Days earlier, before the meeting between Zeus and Astarté, an emergency assembly was held in the Guild of the Gods of Weather.
The gods discussed the current situation in Lel: the lack of communication with the bureaucratic administration, and the fact that they had been unable to speak with Anat for three months. Two gods from the guild admitted that they had met with Astarté, and that she did not even know what she was doing.
The guild itself was an enormous, completely spacious hall, where thunder symbols covered the walls on beautiful red and blue curtains. In the center of the room, there was an elevated platform where the speaker proclaimed his ideas at the top of his lungs. Although one might have expected greater luxury in the chamber, the reality was that it was not ostentatious at all. It was a simple gigantic room with the appearance of a gray warehouse, since it was built from concrete and volcanic stone.
The speaker that night was Tinia, the principal god of the Etruscan people, also called the Rasenna. The god had a thick dark bluish beard and gray eyes. He was quite tall, around one meter ninety. He wore a white linen tunic and was covered by a bright blue toga. His footwear consisted of simple leather sandals.
Although, internally, Tinia wanted to call for a rebellion, knowing that Lel was weakened at the moment, he pretended to give a conciliatory speech. This was because everyone knew that all activities in Lel were watched. They knew that even if Anat was not there, Astarté could also use omnipresence to listen to any conversation inside the precinct of the Canaanite gods.
However, Tinia also knew that Astarté’s intelligence was not as high as that of her elder sister, so he pretended to give a conciliatory speech, while at the same time evoking doubt and fear in the people. Phrases such as: “If Lel has problems, we must help them,” or “It would be a disgrace if someone tried to attack Lel at this moment.”
Tinia knew that outside Lel, Astarté’s power would not reach them, since her omnipresence was limited and could not cover the universe as the power of the god El did. Even Anat was incapable of matching such a feat, one that only her father could accomplish. Outside Lel, the god would know who supported his revolt and who opposed it.
For that reason, Zeus had not been invited to this meeting. The gods of thunder, always jealous and proud for being the most powerful gods, loathed Zeus’s servile attitude.
“The divorce from his wife destroyed him long ago,” they would say.
Although Tinia now controlled the Papal States, one of Lel’s most important bastions, since it was the access point to Vatican Hill in Rome, the most sacred place of Christianity, and one of the immediate gates to the great palace in Lel, in truth he, together with other Etruscan gods, only sought to overthrow the new lords and bring back the ancient religion of the Rasenna.
Another god who secretly supported Tinia was Jupiter, the supreme king of the Roman gods. The Roman gods had been stripped of power over Rome and had instead been given control over a German kingdom that called itself the Roman Empire, even though it was an entirely Germanic kingdom. This kingdom was called the Römisches Reich so it would not be confused with the ancient Roman Empire or the Roman Empire in the East, located in Byzantium, which was controlled by Zeus and the gods of Olympus.
The kingdom located north of Italy was called the Italian Kingdom, but it was a client kingdom of the Römisches Reich, so both Jupiter and Tinia had control over it. Jupiter and the other gods had an access gate in Milan, which they still called Mediolanum, and they were content with that city, since it too had once been a capital of the Roman Empire.
Jupiter and Tinia had already held secret meetings. Both were seeking an opportunity to overthrow the kingdom of Lel and eradicate Christianity from Europe once and for all. However, they knew that Zeus was a fervent follower of Lel, and they knew that facing Olympus would mean facing Lel and its monstrous elohim. They knew it was a battle they could not win.
But now, there was an opportunity. Lel had lost its most powerful warrior, and Astarté was so incompetent that she would not be able to act immediately. They also knew that Olympus had fought Orniskem and had suffered many casualties. This was the right moment to fight. Jupiter knew it. That had been Tinia’s hidden message to him. Zeus and his gods had to be eliminated.
Jupiter sat on a bench in the guild, keeping his gaze downcast, always looking toward the floor. The god had the appearance of a bearded old man, dressed in a white tunic and a purple toga. In his right hand, he held a golden scepter with the image of a golden imperial eagle at its top.
When the meeting ended, the gods left the guild, though all of them looked somewhat gloomy and concerned. What would happen if Lel fell? Would they return to centuries upon centuries of war between gods once again? No one knew.
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Tinia and Jupiter walked along different routes in order to conceal their complicity, leaving the gigantic guild, which was located inside a city simply called “Barca.”
The city of Barca, whose name merely meant “thunder” in Phoenician, was the largest city in Lel. It was located in the western wing of the gigantic castle. The city was full of markets, bars, hot springs, casinos, gaming areas, and even brothels. The inns were gigantic buildings similar to our modern hotels.
Although the gigantic city had an enormous number of gardens and recreational areas, its structure remained gray and monotonous, very similar to Soviet architecture. The ceiling was painted blue with fluffy clouds and a small sun, and there was also a luminous sphere on the ceiling to resemble the sun, due to the lack of natural light in that area of the castle.
