped god and weren’t afraid to play filthy. He flooded former cities of Athena and she retaliated. In desperation she took everyone’s knowledge of Atlantis and locked it up in a small blue bottle called the Ampulla.

Atlantis fell into oblivion and the once duped golden city became plagued by poverty. Poseidon in a fit of anger took the city off land and into the sea. Thus was the race of Atlantians created. They had the body of a human, but were much stronger. They could live underwater and survive the darkest and deepest parts of the sea. Some even developed the gift of bending water. Atlantis thrived under water. It continued to prosper, while the land dwellers spilled blood and fought their wars.

∞

Hecate, goddess of magic and witchcraft, created the witches and warlocks. She gave her knowledge to a select few villages and watched as they thrived. They developed spells and potions beyond her imagination and she looked on with pride as their population grew. She urged her children to stay neutral, to never interfere in a conflict and to never turn to the dark. Dark magic was a powerful thing and threw off the balance of nature.

∞

Many more creatures were made, but Zeus forbade them from interacting with humans. In fear they would destroy his precious creation. So they were forced to live in the shadows.

The gods began to retreat to mount Olympus and were eventually forced to stay there. They could do nothing but watch as the world moved on without them. Their almighty power reduced because the people stopped worshipping them and so the once powerful gods became nothing more but legends and myths.

It’s a funny thing what time can do.