Switched At Birth…day [Eclipse 1]

Chapter 1 “Father, everyone is here and waiting in the golden chambers.” Athena stated with her typical regal tone. Zeus would never tell her, but out of all his children she was his favorite daughter. Zeus looked on his desk, then pulled out the drawers, “I would already be there if I could find the damn files. I seem to have misplaced the damn things. Athena rolled her eyes, “Father, I told you I took them and they are in the golden chambers already. Now come, we don’t want to keep the others waiting.” Zeus stood, “And I told you, I am the leader of all gods and the universe. If I choose to be late, they can all just wait.” “We need their help, father. Angering them is not going to do any good to anyone. Now let’s go.” Athena stated firmly. “You are a pushy child.” Zeus replied, making his way out the door. “So you always say.” Athena said, making her way to the golden chambers. Zeus could hear Odin snapping at someone before he even got into the room. “Loki, you put Spanish Fly in the virgin goddess, Diana’s, drink and that was after you gave laxatives to Helio’s steeds. They are still cleaning the s**t up in my palace. Diana has threatened to sic a heard of cape buffalo on you while the vultures eat your dying flesh, as you lie in the horse s**t in the palace. Helio says he is going to take you, stake you to the ground and brighten the sun so you slowly cook to death for Diana’s vultures to consume. So, sit there, shut up, and know that you and I are going to be spending lots of time together. Because when we get out of here, you will be cleaning the palace floors with a toothbrush and soap.” “Gods, you guys can’t take a good joke.” Loki muttered. “We could if we ever heard one. You, Loki, are not funny.” Jupiter replied. Zeus couldn’t stop the small smile, hearing about all of Loki’s antics. He was a prankster known by every god around. Many didn’t have much of a sense of humor, but Zeus found the young god’s pranks quite funny and in these times, much needed distractions. “I want to thank everyone for coming today. I know we all know each other, but for our records of time, I must insist we all introduce ourselves. I am Zeus, Greek God of Thunder and ruler of all Gods.” Looking to his right, his daughter stated, “I am Athena, Greek Goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, laws and justice—” “Blah Blah Blah. Gods, why do we have such long titles? At this rate we are all going to die of old age or boredom before we finish introducing ourselves.” Loki muttered with an eye roll. Athena pursed her lips, “So shall we just say you are Loki, Norse God of bullshit?” Loki laughed, “More like horse shit.” “Loki, behave!” Odin snapped. Zeus laughed and waved off Oden’s concerns, “It’s okay, Odin. Loki is right. Our titles do tend to be a bit overwhelming and pompous. How about we stick to what is important to us, in our title?” Nodding, Loki replied, “As your delightful daughter stated, I am Loki, known as the trickster god to those in Norse.” “And I am Odin, God and leader to all Norse Gods.” “I’m Jupiter, leader of the Roman Gods.” Turning to the woman with long black hair and fetching lavender eyes, Zeus raised a brow, “And you?” With a small nod of respect, she stated, “I am Freyja, Norse Goddess of love, fertility, battle and death.” Sitting next to her was one of Zeus’s favorite daughters. Spinner of life and destiny. “Hello Clotho. You are looking as lovely as ever.” Smiling at Zeus, Clotho replied, “Why thank you, Father. I must say I am a bit confused as to why I am here.” Zeus raised a brow, “If not for you, Lachesis, and Atropos we would not have known of this dire situation we have found ourselves in.” “Dire situation? What is going on that is so bad you have gathered so many high-powered gods together, Zeus?” Jupiter snapped with impatience. Athena was going for her sword as Zeus placed a hand on her arm, “No, Athena. Jupiter is just being his impatient self. Let it go.” “No one speaks to you that way and lives, Father.” Athena insisted. Zeus laughed, “If that was the case, Hera would have been dead eons ago. Now calm yourself so we can finish the introductions. I’m sure Decuma would appreciate it.” Decuma smiled at Zeus, then returned her attention to her duties. She was just as beautiful as his daughters, although she was the Roman equivalent to Clotho, but she was also the transcriber of all great meetings such as these. Turning to the young man to his left, Zeus stated, “Let’s finish this.” “I am Charon, Greek keeper of the souls.” “I am Morta, Roman Fate that cuts the threads of life.” “I am Hel, Norse keeper of souls and Goddess of the underworld.” “Charun, keeper of Roman souls.” “Verdandi, Norse Fate of