Chapter 4: The Chains That Bind.

“Far less my blood relations; for surely blood is thicker than water.”

- John Moore, Zeluco (1789)

The Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires were exactly where Gaia left them since before birthing the Titans. Regardless of the twelve Titan children, both sets of triplets were extraordinary, almost as large as Gaia and Ouranos.

Their Titan brethren would be closer to runts if the children before Gaia were the standard. When she approached, she could see them at a forge they had made.

Where one set of triplets failed, the other three were quite ingenious to compensate. She always applauded the creativity of her children, but at the moment, she was struggling to do so with Ouranos’ disapproval of them as it felt like she was practicing a deception.

While they did not confirm her arrival, they did not halt her. This allowed her to inspect their actions. Upon an anvil, they were forging the handle of something. She could not be sure, but in their hot forge was a link to a chain.

“What do you think you are doing?” Gaia asked in upset confusion by their actions. Further, their lack of acknowledgement of her arrival was the height of disrespect.

“We’re crafting, Mother,” one of her children cried over the hammering. She was so busy, being shocked by the construction of the object that she did not immediately recognize that it was Cottus who spoke.

“What are you making? What is this?” Gaia asked, addressing Cottus. He was striking his hammer over the chain.

“We call it adamantine. We found it among the deepest parts of the oldest mountains,” Gyges replied. “It’s strong enough to harm beings such as us,” he said, motioning to himself and his mother. “After some time, we discovered it can also bind us.”

“How did you discover that?” Gaia wondered. She looked back and forth to each child, hoping one would be forthright with the information. “When?”

“When we were born, some of Chaos’ magic flowed in the land as dangerous shadow beings, and we needed to destroy them,” Arges replied. While she could tell he was being honest, she also saw that most of his attention was for the adamantine.

“After all,” Brontes added with disdain, “You were too busy favoring our Titan brethren!”

“Do not blame your siblings for your jealousy!” Gaia exclaimed, feeling cornered by the disobedient children. While she knew that they would not harm her, jealousy was unbecoming on her children.

“We don’t blame them!” Steropes shouted back. “We blame you, Mother!” Despite his work, he faced his mother with a scornful rage burned onto his face, especially in his eyes. “But most of all, we blame Father. You both favored your precious Titans. We, who were not handsome, graceful, or close enough to you and Father, were discarded as failures.”

While he seemed angry, there was an edge of sadness to his words. It cut through just enough to reach Gaia’s ears.

“We have made our peace with that,” Steropes went on, “but we will not live in fear of Father’s wrath. What will we do when he convinces our brethren we are undeserving to live in your Realm? Will he banish us to the east as he has Hyperion?”

“Your Father never banished Hyperion anywhere,” she said quickly enough.

The Cyclopes shrugged where the Hecatoncheires nodded in acceptance.

“But did he banish us, Mother?” Arges asked.

Gaia almost replied in haste, but quickly restrained herself. Had she responded negatively, it would be a lie to her children. In her heart, she vowed never to lie to her children, regardless if Ouranos favored them or not.

“We thought so,” Steropes said as they all went to work on their chain.

“Then what is this?” Gaia asked, empty of will to fight with them.

“We do not want to destroy Father, Mother, but we will not live in fear of him. This chain can bind him, even strip him of his great power. If we have made it right, he will not be able to harm us,” Brontes replied.

“And we may live in peace,” Steropes added firmly.

“Perhaps, in time, our Titan brethren will have daughters for us to marry,” Gyges said hopefully.

When she heard the tone of their voices, Gaia’s heart shattered. She had not considered the difficulties their lives had been under Ouranos’ unfavorable banishment. Gaia might not have been the most insightful into the Primordial King’s mind, but recognizing an injustice was as simple as knowing the difference between day and night.

“Let me speak to your Father for you,” Gaia pleaded. “Perhaps he will be reasonable, and you will not need that chain.”

They all seemed dismissive of her. Steropes even went so far as to wave her away. It was Brontes that looked at his mother’s affection with genuine acceptance.

