Chapter 4: Seeds of Creation

“Do it for your people, do it for your pride”

The Script, Half of Fame (2012)

For all the plans that Rhea and Gaia shared, that did not make it easy for them to execute. Waiting is easy when you know what you’re waiting for, but Rhea was waiting for the unknown, so everyday that her baby grew in her belly, the Titan Queen could not help but be restless.

Day after day, this sentiment grew until the day when Rhea screamed out in agony. The birth of her and Cronos’ first trueborn child was one that would be remembered in the annals of the grand halls of Mount Olympus. Anticipation mounted within Tethys and Theia as they could sense the fearful undertone emanating from Rhea while they acted as midwives.

Rhea could not be sure what she was emanating because her focus was on a different battle. What if she had a girl? That would not do for her plans with Gaia. But a boy? This soon? She was not ready to try and harm Cronos. Her mind raced back and forth. Then she wondered what he might do if she had a girl.

In the end, with all the thoughts running through her mind, Rhea prayed to Gaia and Chaos that she would not deliver a boy. She just was not ready to enact her vengeance against the Titan King.

Cronos stood nearby, unaware of his wife’s internal struggle. His eyes never left Rhea’s screaming, sweaty form.

For him, the path ahead was simple. If the baby was male, it was clear that he would need to act. If the child was a girl, he did not feel threatened since the prophecy spoke of a son taking what was his, so he could do nothing and breathe easier.

Rhea clenched her fists from her body being racked in pain. Another conflicted but determined cry escaped her lips. With each contraction, she drew strength from the primally instinctive forces within her; she would not die or be harmed by giving birth. There was too much to be done, and she could not be reunited with Ouranis in the land of the dead until those things were completed.

Every pain from her laborious pushes of birth brought her closer to Cronos’ removal from power regardless of the sex of the baby. That was all she needed. Nothing else mattered. When the moment of his deposition arrived, then she could consider other possibilities, such as dying.

Hardening herself away from the pain, Rhea delivered her precious daughter into the world. She sweat and gasped when Theia handed her the baby girl, wrapped up in its blanket. Rhea got her breathing under control before looking towards her Cronos.

Cronos did not even look at his wife. She was a mess. Sweat was all over her face and chest. Her hair was in disarray from her screaming and throwing her head in pain. He only observed that his child was a daughter and not a son, and he breathed a sigh of relief before leaving his wife alone with the child and their Titanic sisters.

The soft cry of the newborn baby girl filled the room. When Rhea’s heart should have swelled with love, she focused only on the future. There were no thoughts of family or home. She looked at her daughter before deciding on the name ‘Hestia’. Her baby would exist only to further her plans.

Rhea looked down at Hestia as the baby grasped Rhea’s thumb with her tiny fingers. Rhea smiled and kissed her much to Theia’s and Tethys’ joy. Rhea would find happiness one day; she knew that much of it, but until that day, she knew she would need to be the doting mother and wife to the lands of Greece, but in her heart, she would only exist with a single goal in mind.

From the ground, where there were trees and streams that stood and flowed, to the sky, which had a golden light burning in the heavens with a beautifully blue canvas, there were many wonders to the land of Greece. Iapetus cherished them all. While his Titanic siblings looked upon the world and found one interest, Iapetus was amazed by it all.

Oceanus loved the water (from the lakes, rivers and streams). Crius was obsessed with the stars in Nyx’s night sky. Coeus was always trying to figure out how the world worked rather than just cherishing what was. Hyperion loved light and fire. Well, that was not entirely true. Hyperion always enjoyed his travels.

For Iapetus, sitting on a cliffside in solitude, as he was, could bring him just as much joy as feeling the breeze on his skin. He could say that light was wonderful, the blue sky was fascinating, and that the blades of grass were unique in how they grew, but then, when his thoughts ran out of things to be amazed by, he recognized that he was always inexplicably alone.

He hoped to find love with one of his siblings, like Mnemosyne or Themis, but they never expressed interest in him. Before too long, he just accepted that romance with one of his sisters was not his destiny. Instead, as his siblings found love in one another and interest in their domains, Iapetus sat alone on the cliff, pondering life.

He exhaled deeply in those thoughts. His very existence sounded sadly hollow. There was nothing to be done though. It was what it was by Iapetus’ estimation.

Returning to his thoughts on life, he wondered about the veil between life and death. After the demise of Ouranos, Iapetus wondered if all of the divinities were meant to live and die, and if so, what was the point of life if it ended?

If their lives were fleeting, what was the purpose of such impermanent joy?

Shaking his head, he could not help but find despair in all of his questioning. Rather than look at the waters beneath the cliffs he sat on, he turned his head up to stare at Hyperion’s great flame.

There had been a lot of darkness in the living realm. The only true lights came off the divinities when they walked the living realm. As such, Hyperion, with the blessing and some power from Chaos, made a ball of fire and planted it in the sky. Up close, the fire burned with a thin ethereal light. Iapetus very nearly put his hand in it. Hyperion had stopped Iapetus, thankfully. Hyperion, before putting the fire in the sky, explained that the Flame on Olympus would consume ALL things it touched unless precautions were taken...

Considering what stories Hyperion had from other lands, it made sense that he could create such an amazing innovation. Iapetus recalled Hyperion’s last story of a land called India, where the divine beings there battled relentlessly for supremacy. The Indian divinities believed it was necessary to do battle to establish a hierarchy of power.

Iapetus shook his head, glad not to be so barbaric and foolish. Regardless of his loneliness or even sorrow, he would never sink so low and kill other beings to prove his importance. That was when his mind circled back to how everything in life was simply sublime.

It would be nearly a year after Hestia’s birth before Rhea would see Gaia again. The other Titans had been procreating, bringing new Titanic beings into the world. It was more chaotic than the downfall of Ouranos because no one knew what to expect next.

Rhea found solace in the presence of Gaia. Maybe it was the peaceful nature of Rhea’s mother, or another year passing meant they were a year closer to being rid of Cronos. Rhea’s mind was preoccupied with the future.

“There is something I have been thinking about, Gaia,” Rhea said with mild concern. The united goal of planning against Cronos seemed to have set the women on more equal footing. Rhea started to see Gaia as her counterpart, not her mother.

“And that is?” Gaia asked. For her, the changes did bring them closer, but Gaia was the mother of the Titans. That was just how it was for her.

“If I keep having children, like Hestia, and should Cronos fall to my chosen son,” Rhea said carefully. “Won’t we need a new Queen to stand alongside the next Ruler?”

Gaia sat in contemplation. On her island, where the two were, it was easy for Gaia to ponder the complicated nature of their quest.

“Do you not believe Hestia should assume the role of Queen?” When Rhea shook her head, Gaia sighed. “Then, I suppose, we must weigh our options, considering the other Titans are growing their families. One of them might have a daughter with the right potential to shape the world as we have.”

Rhea shook her head at that suggestion. She had very nearly been a queen alongside Gaia with Ouranos. If she was not to be Queen on Olympus, she would hand that position to one of her sibling’s children. “I had a different idea.”

“Oh?” Gaia wondered. She could not hide the fact that her curiosity was piqued.

“I believe you said the Curse of Ouranos would affect the throne and its ruler, but for how long?” Rhea said, turning her statement into a question at the end.

Gaia stared thoughtfully out at the lands of Greece. The waters that surrounded seemed to swirl around before crashing against itself much like the thoughts in Gaia’s mind. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “But I believe for a few generations.” Gaia looked at Rhea, seeing that her answer was not enough for her daughter. As such, she went on in the hopes of putting her daughter’s worries to bed. “If I was forced to guess,” she went on, “I would think three generations.”