The Olympian God of Destruction:
Chapter 7: Family Reunion.
After what seemed like a long time given how surprisingly comfortable it'd gotten, but in truth was less than a minute, Hera finally pulled her arms back and made to remove herself from the embrace. Beerus made no attempt to stop her, as he let his own arms unwrap from around the shorter of the two of them and fall by his sides.
Her face still a noticeable shade of pinkish-red, Hera looked down at the ground and their feet. Her hands nervously clutched together just below her pelvis as she refused still to meet her brother's gaze. "A-Are you happy now?" She mutteringly asked, channelling a bit of her typically more snarky side, or at least trying to. The lack of any real bite in her tone for once was obvious.
Rather than be annoyed at her given that, Beerus simply chuckled at what was possibly a shoddy attempt to save face on her end, by trying to act like she typically did around him. Her attitude really was beginning to remind him of Champa, who'd done something similar when they were young, minus the hug of course.
Back then, as he always did, Beerus didn't fail to take the opportunity to tease his younger brother for a laugh. It was one of the odd ways he'd shown his affection for him whilst giving himself the plausible deniability to say that he didn't in case Whis or someone else got on his case.
This time around, would be no different either.
"I suppose I am." He grinned teasingly, placing a hand atop her head and ruffling her long-flowing chestnut brown hair into a frizz. An act that his little sister clearly didn't appreciate if the embarrassed frown was anything to go by. "I'm glad that you've seen the error of your ways, Hera, but since you've retracted what you said before, I still have one thing to ask of you."
"A-And what would that be?" She asked back with a light stutter, feeling the urge to slap her brother's hand away for messing with her hair so flippantly, but choosing to stay her hand for the moment.
A mistake she came to regret, as Beerus gently gripped her head and leaned down, bringing himself down to eye-level with her, which allowed her to see the Cheshire cat-like smile that now adorned his lips once again from the corner of her eyes. His voice a low and husky whisper that only she could properly hear. "Will you be prostrating yourself to me now, or later?"
"Hrgk!" Hera almost choked at that. Her face close to resembling that of the oracle fish from back on his previous residence in Universe 7 whenever he'd threatened to cut down her food supply. The sudden widening of her hazel eyes in alarm as they finally snapped to him fully, her mouth having fallen open in shock and potential horror. Instead of sweating bullets in fear, his younger sister added a personal touch of her own, by having her already blushing face turning a very dark shade of red all around. Beerus could even swear he could see actual steam pour out of her ears like some sort of kettle, as she slapped his hand away and clumsily stumbled back from him.
"W-W-What!?" She yelped, her usually immaculately gorgeous face resembling that of a ripe tomato. "B-But didn't you-" Her stuttering words were cut off before she could finish as her heel knocked against a small rock behind her when she wasn't fully paying attention. Caught off causing her to lose her footing and go off balance as she tripped over it. A startled cry leapt forth from her as she suddenly fell over on to the ground rather roughly in the next second in an undignified, near comical manner. Her plump ass cushioning her fall as it struck the ground first. Strands of her silky, chestnut-brown hair falling over her reddened face in the process. Her ample, perky E-cup breasts bouncing lively within her tunic from the impact before her hands instinctively planted themselves on the floor to steady herself, as her sizeable mounds settled down into a series of jiggles before stopping.
"Beerus," Hestia called out in bafflement, as she and others locked sights on her twin. "What did you-"
"Pfft." Before anyone else could properly react to what had just happened, Beerus's cheeks puffed out suddenly, as a number of snickers left him. Those snickers would've morphed into full blown laughter had Beerus not decided to clamp a hand down on his mouth to stifle the laughter threatening to spill out.
Hestia, Demeter, Poseidon and Hades all stared at Beerus in major confusion of what was going, as he continued to stifle laughter into his palm as he hunched over a little while his shoulders shook. His facial expression looking downright hysterical. Hera meanwhile was too stunned and red-faced on the ground to properly respond as she gaped openly at her elder sibling. All of them at a total loss for words at what had just occurred.
"Ohoh!" A small laugh managed to escape as Beerus eventually calmed himself down, removing his hand from his lips to show the face-splitting smile he now had. "That reaction was so much better than I thought it'd be!" He remarked in a humoured tone as he appeared to wipe a stray tear from his eye.
"H-Her reaction…?" Hestia muttered confusedly at her twin's remark.
Beerus did not hear this however. Too focused as he was on his seated sister and how he'd got her to react. He'd expected most of what happened there, but her tripping over on herself and falling down in a heap on top of that? Ha! That was priceless!
