Guest: can't wait for the next update / You didn't have to :)
Guest: wow / Thanks
Jaylene Olebar: OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH that was funny keep it up please? / This one should be entertaining too...
love your story: I love Iapetus so much he's like the annoying brother, i love the fact that he likes to tease kronos. I personally love Kronos and Rhea's chemistry. I love the kids so much i think the Hades and Poseidon bromance is cool i wonder what will happen the Zeus comes along ?. Oh i wonder how Rhea will react to Chiron and Kronos and Iapetus... ummmm... / I figure that the Titans, after their childhood, would be really close and actually sort of like a family. When Zeus comes along... it'll be entertaining. Very, very entertaining. Rhea? Well, Chiron is the symbol of Kronos' infidelity... she's not gonna like it. As for Kronos and Iapetus? They're - obviously close - but... well. Just read on.
FanFiction'BoutPJIsLife: PHILYRA? Wasn't she... Chiron's mom? Don't remember.
Good chapter! And yes, I think little Poseidon has every reason to fear his father. 0.0 / Yes, she is his mom :).
JalynnCarchina: This is fucking amazing, keep up the good work! Haha, I laughed at a couple parts so hard I fell of the couch and started cursing; my family just looked at me. Lol / Thanks :). I figure there'd be a lot of amusing moments in Othrys...
RainbowSpark18: This just got even more interesting! Is the nymph Amphtrite? Love this story! Can't wait for the next chapter! :D / Nope, a different nymph :)
Lady of the Court of Dreams: I do not know if Kronos was happy (perhaps even a little proud of his son's intelligence) for Poseidon to consider him scary and fears him so much, or whether he was proud of himself for having succeeded in making the poor child like that. I honestly do not even know if I want to know.
Tartarus is scary. Poor Percabeth for having to remember that again.
And Nico, of course.
And what would Rhea think of that, eh? And, oh my God, the conception of Chiron is coming. How will the queen of the bed and "other things" of Kronos react to this? I'd rather not think too much about it. At least not now. But I hope the brothers like a little Chiron around. And may he be lovely, please.
Something that I find lovely, is the teasing among the children. Demeter and his cereal vs. Hades. Hades vs Hera. Poseidon vs. Hades/Hera. And poor Hestia trying to help the poor mother control them.
Bob to the rescue!
Ah, children. So innocent.
I do not believe Iapetus prayed to Ouranos, seriously. Does the guy have a death wish or something? But, ah, it was hilarious.
Now that I've finished reading all the chapters I needed (and without thinking about Rhysand, oh shit, I thought. But he's so amazing *passionate sigh*), I was very much without what to do. Translation: post soon. I want to see Kronos' ass get kicked by Oceanus.
Tchau! / He was surprised that Poseidon was so intelligent, and amused that Poseidon fears him and somehow is aware that he should fear Kronos. I think that Kronos would be able to keep Chiron's conception a secret until he's at least born... as for what happens then... :). The children probably wouldn't stop arguing in actual mythology... so why in mine? Iapetus decided he wanted a little entertainment.
Lady of the Court of Dreams (chapter 8): Hey! Look at me here again.
This chapter was ... intense. Who would have thought that the great and mighty Kronos, the Titan Lord of Time / King of the Universe, would try to kill himself when he was younger? I was shocked. But, oh, I was sad too. Tadinho. He was crippled by his own father, a tyrant. I was happy for Iapetus to be such a good brother. Now these flashbacks have left me curious about the next ones. We will have scenes of Kronus and Rhea during his youth? Please, yes. Or are we going to watch Kronus castrate and kill his father? Poor Poseidon, but please, too. I like to see that Kronos, as arrogant as he is, is not ashamed and speaks the truth to Poseidon, that he almost tried suicide.
Something that so many people would consider a weakness.
As Rhea said, "I have something perversely wrong with it," but I feel a father/son link from there. It is true?
Well, until next time. / I figure you have to fall before you can rise. Yes, we will have flashbacks of Kronos and Rhea in their youth. Yes, eventually we will see that castration and patricide. Kronos is very arrogant, but he knows it was in the past - he looks down on his past self as weak. :). Maybe it's true...
Lady of the Court of Dreams (chapter 7): I stayed a while without showing up around here. Sorry dear. But I was reading those books (Hunger Games and A Court of Mist and Fury), I was only concentrating on them, but now "I'm back, bitches!"
Oh my God! Kronos is so fun. I really like him now. And I love it when the Iapetus appears. He is one of my favorites, especially when he annoys Kronos. It's incredible. They even look like a family.
