The earth had been still for countless ages, moving only when the divine commanded it. But on this night—on this moment—it moved of its own accord.
Gaia felt it first. Not with ears or eyes, but through the roots of the world itself.
Every blade of grass, every tree, every sleeping mountain shivered with the birth of something not yet known, but deeply important.
She stood on the far edge of the world, barefoot upon sacred soil, surrounded by the wind and stars.
When Rhea cried out atop Mount Oyhrys, Gaia felt the soil respond.
When the child was born, the stars brightened.
When he cried, the vines bloomed.
The child was no ordinary divine.
Gaia opened her eyes slowly. They were amber-golden-brown and like the last light of a setting sun filtered through autumn leaves, reflecting countless millennia of wisdom. Her forest-green hair fluttered gently around her face.
"Hmm… interesting."
She vanished in an instant.
***
When she appeared in the forest clearing, her feet touched down with no sound. The grass swayed toward her, not from wind, but reverence. Her gaze immediately fell upon the small boy sitting beneath the tree.
He was perfect.
There was light in his hair. His skin shimmered faintly. And his eyes—oh, those eyes. Silver like the moon, but within them, golden stars spun slowly in their four-pointed iris.
She watched as he blinked and looked around, utterly unaware of the power simmering just beneath his infant skin.
This was not a god. She knew the distinction well. This child… was Titan.
An old god. Not a new god.
Gaia narrowed her eyes slightly, thoughts drifting to a recent memory.
***
She had spoken with Ananke, the Primordial of Destiny, not long ago. A quiet conversation, held in whispers and echoes, in the spaces between stars.
"Kronos, huh."
Ananke murmured and said with cold certainty.
"All I will say is that, all his children with Rhea will be new gods."
"And if they are not?" Gaia had asked.
Ananke looked Gaea in the eyes and said with indifferent.
"they will be, all of them."
Back then, it seemed simple.
Kronos and Rhea, birthing a new generation of gods.
But here… standing before her, was no new god.
Aetherion pulsed with Titan-inchor.
Not faintly—fully. Born of two Titans, but somehow ancient, as if carrying the weight of older stars.
The prophecy should not apply.
After all, if the prophecy came true it would be one of those new gods, children of Kronos and Rhea, as Ananke said back there.
But the world itself bent toward him.
Something deeper was at work.
'Maybe those creatures.'
Gaea hurriedly shook her head not wanting to think about those monstrous creatures.
She felt his presence as a ripple in her own being. A connection. Like a branch recognizing its root. He was tied to the earth. Tied to her. Not just by blood—but domain. Life. Nature. Earth.
Gaia took a single step forward.
The boy looked up.
Where his tiny fingers had touched the dirt, a flower bloomed—without effort.
Pure instinct.
The forest reacted to his very being.
A soft smile curved Gaia's lips.
"You are… strange," she whispered, "but… I don't mind that."
She reached down and gently lifted the child into her arms. He didn't resist. He simply blinked once, then nestled his head against her shoulder.
The ground stilled. The leaves quieted.
She held him close, and with a whisper to the wind, the two vanished.
***
They reappeared within Gaia's sanctuary.
A place not found on any map, not even known to most immortals— only the primordials knew about its whereabouts.
A pocket realm between moments and soil—a fragment of paradise hidden in the folds of Earth's divine skin.
The land stretched wide, lush and untouched.
Crystal-clear rivers wove through glowing meadows. Trees taller than mountains housed nests of mythical birds. Every kind of beast roamed freely, from golden deer to phoenix-like butterflies with wings of flame and frost.
Gentle hills shimmered under moonlight and sun at once—this realm obeyed its own sky.
Around them, Gaia's attendants gathered—nymphs with hair made of petals and skin like bark. Spirits of different elements. Beasts of old.
They bowed as Gaia stepped forward, Aetherion in her arms.
The sanctuary accepted him. The soil hummed louder, the trees shifted toward him. Flowers bloomed with every step they took.
Gaia looked down at the small boy now watching the beauty around him with wide, silver eyes.
"Sigh, why do I feel like something bad is going to happen in the future?"
she murmured and looked at the infant.
"I pray to Chaos, it's nothing connected to those vile beasts."
She stepped deeper into her realm, her footsteps light, her purpose clear.
She would raise him.
She would train him.
She would prepare him.
Because whatever was coming… would need more than new or old gods.