“Go, then, Mother,” Brontes said.

Gaia turned, unsure of what to do. Her steps were heavier in her leaving than when she had come, weighed down by the harm her husband and she, by the extension of her inaction, had wrought upon their children.

“Do you believe she shall succeed?” Steropes asked when Gaia was far enough away.

“No,” Brontes said.

Briareos, the powerful Hecatoncheires, was quick to give his input. “Then we need to finish this. The chain will need to bind Father three or four times over. If Mother fails, he will come here for us.”

“We could always run,” Gyges said.

“Father would chase us,” Cottus countered.

“Not if we go in different directions,” Gyges remarked.

“Then he will pick us off one by one,” Briareos answered. He shook his many heads. “No ... we will need to stand our ground. Either Father will respect our choice, or he will try to harm us. We cannot count on our Titan brothers to help us. Cronos is the only one who talks with us regularly but is too young. We will need to do this ourselves.”

They all agreed. In their unity, they continued to work on their chain to bind their Father. Their other creation, a sword, would have to wait.

In the time called night, Ouranos looked upon Rhea’s sleeping body. While she was lost in deep slumber, he could see every inch and curve of her beauty. She was gorgeous and would be one remembered for the ages.

Her hair was a mix of earthy brown and heavenly gold. Her gown was as blue as the sky.

Her breathing was so soft and sweet. Of course, she was young, after all. Time is what hardened the features of the living, setting into stone what was once malleable in youth.

With her young age in mind, he wondered how many children she could have, how loyal she would be to him, if she would turn into Gaia one day. No. She could not be like Gaia. The more Ouranos thought on it, he knew Rhea could never become like Gaia. In fact, the way he saw it ... he had come from Gaia, and he had been malleable for her, and Rhea had come from him and Gaia, so Rhea would be malleable to his will and wants.

With all of those factors in mind, he thought of the hard choices he had been forced to make. When Rhea bore him children, they would be powerful and attractive. How would the abominations affect his more pristine offspring? He thought of how Cronos played with the Cyclopes and their hundred-handed counterparts when he was young.

Shaking his head, Ouranos knew what he needed to do. He would have to separate his more deserving children from the failures to preserve his plan to destroy Chaos.

Returning his attention to Rhea, Ouranos thought of how subservient she could be.

Rhea had always been willing to please when she was younger. He wondered how he would make her amenable to his plans. Where would he put Gaia? Rhea could be the next Queen of the Heavens and Earth, if the Primordial King needed to add incentive.

She would only need to carry his many children. Maybe she would not need a throne, but he could make her important, higher than her siblings. Would that be enough to make her willing? Caressing his sleeping daughter’s cheek, he felt her move into his tender endearment. Had she thought he was Cronos, or was she aware of the truth? He leaned down to his favored daughter and kissed her softly. For the briefest moment in her slumber, she returned the intimate action.

For now, that was enough for the King of the Sky.

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.”

- Richard Bach (1977)

Gaia sat alone in the Palace of her Ouranos. In its magical grandeur, their home was the first palace in all of Greece. While this separated her from the earthly realm where she was most at home, the empty palace was the perfect place to think.

The lavish castle stood in a Realm separated from, but also connected to, the lower realm by way of the Mountain called Olympus. The grand edifice was crafted by the divine magic of Ouranos and Gaia. The palace seamlessly blended the earthly elements of its natural surroundings with the celestial splendor.

The exterior walls were constructed from the finest smooth, white marble, reflecting the changing colors of the sky. Delicate ivy vines clung to the walls while intertwining with vibrant, ever-blooming flowers for Gaia’s sake.

Within this palace, there was a grand hall that stretched out. Marble columns rose in the heavens to support the weight of the celestial dome above.

Gaia was confident the palace would stand for millennia, even if she, Ouranos, or even their children did not. Thinking of her children, she could not help but notice that for all the height, marble, and vines, the structure had nothing from her first sets of children. In her heart of hearts, she was sure that somehow Ouranos had incorporated elements of his favored Titanic offspring.