* Shuddering before re-reading the last line a few times *
Gods, I'm crazy. And it's your fault!
Rhea and Kronos are incredible. Too bad he's evil. The two are a terribly cute couple.
Especially when they're teasing each other. Leo and Percy are right: it's so fun. Although I think precisely because he is the villain who is so good. Give this ... amazing thing when the bad guy has a sharp tongue.
I also find hilarious / adorable / funny the effect she has on him. And it's nice to see that it's mutual.
I think that was all. I will comment on the other chapters as well. / Iapetus makes it a point to irritate Kronos, sort of like 'I know you're the King, but I'm still not taking any shit from you'. Rhea and Kronos are the ship of the billennium. They're opposite sides of one coin that keep each other in a balance.
Guest: Keep it up. And i absolutely love the Kronos and Rhea chemistry and of course Poseidon is just awesome ! / Their chemistry is very hard to get right. I figure that they really love each other, but Kronos makes it very hard for Rhea to be around him. Poseidon is generally just Poseidon :)
Chapter 10
The fight takes longer than usual.
It ends with Oceanus' sword at Kronos' throat, and a dagger pressed against Oceanus' crotch. Oceanus just smiles. "I'd rather lose a crotch than a head," he points out.
Apollo frowned. "I'd rather I didn't lose either."
Kronos smirks. "Are you sure Tethys would rather the same?"
"He has a point," Aphrodite said.
Oceanus snorts. "I'm sure she'd survive. As would I. You, however, unless you have somehow developed the ability to live without a head, will not." He withdraws the gleaming silver blade, switching it into an ice-pick grip and stepping back.
"Isn't his sword actually like a live serpent, dad?" Percy asked.
Poseidon grimaced. "Sometimes. It can solidify into a sword though, or a spear or any other weapon Oceanus wants it to."
Kronos sheathes his dagger somewhere beneath his armour. "I have many talents."
"But surviving decapitation isn't one of them," Oceanus says wryly.
"Obviously," Nico muttered.
Kronos glares at him. "How do you know that?"
Zeus raised an eyebrow. "Because no one can survive decapitation."
Oceanus raises an eyebrow and throws his arm over his little brother's shoulder. "Because I just do." Kronos opens his mouth to retort, but Oceanus quickly continues. "Stop arguing. I know best."
Percy snorted. "Bet Kronos will love that."
Kronos snorts. "You know nothing."
"Oh my gods, really?" Thalia exclaimed.
"Yet I still know best," Oceanus says brightly, laughing as he ducks Kronos' half-hearted answering punch. "Come on, little brother," he adds, snickering as Kronos actually tries to punch him this time.
"Oceanus is annoying him on purpose," Poseidon said in amusement.
"Don't call me that," Kronos snaps.
"Would you prefer me to call you Kro?"
Zeus spluttered. "Kro?" he asked incredulously.
The rest of their discussion is too quiet for Poseidon to hear as they disappear through the exit to the coliseum. A crack echoes around the stands as part of them crumble, the indent where Kronos had been smashed into them having weakened the marble.
Poseidon glances at his mother. "Kro?"
"Yes, please explain," Hera said with an amused smile.
Rhea smiles. "His old nickname, back when…" her smile becomes slightly sad. "When everything was easier."
"So a baby name?" Hades sums up.
"I so should have called him that," Percy said with a wide smile.
"Yes," Rhea admits, "but for rather obvious reasons we try to not call him that to his face."
"Mother," Poseidon says, "are you going to tell us now?"
Rhea turns to look at him, frowning lightly. "Poseidon, knowledge isn't always good for you."
"I know," Poseidon says, "but please?" He'd watched as Kronos had discussed it with Rhea, so he knew that they'd at least talked about it, as Kronos had promised.
She sighs. "We'll go to the mess," she murmurs. "Kronos said he's going to go down to the Mortal Plain with the other five today."
The six brothers, all going down. Poseidon wonders what they're doing. He nods. "So you're going to tell us?"
"Six males," Artemis said. "I wonder what they're going to be doing."
Hestia frowned. "I don't think Kronos would do that. He's been holding out for Rhea for four years."
"Maybe he's gotten tired of waiting," Apollo offered.
She reluctantly nods. "I think it's time."
"Tell us what?" Hera asks curiously.
Rhea grimaces slightly. "Everything," she says.
The mess is eerily quiet and empty once Rhea shuts the doors, the sounds of Othrys fading into the distance almost as if they're in their own little bubble.