He couldn't even remember the last time something had made him laugh like that. The best he could compare this to in recent memory was that time that he, Whis and Goku had travelled to Universe 10's Kai realm and that goofball Saiyan had butchered his introduction to that cretin Zamasu. And that had only garnered a light amount of snickering from him at Son Goku's denseness. This was on a whole other level!
"W-Wha…?" Hera looked utterly dumbfounded right about now, and the rest of their brothers and sisters watching on in befuddlement weren't far behind her on that.
Strolling closer to her with his grin still splitting his face, Beerus offered her a hand to get up. "Like I said before, Hera, I was only joking." He informed without a lick of regret. "No need for you to worry, I just thought I'd have a little fun messing with you, is all."
Hera stared open-mouthed at the extended hand as her brother's words sank in.
Once they did, if possible, her face seemed to somehow burn an even darker shade of red, as her hazel pools glared up daggers at Beerus, who had on the biggest shit-eating grin you could imagine. Her lips tracing down into what might as well have been her trademark scowl, as they peeled open to show her gritted teeth. "You…"
Hera looked to be seething, and for a second, it looked like she was about ready to have a volcanic explosion of anger out at her elder sibling. She looked so bad that the others, outside of Hestia, almost took a step back just from the expression on her face alone. If looks could've killed, then Beerus would've been skewered like a shish-kebab by now.
However, to Beerus's mild surprise, and even more so to the others despite the moment of affection she'd given to him prior, his normally volatile sister managed to school her features and stop herself from doing so. Taking a few controlled breaths, her face steadily lost the deep shade of red that enveloped it before as it slowly returned to its normal, pale complexion. The indescribably beautiful woman then let out a drawn-out sigh as for once, as she managed to reign in her fury on her own without the assistance of Hestia. The first time she'd ever managed to do so.
"You ass." She finally said exasperatedly, as she even more surprisingly took Beerus's offered hand and used it to pull herself up. Her feminine globes of fat giving another jostle inside her open-windowed tunic as she used her other hand to dust herself down. "I decide to show gratitude, apologize and be nice, and that's how you respond after?"
"Oh, give over." Beerus rolled his eyes as he let go of her hand, quickly recovering from his mild surprise as he gave her a smirk that held no actual ill-will. "I was just having some harmless banter with you, that's all. All in good fun."
Hera's eyes were momentarily narrowed like slits upon him, clearly far from amused by his little joke. "All in good fun, hmm?" She placed a hand on her wide, shapely hip as a smirk of her own suddenly began to emerge on her pristine features. The other hand coming up to brush the stray strands of her silky, back-length hair behind her ear, as she gave Beerus a challenging look with her regal gaze. You want to mess with me for your own amusement now, do you? Well, two can play at that game, dear brother. "Well then, try not to be too shocked when I get you back for that, and have some fun of my own at your expense, Beerus."
"Oh?" Beerus rose an inquisitive, bemused brow at Hera's change of pace. "Is that right?" Fat chance of that happening on his watch, but still, the threat was more than a little amusing, so he might as well humour her. "Good luck with that one, Hera. What'll you do? Scream your head off at me again? I'd honestly like to see you try and 'get me back' for that." He finished while making air-quotations with his hand, before placing the other atop her head again just to rile her up. His head tilting downwards to around her height in an almost condescending manner had it not been for the lack of any real bad intention on his end.
"Oh no. Nothing like that this time, dear brother." Rather than let him rile her so easily this time around just as she tended to do to him, Hera controlled her temperament as she placed a hand over Beerus's cheek. Her face leaning closer to his until they were barely over an inch apart, close enough for their breaths to tickle the other's skin as they stared into the other's eyes challengingly. "That wouldn't get me anywhere with you and would only cause our lovely sister Hestia unneeded stress." She said while giving him a look that promised playful payback. "Don't you worry, Beerus. I'll come up with something soon enough to return the favour twice as hard. It's only a matter of time."
Heh, look at her, talking as if it's a foregone conclusion. 'Only a matter of time' she says. Ha! How adorable. It did make him just that more intrigued to see if she could actually come up with something to return his little joke twice as hard, though. Far as he knew, she had nothing to embarrass him with, so for now, no matter her confidence, it was pretty much an empty – but amusing all the same – threat."Hmph. I look forward to seeing you try." And fail most likely. Whatever botched attempt she'd make would likely be good for another laugh on his end, he'd say. "Should be quite entertaining."
