I've never seen Metis so serious before. Even when we were planning our infiltration, she wasn't like this. Of course, now was no time to be messing around. When we landed on another beach I could already see the son of a bitch.
Cronus was seated in between the tops of two mountains. His scythe was at his side, The handle made of white wood and the silver curved blade on top. I mustered up my courage, and after getting an affirmative nod from Metis, I joined the long line of humans.
The mortals wore simple clothes and carried their valued treasures in hopes of pleasing the Titans. I was already feeling Helios' eyes piercing my back. I honestly don't know where Metis keeps "borrowing" this stuff from, but the cloak was definitely doing it's job of hiding my divinity, otherwise, all titans in a 500 mile radius would instantly notice me.
After long hours of waiting in line, and climbing another mountain, I finally reached daddy Cronus. His Light brown hair spooled around his shoulders, and he scratched his neck beard. He looked down at me with golden eyes. "What do you bring, mortal," he said. I swallowed and bowed down. I could now see Rhea standing just to his left. She was in a scarlet red peplos, and she had put her hair into a bun. Cronus, wore a simple blue chiton, with gold embroidery, depicting the downfall of Ouranos, his father. And I was ready for something similar.
"Titan lord Cronus!" I called up to him as I presented the satchel. "I bring you the finest drink ever created." I presented the wine. I didn't want to do dionysus dirty and take his invention, and who knows, I might like him.
The man behind me shook his head. "No lord Cronus, this is the best drink known to man. The stout man presented a black bottle, opposite to my white one. Rhea only smiled and Cronus raised an eyebrow. "I'll see about that."
He took my wine, and had a few sips. "Ah, not bad at all. It kinda excite- GAK!" He clutched his stomach, and his hand instinctively went to his mouth right before he hacked up the contents of his stomach. The olympians all fell down the side of the mountain and stopped near the river. Cronus' eyes widened.
"Ah, foolish mortal!" He swatted me away and off the mountain. Any normal human would have turned into mush just from the hit, and while it did break bones, that kind of hit was not going to kill me. Sadly though, my disguise was ruined. And instead of throwing up 6 grown men and women, there were only five and a rock the size of a baby.
Cronus' eyes turned from surprise to rage. "RHEA!" He boomed but the titaness was nowhere to be found. One of the Olympians helped me up. He was slightly shorter than me, and had pitch black hair that ran to his ankles.
Somehow, even though he's lived in someone's stomach for the past few decades, he was still lean and muscular. The Olympian looked at the rock and back at me, understanding the situation. "I presume you have a plan?" His voice was rich like chocolate and with his deep blue eyes that seemed to stare at my own soul, I assumed he was Hades.
I nodded, "we need to make it to the ocean, I have a friend there who can bring us to safety. I began to run towards the beach with five naked olympians tailing behind. Cronus' eyes bore into mine making me freeze up.
I could see all the things he wanted to do to me and the olympians in that moment. I could feel his desire to plunge his scythe right into my stomach.
My knees became wobbly. Just as he was about to slash at me the All Seeing Eyes of God activated. I could see Rhea in the distance, fleeing.
The Olympian's scared, awed and confused faces, and Hyperion and Selene making their way towards us. The eyes also seemed to give my body new energy as I jumped out of the sickle's path. I stood up and me and my siblings began to run.
The mortals began to scatter and panic as Cronus held his scythe and began to raze the ground. Looks like the blindness kicked in. It had also been noon when I had arrived, but because of the unbelievably long line, it was already midnight. Just as we were reaching the water, Metis ran out and pointed to the woods.
"There, quick! Oceanus is already on his way!" There was something new in the sky. An actual moon. Not just the silvery light from before. Hyperion, Cronus' brother was already running towards us, a sword in hand. And another titan could be seen emerging from the waters. Most likely Oceanus. The green haired olympian shook his head. "I thought you had a plan."
"I didn't expect this!" I replied as we began to run.
"I've lived in that man's stomach for years," the woman with the blonde hair said, "and even I know to have a backup plan!"
The myths just said they had fled. How, was not specified. "Can you guys shapeshift?" I asked. They shook their heads. "Look it's easy, just imagine yourself to look like me." I said as I turned into a brown eagle. They all concentrated before pulling it off as well and we flew away while Cronus threw his fit of rage.
We soon landed back on Dictaeon Antron. We all reverted to normal and began breathing heavily. Amalthea ran over to us. "Zeus what in the world is this!" I only smiled at her. "My brothers and sisters", I panted. Her hand covered her mouth. "Oh my", She whispered after a few seconds before reverting to her old self. "Get up! You're all naked and smell like bile". She led us back to the cave before washing us and giving us new clothes. We sat around the fire and drank milk and ate bread.
