Chapter 6: Zeus to the Rescue
Zeus had a good childhood on Mount Ida.
He spent his days roaming around the country side of Crete with nymphs and saytrs, learning to fight from his friends the kouretes, and eating his fill of ambrosia, nectar, and honey.
But of course, also hearing stories of his wicked and evil father and his siblings trapped in their father's stomach from his mother during the times she visited.
By the time he became a young adult god, he had grown into a handsome and kind god.
He was ripped and tan from all his time on the beaches and traveling the country side. He has short, but luxurious black hair, shining electric-blue eyes that could change from looking like a clear and beautiful sky, to a cloudy torrential one in the blink of an eye once he got angry, and a neatly trimmed black beard.
One day, Rhea came to visit him on her chariot pulled by lions—her symbol.
She proposed that he work in Kronos's palace as a cup bearer.
Zeus liked the word palace, but wasn't so sure about the word work.
But then she quickly explained that it was just so that he could free his trapped siblings and overthrow his father and become king of the cosmos.
While explaining the plan, Rhea's eyes gleamed. She had been planning her revenge on Kronos's for a very long time. Now, looking at her son—so confident and powerful— she knew the time had come.
"But won't Kronos recognize me as a god?", Zeus said to his mother after the explanation.
"I've thought about that.....your siblings have survived in Kronos's stomach all these years and like you, they are fully grown by now. This means that they must have the power to change their size and shape. You should have that power too. Try making yourself appear less godly and more.....Titan-ish", Rhea explained.
Zeus had already discovered his ability to change shape and he knew that Titans were generally bigger than he was and didn't radiate as much power, but the only Titan he met before was his mother.
He tried imagining himself as a Titan and for the first time he was bigger and taller than his mother.
Rhea was exuberant and quickly took him to the palace on Mount Orthys to become the cup bearer.
.....
When Zeus saw Mount Orthys for the first time, he gasped.
The palace was massive, made out of the darkest obsidian and gold, and had gleaming black towers that stretched to scrape the sky.
This palace was meant to inspire fear, Zeus knew that immediately. But it also looked dismal and gloomy. Zeus decided that when he becomes king and gets his own palace, it would be an inviting brilliant, blinding white.
"One thing at a time", he told himself, "I bear cups first".
Rhea then took Zeus inside to the throne room where Kronos rested silently on his throne, sleeping.
The years hadn't exactly been kind to Kronos, which was ironic because he was the Titan of time. It wasn't that he looked older, but more tired and listless.
He had also put on weight from just eating and drinking all day. The five gods in his stomach didn't make things any easier. Their recent near constant attempts at escaping had done a number on him, though their attempts were unsuccessful.
Rhea introduced a handsome young Titan to him to be his cup bearer.
The young immortal bowed and introduced himself as Zeus, he figured that since Kronos had never heard his name it wouldn't matter if it was his real one anyway.
Kronos studied the young immortal's face. He felt that there was something suspicious and familiar about him with the crooked way he smiled, but he had so many nieces and nephews now that he couldn't keep track of all of them.
Still, he found this one unsettling...
Kronos looked around to see who had introduced him, but Rhea had already faded into the background.
Zeus then showed off his saytr jokes and singing as a way to assure Kronos of his talents. It was the most interesting thing that had happened in a while so a lot of Titans came to watch.
Kronos enjoyed his performance so he allowed him to become his cup bearer.
Time passed and Kronos came to trust Zeus even more. Zeus always managed to entertain them and he introduced drinking contests to their parties.
Soon Kronos just trusted Zeus to put in his cup whatever was easiest to go down.
Once Zeus was sure of this, he knew it was time.
He waited until a drinking contest started and then boasted about Kronos's drinking capabilities so that he wouldn't be able to refuse a drink.
At first, Zeus gave him what he usually did, what was easiest to go down and the other Titan their drinks mixed with sleep inducing plants. But when Kronos got full and very drunk he proposed one last drink and the gave Kronos the vilest concoction he could make out of nectar and mustard.
Kronos drank it without a second thought.
...
Kronos's stomach trembled, and then contracted and expanded madly.
It was pure chaos, his stomach acid flew into our cavity and we got burned by it, then we were thrown into the middle of the mess while constantly moving upwards. And the smell was the worst thing I've ever experienced, even in this life.
But still, I was excited.
I knew what this was! We were about to get freed and I couldn't help, but feel elated.
Even though I knew that we were going to get rescued before, I couldn't help but to get impatient and join my brother and sisters in their escape attempts.
We flew upwards with a vengeance, crashing into the walls of his stomach a bit before we start going up through his esophagus, all the while drowning in the vile concoction that Zeus made Kronos drink, but mixed with stomach acid and bile.
I turn my head and see a light coming towards us rapidly and then we're launched out of Kronos's mouth propelled by his bile.
We crash onto the table, and we immediately grow into full-sized adults, and one rock.
"Get——", he retched. "-them!"
But due to the sleep inducing plants that Zeus had mixed into their drinks the other Titans were reacting very slowly.
I take a look at Zeus and he looks like he wants to snatch Kronos's scythe and cut him up right here.
But his army consist of five slimy naked gods that are unarmed and untrained in combat, while he is surrounded by Titans with hundreds of years of experience and are quickly recovering.
He grits his teeth and then looks at us, "I'm your brother—Zeus, follow me and I will give you freedom and revenge."
I can feel that he is my brother, and the others must to because we immediately trust him and start following him.
Zeus turns into an eagle and we follow suit and turn into eagles ourselves, no idea how I figure it out first try, but we all did so.....I guess it's a god thing again?
We all regroup at what Zeus tells us is Mount Ida and receive clothes—togas and chitons, and he briefs us about what going on in the world.
"Now we fight!", Zeus yells righteously.
"I'm all for fighting him, but we need weapons to do that, do you have any?", I say slightly sarcastically, still biased against Zeus due to what he does in the myths.
Zeus scratches the back of his head and says, "Well, no...".
"Perhaps we can make peace", Hestia urges.
We all turn to look at her as if she's crazy. Even I wasn't expecting that.
"No, perhaps we can steal his scythe and then cut him up like he did to Uranus! Then I could use the scythe for something better! Like cutting wheat!", Demeter says.
Hera then scowled at her. "All those years in Kronos's stomach all you ever talked about were crops and fields, you haven't even seen them before until today!"
Demeter looks embarrassed and starts talking about how she always dreamed about peaceful and beautiful fields while still in Kronos's stomach, but we just ignore her.
"My children!", a voice yells out from the woods.
A woman steps out from the woods and I recognize her as the woman who I first saw when I came to this world—My new mother, Rhea.
She looks exactly the same as before and has the same motherly aura, except this time she looks relieved, not frightened.
She then starts weeping tears of joy, and my heart clenches seeing her cry. She goes around hugging each and everyone of us as if we are the most precious things to ever exist, and I can't help but accept her as my mother, how couldn't I with how much love she is showering us with?
After composing herself she goes on to tell us about the Elder Cyclopes and the Hundred-Handed Ones, who Kronos had exiled to Tartarus for a second time.
She told us that they are extremely good blacksmiths and stone masons.
"If anyone can make weapons that exceed your father's scythe, they are", she tells us,"but you will have to descend into the darkest, vilest, place in creation—Tartarus."
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