At the base of Mount Olympus, a small camp consisted of 500 strong, battle-hardened men and women, and six godly siblings. There were hundreds of tents scattered around, but there was one tent that was larger than the rest. In this tent stood six figures surrounding a circular, wooden table.
The first figure, a young looking female with long, brown hair that cascaded down her back, dressed in a light brown Doric chiton. She had warm, almond-shaped, orange eyes like the calming flames of the hearth. This was Hestia, the eldest daughter of Kronos and Rhea.
On Hestia's left stood a second figure. This figure was a tall man dressed in Greek armor with short, messy, black hair and a short beard, with sea green eyes like the seas themselves. This man was Poseidon, sibling to Hestia and the other figures who surrounded the table.
Next to Poseidon stood the third figure who was a beautiful young woman. This woman wore similar clothing to her elder sister. With chocolaty brown hair that was braided into a bun, and forest-green, almond-shaped eyes that gazed at her siblings stood Demeter.
The third figure was another young woman with long, wavy, chest-nut colored hair tied into a ponytail with some loose strands that fell in front of her regal face. She wore a white Doric chiton like her sisters with a brown, leather, belt around her waist. This woman was Hera.
Next to Hera stood a tall man with long, curly black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail, and dark, almost black, eyes. He had a hooked nose, and stubble on his face. This man was also dressed in armor similar to both his brothers. Said man was Hades, the eldest son of Kronos and Rhea.
The last figure was a slightly shorter man with short, messy, black hair similar to Poseidon's. He had fierce, electric blue eyes that glared at the map of Greece in front of him. For a matter of fact, all of the siblings were glaring at the map on the table as if it morally insulted them somehow.
Poseidon uncrossed his arms and leaned onto the table staring at the markings on the map intensely. The siblings were going over battle plans. "Brother Hades, I do not believe that attacking Sparta would be wise. Our father's forces-"he was abruptly cut off by a bright flash of golden light, followed by the appearance of the Queen of the Titans, their mother, Rhea. The gathered siblings all straitened when they saw the tear tracks on her face.
"Mother, are you alright? Why do you cry?" Demeter asked her mother with a concerned frown. Rhea was not the one to show weakness in front of anyone, but to see her like this really worried her children. What happened that could bring even the headstrong Titaness to tears.
Rhea quickly wiped her face before smiling at her children. She was proud of them. Proud that they were working together for a good cause. Even if it meant that they would be forced to kill their father. It is what the prophecy foretold. There was no preventing the inevitable. "Nothing my daughter, I am fine. It is you all to whom I should be asking."
"We are well mother. Only going over plans for battle." Zeus answered. "Not that I am unhappy with you visiting us – your presence is most soothing – but why are you here?"
Rhea sighed with a resigned look on her face. She dreaded having to sneak out of Orthrys just to see her children instead of simply living as a family like all the other mothers in the world. She hated the war, and resented her husband for choosing his throne over his family. "I am here to warn you of your father sending Themis and two others out to search for your whereabouts." Everyone grew panicked faces before they started arguing.
Hestia, the most level headed of the six, slammed her fist on the table surprising everyone in the room. "Enough!" she shouted, staring pointedly at her siblings before looking towards her mother. "Please, continue mother."
Rhea gave Hestia a grateful smile before continuing "Thank you, daughter. All of you need to be mindful of your surroundings. Don't, under any circumstances whatsoever, let them find you," The six nodded their heads in understanding. "And if they do, be ready to fight. They will not attack you unless you are alone as they are under orders to report back to Orthrys immediately after you are discovered. I will try to gather as much information as I can, but I fear that they are already suspicious."
"Thank you mother. We wouldn't have been able to fight against our father without you." Zeus said fondly, but she did catch the resentful tone when he spoke of his father.
Rhea looked around at each of her children. She couldn't be more proud of them. Especially Zeus. She knew he would be a great ruler one day. She just hoped that all that power wouldn't get to his head like it did his father.
Kronos was a good man, a loving husband before Ouranos spoke his prophecy all those years ago, and because of that one "prophecy" spoken by a dying man desperate for redemption, Kronos was driven into madness. Gone was the just king who ruled beside her during their precious Golden Age. Gone was the husband who would have done anything to keep his family happy. Gone was the husband who was just as kind and just as his wife, replaced by a mad man who lived solely on his fantasies. A man who would do anything to preserve his seat of power. A great kind replaced by a tyrant.
