Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and its characters are not my property, and I am not profiting in any way from this story.

Warnings: Mild shonen-ai, if that's not your thing, please don't read, and don't complain about something you were warned about.

Author's Note: A prompt fill for Jadepeace on LJ. The prompt was TezRyo: Greek gods and roman epics. This was a fun and challenging prompt to fill. The breakdown of which character is which god is at the end of the story.

Greek Gods

By Sinnatious

"Did you hear?" Eiji asked keenly, even as the party raged behind them. Goblets of wine were passed from hand to hand as singing and the twang of harpsichords filled the air. "Jiroh put Tezuka to sleep for twelve whole days."

Momoshiro laughed. "Why would he do that?! Tezuka'll be furious! He's really an idiot!"

"Fuji asked him," Eiji said matter-of-factly, and the gods and goddesses nearby leaned in closer, eager for gossip. It was common knowledge to everyone but Tezuka that Fuji was always scheming in the background, disposing of Tezuka's many admirers. "He wanted to cause trouble for Mizuki again without Tezuka finding out about it."

Oishi shook his head. "That explains all the thunder I heard earlier."

Eiji giggled. "Tezuka was going to make him run one thousand laps around the surface of the world."

"Was?" Sengoku was interested now. "How did he get out of it? Not even I am that lucky!"

"Jiroh ran for it. He hid behind Ryoma."

At those words, a hush fell over the group. "Ryoma," Oishi breathed. "What happened?"

"Tezuka turned away, and Jiroh got away with it," Eiji reported smugly.

"Super lucky!" Sengoku exclaimed. "I didn't think Tezuka would back down for anyone when he's mad!"

It was true - Tezuka was monstrously strong, and he only needed to fear his equals: Atobe, God of the Seas and Yukimura, God of the Underworld. They all cast a glance towards the highest point of the party. Tezuka sat on his throne, nursing a goblet in silence. For once Fuji was nowhere to be seen, showing some wisdom in making himself scarce at such a time.

Inui blandly remarked, "It is strange. Though the magnitude of Ryoma's strength remains unconfirmed, Tezuka has never hesitated to risk anyone's wrath before. This is the first evidence I have that he isn't fearless." He paused. "If that is what stayed his hand."

"Yukimura would take Ryoma on," Kirihara said viciously, stabbing a slab of meat with his blade and lifting it to his mouth.

"Tartarus is below even Hades," Inui pointed out in his infinite reason and wisdom. "I'm sure if he desired, he would have done so by now."

"A mortal said once that if you dropped an anvil from Olympus, it would take nine days to fall to Tartarus," Sengoku quipped.

"Ryoma's not anything to be afraid of." Momoshiro spoke with an authority borne half from familiarity and half from a reckless desire to criticise everything. "He's gloomy and anti-social and really really short."

"Nyaa, Momo's sort of right. I always send him an invitation but he never comes to any of my parties," Eiji reported mournfully.

Kirihara spat out a mouthful of wine. "You invited him? Are you an idiot?!"

A heavy silence abruptly descended upon the party. The stars were suddenly glistening in a dark sky. Night had fallen in the middle of the day.

"It's Ryoma," Oishi croaked. Kirihara, despite his earlier bravado, was suddenly looking nervous.

Into the midst of the silent party an ethereal figure glided. Every eye was drawn to him - clad in midnight green and black robes that glittered with stars, skin the colour of moonlight and his head adorned with dark green hair that made lesser gods whisper of Chaos behind their hands.

"Ochibi! You came!" Eiji, ever focused on the party, showed absolutely none of the fear of the other guests. "We were just talking about how I'm always, always inviting you! Why did you come this time?"

An amused smirk played over God of Night's lips. He glanced towards the raised dais. "I saw something interesting." His voice was low and velvety. A number of goddesses nearby were almost beside themselves with excitement.

Tezuka had stood at Ryoma's entrance, though didn't move from his position on the dais. Ryoma continued up the steps towards him, the gods and goddesses parting before him like a wave.

It was only when he was standing in front of the ruler of Olympus that his short stature became apparent - he really was quite small, but his presence covered the entire party. Tezuka's pure white robes stood out in stark contrast to Ryoma's midnight-coloured clothes. Standing there face to face, they were like night and day. The God ruling over the sky, and the God ruling the darkness beneath even the Underworld.

When Tezuka spoke, his voice was like molten metal, a quiet thunder infused with power. "Ryoma."

It was all he managed to say before Ryoma raised a pair of arms and gently guided the ruler of Olympus into a passionate kiss.

A ripple ran through the crowd at the audacity of such a gesture, but to their surprise Tezuka did not pull away, nor did he seem angry. When they broke apart, they shared a heavy look that felt filled with meaning, Tezuka took Ryoma's hand in his somewhat reverently and led him away from the party. The stars continued to twinkle in the midday sky.

Sengoku let out a low whistle through his teeth. "Ryoma really is pretty powerful, hey?"

"Someone even Fuji can't scheme against," Inui stated, and the other gods nodded their heads in agreement.

For those who were confused/interested:
Tezuka = Zeus
Ryoma = Nyx
Fuji = Hera
Jiroh = Hypnos
Eiji = Dionysus
Oishi = Hestia
Momo = Momos
Inui = Metis
Kirihara = Ares
Sengoku = Caerus
Yukimura = Hades
Atobe = Poseidon