AN: Quick heads up, folks. The spar between Zeus and Beerus has been moved to the start of next chapter. The reason why, is because my mind is drawing a bit of a blank midway through it. After the party for my results was grand, but I ended up catching a severe case of hay-fever the day after that was way too annoying to deal with as I wrote it. Kept sneezing my lungs out on the screen, which was disgusting, and having my increasingly red eyes running like mad. I still kinda am, to be honest. Because of it, I've decided to cut it off where I did and removed the unfinished spar to rework it into the next chapter, since I can't focus properly. Apologies for the change again, and the tardiness due to my bad luck, but worry not. I'll be bringing out the next one at the end of the month. Gonna try and get this fic into a more regular schedule, if I can.
The Olympian God of Destruction:
Chapter 10: The Titanomachy III
Demeter looked up as soon as she noticed the familiar light her mother had exuded before quickly coalescing around the space in front of her. Her Olive-brown eyes blinking as the light faded away into particles like it had done before, leaving the figures of her mother, and her eldest brother by her side. The former's hand resting on the latter's shoulder as she threw a smile her way.
"I'm back." The mother announced a good deal more jubilantly than before. "And I've brought your big brother with me, as you can see."
"Oh, Beerus." Demeter smiled a little more lightly, though there was still an apologetic air around her. "Sorry if I interrupted your training."
"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Beerus sighed, just glad to have a break away from Gaea and her annoying teasing for the time being.
"I'll just stand over here and watch. Let me know if you need me." Rhea told him with a nod that he returned, as she stepped out of the way and further to the side.
He then stepped forward and sat down in front of his younger sister, with his legs crossed as he folded his arms atop them. "So then, I hear you're having trouble focusing properly, is that right?"
"Yeah…" The younger sister rubbed her head awkwardly, giving him a sheepish look. "I'm not slacking off, though. I am trying to, it's just…"
"You're not very good at it." Beerus finished for her, getting a nod from the blonde beauty. The purple-haired fledgling god didn't even look the least bit surprised by it, either. "Hmph. I suppose I should've expected that. Even when we were trapped inside of that bastard's stomach, I did notice offhandedly that you had a tendency to have your head wander off somewhere else more often than not."
"It really was that noticeable, huh?" Demeter bowed her head even more embarrassed now, despite having known herself this to be true, and that her siblings most likely knew too.
"Yes. It was." Beerus didn't even try to deny it. Why bother? They wouldn't get anywhere beating around the bush. "To be fair though, I can't say I blame you for doing it at the time. Better to keep your mind occupied with something else than think about where you were, I suppose. However, it looks that's become a habit of yours now, one that's a detriment to you now that we're out of there and in training."
"Sorry…" Demeter bowed her head further in apology, and Beerus frowned while narrowing his eyes sternly at her.
"Stop apologizing, Demeter. I came here to give you some assistance, not to hear you feel sorry for yourself. And that's exactly what I intend to do, so don't say that to me again. Got it?"
"O-Okay. Understood." The blond bobbed her head in agreement. Her face showing some nervousness as she caught her elder brother's hard gaze. "I'll do my best!"
"Better." He gave a short nod of approval, but nothing else. "Now then, I assume at least that you've felt your inner power? Even if you haven't yet harnessed it?"
"U-Uhm..." Demeter couldn't help but look away, her self-conscious expression alone telling him all he needed to hear, and he found himself giving an even deeper sigh for it.
"Seriously? You haven't even felt your power yet?" This was turning out to be worse than he thought. To not be able to harness her inner power like the others could primitively was one thing, but to have not yet even felt it? That was something he'd done within his first day being in this world, and he didn't doubt the rest of their siblings had done in their first days of training by the sounds of what Rhea had told him. "What exactly did our mother tell you to do?"
"W-Well, she told us to kneel and then close our eyes, and once we did, pay no mind to the world around us. To just focus our attentions inward," She said, while pointing nervously at her own chest and avoiding her brother's unimpressed stare. "and she said that by focusing deep inside ourselves, we'd find and be able to feel our inner power."
That sounded about right. And yet, Demeter had managed to go a few whole days now without accomplishing that. This was bordering on straight up incompetence now, and that was unacceptable. A small part of him, and he meant small, wanted to be a little lenient with her, given that when he was first being taught about his own ki way back when, it'd taken him some time to feel it out as well. A full day, if he remembered right. That was still much less egregious than her situation though, as he'd still done it by the end of that day, while she was still falling short of this several days later from when she would've started on it.
Time to try and rectify this, I guess. Beerus thought. Let's see if I can't get her up to speed.
"Okay," he leaned forward with a serious expression. "Demeter, I want you to sit how I'm sitting, first."
"O-Oh, right…" Demeter, though looking a bit perplexed, agreed without fuss and did as she was asked, mirroring her brother's way of sitting. If a little clumsily.
"Now close your eyes, like you did for our mother." Once again, the younger sibling complied without hesitation, though still looking uncertain. "Good. Now, I'm going to make this very simple for you. Don't have your mind wander to anything else. Just focus on the sound of my voice, understand?"
"Alright…" Demeter nodded a little timidly. Perking her ears out for what he'd say next.
"Good. Now follow my instructions closely, because I hate having to repeat myself." Beerus warned her, as he straightened himself out, placed his hands firmly on his knees and kept a close eye on her features. "Just as our mother told you to do before, I want you to focus inward."
Though she had tried this numerous times before, Demeter knew better than to argue with her eldest brother and did as she was told. Or attempted to, at least. Her facial features creased as her expression steadily became more strained with each passing moment as she focused her attention inward. Almost to the point where it looked like she was constipated.
Beerus frowned at this. "Demeter, stop. You'll get nowhere being so tense. You need to loosen yourself up, now.
"Loosen up?"
"Yes. If you need an example, think of it like you'd do if you were sleeping."
