His divinity trembled. He hastily shook off the other tangled thoughts, summoned every ounce of focus, and prepared to face the God-King before him with his whole heart and mind,
so he could speak aloud that idea he had rehearsed countless times within and, in one stroke, persuade the merciful God-King!
He had confidence he could.
With utmost humility, head bowed, he slowly released the words he had polished again and again: "Your Majesty is all-wise! All things in the cosmos lie within Your gaze! None is more discerning than You!"
Zeus only smiled faintly, those golden eyes deep as a sea of stars, reflecting all truth and falsehood while revealing no joy or anger.
With a smile he said, "Prometheus, speak your thoughts."
Prometheus's heart rose to his throat; his divinity taut, he had made up his mind.
He said slowly, "Honored Majesty! You are the most holy, most just, most merciful, most wise, and most mighty Supreme God in the cosmos!"
"You are the absolute sovereign of the Three Realms and Three Domains, the myriad directions of the universe, and all things! You are also the most loving and compassionate Holy Father of all beings!"
"Order exists because of You; all things and all beings live because of You!"
"Under Your great will, with Epimetheus—and with the help of the great Mother of All, the Goddess of Wisdom, and the goddess Dione—we succeeded in creating a new intelligent life that can extol Your great deeds and manifest Your endless radiance—"
"Humankind."
"Though they are mortals, by the joint grace of You and the merciful, wise goddess, they have received the priceless 'wisdom' that can grow without end."
"For foolish beings are unworthy to praise Your noble and great name!"
"Only a being like humankind—whose form resembles the gods and who possesses true wisdom—is worthy to sing of Your glory and honor, worthy to manifest Your supreme greatness and sovereign radiance!"
Zeus waved a hand lightly, cutting off his hymn; these words had already been spoken in a prior report.
Smiling, he said, "Prometheus, there's no need to repeat what's already been said."
"Yes! Forgive me, Majesty—Prometheus has been too verbose. I was so moved by Your greatness that I could not help but…" Prometheus grew all the more deferential; in word and bearing alike, his humility was absolute.
Yet now, Clymene—whose heart had moments before still held a trace of sweet warmth—felt a cold, dark veil fall over it.
There are few in the world who know a child better than a truly qualified parent.
And Clymene was beyond doubt a qualified mother.
How could wise Clymene fail to see the obvious abnormality hidden beneath her son's overly humble, uncharacteristic posture?
She knew her son too well.
Within, he was proud and quick of mind; in ordinary times, he was never this humble a god.
Much less so when he had only just rendered the God-King the great service of creating humankind.
Given his birth and station, there was no cause for him to abase himself to this degree.
Nor was His Majesty the sort of god who needed ministers to be ground to dust before him to show his majesty or feed his vanity.
His Majesty prized sincerity and ability, not hollow flattery.
This perfectly measured deference—this unassailable humility…
This was a performance.
Clymene, a formidable second-generation Titan, an outstanding daughter of Ocean, one of the foremost goddesses—her wisdom already sharpened her sense of danger.
Whenever her son's posture grew this humble and his words this ingratiating, it meant—he was certainly plotting something.
And such a scheme would very likely give offense.
But…
The God-King admits no offense!
Many powerful deities in the cosmos admit no offense.
And the God-King admits it least of all!
Not in the slightest!
The God-King is merciful and magnanimous, gracious and near to the gods.
But that is no reason to offend His Majesty.
Moreover, her time serving at His Majesty's side had been more than enough to make clear what unfathomable power and wisdom this new God-King possessed!
Power and wisdom far beyond the second-generation God-King!
Indeed, even that terrifying first God-King, Uranus, was surely not the equal of the God-King as he stands now!
His Majesty the God-King today is, in the truest sense, an omniscient and omnipotent king of gods!
Before such a God-King, any attempt to affront his majesty is utterly foolish!
Any thought of contriving against him—more foolish still!
Even to give rise to such a thought in the heart is already the greatest error!
