The next morning, after eating a breakfast of milk, which was completely different from Gida's whose milk was more like a white strawberry milkshake, my favorite drink. But this milk was bland. Like regular milk. "What is this?" I asked, almost throwing away the glass but stopped realizing that was ungrateful.
Poseidon also looked at his cup with distaste. "I liked Gida's milk better." Hestia just smiled and took another sip.
"I think it's fine, but Gida's milk was tangier." Hera nodded. Hades took a bite out of his piece of bread, swallowed it, then spoke.
"It was probably enchanted to match your interests, mine was almost like the strawberry Metis gave me."
"Metis gave you a strawberry?" I asked. I literally never caught them "hanging out" together. They only talked business. Hades just shrugged.
For the first time ever, Hestia downed her drink. "Come on! I want to see the farmer's baby!" Hera smiled and also gulped her drink down before almost choking. I smiled and she blushed then hurried out the door.
Hestia laughed out loud while following her out. Demeter handed Hades the rest of her drink before hurrying after the other girls. Hades and Poseidon were able to successfully drink their milk in one go.
"Poseidon, teach Hades how to stretch while I get us some weapons to train with." I walked out while Poseidon showed his older brother how to crack his knuckles, not at all what I taught him.
The village was small and it was easy to find the blacksmith. It was the only two story building and the only one made of stone. The inside was filled with the smell of smoke, which now that I thought about it was weird since Prometheus shouldn't have given them fire yet. So how did they bake bread and forge?
What was weirder was that there was no fire or lava. The man just whispered a short prayer and the blade would heat up before he hammered it. "Just take whatever you need," he said before I could ask. I just shrugged and grabbed two dories, two kopides, two xiphoses, and three holphons.
I said hi to everyone while lugging the heavy equipment back to our house. Going through the building, I met them in the backyard. It was a large square with an oak tree in the center. Lining the sides of the yard, was a four foot tall fence composed of stone bricks.
I set the weapons down and we began to train. Poseidon and I stuck to our spears and xiphoses while Hades opted for a more barbaric approach, teaching himself to dual wield the kopides and use the holophon. I taught them how to read the movements of the enemy, when and how to parry successfully, taught them how to be lighter on their feet and when to brace and try to redirect the force while blocking.
While they beat up the poor tree I practiced using my All Seeing eyes of God. I was trying to maximize the amount of time I could use them. It would always start to hurt after thirty minutes. Sparing against Hades and Poseidon was basically just me on the defence while I read their movements with my eyes. Not that I needed them. I was already pretty good at reading the movements of others. Plus, as amateurs, their attacks were pretty telegraphed, so I didn't really need to use them other than to just get used to them. Poseidon was almost able to pull a feint on me but only thanks to the eyes I was able to block it.
"Not bad" I said, closing my eyes.
"This isn't fair," Poseidon panted. "I worked on that all night. When do I get glowy eyes that let me see everything like you?" Hades nodded in agreement and I laughed.
"Sorry man. This is unique to me."
"Hades you spar with me instead, he's looking down on me." Poseidon readied his xiphos while Hades fastened his shield and clutched his Kopid. I instead grabbed my spear and aimed at a flock of birds in the trees. I didn't know how to activate Absolue Attack or Absolute evasion.
I had tried envisioning the spear following the birds, locking onto one and commanding it to follow, attack, chase etc. I even tried saying them aloud which luckily didn't work. It'd be lame to have to say it in battle all the time. I supposed I had to wait for the powers to "awaken" while I was in danger. I had to trust those beings. They got everything else right. Why not this. I decided to try a different skill and opened my eyes before launching my spear at the now relaxed birds who moved only a little farther away.
Just as they took off I began messing with their own vision. Making random obstacles appear, other birds disappear, and scrambling up their vision. The birds looked like they were possessed by a demon. They ran into each other, veered out of the way of nothing, and when some tried to land, I made it seem as if they were high in the sky.
Petah would not be happy.
Every night, they'd finish sore and tired, and I was mentally exhausted. The girls however, returned laughing and relaxed. On the third day Demeter made a surprisingly bold claim during breakfast.
"All this training you boys do. I bet I could beat one of you no problem." Poseidon spit up his water and began to laugh. Hades' face only grew more serious and mine was filled with surprise before I smiled.
"I assume you can back that claim up? Since sparring with me would be unfair, you can spar with Hades." Demeter smiled like she had a plan up her sleeve. When we reached the yard, Hades readied only his sword and Demeter grabbed a sickle.
After a brief standoff, Hades charged forward before tripping and falling on his face. "The hell?" He asked before his arms and legs were completely wrapped in surprisingly strong grass. "What is this?"
"Just a cool trick I learned," Demeter said while twirling the sickle in her hand. She had opted to tie her hair in a bun, leaving Hera and Hades the only ones with their hair flowing freely past their shoulders. Hestia kept her hair in a high ponytail.