"Uhm, okay…?" The blonde nodded, a little puzzled but supposed she could sort of see the logic in that. "So, does that mean I should try to fall asleep then?"
Beerus would've gotten annoyed at that, thinking she was trying to be a smartass with him, had it not been for how genuinely innocent she sounded. "No, Demeter. You don't have to actually fall asleep." Though he certainly wouldn't mind going for a nap himself right now. "Just treat it as if you were. Keep yourself still, but loose. As relaxed as you can be. It'll help, trust me." He should know given all the times he'd been asleep for ages, or in the case of Whis' training, in meditation. Despite how the latter may have called him hot-headed on occasion, and he still could be to be frank, he could also be patient when he needed to be.
"Alright, brother. I'll try." She agreed to give it a whirl, choosing to put faith in her brother's words. Brother must know what he's talking about if he did this without guidance himself. If he could do it while under the stress of being trapped inside our father's stomach like the rest of us were, then I should at least be able to do it with his help now that we're finally out of there! At this point, she'd honestly feel like she was bringing shame on them both if she couldn't do this.
"Take a breath if it helps." Beerus added in. "Breathe in a nice, long breath of air, and then exhale slowly."
The fledgling goddess did as she was told without hesitating. Sucking in a decently sized breath, and then exhaling steadily.
"Once more."
Taking in another breath, Demeter let out a loud Haaaaaaah, as she exhaled. Her features, as well as her posture, already starting to look much more relaxed than they'd been before.
Beerus actually gave an almost unnoticeable smirk at this. He could tell that none of them even required air or oxygen to survive, quite like he'd been back in his old universe, but that didn't stop such an old-fashioned breathing technique from being rather useful regardless. "Good. That's much better. You should never be straining yourself while meditating. Continue to focus inward but remain as tensionless as possible."
"Mhmm!" She made a sound of acknowledgement, as the air around her became much more peaceful. The woman's mind currently taking in nothing other than the sound of his voice.
"Good. Good." Beerus had to stop himself from yawning, as he leaned back and placed his hands on the ground behind him. All the talk about relaxation was actually starting to make him a little sleepy. A nap would have to wait for later though. "Keep at this for as long as it takes. Believe me, you'll know you've found it once you do. The feeling it gives off is impossible to miss."
From there, Beerus and Rhea both watched on, keeping a close eye on her as she sat there in a much more tranquil, meditative position. The latter with her arms crossed and merely observing for now, while the former was more laid back, but still very much focused on her in case he saw any sign her mind was beginning to wander again.
Okay Demeter… You can do this. She breathed in, then out again. Such a simple thing, and yet surprisingly effective in helping her keep herself calm and composed. Her brother's words echoing in her mind, as she delved deep inside herself. Searching for the power she was naturally born with, as were all the others. Under her brother's watchful gaze, and that of her mother's, she maintained her concentration this time, whilst maintaining the relaxed posture that her brother had told her to do. The whole process beginning to feel less like a hassle, and more… pleasant, in a way, as she went on.
Minutes passed by as she sat there, searching within herself. For once this time uninterrupted by her typical absent-mindedness. And eventually, she was rewarded for it.
"I-I think that's it…" The woman perked up, as she felt something respond deep inside her. A sensation like butterflies flapping their wings inside her belly flowing out from inside her whole body. "Yes… I think I feel it!" She said excitedly.
"Don't get too excited just yet." Beerus replied bemusedly, though it was hard for even him not to grin at her sudden, childish enthusiasm. "Keep that focus, Demeter. You need to start harnessing it first before you… start… cheering…?"
The older fledgling's words petered off. His eyes widening before blinking in some astonishment, as though not fully believing what he was seeing, as a thin greenish aura enveloped the seated, curvaceous younger sibling.
"Brother, look! I did it! I can feel it coursing through me now. It's radiating all over my body!" The buxom blonde's excitement rose as her eyes peeled open, full of elation that even he hadn't quite seen in them, as she splayed her arms out. Her eyes shooting all around herself as she marvelled at the sensation of her own inner power being stoked, and the sight of her aura encompassing every bit of her form. Looking about as vibrant as she felt right now.
Well I'll be damned… Beerus thought, admittedly taken aback by the proceedings. She actually managed to harness her power in one go just as soon as she felt it… Granted, it was by no means close to all of it, but still, the fact that she could pull this much out at all so quickly after failing to even feel it for this long was quite jarring, to say the least. It was like a switch had been flipped in her or something. One that made her go from dim-witted to, dare he say, actually competent to some degree!
"Well now, it looks like she was more competent than first believed." Rhea chimed in with no small amount of amusement, grabbing Beerus's attention. "It seems as though once she got over that hurdle of getting herself to focus properly and stop her mind from wandering off so much, the rest came easy to her."
"You're telling me." Beerus muttered, shaking off the disbelief at just how fast that had occurred. It may not have been as fast as when he'd done it the first time in Kronos' gut, but he had the benefit of many years of experience with ki, something that was vaguely similar to the power that lay within him and pretty much everyone else in this world. Enough so to where he'd known what to do for the most part, which made the process fairly easy for him.
Demeter didn't have that. All she'd had, was his and Rhea's advice on how she should go about it, and she'd nailed it in seconds after getting over her usual absent-mindedness, if only for the time being.
"Beerus, you were right! Listening to you and keeping myself relaxed really did help a lot!" She squealed happily. Loud enough to draw the attention of their other siblings in fact, as her smile practically split her own face. Her hands drawn and clenched near her chest as she exuded a child-like delight that completely belied her adult appearance.
"I can see that…" Beerus chuckled at her giddiness, as he shrugged off the surprise of her succeeding in harnessing the first bit of her power so fast. She was likely still a little behind the others, but the gap had certainly become much shorter than before in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
Talk about unexpected… but certainly not unwelcome, that was for sure.