"Oh, it will be. For me that is." She countered back slyly, not backing down even an inch.
"Uhh, you guys?" Poseidon called out, getting the two's attention on him, and by extension the rest of their siblings sans Zeus as their gazes switched over. "Mind telling us what that was all about?" He asked with no small amount of befuddlement mirrored by the others.
From the looks of things from their perspective, it'd taken even less time than they would've thought before the two of them were right back in each other's grills again.
"Oh, nothing you need to worry about, you lot." Beerus replied, his hands coming behind him as one clasped around the wrist of the other, as he turned halfway towards the group of four. Reclining his frame back up to full height as he did. "Just a bit of sibling banter, is all."
"Are you sure?" Hestia asked concernedly, taking a step forward while clasping her hands together as she glanced over at Hera.
"Yes. What he says is true, sister." Said female deity gave her concerned, caring older sister a levelled smile that looked genuine. The only sign that there was something else to it being the almost predatory side-glance she gave Beerus for a very brief instance. "It was just a little, harmless joke he decided to pull, and one I intend to get him back for. All in good fun, though."
"Ah." Hestia nodded, not spotting the look Hera had sent Beerus's way as she let a kind, homely smile adorn her soft, pinkish-red lips. "Well, that's good, I suppose. It could end up being a way for you two to bond even further, rather than going at each other's throats."
"I agree." Demeter nodded in agreement with her own cautious, but relieved smile. "So long as it's not harmful, it could do you some good." Better than how they were before, at least.
Hades snorted to himself behind his sisters. A bemused smirk coating his bearded face as he looked between his favoured brother and least favoured sister, as unlike Hestia and even Demeter it seemed, he had actually noticed the look Hera sent Beerus's way. Bond isn't exactly the word I'd use there, Hestia. And doing them some good is a stretch from the looks of things. I wouldn't bank on them not being back at each other's throats soon enough with the look she just gave him…
Still, he doubted it was anything Beerus couldn't handle. Not like she could overpower him and force him into an embarrassing situation like he'd just effortlessly done to her there, getting her to trip over herself like a clumsy fool.
And hey, who knows? He may be wrong and the two of them may actually get real cosy with each other in the future and start showering the other with compliments instead of insults before they became lovers or something.
…Pfft. Hades chuckled lowly enough that no one really heard him. Fat chance of that ever happening. The world will be flipped on its head and I'd somehow dunk myself back in our bastard father's stomach before that ever happens.
"Hmm?" Beerus's ears suddenly perked up then, as he heard the sounds of multiple footsteps coming their way from further within the cave.
Oh wait, yeah. He'd almost forgotten already that he'd sent Zeus – with Metis following – off to get that caretaker or whatever that he couldn't have cared less to meet and introduce them.
Beerus levelled his gaze at the inner section of the cave just a second later, right around the point where the others started to hear the returning sets of footsteps. His eyes narrowing as the started to make out the emerging shadows from within the darkness before the others. Two of them were easy enough for him to make out as Zeus and Metis. There were another two however, one in front and one behind, that he could not.
Strange. Had Zeus failed to mention that he had more than one caretaker or something?
No, that didn't sound right. Before he'd sent him off, the man had managed to get out a 'she', if he recalled correctly. Something that implied there was only one of them. And he doubted that had been a mistake. So, who was the fourth one?
The answer came through rather quick, as the shadow in front seemed to spot them, and hastened their pace toward them, allowing Beerus to make out more of their features. Starting with the turret crown adorning their head and silky chestnut-brown hair the same as Hera's down up in a bun to go with it. Then there was the dark eyes he managed to make out that widened in the steadily un-obscuring shadows around them, a feminine gasp leaving their impossibly well-rounded, pale-skinned face's pinkish-red lips. As if the effeminate sound wasn't enough of a dead giveaway, their approaching body was an incredibly shapely, hour-glass figure of wide hips, slim waist and ample bosom held in by a brown tunic that made it abundantly clear that they were female.
Hang on a minute. She looks familiar… Beerus thought to himself, as the woman fully came into the light, her eyes already welled up with unbidden tears. Wait, isn't that…
Hestia gasped audibly, as hers along with everyone else's eyes landed on the new arrival. One that though she had not seen her since the day of her birth, the eldest of the group – provided Beerus's countless years prior to reincarnation were ignored – had her eyes begin to water. Her hands clutching together as they came up to her chest in shock. "M-Mother!?"
The other's eyes collectively widened in shock themselves as they too recognized her, even if they'd only caught a brief look at her before going to sleep, and then subsequently finding themselves in Kronos's gut.