She wondered if the Cyclopes or Hecatoncheires could make something to decorate the walls or ceiling. While she was not sure how, she believed that their skills would be important in the future, so it only made sense for them to contribute something to the walls. Perhaps they could put up some of their tools on the wall. She was not sure how, but something needed to be there to represent their existence.

It had not been her intention, but Mother Earth was considering that her children were right about her husband. They had done nothing to earn Ouranos’ anger, but he had dismissed them upon their coming into the world because they were not worthy by his standard.

Gaia considered the choice she had foisted upon her. While her elder children had been neglected, and she should champion them in their cause, there was unsettling about the very nature of the chain. It represented a shift in the celestial realm of Greece. If she stood up to her husband because they had something that might harm or bind them, then she was doing so under duress.

She could, of course, hide the truth of her discovery from Ouranos and allow events to play out between the children and their sire. The problem with that course of action was that Ouranos would consider Gaia’s withholding of such pertinent information to be treachery, and he would take that anger our on her after he confronted the Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires.

Truthfully, she would not find the answer on her own. She needed the wisdom of someone she trusted to help move her mountain of a mind off of the predicament.

Oceanus and Tethys could not get enough of one another. The other beings had their machinations, planning, or just traveling, but neither of these Titans cared for any of those activities; only one another mattered.

Oceanus’ strong arms were wrapped around Tethys’ dainty frame. To kiss, hold, and be engulfed by her was the most meaningful and right thing in the world. Her lips tasted as fresh as a cool stream, her body soft to touch, and her desires were as transparent as a lake. When he was with her, he could only be with her. She returned his love, and that told him all he needed. The Titan of the Sea caressed his love, and when his manhood entered her, he prayed to Chaos that she would always want him.

Tethys always returned Oceanus’ tenderness. He was her other half. She yearned for him with a passion that was as unending as her immortality. They only ever parted to make the Realm of Greece more beautiful. That was their duty. They made their Mother’s land more wonderful. When they were together, however, they forgot the world. Nothing else mattered. They would need to learn to temper their desires, or else they would never do much else for the Realm. That would have to wait, in Tethys’ eyes, until after their next lovemaking.

It would later be believed that darkness reigned supreme in the depths of Tartarus. Most did not understand that the black void was, in part, because of Erebus and Mother Night’s presence in the realm.

It was in that shadowy blackness that Gaia found Nyx in a secluded corner. If there was anyone to discuss such an important matter, Gaia recognized that it must be a sibling.

Nyx sat in the realm with a familiarity that worried Gaia. Mother Night was so used to dark loneliness that Gaia worried a life alone was all Nyx would have. For her part, Nyx seemed at ease with her situation. Amidst the swirling shadows and haunting silence, Nyx stood tall in her element of eternal raven night. Her very form was veiled in the encompassing darkness, wearing the blackness as a gown.

By contrast and adorned in her usual verdant greenery, Gaia appeared the epitome of new life in a realm of black decay. The Earth Primordial planted her feet firmly to the ground as she approached Nyx, so that the Night Primordial might recognize her arrival. The air of the Underworld crackled with the anticipation of two Primordials coming face to face for the first time in a long time.

Nyx raised an eyebrow at Gaia’s unusual appearance to the Realm. “I assume you are in need, Mother Earth?” Nyx wondered.

“Yes, sister,” Gaia said, exhausted by how quickly she had come to Tartarus.

Nyx, realizing the seriousness of Gaia’s fear, straightened. While she often seemed distant and even unfeeling, she cared for her family. “How can I help?”

There were many things Gaia wanted to discuss, from Ouranos’ behavior to the palace on Olympus to all of her children, but in the end, Gaid spewed words from her maw as a volcano unleashed lava. “My children mean to harm Ouranos,” Gaia practically spat at her sister.

“The Titans?” Nyx asked, confused. “I thought Ouranos loved your precious offspring.”

“Not the Titans,” Gaia said with a shake of her hand. “The Cyclopes and Hecatoncheires. They have made a chain to bind Ouranos. It won’t destroy him—or so they have said.”