"Well then, I guess your work is done here, Beerus. Thank you for the assistance." Rhea said a bit more jollily herself as she stepped forward, turning to her daughter with a broad, proud smile. "And as for you, my dear. Good work there, Demeter! If you keep up a pace like that, you might just leap over the rest of your siblings progress."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far." The purple-haired deity cut in, as he got up to his feet and stretched out his arms. A smirk still etched over his features. "Still, I'll give her this. Harnessing it that quickly after only just feeling it is a little bit impressive."
"A 'little bit'?" Rhea quirked an enthused brow. "Someone's hard to please, it seems."
"What can I say?" He shrugged. "I have high standards. It'll take a lot more than this to truly 'wow' me."
"Well, alright mister big shot." Rhea gave a humoured grin, as she propped her hands on her hips. High standards… even though she knew he was being genuine it was hard to deny how chucklesome it was for her inwardly that he and Hera were beginning to sound more alike. "Why don't you get back to your own training then, hmm? Go on, scoot!" She bobbed her head sideways to motion him to leave. "You've done your part here. Now get your ass back to training with mother and we'll see if those 'high standards' of yours hold up for yourself!"
"Hmph. And when the heck did you get so bossy?" Beerus snarked back without batting an eye, somewhat amused by his mother's audacity. "Still, you have a point. I should be getting back now." And hopefully when he did, it was with less teasing from his current teacher. "After all, there's nothing for me to do for anyone else here at present."
"Other than flirt with Hera, I suppose." Rhea couldn't help but throw in slyly with a wink. Something that got a groan from Beerus as he turned away. "Of course, I'd prefer if you wait until her training for today is over before you two start doing that again."
"Oh, for crying out loud. I'm already putting up with enough of that teasing crap from Gaea. I don't need you adding on to that." He grumbled, his somewhat humoured mood dropping like an anvil. It wasn't flirting damnit! What is wrong with these two? He thought incredulously as he started to walk away.
He didn't make it far though, before he heard the pattering of bare feet on the ground, and a pair of lithe arms encircled around his waist. The fledgling god halted in his tracks, with a look of mild surprise as he glanced down behind him. Amber eyes met olive-brown, as Demeter embraced him from behind. Her supple, perky D-cup breasts pressing and squishing into his back as she hugged him close. "What in the…?"
"Thank you so much, Beerus!" The younger sibling hooted joyfully with a beaming smile. "If not for your advice, I would've been stuck on that for ages!"
"Uh, sure…" Beerus tersely acknowledged, as he somewhat awkwardly reached back and patted her head. Such an affectionate gesture still not something he was very acclimatized to by any stretch. Idly aware that their other siblings close by were watching them right now with varying expressions of amusement themselves. "No problem. If you don't mind though, I need to get back to my own training…"
"Before you go, can I give you something to show my thanks?" She asked kindly, while still holding on to him.
"That isn't really necessary…" Beerus tried to refuse, only for her to tighten her grip on him, and give him a bit of a pleading look.
"Please?" Out came what he could only describe as puppy dog eyes, as she stared right up into his amber pools.
Bloody hell… Beerus's face scrunched up at her expression, his awkwardness doubling like the snap of a finger as he pulled his gaze away from her. Hadn't he told them all already that he'd give guidance when needed? She didn't need to thank him any further than what she'd done already and keep at her training. He could tell that she didn't see it that way though. Telling her that wouldn't change her mind.
"Fine…" the older of the two sighed, deciding it was better to just give her this so he could back to his own thing, and she wouldn't bug him about it. After all, what else could she give him other than a silly hug? A trinket he didn't know about, perhaps? "What is it?"
"Could you turn around for me, first?" She asked politely, pulling away from the hug as her boobs jiggled back into shape within her tunic.
"Sure…" He complied, turning to meet her and get this mushy crap over with. "What is it?"
He blinked again when he felt Demeter's soft, delicate hands being placed on his cheeks, and saw her beaming up at him. "Huh? What are you-mmph!?" The ex-GOD of Universe 7's eyes shot wide in shock, as the straw-blonde beauty leaned up suddenly and captured his lips with hers! The former stunned beyond belief as the woman pressed her lips passionately against his seemingly out of nowhere! Her eyes closing as she brought herself closer, squishing her bountiful bosom against his rock-hard chest as she pushed herself even deeper into the kiss with him.
"Oh my…" Rhea brought her hand up as she made a face of surprise at Demeter's actions. One that was almost mirrored by the two's other four siblings watching. None of them having expected her to do something like that.
They stayed there like that for a good few seconds. Eventually though, Demeter pulled back and broke the lip-lock she'd initiated. Before a dumbstruck Beerus, she gave a satisfied, content smile with a light blush to her cheeks as she stepped back and clasped her hands behind her back. "Take this for some good luck. Hope you do well with your own training, Beerus!" She waved happily, an extra bit of skip to her step as she turned and walked back to her spot.
It took a small moment after, but soon enough, the cogs started to turn rapidly in Beerus's head as he saw her off with pupils the size of pinpricks. And with it, an internal scream burst forth as his face began to contort rather comically, as his mind processed a single thought from what'd just occurred.
What… The… Fuck!? A hand flew up to his mouth, clamping down on the lower part of his face as his mind began to whirr at a million miles a minute. Did she just… Did she actually just!?... Oh… Ohhh… He was damn sure no expert on this, given it would've been a cold day in hell back in his previous life that he ever let Champa near him with any sort of mushy affection, and same to the latter. It would've been downright repulsive for the two of them, even if they did care about the other deep down. Still, he was fairly certain that a kiss between brother and sister wasn't supposed to have been like that!
While he would've grumbled at it, a peck on the cheek he could deal with. Simple, quick, and done. Not a problem if he had to take that. He could easily just wipe his cheek later if he felt so inclined.
That… had most certainly not been a peck. That was a full-blown, drawn-out snog right on the lips that packed a kind of passion behind it that was in no way familial. Not in his damn book anyway, it was way too raw.