"My children…" The woman, their mother, uttered. Barely audible enough to have been heard by them, almost as if she'd lost her voice. The sheer amount of emotion behind every syllable in those two words alone however was enough to make that small detail irrelevant, as it captured their attention completely. As the tears ran down her cheeks openly, the woman didn't bother to resist the flood of emotions that proceeded to pour out of her.
"You're all back…" She wept, though clearly in mounting happiness as the tears continued to fall, cascading down her cheeks as a wet smile formed on her lips. "You're all finally free…"
"That we are." Beerus said evenly, grabbing the woman's attention as he stepped forward. Not letting the small amount of shock he himself felt at seeing his mother of this reality so soon after getting out of Kronos's gut keep him rooted in place. "And it would appear that you have come to greet us now that we're out."
"Beerus…" The name left Rhea's lips the instant she locked eyes with him. That one single name coming out like a whisper, as his calm amber pools and neutral expression reflected in the Titaness's dark orbs.
It was around then that Zeus, Metis and Amaltheia stepped into the lighter part of the cave in full view and ground themselves to a halt behind Rhea. Or rather, Amaltheia stuck her arm out to stop the two from going any further, sensing that something was going on here that shouldn't be interrupted. After taking one look at her serious expression, both Zeus and Metis wisely complied and looked on.
The rest of Beerus and Zeus's siblings did the same on the other side, still rooted in place from the surprise of seeing their mother again so soon. They also didn't want to step on Beerus's toes, evidenced by Hestia, who already had her own tears dripping down her face, and looked about ready to immediately move towards the mother she'd wanted to be with again. Only to keep herself rooted for the time being, as her twin got in the way. Both his expression and even his tone near impossible to read at the moment. Making it even more difficult to know what he may be thinking right now.
"Ah, so you can tell who I am, huh?" Beerus rose a brow at that, crossing his arms behind him and hand clasped to the other. "Well, I suppose it's to be expected. You are our mother, I guess. It'd be quite shameful if you couldn't tell your own children apart."
"I could never forget any of your faces." Rhea replied, her voice choking up again no matter how much she tried to stop it. "I have already brought shame to myself for other things in the past, but I will never add that to the list. I've been enough of a disgrace as your mother already without adding that too." Even with all the tears in her eyes, Rhea could see her own son's with perfect clarity, and it was as if she was right back to that day when her first two children had been born.
The eyes of the only child who'd been conscious when Kronos had swallowed. It was impossible for her to ever forget the overwhelming feelings of sorrow and mortification, as she locked eyes with her then baby boy in that final moment before ingestion. The unmitigated look of horror in his stunning amber pools, as he stared towards her, his own mother, no doubt for help that she hadn't – couldn't – give him.
"Y-You clearly aren't all that happy to see me, my son. A-And I can't say I blame you for that." Rhea continued, letting out a whimper. Unlike with Hera however, despite the mountain of guilt and negative emotions beginning to claw at her harshly, the woman refused to avert her gaze from her eldest son's even for an instant. "I-I'm your mother, after all, and yet I failed to protect you when it mattered… All of you."
She took a shaky step forward, bringing her closer to Beerus's position, now off by only a few feet. Her teary eyes glancing around, hovering over the fully grown faces of each and every one of her precious children behind him individually. Starting with Hestia, then Demeter, Poseidon, Hades, then to Hera on the other side from them, before finally coming back to Beerus.
She halted in place with Beerus's next words. "All of us except for Zeus, apparently."
"Eh…?" Zeus suddenly felt like a deer in the headlights, as Beerus's gaze briefly shifted over to him, before moving back to Rhea.
"I may not have heard it all, but I know I heard something about you managing to trick Kronos somehow into not devouring him. Care to explain why you didn't extend that same courtesy to the rest of us?" It was an honest question, and one would've expected there to be some resentment in Beerus's tone when he said it. However, no one could really tell if there was or not, as the purple-haired deity managed to keep whatever emotions he may have been feeling well hidden.
Beerus's next question, however, certainly drove home the fact that he might. Or was at the very least annoyed at her. "Was he just more important to you than the rest of us, or something?"
"No!" The sudden, vehement shout of denial practically boomed throughout the cave. The single word holding such a level of desperate, emotive sincerity that all of the Titaness's spawn, Beerus included, were taken aback. "That isn't it. I would never pick and choose like that amongst any of you!" Closing the distance, Rhea took Beerus by surprise when she quickly grabbed his shoulders, though not with any kind of vice-like grip. Rather, her touch was remarkably soft and gentle, whilst still holding on to him with a firm grip that only a truly worried mother could pull off.
