Chapter 5:

–Titus–

We soared above the skies of Themyscira, heading straight for the royal palace. A few guards snapped to attention as soon as we landed. They raised their spears in our direction, but quickly relaxed when they recognized Diana.

"Hail, Princess! Welcome home!" they exclaimed, their faces lighting up at the sight of her.

They were noticeably less thrilled to see me. "Who is this... man... you've brought with you, Princess?"

Diana smiled proudly and placed a hand on my shoulder. "This is my son, Titus," she declared. "The grandson of Zeus himself, and your prince!"

BOOM!

Thunder rumbled in the sky above us. I glanced up in confusion—the skies were perfectly clear.

"What was that?" I asked.

Diana's smile widened. "The Gods pay much closer attention to Themyscira than the rest of the world. I'm fairly certain that was Zeus acknowledging your existence. It's a good thing!" Diana tried to reassure me.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that, so I nodded and chose not to comment. I didn't know much about the Greek gods beyond the famous myths and lores. Neither of those painted a very flattering view of the Greek Gods. Most people considered them all to be a bunch of assholes in the modern age.

…When I turned back to the guards, I was surprised to see them all down on one knee, kneeling in my direction.

"Hail to the prince!" one of them shouted.

"Welcome home, Prince Titus!" the others chorused in unison.

Diana nodded at them before leading me into the palace directly past the gates. No one else tried to stop us as we made our way toward the throne room.

"Do you remember what I told you about my mother, Titus?" Diana asked me quietly.

"That she might try to kill me?" I smirked at her. "You were just joking about that…right?"

She avoided my eyes. "Erm…Maybe?"

Before I could respond, the massive doors to the throne room swung open. My first thought was that the space was way less crowded than I'd imagined. I expected a hall filled with guards and court officials, but there were only two women waiting for us. Both were blonde, stunning, and looked like they hadn't aged past their early thirties. One sat regally on the throne—my grandmother, Hippolyta. The other stood beside her, tall and fierce—my great-aunt, Antiope.

"Welcome back, Diana," Hippolyta said in a disapproving tone. She didn't even glance in my direction. "Didn't I tell you to stop bringing men from that League of Justice to our island?" She added with a sigh.

Diana responded calmly. "I think you'll find that Titus is quite welcome on our island despite being a male, mother. I'd like to introduce you to my son."

You're…son?" Both Hippolyta and Antiope's eyes went wide!

"H–How…?" Antiope asked Diana. "You've never been pregnant before!"

Diana awkwardly scratched her cheek. "...You aren't wrong. The circumstances of Titus's creation were a bit strange, but I love him as my son all the same!" she declared before giving them both a quick explanation on how I came to exist in this world.

When Diana finished, both my grandmother and great Aunt were gaping at Diana in disbelief.

"The mortals have truly gone too far this time! How dare they trample in the domain of the gods!" Hippolyta shouted indignantly.

"It has been handled, mother. The scientist who engineered Titus has been captured and all of his research has been destroyed. What's done is done." Diana said. "Aren't you both going to greet my son?" she added.

I awkwardly raised a hand, trying to break the tension. "Uh, hi. It's nice to meet—"

"Abomination!" Antiope suddenly roared, her voice echoing loudly off all the marble walls. She drew her sword on her hip and kicked off the top of the staircase, charging straight at me!

She raised her blade high above her head and reached me far faster than any normal human would have been able to move.

However, compared to Shayera, Antiope was basically moving in slow motion.

I didn't even bother dodging her blow when she reached me. When her sword came down towards my head, I casually reached up and caught it between my index finger and thumb.

CLINK!

"What?!" Antiope gasped in shock. She tried to pull her sword free from my grips, but no matter how hard she yanked, it didn't budge. I had far more power in my two fingers than she had in her entire body.

I applied a bit more pressure to the blade between my fingers.

CRACK!

The sword couldn't handle it. The metal gave way and shattered, pieces falling harmlessly to the marble floor.

Antiope stepped back, her eyes wide as she stared at the broken sword hilt still in her trembling hand. "That sword was forged by Lord Hephaestus himself! It hasn't chipped in over a thousand years! How… how did you destroy it?"

That was made by a God? Honestly, it hadn't felt that durable. I wondered if she'd gotten scammed…

I shrugged at her. "I'm just built different."

