The Beginning
Chapter 10:
The thing is, Percy had had a vague idea that Gods were supposed to jump out of the womb as fully formed kids, but apparently not.
Rhea is situated on the furs in the back of the cave, with Hagno and three other nymphs (their names might start with A. Maybe. Percy was probably wrong. He should really pay more attention) on either side of her.
There is a wet cloth of roughly woven linen (which had been boiled over the fire a few hours before) on her abdomen, and the scent of herbs permeates the air, making it feel very lethargic.
"Myrrh," Neda says knowingly as they clamber inside. "It's a soothing herb, used to promote the delivery of a child, and make the mother as comfortable as possible. An old birthing tip."
Even as she explains the smell though, her eyes dart to the back of the cave, and Percy follows her gaze as they draw near.
Hagno is there, muttering softly to Rhea, but she is silenced when the new mother looks up and catches sight of him. For someone who just gave birth, she looks as beautiful as always, with not a hair out of place, and Percy thinks Well, immortality had to come with some perks.
There is a small figure bundled into her side, and Rhea's smile is brilliant as she says, "Percy! Come meet my son."
"Sorry I was late," Percy says dryly, for lack of anything else to say, and quickly makes his way over to Rhea's side, almost curious despite himself about the newborn god.
Zeus is… small. And wrinkly. He looks, if Percy is being honest, like an angry pink prune. Not very much like a rock at all. Or, for that matter, like the King of the Gods Percy remembers Zeus to be.
Still, the baby's eyes open as Percy approaches, and he catches a breath despite himself.
Vivid lightning blue, clear as the sky on a summer's day. The eyes watch him with an intensity that does not belong on a newborns face, and Percy knows that although Zeus may look like a human child, he is anything but.
Percy take a quick moment to try and clear himself of any lingering animosity he feels towards Zeus's older counterpart (he doesn't want the past to cloud his judgment of what is, thanks to Rhea, his foreseeable future) before smiling slightly at the child.
"Hello," He says politely, feeling stupid for talking to a newborn, but knowing that Gods work differently from humans. "I'm Percy. What's your name?"
Rhea laughs softly, bringing Percy's attention to her. "He can't speak yet. Give it a week. His name is Zeus."
"Living," Percy translates with a raised brow. "Simple hopes, huh?"
Rhea snorts at the question. "After everything? Yes."
Zeus watches them with a bright, almost unnerving gaze, but at the sound of his name, his previously calm expression darkens.
Both Percy and Rhea have no time to react as he starts to cry, so loud that it echoes around the cave and startles one of the Nymphs from where she had been pretending to fold up furs while eavesdropping.
Rhea swears, and tries desperately to rock Zeus, hoping to calm him down to no avail. His cries seem to grow louder, drowning out all background noise around them, ringing inside of Percy's skull like a drum.
Is this the kind of stuff godly parents had to deal with?
If so, then Percy should probably consider getting earmuffs. It was enough to give anyone, even immortals, a headache.
Almost in direct contrast to Percy's light thoughts, however, is the look on Rhea's face, her expression much more panicked than it has the right to be.
The realization that something is definitely not right is accompanied by a sinking feeling in his gut.
"What's wrong?" Percy yells, trying to get over the noise, and Rhea may or may not here him from where she sits, trying to hurriedly shush Zeus, but she looks up either way.
Her eyes are frightened, and she drags Percy down to eye level so she can whisper in his ear.
"It's Zeus's cries," She grips his arms. "The noise of a newborn is going to inform my family that Zeus has been born. How am I supposed to go through with the plan if his cries alert every being from Mount Oryths to Crete that Zeus is alive, even as I try to convince my husband to eat a rock?"
'It's a good point,' Percy thinks, even as he places a hand on her shoulder for support. The pit in the stomach grows heavier. If they don't find a way to shut Zeus up soon, the rebellion against Kronos would be dead before it had even begun.
More importantly, Zeus would be dead (or eaten, which is debatably worse) and Kronos would continue to suck at being King.