She was a good deal shorter than he was. Just a little taller than any of his sisters at the moment as she tilted her had up to look at him, but that didn't stop her from getting so close to his face, to the point where he could see every ounce of anguish she had. Every bit of the pain and misery she felt at what she'd let happen, all of the regret and almost bone-crushing shame. All of it was on display before him up-close. Through both her expression, and her watery pools. Seeing it all pass over her features in such a frightening storm of emotions coalescing together was enough to keep even him rooted down and speechless. Something that didn't happen often for the former G.O.D of the erased Universe 7.
"My dear boy… Trust me, if I thought I could get away with it, I would've done everything I could to ensure none of you ever went through what you did. I swear I would…" The sheer amount of conviction and honesty in every word she spoke left no argument as to whether or not she was being genuine. "You have no idea how much I wish none of this had had to happen. I-If only for that bastard husband of mine…"
Beerus took notice as she grit her teeth, her agonised words at the end beginning to drip with pure venom as she brought up their 'father'. Her body shook, as he peered into her eyes and saw nothing but revulsion and disdain at the thought of Kronos.
"Not even a hint of remorse for what he was doing, either to me or to you, no matter how much I pleaded with him. Tried to reason with him. He wouldn't hear any of it. He's nothing but a monster, trying to act like he's so benevolent with the idea of devouring you all. For Tartaros' sake, the only reason I was even able to trick him into eating that stone and saving Zeus was because at that point, he'd grown less and less attentive with what he swallowed."
Wait… that bloody stone that landed on my head back then was Zeus's damn substitute!? Beerus's eye twitched in near comical aggravation at that particular nugget. And here he'd thought that was that bastard Kronos just messing with him after that first time he'd nailed his gut. No, turns out that was just Zeus's damn stand-in. No wonder it had been dressed up in the same kind of cloth they'd all come down in…
The purple-haired god was brought back to reality quick when he felt Rhea shift against him, drawing his attention back to her as her contemptuous words continued.
"If it hadn't been for his growing disregard for even looking at the very children he was chucking down his throat, even Zeus would've ended up in there with you too. Imprisoning you all within his stomach for all eternity. I still won't ever forget him having the nerve to say to me after first trapping you and Hestia inside of him that he considered it a mercy!"
A mercy? Beerus scowled at that. That piece of garbage actually thought doing that to me and them was a mercy? He knew Kronos was a grade-A piece of shit from the moment he'd swallowed him and Hestia whole, but to say something like that… especially to his wife… and no doubt believe it? It truly did seem as though the more he learned about their so-called father, the more and more his already rock-bottom opinion of him somehow managed to go even lower. All while his desire to brutalize and destroy him grew even higher.
Mercy his ass. He'd show that fucker what he thought of that 'mercy' when he got his hands on him again. And unlike in that castle of his, Beerus wasn't going to have his siblings to be concerned about in the crossfire.
Beerus was quickly brought out of his brief reverie about what he'd inevitably end up doing to Kronos, when he felt something press into his chest. Blinking to himself as he re-focused back on his mother, he saw that she'd pressed her face into it. Her divine tears staining against his tunic, something gifted to him via her magic on the day of his re-birth, as she sobbed openly.
"Please… I beg your forgiveness." She whimpered again, this time into his chest, further staining the tunic with her running tears, as his hands unclasped behind him. "I-I know after what you suffered through because of my inability to act earlier, you may not believe me, but I'm sorry. To all of you. I'm so… so sorry…"
"Ngh…" Beerus's face scrunched up as the woman finally finished speaking. Resigning herself to more quietened sobs into his chest as she wept, whilst holding on to his shoulders almost like they were a lifeline to her, though without any sort of painful grip.
In truth, he admittedly had been annoyed at the woman. Not so much before, when they were still trapped in that gut, as he could tell from the situation he'd seen that she had neither a choice, nor a say in the matter of what happened to them. He wouldn't have put it past that sack of shit to put her down if she tried to save them from that fate either, as Kronos had shown him quite clearly that he only truly cared about himself. He could even put past the multiple other births and subsequent swallowing of his other siblings down the line as Kronos being a horny bastard and simply using her to satisfy himself, and then take care of the 'aftermath' later.
