Introduction

The long table was abuzz with conversation. At one end, Puck was trying to throw sugar packets into people’s drinks. Further down, Hermes and Lugh were discussing who had more skills. A few seats away, Loki and Maui sat in relative silence, compared to their tablemates.

Loki sighed. “I swear, they have that argument every time we get together.” He jerked his head at Hermes and Lugh.

Maui shook his head, laughing deeply. “Can you blame them? Neither one of them has done anything exciting in centuries. I bet this is the highlight of their month.”

Somehow, over the roar of everyone else, Hermes heard Maui’s remark. He turned abruptly in his chair to face the larger man. “Oh, and you’ve done something more exciting, I’m sure. Enjoyed that Disney movie, did you?”

Behind Maui, Loki could barely contain his laughter. Maui shook his head, grinning. “It’s more than you’ve done, my friend.”

“I was in all ten Percy Jackson books! Ten!” Hermes looked affronted.

A few seats further down, Crow hopped forward. “You were only really in like, three of them, though.” He ruffled his feathers. “Besides, none of us have done anything new in years.”

Everyone in earshot fell silent. Crow wasn’t wrong; no one could think of anything they had done that was noteworthy in a long time.

A sugar packet soared into their midst, landing squarely in Hermes’s drink. “Yeah! First one, score!” Puck yelled.

Hermes sighed. “Well, it was a long time ago, but I did steal my brother’s sacred cows. That was pretty exciting.”

Loki snorted. “I once tricked my friend Höðr into killing his brother. I think that’s a bit more exciting!"

“That is messed up.” Maui spoke up. “I mean, I turned my brother-in-law into a dog, but no one died. That’s no fun.”

“You guys know what I’m proudest of?” Crow waited until all eyes were on him before continuing. “I stole fire, way back in the day. What a great day.”

The table burst into laughter. “Who hasn’t stolen fire, Crow? That’s one of the classics. You know we’ve all at least thought about it.” Raven cackled at his friend.

“Well, yeah, but I stole it best!”

“I disagree- I think I stole it better!” Maui retorted good-naturedly.

“Well, you all might have stolen fire, but I invented it. Get a load of that!” Hermes looked smug.

Crow ruffled his feathers again. “Well, why don’t we all talk about how we stole fire, and we’ll take a vote at the end? See who really did it best!”

“I like it! Would you like to go first, my good friend?” Maui nodded toward the bird. Crow cleared his throat.

“Gladly.” He waited for everyone to quiet down again, and he began.

Author's Note:

My story begins at the meeting of trickster gods, where many trickster gods have gotten together to hang out and talk about their glory days. I mentioned several trickster gods, both well-known ones and lesser-known ones.

Everyone knows who Loki is, of course, from Marvel movies, but Loki in Norse myths gets up to some even crazier stuff, like the time he tricked the blind god Höðr into throwing a deadly mistletoe dart at his brother, Baldr.

Hermes is also well known as the Greek god of messengers (and a lot of other things); in this story, I refer to the time he stole Apollo's sacred cows (Apollo being Hermes' half-brother by Zeus. Of course. Because Zeus is Zeus.) I also make reference to his appearance in the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, in which he and many of the other Greek gods play important roles.

Maui is a Polynesian folk hero; a highly fictionalized version of him was featured in Disney's Moana, and I mention the story of the time he turned his sister's husband into a dog.

On the lesser-known side of the coin, I mention Crow, a Maori trickster from New Zealand, and Raven, a trickster from many Pacific Northwest native cultures.

Lugh is a Celtic god-of-many-things who is often compared to Hermes.

Puck is a trickster fairy in English mythology, best known for his role in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, though he was a folkloric character long before that. He was often considered a domestic sprite, and I based his characterization on the character Puck in the various modern adaptations of Midsummer I've read and seen, where he is usually characterized as a standard teenage boy whose main goal is to annoy people; thus, his decision to throw sugar packets at people.

In the next chapter, we'll get to hear Crow's story of how he stole fire. I hope you stick around for it!