When Ray woke up, he was in a meadow. It was early in the morning, and the air was still thick with fog. Raymond was lying in the grass, and his back was soaked by morning dew. He sat up. There was a slight throb in his head. Some of his hair fell in front of his face, blocking his view.
'Strange.'
Raymond knew he didn't have long hair. Trying to get rid of the hair, he became aware of the fact that his hands were different. They were not only larger than his, but also smoother.
As his head cleared, he noticed his chest bigger and swelled every time he breathed in. Ray almost panicked when he felt an overpowering presence behind him.
"You blacked out again, sister." A deep male voice sounded behind Ray.
Ray immediately wanted to turn around to see the owner of the voice, but something strange happened. His head didn't budge. Instead, he felt his throat vibrate, and his mouth move.
"I had another nightmare, brother. When will this end?" A female voice asked.
Ray was confused; his voice was feminine. He tried to clear his throat and try again, but it didn't respond to him, just like his body. Strands of hair moved into her view, and Ray subconsciously.
"It will take time, sister. In time, father will be a forgotten memory." The male spoke again.
'Sister?' Ray frowned.
Raymond's body finally turned, and Ray got a good look at the male that called him sister. What he saw made his eyes pop out. The male was very tall—Ray guessed about seven and a half feet tall. He had a very lean body and the broadest shoulders Ray had ever laid eyes on. Their close proximity gave them the illusion of stretching from one side of the horizon to the other.
The man had jet black hair that was complemented by a full, thick beard. His face was also sculptured to perfection. But as far as Ray was concerned, that was the only thing he didn't find strange about his face.
On the other hand, his eyes were glowing a lighter shade of blue while his pupils were slit and completely black. Although Raymond had never met this man fact-to-face, he had seen his picture. It was Zeus.
"I'm sorry I am not as strong as you, brother. My weakness will only slow you down," Raymond sobbed.
'What the hell is going on!'
Not only couldn't Ray move his body; his voice was feminine, and the words weren't his too.
Zeus lowered his hands. "Come, let's joined the others. They are waiting for you."
Ray took Zeus' hands, and he pulled him up before muttering a short spell, and the two disappeared.
They reappeared inside a very large cave, and Ray immediately spotted four other figures. Two of them had a strikingly similar build as Zeus, while the others were a bit smaller than Zeus.
It didn't take him long to realize that he was staring at the six First-Generation Olympians. Two of the men Ray knew to be Poseidon and Hades were seated on opposite ends of the massive cave. The other two figures, Demeter and Hestia, were standing at the center of the cave. All of them looked exactly like what Ray saw in their pictures.
All except Hera, Ray had yet to meet her…wait, Zeus called him sister. Ray froze. But only he was affected. His body that until now wasn't responding to him, kept moving forward. All of the six figures turned to face the cave's entrance when Zeus and Raymond appeared.
"Where did you find her this time, brother?" Poseidon was the one who asked.
"On the southern continent." Everyone let out a sigh of relief. They had expected the worst.
"Her nightmares are getting worse. Soon, she will get out of control and create a power surge strong enough to give away our position." Hades said, solemnly.
Being stuck inside the massive cave wasn't their choice, but given the alternative, it was the best they could do at the moment. They had collectively enchanted the whole cave, making it secure enough to serve as their temporary home.
The enchantment was strong enough to cloak their presence as long as no one stepped foot on the planet. Otherwise, with Hera's constant disappearances and power surges, the cloaking spell would be redundant.
"Where is Adrastea?" Zeus asked, his voice reverberated throughout the cave knocking down any loose rocks.
"She should be back by now unless she got caught," Demeter replied worriedly.
"No, I trust Hekate. She wouldn't let Adrastea come back if it wasn't completely safe to do so." Zeus reassured. "If she's not here, then it's not—"
"Sorry I'm late," Adrastea appeared at the edge of the cave and proceeded to walk to the center.
"You have the spell?" Hades perked up and immediately dashed forward. His body blurred and, in a blink, appeared right next to Adrastea, who inwardly flinched. While what Hades did wouldn't be considered an attack, it would only take a slight miscalculation or a simple slip up for Hades to accidentally kill her.
Even though the beings Adrastea was standing in front of were hiding in a cave, that was simply because their enemies were too strong and outnumbered them. The Olympians before her were by no means weak. Each one of them was an existence to be feared.
Right now, they were slowly building their power in order to face off against their father. During this tactical retreat, they have been amassing allies like the one she had just left behind. Hekate had made another spell for them to use if they were to further their plans.
Out of the six, Hades was the one most enthusiastic about magic. While they could all use magic, what they lacked was skills, knowledge, and experience. Zeus, who could be considered the most experienced of the six, was also the least interested in magic. He was more interested in strengthening his divine abilities.
