Lightning

I am lightning. No matter how hard they try, mankind can never overcome lightning. Since ancient times, mankind has labeled the unknowns of nature as God. And anything they could not understand, they feared. Everything which befalls mankind is said to be the work of God. Mankind accepts that it cannot defeat natural disasters. And I am one of them.

—Enel

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"Open your eye."

Those three words thundered in Zeus' mind, splaying his divine being into the infinite cosmos.

"What is the cosmos?.."

"You think you understand how the world works…"

"What is truly the difference between a dream and a reality?.."

The mystifying words of Hypnos continued to rattle his divine mind as he plunged through swirling galaxies and fabled realms. In it all, he witnessed too many terrifying and horrifying beings simultaneously, causing him to doubt almost everything:

A ethereal lady sailed through the cosmos. She wore a layered but not overly complicated long, tiered black gown. It was mixed with swirls of space nebula, and literal galaxies were born from it.

A ginormous cobra arose from the chaos and swallowed the golden sun, extinguishing the light of creation and plunging the cosmos into the claws of eternal darkness.

A beastly woman swam through a black ocean that encapsulated all of creation. She had light blue hair clad in leg and arm restraints, with features that represented the astral, large horns that symbolised the material, and eyes that reflected the inner sea of the spiritual.

A beautiful woman dressed in pure white was seated on a white lotus with a veena. She had four hands, each of which held a symbol representing an abstract concept of creation itself.

A blue-skinned man with four arms held a lotus flower, a mace, a conch, and a chakra wheel. He was sleeping on the back of a naga with five heads, each the size of a galaxy.

It continued on and on….

Zeus was slowly swirling down the abyss of infinity that was the cosmos, the monologue of the Primordial of Sleep blaring in his mind.

All the while, the Primordial returned to his seat, conjuring a cup of coffee and slowly sipping it. He'd just sent Zeus to his realm, blasting him through the interwoven dreams about the Primordials, allowing the proud son of Rhea to feel the infinity of the cosmos and the insignificance of his own existence.

Zeus had an inordinate amount of self-confidence and self-esteem, almost to the point of sanctimoniousness and narcissism. The irony was that a part of him clearly understood that his baseless dream was ludicrous, but his arrogance corrupted him, making him unwilling to acknowledge that rational part of himself.

The fatal flaw of Zeus was hubris. If nothing was to be done about it, it could very well be his undoing. Even in the original series, if he hadn't been favoured by the Fates, the Greek Pantheon would have fallen long ago as a result of his arrogance.

Hypnos didn't want to teach a delusional dullard who would almost certainly sell him down the river. And, of course, he was well aware that this would not be an easy task.

Gods do not easily change. Yes, you heard that right—Gods, like all other beings in creation, were capable of change. Nothing could ever escape the cosmic claws of Change.

It's just that the passage of time causes the personalities of divine beings to anchor and fixate to a significant extent; this was not a flaw or defect but rather a natural process that comes with being immortal. So, unless something life-changing happens to them, immortals won't be especially vulnerable to change in the long run....

To be honest, this was a very tricky subject. Even Hypnos was not certain of his previous words; they were merely his educated guess based on his observations and scant information on the subject. If he were given a decade and a slew of gods to experiment on, he might be able to publish a paper on all about the psychology of immortals.

Anyway, back to the point: Gods do not easily change, and this was especially true for Zeus, given everything. But Hypnos was up for the challenge, however just to clarify, he had no intention of fundamentally changing who Zeus was because that would be almost impossible unless he entirely tampered with the soul of Zeus. He would never do that to Zeus or anyone else, as it was a line he didn't want to cross unless absolutely necessary.

Hypnos sipped the last of the coffee and willed the cup out of existence. Then he waved his hand, drawing Zeus's astral form, which was tumbling around Dreaming, back to his body, feeling that this should be enough enlightenment for Zeus, but if it wasn't, he didn't mind sending Zeus on another cosmic adventure.

