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With a gleam in his eye, Zeus grabs a lightning bolt, the same one used in the olive farm incident, and hurls the shimmering rod at Cronus, landing it right between his legs. Zeus chuckles, "I guess my aim is a little better now." All of Greece erupts in excitement as they realize that Zeus has returned to defend them and bring order to their home.
Every God and Titan stops their own fighting, mesmerized by Zeus' presence. The Gods feared their defeat with Zeus gone, while the Titans believed victory would be simple. They all knew these feelings of rage and frustration had been festering in Cronus' mind for ages, waiting for his opportunity.
"How did you escape?" shouts Zeus. "This was supposed to be impossible!"
"If I told you," snickers Cronus, "then you'd be able to escape. I can't have that."
Zeus sprints towards his father in a fit of rage and begins working to subdue Cronus and reclaim his throne. He picks up his lightning bolt and begins swinging it towards Cronus, who fights off the attack with the same sickle he used to claim the throne from Uranus, his own father. The sound of the two weapons crashing against each other creates thunder so loud, some of the Greek citizens begin to wonder if the world might collapse under the weight of these two fighters. Children cower behind their parents, terrified of the raging battle.
Cronus fends off Zeus' fierce attacks and swipes with his sickle, catching Zeus' leg and forcing him to the ground. Zeus is stunned, shocked at how much more powerful Cronus has become during his time in Tartarus. It is now clear to everyone; nothing else had been on his mind. Cronus snatches Zeus' lightning bolt out of his hand, and with a devilish grin on his face, snickers, "Time's up."
Cronus throws the lightning bolt directly at Zeus, who somehow manages to catch it out of mid-air. Stunned, Cronus begins backpedaling, amazed that he is unable to finish the war. Zeus stands up and his voice booms through the air, "This kingdom belongs to me!" He throws Cronus to the ground, who is still shaken from a sure victory slipping through his fingers.
Zeus banishes Cronus and the rest of the Titans back to Tartarus, which has been reinforced to prevent their escaping again. He sits down on the ground, sweat dripping from his brow, exhausted from not only the war, but the journey that led to his return. He looks towards the sky and thanks Ammon for all that he had learned, exclaiming, "Thank you, Ammon. I never thought they would allow me back into Greece with how brash I was. It is all thanks to you that I was not only able to return, but that my father was unable to enact another reign of terror. Thank you." With victory secured and his breath returned to him, Zeus rests for a short period to regain his strength before facing everyone.
Standing in front of all of Greece, Zeus speaks to them, saying, "I apologize for not being the leader you needed before now. I realize that I made a mistake; it weighed on me immensely. But I have learned a valuable lesson, and in the course of this lesson, I met a wonderful bird that we shall call the Phoenix." Zeus pauses and looks towards the sky, in awe as the new bird flies overhead, its wings shimmering as if made of fire. The crowd marvels at the magnificent creature, as Zeus continues, "Whenever this bird dies, it is reborn in a cloud of ash, becoming new and stronger than before. I say to you, I have been reborn thanks to this bird, and I am sure many more will become reborn in the future as well."
Having addressed the crowd, Greece responds, immediately getting to work reappointing Zeus as King of the Gods. As thanks for their graciousness, Zeus works to help the country rebuild, beginning with Mount Olympus. With the entire country beginning to heal, Zeus sees the Phoenix in the distance again, and again thanks Ammon and the Bennu for all they have taught him. He is sure they will continue to help many other leaders throughout the future, just as they had helped him.
Author's Note: The Phoenix is a very famous bird in Greek mythology. Often believed to be based on the Egyptian Bennu, I wanted to create this story as a way to explain how the Phoenix came to Greece. Zeus wasn't always a great leader, especially in his younger years. I wanted to take advantage of this in order to create a path for him to redeem himself, as his lack of leadership at a younger age would have likely caused some friction between him and the people who lived under his rule. This unique opportunity to learn from Ammon, a similar god in Egyptian mythology, after being cast out of Greece meant that he has been given a chance to start over once he returns to Greece.
The King of the Titans, Cronus, is Zeus' father, who gained power by overthrowing his own father, Uranus. Fearful of Uranus' prophecy that his own child would unseat him, Cronus ate all of his children except Zeus, whose mother Rhea hid from Cronus, feeding him a rock wrapped in a blanket instead. Zeus was then disguised as a servant as he grew older, before giving Cronus a drink that caused him to vomit up all of Zeus' siblings, the Olympian Gods, who engaged in a ten-year war with the Titans before Zeus banished them to Tartarus. There they stayed until they would escape during Zeus' absence from Greece. Upon Zeus' return, he is able to use what he has learned to prevent the Titans from taking over once again, as well as introduce the people of Greece to the bird he learned from, the Bennu, and introduce them to the Greek version, the Phoenix.
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