Finishing The Tour

“Next.” Toby muttered as he shut the door behind him. He felt like he could spend forever in this temple that he knew was only created, yesterday. He looked at the next door that stood before him. Eros.

“Shit.” Toby muttered. “Why am I obligated to visit every single room?” His sexuality was not something that he wanted to discuss. Or have activated.

Toby put his hand on the door handle and immediately felt the rush of... well, lust, at his touching the handle. He would go in, say hi, and get out as soon as he could. The lights flipped on as Toby entered the room and he almost moaned at the soft fur carpet below his feet. The altar was simple, stone, and unusually large. The candles... oh. That wasn’t the altar in the center. That was... a bed. The altar was in the corner. The painting of the wall behind the... bed... was simple. Graphic. To put it simply, an orgy with couples in positions that should not be possible. There were legs, hands, feet, mouths, elbows, all in the air outside of the tangle of bodies. There had to have been at least thirty people – men and women – in that painting.

“That really happened, you know.” A soft, sultry voice echoed behind him. Almost afraid of what he was about to see, he slowly turned around to meet the eyes of Eros. They were dark and obviously not mortal, swimming in deep blue and gray depths that should not be possible.

“Really?” Toby swallowed and tried to make his voice not crack. He was not homosexual by any means, but Eros had a perfectly carved chest, which was – not unexpectedly – bare.  He didn’t want to know what lay beneath what his eyes could see.

“Yes. Athena almost refused to depict it for me, but I begged and she finally relented. She just... does it, so well. Art work seems to be her only release.”

“Its very beautiful.” Toby said, truthfully. Even if erotic – hey, the word ‘erotic’ came from Eros.

“Thank you. I know I am making you uncomfortable right now... ” Eros smiled gently at Toby, “So I will leave. But when you want to talk about it, you let me know. You are, after all, the liaison between the gods and mortals. You need to be healthy – in all aspects of your life.” Eros winked and faded out of existence.

Toby shook his head, laughing, and walked out of the room. He needed a minute to rest.  And hope – hope with all of his might – that Ari would not reappear at that exact moment, with Lisa in tow. He didn’t think she would, but just in case. Who was next?

“Apollo.” Toby read the room’s plate aloud as he walked towards it. This room was – he was just taking a guess – going to be very, very bright. Quite possibly very hot. He placed his hand on the knob and turned. The room lit up, so bright that he could barely see anything.

“Are the lights too much?” A voice came from inside.

“Who are you?” Toby asked incredulously, squinting to see in the bright light.

“Damn it all. I knew it was too much.” The lights dimmed to a more normal level and Toby could finally see a great lug of an Olympian, clad in bright yellow garb from head to foot, shoeless. This must be Apollo.

“Just a little.” Toby said, admitting it. He smiled shyly at Apollo. “You’ve always been one of my favorites.”

“Well, I’ve heard nothing but good things about you over the past few mortal months.”  Apollo said, smiling. He was young, virile. He had a whip, coiled at his hip. The tapestry behind the altar depicted Apollo astride his chariot with his horses, driving the sun across the sky.

“Mortal interpretation.” Apollo admitted. “But it makes for a wonderful story, doesn’t it?”

“Yes.” Toby agreed. He looked down at the gold embossed altar. “You have a big job.”

“I don’t really drive the sun across the sky. But you’re right – I am well known.” Apollo said. “I look forward to working with you and the students you turn out. Really. Olympus has been getting boring since the immortal wars stopped. There was a short time of excitement when Ari was killed by her brother-in-law, but now that Cadmus is restrained for a while, its just us old folks. We all will be watching you carefully.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Many blessings will come from us.” Apollo said. “Just try hard not to piss us off. Alright there, Toby?”

“Yes, sir.” Toby agreed. He realized that it was the first time a god he had just met had used his name. Apollo was actually friendly.

“So... the lights should be this bright?” Apollo asked, as Toby looked around.

“Yes.” Toby said. “That way, we can still... well, we can still see.” Toby laughed and shrugged. “Unless us not being able to see is part of your master plan, of course.”

“No, not at all. I just... how can I make it known that I am the sun?”

“Well, how were your temples in old Greece made? You have this room. You can do whatever you want to it.”

“You have a point. You are very wise for your age, young one. I look forward to spending eternity with you.”

“I may not choose immortality.”

“Yes, but sometimes, immortality chooses us.” Apollo winked at Toby and disappeared.Toby felt the presence leave and realized he had been sweating from the heat. He would have to get Ari to talk to Apollo about the heat. Not everyone came from a desert.

Toby exited the room and shook his head as the lights went off. That mechanical device could definitely get annoying if you opened the door to let someone in from a knock, and then they just shut off. Who was next?

“Enjoying yourself so far?” Ari’s voice came from behind him, and he flipped around, startled.

“You gods have this... this horrible habit of dropping in unexpectedly. Its like, bam, I’m lost in my own thoughts, and then bam, one of you people just pop in and start talking without even a warning.”

“What do you want me to do? Knock on the hallway?” Ari said, laughing at his frustration.

“Maybe.” Toby looked at her. “Um, so far... we need a receptionist out in front... ” Toby assumed a business like tone of voice as he told her. “And Apollo really needs to let the heat in the room go down a little bit. It won’t kill him, really. We all understand just how powerful he is.”

“I’ll let him know. Did you tell him?” Ari asked him, and Toby shook his head vigorously.

“No. Would you want to tell a god his dwelling place wasn’t perfect?”

“And that, my friend, is the reason the Christian church has so much power.”

“Funny.” Toby glowered at her. “How many of these are left?”

“Um, well, we’re at Apollo, so we still need to do Zeus, Hermes, Poseidon. Arkonel. Hades.  On this side.”