"It's a long story," Rhea starts as they sit. "And you need to hear the details to really understand."
"We'll listen," Hades says firmly.
She smiles sadly. "I suppose it all really started when our father – Ouranos – crippled Kronos and-"
"How did he do that?" Hera blurts out.
"Maybe we'll finally hear the whole story," Demeter said.
Poseidon makes sure he doesn't open his mouth, somehow knowing that Rhea would be disappointed in him if he reveals that he already knew and hadn't told her.
"We spent much of the first few decades of our lives trying to avoid Ouranos' attention. Whenever he visited, he always alit upon one of the mountains, trying to see us. Usually we managed to get into a cave or underground before he could sense us, and our mother would mask us from him. Kronos didn't make it that one day before Ouranos arrived. Ouranos saw him, and the lightning strike crippled him. If Iapetus' hadn't been waiting for Kronos to return, he wouldn't have been able to shadow travel to him and save his life."
"She's deliberately being vague about the details," Zeus said.
"None of us realised then that Kronos would be changed that night. He spent four years being crippled, before Chaos himself answered our mother's pleas. Now, Chaos usually stays away as much as he can, preferring to sit back and watch everything unfold the way it will as designed by Ananke. So when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, we were all very surprised. Even more so when he offered to heal Kronos."
Jaws dropped around the throne room. "Why would Chaos do that?" Percy demanded. "If he usually stays away… why reappear just to heal Kronos?"
"Maybe he knew," Athena murmured, and at the blank looks she elaborated. "What Kronos would become. Maybe he was trying to limit the fall-out, showing Kronos that not all Primordials would cripple their own children."
Rhea took a deep breath. "One century later, Ouranos visited again. Chaos had berated him on his actions, so Ouranos opted to stay away for a while and allow everything to settle down – he should have left it far longer. Four months later, the Cyclopes were born. Ouranos hated them the moment he set eyes on them, and he cast them into the dark Pit, Tartarus. He then laid with Gaea again, all whilst our mother was furious with him. Again, three more sons were born. But they all had one-hundred arms, and fifty heads. This time, Kronos retrieved them first."
"Kronos tried to save them?" Zeus asked incredulously.
"What happened?" Poseidon asks. Kronos against Ouranos, a hundred years after he'd been crippled.
"Kronos hid them for several days before Ouranos found them. Kronos' strongest card back then was his speed and agility. When it came down to it, it was a simple matter for Ouranos to defeat him. Kronos tried to save them – to stop our father, but Ouranos was one of the strongest Primordials. It was then that we started realising how bitter Kronos had become, how much he loathed our father. Two centuries after that, when our mother gathered us together, she bade us to kill our father."
"And Kronos took the opportunity," Demeter said.
"And father volunteered," Hades adds.
Rhea nods. "Yes. He did. He took the scythe that mother had created and he practised. For weeks he'd rise at dawn and train. Sometimes through the night, and rarely did he eat, so intent on being able to defeat our father for the first time. The next time our father visited, Kronos, Hyperion, Iapetus, Krios and Koios grabbed him before he could lay with our mother. They caught him by surprise, holding him down. And Kronos cut him apart."
"I only heard what had truly happened many years later. Kronos had claimed that Ouranos was taken down before he uttered a word, and that is what most beings believe. But that's not true."
"What did he say?"
Rhea grimaces. "Do you want the exact translation?"
There's something in her tone that warns Poseidon, that what she'll say isn't going to be nice. But Poseidon nods nonetheless. "Yes please."
"The exact words," Athena murmured.
"Kronos," Rhea starts, "as you have done to me, so shall your own ichor do to you. Once everything has been built up, it will crumble down around you. You will watch as everything you will create will burn. Thus, I curse you, Kronos, to suffer the same fate as me – your own children will kill you."
Apollo whistled. "That's… I don't know if I hate Ouranos or Kronos more."
Instantly, Kronos' hatred of the five becomes clear. Poseidon is immensely surprised that Kronos hasn't kill them yet. "Why hasn't he killed us then?"
Rhea frowns slightly. "That I don't know," she admits. "But he tried to with Hestia when she was a mere three weeks old."
Poseidon's eyes widen and he spins to face his oldest sibling, who sinks down into her seat slightly at the attention. "He tried to kill you?" he splutters, remembering the Kronos from his fears last night.
Hestia nods. "Yes. But he stopped."
"But why?" Hera demanded. "Why didn't he?"