"Ugh, that's not fair." Hades complained. The grass returned to it's normal length. Hades stood and clutched his nose. "I thought we were going to fight with weapons, not magic? How did you do that."
"The farmer always did a prayer to Cronus and his wheat would grow. But I refused to pray to him so I tried to coax it to grow myself. And as long as I have a farming tool in my hand, I could manipulate the plants as I liked."
"Woah," Poseidon said. "It's like Zeus' weird eye powers, you think we'll all get one? If so, I want to fly. Wait no I can already do that. How about teleport?"
I supposed their divinities were awakening. As the goddess of farming, naturally, Demeter would be able to control plants. I noticed the house felt cozier and warmer whenever Hestia was in the building. As the goddess of hearth and home, naturally, she should make the place feel safer. Or at least trick your body into feeling safe because I knew, she would sadly be useless in a fight.
I supposed Hera, as the goddess of marriage, family, and childbirth, would unlock her divinity during a marriage or while someone was giving birth. Poseidon was the god of the ocean only after the titan war, but he was still able to cause massive earthquakes.
Hades was a special case though. I couldn't remember any significant powers of his other than an overseer and king of the underworld. He would get invisibility from the Helm of Darkness. I also remembered him being the god of riches and precious metals, so maybe he'd get something similar to ferromancy.
"Well look what I can do," Poseidon scoffed before transforming into a light brown horse with a black mane. "Made it myself, it's a fast donkey!" He puffed his chest out proudly before gracefully trotting around us. "Can't look like this now can you?"
Hera smiled before turning into a sky blue peacock. She flashed her multi-colored tail with what looked like eyes on them. "I think I'm prettier!"
Hestia and Demeter were figuring out who to pick. The majestic "fast donkey" or the beautiful peacock. Hades just shrugged before turning into a small black puppy with large ears and big blue eyes.
"Awwwwww," Hestia said, picking him up and hugging him. "Who knew the tall, bony, gloomy Hades could turn into something so small, fluffy and cute." Demeter joined in and couldn't stop petting him. "See," he said, ignoring the obvious insults. "Easy." Poseidon turned back into his human form.
"True, everybody does like cute puppies."
"But that's so uncreative!" Poseidon argued.
"But it worked. Unlike your 'fast donkey.'"
"I'm calling it a horse. At least I was original."
Before Hera could also argue Hestia shushed everybody. "Don't you see me trying to cuddle."
Demeter laughed before going with Hera to pick up dinner. Hestia wouldn't allow Hades to return back to normal and kept rubbing him against her face while Poseidon took out his frustrations on the tree. I decided to keep practicing with my eyes. We had arrived here just under a month ago, and I was able to keep my eyes active for a whole two hours before feeling discomfort. The headache would also take longer to build up, and it would recede after a minute of rest.
Once I opened my eyes everything froze and a tall woman appeared in front of me. "Zeus, I am Gaea, Mother Earth and your grandmother."
"Do you need something?" I asked while backing up. She was about eight feet tall and her forest green hair which was filled with twigs, leaves, bark, and grass, flowed down to her waist. She wore a simple golden circlet just above her eyebrows. She wore a long, brown silk gown and was barefoot. Her brown eyes, the color of fertilized dirt, seemed endless and all knowing. She looked down at me and smiled like she had found something she had been looking for.
"I had Cronus, your father, overthrow Oaranus when he had thrown the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires into Tartarus because of their deformities. I wanted Cronus to free them but the foolish boy refused and turned into the spitting image of his father. I had tried to threaten him, but he thought he could outsmart me and just eat his own children." Gaea sighed and shook her head with disappointment. "So I had Rhea save you so you could free your siblings, and your uncles in the pit. Together you will overthrow Cronus and you are free to do as you wish. But you must leave Cronus alive."
I didn't know how to react. I knew I had to free the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires. They were simply too useful. But I didn't know about this leaving Cronus alive. The primordial in front of me would most likely be mad if I imprisoned him, but I didn't remember any myths of the Olympians being overthrown, so I just had to be careful.
"Just draw a circle with a 'T' in the middle to open a gateway to the pit," Gaea explained. "But be warned. It will most definitely alert Cronus and while the Titans themselves would never enter Tartarus, they would absolutely set up an ambush, so be quick and make sure to have a means to escape. The gatekeeper is the blackwinged nymph of Tartarus, Campe. A hard fight, yes, but I believe in your strength. When you exit. Head for a mountain which I will mark for you. I will bless it so it will keep you safe for only 10 years. A map appeared and she highlighted a mountain a little further up north from where we were. "You must do it in the next week or Cronus will notice the mountain he can't touch. Good luck, and remember what I said." The Earth Mother turned into green leaves and fluttered away in the wind.
The sounds around me started up again as time continued playing. I had to fight Campe sooner than I had wanted to.
I looked at the puppy Hades and the training Poseidon. But unlike in the myths, I didn't have to do it alone.