The spell Adrastea brought was extremely important for the next phase. It was the best cloaking spell Hekate could come up with. What made the spell crucial was its range. Their previous spells could only cover a small area, limiting their range of operations. But the new spell was a lot more powerful and, by extension, a lot more complex.
"Are you sure this will cloak the whole star system?" Hades asked excitedly as he went over the incantation. At his mention, everyone converged on him, and each went over the spell.
"What about containment, a spell this big won't escape their notice," Hades skeptically asked as he pondered over the repercussions of using the spell.
"Hekate thought of the same problem and gave me this," Adrastea then produced another written spell.
Hades immediately grabbed it and smiled. "A pity, Hekate would make a great addition to our forces if she could stop fussing over Styx in that desolate Tartarus."
After going through the Containment Spell, Hades' head perked, and he looked at his siblings. "So, who's going to cast it? I'm the best at using magic, I propose myself."
"Shouldn't we let the strongest do it?" Raymond interjected. He had long figured out he was weirdly inside Hera's body.
"It's all about raw power with you," Hades snorted. "A spell this complex requires delicate hands."
Demeter rolled her eyes. "We haven't even figured out our anchor yet."
"We'll make this planet our anchor," Zeus said, firmly.
"Let's do it. We have already wasted too much time as it is." Hades stated. Almost immediately, dark energy trickled from his hands and taking shape in the form of an array at the center of the cave. In just a couple of seconds, a complete magic array was carved at the cave's center.
Adrastea couldn't help but rub her eyebrows. "The cloaking spell was meant to be cast by all six of you. This way, it will be able to handle all your powers simultaneously, even if combined."
A light bulb went on for all of them. That was a reasonable request. If only one of them cast the spell, there was a good chance either of them could slip through the cloaking spell. This didn't even take into account their combined effort during a spar.
It didn't take any more convincing before all six of them entered the containment circle. Each seated next to the other, forming a circle before joining hands. Raymond joined hands with Zeus and Demeter and soon after began the incantation.
Blue light—almost greenish—enveloped their arms, and an almost colorless dome appeared around them. The runes carved along the circle lit up. The Containment Spell was complete. Adrastea moved away from the circle and sat on a boulder on one end of the massive cave. She had her teleportation spell on the ready.
There was no way of telling whether the containment circle would be effective. The last thing she wanted was to get caught up in the storm. Soon, the six started the cloaking spell, and the blue energy covering their joined hands pooled at the center of the circle, forming an orb. The orb then began to pulse as the spell began spreading.
Power rippled inside the containment circle, and the six figures disappeared inside the swirling storm. Even from where she was, Adrastea felt an invisible energy wash over her as the cloaking spell began taking effect.
The spell spread out of the cave and rapidly covered the whole continent. Soon the whole planet disappeared as invisible energy spread all over it, then outwards. Far across space, planets, moons, asteroids, and debris, one by one, they disappeared under the cloaking spell. By the time the six had finished the incantation, the whole star system had vanished.
"It worked," Hades was ecstatic. He didn't wait for the others and cast an Ether Spell right away. Brown mist enveloped him, and he instantly vanished from the containment circle. He reappeared outside the cave and reveled in the freedom he had just obtained. The sun rays on his skin had never been more soothing.
Almost without any warning, a cyan orb appeared in the palm of his hand and shot straight to the cave's entrance. There was a loud bang as the cave shook. Several boulders were sent flying, and the area surrounding the cave shook like an erupting volcano.
"Come out, let's play!"
"As you can see, you're not the only one father ruined," Zeus shook his head as he spoke to Raymond. He was long used to his sibling's juvenile habits. While they had grown to adulthood physically, mentally, they were barely ten-years-old. As Zeus explained, a figure shot past him at almost blinding speeds and exited the cave.
"Not on this planet!" Zeus shouted before he sprinted after the figure.
Hades was about to shoot another orb when he saw Poseidon come out of the cave and heading straight for him. Hades grinned and prepared to welcome him when he saw another figure, hot on Poseidon's tail.
"This is not fair! One at a time," Hades turned tail and took off.
'I'm not joining the fight!" Zeus mentally growled at the two of them. 'If you two want to spar then do it off the planet.' He then came to an abrupt stop before returning back to the cave.
Hades turned around and saw Zeus retreating, to which he stopped. 'Let's take it to space.'
Hades grinned before covering his body with cyan light and willing himself off the planet. Poseidon, not to be outshined, turned his palms to face the ground before a powerful forcefield smashed onto the ground. Several cracks formed on the ground as it rippled. The resulting force rocketed Poseidon into the sky.
'Brute.' Hades said before willing himself to go faster. Soon, the two disappeared into the vast darkness of space.
…