Antiope glared at me, clearly not satisfied with that answer. "What does that even mean?"

Diana quickly stepped forward between the two of us. "What are you doing, Aunt Antiope!? Why are you attacking my son?"

Antiope's gaze flickered between us, frustration in her voice as she retorted, "You can't actually expect us to accept him as the prince of our people, Diana! His birth wasn't natural!"

Diana scoffed. "Neither was mine! Did you forget that my mother literally sculpted me from clay, and Zeus breathed life into my statue?" She crossed her arms and put her hands on her hips.

Antiope turned sharply toward Hippolyta incredulously. "You never told her?"

"Told me what?" Diana demanded, her brow furrowing.

Hippolyta pouted. "Don't pin this on me, Antiope! How was I supposed to know Diana would still believe that story as an adult? It was just something I made up because she was too young to know where babies come from. All mother's do that!"

"...Story?" Diana repeated. "Wait—are you telling me that's not how I was born?" she asked with a slight pause.

Hippolyta nodded with a sigh. "No, Diana. You weren't born from clay." She sat back in her seat as she started her explanation. "It's less common nowadays, but every once in a while, an Amazon finds herself wanting a child. Obviously, in order for that to happen, we need the help of a man. Not that a man is very difficult to find. Our island isn't that far from the coast. Our women used to leave the island, sail to the mainland and stay there for a month or two, and then they would come back to the island once they were pregnant. Hundreds of years ago, I found myself wanting a child, and was planning on embarking on a similar journey. But before I could set sail, Zeus himself appeared before me and offered to be the father of my child himself. Naturally, I couldn't turn down the chance to have a powerful demigoddess for a daughter, so I lied with him repeatedly over the next few days—"

"Okay, okay! You can skip the details, Mother!" Diana cut in, her face bright red from embarrassment. "I get it… The story I've told to literally everyone who's ever asked, isn't true. Is that what you're saying?" Diana threw her arms up in the air in exasperation.

Hippolyta blinked at her daughter. "Wait—you've been telling people that you used to be a clay statue? And they believed you?"

"Her story's kind of all over the internet," I chimed in. "Pretty much everyone thinks that's how Diana came to be. I don't think a single person has ever even tried to argue it at this point…"

"Huh," Hippolyta mumbled, sinking back into her throne, looking perplexed. "Well, isn't that something?"

Diana folded her arms, her face still slightly flushed. "...Does Hera know the truth about my birth? She's not exactly known for being kind to Zeus's… misbegotten offspring."

Hippolyta nodded at her daughter. "Of course she knows. In fact, according to Zeus, your birth was her idea!"

That didn't sound like something Hera would agree to. I glanced at Diana who seemed to be thinking the same thing judging by her conflicted expression.

Antiope's head whipped around. "You never told me that part, sister!" she exclaimed. "Why would Hera suggest something like that? She loathes Zeus's bastards! Everyone knows that fact."

"It's what he told me," Hippolyta replied.

BOOM!

I moved at super speed, grabbing Diana and Antiope just as the ground beneath us exploded in a violent blast. I barely caught sight of a distortion in the air before it hit. Rock and pieces of marble harmlessly bounced off of me as I shielded the two women at the epicenter of the blast that seemingly came out of nowhere.

"Thanks, Titus," Diana said as I let go of her waist. Antiope just grunted and shoved herself off me. I let her of course.

A figure appeared in the brand new crater that had just appeared in the floor. I didn't recognize them, but my grandmother did…

"Lady H-Hera… what brings you to Themyscira?" Hippolyta stammered nervously, scrambling off her throne and dropping to her knees before the figure who had emerged from the explosion.

Diana and Antiope followed suit, dropping to their knees as well. I considered doing the same, but a voice in the back of my head stopped me. No one had the power to make me kneel before them…

With a wave of her hand, Hera cleared the lingering dust in the air, and I finally got a good look at her. She was stunning—and way younger than she's usually depicted in TV shows or movies. She looked barely older than twenty, with long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, a heart-shaped face, and a flawless figure. I could see why Zeus wanted to marry her. Too bad her beauty was completely ruined by the intense scowl on her face as she glared down at everyone in the room.

