To risk the fire

The Gods had always been, creations brought forth from the lifestream to wander the planet and protect it's wonders. Each one had been given a task, a realm to defend and total control of all it's power. Time meant nothing to them and eons passed in the blink of an eye. Some changed, some fell in love, some meddled in the affairs of mortals, but one alone remained separated from the rest, sequestered away below a rough and untamed sea where no other God could venture.

Leviathan.

The great sea serpent who alone could understand the violence of the waves and the utter deafening calm of the deepest oceans. He craved nothing, satisfied to remain away from the world save for those times when the others would seek him out for his great wisdom. Millennia passed this way until the old gods decided the time had come for a new generation. Men had learned to harm them and thus a need had arisen for someone whose realm would be the cycles of healing and re-birth for the fallen deities.

Phoenix was born.

Flame and ash, a continuous cycle of unending rebirth, the godling came into the world as an infant, born from the hottest fires Ifirit could forge and cooled with the kiss of Shiva. He alone aged among his kin having been born of their hands, but the planet granted him the powers of rebirth and thus his life became an unending cycle. He grew over a thousand years of life and then died an old man before being reborn once again.

The curious young God knew no fear and sought out all his brethren, seeking to understand them, until, at last, he came to the edge of the deepest Ocean on all of Gaia, the home of Leviathan. For one hundred years he sat calmly on the edge of that shore, calling to the older god until the serpent could no longer ignore his pleas. They spoke for many years on many topics and Leviathan watched with a fascination he had never known as Phoenix aged before his eyes. Over one hundred of the firebird's lifetimes, the two became the most unlikely of friends and Phoenix would tell of all that happened in the world to Leviathan who could not leave his waters.

There finally came a day, however, when a problem arose in Leviathan's heart. He had never longed for company, had never known touch, for his skin was as cold as the bottom of the sea, and yet he craved for the first time to know what warmth was. Phoenix too desired to make contact with his friend, to lay hand on Leviathan even once, and feel what the power of the oceans would be like beneath his skin. Over the many millennia of their friendship, Phoenix alone had done what no other could and had healed the only part of Leviathan that had ever been damaged from the start; he'd grown a new heart for the great serpent.

A profound and unending love had grown between them as Leviathan, unchanging and unyeilding, watched and cared for Phoenix, whose fires were ever shifting. Two complete opposites had found more need for each other than all the world. The need for contact became stronger every day but fear pulled for the first time at Leviathan. If he were to touch Phoenix, would he burn away to nothing? Would the firebird be snuffed out like a candle to fall and sink into the abyss? Would two such opposites create a whole or negate each other's existence?

Phoenix was not afraid and he bade the dragon to touch him for he would rather die one final time than live all the rest of eternity never knowing a loving embrace. The seas roiled, lightening split the sky, and all the Gods of Gaia held their breath as Leviathan arched from the waters at long last and reached for Phoenix's outstretched fingers.

Are Gods allowed to Love?

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This piece has taken about 60 or so hours all told and I still don't know if it needs more. PLEASE tell me if you see anything I can fix on it or any thoughts on how to make it better. Sorry for the watermark but I'm trying to avoid art theft. Uh...sorry if the story sucks but it was what was stuck in my head while painting this and for those who are wondering, yes, I am referencing the FFVII summons.