Blood & Tears Unsung

Blood & Tears Unsung

            Zeus takes confident steps up the palace of Mount Othrys. He has waited his whole life for this. He had been training in secret for the past sixteen years, and now he finally has a chance to save his siblings, albeit the slim odds.

He pounds his fist upon the golden gates three times. Three sharp clangs on the metal and he is in.

~

For a twenty-one-year-old, one might’ve expected someone to live under her own roof, already separated from her parents.

At twenty-one years old, Hestia not only still lived under her father’s roof, she also lived inside of his stomach. Ever since then, there have already been two sisters and two brothers who have suffered from the same fate as she did.

Kronos’ stomach wasn’t exactly the most pleasant these days, with him downing goblet after goblet of nectar each day. Sitting the nearest to where it poured down was her youngest brother, Poseidon, who always complained of the “disgusting, wet liquid!” Her younger sister Demeter would smile slightly, but Hera would burst out into laughter.

Hestia struggled to hold back the grin that tried to make its way to her lips despite not living under the best conditions.

Maybe life wasn’t all that perfect, but there are sparks of joy if you look closer.

~

Hera was furious that she had to live in that stinky place with her younger brothers. By younger brothers, she mostly meant Poseidon, who was always loud and obnoxious, and it seemed that the entire goal of his existence was to make sure that nobody ever got any peace even for just a short while. Yet it wasn’t that she didn’t love him. She did love him, since he was her brother after all; she loved him as dearly and as equally as the rest of her siblings.  But she wished—let’s face it, all the other four siblings of hers did, too—for him to keep quiet sometimes.

The youngest sister could still remember the day a rock dropped into their midst. They had called a meeting, with the five of them sitting around the rock which was precisely baby-sized.

Hades was surprisingly the first to speak. His dark persona had always made him the opposite of her other brother, and he barely spoke at all. Hera had always found it unsettling around him. “It’s a decoy. So that means…”

“…we have a younger sibling alive out there.” Hestia finishes for him, her warm orange eyes a bit brighter.

Hera only hoped that this new sibling, whether brother or sister, would be more tolerable than the two brothers she already had. And that they would come and save them as soon as possible.

~

It had already been sixteen years since Rhea borne him a child, and Kronos was relieved. He wouldn’t have to swallow up more of his children, and he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone trying to kill him. He didn’t exactly prefer the days when he would have dreams of Ouranos dying and cursing him over and over again until he woke up. Also, the last kid had made his stomach funny when he went down Kronos’ throat.

He had always wondered, though, since he had swallowed his children whole, would they still be living in his stomach? They were his kids after all; and he was the king of the Titans. But then, if they did survive in his stomach, how were they living? Would they have enough space? Have they ever tried to escape by climbing up his throat or sliding down his intestines? These questions were too disturbing. The Titan shook his head.

As Kronos glanced around the courtroom, he caught sight of someone unfamiliar, whom he had never seen before in his palace. Yet he looks weirdly familiar at the same time. It was probably the result of all the titans in existence being either one of his nieces or nephews.

Kronos pointed his index finger at him.

“You. New boy. Come here.”

Upon closer inspection, Kronos could clearly see his face. He was handsome, no doubt, but he was also young, judging by the quick smile on his face that rarely came with long years spent in the world.

“Who are you?” Kronos decided to start simple.

“My name is Zeus, my lord.” The boy bowed his head, electric-blue eyes flitting to Kronos’ own for a fleeting second, “I’m the new cupbearer. It was the Lady Rhea that recommended me for the job.”

He handed Kronos a delicately decorated letter, but was that anger that flared for a fleeting moment in his unusually bright eyes? Or was that just a simple trick of the light that Kronos mistook for rage?

~

Hades sits quietly in the corner of his father’s stomach that he had claimed for seventeen years. He hadn’t always been quiet, though. There was a time when he had once been carefree, doted on by his three older sisters. Yet ever since Poseidon came along, his younger brother became the special one, and he faded silently into the background. But Hades didn’t think it much of a bad thing.

After all, people get bored of the old and are fond of the new.

Poseidon eventually backed out of the spotlight, but Hades was already used to his new corner, and so he stayed that way ever since: silent, dark, and cold.

When the stone came tumbling down into Kronos’s stomach, Hades remembered a smile make its way across his face. He could feel that things were about to change drastically. He wasn’t sure when, but it was bound to happen.

Today, Hades feels a slight tingle down his spine, and he knows that the Lord of Time is starting to run out of time itself.

