Zeus
I had only the smallest shard of consciousness remaining, not enough to keep me fighting, not enough to realize I was dying, but enough to alert me to the fact that something strong and warm had gripped me around the waist and I was steadily rising instead of slowly but surely falling. I let my head loll back against a human chest, wanting to help my savior by kicking my legs or waving my arms again, but the icy fingers of death had their firm grip on my throat and would not let go, rendering me weaker than a lamb. For some strange reason, as I felt death's cold breath on my face an image of Hades scowling found its way into my mind and showed itself on the inside of my eyelids. A small smile flit around my lips; Hades was a gloomy boy, but why would I associate him with death? I didn't hate him. He was my brother and, quite the opposite, I loved him.
Suddenly I felt my head burst above the water and I had the faint thought that I could take a breath now if I wanted to, but I still couldn't, somehow, and why bother when this blackness had almost succeeded in completely enveloping me? And then there was the warm body I was pressed against, the one bringing me out of the water. Suddenly I was no longer in water but had been lifted into the arms of this mysterious person and was being carried. As soon as we were completely out of the water I was placed on solid ground and my strange savior was pressing on my chest, trying to make me breath. And then all of a sudden I could feel water rising from somewhere in my chest, coming up to my mouth faster and faster as the figure trying to make me breathe again pushed down. In one abrupt moment the liquid was in my mouth and it was all I could do not to gag. I opened my mouth to let the flow of liquids pass, and when it was completely gone I took a deep, shuddery breath, was racked with coughs, and then fell still. But there had been a very big change, even if my savior didn't think so and kept on trying to revive me: The breath was flowing through me again, if not smoothly and deeply. I made an effort to take in a big enough breath so this new person would hear, and then let it out as smoothly as I could. As hard as I had tried, though, it came out sounding like a rattle and I was racked with coughs once again. Pulling me into a sitting position, this new, mysterious person pressed their – his! – mouth against mine in order to help me breathe easily again. After repeating this embarrassing feat a few times, he was satisfied that my breaths were deep enough and regular, and laid my head back against the ground.
Taking in a huge breath, I beat back the last waves of unconsciousness that lapped at my ankles. Letting it out calmly, I slowly opened my eyes, propped myself on an exhausted elbow that barely took my weight, and looked around. It was the first time I realized that I was naked. Demeter, Hestia, Hades and Poseidon were too, of course; where could we possibly have gotten clothes? But I blushed until my whole face was pink to be around people who noticed and cared. The second thing I saw were my siblings: Demeter had been laid on a towel and was covered with a cloth, breathing deeply but unconscious. Hades lay beside her in the same condition, shivering. Hestia was the worst off, however; she was propped up against a wall, sitting on a soft towel and covered with a similar cloth to those Hades and Demeter wore to cover themselves, but her eyes were closed, her breathing ragged, and she was shuddering every time the water touched her, lapping gently at her bare feet. Poseidon was a very different matter: He was standing tall and proud, hands on hips and surveying the water with satisfaction, almost as though he wanted to leap back in. His eyes were wide open and his breathing was completely normal. He had been made to wear a simple tunic with a belt-strap to keep it attached to his bulky, muscular body.
The third thing I noticed made me gasp with incredulity: At my feet, on his knees, looking at me with genuine concern posed the man who had saved me. Strapped to his back was a quiver full of thunderbolts, and I knew he could use them, too. He was wearing a tunic very much like the one Poseidon had been given, but his was a light blue and embroidered with small yellow thunderbolts around the edges. It reached his knees and the start of his shoulders, therefore not revealing the muscular chest I knew was beneath it. The tunic was dry, which meant he had just put it on, which meant he'd taken it off to save me, which meant he'd been as naked as I was then and there when he pulled me out of the water. I bushed deeper.
The man's hair was dark and wavy, reaching down to the place where Nike's wings sprout, and he had tied it back into a horse-tail using a simple yellow band. He had a very slight beard that did not grow past his chin, a long but majestic nose, and a mouth with full lips that pulled into a smile of relief when I sat up. His eyes were a deep, deep blue of the sky, seeming to reflect clouds and the power that a Lord of the Skies could possess. And he was Lord of the Skies, he was Lord of Everything. He was my savior, he was a hero, he was my siblings' savior, and he was my third brother. He filled the gap in our circle and suddenly I felt a power unlike any I had ever felt before. We could defeat our father together, and we could rule together in our parents' places.
'Here, you might want this,' my brother pointed out to me with a mischievous grin, pulling a blood red tunic embroidered with golden apples around the edges that he had pulled from a pile. 'Golden apple for the most beautiful of all,' he whispered to me, leaning in close so only I would hear. 'Have you heard the tale?'
My heart was beating so fiercely as he was so near me that I wanted to say, 'Yes!' and talk to him about it, but all I could say, truthfully, was, 'I didn't hear much of anything while living in Cronos's stomach,' sarcastically. For some reason my brother laughed at that, throwing back his gorgeous head and whipping his dark hair backward. When he looked down at me again his eyes were twinkling. He reached down a hand to fondly brush one dripping strand of my light brown hair behind an ear. My heart felt as though it would explode at that pleasing touch, and I wanted to catch his passing fingers and hold them. But I didn't; even Goddesses have inhibitions.
