——————Rhea's Point of View——————
I sat alone in the shadowed halls of Mount Othrys, the once-radiant golden temple now cold and hollow. No hymns echoed here anymore. There was only silence... and the faint sound of my grief.
In my trembling hands, I held a small, black feather, a piece of Hades's wing left behind when Cronus swallowed him. A fragment of my firstborn son. It was charred at the edges, as if the darkness that clung to him had tried to fight even in his last moment before vanishing.
I pressed it to my chest and wept. This was neither the first time nor the last. I was the goddess of motherhood, the bearer of life and warmth. Yet…I could not protect my children.
Hestia, taken. Then Hades, my first son… the memory of his cold body was still fresh in my mind. And now, Demeter, Hera, and Poseidon… all gone, one by one, devoured by the man I had once loved most. No. The monster I had once trusted most.
---
Each day since had dragged on like an eternity. I had grown weak… no, I had become a pathetic woman. I felt it in my soul. A stagnation, a rejection of the very godhood I carried. Even the essence of motherhood itself…rejected me. Because what kind of mother loses five children?
I had tried. I had sought help. I had attempted every method I could conceive. I had reached out to ancient Titans for allies. But nothing mattered in the face of Cronus, the tyrant king. His hunger for power consumed even his own blood. And I, Rhea, queen of the heavens, could do nothing but cry behind closed doors, cursing a fate I could not alter.
Time passed, and in the silence of my despair, the impossible happened… I became pregnant again. My sixth child now grew within me, a fragile flame in a world of storms.
But I felt no joy. Only terror. Because I knew what awaited this child. I had seen Cronus's eyes narrow at a newborn's cry, the way his mouth opened not to bless them, but to devour them.
I had no strength left to watch another of my children be stolen from my arms. So I tightened my heart, pushed aside my grief and softness, and made a vow: This one… I will not lose. Even if I must defy fate itself.
---
I knelt upon the sacred earth and called out, not to ancient Titans, not to my kin, but to Gaea, the Primordial Mother, the earth itself.
She had long been in an ancient slumber, retreating from the affairs of Titans and gods.
But I pleaded. I wept. I pressed my forehead to the soil and whispered as a daughter to her mother. "Please…help me save this one."
The very stones of the temple floor seemed to breathe. The air grew heavy with the scent of deep soil and ancient roots. From the deep womb of the world, Gaea answered.
She rose not with grandeur, but with quiet strength, her voice like the rustle of leaves, the hum of stone, the breath of mountains.
She gazed upon me, tired and sorrowful. Then, with gentleness, she extended her hand.
In it, she held a white stone, smooth and oval, wrapped in soft, divine cloth. It was shaped perfectly like a newborn child.
To any eye, it would seem real. "Rhea," she said, her voice echoing from the roots of the world, "You must hide your child far from Cronus's gaze. Let him be born in secret. When the time comes, return to Mount Othrys… and give him this stone in the child's place. Fool Cronus. Fool fate, if you must. But protect this boy… he will be the one to bring the change."
Clutching the false child to my chest, I bowed deeply. I did not cry this time. I had no tears left, only resolve.
For the first time in an age, I stood tall again, not as a grieving mother, but as Rhea, daughter of Gaea, Queen of the Titans… and a mother who would now shape a future that Cronus could not control.
As I was about to leave, Mother stopped me. "Wait, Rhea. Wait."
I turned around and looked at the serious face of Mother Gaea. "Yes, Mother?"
"Rhea, your children are not dead. They are all safe and alive."
Her words sent a new light into my soul. Tears threatened to fall at any moment. Gaea continued.
"They are all within Cronus's stomach and live as prisoners. But that is not the most important thing I must tell you. You must have already sensed something unusual about Hades."
Her words confused me. "Yes... He was a little bit different from the others. He was born with black wings, a black haze, and a cold body."
Mother drew her brows together and gave a slight, pained expression. Sigh. "Dear one, your motherly love has blinded you. Hades was born in the fleeting moment between day and night. Stars fell from the sky. Unnatural disasters shook the mortal world. The birth of a divine being is never without meaning. When Demeter was born, the world burst with unprecedented growth. The world always signals a new god's nature. For Hades... the signs were ominous."
This all hinted at something, but my heart denied it completely. "That is all superstition!" I protested, a desperate edge to my voice. "If a human or other creature was born at that same time, would that make them an omen too? The world is vast; coincidences happen."
Gaea's expression did not change. She spoke with the patience of the ages. "No, child. The birth of mortals and divine beings is different. A mortal's life is a whisper; a god's is a thunderclap that shakes the foundations of fate. The signs are for him. He will walk a razor's edge. He could tilt towards order and become a necessary guardian of the balance... or he could tilt towards the abyss and become the worst nightmare this world will ever know."
She paused, letting the terrible weight of her words settle upon me. "The choice is now yours. You can let him live and hope his heart remains true, or... You can end him now, while he is vulnerable, and not risk a fate worse than Cronus." ...
Her avatar transformed into an earth statue and crumbled into dust, then merged with the Earth once more.
---
In the silent, swirling heart of the cosmos, a maiden floated in the endless void. Her skin was pure white, her hair a cascade of liquid silver, and her simple white dress seemed to hold the faint light of distant nebulae. She was beauty incarnate, a divine spectre in the primordial dark.
Her breath hitched, short and shallow. "Lord Kaos. The reincarnated soul, Ron, has awakened the Taboo."
A voice, heavy with the weight of collapsing stars and nascent galaxies, vibrated through the emptiness. "I know."
"Then why do you remain silent?" the maiden's voice boomed, a note of urgency cracking its eternal calm. "Why do you not act? This power… it could unmake you. It could unravel the very fabric of this universe."
"Why should I?" Kaos's response was not a challenge, but a gentle, profound question.
"Why? For survival! He holds the one force that can truly destroy you. You must strike before he understands its full extent. You could erase him, just as he could erase you."
"And why haven't I erased you?" she asked, her tone still gentle, yet hinting at an infinite, terrifying power. "You are her equal, you are the Cosmos to his Taboo. You could also kill me."
The voice in the void stuttered, its certainty broken. "Be-Because… I am not a fool. I am ordered. You are the universe, so why…" It could not finish.
Kaos spoke to her gently. "Do you know of Ron's first life? In a universe much like this one, ruled by a Kaos much like me. That Kaos held ultimate power, was the absolute law of all creation. And yet… he met his demise."
Kaos let the truth of it hang in the void, a monument to futility. "Listen carefully, my child. There are no absolutes. No immortality that cannot be broken. No strength that cannot be surpassed. It is the first and final law I ordained. To act out of fear of a potential future is to defy the very nature of existence I govern. The Taboo is not an error; it is his nature. He is its master, and I will not condemn a god for being what he was born to be."
"Even if his nature is your end?" the Maiden whispered, now humbled.
"Especially then. When my time comes, I will meet my demise, as all things must. Even me."
The Maiden bowed her head, her eyes carrying sadness. She said weakly, "Then what do I do?"
"Just observe him."
The Maiden nodded and disappeared into the void.