If she could see these abnormalities in Prometheus, then the all-knowing God-King surely could as well.
But now, there was no room for her to speak.
This was no moment for frolic; it was the God-King receiving a minister—she had no place to interject.
Clymene knew this measure.
She could only watch, eyes wide, as her beloved son trod a road that hinted at terror.
It sank her whole heart into an abyss; her divinity went ice-cold.
She could only pray madly within: Prometheus, my son, may you have no truly foolish idea.
May you only, as ever, be trying a bit of harmless cleverness to win a reward.
But her reason told her coldly: likely, it goes beyond that.
No matter the storm in Clymene's heart, Prometheus's words continued.
He bowed his head and, with the deepest devotion, said, "Honored Majesty, I keep Your sacred and righteous order ever in my heart; I often recite Your sacred Twelve Laws and draw the precious nourishment for growth from the radiance of Your sacred and righteous order."
"I know well that the core of Your sacred and righteous order is to uphold hearts of 'compassion, mercy, kindness, love, tolerance, respect, courage, and discernment.'"
"In Your holy and noble character, if any being learned even one point, it would suffice him without end."
"Your wisdom is without limit, Your valor unmatched among gods, and Your heart as vast as this boundless cosmos, able to contain all beings."
"These are truly great qualities that no being could easily learn, even by exhausting every effort!"
"But I know all the more that among Your great qualities, what is nobler, what You prize more, and what makes You worthy of the eternal reverence of all beings—is Your mercy and compassion!"
"In Your heart is the whole universe; whom You love are all things and all beings in the cosmos!"
"I obeyed Your command and, upholding Your will, pondered 'how humankind should treat the gods.'"
"I thought long and long in the mortal world and still could not understand how these humble, tiny humans could ever repay even a ten-thousandth of Your ocean-deep love for all beings."
"Until…" Prometheus's voice took on a note of sudden enlightenment, "until I saw a human child cry out 'father' to his father—with the dearest, most reverent, most admiring look!"
"In that moment, I finally understood!"
"Majesty! Are You not the most merciful and greatest Father of all beings?"
"What special reason does a father need to love his child? How could he demand some meager recompense from his own child?"
"For a father bears for his child the purest and deepest love!"
"And that love is exactly the same as Yours, great Majesty—the love You bear for all beings!"
"All springs from that most pure, most benevolent, most compassionate, most affectionate, deepest, and greatest fatherly love You bear for all beings!"
As he spoke, Prometheus seemed truly moved; his divinity surged; he was nearly brought to tears.
With a trembling voice and a devotion near to hymnody, he cried out in praise: "Great Majesty! Revered Father! When I grasped this holy truth, I finally understood how vast and profound Your love for all beings truly is!"
"And in that moment I truly understood the true meaning of the sacred Twelve Laws You established!"
"Great Majesty! The core of all Your order springs from Your benevolence and compassion!"
"You bestow that purest, deepest love upon all beings and regard all beings as Your children—how could all beings not, in turn, regard You as the greatest Father?"
"How tiny and humble are humans! How strong and great are the gods! To say nothing of You, who stand above all!"
"All that humankind possesses, gathered to the last grain, is not so precious as a single breath of Your pure air."
"Then, before One so great as You, what is there about humankind that You would need to care for?"
"I can think of only one thing: the most exalted, most pure, most sincere filial reverence that humankind bears toward You!"
"To You, great God-King, who possess everything and are everything, only this most pure reverence and love of humankind can hold even the slightest weight in Your heart!"
Prometheus's tone rose still higher: "Great Majesty! Humankind was born because You desire a more flourishing cosmos and to ease the gods' loneliness."
"They represent all mortals and exist to manifest Your sanctity and mercy! Though they are mortals as well, they are, without question, also Your faithful children!"
"Therefore, Prometheus believes the relationship of men and gods is, in truth, very simple: so long as it upholds Your will, that is enough!"
"That is—Father and Son!"
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