No. It was the fact that she'd managed to find a way to save Zeus from that fate, but not any of them, that actually gave him such annoyance towards her. Not nearly enough for him to hate her or anything, but certainly enough to get on his nerves, especially after the first impression Zeus had left on him in that castle.
Now though… now that he knew how that had been accomplished, and how impractical it would've been for saving them all, he found his annoyance over it dissipating. Not to mention how he found himself cringing despite his best efforts not to, both hearing and feeling the woman cry into him after effectively pouring her heart out.
Damnit all… Why am I starting to feel so bad right now? He thought, not fully understanding why he felt as such, whether she was his mother in this reality or not. The lingering annoyance he had melting away quickly the longer he felt her sob into his tunic, and the more he began to feel pity for her, of all things. And, perhaps even more shockingly to him – given he'd only had about a minute of interaction with her prior to now – the sudden urge to… to comfort her?
For goodness sake, he knew he'd mellowed out a little after all that time spent around Son Goku, but he wasn't aware it was to this extent.
Damnit though, why did it have to be him doing the comforting then, huh? This wasn't his forte in the slightest. He had no real idea how to do that properly. Did he try to hug her or something? Like he'd done with Hestia before, or with Hera a little bit ago? Would that even work here with her? He hadn't the faintest clue, but he couldn't really think of anything else.
Just then, as Beerus found himself once again standing around awkwardly as someone clung to him in distress, he felt a small tug on the back of his tunic. This drew his attention behind him, tilting his head to the side to glance back at the one responsible.
It was Hestia yet again. This time with blasted tears of her own falling down her face as she gazed up at him with a pleading look that he could've read from a mile away, as she nodded towards their mother burying herself into his chest.
It was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it had to be in a situation that he wasn't – nor did he believe he ever would be – well equipped for. Made worse by the fact that all eyes were on him in expectance for his response.
If his little brother Champa was still alive and could see him right now, he'd probably be rolling on the floor laughing at how he was struggling right now with something like this. And no doubt even more so if he bared witness to what Beerus did next, as he let out a resigned sigh, raising his hands up to grip on his mother's shoulders. His eyes softening as he did something you would've never caught him doing unless it involved Lord Zen'o or the Grand Priest.
He folded.
"Alright. Alright. That's enough." He said in an almost exasperated tone, as he gave her shoulders a light, and hopefully comforting squeeze. "I give. Please just stop it with the water works already. It's fine, really. We're good."
"We're… good?" She mumbled into his tunic, partially pulling her face away from it, wet with her tears, to gaze up at him. "D-Does that mean you…?"
Beerus's eye twitched as though he was on the brink, as he saw the look she gave him. Through all that damned sadness and distress of hers, that bloody glimmer of hope entering her gaze. Good grief, did this have to be so damn dramatic?
"Yes. You're forgiven." He confirmed what she'd been hoping to hear. "Now, could you-"
Beerus was cut off before he could finish, as Rhea suddenly pushed herself up against him again, her hands leaving his shoulders as her arms seemed to wrap around his torso practically at the speed of light. He could almost feel the wind getting driven out of him as her hands planted themselves on his back and pushed his body further into hers, in a near smothering embrace. Her ample breasts mashing into his front through her own tunic probably as much as her own face was to his right now, as she let out a shuddering cry against him.
This time however, it was not one of sorrow, but of joy one more.
"Thank you, my dear, sweet boy. Thank you…" The expressive gratitude seemed to overflow from her in that moment and like with Hestia, it was as if her aura burst forth from her in that moment, crashing against everyone in the cave, him especially, like a tidal wave of raw emotion.
"I-It's no issue, mother." He stuttered, completely out of his depth again. His arms eventually circling her own frame like he'd done for Hera, as he awkwardly patted her on the back. Unsure of what else to do, as he felt the unbridled force of her emotions up close as its main target right now.
Goodness sake, he was starting to feel like he was little boy all over again. Being showered with that sort of unconditional affection that only a loving parent could administer.
It didn't end there though, as Hestia decided she couldn't wait anymore, and joined in. Her own arms wrapping around them both, as she brought her face close to their mother's, who turned her head to loom at her eldest daughter.
"It's good to have you back with us, mother." She smiled brightly, her eyes over-flowing with joyful tears as she hugged them both close. "I missed you so much…"
Rhea smiled back, just as joyful as her eldest borne. "And I you, Hestia. My beloved daughter." One of her arms that had been around Beerus quickly snaked its way out and around Hestia, seeming to do its best to draw the woman closer to her. "Oh, how I longed for the day I'd have my children back in my arms!"