"What did you do?" Hades asks incredulously. "He hasn't tried to kill me or Poseidon yet, and we're the ones he'd probably want to kill."
Hestia hesitates. "I… I remember fire," she says uncertainly, glancing at Rhea.
Instantly, Hestia's head shoots up. "I don't remember that."
Rhea sighs. "The twelve of us were having a meeting in the throne room," she murmurs. "Kronos, he'd taken Hestia and she was on his lap," she smiles faintly, "he was at least making an effort then. He stopped paying attention to her to talk to Hyperion about something. Hestia didn't particularly enjoy that. She lost control – a three week old immortal with powers over fire."
"It was bad," Poseidon sums up.
Rhea nods. "Yes," she says sadly. "The fire mixed with the Greek fire torches. Even Hyperion could barely contain the blaze. Kronos realised how powerful you could be if you grew. So he tried to get rid of the risk to his throne."
Poseidon raised an eyebrow. "That must have been powerful if Hyperion could only just contain it."
"Why didn't he?" Hestia asks. "Why did he stop?"
Rhea shakes her head. "That I don't know," she admits. "He's never told anyone in the decade since then." She looks up at the ceiling high above them, thinking for several moments. "And that is why I say you're not to be in the same room as him."
"Take her advice," Zeus said. "Stay away from him, and none of you will die."
Mortal drinks are distasteful, Kronos decided. They lack the sweetness of nectar and taste like piss.
"So we're switching to his point of view?" Poseidon asked. "Why?"
"Maybe it's something important happening," Athena said.
Across from him, Hyperion is halfway through the process of persuading a pretty little mortal to bed him. As soon as they had entered the hut that served as a bar, Hyperion had located the prettiest mortals – male or female – and Kronos knew he'd stay until each of them had had the pleasure of having sex with a Titan Lord.
"Pleasure," Artemis echoed dangerously.
If only Rhea would decide she wanted the same.
Zeus snickered. "Please, continue refusing him, Mother. It's entertaining."
Four – Tartarus-damned – years. And she was still refusing.
He glowers accusingly into the ale, momentarily hoping that the alcohol would affect him as it did the mortals. Perhaps then he'd be able to think about having sex with a mortal, if only to stop thinking about Rhea for one single blasted second. Then he blinks – he never thought the day would come when he'd wish he was a mortal, one of the smelly little repulsive cockroaches that tear up his kingdom.
"Smelly?" Percy repeated.
"Little?" Nico growled.
"Repulsive," Thalia said. "I want to kill him again."
Iapetus drops himself into the seat opposite Kronos. "You look like you're enjoying yourself."
"Ah, I love Bob," Percy said with a faint smile.
Kronos glares at him, but pauses and looks over Iapetus' shoulder. Iapetus raises an eyebrow and turns, snorting in amusement when he sees the wicked grin on Hyperion's face as he leads a rather excited mortal out of the room. He turns back to Kronos. "Well, that's one down."
Kronos rolls his eyes and downs the rest of the ale. "Tastes like piss," he grumbles.
"Then don't have it," Apollo said.
Iapetus smiles in amusement. "Hence why we're not having any," he says.
Koios is sat in a corner of the room, watching Krios with dark eyes, following his every movement. One secret between the six of them – Krios and Koios have, on multiple occasions in their excursions down to the Mortal Plain, decided to have a little fun.
"They've had sex?" Aphrodite asked, raising an eyebrow.
Iapetus eyes Kronos before leaning forwards. "Your turn," he says with a wry smile, gesturing grandly to the several dozen mortals in the hut. "Take your pick. Titans not included."
"Iapetus is as much of a pig as the others," Artemis muttered.
Kronos scowls at his brother. "I'm good."
Iapetus huffs. "Kronos, have sex. You need it – now."
Kronos grits his teeth. "Iapetus."
"Kronos," Iapetus says, "just have sex. Relax."
"Really, Iapetus?" Hades asked. "And I was thinking you were reasonable for a Titan."
"No."
His brother groans. "Kronos! Sweet Chaos, just do it."
Kronos eyes Iapetus, a thoughtful expression that instantly has Iapetus on guard forming on his face. "Alright," he says finally, "but you're on the bottom."
"Did Kronos just suggest…" Percy trailed off, unable to form any words.
"Incest is everywhere!" Leo exclaimed.
Iapetus' eyes widen for a brief moment, and then he's grinning. "You sure? I'm pretty sure I remember that you enjoyed being the bottom in the past." For the first time in several centuries, Iapetus has the pleasure of seeing a speechless Kronos. He smirks. "No Titans. Mortals only," he says as he stands.