Zeus returned to his body with a resounding thunderclap, and the God of Lightning opened his eyes wide, wheezing heavily. He squeezed the armrest tightly, completely cracking it. Thousands of streaks of cataclysmic lightning erupted from him, destroying everything in the main hall down to its basic particles, but before it spread out into the rest of Olympus, Hypnos simply erased it from existence.

The God of Lightning took long breaths and immediately began to put himself back together. He forced iron back into his spine and let his emotions bleed out of himself. Consciously shutting down all involuntary movement, he let his body become a stone statue and his face a wax mask.

Hypnos was impressed by his fortitude. He regained his bearing almost immediately after witnessing all of those cosmic truths, which would have messed up the minds of anyone less than a Primordial, but Zeus managed to plough through them.

Zeus stood up straight, looking into his silver eyes, refusing to show any vulnerability in front of this terrifying being, despite the apprehension and weariness that filled every fibre of his divine being.

"Zeus," Hypnos said slowly, his steps thundering through the collapsed room. "Do you still think you're strong?" he demanded sharply, his voice carrying absolute authority, deepening Zeus' dread with each of his words. "Do you still believe you are something in the face of the cosmos?"

A deafening silence reigned through the main hall of Olympus. Hypnos and Zeus confronted each other, their figures inches apart. The Primordial of Sleep stared down at the God of Lightning, his powerful presence thrumming through reality.

Zeus was looking down, his face veiled in the gloom of conflict. Finally, he gazed at Hypnos, his eyes a brilliant electric blue. "No," he admitted with a strained voice that was marred with volumes of unwillingness and reluctance.

"See," Hypnos beamed. "That wasn't hard, was it?"

Zeus immediately wanted to launch a volley of curses at the Lord of Dream, but he restrained himself and focused on the situation at hand. He already understood somewhat why Hypnos was doing all of this to him.

"Teach me," the God of Lightning finally said, peering into the argent eyes of the Primordial. That was a clear and direct request to Hypnos, not a demand.

Hypnos patted the shoulders of Zeus. "I thought you'd never ask," his kind smile broadened, sending unseen shivers down Zeus' spine, but the God of Lightning steeled himself as he saw hope, hope for becoming stronger, hope for defeating his crooked father, hope for realising his dream in the primordial being in front of him.

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Outer Space, Solar System.

Hypnos and Zeus emerged together on the rocky surface of a large asteroid. He had instantly teleported them halfway across the Solar System by utilising the veil of night that covers the entire material cosmos. He obviously could access the creation of his mother, and when he did so, he sent a message to her, imploring her to conceal their existence from prying eyes.

Zeus looked only momentarily uncomfortable with the void of space, but he immediately adapted to it within the next second. The gods, as higher beings, are the epitome of self-sufficiency. They don't need oxygen, water, or food to live. And their divine bodies are more than capable of surviving harsh vacuum of space.

Hypnos tampered with the fabric of reality, enabling sound to travel through the vacuum. Then he and Zeus turned and looked at the rising planet through an ocean of asteroids.

Saturn was who she was, sitting as the proud beauty of the solar system, ever adorned with her magnificent rings.

"It's time, Zeus," Hypnos said, breaking their brief silence. He looked at Zeus, who was lost in the majesty of Saturn.

At his words, Zeus turned, breaking away from Saturn. "Yes..." he flattered, awkwardly looking at Hypnos, who only started at him back. "Teacher.." he finally uttered.

Hypnos nodded with approval. "Let's start with the nature of your power,"

Zeus turned to look at his teacher with rapt attention, pressing down his grievances.

"Now," Hypnos instructed. "Fire your strongest bolt at Saturn."

Zeus heeded and raised his hand to summon his master bolt.

"Weapons are not permitted," Hypnos abruptly added.

"But—" Zeus objected, but Hypnos cut him off. "Why the hesitation? Don't tell me you can't wield your divinity without your weapon?" he sneered. "What are you God of, Zeus?"

"God of Lighting or God of Weapons?"

"God of Lightning, of course," Zeus retorted belligerently. He swiftly turned towards Saturn and closed his eyes, connecting with his divinity directly after a long time. He admits to being somewhat reliant on his weapon, but this never meant that he absolutely required it to use his powers.