~

Ever since this new kid Zeus had showed up, saving Poseidon and his siblings from the disgusting living conditions of Kronos’ stomach, he had pissed Poseidon off in so many ways: 1) he acted like he was the one and only savior that they all had to follow, behaving generally like he was king, 2) he stole the spotlight of Poseidon’s as the youngest child, and Poseidon’s siblings−save Hera, who seemed to hate the new boy’s guts with every inch of her heart−those he had lived with for seventeen years, had decided that Zeus was better than him all of a sudden, and 3) though he really didn’t want to admit it, Zeus wasn’t bad-looking, and his looks could rival with Poseidon’s own.

“Poseidon? Snap out of it. We’re making plans, not daydreaming. This is war.” Hera lifted the butt of her bronze spear and pointed the tip fiercely at the war map the six siblings were leaning over. It was their first time formulating a strategy, and they have yet to come up with a plan.

“This is where we are now. Crete.” Zeus frowned as his sister spoke.

“But we’re not high enough to attack them with Othrys that tall.”

Hera glared at Zeus, and Poseidon could feel his inner self bursting with joy, though he did not let it show. “Yes. Let me get to my point and stop making useless comments, brother.” Hera’s voice was strained now; she was easy to anger, especially now that Zeus was around, but Zeus didn’t seem to catch on.

The goddess continued on, “However−” the tip of Hera’s spear moved over to the top-left corner of the map, and tapped lightly on a mountain with already-fading words marking the spot, “Olympus is the second tallest after Othrys, and it is our best shot at an attack.”

“Then Olympus it is.”

~

Demeter twirls her scythe in her hands, relishing the feel of the weapon in her power, and she slices her way through her enemies which now fall faster than ever at her feet. After ten years of the war that never seemed to end, she had enough experience now that fighting with the scythe came as natural as breathing to her.

She could see her siblings nearby, all still fighting as she is, their bodies energetic but their eyes weary; it is too much for them, who started the war when they were mere children.

At twenty-six years old, Zeus holds his lightning bolt crackling with thunder, sending strike after strike of energy at their opponents; he has been fighting ever since he had come of age.

A year older is Poseidon, and as he lifts his trident, the ground rumbles in response, leaving cracks in the earth that sends the other side down; despite his childish attitude during meetings, he is as serious as one can get on the battlefield.

Demeter can’t spot Hades right now, because he had donned his helm, the one that granted him invisibility and stealth beyond imagination; she knows that he silently roams around the edges of the cracks his younger brother Poseidon makes, and traps their enemies in the underworld which swallows up whomever Hades commands it to.

Hera is perhaps the most terrifying of all the six siblings when it comes to war. Her usually warm brown eyes are cold, ruthless, and she carves a path through the lines of their enemies easily, the tip of her spear wholly drenched in golden ichor; she has now joined Demeter herself, and the both of them fight together, always having the other’s back.

Hestia fights a different battle in this war−perhaps it is due to her naturally peaceful nature−she had volunteered to lead the healing team; she now rushes through the medical tent, treating the wounded. Perhaps it is because Hestia has already seen too much sorrow in the world as the first god, but no one will ever know why, nor will they question her.

And finally, after so long, they reach the fortress in which their father dwells: Othrys.

~

There are a lot of emotions that now crash upon Kronos as he lies on the dark marble floor, his life at his youngest son’s mercy. There is not even a hint of warmth left in Zeus’ rumbling voice as he speaks, staring at Kronos’ stomach which was cut open and spilling golden blood.

“Kronos.” He does not even address him as Father, as Kronos would’ve wished a long time ago when he was excited for normal, Titan children.

“My son…” Kronos is not pleading now. He can feel his life force slipping away. It is not fear that consumes him, nor is it anger.

It is utter regret.

Yet even as the Lord of Time, he cannot turn back the clock. He isn’t even sure if Chaos itself can.

Both of them, father and son, do not engage in conversation any further, and the last thing the Titan king sees is the flash of bright blue from his son’s eccentric weapon.

~

Rhea doesn’t know what will happen next, nor does she have faith that all will go smoothly. It’s her children running the world after all, and they are still her babies in her eyes. There will be some ups and downs, there will be a ton of mistakes and problems and generally a whole lot of trouble.

But now the age of the old Titans falls. Now rises the age of the new gods.

 #

A/N:

This story was actually written a year ago, and I was considering whether to put it on this blog or not, but now, here it is!!! I hope you enjoy it!