"I'm Zeus," I finally said after a few minutes of them eating like savages. "I'm your youngest sibling and I gave Cronus the potion to help throw you guys up. This here is Amalthea, who's been taking care of me since birth, my girlfriend Metis, and our goat Gida." The goat looked up from her corner, "Maaaa!". The Olympians nodded and one of them stood up.
"Well I'm the eldest, and my name is Hestia," the red haired olympian said. She was the shortest of us all at around 5'6. She had a round face full of freckles over her cinnamon colored skin. She had an ample bosom, and hips that completed her hourglass figure. Her amber eyes were calming and looking into them seemed to sooth my soul. Her voice was sweet and full of gratitude.
After that Hades stood up. "I am the eldest son of Cronus and my name is Hades." He stood at around 6'11. His cheekbones were probably sharp enough to cut someone, his skin was a sickly olive color, and his silky beard dragged close to the fire.
Next was the green haired one."My name is Poseiden, and I gotta say you have weird eyes." He was about 6'10 and he had a thicker build like me. His sea green eyes had a childish look in them, as if he wanted to touch everything for no apparent reason. He had his own beard, more like mine. Thick and curly but while I kept mine low, his reached almost his bellybutton. He had a rounder face than me but it was still that of a man. His rosy skin glowed in the firelight. I honestly couldn't believe this was a grown man.
Once he sat down, the blond olympian stood. "My name is Demeter, third youngest of Cronus." She said as she bowed. She was definitely the thickest of the women, with the largest curves. She stood at 5'7 and had rosy skin like Poseiden. Her voice was wary and her brown eyes darted around the room, looking for something.
The final olympian squeezed Demeter's arm and they locked eyes for a moment. Demeter sat down and the last woman stood. She was the tallest of the three at 5'11 and had pale skin similar to Hades, but nowhere near as bad. She had dirty blonde hair that, like the rest, spooled around her ankles. She had elfish features and smaller eyes like Hades. She had a smaller chest than her sisters, but it still existed. Lucky for her, her hips and ass made up for it.
Hestia and Poseiden were the only ones who actually seemed comfortable. Hades was looking at me, prepared to react if I tried something. Demeter seemed actually uncomfortable and was super fidgety while Hera tried to calm her down.
I finally closed my eyes. Having them open was starting to give me a headache, but even though they were closed, I could still see like I normally should. It was weird, but it definitely helped with the headache. "Well, you guys should get some rest." Poseidon immediately claimed my bed for himself, so I shrugged and made myself comfortable on the cave floor. They didn't trust me, and by exposing myself like this, I was hoping to convey that I trusted them and they should return the favor. They didn't relax until I fell asleep and then they decided it was safe to rest.
I awoke the next morning to see Hestia looking at me. "Um, good morning?" She jumped up. "Oh! You're awake. Why are your eyes closed." I shrugged.
"Don't worry about it. It's just a power that I have and keeping my eyes closed doesn't hinder my sight at all and places less stress on me."
"That's neat!"
I stood up and patted her head. Poseidon was still sprawled on my bed. We all wore a white Himation, and nothing on our feet. His got undone, and was barely covering him up. Metis was teaching Demeter and Hera to read and write like how she had done for me. Amalthea was grooming Gida's fur. Hades was nowhere to be seen.
"So what is life like in this place?" Hestia asked. "Well it's calm, and being here makes me feel safe. It's sad that we'll have to leave."
"Why?" She asked as she helped herself to a cup of milk.
"Well, now that the Titans will be actively searching for us, a small island like this will be impossible to defend from Oceanus." She offered me the rest of her cup and I accepted.
"You know, I've never had this kind of feeling before. Feeling completely safe. I like it a lot. Demeter hasn't been in Father for long enough to be completely used to it, but just enough to remember it vividly. Living there was probably the worst feeling. I don't know how much longer I would have lasted before he sapped all my strength." I honestly couldn't imagine what it was like to live in someone's stomach for decades, but my sympathy was at an all time high. I opened my arms and gave her a hug.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that." Hestia blushed and quickly shook her head. "Meh, it's fine. You came along when you did, and now we can get some sweet revenge. You think Cronus would fit in my stomach?" I chuckled. "Grow a few feet and then maybe." She pouted and punched my arm.
"Ahem." Someone loudly cleared their throat behind me. Hades stood at the entrance to the cave. "We should talk." I walked over and onto the beach. He had set up a large circle of stones from the cave.
"Uh, what is this?" I asked. Hades just rolled his eyes. "Amalthea told me the stones were enchanted to suppress our auras. Surprised you didn't know for someone whose lived here their whole life." I shrugged. I was careful enough for my safety to not be a problem, and honestly, I wasn't too experienced with how our auras worked so I had never decided to ask. Anyway, what do you want to talk about?"
"I hope you have a plan. While I do thank you for saving me from a slow and stinking death, I'm sure you didn't bring us to live as goat tenders on this island. I can tell you want us to fight our Father, no?" I nodded. Of course that was the plan. "Well yeah, there are thes-"
"Let me stop you right there." Hades cut me off. "Cronus himself would most likely step on us the instant we got near, not to mention the other ELEVEN titans. We're outnumbered and most definitely, outclassed. You're trying to get us killed."
