It was morning when we arrived. The area where we landed was not random; Cronus had chosen it as the base of our dominance. It was the residence of the person who, at that time, played boss of the planet of mortals. It was a large, white, rectangular shaped building with many vertical windows, which also were rectangular shaped. The main entrance included a triangular shaped canopy supported by four pillars. On the building's roof, there was a protruding pole, which a flag was waving on. It was white, with red stripes, and, in its top left corner, it had a blue square with white stars. The aforementioned building was located in a green garden, behind a cluster of poppies, above which one could see a spurt of fountain water. The garden was surrounded with black, iron bars.

'This is our new home. How do you like it?' Cronus said with a smile of pleasure.

'Whatever,' Aphrodite said indifferently.

Cronus moved forward, with me and Aphrodite following him. He entered the garden by pushing down the iron bars as if they were sugar canes!

The guards that saw this were shocked! I felt terror in their hearts! Nevertheless, a group of guards ran towards us. They were dressed in black uniforms and hoods of the same color. They aimed their rifles at us. 'Freeze!' one of them yelled strictly.

Cronus smiled sadistically. The next moment, he had gone behind the guard who had shouted and penetrated his heart with his fist! He pulled back his incorruptible arm (which, of course, the guard's blood rolled off, leaving it spotless) and pushed away the body of the practically dead guard. The rest of the soldiers, after staying still for a moment because of an excusable feeling of horror, started shooting furiously all three of us. My immortal ears were barraged with noise.

I started evading every bullet with my inconceivable speed. In my own, superior eyes, the bullets looked like they were moving in slow motion! The fraction of a fraction of a second during which all this was happening was, from my perspective, ample time to dodge everything effortlessly!

Cronus also was evading every single bullet coming at him. At the same time, he was killing the security guards, one after another, in various ways: He penetrated one's stomach, twisted another's neck, cut off another's arm and, then, used it as a sword to pierce his heart, fired a blast at another and, then, let him burn alive!

As for Aphrodite, she had opted to simply stay still with her arms crossed and let the bullets ricochet off her indestructible body.

When there were only two guards left, Cronus grabbed their heads and smashed them together! Next, he let the two headless bodies fall down.

We resumed moving forward. As we were approaching the entrance, some snipers on the roof started firing. 'Drop dead!' Cronus yelled in annoyance. He raised his index and middle fingers and made a quick signal in front of his face. With that gesture of his, the snipers fell off the roof and died either by telepathic strangulation or by cardiac arrest.

We entered the building. Soon, its interior had got stained with the blood of the guards we met as we strolled through the corridors, searching for the 'boss'.

On every turned on television of the planet, every image was replaced by the following broadcast: A close up of Cronus. He had a smile that revealed his megalomania. His archaic outfit was now supplemented by a laurel wreath on his head. (It had suddenly occurred to him that it was a nice symbol of power.) 'Greetings, mortals,' he began. 'Don't bother trying to fix your devices or changing channel, for this is the broadcast on all channels right now. Before me, there are no cameras or microphones or anything like that. The current broadcast is merely a result of the power of my will. Don't try to understand this; it's beyond your comprehension.'

Cronus paused, letting his words sink in. 'Pardon my rudeness; I haven't introduced myself yet. I am Cronus, a creature beyond anything that your limited, mortal minds can conceive. From now until forever, I am your supreme ruler. Yourselves as well as all future generations will exist merely for one reason: to be my slaves, my property, my toys. There is no limit to what I can do to you. If I decide to force you to work day and night to build me a monument, I'll do it. If I decide to slaughter a few thousands of you or level a city just because I got up on the wrong side of the bed, I'll do it.'

He paused once more, getting an insane smile. 'You don't believe anything I said. Am I right?' he asked rhetorically. 'Well, maybe this will convince you.'

