Zeus had spent the next two weeks in a daze.

The words of Gaia seemed to echo through his brain constantly. Especially the part of about Cronus and Rhea being his parents. More than once, Zeus had bumped into a wall or tripped over the goat.

Addie, worried about Zeus s safety, suggested that he go stay in his room.

Zeus lay on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sometimes he wondered if the whole thing with Gaia had just been a dream. But Addie s even more worried face soon removed his doubts.

Even though Zeus lived far away from Mount Othrys, he had heard rumors of the Titan king from the nymphs. They had said that he used to be a benevolent king, but recently he had become withdrawn and paranoid, even cruel at times. They whispered that he rarely came out of his palace anymore because he had been working on experiments, mutating his prisoners to become his guards...

How could someone like that be his father?

The worst thing was, Zeus didn t even know what they looked like. Living on a mountain in the middle of nowhere did not exactly give him access to information.

Zeus focused more on his mother. He was now a hundred percent sure that the golden blond hair from his memory belonged to his mother. At least he knew that he looked his mother. And that she had held him and named him before giving him away to Gaia.

He knew he should resent his mother for not keeping him and standing up to his father, and even favoring him over his siblings, who were trapped inside of Cronus (Zeus shuddered at the thought). But he still couldn t find the strength to hate her. She had been doing it to save him and the world. She had to make a noble sacrifice: her last son for the good of the world. But Zeus still felt a bit angry.

And what about the help that Gaia promised? No one had showed up, and Gaia seemed to have gone back to wherever super powerful gods went, because Zeus hadn't heard from her since his birthday.

Thoughts swirled inside of his head. He paced the room, something he had started to do recently. He had never felt more confused in his life. What was he supposed to do? Did he have to go to Othrys right away? The way Gaia had said it, it was like she expected him to defeat him in no time. Did she think he was powerful? He could barely fight. Zeus had watched the Curetes fight with their spears before, but he never asked to learn. He now regretted it.

"I'm getting nothing done here." He muttered to himself. He walked towards the cave opening. Fresh air always calmed him down and made him think clearly.

An hour had past, and the forest had done the trick. Zeus felt a lot better, because he managed to convince himself that if Gaia really wanted him to succeed, she would guide him towards her goal sooner or later. For now, all he had to do is wait.

He was walking towards the cave with a much lighter heart when he heard rustling from the trees.

Zeus immediately climbed up an oak. He wasn't sure why he was hiding, but he knew that the rustling sound wasn't coming from the usual little forest animals or the nymphs. It felt dangerous and foreign. He crouched on the branch, hidden behind the leaves, staring at the spot where he had heard the sound.

Just as expected, he had no idea who the two people were. They were both male, with lots of muscles and wearing armor with a symbol of a sickle on the breastplate. They held swords and spears and shields, all looking polished and lethal. Zeus gulped. He had a feeling who sent those two men, and who they were looking for.

The man with the big beard looked like he was about to collapse from walking through the humid forest with heavy armor. "I can't walk any longer. How long are we going to walk until we get to that blasted cave?" his face was covered with sweat.

The other one, a young looking guy with spiky hair, rolled his eyes. "Come on, old man. Don t tell me you re so weak that you can t walk through a tiny forest?"

Beard Guy glared at him and tried to swing his sword at him, but Spiky Hair just laughed and dodged. I don t even understand why we have to dress in full armor to fight a nymph and a kid anyways. They aren't exactly threats.

"Yeah, but Cronus ordered us to take precaution in case Gaia tries to protect them. Who knows what they might have? And that kid might have some power, since he is an immortal, anyways. Spiky Hair replied.

If they know I'm an immortal, why do they think they can kill me? Zeus wondered. Is Cronus that insane?

As if reading his mind, Spiky Hair continued. "But no worries, our weapons are made of adamantine, the strongest iron in the world. That kid won t stand a chance."

"I wonder why we have to kill him anyways." Beard Guy wondered aloud.

"Who knows? But we can t disobey his orders, even if he is way off the deep end. He might perform his experiments on us. Or worse." Both men shuddered. Zeus thought that the experiments must be horrible for two grown men to have that look of fear on their faces.