With a last sigh of relief that her children were hopefully going to be ok, Rhea spoke once more. "Good luck my children, and may the Fates be with you to victory and Chaos guide your wisdom." With those final words, she hugged her children before returning to Orthrys.
(Unknown Forest on the Island of Cythera)
The air was still and cold this night, a rare occurrence given the fact that the sea resided a little over a mile away and was as restless as a town on the eve of war. The waves lapping against the shore lingered as long as they possibly could, almost like a young child clinging to their mother for dear life, slowly changing the plethora of golden colors that created such a wondrous part of nature a silky golden brown that even the most unobservant of people would be able to see as un-natural…
Several miles away, deep in the heart of the verdant green woods, the peace of the night was disrupted by the angered and indignant shouts of a trio of titans and a band of thieves, murderers and soldiers as they shattered branches underfoot with a sickening crack and the leaves tore from their resting places on the luscious, chocolate-brown branches like paper. Screams and shouts could be heard as well as the murderous clash of steel upon celestial bronze as a small village fought to protect the little hope of keeping Greece's future legacy safe.
Another blood curdling scream ripped through the silent forest as the creatures of the night fled to their homes as they listened to the voices of dying men and women as the murderous sounds cret through the forest like voices of ancient ghosts that had been disturbed from their never ending slumber.
Finally, the young woman been running none-stop for hours on end finally keeled over in exhaustion as she felt her legs give from underneath her, the acute pain shooting through her legs, making them feel like they were on fire whilst her chest felt ready to burst from the strain she had placed upon her lungs for so long. Her eyes stung as the tears she had let flow unchecked for the past few hours finally made their presence known to the young woman who so desperately needed to rest; but knew she would find none where she was, even though it was so beautiful.
The young woman had landed in a small clearing no wider than seven or eight meters and was about as long, with soft, verdant green grass coating the entire area as leaves slowly began to fall like the starting drops of a winter's rainfall, their beautiful golden-brown leaves reflecting the small light the stars above the woman cast down upon the earth, as if trying to offer what little support they could to the girl. In the middle of the clearing was a small pool filled with crystal clear water, shimmering and shifting in the starlight cast down upon it as almost as if the water itself was restless at the events transpiring in front of it…so close yet so powerless to stop the inevitable.
The woman finally found an ounce of strength within her body to allow her to slowly begin to crawl towards the water's edge, her throat burning from thirst as if Helios himself set fire to her mouth as she slowly but painfully used her hands and knees to make it over to the side of the small pool. Slowly, as she looked over the water, the young woman finally found it within herself to stare into the heart of the water to examine the extent of the damage done to her as she ran from the murderous animals that demand her capture.
Her long and normally strawberry-blond hair that flowed like a river down to the middle of her back was no longer luscious and beautiful but instead matted with blood and stuck together by sweat, whilst several twigs and other pieces of forest rubbish stuck to her hair like leeches. The young woman slowly ran her hands over the opposite arm as she examined the hundreds of scrapes and bruises she sustained, the bruises blacker than the shadows that threatened to consume her both physically and mentally whilst her golden ichor flowed like a waterfall from the numerous cuts, turning her arms from their normally gorgeous tanned color to a horrific mix of ichor and darkened flesh. She continued to examine her body as she looked at her chiton and the numerous tears and holes that riddled the once white fabric like arrow holes whilst immortal blood poured slowly yet steadily from the various cuts and gashed the young woman had sustained on her journey thus far.
Eventually, when she reached her face after a few seconds, the young woman could not help but let fourth a fresh batch of tears as she examined her face. Once considered the beauty of the island of Cythera, the young woman could have easily passed for a queen rather than just a commoner. Her cheekbones rested high on her face, high enough that they gave her full and smooth cheeks but low enough that they did not stretch the skin beyond what was necessary, like a deer's skin on a leather maker's rack. Her chin was defined and came to ever such a slight point. The skin, again, naturally stretched perfectly over her features of her lower face. Her nose was perfect in every single way, not a single nook hindered the perfection of the straight line that was her noses bridge, whilst the actual nose itself curled up ever so slightly towards the end, giving her another feature that screamed nobility when one glanced in her direction. Her forehead was perfectly proportional to the rest of her body, just like everything else. Her lips were a luscious deep red that so many women yearned for but no matter how many times they applied their make-up, they could never come close to matching the natural beauty of the woman many men on the island would have fought to the death over or abandoned their wives and children so that they might marry her. But despite all of this, there was one part of her bode that stood head and shoulders above all the rest.