"No no. You got it all wrong. I have a plan. There are these people trapped in tartarus, and if we can free them then they can help us defeat the titans."
"People with that kind of power, trapped in the worst prison in the world, are going to help us rule over them?"
"It sounds a little sketchy, but trust me. I know it will work." Ugh. I sounded like some lame anime character but I honestly had no way to prove to him that the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires would actually be helpful, or if they could even be trusted. Hades shook his head and massaged his temples.
"I'm not going to risk our lives on these clearly sketchy individuals who were dangerous enough to be sent to Tartarus. Sigh, look, we're grateful and all, but realistically, we're not prepared to fight a war."
"Hey I could probably take on a titan or two," a voice said from behind me. I turned and saw Poseiden standing there, his arms crossed. He had trimmed his beard to a simple goatee that was only full enough to not show skin underneath. He had cut his hair short but kept it wild and curly. Hades grabbed his own hair. "I'm going to cut this. Remember what I said," he eyed me and walked back to the cave.
"I'll take on Father and Hyperion, don't worry about it Zeus."
I smirked. "Oh? And how do you plan on accomplishing that?"
"With the spear skills you're going to teach me. Obviously." I smiled. "Here," I said, handing him my spear. I'll teach you everything I know. By around sunset we were both drenched in sweat. We had trained all day, and it was mostly me teaching him the basics on how to hold the spear, attack and block. Hera gave us a cup of water each, and we gulped it down. The girls had helped collect more stones to try to widen the safe area on the beach, but the farther away the stones, the weaker the effect, so not much could be done.
"You know, you guys are oddly knowledgeable about current events considering the fact, you know, Cronus."
Hera just shrugged. "We have good hearing, and could hear the conversations Father had with the other titans." I nodded, honestly, I didn't even want to ask too many questions about their time in there. Like did they eat the food Cronus ate, because I didn't even want to know.
"Hey guys look what I can do," Poseidon said, picking up the spear. He began spinning the spear doing a series of swipes and jabs at the ground, flinging up sand. The girls congratulated him on his progress while Hades brooded in the corner. Although Poseidon was a fast learner and could already swing and stab with a considerable amount of force. But he sadly didn't have the experience to fight anyone with more than a few months of training. And he was far from putting up a challenge for a titan. Metis and I walked back to the cave.
"So I was asking some river nymphs, and there are a few villages that the titans relatively ignore. You should leave in around a week or so. I heard Cronus is on Oceanus' ass about searching for you guys." I scratched my head and smiled, Seemed like Cronus wasn't a pain in the ass to only us.
I walked into the tent to see Demeter trying to sew some pebbles onto a cloak and failing miserably. Amalthea was nowhere to be found as she left from time to time to do business elsewhere. I didn't know what, but i supposed she had better things to do than watch a bunch of adults who should be able to take care of themselves. But she left Gida, so I knew she'd be back. Metis kissed me before running back to the water and vanishing.
"Hi Demeter, Gida." I said as I entered the cave
"MAAAAAAAA!" Gida replied. Demeter only waved before concentrating on the cloak again. I sat down on the bed opposite of her. "You're doing it wrong. Let me show you." She blushed as I sat down next to her and handed me the cloak. "I see what you're trying to do and it's a brilliant idea. We really don't need it to look nice, not that these grey stones would look that good anyway." Demeter couldn't make eye contact with me and I smiled. "Look, we just need to secure the stones, so we can just make the cloak around them." Together, we worked for another hour on the cloak before the other Olympians walked back inside and prepared for bed.
Poseidon laid on my bed again. "Man, I can't wait for tomorrow Zeus! Hey when do we get to actually fight something."
I massaged my eyes. "We just started and you already want to go fight?" Poseidon shot back up.
"Of course! Training is already boring, I need experience!"
"Fine, after you've mastered the basic fighting techniques."
"UUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGHHH. Fine, but then we'll fight a bear. Got it!" I just rolled my eyes and nodded. Satisfied, Poseidon laid back down and closed his eyes, probably imagining standing over the bear he finessed into submission. I laid down on the floor and Hestia crawled next to me and I let her be. Hera and Demeter slept with Gida, a privilege I'd never have. Hades had taken the couch.
I was satisfied with how things were progressing so far. Poseidon and Hestia had clearly accepted me. Demeter wasn't nervous as if she was in any danger around me luckily. Hades only cares about the wellbeing of the others, and was probably just scared of my plans to fight Crounos.
I hadn't been able to spend much time with Hera, but she was still respectful and kind.
If things continued like this and my plans succeeded, who knows. Maybe the Olympians would have a better relationship than the always squabbling of the family in the myths.