As the soldiers continue to head toward Mount Ida, Zeus started to panic. There was no way he can outrun two obviously fit grown men in order to warn Addie. He felt his stomach plummet at the thought at what these men were going to do to her. He can't let them hurt her.

So he did the stupidest thing someone could ever do.

"Hey! Looking for me?"

Maybe it was because he wanted to prove himself to Gaia, that he really is that new king she kept talking about, maybe it's to find out whether he really has powers, or maybe he just wants to mask all that insecurity with courage. He felt completely distant, like he was watching some other blond kid who was supposed to be the son of a king and a queen jump down from the tree, right in front of the soldiers, who had stopped and was staring at him in amazement. Somewhere in the back of his head, he felt a small voice screaming, "What are you doing, you idiot! You are going to get killed!"

Spiky Hair managed to get over his astonishment to laugh. "You just made my job easier, kid! Never expected you to come to us on your own!" he was probably really expecting the army, Zeus thought.

"I admire your bravery. But unfortunately, that has no place in this situation right now." Spiky Hair continued, stepping in closer with his sword. "I'm supposed to cut off your head and show it to Cronus, so...let's just make this quick, okay?" he looked at Beard Guy. "You want to do the honors?"

"It'll be my pleasure." he replied, stepping closer to Zeus, about to cut his head off.

Zeus really, really did not want to see his own blood. He also hoped it did not hurt too much. He closed his eyes.

Well, this is it. He thought, expecting feel the cold adamantine through his neck any minute. I've had a nice run. I just really, really hope that Addie manages to escape. I hope that someone, nymph or animal, manages to tell her. Oh, why I didn't I tell anyone? I'm an idiot! This is all my fault. And Gaia's, for having horrible judgement. She should have known that a sissy like me can't possibly do anything! Wait...how am I having time to think right now? Can you think after death?

If Zeus had opened his eyes during his state of panic, he would have been amazed to see that dark, rolling clouds had suddenly covered the once blue sky. He would have noticed the metallic smell of a storm in the air and hear the boom of thunder. The two soldiers, noticing this, had begun to mutter to each other nervously about "unknown powers" and "son of Cronus", and Spiky Hair had motioned to Beard Guy to get on with it.

He also would've noticed the magenta-haired girl, who had followed the soldiers from a distance.

Sounds of shouts and fighting managed to break through his thoughts, and Zeus felt a little spurt of hope. Maybe someone had somehow managed to get rid of those soldiers! He opened his eyes a little, hoping that whoever had saved him had actually saved him.

The first thing he noticed were the two soldiers lying face down on the ground, seeming unconscious. The second thing he noticed was the girl, standing right in front of him with her arms crossed. She had short, straight magenta hair with bangs and two big curls at the front, framing her face. Her purple eyes made him feel uncomfortable, like she was deciding the best way to take him down. The most striking features was the flower-like scales on her cheek and the finned ears poking out of her head. Zeus found himself feeling more scared of her than he was of the soldiers.

"Are you Zeus?" she asked, like she was accusing him of something.

Zeus decided not to lie. He'd take her over any soldier any day. "Um...yes?" He prepared to run.

"Oh, good. I found you, then." she said, looking triumphant. "I was sent by Gaia herself to save you." she looked back at the two bodies. "And it looks like I got here just in time."

He felt relieved. She was sent by Gaia! She must have been the help he was waiting for! "Um, thanks for that. And...you are?"

She turned back to face him. "Oh, where are my manners?" she extended a hand towards him. "My name is Metis. I am the Titan of Wisdom."

Happy Boxing Day, everybody! Some of you might find the description of Metis a little bit familiar. That is because I'm using the physical description of the Metis from "MYth", a webcomic by Zelda C. Wang. It's really good, so I suggest you guys to search it up! Thank you guys for reading this poorly updated sotry and for that first review! You managed to make me overcome my procrastination and actually write something. The chapters after would all be short, as I find that I'm bad at long chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter!