First story I write, if you have suggestions or find mistakes in the story please comment it

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The current king of the Greek pantheon, Kronos, had just eaten his new son, whom his wife named Zeus.

Kronos watched Rhea, his wife, lying on the ground and crying, it was always the same scene for him every time he devoured one of his children.

However, Kronos felt something strange when he looked at Rhea, her tears were different this time, they were no longer tears of sadness but of some different emotion that he could not decipher, however, the titan did not pay attention to those thoughts and simply walked out of his room, leaving his wife alone.

Kronos believed that she would at some point understand the reason for his actions, he explained it to her many times, the fact that if he did not devour his children at some point he would be overthrown by them, he told her many times the prophecy of his father, Uranus. But Rhea never understood, she always begged him to stop, calling him a monster many times. That perfect marriage that happened after overthrowing Uranus faded away in a very short time.

Kronos knew it was necessary, and he always said he only did what was necessary, turning a deaf ear to everything his brothers or his wife said.

When Hestia, his first daughter, was born, he did not want to devour her, but in the eyes of that child, perhaps out of fear or in a premonitory way, he saw his own downfall; fear invaded him at that moment.

He feared being overthrown by his own daughter, and without realizing it he devoured her in front of Rhea and some other titans. There was no time to react, it was all over before anyone even blinked, Hestia's life was not extinguished due to her divine nature, but she was locked in a prison created in her father's stomach. Something that was practically equal to death for any being.

One after another, Kronos ate each of his children shortly after their birth. None escaped the terrible fate. Not even those whom he conceived out of wedlock.

To prevent his father's prophecy, to preserve his title of king, Kronos had to devour his children.

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What Kronos did not know was that far outside the boundaries of his realm, in a place where no divine being would ever set foot on his own, where various pantheons put their experimental creations; the Greek pantheon was not one of those.

In that place was a cave guarded by five men, each with incredible armor and indescribable weapons.

Behind the five men was an indescribably beautiful woman; Gaia, mother of the Titans, currently very dissatisfied with what her son, Kronos, was doing in power.

She had helped Kronos during the fight against Uranus, she was the personification of the Greek world, the home of the Titans and the Greek pantheon, and because of this, she could do no harm to anything, only intervene by giving instructions or as a distraction. And she employed that very well.

She ordered the Titans to release their brothers, the Cyclopes, and ask them for weapons; in this way the Titans got legendary weapons. But the only important one was the scythe of Kronos, a weapon that could cause almost incurable wounds in the divine; that weapon was used to cut that which united Uranus with the physical plane, leaving him in an ethereal state... Although it also cutted off his testicles in passing and threw them into the ocean.

At that point, Gaea thought that finally all her children would live in peace on earth, but the titans had other plans. They locked the Cyclopes back in the Tartarus, and put extra protection in the cage of the Hecatoncheires. Then she, disappointed in the titans, could do nothing else besides plan another way to free the rest of her children.

Gaea shook her head, and looked at the entrance of the cave, feeling someone approaching. That presence entered the cave at a quick pace, almost running, but careful not to hurt the baby she was holding.

Upon seeing her enter, the guards prepared their weapons to attack, but were stopped by Gaea's voice —You finally arrived, Neda— upon hearing the woman's name, the guards moved out of the way, letting her pass.

Neda, the firstborn of Oceanus, was the oceanid that Gaea appointed to fetch Zeus, the newborn baby in her hands.

Neda stopped a few steps away from Gaea, kneeling down even with Zeus in her arms, she spoke respectfully —Yes, lady Gaea, I have complied with your orders— then held out her hands with the baby in them.

A short time ago, Neda helped the queen of the titans in childbirth, and also gave her the enchanted stone that Gaea had given her to deceive Kronos. All orders from Gaea, who finally had Zeus in front of her.

From the ground, roots reached out and carefully grabbed the child, carrying it into the hands of the mother goddess, who looked at the child for a few seconds.

The baby was asleep, its white and cloud-like hair was constantly moving from side to side. Gaea nodded to herself and turned her gaze to Neda —Tell the other oceanoids to come immediately—

Neda, after hearing Gaea's words, slowly stood up and said —Yes, lady Gaea— and then turned around and went to find her sisters.

—Amalthea— said Gaea seconds after Neda came out, and after her words, from a tree that was in one of the corners of the cave emerged a goat, more majestic and imposing than many titans.

This goat was obviously not normal, it was a personal creation of Gaea; a creature that she herself created to nurture and feed the future king of the gods.

Amalthea's skin was invulnerable to most attacks and her milk had characteristics beyond even ambrosia, the food of the gods, well, titans in this case.

Amalthea approached Gaea, and knelt down in front of her, little Zeus was placed on her back and after receiving the child Amalthea carefully walked back to the same place where she came out, carefully placing the frail child between the roots of the tree.

The goat then lay down next to the cloud-haired baby, warming him with her skin. After seeing that the baby was asleep and arrived safely in the cave, Gaea turned to speak to the guards, who upon noticing her gaze quickly knelt down.

—Daktyloi, your mission in this cave will be to protect Rhea's child, and to do so you cannot let anyone enter the cave, only the 5 oceanids who will come shortly with Neda or people who come along with Rhea— After finishing his sentence, the five daktyloi remained kneeling in silence and only nodded.

Watching as the daktyloi understood, Gaea continued —The moment the baby starts to cry, you must sound your shields and do different dances, but under no circumstances let anything hear the cries of the child outside this cave.—

The daktyloi remained silent once again and nodded again, they remained kneeling for a little longer, until Gaea said —You may rise— making the daktyloi all stand up at the same time.

Gaea trusted the daktyloi, after all, they were spirits born of an oath on her own body. When Rhea begged for help from her mother she pressed her fingers against the ground and from the pure divine energy emanating from her body 5 spirits were formed, each representing a finger of Rhea's hand. These spirits would obey any command from Rhea and Gaea without hesitation, as long as it was part of the oath. And Gaea was very sure to do his part.

Finally Gaea left the cave in silence, she did not like being in that place abandoned by any divinity, although it was certainly the best for raising Zeus, it was not particularly comfortable to be so far away from her main body.

Some time later five women entered the cave; Neda and her sisters, who already knew what they should do and how, dividing their work in the upbringing of Zeus.

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Fun fact: The daktyloi, also called Kouretes, have many versions about their number; sometimes they were 3, sometimes 5, sometimes 9 or 10. They are closely linked to oaths and it is said that this is why the Greeks used to press their fingers to the ground when they made a big oath.