what is to come.” “I am Nona, the Roman equivalent to both Verdandi and Clotho.” Turning to the two men who looked practically identical, Zeus raised a brow, the one to the right said, “I am Norse God Urd. I am what once was, and this is Skuld, he is what shall be.” “And he cannot speak?” Zeus asked. Shrugging, Urd replied, “He rarely speaks, and I just figured we might want to get this meeting going.” Zeus gave Skuld another look, then turned his attention to all those in the room, “Clotho and her sisters approached me years ago with a concern. I dismissed their unease and life continued. However, when Clotho approached me, once more, I understood her concerns and launched an investigation. Maybe had I acted when I was first approached, things would not be so bad, but I cannot turn back the hands of time.” “Uh, yes you can.” Loki stated with a snort. Shaking his head, “Not when it comes to destiny and life. We decided many years ago we could no longer stop death. However, that did not mean that we could not try and alter what might happen.” “You are making no sense Zeus. Just spit it out. What is going on?” Odin hissed impatiently. Looking at Clotho, Zeus replied, “I think this is best explained by those who brought the issue to my attention.” Clotho sat forward and looked at her sister, Lachesis, then they both turned to Atropos who said, “A few weeks ago I cut the thread of the last dragon shifter.” “Okay, that’s sad, but what does that have to do with us?” Odin asked. Clotho looked at the Norse god, “Approximately thirty-five years ago I noticed a trend in the paranormal world. They were not mating as fast as they normally had in the years before. I also noticed that within the past decade more and more paranormals were staying true to who they really were and loving those they chose.” Lachesis smiled, saying, “It’s lovely they are free to love no matter whether it is someone of the same s*x or not, however, shifter and paranormal numbers have been declining faster every year.” “Still, I am at a loss as to what that has to do with us?” Odin said. Zeus sat forward, “Do you remember why we created shifters and paranormals, Odin?” Odin turned to Zeus in confusion, “I’ve never really thought about it, Zeus. I mean that was centuries and centuries ago.” Loki snorted, “They are the symbol of every god’s existence. Zeus and Hera’s son was raised by a Nymph. Zeus’s thunderbolt was created by the cyclops and is carried from one side of the world to another on a chariot flown by griffons. Hell, I’m a shifter as are my children, and Odin, what of your wolves, Geri and Freki? We have stories told of horses with wings, half man half horse. Shifters and paranormals always have the people talking and keeping our very existence alive. Without them, no god or goddess could live. When a human accidently sees a vampire, shifter, or a special act of magic, they begin talking. When they talk, it brings us all great power and allows our lives to continue on. Without them we too shall pass.” “For a pain in the ass, you are very intelligent.” Zeus stated with a smirk. “I guess I’m too smart for my own good.” Loki replied. Odin held his hand up, stopping the two from getting off the subject. “So, let me see if I am understanding you correctly, if the shifters and paranormals die, so shall we?” Nodding, Zeus replied, “That is exactly what he’s saying.” “So why don’t we just recreate more?” Jupiter asked. “Because, that would be interfering with the natural order of life, and we can no longer do that, Jupiter.” Zeus replied. Jupiter waved his hand, “We’re gods we can do anything.” Clotho looked at Jupiter, sternly saying, “No, you cannot. It would mean death to those that try. That is the law you helped create, Jupiter.” “So how bad is this situation?” Loki asked. “There are less than half the population of shifters and paranormals than there used to be. At the rate they are going, and unless we do something, they will all be extinct within the next century.” Atropos stated. Lachesis quickly said, “Verdandi, myself, and Dacuma have spoken and what we have noticed is that there are two issues that need to be addressed. The first, as we have said, is that reproduction is down.” “Yes, but that is the same situation for humans. Back in the day women stayed home and took care of their family while the husband worked. However, in today’s times women are not only working, but seeking higher and higher education, often putting off childbearing, or not even wanting to have a child at all.” Loki stated. Nodding, Lachesis replied, “True, and the change has been noticeable. With the acceptance of gay couples, more and more have come out of the closet and don’t even think about having a child of their