The Olympians are powerful gods, rulers of the earth in various aspects. But none know about their tragic childhood, how one by one, their father, the cruel Kronos had swallowed them in fear one would overthrow him.

No one knows of their all-seeing watcher, their caretaker within Kronos' stomach until Zeus could grow and release his siblings from that spacial realm. Even now, many millennia after their ordeal and the Titanomachy, the Watcher keeps an eye on his Olympians, advising the demigods and keeping the newer gods in order.

This is the tale of Nnamdi-Aakil, Watcher of the Gods.


Nnamdi does not know how long it had been since he was consumed by Kronos, youngest of the Grand Twelve who had defeated his father Ouranos and becoming the ruler of the Titans and the earth. He had stopped counting after the 600-year mark. But then...

Something glows from above and Nnamdi peers up, trying to make out what is breaking the darkness around it. It- no, they are a girl. Just an infant. What has Kronos planned this time? Unwilling to allow her to disappear, a sprouting limb made from the stars of Chaos and the nightly energy of Nyx extends from his arm and catches the babe, bringing her down gently and slowly into Nnamdi's arms.

She is wrapped in a blanket made from the clouds he once gazed at many a millennium ago, the remarkably soft cloth covering small curls of fiery red hair. His finger runs lightly over the infant's eyes and the baby girl opens them, revealing a calm orange-crimson, similar to the embers of flames he kept alive for over 3,000 years. Nnamdi can see the child's future, a warm, nurturing goddess who will remain a virgin but shall find love in other ways, protecting families through the fires they keep in their homes.

Nnamdi names the newborn Hestia and she giggles at the name. It is a keeper, Nnamdi laughs inwardly.


Next comes a child with the strangest eyes, a piercing blue with tufts of hair darker than darkness. Hestia, now a small child with a wreath of flames sitting upon her crown, is told to hold the babe gently. As expected from the keeper of homes and their hearths, she rocks him to sleep and Nnamdi asks what his name should be. With a soft voice that Nnamdi can only compare to a gentle lullaby, Hestia keeps her warm eyes trained on her brother, "Hades."

Nnamdi can see him, a god unhappy with being chosen to rule the land of the dead until an inquisitive girl wanders in, his loneliness being cured and his cold heart blossoming with love and devotion. "It is perfect, my dear Hestia."


A girl with frizzy hair the color of golden flowers only found along broken roads and a boy with eyes that resemble the sea comes along next, Hestia now a young woman and Hades not far behind as a reserved adolescent.

Nnamdi sees their future, the girl a goddess of nature and the harvest with a daughter who is born during the spring and the boy a ruler of the seas with a temper that can only be compared to the unpredictability of the realm he commands. "Demeter," Hades names the baby girl, her tiny hand grabbing hold of his finger. Hestia calms the crying boy, his name "Poseidon" keeping him quiet.

Nnamdi is proud of his little gods, they have cured his isolation within Kronos' stomach and given him the chance to raise a family in honor of one he could not save no matter how hard he had tried. Hestia turns to him, calling him "Father" and asking why he is crying. Nnamdi says it is nothing but Hestia knows better, senses there is something more but says nothing.


The last is another girl, hair the color of the sky on a clear, moonless night and eyes a shade of green Nnamdi recognizes from a secluded area within the trees, floating high above the tops of their branches but remaining invisible to most.

Her future... her future is greater than he could ever have dreamt of. She is a queen, a powerful one at that, sitting upon a golden throne next to a man she lovingly calls husband. She rules over the heavens with a kind heart but her temper will get the best of her. With the power over the air that all life breathes, she is truly a Queen of Gods.

Hestia and Hades are grown but not yet matching the regal figures Nnamdi saw in his visions, Demeter and Poseidon are still growing now young adults who have not grown into their future roles as goddess of the earth and god of the sea. They all crowd Nnamdi, watching the newborn girl babble at the man with curiosity aimed at the strange marking over his forehead. "Another child, Father?" Demeter asks and Nnamdi nods, rocking the baby to a dreamless sleep.