“Okay... ”

“And there are a few goddesses you have to get to, too.”

“Like who?”

“Me, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Demeter, Persephone, Hera... ”

“What if I said I was tired?” Toby said to her and she shook her head.

“You’ll visit every single damn one of these altars if it’s the last thing you do while you’re alive. I cannot – and you, cannot – afford to have these wonderful gods and goddesses pissed off at you.”

“Understood.” Toby said, recognizing the true need. Tonight was the night for him to meet all of them and begin to be on good terms. Favors were probably going to be needed later on down the road, with accidents, and the best way to get that help was through prayer.And visiting.

Toby headed for the next room. “Zeus?” He said in wonderment. “I thought he would be on the end of the hallway.”

“I definitely did not want to incite brotherly rivalries. By putting the King of Gods in the middle, I was hoping to help them realize that the order didn’t matter.”

“But it does.” Toby said. “You know it will.”

“Yes.” Ari agreed. “But it will be less upsetting. If they even notice and browse the rest of the temple.”

“Does this place have a name?” Toby asked as he opened the door and the lights clicked on.

“Not yet. Go on. Say hi to your father.”

“He’s not my father.” Toby replied as the door clicked behind him.

“Strong statement for such a young lad.” A voice came from in front of him, this time. He looked up.

“Were you here before I opened the door?” Toby asked him, smiling. “You didn’t scare me like the others.”

“Yes. I was figuring you would be around any time now, and I figured waiting might make you come by and examine it faster. I know we’re both busy.”

“Understood.” Toby said, extending a hand to his golden haired, young ‘father’ god seated in the throne like chair in the corner. As he stood, the chair disappeared.

“I do like yours.” Toby said as he looked around. Plain white walls, with paintings from Athena on any of the three walls he was facing. Depicting the defeat of the titans.

“That’s good. The carpet?”

“Lovely.” Toby agreed. “How’s Olympus?”

“Doing well. You’re causing quite a stir up there, for never being there, yet.” Zeus laughed at him.

“I don’t... I don’t mean to. Obviously. My existence and therefore, any stir that is being caused, is entirely your fault.”

“Not too many would dare to speak to me that way.” Zeus said to him, raising his eyebrows.

“You are my biological father.” Toby said, laughing. “You won’t strike me down with lightning because I’m honest.”

“In my younger days, I may have.” Zeus admitted. “But now I favor more humane punishments.”

“So no more Atlas holding the world up?”

“That was exaggerated.” Zeus defended himself. “He wasn’t holding the world up.”

“And Tantalus?”

“He... that was correct. But, in our defense, he did do some pretty horrible things.”

“Is he still chained there, dying for a drink?”

“No. We took him down eventually.” Zeus said. “Well, son, you have a long night ahead of you, so I will let you go. You have my two brothers left, correct?”

“Yes, sir. Have you been following me?”

“Perhaps.” Zeus winked. “Or perhaps your mind is just very easy to read. You should work on that.”

“Yes, sir.” Toby said. Zeus blinked out of existence and Toby went out of the room to see Ari again.

“Have a nice conversation?” She asked, throwing an arm around his shoulder. Toby nodded and looked at her, smiling.

“He’s not that bad. He kind of grows on you.” Toby admitted. “I didn’t quite feel the hate and resentment this time, for putting such a big load on me. I almost liked him.”

“Well, I didn’t start off hating him, but I definitely love him, now. He truly is a good leader for the Gods. Though not necessarily a role model for some people.”

“I thought you said he was faithful, now?”

“He is. But in immortal terms... it’s a year, maybe two. Not the eighteen that you’ve been on this earth. And in terms of the complete time line, its seconds. Minutes, even.”

“So not a lot of trust in terms of fidelity?”

“I wouldn’t pray for it to him, if that’s what you mean. Now, be careful with Poseidon. He’s more arrogant and has a larger stick up his you know what than any of the other gods. He’s also kind of out there – it probably results from his years under the sea. He’s barely inOlympus. Between him and Hades, its like there are three kingdoms on this earth. The earth, the water, and the hell.”

“I thought it wasn’t Hell.”

“Its Hades’ realm. We refer to it as hell because its not with us, in Olympus. Its just... elsewhere.”

“Okay, I’ll be careful.” Toby said.

Toby put his hand on the door and before he opened it, he looked back towards Ari, waiting patiently behind him.

“This is going to be an oxygen environment, right? He didn’t fill the room with water?”

“No, we made sure of that. Don’t worry. He might not even show. Like I said, he doesn’t exactly like the company of other living beings other than the fish he lives with.”

“Okay.” Toby entered the room, feeling the flush, royal blue carpet beneath his feel. The walls were a light blue, and even the lights were dark and mellow.

“Do you like it?” Toby looked up and found his eyes on a brute of a man, similar to Zeus with one exception – a very large trident in his hand. He stood.

“I know, Ari said I wouldn’t show.” Poseidon extended his hand. “I almost didn’t. I just got curious. I’m sure you know how lonely it gets in a place where only you rule.”

“No, not really.” Toby admitted. “But I’ll take your word on it.”

“If you need anything, let me know. And when you find one of mine – I don’t venture out much, but when I do... ” Poseidon gave an unusually boyish grin and winked at Toby.  “Anyway. The point is, let me know. Send them to me. I can use a few helpers in the ocean.”

“I will, most definitely.”

“I was serious about that.” Poseidon affirmed, extending his hand. “If you ever need anything, you let me know. I’m trying to lighten up a little bit. Get back into the swing of things. Get up to Olympus. This is a time of change.”

“I will.”

“Any of my brothers’ sons is one of my own.” Poseidon said, shaking his hand. Poseidon faded into the distance. Toby exited, briefly wondering if Poseidon was under the influence of antidepressants.

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