This chapter isn't that great, but I feel like it is needed. Please review, feed back is really helpful. Lots of thanks to the people reviewing.

Poseidon Prov

Change of Plans

Dang it! I glared at the deer as it sprinted away, leaving only the leaves swaying from the unexpected wind it caused and my spear, stuck in the ground.

Maybe hanging up-side down and throwing the spear backwards was not the best way to liven the day up. I sighed, swinging back down to the soft, muddy ground. Gaia needed more food and, while ambrosia and nectar where the best, deer would do. She was getting tired; every day I worried that she'll fall asleep again and not wake up for a millennium. She was simply too powerful to stay awake for long, and these past eleven years have taken a toll on her.

Wonderful. Now I have to find another deer. What a waste of time. It used to be that Mother would bring us plenty of ambrosia and nectar, some real food, but Gaia and I have not seen her for almost a year now. Or, at least I haven't seen her. Gaia is the earth goddess; she probably knows exactly what it is keeping Rhea away and refuses to tell me. She's always keeping things from me. And now I have to spend my time hunting for deer, something that I had perfected when I was five. Even then it was not fun. The spear throwing is fun, but the whole "walking the woods real quietly" is just so slow.

The snapping of a branch ripped me away from my thoughts. Something was near and weather of not it was a deer or another hunter was of little importance. Now was the time to crouch low to the damp ground, closer to the new-born leaves with the smell of the strawberries that were littered everywhere about me. Brushing closer to the bushes, the leaves caressing the left side of my face and my arm while the bare branches here and there impaled my skin, I peeked from behind the bushes and looked at whatever had made the noise. What I saw stunned me.

A human. I see so few of those. They looked so much like immortals, yet they are so primitive. They had something in common with me though; Kronos seemed to think that consuming them was a fun activity. And this human was hunting, most likely for his family as well.

The human was rugged; nothing but a filthy cloth covered him and his hair was tangled with dried mud, dirt, and branches, as well as having a certain ability to crawl, raised strands moving to the sides, that I assume meant that there were bugs, possibly small animals, nesting in his hair. The thought sent a shiver down my spin. He was crouched low, his dirt and scar covered face pointed at something in front of him and to my right. His spear, as terribly crafted as it was, was pointed in the direction that the last deer had gone in.

Slowly I followed the trail that his gaze directed me to go in, though he had no clue he was helping me, and I crawled on among the berry brushes with their bitter-tasting leaves to a clearing. There stood a herd of deer, grazing in a flower covered meadow with a pond filled with wildlife in the middle. I smiled. Enough food for both hunters, it would seem. Carful not to make a sound, I stood, still crouching low a bit, imitating the human, and throw the spear. As it always is when I truly make an effort, my spear went straight through the deer's heart. Just as I was throwing, so did the human. He wounded another deer; most likely it would limp away somewhere before it died, left behind by its herd that had fled like pigeons as soon as their comrades went down.

I walked leisurely toward my prey, my back straight and head held high. The other hunter needed to know that I may be young, but I was not one to mess with. No need to kill him over this one deer today, now was there? I could feel his eyes on me, watching my every move as I knelt before the dead deer and pulled my arrow out. The blood pooled around my legs, staining the beautiful meadow floor, making for a sad image among the refreshing flowers. I lifted it upon my shoulders, carful not to spill too much blood upon myself, and turned to look at the human. His blue eyes met mine and did not leave as I moved away toward the forest once more.

I shifted the deer on my back once more, trying to get a better position for something twice my size, as I reentered the cave that was my home. The cave was surrounded on all sides by rock, so that only when you looked at exactly the right spot would you see the entrance. Gaia's magical doing, of course. She made it so that the only people who could ever find it are those that she believed should. An adult would need to duck to get through the door but being eleven did have its advantages. I looked about, making sure that everything was in place. Our beds in the corner. The fire that somehow never caused the cave to fill with smoke in the center of the room. The medicines and poisons that we never used stashed in the cupboards. The weapons lying scattered about the floor as I left them.