own.” “Humans often use surrogates.” Athena replied. Nodding, Lachesis said, “True, but in the paranormal and shifter world, the women are not always willing to stop working long enough to have their own child let alone someone else’s. This is something we can and must fix for the paranormal world, or like we already said, they will die out.” “If we can’t interfere in creating life, how can we do anything about this?” Jupiter asked. “We can do what we have done for centuries—adapt to the changes.” Clotho replied. Charon turned to her in confusion, “I don’t understand.” “Evolution is something we have done since time began. As the world changes, so does life. Like the tawny owl in Finland had brown and white owls, however, as the weather started to become warmer for longer, the white has begun to disappear and there are now more brown owls than white.” Nona explained. “Or the fact that whales used to live on land and now they are mammals living in water.” Nona stated. Jupiter’s eyes went wide, “You want us to make it so man can bear a child?” “Well, shifter and paranormal men, yes. I don’t think the humans are quite ready for that yet.” Morta stated with a smile. “How in the hell is that not interfering?” Jupiter asked once more. Zeus nodded, saying, “That is brilliant, ladies. Yes, we can make some changes within the shifters so that men can also have children, like the birds and insects we created that can only be found in Hawaii.” “Or the hip bones we took away for the whales so they could swim more efficiently and making the giraffe neck longer as the trees grew taller so they could eat.” Odin stated. Jupiter gasped, “We are not talking about giving spiders some extra eyes here. We are talking about giving man the ability to have a child. Do you have any idea how insane that sounds? Man and childbirth do not go together, Zeus.” “Why not? Why should a woman be the only one to have a child?” Athena asked angrily. Shaking his head, Jupiter replied, “I am not saying that, Athena. What I am saying is that not all shifters like to be on top. Some actually do bottom. What you’re saying is that now that every man can just conceive a child. That isn’t a good plan. Call me old fashioned, but I believe that a child should have access to two parents and if that other parent is human, and not mated to the shifter, then what? Now that same human has to be told or killed so he doesn’t speak.” Loki sighed, “As much as I hate to admit to agreeing with any of you in this room, I have to say that Jupiter is correct. Humans are not ready to know of shifters and paranormals’ existence at this time. It would cause fear and fear causes people to react in ways they normally wouldn’t. We learned that the hard way if you recall?” Athena quickly said, “Maybe this time will be different.” Loki sat straight up in his chair, snapping, “We tried in the 1500s with the shifters, and how many wolves were slaughtered? We tried again in the 1600s with the paranormals and how many witches were hung? Hell, how many weren’t even witches? Sporadically we have tried throughout the years, and it is always the same. Hunting parties are called to destroy what they fear. Never once has it even been considered getting to know or understand what it is they are seeing.” “Okay, so we don’t make it to where just any paranormal or shifter can have a child. What if it was mated couples? This way if it is a same s*x couple, they still can have a child.” Skuld suggested. “That is a fantastic idea, Skuld. This way we don’t have unwanted pups running around and it also will help us to adapt those couples already mated.” Odin replied with a smile. “And any humans that are pregnant or impregnate their shifter or paranormal mate, will not run around giving away our secrets.” Loki replied. “Who will be the ones to make the changes?” Odin asked. “Aphrodite, Venus, and Freyja.” Zeus quickly answered. “What is the second problem that needs addressing?” Odin asked. Clotho sighed, “The answer to procreation all depends on the biggest problem of them all. We already said that mating is becoming less and less every year. We had two matings all of last year and only one the year before that. We must do something. It’s as if they would rather play the field than find their one true love. I don’t get it.” Loki laughed, “Says the woman that has tried to find her own?” “We are gods and goddesses and therefore do not have mates.” Clotho responded firmly. “That isn’t exactly true, but I think Zeus wants to stick to the current subject at hand.” Loki replied, with a smile. Zeus nodded, “Yes, I do. We need a plan and that means we work together to figure out how we can get our shifters and paranormals to start mating and breeding once again.”