"You think I would come up with a plan to let my husband cheat on me?" Hera snapped at us all, but her eyes were mostly fixated on Hippolyta–the woman who had apparently slept with her husband without Hera's permission.

I was a bit baffled by the fact that Hera was even here in person. Did the gods really not have anything better to do than spy on the women of Themyscira all day long?

"M-My lady…" Hippolyta stammered, still kneeling. "I had no reason to doubt Zeus's words when he told me you'd given him permission. Besides, it's already been hundreds of years since then. Does it really even matter at this point? Besides, it's not kike I could have refused the King of the Gods…"

I thought Hippolyta made some fair points, but then again, the Gods weren't known for being fair.

"Yeah, Zeus is some King alright!" Hera said sarcastically. "He's doing a bang up job! Outside of Themyscira, we barely have a few thousand people left in the entire world who even bother to worship us. Do you know how pathetic that is? Humans literally know we're real because of her!" Hera pointed straight at Diana. "The whole world knows she's Zeus's daughter, but even then, they refuse to worship us anymore!"

"Well, isn't that because you gods are kind of all a bunch of stuck up assholes?" I cut in. The fact that she was even here trying to harass us instead of her husband kind of confirmed that fact.

Diana, Antiope, and Hippolyta gasped in unison. "Titus!" Diana scolded me. "You can't call the Gods a bunch of stuck up assholes!"

"I just did. What are they going to do about it, anyways?" I replied.

Thunder boomed above the palace!

"Shut up, husband! I'm handling this myself!" Hera shouted toward the ceiling.

The thunder immediately stopped…

Hera's eyes shifted to me, her scowl deepening. "Another one of Zeus's descendants... I didn't even come here for you, but I might as well deal with you while I'm at it." A smug smile tugged at her lips as a golden aura began to glow around her.

I heard Diana gulp nervously beside me.

I started walking toward Hera, slow and deliberate. "You're not punishing anyone. Honestly, if your husband's cheating bothers you that much, maybe you should just divorce him instead of harassing his victims."

Hera's glowing hand shot up, her palm aimed right at me. "How dare you try and lecture me!" A beam of golden light shot from her open palm.

I grunted in surprise as it slammed into my chest, my shirt instantly burning away by the divine power. The light pressed against my skin, trying to burn me next, but it failed to do anything. Actually, it felt... nice? I felt like I was getting slightly stronger the longer her attack went on for. My skin actually seemed to absorb her divine energy, like I was soaking up the sun.

I continued striding towards Hera.

"You're... unharmed? How!?" Hera's eyes widened in disbelief. She grit her teeth and cranked up her power, the beam of light grew even larger until it engulfed every inch of my entire body.

I sighed as all of my clothes were destroyed—again—but I kept walking regardless, cutting a path straight through her attack.

Despite her efforts, her attack completely failed to push me back or burn me. It wasn't until I was towering directly over the Queen of the Gods that I realized she wasn't as tall as I thought she would have been either.

Her hand dropped to her side, the beam fading away as she huffed for air. "What are you…?" she didn't make any other moves to attack me. I think she was genuinely wiped out after only one attack.

"...That was it? Seriously?" I muttered to her.

Hera, the Queen of the Gods, couldn't even scratch me. A woman that my mother feared and worshiped for some reason, couldn't even put a scratch on me. Why did Diana bother worshiping her again?

I glanced back at Diana who seemed to be just as baffled as I was. "Are all Gods this weak?" I asked her.

"I–I don't know what to say." Diana admitted. "I've never actually seen the Gods fight before, now that I think about it…"

If Diana and I fought, I'm sure I would win, but I know she would make me work for it. I wouldn't walk away unscathed. That being said, Diana could have easily kicked Hera's ass just now instead of me. I think she was starting to realize that fact herself because she stopped kneeling to the Goddess and stood up herself.

Hera nervously tried to take a step back away from me. I reached out and grabbed her by the arm, holding her in place. "Where are you going? Didn't you come here to punish us?" I asked her smugly.

Hera pursed her lips. "Unhand me, you brute!" She smacked my bare chest a few times with her other arms, but all she managed to do was injure her own hand. "Ow…" she grumbled and glanced down at her bruised fingers.

…That was also around the time that she finally seemed to realize she had burned away all my clothes.

Hera's eyes stared downwards far longer than I would have expected them to.