"Kronos and Iapetus have… oh gods," Annabeth muttered. "Why?"
Kronos groans after him. "But mortals have no stamina!"
"That's his reason?" Hera demanded.
Iapetus just shakes his head and moves off through the crowd, casually eyeing one certain mortal with an expression that Kronos knows means that Iapetus has chosen his target.
"No, Iapetus!" Percy exclaimed. "You're supposed to be a good Titan!"
Oceanus has already disappeared off, probably with a mortal in tow. Krios is still busy with Koios, although the two are nowhere in sight.
"Probably having a little entertainment," Apollo mused.
Kronos eyes the dregs of his ale before sighing and sending it skidding away along the splintered wooden table.
"Hello," a voice greets, "I didn't expect to see you here, My Lord."
"An immortal?" Zeus asked. "What are they doing there?"
Kronos considers hitting whoever it is over the head. He raises an eyebrow, seeing the hereditary black hair and sea blue eyes of their bloodline. "You're an oceanid," he muses – the eye colour gave it away. "What are you doing so far from the sea?"
"An oceanid?" Athena asked.
She offers him a coy smile. "I was intrigued," she admits. "I'm Philyra."
Utter silence falls around the throne room. Chiron's eyes widen. "My mother," he said to those who didn't recognise the name.
"Huh, would you look at that," Poseidon mused, "Chiron is actually older than Zeus too."
Zeus scowled at his brother. "Maybe not. Immortals can change the length of their pregnancies."
"Evidently, you know who I am," he says wryly, tilting his head to the side. "What makes you so intrigued?"
The daughter of Oceanus shrugs. "You seem lonely," she murmurs. "I don't suppose I can change that?"
"I think you can," Apollo smirked. "Rhea's not gonna be happy."
"If she even finds out," Hades said. "But Kronos seems to be good at keeping secrets."
It takes under ten minutes for Philyra to arouse his curiosity. And a total of nearly two hours before the two steal away from the crudely built inn, intending to find some privacy. Yet, it takes Rhea only thirty more minutes to come storming after him, the ground cracking and rumbling in tune with her annoyance.
"In the myth didn't she suspect something and come after Kronos and Philyra?" Annabeth asked. "Kronos turned them into horses to avoid her."
Chiron nodded. "Yes. That's what happened."
Kronos ignores the smug little smile Iapetus gives him when he trots back into Othrys at nightfall.
"Iapetus knows," Thalia said.
"Ten drachma says Kronos keeps it secret until Chiron turns up," Apollo said suddenly.
"I'm not taking that bet," Hermes stated.
"Trots?" Athena asked. "Evidently, he and Philyra once again had to hide from Rhea."
As the end of the moon phase draws ever closer, Rhea becomes tenser than usual. Poseidon is learning suspiciously fast, and Rhea assumes Kronos is somehow involved, but she leaves it. Hades is close behind Poseidon, having a natural ability to dream-walk eerily alike to Iapetus' ability.
Hestia is able to protect her mind, but she cannot dream-walk like her brothers. Hera and Demeter struggle to even protect their mind, being distracted with the smallest of movements or sounds.
So Rhea resigns herself to doing what Kronos wants, knowing that it was fair – or as fair as Kronos would ever make it.
She waits until late evening to approach the smug bastard, putting it off as long as possible. "It's the last day of the moon phase," she says. "So what do you want?"
He smirks, studying her thoughtfully before answering. "You'll be spending the night with me," he says simply, eyes narrowing slightly. "Not with the five brats."
"And thus," Demeter said, "Zeus will be conceived."
A double update? Yeah. I finished this yesterday in my mad writing-spree.
Preview for chapter 11: (It's not yet got the part from the gods in it, but otherwise the preview's what will be in the actual chapter)
He sighs, moving forward out of the shadows with a litheness that's eerily similar to the Kronos that Poseidon knows. Instantly, Poseidon realises when this is happening – after Kronos has killed Ouranos and now he rules the earth. "Othrys bores me," he declares. "Your backside does not."
Rhea rolls her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?"
And:
She feels him make the biggest smirk yet. "Perhaps," he murmurs, his hands moving further down her. "Yet the only ass I will be concerned with tonight is yours, my love."
Rhea huffs. "You're impossible," she breathes, before pulling him down towards her slightly – inwardly cursing the height difference between them – and kisses him back. Maybe she'd humour him tonight, she muses. He wasn't the only one who had been missing their past intimacy.