That part was her eyes.
They were unlike anything the world had ever seen, deep, luscious, blue that seemed to reflect different colors against the star's light. And unlike eyes of the ones who destroyed the very city that took her in – which burned with fierce hatred and malice towards others, inspiring fear into all they glanced upon – these eyes showed a woman full of compassion and love towards her friends and family whilst displaying a kind nature towards others as well. But also, these eyes showed a fierceness that even Kronos himself would struggle to match if one of her loved ones came under threat from anyone, be they man or titan, immortal or invincible, those eyes showed that no matter who hurt her loved ones, they would all meet the same sticky end as any mere mortal man would.
But today, all her eyes burned with a fierce hatred for her attackers and fear for the fate of the ones who raised her to be the woman she was today.
The day started out as it normally would, the young woman's adoptive father would kiss her and her adoptive mother goodbye before he set off to lead a patrol around the city for the best part of the day until evening came and dinner would be ready. She stayed at home that day as she continued to cuddle her brother and spend as much time with him as possible before he was finally taken away at the age of five, and subject to the same torturous fate as any other young male child as the city prepared him to become the ultimate warrior.
A soldier without equal.
Even now, plans had been drawn up by the family as they prepared to name the child, but the young woman's mother was hardly going to let a bunch of old fools decide upon the name of the child she brought into this world almost at the cost of her own life. No, she would be damned before such a thing could happen. The rest of the day had been spent arguing with Aphrodite's adoptive mother's father, Risusus, as they debated on what the child should be called. They argued for hours until her mother's husband returned home with blood covering his body…
That was when all Tartarus broke loose.
The assassins attacked the family house without warning as they broke into the house and began butchering the family…one member at a time. Each blood stained sword earning its color after it cut a defenseless member of the family down…the rich blood flowing onto the floor as if it were blood of any other family in Cythera.
"RUN!" Was all Aphrodite heard her father scream as he threw himself at the assassins to buy her the time needed to get to the sea where her brother's real father could protect him…but that was only if she could reach the sea before the murderers reached her first.
Aphrodite slowly looked down to her chest where the only thing that mattered to her in the world rested peacefully after his grandfather had put him to sleep. The child was as bald as the old man and was only one and a half months old…but even so, for a young goddess who could barely stand, Aphrodite could feel the raw and untamed power of the boy's father slowly roll off of him in waves that every beast in Greece seemed capable of sensing. Even though the power the boy wielded would be but a shadow of what he would command if he got to grow older than a few months, it was still terrifying to think that such a small baby would be so damned powerful.
"My precious little darling, even if Kronos comes after you himself, I will protect you and get you to your father's safety…" She whispered into the child's ear…even though she knew that his father was prohibited from interfering with his son's life, Aphrodite hoped she would be able to convince him that the boy had done no wrong and deserved the protection of his father until he knew how to survive properly in the outside world. After all, no laws stated that he could not at least offer indirect protection to his own son, regardless of how he viewed the Laws of the Universe.
Suddenly, Aphrodite was brought out of her tender moment with her brother when she finally realized that the shouts and screams of her pursuers were no longer being carried by the winds like the whispers of the ghosts of the forest. No, she realized that these taunts and shouts were full-bodied and loud, each and every letter was clear as the next one, their venom filled words and gold driven swords slowly growing louder and louder each and every passing second, meaning the worst possible thing for Aphrodite and her adoptive baby brother…
They were getting closer.
"BRING THEM TO ME ALIVE! I WILL CUT THIS LITTLE BRAT'S HEAD OFF BEFORE THAT DAMNED GODDESS AND TEACH HER A LESSON FOR DARING TO CROSS ME!" Screamed the voice of the one man…the one thing she hated more than the animals that murdered her friends and family. Slowly, hatred began to well up inside of Aphrodite as she considered throwing herself into the small lake in front of her and depriving the animal chasing her of his retribution for refusing the "honor" of sleeping with the Titan of Strength and Endurance…and even if she did condemn herself to the reforming grounds in Tartarus, it at least meant that Atlas did not get the satisfaction himself.
