Chapter 6: Preparations and Pursuit

“And from this rage ... the furies were brought forth. Neither titan nor god, mortal nor shade, the furies were bound to no one for they were the guardians of honor. The enforcers of punishment. The bane of traitors. When Zeus came to power, he found he had little to fear from the sisters. The furies sought retribution only for those whom they deemed guilty.”God of War: Ascension 2013

They had never been as far north as they had. They worried that they might cross over into Mesopatamian territory.

The Fury Sisters were cautious by the rugged terrain of the mountains. Once within the region, it did not take them long to catch sight of their formidable prey. The Hecatoncheires loomed over the peaks of the range in the distance.

Megaera, Alecto, and Tisiphóné exchanged a glance when they understood the full scope of who they were after. The Hecatoncheires dwarfed even Cronos when he had been alive. Their eyes all grew impossibly big when their quest was within their grasp.

However, to capture such immense beings seemed improbable from a more direct attack. would require cunning strategy and precise coordination.

“I can see why Zeus gave us this target,” Tisiphóné remarked from high in the sky. Being separated by the wind, distance, and with giant beings rarely looking up, the three felt safe talking. “Cratus and his siblings might be better able to fight these three directly.”

“Agreed,” Megaera replied with a nod. “We’ll have to split them up.”

Alecto nodded in excited agreement. her gaze bounced from her sisters to the nearest Hecatoncheire. “I’ll take that one,” she supplied with a menacing smile while pointing to the massive figure on the left. “Tisiphóné, you take the one in the middle. Megaera, you handle the one on the right.”

Meg stared at her sister with bewilderment. “How are we related?” She shook her head at the ridiculousness of her sister’s plan. “We split them off and pick them off one by one, Alecto.”

“Oh fine!” Alecto whined before snapping her teeth fiercely. “If you want to be boring about it!”

The Fury Sisters moved about above their designated targets with cautious determination.

“Where in the fuck is he?” Cratus asked, slamming his fist on the table. The blow shattered the wood.

The sun was setting when all the siblings had returned to Olympus.They reconvened at their shared palace. Despite not having the honor of officially being Zeus’ protector, the palace was kept up for their arrival and rest when they needed its use. Luxurious pillows and blankets were in their bed, bountiful food was on their table, freshly cleaned and dried clothes were laid out at the side of their bedroom doors.

“We’ve scoured every inch of Greece and still no sign of Atlas,” Bia grumbled. She fell onto some lounging furniture. She could not help that frustration found its way into her words and was slowly etching itself onto her brow.

Nike shook her head. “He couldn’t have left Greece,” she added, joining her sibling in lying down. “Those other lands also have deities from what Hyperion said.”

“And Prometheus and Epimetheus still live on Olympus,” Zelus added.

“What’s that got to do with anything,” Cratus asked, looking up from the destroyed table.

“Look, I know Atlas fought on the other side of the war, but he never harmed his brothers,” Zelus answered. He shook his head. The zealous being recognized when he was reaching. It just seemed to make the most sense to him. “I don’t think he would abandon them.”

Cratus’ mind heard what Zelus said and started working on his own solution. “Then let’s get creative,” he said excitedly. He thought of how much he cared for his siblings, and he saw what Zelus was really saying. “We should pay a visit to Prometheus and Epimetheus.”

The other siblings could see how Cratus was thinking. They started to feel uncomfortable with where it would most likely go.

“Weren’t they advisors to Zeus during the war?” Bia asked, skeptical.

Cratus thought for a moment. “They were, but if they helped Atlas escape, do you think that will save them?”

Nike seemed unsure at her brother’s assessment. Zelus smiled, catching on. They might have wasted a day looking, but Bia nodded in agreement as it seemed the answer had been under all of their noses.

Radiant beams of the morning’s sunlight pierced through the clouds to brighten the island of the Primordial when a tower of shimmering light descended from the Olympus. Within its luminescence, Gaia and Rhea returned to their humble home.

Rhea wore a flowing dress of crystal blue that would make any being on Olympus jealous. Her hair was a cascade of brown and blonde strands that only heightened her air of queenly entitlement. Her eyes flashed with frustration.

“‘I will ask that you spend more time on your island’,” Rhea spat angrily. She would strike and break trees if not for her Primordial companion

Gaia emerged from the tower of light to restrain Rhea. Her skin of soil and stone with rich hues of bark and earth was still able to offer a condolence to her daughter. Despite the turmoil emanating from Rhea, Gaia remained calm.

“The nerve of my son,” Rhea went on. She screamed at the forest itself.

“Are you done?” Gaia wondered. “This island can be seen as either a sanctuary or a prison.”