"Hey, don't go forgetting about us now, mother." Hades smirked, as he moved forward and joined in as well. The others not far behind, as each of them did the, forming a sort of group hug around the trio, much to Beerus's chagrin.
"H-Hey now, wait a second! There's no need for all of us to come in at once!"
His words went ignored, as the others tightened their embrace around them. All he could do was let out a groan, as he was forced to submit himself to the sappy family smothering.
"You going to join them?" Amaltheia asked Zeus from their position across from them, her arm having lowered as they watched the scene play out. "You're a part of that family too, after all."
"I uh, don't think that's necessary." Zeus waved her off. Briefly casting a nervous glance at Beerus in particular. "She already hugged me before in the tunnel. There's no need for me to be involved in this one."
"No need?" The nude nymph rose a brow. "You were so gung-ho earlier today about rescuing your siblings, and yet, now that you have accomplished that goal with Rhea's plan, you won't even bother to join them when they're having a family moment?"
"Well, that's just the thing…" Metis cut in, garnering Amaltheia's attention. "You see, things didn't really go according to plan inside of Mount Othrys, Amaltheia."
"Hmm?" The goat nymph blinked in confusion. "What do you mean by that? Surely it couldn't have been by much seeing as you managed to get them all back here."
Zeus blew out a sigh. "Trust me, Amaltheia. Though we made it out of there together, it wasn't because of mother's plan that we did."
That kind of answer only made the nymph even more confused. "But then, how did you all get out of there, if not through Rhea's plan?"
"You may not believe us when you hear it." Zeus warned. "Though I bared witness to it myself, even I'm still in disbelief of what I saw."
"Bared witness to what?" Amaltheia questioned with growing curiosity, as she saw Metis nod in agreement. "Don't keep me in the dark here. If you didn't follow the plan, then what exactly happened over there to allow you both and them to have returned here safely?"
"Well…" Zeus decided to be the one to explain, leaning down his tall, muscular frame until his lips were beside Amaltheia's ear, and whispered into it a quick rundown of the events that had occurred in order.
After a few moments, Amaltheia's eyes had widened like dinner plates and her mouth had fallen open, slack-jawed, in an expression of utter shock, as Zeus finished regaling her with the details.
"H-He really did all of that…?" She stuttered incredulously, as she threw her stunned gaze towards Beerus.
"Yes. I can promise you, he did." Zeus nodded, still not knowing himself how to process what he'd seen his elder brother do.
"B-But that doesn't make any sense!" Amaltheia rebuked a bit too loudly as she turned to Zeus, drawing the attention of his siblings, and more importantly, his mother, to them.
"Amaltheia?" Rhea called out with concern, hearing the nymph's outburst. The Titaness turning from her position towards the trio off to the other side, as her children parted from her to give some space. Her face no longer so raw with a myriad of emotions, as she seemed to have completely calmed herself down now, amongst the presences of her previously lost spawn. "Is something wrong?"
Beerus rose an inquisitive brow as he glanced over and took proper notice of the other newcomer. Not just from the way that said woman looked at him funny, as though he had ten heads, but also from the fact that she had the legs and horns of a goat.
She was also completely naked for whatever reason. And didn't seem to care about that fact either.
"Rhea," The stunned nymph began. "if what Zeus just told me is true, then I think you need to know what actually occurred up on Mount Othrys."
"What actually occurred?" Rhea blinked in confusion, as she eyed her youngest son. One who she just noticed hadn't taken part in the embrace. She could ask him about that later though. What Amaltheia had just said was more important. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps it is best if you ask your eldest son about it." She replied, motioning towards him with what had to be one of the greatest looks of disbelief and awe Beerus had ever seen on someone's face. And that was saying something, considering what his station had been for countless millions of years prior to reincarnating here. "Believe me though, you'll have to brace yourself for this one. I myself can scarcely believe what I've just been told he was able to accomplish..."
"Brace myself?" Rhea turned back toward him, concerned by both the tone and words of her acquaintance. "For what? Beerus, what does she mean by that? What did you do?"
Glancing back down at his mother, Beerus couldn't help the near feral grin that came over him when asked that. "Well, seeing as you asked…"
Beerus proceeded to oblige the woman's request, telling her as much as he cared to remember about what had taken place. From how he'd smashed his way out of Kronos's gut, freeing himself and his siblings in the process, to his little confrontation and skirmish with the musclebound moron and later with the slimmer, light-wielding Titan, and then finally, how he'd gotten them all out of the castle, where Zeus and Metis had whisked them away to their current location.