Cronus stepped back to show the people where he was. Behind him, there was a desk with a man tied to the chair. He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt and a red tie. He had short, white hair and a handsome face. Or, it would be handsome if it was not full of scars and swellings caused by the brutal blows that Cronus had dealt to him.

At each side of him, there was a pole with a flag attached to it. The flag to the left looked the same as the one we had seen outside, on the top of the building. The flag to the right depicted, against a dark blue background, an eagle with white feathers on its head and brown ones on the rest of its body. The greatest part of its torso was covered by an emblem the same design as the flag to the left. In one talon, it was holding an olive branch and, in the other, a bundle of arrows. It was surrounded by white stars.

Further behind, there were large windows with crimson curtains. Aphrodite was standing, with her hands behind her back and touching the window and her head turned, and gazing indifferently outside. I was standing next to her, with my arms crossed, looking at the floor.

Cronus went behind the tied up man and, looking at the immaterial lens, started slapping him on both cheeks in a sarcastically friendly manner. 'Do you recognize him?' he asked the spectators in the same manner. 'He's your president, you gooses. Of course you recognized him right away!'

He looked at him. 'Come on, mister president. Say your piece,' he asked, keeping up his sarcastically friendly expression.

After coughing (as a result of the ordeal he had gone through), the malformed president looked at the immaterial lens and began: 'Don't be fooled by the human appearance of those three creatures around me. They're monsters! They bypassed all the security systems, killed my guard and effortlessly reached my office. From now on, this building will be their palace and the whole planet will be their property. Nobody must ever doubt their power. For your own good, always let them do whatever they want.'

After coughing once more, the president raised his eyes to Cronus. 'Okay, dude, I said everything you asked me to. Untie me now,' he besought.

With a creepy chuckle, Cronus grabbed the president's neck. The man's eyes bulged. 'But… but…' he said, terrified. 'You said that… if I said those things, you'd… let me go. You swore to God!'

'I am God!' Cronus yelled. Twisting the president's neck, he ripped his head off! The headless, tied up body tried to convulse before calming down once and for all. Cronus moved forward and extended the arm he was holding the amputated head with. 'This is your president. Admire him,' he said and burst into laughter.

He turned around for a moment and threw the head outside, breaking the window in the process of course. He turned to the immaterial camera again. 'Anyway, let's forget about the EX president. Time to introduce my family to you.'

He walked towards Aphrodite and stopped next to her. 'This is my sister, Aphrodite.' Next, he leaned towards the camera, cupped his hand around his mouth and said in a low voice, 'Just between us, she's a little nerdy.' Aphrodite turned her head and sighed in annoyance, raising her eyes to the ceiling. Cronus laughed mischievously. Next, he got serious again.

He walked towards me and stopped right next to me. 'And this is our mother, Gaia. A creature that exists since the dawn of time.' I did not react.

'And now, a request to all armies,' Cronus continued. 'Don't make the mistake of attacking us. It is not only futile, since none of your ridiculous weapons, mortals, can do us any harm, but also idiotic, since not even one soldier will leave alive afterwards.'

Myself and my two offsprings settled into our new rooms. Every one of us chose a room with a fireplace, a chandelier and walls with paintings depicting beautiful landscapes or white haired men with ludicrous hairstyles and dressed in clothes from older eras.

My own room had red walls, a white carpet with complex designs and red chairs with brown contours. The room that Cronus had selected had green walls, a carpet of the same color with complex designs and red chairs. Lastly, the chamber that Aphrodite preferred was circular, with a white wall, a blue carpet with complex designs and chairs of the same color with golden contours and embroidery designs of golden symbols.

Meanwhile, everywhere on the planet, pandemonium prevailed. All newsflashes in the world were talking about 'the mysterious, pirate broadcast on all channels in the world', 'the tragic assassination of the president by three terrorists', 'the psychopath in an archaic outfit and the two female nudists' etc The city where the ex president's former (and, at that time, our) palace was located had got deserted. The residents of all other cities in the world also were massively abandoning their homes in a state of panic, as if it mattered whether they were there or anywhere else. (How stupid mortals are.)