And the fact that his teacher questioned his power, his honor, and his pride brought him anger unlike anything he had felt before, and he channelled it all into his divinity to create a blot that would finally silence all the doubts and questions that Hypnos has for him.

Zeus immediately felt it. It was like a heartbeat, that moved with the sound of thunder. It was coursing through his entire being, filling him with limitless power. It was electric, powerful, and cataclysmic.

It. Was. Him.

Zeus opened his electric eyes. All of his seething power flowed to his hand, and his palm burned with a lightning, pulsating with unseen power. With a great cry that shook the asteroid, he threw the bolt at the beautiful Saturn.

Immediately, a single, straight, impossible bolt of lightning cut through the darkness of space, like a line drawn in white ink over black paper. It instantaneously zapped at the gaseous atmosphere of Saturn, and there was a blinding flash that illuminated all of the space that enveloped Saturn.

KA-BOOM!

With a rattling thunder, a ripple began spreading out from the impact point in the gaseous ocean of Saturn until all of the planet looked like a waving ocean under the silver moon.

Zeus thoroughly admired his feat and then turned to face Hypnos, flashing a genuine, proud, and contended smile. "Is that enough for you, teacher?"

Hypnos snorted. "Of course not. Look around you, Zeus."

Zeus looked around and found that the massive ring that encircled Saturn had been split in half, exactly where he had shot his bolt towards the planet. The ring will inevitably collapse on itself, with some asteroids falling into Saturn and others veering deeper into the solar system. But what does this have to do with anything?...

Noticing his confusion, Hypnos sighed in disappointment, erasing the destruction brought by Zeus and willing everything back to its previous state with naught but a thought—manipulating reality was always convenient. Then he stared at Zeus, who was baffled as he glanced around the fixed planetary ring.

"You have power, Zeus, but no control. If you had thrown that bolt on Earth, it would have scorned all life on its surface." Hypnos paused, allowing his words to seep into Zeus' heart. "Your weapon, the master bolt, has been controlling and directing most of your power for you," he strode dismally towards his disciple. "You've never truly mastered your own power or recognised your full potential."

Zeus locked his gaze on Hypnos, his electric blue eyes hazy with stormy haze, as if a cataclysmic storm was brewing within them. His mind was zapping with billions of thoughts as fast as his lightning, but only one question remained fixed in the end. "My potential?"

Hypnos nodded dully, as if he expected him to focus entirely on this—a troubling thought, since Zeus didn't think he was that easy to see through. "Potential," his teacher still replied. "Lightning has many faces; it represents power, calamity, energy, and so much more. It is not as limited to Earth as you believe." he spread his hands. "Lightning is everywhere."

"I don't understand," Zeus admitted, his brow furrowed in genuine bewilderment.

"Watch," Hypnos began visualising lightning, and soon he felt it: the surging electric currents that coursed the ocean of plasma that was the universe. Lightning was essentially just a discharge of electricity, and electricity was present wherever plasma existed, and since almost all of the universe was in a plasma state—lightning was indeed everywhere.

He began harvesting electricity from the plasma in the solar system with his hand, imagining it in the form of lightning. Soon after, a pure white blot emerged in his palm—this was a cosmic lightning. He held the force of the cosmos and the power of a concept—lightning—in his palm. It was a little more difficult to connect with than the concept of darkness in Tartarus, but not enough to pose a real challenge.

Zeus looked at the white bolt in the hands of Hypnos with utterly wide eyes. The bolt gave him the contradictory sensation of being both familiar and unfamiliar, but he was certain of one thing: this bolt was stronger, much stronger than even his most powerful lightning. And there was the fact that his teacher could also control lightning, far better and mightier than him.

Hypnos aimed the bolt at Saturn, then shook his head, changing his aim and shooting it into infinity.

Immediately, the cosmic lighting slashed through the darkness of the cosmos like the brilliant sword of Saint Michael, zapping straight into the space above Saturn at a speed that defied the material laws of creation, and then there was a scorching flash that illuminated the entire solar system and even beyond in blinding brilliance.

For a moment, it seemed as though a second sun had risen within the solar system.

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