Beerus paled, still able to feel a bit of moisture on his lips that definitely wasn't his. His mental side mustered an ungodly amount of repulsion that almost made him dry heave in comedic fashion. Meanwhile, as though to mock him, his new body was the total opposite. To his skyrocketing horror, his body had the absolute gall to feel excited! As if to make matters infinitely worse, he felt a lower part of his blasted anatomy stir beneath his tunic, a very unfamiliar feeling, but one he knew of none the less.
Arousal. He… Oh, Zeno have mercy! This bastard body of his was… "Ugh…"
"Well now, it looks like Hera might have some competition!" Rhea couldn't help but say humorously. Partially joking, partially not as she giggled at her eldest son's expression. How could she not? From her perspective, Demeter had seemed to give him a right good shell-shocking with that one! "Look out Beerus, you may just have two fine women vying for you now!"
Kill me… Someone kill me… Beerus thought languidly. His eyes that of a man who'd just gone through something so harrowing it left him weak in the knees from dread. Juxtaposed in his opinion by a present reminder of his body having something wrong with it, as a tent was beginning to form in the lower part of his tunic. If not to kill him, was there a mountain high enough that he could jump off and land on his head to forget this ever happened? Because he could really do with that right about now.
Stiffly turning away, Beerus wiped his mouth hard. His face set into a deep grimace as the taste of Demeter's lips didn't quite come off.
"Ngnn… What are you lot gawking at!?" He shouted out loudly towards the others in indignation, suddenly more cognizant than ever that they were looking at him, and in this case, he really didn't appreciate being the centre of attention. "Get back to training! There's nothing to see here!"
By his former lord's robes, he needed something to rinse his mouth with asap before he thought about training again. And perhaps something to castrate himself with while he was at it.
Not even waiting for them to do so, having lost his patience, Beerus stormed off with a comically strained expression like he was holding in barf. Each of his siblings being left to watch him off with varying degrees of bemusement.
"Heh. Someone was pretty touchy there." Poseidon couldn't help but comment, looking over to his other older brother sat some good metres away. "And here I thought his reaction to our little family hug a while back was a little over the top."
Hades chose not to reply, having too much respect for his brother to comment on his odd behaviour, even if he too found it to be somewhat droll.
Hestia, kind soul that she was, looked at her twin's retreating back with some concern, but otherwise left him be. Believing that it must've just been the surprise of Demeter's action that made her brother more irritable, as given what he was like, he likely just didn't quite know how to respond to it. He was a little awkward when it came to affections, after all.
Hera, meanwhile, narrowed her eyes as she kept her gaze on his retreating form. The place where she was sat giving her a good enough angle to continue seeing his expression that the others couldn't for a little longer, allowing her to see just how perturbed he looked. All from that single kiss…
Hmm… The indescribably beautiful woman smirked cunningly, ignoring this strange feeling she got in her gut from seeing that. I might have to thank you, Demeter. You may have just shown me a way to get back at him… She'd have to put more thought into it later, of course, but she could already feel the beginnings of a plan starting to form in her mind…
Roughly two weeks later…
"Alright everyone, gather around!" Rhea called out to her five children authoritatively, quickly garnering their attention, as they all moved closer to and stopped in a semi-circle around her. She gave a proud, motherly smile towards all of them, as she continued. "You've all done a splendid job with what I asked of you to do. I think you've all had more than enough time now to grow accustomed to your own power and harness it to an acceptable degree. You all have a much greater presence about you than when we first started, which is good." She nodded with satisfaction, before gaining a stern look. "Now however, I think it's time we branched out your training for some added efficiency."
"And how do you plan on doing that, mother?" Hades asked, raising an inquisitive brow as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"I'm glad you asked, Hades." She acknowledged and went on without missing a beat. "Now that you all have a reasonable control over your inner power, it's time to start putting it to use in practise. There's plenty to go over, so this should be a fun ride."
"Like what, mother?" Poseidon asked curiously.
Rather than answer verbally right away, Rhea just smiled knowingly at her second youngest son, as her body suddenly began to morph right before their eyes. Her shapely, hour-glass figure kept inside of her conservative tunic disappearing in the blink of an eye and being replaced by a small furry creature on all fours barely ten inches in height. They all blinked, as the creature's form shimmered with a golden touch before dematerializing into golden particles, only to then rematerialize in the same fashion, to Poseidon's bewilderment and awe, atop his muscular shoulder.
Rhea, now transformed into a dark cat, gave her new tail a small wag atop her son's shoulder as she continued on with a more feline grin. "For starters, I will teach you all how to dematerialize and then rematerialize in different locations at will, as well as guide you through how to shapeshift into whatever you may desire." With that said, she hopped off Poseidon's shoulder a good few feet away. Her body morphing again and growing in size before it even touched the ground. When her paws struck the ground, she no longer resembled a tiny cat, but a fully grown, fearsome lion with sharp fangs and a large mane akin to that of a male that lead its pride.
The now lion Rhea looked out over her 'cubs' with a strong gaze, and a much deeper voice coming from her maw. "There's more to come, but these abilities in particular will be a great help to you mastering your control over your inner power. They are both relatively simple to learn but challenging to master. The further along you come with these, the better control you'll have over each of your natural-born power. By the time you'll have mastered these two, you'll be able to vanish and reappear anywhere you wish at will, and as many times in quick succession as you desire, as well as transform into various different creatures or objects. All of course, at will and cycle through one to the other as fast as your minds can conceive it. It'll be a great learning process for you."
"Huh… that's pretty cool." Poseidon couldn't help but comment with a look of wonder, gaining an excited smile on his bearded face.
"Very cool…" Demeter agreed with a joyful nod. "By the way, mother." She looked at the lion quizzically with an upbeat demeanour. "Will Beerus be coming around at some point?"
"There's no need for him to do so right now, Demeter." The mother replied helpfully, as she transformed back into her normal form, hands on her hips. "Beerus will only come around from his own training if he wants to, or I believe one of you needs some of his guidance to help you along, remember?"
