I Am Zeus

The war hall emptied slowly, the gods scattering into corridors and training grounds, each carrying the weight of Athena's words. The map dissolved into sparks, the echo of her spear-strike still humming through the chamber.

Zeus had not spoken once.

He remained still at the far end of the table, the stormlight under his skin faint but restless. His children had looked at him more than once during the debate, waiting for his voice, waiting for the command that always came. It never did.

When the last echo of footsteps faded, he turned away.

The air around him trembled as he walked the silent corridors of Olympus, past broken columns and statues half-scorched from the battle. Every shadow bent faintly toward him, every flame guttered when he passed. He clenched his jaw. They could not see. Not now.

He stepped out onto a high balcony overlooking the night. The seas boiled faintly under the moon, smoke still rose from distant islands, but it was quiet. Quiet enough for him to feel the chaos pressing inside him.

Surtr's fire gnawed at his ribs. Tartarus's abyss pulled at his veins. Ouranos's sky thundered above, as though it wanted to tear free of his chest. He placed his hands against the railing, his knuckles white, sparks dripping from his fingers into the marble.

And then he felt it.

The night folding in, soft but immense.

"Still pretending?"

Her voice slid into the air like silk. Nyx. She leaned against the broken column as if it had been hers all along, her star-strewn robe spilling into infinity, silver eyes calm but sharp.

"You sit there like a king, holding it all in, playing strong for the children. But you're breaking, Sky King." She pushed off the column, stepping closer. "You'll lose everything trying to keep the mask."

Zeus didn't turn. "You came uninvited again."

"I live uninvited," Nyx said lightly. She stopped beside him, her robe brushing faint against his arm. "But tonight I didn't come to laugh. Tonight, I came to teach."

He glanced at her finally, his jaw tight. "Teach?"

Her eyes glimmered. "You can't chain the storm forever. It's not just lightning anymore. It's fire, abyss, sky. If you try to hold it as a god, it will consume you. But if you learn to carry it as a Primordial…" She leaned closer, her whisper brushing against him like night wind. "Then it will kneel to you."

The storm in him pulsed harder at her words, lightning crackling across his arms uncontrolled. Zeus gritted his teeth.

"Show me," he said at last.

Nyx smiled. "Good boy."

She lifted her hand, pressing her palm against his chest. His heart thundered once, loud enough to shake the balcony. The world bent.

And the system awoke.

[Notification: Path Unlocked.]

[Primordial Integration Initiated.]

Zeus's eyes widened slightly, but he didn't flinch. The text burned behind his sight, unseen by Nyx, humming only for him.

[Authority Check: Compatible.]

[Stability: 17% — Critical.]

Nyx's voice flowed over the hum. "First lesson: stop resisting it. Let it move. Right now you fight every spark, every pull. That's why you shake. Stop fighting. Breathe."

He exhaled slowly, his storm clawing at the edges of his skin. Lightning burned into the stone beneath his feet, but he held steady. For once, he did not force it down.

The system pulsed again.

[Containment efficiency rising: 17% → 39%.]

[New Authority Detected: Primordial Night (Fragment).]

His gaze sharpened at the last line. He knew without asking—her aura was bleeding into his storm, steadying it, showing it how to flow instead of thrash.

Nyx smiled faintly. "See? Not so hard. The storm is like the night—it covers everything. It doesn't need to break to rule."

The chaos in him steadied. Not calm, not gentle, but balanced enough that his breath no longer came ragged.

Then another pulse.

[Skill Evolved: Cosmic Flicker → Skystride (Lv.1)]

[You may now move through the folds of existence by will alone. Distance: limitless within sight. Cost: none.]

Zeus's fist clenched as the knowledge sank into him, natural as breathing. He could feel the space around him bending like fabric waiting to be stepped through.

He looked at Nyx. "This is your doing."

She chuckled softly. "No, Sky King. It was always yours. I just opened the door."

The night thickened, her robe spilling farther, constellations shifting faintly as though the stars themselves leaned closer to watch.

"Second lesson," she murmured. "A Primordial does not channel power. They are power. Stop using lightning like a tool. Stop holding fire like a borrowed flame. Be the sky. Be the abyss. Be the fire. Let it answer you because it already belongs to you."

His eyes narrowed, stormlight glowing faint in his veins. He spread his arms.

The air split.

Not lightning, not fire, not shadow—something greater. The abyss roared silently, the flames surged, the sky cracked wide. For a heartbeat, Olympus itself bowed under the weight.

The system screamed.

[Primordial Authority Stabilized.]

[New Title Gained: The Sky Unbound.]

[Divine Tier: 10 → Primordial.]

[Warning: Authority output exceeds containment. Limit release advised.]

Zeus dropped his arms, pulling it back in. His chest heaved, but his body no longer shook. The storm obeyed. For the first time since Tartarus, it obeyed.

He turned to Nyx. Her silver eyes gleamed, her smile softer now.

"You see? You are not a god wearing a Primordial's skin," she said. "You are a Primordial wearing a god's crown."

He stared at her, lightning humming low in his chest. "And you—why help me? Why betray the others?"

Nyx tilted her head, her grin sly. "Because Erebus is boring. Because the old ones think only of endings. And because you, Sky King, are fun." Her robe swirled, fading back into shadow. "Besides…" She looked over her shoulder. "If you fall, the night is dull. And I hate dull."

She vanished, stars folding back into their places.

Zeus stood alone on the balcony, his storm quiet at last, pulsing heavy but steady in his veins. The system flickered one final line.

[Integration Level: 52%.]

[Primordial Evolution: In Progress.]

He exhaled, sparks fading into the night.

The war was far from over. But for the first time, Zeus did not feel chained.

He felt awake.