I dropped the deer to the ground, in front of Gaia who "tended" the fire, though she seemed gazing at it so intensely that I feared that she would jump right in. Or fall asleep. Lately she had been getting worse and worse. Her once-proud shoulders where bent form exhaustion, her head almost always falling down toward her chest. She was so tired, I felt bad about not telling her to just go to sleep. I could take care of myself, fight, and have been taught to lead.

But I wanted her around. She was all the love I knew, except for Rhea who was hardly ever here. Of course, Gaia seemed to think we should marry and rule the world together, her sleeping away and waking when it is time to fight our enemies and me ruling all else. Honestly, the thought of marrying her was beyond strange; she was more of a mother then wife and, in fact, is my grandmother.

She looked up at me, her eyes not really seeing for a whole five seconds before her gaze turned sad. "It seems as if you shall have some help in the fight of yours with your father, does it not?"

I dropped into a sitting position next to her, stunned, I looked at her. "Do you plan to fight with me in the battle then? How will you stay awake?" She looked at me like I was crazy, before she seemed to realize what she had said and her eyes turned wide like the full moon. "Oh, you do not know. I forget things, at times, when I am tired. We shall wait. You will see soon. And when you do, I shall go to sleep once more, awakening only when your need, my sweet, is great."

A strange feeling filled every cell of my body then, like the lack of feeling before the pain after falling out of a tree, as I processed her words. Her forgetting things was not a shock, it has been going on for years now, and her keeping secrets was even less of a shock, but the fact that she was leaving so soon was horrifying. I knew she would sleep soon, but I have ignored that logic in my mind for a long time before she said those words. Now I knew our time was short. I would spend it wisely. I knew she had told me everything that she was willing to tell; now I wanted to spend time with her and hear he stories. Actually, I wanted to wring out the information from her, such as what in the name of the Fates was coming soon, but I knew it was useless. She would not tell a word.

So I looked up at her and asked, "Would you tell me the story of how you created the world again?" She smiled warmly as she looked at me, sighed, and began the tale.

Halfway through the part of the story were Gaia's children were thrown into pits, we heard her coming. Rhea.

I ran out the door, wanting to tell her the news. Gaia was leaving. But I saw something in her arms. A bundle of cloths. I heard enough of Gaia's stories about how I came to her to know what that was. A baby.

Rhea crouched low to the ground and looked me in the eyes. "This is for you, my love. You have to take care of him. Gaia cannot, not this time." I backed away shaking my head. How in the name of the Fates themselves would I take care of a baby? This was a topic we never breached in my lessons. "I…I….can't…I-"

"You must! Promise me you will do all you can to help him, to keep him safe, as long as you or your own children are not at risk, please! I do not have much time, just promise me by Gaia that you will! Will you not, please? I beg of you! You are the only one who could take care of him now!" There were tears in her eyes, her lips were trembling, and I knew I had to. It was only fair. I was well taken care of, why shouldn't he be too?

"I swear by those terms I shall take care of the baby, Mother. But-"

"Good! Thank you! I must go now, Kronos is waiting." She said, and then fled, running like the wind itself, carful not to attract attention by moving by the wind and mist, disappearing and using her powers. Another thing I was not taught, but for my own protection. Though how I would take care of a baby without finding a way to just disappear was beyond me.

I turned and returned to the cave, looking to tell Gaia what my new job was. To ask her what I needed to do. But she was right at the entrance, looking as strong as she was when I was five, looking down at me. "What shall you call him?" she asked me. I thought for a second, thinking of the tale she had just been telling me about how she and Uranus had once ruled the world. Uranus had been the sky, as blue and bright as the baby's eyes. "Zeus," I said, "Shining, sky, god. It's a good name."

"Yes." She said and smiled, "It will do."

And she vanished. Vanished into thin air.

And I was alone with a baby, in a cave, hiding from my evil farther and his armies, at eleven years old.

Oh, boy.