And thankfully, as far as she as concerned, none of them other than Demeter early on had needed him. And she didn't think that because she didn't appreciate him. Far from it. In her mind, it just went to show she could do a good job guiding the rest of them herself, as any dutiful mother should, without having to pull her eldest boy away from his own important training. She'd love it if he and Zeus were here with her too and learning under her, but alas, the former had already pulled ahead and chosen Gaea to help him in the final step of his development, while the latter got snagged by his consort for his. A shame really, but she didn't let it get to her.
"Hehe." Poseidon chuckled, a mischievous gleam in his eyes, as he glanced toward his blonde-haired sister. "Either that, or he's too shy to come round after that smooch you gave him."
Hades raised a brow at that comment, while Demeter's attention came firmly to her second youngest brother with a look of surprise. "Really?"
"You never know." Poseidon shrugged, humour dusting his voice. "Maybe the real reason he hasn't shown up again yet is because he doesn't know how to respond to your affections." He broached as he began stroking his beard. "Or maybe, he's biding his time waiting for the perfect moment to pay you back. You seemed to have made quite the impression on him last we saw."
"You think so?" The blonde blushed lightly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Looking more interested in the prospect than someone who'd simply given a kiss for 'good luck'.
"Hardly." Hades cut in with a deadpan, as he gave his younger sibling an unimpressed look. "Poseidon stop stirring the pot. You and I both know you're talking out of your ass. That doesn't even sound remotely like something our brother would do."
"Aw, come now, Hades. We don't know that for certain, do we?" Poseidon grinned childishly, not content to let it go just yet. "For all we know, Demeter's little act could've stirred something within Beerus. And right now, he could be thinking of how to approach her for some more… intimate lessons, if you will." He snickered.
How crass… Hera rolled her eyes. A strange feeling welling up within her again at such a confounded scenario. "Ugh. You must be joking…"
"Who says I'm joking?" Poseidon threw back with a cheeky look of his own, clasping his hands behind his head. "I'm being completely serious here, sister."
"Is that so?" Hestia giggled amusedly at her younger sibling's antics. "Well then, why don't we have mother fetch Beerus for you then, so you can ask him about it directly?" She smiled sweetly in his direction. Too sweetly. "I'm sure he would love to give you an honest answer, Poseidon. Since you seem so curious."
Poseidon froze, an involuntary shiver crawling down his spine for reasons he couldn't quite gauge. Something telling him in the back of his head that that would be an awful idea, as though nothing but pure, unmitigated agony awaited him if he was ballsy enough to do that.
After a small moment, he let out a nervous laugh as he looked away. "Ehehe… I think I'll pass on that."
"That's probably for the best." Rhea remarked with an entertained tone, though she just couldn't quite help herself as she turned back to Demeter with a guileful grin. "We wouldn't want to put him on the spot, after all." Okay, that was a lie. His reactions to things like that were just too adorable. Still, she'd be sure to hold off on him with any teasing of her own for now. Call it a mother's intuition, but she had a feeling things would only get more amusing for him in the future, and when they did, the opportunity would be ripe for her to indulge in plenty of her own motherly teasing on her oldest son.
The Titaness let that thought go for the moment, as she refocused on the reason they were here. "Anyways, getting back on topic. Outside of those two abilities, I'll also be teaching you all how to fight. I know I may not look it, but I know a thing or two about combat." She smirked deviously. "And who knows? I might just get your big brother to tag along and help out at some point." Her gaze pointedly shifted to Poseidon. "Maybe get him to spar one of you, so you can practise what you're learning on a powerful opponent."
"How… kind of you, mother…" The wavy-haired deity paled, his mind recalling what his brother had been able to do within the castle atop Mount Othrys.
Hades chuckled, seeing his little brother becoming nervous at the idea of sparring Beerus. Something their youngest brother would be doing soon enough. Heh, he couldn't wait to watch that spectacle.
Personally, he relished the opportunity to get a spar from his brother. He'd no doubt get his ass kicked, but he was sure he'd learn plenty from the experience. He wasn't sure why, but Beerus just seemed to give off the air that he held a lot of experience when it came to fighting, despite only being a little older than himself.
"I'm sure you'll continue to do a splendid job, mother."Hestia complimented good-naturedly. She wasn't a fan of violence by any stretch, but she knew the current dangers that resided out in the world for her and the others from the Titans. To not at least be able to defend herself if she were ever put in a compromising situation would be quite foolish, after all. And other than her twin, she didn't trust anyone greater to help them all with that than their mother currently. "Shall we begin?"
Rhea took the naked praise from her eldest child for what it was and nodded gratefully before answering her question. "Yes, we shall." Looking out over all of her assembled children, the Titan goddess folded her arms beneath her perky chest-mounds. "We'll start out simple today. You'll all just be focusing on the two abilities I've shown you. Combat will be mixed in from tomorrow onwards, which you can choose to do by yourself or with a partner. The choice is up to you. Just letting you all know ahead of time, I'll be going a lot harder on you all then to make sure you do well, so be prepared."
They all nodded in acknowledgement, and so Rhea pressed on. "Both of these abilities are similar enough in how they're done. For shape-shifting, all you have to do is visualize in your mind a vivid picture of what you want to be and will your power to turn you into it. Same principle applies for dematerializing and rematerializing. All you need do, is visualize where you want to be, and then will your power to transport you there."
"Hmm. Sounds simple enough." Hades opined gruffly. The others seeming to agree.
"Well then you better get to it, all of you!" Rhea exclaimed before vanishing, leaving those bits of gold behind as she appeared behind them with her arms still crossed. Their heads snapping to her as she eyed them all critically, dark pools shining with maternal pride. "I look forward to seeing your progress!"
And with that, they all got to work as she'd asked. The rest of the day going by as each of them practised what'd been demonstrated.