As his explanation came to an end after a couple of minutes, to say that Rhea was slack-jawed at what she'd heard would be the understatement of the millennium. Her dark eyes looked about ready to bug comically out of her skull, as she openly stared in shock and awe at her son. The Titaness rendered speechless from the information that had just been divulged.
Her children, sans Beerus, looked over their mother with concern of their own when she failed to muster up an immediate response. Merely maintaining her open-mouthed, wide-eyed look, as though she'd been stupefied.
Finally, though, after a long moment, the Titan goddess managed to recover enough of her bearings to actually find her voice again. Her mind still struggling to process the sheer absurdity of what she'd just been informed of. "Y-You really did all of that…?"
"Guilty as charged." Beerus replied smugly in some amount of satisfaction, as Rhea glanced around at her other scions as well as Metis, as though to silently ask them as well if everything he'd just said was true. None bothered to correct him on any of it. Instead, all who had been there, even Hera, nodded in acknowledgement of his tale of the events.
"O-Oh my word…" This was… By Tartaros, she had no idea what to say to this. "I-I can't believe it… You punched your way out of his gut?"
"Yep."
"Y-You then proceeded to get into a fight with Atlas and then Hyperion?"
"Well, 'fight' is a bit of a stretch." More like he'd clapped the former and disposed of the energy beam of the latter. He'd never actually laid a hand on that annoying twat. "But, more or less, yes I suppose."
"You then managed to escape from them, by smashing through the floor of the castle…?" A castle which, as she recalled, was reinforced from top to bottom, mountain included, by the divine magic of all her Titan brethren that they'd gotten away from, and he'd overwhelmed that with a single strike?
Sure, it may not have been using their true divine forms that they reinforced the castle with, but even still, he'd managed to puncture through the combined protection of five of the original Titans in one go… And from the sounds of it, he'd taken a chunk of the mountain with him!
"Pretty much." Beerus nodded, beginning to look as nonchalant about it all as one could get.
"H-How…?" Was all she could say. Still too stunned out of her wits to think of anything else. "How could you do all of that, my son? Y-You were trapped inside of Kronos all that time. How could you have amassed the power to do any of the things you've just told me? You were without guidance into the use of your abilities to even stand a fighting chance." And that was without taking into account that he hadn't a single domain to his name!
"You make it sound as though what I did should've been impossible."
"It is…" Rhea tried to say resolutely, but with clear proof of the opposite in front of her in the form of her baby boy, she couldn't find the confidence for it. "Or, it should be… For anyone else, managing to amass anything like the kind of power you've gained without proper guidance, and then use it to do what you've done is… impossible…"
Beerus chuckled lowly as he heard that. A cocky, toothy smile spreading over his face as he regarded the woman in front of him with a powerful, confident gleam in his amber pools. "Well mother, I guess you've just learned something about me right now, that I'll be sure to teach Kronos and his little group of stooges if they choose to get in my way, soon enough."
A faint purple and gold aura seemed to come to life within his eyes, as though showing Rhea a glimpse inside of him into the unimaginable, divine power that dwelt within and was ready to be unleased at his command.
"I am the impossible!"
AND CUT!
And that's the end of the last chapter before the Titanomachy arc officially begins, and the next chapter will begin with a little visit back to good ol' Kronos and the Titans in the aftermath of the escape. That's your only hint for the next one though.
Oh, and my dumbass managed to get this chapter out on time this time around. So that's nice.
On a smaller note, I wonder what Hera may come up with to get Beerus back for that? We'll have to see on that one, as there doesn't seem to be anything at the moment she could use against him. Feel free to leave your best guess if you want as to what she may try.
The siblings also finally met up with their mother and hashed things out, which is nice. Hope that I wrote that well enough for you guys, as it's my first time trying to write a scene like this. I'll probably end up making some additions to it in the future at some point if I can think of anything to improve it. Newer chapters, my other stories, and college work come first though.
Also, yes, I totally ripped that last line from the Beerus vs Sailor Galaxia Death Battle, lol. The line was just too good to resist, in my opinion, don't know about you all. And I'd say this won't be the last time Beerus may utter it either, though I won't divulge the time when he may say it again. Just know that if he does, it'll be quite the punctual time to say it.
Anyways, the next chapter will come out at some point in late February, potentially early March depending on how much my college work decides to do the rumba on my ass. I'll keep you all posted, for sure.
Hope you all got some entertainment of this one, and I'll see you all again when the next chapter is out!