"What did you see with her? " Hades, despite his reserved nature, sounds like a curious child asking his grandfather about a story he knows by heart. Nnamdi has always been careful with what he has told his little gods(well, they are not so small anymore) and decides to give them a small piece of information: "She will be a Queen of Gods."

Poseidon wonders aloud what her name should be but Nnamdi does not answer until his little gods are deep within the realms of sleep, kissing the crown of the infant, "You are Hera, my little queen. May your reign be as pure as the air you will control."


The youngest, Zeus saves his siblings from their "father's" stomach, each exiting his mouth in the opposite order of when they had been consumed, with Nnamdi being the last. The young man, hair whiter than the clouds he had missed watching during times of peace and eyes like Hades but the color of roaring lightning, asks his siblings who this mysterious man is. Demeter gleefully calls Nnamdi their father and the others give varying responses of agreement.

"I am honored to meet you... King."


Nnamdi watches over his little gods' children if they were his own: young Kore, soon-to-be a kind goddess of spring and future companion of Hades, Ares, the god of war's horrifying aspects who is a soft man within, Hepheataus, a "hideous" young man who Hera had thrown from Mount Olympus(his little gods have a home of which to rule from) and a natural with crafting, Athena, a strategic war goddess who emerged from the king's head with the cry of a warrior and who often comes to Nnamdi for guidance, Hermes, a crafty little god who loves to play tricks yet is still innocent in Nnamdi's eyes, Dionysus, the youngest of the Olympians who Hestia plans to abdicate her throne to once he reaches an appropriate age, and Artemis and Apollo, the twin archers of the moon and sun who love to tell wild tales to Nnamdi when he is around.

Even though they are adults and ruling over various aspects of the earth, Nnamdi still calls them his little gods and when there is trouble brewing, they come to him for guidance, for him to give them any sort of aid.

Once, Ares, a toddler in this story, had been terrified when lightning struck all around Mount Olympus(Zeus had gotten into yet another argument with Hera and left the little Ares unsupervised) so Nnamdi scooped him up in his arms and sung him a gentle lullaby that managed to drown out the howls of lightning until Ares had fallen asleep.
_

Nnamdi scolds Zeus and Hera for arguing like children and leaving poor tiny Ares alone within the halls of Olympus. "He had been seen with another mortal girl, Father-"

"Hera," Nnamdi whispers her name- as to not wake Ares who is still in his arms- harshly, a tone that says he is not to be talked back to and Hera quiets down, "He has done this many times by now, your own child is more important than some foolish argument with your husband."

Hera, despite her status as Queen of Gods, murmurs an apology and Nnamdi turns to a silent Zeus, "My king, do try to limit your ventures. I know quitting entirely is impossible for you but please think of not only your wife but your child." Zeus nods, still silent, and Nnamdi, satisfied that yet another argument of theirs has not ended in bloodshed, carefully hands the sleeping Ares over to his mother, disappearing a mist of black and white vapor.
_

Ares is unafraid to tell this tale to all who are curious about this relatively unknown part of his childhood. Nnamdi was there when he needed him most and he always will be with them all.


END OF PART ONE


PREVIEW OF PART TWO:

Hestia greets Nnamdi with her usual warm smile, noticing a small, slightly bloodied bundle in his arms. "A newborn? Why is there blood?" The watcher sighs, sitting in front of her hearth to be rid of the snow upon his shoulders. Demeter, little Kore in one arm and a basket of harvested herbs under the other arm walks in, seating Kore on a little golden chair made just for her whenever she visits Hestia's realm.

"I'm sorry, I could only gather what herbs were available," Demeter apologizes but Nnamdi says not to worry, she was worried and worry makes humans, even gods work with haste. "Who is the poor babe?"

The watcher sighs, allowing Hestia to unravel the bundle and the sisters gasp at the sight. Even their all-seeing eyes could not have seen the horror done to this poor newborn.