From: Kendall Spencer Date: 1 Jul 2002 17:51:43 -0700 Subject: New WIP Series - Greek Gods (Prologue) 1/1 Source: atxc Title: Greek Gods Series Prologue Author: Kendall E-mail: skinmulkry@hotmail.com Fandom: X-Files Rating: G (this chapter only) Pairing: None on this chapter, eventually S/M/K. Archive: Slashing Mulder or other by sending e-mail request Date Written: May 21, 2001 Date Posted: July 1, 2002 Category: AU Spoilers: None Warnings: None Disclaimer: The characters of Skinner, Mulder, Krycek, Scully and Doggett and the X-Files all belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and the Fox Network. Series: Greek Gods Summary: The Ancient Greek Gods get together to unravel a giant knot in The Tapestry of Life...a knot created by our friends at the FBI...and a missing Rat. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Series Prologue - Zeus (King of the Gods) Olympic Industries Building New York City, New York January 3rd Conference room One located on the one hundred and twenty-second floor of the Olympic Industries Headquarters Tower was filled to capacity. The conference table sat twelve comfortably and every seat was taken, as were the less comfortable chairs set against the wall. The Greice clan controlled every aspect of the business, with each member in charge of one of its many branches. Businesses ranged from apparel manufacturing to oil tankers to just about anything in between. It was a company that had grown out of the necessity of its owners to have something to do with their time when their original purpose ceased to be. For you see the Greice family was the current incarnation of the original Greek Gods. No, they were not descendants of the Gods, they were the same Greek Gods. They had lost their believers, mostly due to the fact that those mortals they had toyed with for several millennia, finally decided that it was easier to believe in one deity instead of trying to keep a couple of dozen ill-tempered, capricious gods happy. The loss of believers weakened their powers somewhat but didn't alter the fact that they would remain immortal, to live for all time. It was because of that they decided to 'go with the flow' as the younger generation was fond of saying and became legitimate business men and women, and through the ages they maintained that front. It wasn't until the early eighteen hundreds that their leader, Zeus or Zachary as he was now known decided to pull his ever expanding brood into one centralized company and created Olympic Industries. It had been a hard go at the beginning, specially with the children refusing to go under his rule again, but they had eventually agreed, and now nearly two hundred years later, Olympic Industries Inc. was one of the top conglomerates in the world and firmly held a position in the Forbes 500. Zeus sat at the head of the table he surveyed his family with a mixture of pride and exasperation. Pride for all their accomplishments, exasperation at the fact that after five thousand years together they still bickered and bitched like a bunch of cranky five-year-olds that had skipped nap time. They had decided that they really couldn't keep their original names, although with the current batch of names people gave their children these days, Buffy, Skippi, Tallulah etc., a name like Zeus would not get a strange look. He was Chairman of the Board and CEO and in charge of keeping the massive company running like a well oiled machine. Rapping the gavel on the table to get everyone's attention Zeus called the meeting to order. "All right everyone listen up. I would like to put one more item on today's agenda." "What? And make it four hours instead of three and a half? Come on Father we have better things to do with our time," Ares groused. "Yes I know son, wars to start, guns to shoot and all that but until I say so I'm still in charge so sit there like a good little soldier and keep it zipped." Apollo could not help but snicker but sobered up quickly under the black look from his younger brother. No one ever took Ares' threats lightly. "As I was saying I am adding one more item to the agenda and I would like to discuss it first so we can get it out of the way. Here is what I want to do. I want a family project." After a split second of stunned silence everyone began to speak at once. The loudest as usual was Ares but a wave from Zeus hand brought the room back to order. "Zeus darling," Hera said soothingly as if she was speaking to a addle child, "What in the world are you talking about? What kind of project do you think this family would be able to do together." "I have asked the Fates to provide us with a piece of the Tapestry of Life they weave that has been tangled up so badly that if it is allowed to continue will destroy all the threads that are tied into it and others that are innocent will suffer as well." "Let me get this straight," Ares asked, "You want to us to help untangle a knot in the tapestry that we no longer have control over?" "Well yes actually I do," Zeus said smugly, "I feel like getting involved again. I miss it." "You want to screw someone's life like we used to do," Apollo said with a glint in his eyes. "No, not really," Zeus said sincerely, "I want to see if we work together we can untangle the knot. I figure that even if we get all the threads going the same way they will need constant testing to see if they will hold the entwined path without getting tangled up again." "So once the original knot is loosened then you want us to keep testing the strength of the threads. We can do it any way we want?" Demeter asked. "You can work individually or in pairs but just don't overwhelm them so much they'll get tangled up again." "But Father there are so many knots on the tapestry how will the Fates choose?" Artemis asked. "They have chosen a knot that is complicated by an outside force." "An outside force? What the hell does that mean?" Poseidon asked. "Will you care to explain Ares?" Zeus said looking at his youngest son intently. Looking decidedly uncomfortable, the former God of War said, "A few years back I was getting bored with starting wars between countries. After a while it does get tedious finding enemies to pit against each other. So I figured I could start something between the mortals and an alien race." "YOU WHAT?" Poseidon yelled as he came to his feet in outrage. Most of the others sat in stunned silence. "How could you play around with something so dangerous." "Calm down," Ares said softly, "I've been very careful. Just dabbling in it. I carefully chose the race of aliens and who they made initial contact with. That is why only some threads have been involved as opposed to all the human race. I guess the introduction of the alien thread into the Tapestry of Life created this unusually messy knot. I threw a couple of wrenches into their plan. I introduced another alien race to counter balance the damage. They have been battling each other off an on for the last thirty years or so. I didn't realize the knot had become so tangled." "We can't of course concentrate on all the threads affected by Ares' little plan but I would like to pick some and work on them specifically," Zeus said. "The Fates have suggested the five names on the list in front of you. Ares with Aphrodite's help has the first task of untangling the knot. I think it will require equal amounts of planning, emotion and love. How you handle it is up to you. Once we all agree that is loose enough then anyone that wants to get involved will do so through Artemis." "Grandpa can we play too?" Phobos, God of Fear, now a college student going under the name of Phillip and studying psychiatry asked. "I don't see why not, it is a family project after all," Zeus said smiling, happy with how things had worked out. "Just make sure to run it by Missy first. First report will be at the next board meeting. Okay now that is settled let's get back to the rest of the agenda. Ares you wanted to discuss the issues with one of the spy planes we sold to the government getting caught by the Chinese?" End of the Prologue - Zeus