"You're staring? Do you like what you see?" I asked her while cocking an eyebrow.

When she finally looked back up at me, her face was bright red. "Awawawah…" She mumbled some incomprehensible gibberish before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted…

–Diana–

Diana watched as her completely naked son gently lowered the fainted Goddess Hera to the floor. Apparently, Hera couldn't handle seeing Titus in all his… glory.

"That was kind of weird," Titus said, turning around.

And now Diana was once again seeing him in all of his glory as well. It was quite the sight…

Diana's eyes couldn't help but dart downwards, and she was sure she failed to keep the blush off her cheeks as she stammered, "Y–Yes, very strange…"

"Hera was weak as hell," Titus remarked. "Something tells me the other Gods aren't much better either. Why do you even bother worshiping them?"

Diana had trouble answering that question. The only answer she could come up with was because she was raised to believe the Gods were all powerful. Finding out that was not the case, was very strange and more than a little disappointing.

"I don't know," she simply said. She figured she was going to be doing a lot of thinking in the next couple days.

Diana shook her head and glanced over at her mother and Aunt. Both of them looked to be completely out of it, they couldn't seem to quite believe what happened either. None of them had expected one of the top Goddesses of Olympus to be…that pathetic.

"I've met Hera a few times in my life… she always seemed so… untouchable." Diana thought back to her rare visits to Olympus. Now that she thought about it, Diana had never seen any of the Gods ever actually engage in any forms of combat. Even when she had offered to dpar with war gods like Ares or Athena, they had both outright refused to fight her. They always claimed that they would have trouble holding back and might accidentally hurt their "baby sister."

In her naive youth, Diana believed them. Now she was suspecting that they didn't want to fight her simply because they didn't want to get their asses kicked.

After a couple minutes, her mother and Aunt finally straightened themselves out and stood up from their knees. "What should we do with Hera?" Antiope asked her sister, the Queen.

"I don't know… She obviously came here to punish me…maybe even kill me." Hippolyta said bitterly.

"Don't you have someone to thank then for saving your life, mother?" Diana asked smugly.

Hippolyta turned to Titus before fiercely blushing herself. It seemed that all the women who saw her son naked had a similar reaction...

"T–Thank you, Titus. For saving us from Hera. I apologize for my sister's words towards you previously and welcome you to Themyscira as an official prince of our people."

Titus smiled brightly. "Thank you…grandmother."

"Call me Hippolyta," her mother immediately corrected him. "Grandmother makes me feel old…I don't look old do I?" her mother asked with a small pout.

Diana was baffled. What the hell!? That was a major attitude flip! And was her mother seriously flirting with her own grandson!?

"Sure thing Hippolyta!" Titus said while reaching down and picking up Hera like a sack of potatoes.

"As for her…you can stick her in the dungeons. If Zeus wants her back after lying all these centuries and his wife trying to kill me for it, then he can come down here and negotiate with us himself!" Hippolyta said smugly.

Diana expected more thunder to rumble over their heads at that comment, but none came. It seemed the jig was up over on Olympus. How far had her father truly fallen in power, she wondered.

"You'll be sticking around the island for a few days, right Titus?" Hippolyta asked as she strutted over to Titus. She reached out and gently cupped his cheek. "You wouldn't leave me before all this trouble is resolved would you?" she continued to shamelessly flirt with him.

Titus had a small blush on his face and Diana noticed a little bit of movement between his legs as well. Diana grit her teeth in annoyance at the shameless way her mother was suddenly acting towards Titus! All because she realized how powerful he was! She would be having words with her mother later that night!

Her mother needed to learn to get in line!

Wait–NO! Where did that thought come from!?

XXX

Check out the other Fics on my Profile. I update one of them everyday-ish.

I'm always happy to get feedback so please leave a comment or review.

I have a patreo n. My subs can read advanced updates of my stories ahead of standard release and vote on story polls.

Link:

Patreo n .com (slash) Starwaves

Current Advanced Chapters:

The Fallen Gamer ch 288-292

The Titan ch 7

The Blood Queen ch 8

The Fox Hole ch 12

The Titan ch 6

The Fox Hole ch 11

The Supe Devil ch 8

The Blood Queen ch 7

The Fox Hole ch 10

The Supe Devil ch 7

The Blood Queen ch 6