A couple of times, powerful police forces attacked our palace, but, of course, they all died horribly at the hands of Cronus.

So, here I was, sitting on a chair in my room, with my wonderful legs sensually crossed, and reading. Suddenly, I sensed military forces approaching. Of course! I had expected this would happen!

Cronus burst in, dragging Aphrodite behind him by her arm. 'Mom, did you feel that?' he asked rhetorically with a creepy expression of enthusiasm. 'The army decided to show their indescribable idiocy as well and attack us.'

Without taking my eyes off my read, I shrugged indifferently. 'Let them do it,' I said. 'Even if they level the building, we can rematerialize it exactly as it is. And, of course, ourselves, we shall not get harmed by their arms.'

'Not a chance, mother,' Cronus said with disapproval. 'Since they had the unbelievable stupidity to come here, they have to pay for it. Let's go outside!'

'Leave me alone, Cronus,' an unwilling Aphrodite protested.

Cronus turned to look at her. 'No, you'll come too,' he said, laughing. Aphrodite sighed in boredom.

The three of us exited the building. We saw that we were surrounded by tanks in various colors and shapes, which had arrived there demolishing buildings in their way. Thanks to my superior hearing, I heard the general's command.

Immediately, all tanks began firing. The place was drowned in flares, smoke and deafening noise. This went on for a long time. I could feel in the hearts of the poor soldiers the certainty that they had obliterated us; it seemed inconceivable to them that any living thing could survive something like that. Nevertheless, they had not ceased firing. They did not intend to stop before running out of ammunition.

Finally, after a period that seemed endless, they ceased firing. They stayed still, looking and waiting for the smoke to dissipate, sure that nothing was left of us. When visibility started getting restored, I sensed in the soldiers' hearts the greatest terror that a creature can feel! Of the palace and the garden, absolutely nothing was left. However, the three of us were standing there, as if nothing had happened! Cronus was standing a little ahead of us, with his arms crossed and a provocative smile.

Soon, though, his expression turned into an annoyed one, when he remembered something important: His clothes and laurel wreath were not as durable as his body! 'Fuck! I'm nude. This is so humiliating!' he yelled. 'Those assholes are gonna pay!'

After rematerializing on his body the same clothes and wreath as before, he raised himself in the air. The pupils and the sclera of his eyes were replaced by a red, glowing light. 'Since you haven't realized what you're up against yet, I'll make you realize it,' he yelled in an eerily distorted voice that resonated as if there were huge loudspeakers around.

With a signal of his, all tanks in the front row exploded. The rest of the tanks started turning around, with their drivers desperately trying to escape.

Cronus dove towards them. He grabbed one of the tanks by its gun and hurled it at another one, making both of them explode. He proceeded to the destruction of the rest, slowly and sadistically. He was having a blast.

Myself and Aphrodite, we were just standing and gazing indifferently, me with my arms crossed and Aphrodite with her arms behind her back. At some point, my daughter turned and looked at me. 'Boys are terribly immature. Right, mother?' she asked me. I sighed.

Over the following days, mortals made more attempts to destroy us, first via bombardment, next with a nuclear bomb. After every attempt, we would rematerialize the palace and the garden. And, of course, as Cronus had promised in his announcement, after every attempt, no soldier would leave alive. Little by little, mortals started accepting their fate.

'Mommy?'

'What is it, honey?'

'Tell me we will never be apart.'

'We will never be apart.'

I woke up. I had had that damned dream again. Every time I fell asleep, that memory would surface, that promise I had made to Uranus so long before, the promise that we would be together forever.