The first day of their more practical training didn't go completely smoothly, however. It had a few… interesting hiccups from some of them. For example, the first time Poseidon attempted teleportation towards a nearby rock as his target, he succeeded, though not in the way he would've liked… seeing as he face-planted on it rather than landing on his feet. Something that brought his siblings, even Hestia to a lesser degree, some bit of humour.
Then there was Demeter, who's first attempt to transform herself into the small cat their mother had went rather okay… if you discounted the fact that she did so without any limbs. Something that had led to a rather hilarious panic from her for a moment until she transformed back, arms and legs still perfectly there.
Hades made an error midway through the day when trying, in hindsight, to perform multiple teleports in quick succession that he wasn't quite prepared to do just yet. Something that ended with splatting back-first rather roughly unto the ground from a good ten metre fall. While a bit embarrassing, he could say at the very least it was a more respectable botch than his brother's.
Hera, for the most part, did perfectly fine throughout the entire session. Her only real mistake coming when, like Hades, a bit of hubris got to her with how well she was doing. The youngest daughter of Kronos and Rhea attempting rather boldly to both teleport and transform into something else at roughly the same time. Only her lower half transformed, and while she performed the teleport perfectly… Let's just say being half humanoid from the top and half lion from the bottom didn't lend well to balance. Her immaculate, ravishing face had gotten well-acquainted with the ground not two seconds later, with her then furry ass jutting up high in the air in a moment Hades knew for certain would've had Beerus bursting with laughter had he been there to witness it.
Hestia, remarkably, was the only one of them not to make any funny missteps through the whole day. That was mainly due to the glowing-eyed woman being able to pace herself properly, and never allow herself to feel even a tinge of cockiness in her current capabilities. She was a bit less experimental and more conservative in her approach, which had paid out well for her. By the end of the first session, she actually seemed to be doing the best out of all of them.
All in all, though, they all thought they'd ended the day fairly well, and were sufficiently ready for their mother to go in harder in the proceeding days.
Indeed, even when their mother had started with them the next day, while a good deal harder with the added combat training, it still seemed to them like things would be relatively smooth sailing. Except, with each passing day after that, Rhea grew stricter, and more demanding of them. The two activities of mastering the abilities shown to them and learning how to fight also steadily melded together into one.
By the seventh day their more physical training had started, the two kinds of training they were being given, had essentially become one. And it was gruelling.
"Oh… Shit…" Poseidon gasped, almost falling to his knees, as strain both mental and physical clawed at him, and were it not for his physiology, would've been throwing up right this minute. The tan-skinned fledgling deity bracing himself, as his tree-trunk-like legs wobbled.
A large, chestnut-brown serpent came into view then, striking out for his face with its jaws open wide, poised to chomp down with its fangs and tear at his flesh. Deep green eyes widening as he was only just able to avoid the bite at the last second, as he dematerialized into golden specks. His body reappearing above the snake mid-air as he steeled himself and raised a foot to stomp on it.
The snake coiled and rather easily avoided the stomping foot as it slammed down, before swiftly coiling up his body and binding him with an unbelievably strong grip. A hiss coming from its open mouth as it came face-to-face with him. "Too predictable." It spoke, before it dematerialized just as he'd done up above him, its tail wrapping hard around his bulky neck before the rest of its body touched the ground again. Right as he was pulled off of it, flipped around in mid-air by his neck, and then slammed down unceremoniously into the ground on his face hard enough to form a sizeable crater. A feat considering the whole Isle of Crete was reinforced by Gaea's divine magic to be extra-durable.
The large chestnut-brown snake turned its serpentine head as its senses alerted it to an attack from the side, proceeding to duck and narrowly avoid a bite of its own from an equally large snake. One that was charcoal black in colour.
They hissed at each other, before getting into a wrestling bout of sorts, twisting and turning around each other vying for some sort of dominance as they slithered away from the groaning Poseidon.
The charcoal snake inevitably grew frustrated as the other started to quickly gain ground, and immediately transformed itself. A humanoid hand shooting out before it had fully finished and latching on to the upper part of the snake's throat with a vice-like grip, as a foot shot out and stomped down successfully on the tail. All to stop it from attempting to coil around his body.
The snake, entirely unperturbed, immediately transformed itself too. The serpentine body vanishing from the grip it was in as in its place, a butterfly of all things appeared and flapped passed the guard of its would-be assailant with a level of speed too quick for them to react to.
Hades black eyes barely had time to glance behind him before the butterfly transformed again, and a delicate-looking hand swiped forth and back-handed him across the cheek. The force of it, despite looking rather casual, sent the ghostly pale-skinned god careening off to the side and tumbling ass over head along the ground a good distance away.
"Good ferocity, but your own reactions need plenty of work." Rhea stated matter-of-factly as her eyes remained on her second oldest son for a moment. Gaze strict and unyielding.
A fist suddenly blared to life by her other side, carried by lingering golden flecks of teleportation, mere inches from her cheek. One that never struck home, as her own body shimmered away with golden particles, leaving the thrust fist to sail through nothing but air.
Poseidon didn't even have time to think about how to deal with his sucker-punch having missed, before an open hand smacked him hard enough across the face from his exposed side that spittle flew from his lips as his head snapped to the side. His feet coming off the ground once again as he sent sailing off into the distance, colliding with and smashing through the very rock he'd face-planted on earlier in training before coming to a stop.
"Better, but you'll need to be sharper than that." Rhea shouted out to make sure he heard her.
"Ugh… What happened to the loving mother we had before?" Poseidon asked dismally, rubbing his head as he picked himself up. A trickle of ichor spilling down over the left side of his face. His body having healed itself of injury quite a few times by this point just today alone.
"She's still here and wants you to be the best that you can be." Rhea shot back without missing a beat. Voice stalwart and uncompromising. "I have to go hard on you in order to ensure that. I thought I told you that already?"