"No…the boy must live. I will NOT be the one responsible for the wrath of the boy's father upon Greece simply because I want to spite a thuggish group of titans." Aphrodite growled to herself as she slowly managed to pick herself up with the little energy she had left along with the adrenaline coursing through her veins. Eventually, Aphrodite managed to gather enough energy and focus to break into a slight run/jog as she left the clearing and resumed her journey to the edge of the ocean.
Slowly, darkness fell around the young goddess as she continued to pick her way through the thick foliage with slightly surprising ease as she clambered through bushes using her already ruined arms to shield her brother. Aphrodite's will-power finally outweighed the sea of utter agony she was in as she forced her muscles to keep on working despite their screaming protests and the constant flood of pain that they subjected her too.
But she kept running.
It seemed like an age, the voices slowly growing quieter and quieter before turning back into the whispers she had heard when she first broke into the clearing when she had rested, their ice-cold undertones slowly fading from Aphrodite's ears as she continued to run through the slowly thickening forest, desperate to find a way out…but she was tiring. Her legs were now screaming in protest and the muscles felt ready to tear themselves from her body. Her entire figure screamed in agony and protest and the prospect of having to keep on going, and whilst this would normally not be an issue for the resilient woman…the trouble Aphrodite was that her mind was listening, and slowly but surely her body was beginning to win the battle.
'I can't keep going…we're not going to make it.' She thought to herself as she burst through yet another tree line to a wondrous sight.
Aphrodite had stumbled into another clearing, this time the entire clearing was drowning in a sea of golden and brown leaves as they slowly fell from their host trees as they shed their load for the coming winter like a gentle winter's snowfall. At the edge of the clearing was a cliff face. Below the cliff resided large, jagged, razor-like rocks that split the crashing waves upon impact. There was no escape. The surrounding trees were to close together for her and the bundle in her arms to easily slip through.
Aphrodite began to shed tears in defeat. She had lost. She would be captured, and her little brother killed before her eyes. She was too far up to be able to contact the child's father. It was over.
The young goddess looked out onto the ocean knowing that there was no way out other than to jump, she was about to make the stupidest decision in her life. She was going to jump, but before she could, her face was unexpectedly introduced to the ground, and the child in her arms snatched from her grasp.
Right when the child was snatched away, he woke from his sound sleep and began to wail for his sister's embrace.
"Well, well, well," came the mocking voice of one of the titans that were chasing her. "Seems you reached the end of the line, goddess." The man behind her chuckled darkly as he held the crying baby. The other two titans chucked as well.
"What do you think we should do with her, Lelantos? Personally, I think we should just make her watch the brat's death. Then, after that, we can have her all to ourselves." Came the dark reply of one of them. When Aphrodite heard what he said, she started to squirm while trying, in vain, to get out from under the male that kept her pinned to the ground. Her tires muscles weren't helping.
"She's a feisty one isn't she boys?" the one recently identified as Lelantos said as he stepped closer to inspect his prey. "Hmm. She's a pretty, little one. What do you say, Atlas. For refusing your generous offer, why don't we make her realize she didn't have much of a choice?"
"Aye. Prometheus, tie her up. She's coming with us." Aphrodite was hoisted up with her hands held behind her back. She looked at her captor and glared fiercely at them before, with the little strength she had left, she kicked behind her, nailing Prometheus in the crotch.
"Oomph." Was heard as he let her go and fell onto his knees, holding his wounded manhood. His squared face showed with pure agony, but Aphrodite did not get a chance to celebrate her victory. When she tried running at Lelantos, both her arms were abruptly pulled back by the celestial bronze cuffs around her wrists that were attached to a long chain held by a glaring Prometheus. Atlas cackled like a hyena when he saw how she tried, and failed, to attack his comrade.
"You won't be going anywhere, goddess. Only place you're going is with us, and won't it be amazing to watch the kid's head mounted on a stake?" Atlas said coming up to her from behind and squeezing her butt.
Aphrodite whimpered at the unpleasant contact. "Please, just let me go. Why are you doing this?!"
"You refused me of bedding you, girl. A high honor for wenches like yourself." Atlas spoke with malice towards the restrained goddess. She knew she couldn't escape. She could only hope for a miracle. Little did she know that said "miracle" stayed hidden within the trees, watching the interaction with rage filled eyes. Eyes older than time.