And, then, I realized that Uranus was there! He was standing in front of the incorruptible cloud bed that I had materialized in the center of my chamber. Had he come here all the way from the planet of immortals? He was standing and looking at me with his eyes wet, with the same expression he had the previous time I had seen him. That expression which I could not stand, which shattered my heart! 'Mommy, why did you do that to me?' he asked. 'You had said we would never be apart…'

He lowered his head, closed his eyes, clenched his fists and burst into sobs. 'My Uranus,' I tried to say tenderly, but, to my surprise, I realized that my lips were not moving and my voice was not coming out.

I tried to get up, to go towards him, but I could not move. My eyes roamed around the room. Everything was… blurry. Of course! I had not woken up yet! I was in a state of sleep paralysis. You know, when your brain has woken up but your body is still asleep, so your nervous system does not obey and you cannot move.

I started to make desperate attempts to fully awaken, to move, to talk to Uranus, to go close to him. No matter how hard I tried, though, my body remained asleep. My nerves would just not comply.

Meanwhile, Uranus would ask again and again. His sorrow was echoing in my ears, making my failed attempts to wake up even more distressing: 'Why, mommy? Why? Tell me, why?'

Finally, I did it. I woke up! With an abrupt movement and a small cry, I sat up. My vision was fully restored. I looked forward. Nothing! Uranus had never come there. It had just been my imagination while I was in sleep paralysis.

Uranus had not come! Nor would he! And it was all my fault! And yes, that moment was a moment of clarity! I remembered the atrocities I had seen Cronus commit lately. Then, I remembered the more distant past, Uranus, that angelic creature. How could I do that to him? What was I thinking? I meant the whole world to that crystally pure child. I was the source of his happiness. Yet I abandoned him. And let Cronus, that despicable creature, cripple the poor kid! As simple as that, as shameless as that!

I got up, even though it was still long before dawn. I knew there was no way I could fall asleep again that night.

I flew out of the palace. I took a flying tour above the city. Everything was deserted. All the buildings were either ruined or decaying. I landed on the roof deck of one of the few buildings that were still standing (even though, of course, they were abandoned). I gazed at the grim spectacle of the ghost city. The night sky was cloudy. It started drizzling.

Why did I feel so bad? What was happening to me? It had been supposed to be nice to come to that planet to carry out Cronuses plans, to dominate, to terrorize. Then why did I feel like that? Why couldn't I sleep peacefully at night? That wasn't the way things had been supposed to be! Everything was so confused…

The rain had begun becoming more intense. And so had my contemplation. When a mortal feels lost, as I felt at that moment, they place their hope in religion, in the non existent god they perceive as existent. Myself, though, I knew that all this was nonsense. I knew that I was the supreme being. I knew there was nothing superior to me to turn to for the answers I sought. Wait a minute… If I truly was the supreme being, I would not feel the need to turn to something superior!

The rain had got really heavy. A thunder was heard. Some religions of mortals believe in a god timeless, in other words, a god that has existed forever. No matter how absurd this sounds! Myself, though, I have not existed forever… I started having consciousness a certain moment. Can… can that thing the religions of mortals teach be true? Can there truly be a timeless being that created me?

I raised my eyes to the clouds, ignoring the downpour. I was in tears. 'Where are you?' I screamed to the supposed god. 'If you exist, show yourself. I need answers.'

Nothing! Absolutely nothing… 'SHOW YOURSELF, DAMMIT.'

I burst into sobs. I fell to my knees and let out an inarticulate scream. The mud formed by the rain could not dirty my incorruptible body, but the rainwater had drenched me. Of course, this was the last thing I cared about at that moment.

I felt despair. I did not have the mental strength to scream anymore. 'Please…' I said weakly between my sobs. 'Please, god… help me.'

If what mortals perceive as a god exists, why, when I was in that condition, didn't it do anything to help me?

'Because you already know what you must do. It is your choice to torment yourself,' I answered myself in a low voice. I widened my eyes. I had said those words almost unconsciously! Almost… as if another force had made them come out of my mouth!

Right after that, my expression changed, it became dark. Unfortunately, my dark side prevailed once more… 'Pfft, this is nonsense,' I murmured dismissively.