Hard is one way to put it… The green-eyed fledgling thought morosely with a sweat drop. She might as well have a flipped a switch from loving and gentle mother, to near stone-faced slave driver at this point. "Yeah, you did… Not quite sure right now though that the first part of that is true…"
"Ugh… Quit whining, Poseidon." Hades grunted, as he shimmered into existence beside his birth mother with a fist reared back. A smirk on his face despite the hit he'd just taken. "So, what if our mom is being a hard-ass?" His punch shot forth and missed Rhea's face by a hair as she leaned away from it. "Far as I see it, her going in like this is only motivating me further to get up to speed."
"Who are you calling a hard-ass, young man?" Rhea teased, a light grin forming on her lips for a brief moment. "How rude. I think it's my duty as your mother to teach you some proper manners, seeing as neither Beerus nor Hestia seem to have done so."
Off to the side a way's away, the three sisters had stopped their own training in favour of watching their mother 'spar' with their brothers.
"She's… certainly gotten into this, hasn't she?" Hera couldn't help but ask to no one in particular, as she watched her mother literally slap Hades away. His body carving a deep trench in the ground as soon as it touched and skidded along it, in what had to be a good mile out this time.
"Yeah." Demeter nodded, a look of awe on her face, as Poseidon launched back in, only to be casually avoided, have the back of his head grabbed, and then have his whole body sent hurtling in Hades direction. All without Rhea batting an eye. "Mom's pretty good. I'll bet even Beerus would be impressed."
The statement wasn't completely inaccurate. Rhea was by no means a martial arts master, but had he been watching, even Beerus would've conceded that she did know her stuff to a decent degree.
Hestia giggled from her spot in the middle. Her bright, warm mood having not been dampened by their mother's increasing harshness in the slightest. "Perhaps. In any case, it looks like Hades is getting what he wanted, at least."
Their mother had only just today decided to get much more hands-on with their training and had thus decided that the best way to do that, was to have them all spar with her. All so she could directly help with eliminating their flaws more proactively. She'd taken Hades and Poseidon first, and left them to do theirs on their own until she was finished with them, mainly because Hades had asked to go first, because he wanted to get the jump on the rest of them. Even going so far as to ask their mother to not hold back in making sure he improved, so that whenever Beerus showed up again, he could show her twin how far he was coming along.
He hadn't said that last bit, but she knew that was one of his reasons why. It was so obvious from her viewpoint. He wanted to impress his big brother with his growth, she could see it in his eyes, and found it to be the cutest thing ever.
Well, she hoped he was happy with what he got. Because she knew that at the moment, Poseidon wasn't the most keen on it, though that didn't stop him from giving his best anyway.
"If getting his ass kicked is what he wanted, I guess." Hera snorted derisively, shaking her head as the three of them watched both brothers return and attempt to gang up on Rhea and double-team her together this time rather than go in separately. The two teleporting on either side of her with a punch being thrown.
The sisters winced as Rhea easily dodged both once again and retaliated by grabbing both their heads and smashing them together with a loud, audible CLAP. A miniature shockwave resulting from the force with which she brought their heads together with. One that kicked up the wind and made their tunics rustle as the Titaness' covered tits jiggled excitedly within their confines. Both brothers crumpled to the ground not a second later.
"Girls," She called out to them, dusting her hands as though she'd just taken out the trash, as she looked over at them with a hard gaze. "Less chatting, more training! You'll be with me soon, so you'd better be ready."
"Yes mother." They all nodded in agreement. Hestia still smiling brightly and unperturbed, despite her distaste for violence. Hera looked ready to take it on with confidence if needs be. And Demeter looked a little nervous, but ready to give it a whirl, nonetheless. She didn't want to fall behind again, after all.
Once their time inevitably did come, Rhea gave them no mercy, and they rolled with the punches as best they could. They all took a beating, as they did their best to keep to the standards their mother was setting for them. Doing their level best to mix in their new abilities with their, admittedly rather amateurish fighting capabilities. Just as Poseidon and Hades had tried to do, with varying degrees of minor success. All as Rhea pointed out every flaw and mistake they made along the way, as she gave them what might as well be called a 'tough love' beating for their efforts.
Both Hera and Demeter noticed though that Rhea seemed to take it easier on Hestia whenever a mistake was made by her, simply bopping her on the head or tapping her on the shoulder before telling her what she lacked or did wrong. It would've annoyed Hera especially given they were getting it harder, as it would've to their brothers who watched from the side-lines like they did, as they continued their training themselves. Had it been anyone other than Hestia, of course. Pretty much everyone was in agreement, including Rhea, that harming Hestia at all, even for a spar, just felt… wrong.
In any case, this didn't seem to impede the eldest sister in learning at all. She was soaking it all up like a sponge, just as good as Hera or Demeter were. No, she actually might've been doing a little better than the two of them, though it was hard to tell.
The days went on like this from there, and Rhea went in as much as she needed to ensure that they would all get up to snuff. She didn't let up even once during it, as she passed on as much as she could to her children, wanting them to be as prepared as she could make them for what may come.
Approximately one month since training had started… elsewhere on Crete…
"So, is this the place where he is, mother?" A gruff male voice asked, as five pairs of feet touched down on the sandy shores of the western-most part of Crete.
"Yes. There's no doubt about it. I can feel Gaea's magic permeating throughout the whole Isle, now that I'm here. And I can also feel Rhea's presence as well, alongside seven others that I don't recognise." A regal feminine voice replied back, stood one step ahead of the other four figures. Each of which having their own dark cloak to cover themselves, with a hood obscuring their faces. The one in front having a white cloak instead that billowed softly in the wind, showing hints of her pale, shapely figure beneath. Beneath her own hood, dark-brown eyes narrowed sharply. "This is the place where he must be. I'm certain of it."