“When my son holds all the power, you can think in all the nuances you like, we are trapped here. There is no getting around that, Mother,” Rhea remarked angrily

Gaia turned to her daughter, firm in her resolve. “Perhaps, but do not take your misplaced anger out on our home. Your son is where our focuses should be.”

“I handed him Ouranos, and he acts as if we should be following his orders.”

While Gaia actually agreed with Rhea, the Primordial exhaled. “It does us both no good to be upset. We raised him to the throne. We should have been prepared for this possibility.’

“So what? We only have ourselves to blame?” Rhea asked, her anger quickly redirecting to her mother.

Gaia nodded. “Correct, but if we were correct in Zeus being deposed one day, we still have time to rectify our mistake.”

Rhea raised an eyebrow. “How’s that?”

“We spent so long being upset with Cronos that we replaced him at our first opportunity. We shall learn from our mistakes.”

“I don’t see how.”

“Right now, Olympus is safe. Metis will prevent Zeus from doing anything too reckless. She is the real power on the Mountain, but we will need Zeus to marry Hera eventually. We have time to make that happen.”

“Then we build a wall between Zeus and Metis?” Rhea wondered. “Then what?”

Gaia looked at Zeus’ gift to her. “Do you think it is possible to seduce him again?”

Rhea shrugged, uncertain. “Maybe. But to what end?”

“Options, Daughter. He will be deposed by a son as Ouranos and Cronos were. If we have options, rather than just one, we will make sure this last king will sit on the throne forever, and they will see us as assets, no problems.”

Rhea watched her mother eying the gift. “And the jar?”

“I think we might need help if we need to ignite another war to unseat Zeus,” Gaia said with a grandmotherly smile. “But it shall keep. We have all the time in the world.”

The work progressed wonderfully.

Within their shared palace, two brothers worked on their greatest gift to the realm of Greece. Their workshop had tools strewn everywhere. Their mess might have reflected poorly on them if anyone had seen it. Thankfully, their work had never been interrupted, as far back as during Cronos’ reign.

Whoever ruled on Olympus did not matter to them. Only the work mattered, and finally, Prometheus felt pride in their nearly final product. Their clay model was nearly perfect. Prometheus considered her.

“I think all of Olympus should give her gifts, brother,” he said to Epimetheus.

Prometheus’ twin looked absolutely exhausted. However, he nodded in agreement. “Do you think we are being over-cautious with this?”

“Perhaps we have put in too much time into this,” Prometheus agreed with. “But this shall be our last creation. I want it to last.”

“But when you polish bronze too much...” Epimetheus supplied.

Prometheus exhaled before waving his hand in agreement. “You end up working against yourself,” Prometheus finished for his brother. “I see your point.”

They were about to discuss their project further when the front door was broken open. Before either could react, Bia and Nike grabbed and restrained Epimetheus. Zelus struck Prometheus in the chest.

The Fire Titan, son of Iapetus, War Counselor of Zeus, and maker of many creatures within the land of Greece. By no means was he a pushover, so when Zelus’ blow connected, Prometheus retaliated. Fire burst from his hands and the winged warrior received a strike to the face. While Zelus recoiled, Prometheus went on the offense. He showered blow after blow onto the invader, holding nothing back

While he did not know why the winged siblings had come for him, Prometheus would not lie down and submit to his assailants.

As he was about to throw a blow right at Zelus’ teeth, Prometheus felt a bicep and forearm crash against his chest. The clothesline was from Tartarus itself, stealing all of the air from Prometheus’ body.

“Who...?” Prometheus struggled.

Cratus pressed his knee on Prometheus’ chest. “Where is he?” the powerful deity demanded.

“Who?” Prometheus repeated but with more confusion.

“Where is Atlas?” Cratus clarified. Rather than put more weight on the Titan’s chest, Cratus struck the face of Prometheus with his fist. “He’s your brother. If anyone knows where he is, you do.”

“We don’t know!” Epimetheus said, fighting both Bia and Nike’s effort to restrain him.

“I didn’t ask you,” Cratus said firmly. “Everyone knows Prometheus is the brains between the two of you.”

Prometheus kept struggling but he coughed out, “We don’t know ... Cratus!”

Cratus looked to Bia. In response, Bia struck Epimetheus in the stomach.

“I want to believe you, but I think we’re alike in a few ways, Prometheus,” Cratus said, putting more of his might into his knee to press down on Prometheus. “You’re a thinker, sure, but you love your brothers. You don’t want Epi over there to die. And I think you didn’t want Atlas to die, so you helped him escape. At the very least, you know where he is.”

“But we don’t!” Epimetheus cried out.

Cratus lifted his knee and looked at Bia and Nike. Both know what to do. Nike punched Epimetheus across the cheek with so much force that the bruise formed almost instantly. Ichor formed on his mouth. Epimetheus would have tasted it, but Bia struck him in the throat, and the Titan of Hindsight started choking.