'I'm sorry I couldn't rescue you sooner,' my brother said, turning away from me to talk to all of us, every last drenched one of us. 'I would have if I could have. And if I could do it all over again I would make sure it wasn't so messy.' I smiled at that, looking around at the small lake that had been created. But the only other one to smile was Poseidon, as Demeter, Hades and Hestia were in no fit state. 'I think you should know, too, that we can't die,' he continued, throwing me a look as though he knew that was what I thought had been happening to me while I nearly drowned. 'We can experience pain and we can be hurt, but dying is out of our reach. So you have nothing to fear.' Can't die? I reflected to myself. Then that meant…'Our parents were Titans, and we are Gods.' Gods…I was a Goddess? 'But the Titans are our tyrants and they claim to rule over us. Let's teach them better. Let's show them what happens when they mistreat their own children this way!' Poseidon let out a cheer, thrusting his right arm toward the heavens, and it brought the rest of my siblings back to consciousness like a cure. Hestia spit out some water and looked alive, Hades' cheeks looked a little fuller, and Demeter's curls bounced again. I wanted to cheer too, cheer for our brother, but there were still doubts that bit at my heels like pursuing hounds.
Where was our heroic brother while we suffered? Why was he not swallowed, too? Had our mother Rhea cared more for him than for us, the rest of her children? Was he even our brother? And how were we supposed to defeat our parents? They were much, much stronger! And once the Titans were defeated…Who would rule? But that much I knew; it was obvious that our new brother wanted to be the King after Cronos was put down, and I knew none of us would begrudge him the position after all he had done for us. Looking across the small expanse of water for the first time, I saw a massive figure, easily towering over us, standing on the other bank, watching us resentfully. His features were twisted with hate and fear, as though he wanted to rip our hearts out for even thinking of overthrowing him. And every beat my heart pounded out was out of hatred for him. For our so called father who had swallowed us, only caring for himself and nothing for his children. Why have children at all, then? Beside this giant I could see our mother, Rhea, with her long dark hair and her concerned smile. She pretended to look at us in horror as Cronos was doing, but I knew she loved us. And I would regret what we had to do to her.
Suddenly overcome by another question, I turned toward the man after putting on the new tunic and demanded, 'Who are you anyway?' Immediately after the words left my impertinent mouth, I wanted to grab at them and stuff them back. Gulping, I watched him for signs of hatred. But he simply laughed again.
'Ah, my courageous sister! I am, of course, your youngest brother, son of Cronos,' he spat out the word as though it were poison, 'and Rhea,' he finished, softening. 'I was raised in secret for the purpose of getting revenge on our father. And my name is Zeus,' he added as an afterthought. All suspicions thrust aside, I stood up and walked over to stand beside him.
'Hera,' I told him, looking him straight in his marvelous eyes. 'My name is Hera.' I was only slightly shorter than him, but I felt a little ridiculous all the same, wearing that tunic, which barely reached below my knees. How improper! Whoever had made it intended it for someone shorter than I was. But, his eyes crinkling up in laughter again, Zeus reached down and pulled at the hem of the tunic, his eyes sparkling with mischief.
'It fits you just right,' he told me, keeping a straight face. Then his mouth twitched and he exploded into laughter again, my melodious, tinkling laugh joining his deep below. Slowly my other siblings raised themselves from their vulnerable positions and stood up on wobbly, uncertain legs to join us.
'Poseidon,' my brother told Zeus, patting him on the back, his whole face smiling.
'Hades,' my solemn older brother informed him, reaching out a hand to shake.
'Hestia,' my mysterious older sister announced feebly, walking over to Zeus.
'Demeter,' my favorite sister said, weakly, her curls bouncing as she walked but her voice a bit more subdued than usual. I watched helplessly as Zeus' eyes swept over Demeter's graceful figure approvingly, and something was triggered behind them. I felt a nauseating feeling pricking at my insides, something unpleasant. But as soon as Zeus turned his bright blue eyes on me, it melted. Everything melted.
'And brave, outspoken Hera, fighting to the very end for what is right,' Zeus whispered to me, only me, briefly taking my fingertips in his and then letting them drop. Every beat my heart thudded out was now for the love of him, not for the hate I felt toward my father. Zeus, Zeus, Zeus…'You will fight alongside me, with me, until the last moment, until the last breath leaves your body?' he asked, again addressing only me. I nodded vigorously, then turned my eyes, mimicking his, toward Cronos on the opposite bank. 'Good. Do I have all of your pledges of allegiance to me?' he clarified. Every one of us let out a raucous, 'But of course!' and then we jumped into the water following glorious Zeus, even Hestia who hated water. We swam for all we were worth toward the opposite bank, toward our father and a victory we hoped was ensured.