Percy looks over to the screaming god, grimacing even as Rhea silently (or at least silent in the face of her sons screams) begs Zeus to be quiet.
Zeus doesn't seem to want to stop testing out his new set of pipes, however, and although Percy is tempted to try and shush the baby god himself, he gets the feeling that removing the little brat (because this was completely his fault, even if he wasn't even a day old yet) from his mother was a bad idea.
If she couldn't get him to stop, nobody could.
They needed a miracle. Or, at the very least, a very good idea.
Percy allows his gaze to wonder around the room as he tries to think up something to get out of this mess with a child screaming in his ear, and his eyes land on the nymphs.
They are huddled together, in the corner of the room, looking terrified. They know as well as Rhea what will happen if they can't get Zeus to stop, and Percy's determination solidifies as he watches them.
An idea comes to him, and he rises from where he had been half kneeling near Rhea.
"I'll be back!" He yells at her, before hurrying over to the nymphs. Hagno sees him coming and straightens up from where she had been kneeling, comforting a younger nymph that seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"Can't you get him to stop?" She demands harshly as he approaches, her hands curled into fists. "This could spell our doom! If the others hear-"
"You're welcome to try," Percy says impatiently. "But I doubt it would do any good. He seems like a stubborn one."
Hagno looks like she agrees with his assessment of Zeus's character, (which is funny, or not, because even now as a kid Zeus's stubbornness is going to get them killed) before her gaze hardens.
"We can't simply do nothing! We must try, even if it'll do no good. I refuse to simply lie down and die, and I will not let my sisters meet their own fate like this!" The words are hissed at him, and afterwards the nymphs seem to press closer to Hagno, their own resolve being found in hers.
Mutters of affirmation follow, and Percy sees quite a few of them nod determinedly. Suddenly, he misses Camp Half-Blood and the friendships and comradeship Percy had had there with furiousness that startles him, but Percy pushes it away, focusing on the problem at hand.
"I have a plan, but I need your help. You might not trust me, but-"
Hagno cuts him off harshly, "This is not the time for that, boy. What do you need us to do?"
Percy blinks. It couldn't be that easy. "You need to make as much noise as physically possible."
Hagno frowns at him, less challenging and more confused as she takes in the answer. "Why would I do that?"
Before Percy can respond, Neda pushes her way through the throng of nymphs, giving Percy a small smile despite the ear splittingly loud cries coming from the crying god a few feet away and the urgency that can be felt in the air. "You wanna drown out his cries, right?"
Percy looks at her, surprised, before he nods. "Yeah, just until we find a different way of dealing with it. I figured as long as it isn't a new immortal, no one cares how loud anyone is, right?"
Neda looks thoughtful, more serious than Percy has ever seen her. "It could work. We'd have to act fast, though. Our lady should probably get ready to return to the palace as soon as the cries die down, to avoid suspicion. Most likely, the Titans have already heard his cries. They know Zeus has been born. The problem lies in the fact that as soon as the Queen leaves, if Zeus is heard in Crete when he is supposed to be with the King, people will realise something is wrong. If we drown out the cries with other noise-"
"-The other Titans won't know that Zeus is not with Kronos- they'll just think that Crete is being particularly noisy this time of year." Percy finishes, nodding his head. It wasn't the most complicated of plans, but complicated wasn't what they needed right now.
Hagno stares at them both. "That is the most stupid plan I've ever heard of."
Percy's frustration mounts, because he's trying, ok? He opens his mouth to rebuff her, or reason with her, when Hagno's shoulders slump and she looks at Neda. "You think this will work?"
Neda nods firmly. "I do."
"It'd better," Hagno snarls darkly, before she turns around and starts yelling at the nymphs behind her, ordering them around with the military efficiency of a self-righteous soccer mum.
Some of the nymphs race out of the cave, coming back holding crudely made pans of metal and wooden sticks, while others come back with flutes hollowed out of wood, and other old versions of instruments that Percy has never seen before.
