Chapter 7: The Titans’ Legacy

“Change is the only constant in life.”

Heraclitus of Ephesus the Greek Philosopher

The little baby Poseidon was much brighter than his sisterly siblings. He had some understanding of where he was upon his birth despite his infancy.

He grasped that Rhea was his mother and the Mad King Cronos was his father. While there were other Titans and Primordials in existence, Poseidon could not see them because they were not on Olympus, so the baby was unaware of their existence at that time.

When he was swallowed and fell into the depths of Cronos’ stomach, he had fallen on some sort of land mass.

“W-Where...?” The child struggled with words. He was new to the world, after all, but he was nevertheless divine, pure and true.

“You’re in a place bereft of hope,” a deep, booming voice echoed. The voice came from the shadows of the abyss within the confines of the belly.

The infant Poseidon looked around in confusion. He could see the stomach acid around the ground from where he stood. There was dissolving food bits being digested. That was not the direction of the voice though.

He turned in that direction. At first, he could see nothing through a black void of nothingness. From those shadows, a tall, strong being came into sight with long black hair and unhealed scars along his body and face. It was as if he had been burnt, cut, bled, and tried to heal to no avail many times.

“You are no doubt curious about what you will find in this place,” the man said to Poseidon with ominous voices. “I am your brother, Hades. And here, in Cronos’ belly, you will only find blood; blood and darkness.”

Iapetus was learning that perhaps the fact that things lived and died was not so terrible. If all things lived forever, things would stay the same. Through death, change was possible. By Ouranos’ passing, Cronos became King. After he became King, the other Titans felt comfortable having children.

Iapetus was among those Titans, not being so alone anymore. He had found love in one of Oceanus’ children: Clymene.

By Iapetus’ estimation, time on Olympus seemed to slow. While Cronos, Rhea, and the palace stayed the same, the Realm of Greece continued to grow. What might have been five years on Olympus was nearly a century in the Mortal Realm.

That was what it was: mortal. That was part of the beauty that Iapetus had been looking for. Iapetus was coming to realize that the changes in Greece were the point to life.

Spring came, and life was abundant, if not tenuous. In summer, life was running rampant, enjoying the ample heat of Helios’ light. But it always cooled a little less than spring before returning.

There was something else, something felt off, as if an entire season or two was missing.

Helios, a new divinity made by Hyperion and Theia, sat in the sky. Hyperion had taken the primordial flame to Cronos as a gift. It was supposed to have been blessed by Chaos to hold the fires from the dawn of time. It burned, giving life and warmth to any who visited the godly mountain. Though with how Cronos devoured his children, it was a surprise that anyone ed. In Iapetus’s view, Cronos would be a problem sooner rather than later.

Greece was filled with nymphs, dryads, and naiads. Iapetus had found a wife in Clymene thanks to Oceanus and Tethys. Oceanus had seen Iapetus’ loneliness. His union Clymene brought Iapetus a happiness that dwarfed all of his loneliness to where it was a laughable memory. Together, Iapetus and Clymene fathered four children. It was among these children that the twins, Prometheus and Epimetheus, came to be.

These Titanic children were unique among the divine beings. It was these twins who filled the lands of Greece with even more new life. Where divine beings were born through a sexual union, Iapetus’ sons created life with materials from Greece, fueled by their imagination, and empowered by their magic. With every creation, they were more efficient and creative.

Through cattle and bison, there was food. With birds and fish, there was company when one flew or swam. Each addition to the world made Iapetus beam with pride in his sons. On the other hand, he was worried they might be overfilling the world. They told him of their grand finale of life that they wanted to create.

It was these lesser beings, humanity, that had Iapetus pondering the future.

His sons spoke of a perfect creation in the image of the Titans themselves, but without the divine spark from the Progenitor and the use of magic.

The problem Iapetus had was: If these mortal humans were made, what would be the roles of the Titans?

With everything else occurring, Iapetus considered if the day would come when humanity overthrew the Titans, as Cronos overthrew Ouranos. He was distracted by Selene, Hyperion’s daughter, rising in the night sky as the moon to shine light on the Realm.

He did not know what tomorrow would bring, yet he could not bring himself to become overly concerned. There was too much joy in his life today for him to care about the problems of tomorrow.

Rhea got up from her throne; her bulging abdomen told of yet another royal child of Olympus was going to be brought into the world. It seemed strange to her that she was the daughter of the most fertile being in creation, and Rhea had only had five pregnancies while the other Titan couples had dozens of children and a multitude of grandchildren by extension.

She could not dwell on the subject for long as the aforementioned fertility deity was a guest in her private throne room.

“Mother Gaia,” Rhea said in surprise.

“Hello to you as well, Queen Rhea,” Gaia smiled.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Rhea held back her emotion. Their last conversation had left a lot to be desired.

“Since we last spoke, it has become clear that Cronos will continue to devour his children, and he might fall into deeper depravities,” Gaia said with calm wisdom. “I think it’s best I should help you.”

“Oh?” Rhea asked, antagonizing anger overtaking her. She truly tried to restrain her temper, but to hear that her mother finally understood was a brick of clay slammed atop the straws that would break the horse’s back. “Now! When you see the consequences, you want to help me.”

Rhea could not hold back the vitriolic loathing she felt for her mother. Gaia was lauded amongst the younger immortals as the wise mother and grandmother to be sought out when they needed advice. She was placed in a position of honor, but when Rhea had come to her, practically begging, Gaia had become blind because Cronos was her son.

“Daughter ... do not take that tone with me!” Gaia warned.

“I was right!” Rhea exclaimed. Vindication exploded from each word announced.

Gaia tried to hush Rhea, but the current Queen of Olympus would not be silent for her mother. “He is not here. He is with Crius, discussing how the Realm flourishes, not that I get to see the Real. He believes if I leave, I might conspire with his brothers to overthrow him. For that risk, he imprisons me, but you saw fit to do nothing about my imprisonment.”

Gaia nodded at the accusation laid at her feet, but she did not address it directly. “And yet, he allows you to be alone with me?” she wondered instead,

“You put him on this throne, just as Chaos put our father here,” Rhea said, waving it away. “He believes you are loyal to him.”

“One act makes him believe I do not recognize the danger he presents?” Gaia asked, disturbed by that conclusion.

“We will have to use that blindness to our advantage,” Rhea remarked strategically. In her reply, Rhea came to a sad realization about her mother. Gaia would not admit the fault was her and fully apologize, but if Rhea wanted her help, Rhea would have to be the one to let things go to further her goals.

Gaia nodded in agreement. “You’re right. But how, considering he devours his children?”

“With Hera, I had been perfecting some of my magic,” Rhea admitted. “With the right timing and blessings from you, we could hide my next child.”

“To what end?” Gaia asked. She could not connect the dots that Rhea saw so easily.

“For you to train him,” Rhea said definitely. “This next child could break the cycle of usurpation. If we teach him to be fair, not to murder his family, and understand what it means to rule, he will defeat Cronos and be better.”

Gaia looked at her daughter. She contemplated what that would entail, how long Rhea had deliberated about it, and if the plan would work. Cronos did not invade Gaia’s privacy, but they would need help.

“I do not know if that will be the end of it,” Gaia remarked. She contemplated her daughter’s plan, seeing the insight that Rhea had put into it. “We will need someone to help us.”