"I hope this'll be worth the risk." Another female voice spoke behind the cloaked woman, sounding quite frustrated. "It was such a pain getting here without any of them noticing us coming, particularly Hyperion. I don't think I've ever seen him patrol up in the sky anywhere near as much as he's doing now. Guy's so laser-focused we had to rely on you to cover us all from his view until we got here." The distinctly female figure sighed as she glanced up to the sky, seeing off far into the endless distance of the heavens, lines of heavenly light being cut through the sky by the surveying Titan with his consort in tow. "They really want to find this guy bad."
"Yes… quite right Nike. Things have become rather hectic since Kronos's children escaped from their father." The female at the front mused. "If the nymphs are to be believed, the purple-haired one is the one mainly responsible for it. I must say, I look forward to meeting him. To get them all this riled up, he must be something special." The hood of her cloak cascaded down then, revealing long, wavy-brown hair that ran down her back and fell over one of her shoulders. Her face that of such riveting beauty that it was comparable to that of the sea under a wonderful midnight glow of the moon. Full red lips to go with a small, refined chin, sharp cheekbones with a small blush of red to them, contrasting well with her unearthly pale complexion. Her jawline was narrow, with her nose small and fair, beneath her wideset eyes and fairly high forehead.
Time to meet the one bold enough to declare war on Kronos and his ilk. The woman smiled. For if he truly wishes to do so, then I shall be sure to aid him as much as I can, because it's about time someone challenged their rule…
Meanwhile… back further inland…
"Ah, Metis, Zeus, it's good to see you." Gaea said kindly, one of her massive globes of flesh wobbling as her arm brushed passed it to wave at the oncoming Oceanid and youngest born of Rhea making their way over.
"You as well, Lady Gaea." Metis greeted courteously with a friendly, respectful smile as she stopped right by the extremely bodacious protogenos. Zeus giving one similar, absent of any perverted leering. "Not to intrude, but I think you know why we're here."
The primordial goddess of the earth and life smiled knowingly. "Ah yes, I believe I do."
The buxom deity turned her attention towards where she'd set up her magic-enhanced dummy, right on the back of her current pupil stood stock still before it. A hand that had previously been raised towards the still damage-less creation of hers lowering, as his ears picked up what was being said.
"What do you say, Beerus?" She asked pointedly, casting her gaze in said person's direction.
"Hmph. What do I say?" Beerus's head turned as he looked back at them. His amber eyes narrowed like slits. "Honestly, I was beginning to think you'd chickened out."
"Hardly." The Oceanid shot down, able to tell he was just saying that to wind them up. Her gaze hard as steel upon him. "I never go back on my word, and neither does Zeus. He's fully prepared now to spar with you."
"Heh. I'll be the judge of that." Beerus turned fully, his eyes inspecting his younger brother. "I suppose I'll take another break from this training of mine, and see what you've got, Zeus."
"I won't disappoint you, brother." Zeus stated relatively calmly, meeting his brother's gaze head on. "Metis has prepped me well for it, and I trust her judgement."
"Has she now?" Beerus didn't fail to catch the small hint of anxiousness that exuded out beneath his calm exterior. Even still, it seemed like he did genuinely believe those words. How interesting.
"Yes." Zeus nodded affirmatively. "I'm sure it'll be a good learning experience for the both of us."
Heh. There was that line of thought again that he could benefit too. In all honesty, it sounded laughable to him when Metis had said it, and it still did now when Zeus was saying it in his own way. It did intrigue him though, so he'd give them the benefit of the doubt. For all he knew, they might actually have a surprise in store for him to make this affair entertaining.
"We'll see about that." Beerus brought his hands behind his back, balled into fists as they touched together. His amber pools reflecting his baby brother in their surface, as he said, "We can start here, if that's fine with you?"
"Hold on, now." Gaea interjected, grabbing their attention. "How about you both start this little spar of yours where the rest of your siblings are? I'd say it'd be a good thing for them to watch you both go at it."
"Do you mean that in terms of what they could learn from watching it, or just for some entertainment?" Metis queried.
"Both." Mother Earth smiled brightly. "Think of it as a little treat for your brothers and sisters, who I'm sure have all been working hard themselves in their training."
"I'm fine with that, I guess." Zeus nodded his assent after a brief moment, before shifting focus back to Beerus. "And you, brother?"
"Eh, fine. Why not?" He shrugged. It had been a while since he'd gone over to them. After all, their mother seemed to be doing a good enough job that his guidance wasn't needed yet, so he supposed that could work. Now that he'd had plenty of time to simmer down on his own after the first time he'd gone to give aid ended with a snog from an overly grateful blonde sister of his. One that he mentally despised the fact that even now, his confounded new body had found enjoyable.
Hopefully, there'd be no more incidents like that in the future. He could really do without that crap. This body had baffled him more than enough as it was with the shit it didn't seem to mind. Or in that case, somehow enjoy.
"Splendid." Gaea nodded, looking pleased. "Let's head over there, so." She moved closer to Beerus' side, mountainous globes jiggling and swaying on her chest, as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "This should be fun, after all. Don't you think, Beerus?"
"I suppose." He let himself grin, despite himself, feeling a small bit of anticipation. "Let's just hope that there's not any misplaced confidence here."
The smile Metis gave back just before they dematerialized was an odd but assured one. "You'll see for yourself, Beerus. I have faith that you'll see things from my perspective soon enough."
Bold words. No matter how confident though, they were just that to him. Words. Once they started, he'd finally see for himself whether or not this girl was just blowing hot air.
And right now, he honestly did hope they could deliver. He'd rather be entertained by a welcome surprise than be bored to death by lacking efforts. She said she had faith? Well then, time to see what his little brother could do.
AND CUT!
Well, that's the end of this one. Hope you enjoyed it, despite the spar being moved to the next. Bit of spiciness in this one with you know what, some time to the others, and the arrival of some new characters. Pretty sure the name drop makes it obvious who they are to those read up a bit on the myths.
Next chapter is coming at the end of the month, as I said up above, so look out for it. See you all then!