The city was so large that people had to move by means of teleporters. In the central area of the city, near where the guild was located, there was an enormous terminal with pillars of light. There, people lined up to use one of those teleporters and move through the city or to other floors. It should be noted that to enter other floors of Lel, one needed to be a member of various guilds.
Jupiter and Tinia took a teleporter to the lower floor, where the turn-assignment office was currently located. Gigantic lines of deities seeking an audience with one of the children of the god El were formed there. When they reached customs, a malak assigned them a number and a color. From that moment on, depending on their rank, people could move through Lel or return to their world to wait until the turn for their interview arrived.
After leaving Lel, Jupiter and Tinia finally met in space and traveled to a moon near Lel’s colossal planet. Jupiter had understood the message perfectly, but it seemed the other gods of the guild either were not interested or had not understood it.
“Good. Here we are far from Astarté’s curious ears,” Jupiter said as he sat upon a mound of stones.
The small moon did not belong to Lel’s planet; it was already in another galaxy. Although, for gods, the distances between galaxies were merely insignificant. The small moon was completely gray, with stones and mountains. Since it had no atmosphere, space could be seen from its surface.
“Zeus is in Lel at this moment. It would be best to ambush him while we send our armies to Olympus,” Tinia said with a malevolent smile.
“My army has been preparing for this war for months, ever since we heard the rumors about the battle against Orniskem and Anat’s disappearance,” Jupiter added.
“In fact, I have ordered my men to seize Athena,” Jupiter continued explaining. “With her in our dungeons, we will be able to negotiate with Lel without problems.”
“That is true,” Tinia said while scratching his beard. “Though even if Anat is no longer there, dealing with the other elohim will surely be very difficult for us without the help of the rest of the guild.”
Jupiter stood and looked toward the neighboring galaxy where Lel’s gigantic planet resided.
“All that remains is to wait for Zeus to leave Lel, and we will trap him right here,” Jupiter said as his staff crackled with electricity.
However, Tinia seemed somewhat nervous. After all, it was well known that Zeus was more powerful than both of them.
It was true that the power Jupiter had achieved by using the Roman Empire had been colossal, and that this had given him access to great powers, even greater than Tinia’s. But Zeus was a born warrior, and it was rumored that he had never stopped training. Of course, all of this was known before his divorce. The Greek god no longer looked the same as before.
“I do not think we should worry so much,” Jupiter replied. “Zeus no longer shows that tremendous power he had when he was younger. That is why he sends Apollo, Artemis, and Dionysus to do all his dirty work.”
Tinia turned to look at the elderly Roman god.
“Do you mean that Zeus’s power has decreased?” the Etruscan god asked, puzzled.
“Indeed,” Jupiter replied. “But we must not kill him. We will capture him and take his head to Olympus. We will exchange him for Athena.”
Tinia sighed deeply and crossed his arms.
“Well, all that remains is to see how strong you have become,” Tinia said to Jupiter, who merely made an indifferent gesture.
Both gods remained hidden on that moon while reducing their divine power to the minimum.
Days later, after finishing his audience with Astarté, Zeus left Lel to head toward Olympus. However, thanks to the Phoenician goddess’s warning, the god was prepared for a possible ambush.
When Zeus was flying through space and leaving the galaxy where Lel was located, he quickly sensed those two presences and stopped abruptly.
“I know it is you, Jupiter and Tinia,” the Greek god said. “May I know what you intend to do?”
But immediately, a greenish bolt of lightning fell upon the Greek god. He avoided it without difficulty.
At the same time, a white bolt of lightning fell near Zeus, cutting his cheek as he barely avoided it.
“At least you still have reflexes,” a voice was heard near Zeus.
The Greek god turned to look toward the moon where the two gods had been hiding.
“We are surprised you knew of our plans, Zeus,” Jupiter said while continuing to hold his staff raised toward the sky.
“That means information must have leaked,” Tinia added.
Zeus closed his eyes and smiled.
“Indeed. Astarté already had an idea that this would happen,” he said.
The Hellenic god then made his staff appear and pointed it at both gods.
“You had better desist, or Lel will retaliate against your kingdoms,” he said.
“Retaliate? With that incompetent whore in charge?” Tinia asked sarcastically while revealing his totema, which was a necklace in the shape of thunder.
Jupiter, for his part, also revealed his totema. It was a necklace similar to Tinia’s, but represented by three lightning bolts.
Both gods prayed their mantras, and a blinding light covered the moon. Meanwhile, Zeus also drew his totema from within his garments. It was the statuette of a golden eagle holding a lightning bolt in its talons.
Then a light completely covered the Greek god.
The fight between the three celestial gods had begun.