Hagno herself takes a deep breath before beginning to sing in a loud, rich voice, and Neda soon joins her, her sweet voice contrasting and hitting the top notes. As more and more nymphs join in on various instruments, (not in any distinguishable melody but still noise) Zeus's cries are gradually drowned out.
It is working, and Percy takes a moment to mouth a thank you to Neda before darting back over to Rhea, who is looking more frazzled then when she had just given birth.
Percy supposes that it's not every day your baby decides to almost ruin your treason against your murderous husband by crying too loud.
She is still rocking Zeus, but she grasps his wrist again as Percy nears, her expression unreadable.
"Thank you," She shouts over the noise at him, although this time the noise is coming more so from the nymphs then him. "I knew I made the right choice with you."
She smirks, and Percy rolls his eyes. However, her smile soon disappears. "I need to go," she says simply, and Percy nods.
"I guessed."
The Queen of the Titan's sighs. "Someone would have heard the noise by now, and besides, one of the rules of divine law that Themis has decreed is that the mother must present their child to the father after birth."
Rhea's eyes darken, and Percy winces, wondering how many times Rhea had cursed that particular law. Quite a few times, from the murderous look on her face.
Rhea continues. "But with the help, hopefully no one will come looking afterwards."
Percy smiles slightly, before he grips her solidly, a thought hitting him. "The nymphs can't do this forever- there needs to be a more permanent solution."
"I know." Rhea looks thoughtful for a secound. "Actually, you've given me an idea. They do owe me a favour."
"They?" Percy presses, and Rhea nods.
"The Kouretes. Mountain Gods- very loud. And," Rhea continues meaningfully, "Very loyal. They will come when I call."
"Then do it."
"I will." Rhea says softly before she looks down at the child on her lap, with his bright blue intelligent eyes and ear-splitting cries, and hugs him to his chest.
"Please be safe, my child." She says in a whisper. "I will be back."
It sounds more like a plea than an actual statement, and Percy frowns.
"You will." He says sharply, and Rhea looks at him. He sees all her fear and longing in that one glance, and he reaches over to squeeze her fingers before he can remind himself not to.
"You will be fine. Zeus will be fine- once he stops crying." Percy says with an exasperated glance at the aforementioned God.
"Kronos won't even see you coming." Percy continues his speech, trying to be reassuring.
Rhea laughs. "For the plan to work, he needs to."
Her amusement quickly fades, and she pulls herself up. Snapping her fingers, the Rock appears before them, already wrapped courtesy of one of the nymphs. Looking at it, Percy can almost (almost) see how Kronos made the mistake.
Maybe.
Rhea sighs, before placing one last kiss on Zeus's forehead. "Be good," she mutters, before placing him softly on the bed of furs where she had been sitting, picking up the Rock and hefting in onto her hip.
As Percy watches, Rhea's appearance changes, becomes less 'I had a child' and more 'Queen of the Universe' and she nods once, firmly to him, before disappearing.
(Rhea had explained Titans could apparently only teleport themselves, which was just annoying, but whatever.)
They don't say goodbye, because it isn't one.
Both Percy and Zeus are left staring at the empty air where Rhea was, and the noise in the room seems to crescendo to an even louder volume. The nymphs increase their own volume in response, but Percy swears and hurries over to the child.
Zeus, for all intents and purposes, looks absolutely miserable on the bed, alone without his mother, Percy feels his heart soften as he leans over and picks the baby up, curling his hands around him to try and mimic the way Rhea had held him.
He might not be used to babysitting kids, but no child deserves to look that miserable, and no child deserves to have their mother taken from then that early because of things out of their control.
Instantly, there is an abrupt drop in volume.
Percy looks down in astonishment and finds that Zeus is staring up at him with those too knowing eyes, completely quiet.
If Percy didn't know any better, he'd say that Zeus looks content.
Notes:
Read and Review! Hopefully, I'll see you next week.