I wasn’t sure if her disappearing into what seemed like an extraplanar hole in his mouth or the fact that he’d just snapped the chains so easily was the reason why I gasped in fear. There was no way I would be able to fight him or even gain enough time to save my brothers. Not without Demeter.
“You joined us at last, young one,” Cronus said, his voice now morphed into something completely otherworldly.
“Father... why?” was the last thing Hades said to the man he looked up to, as the jaws closed around him, taking him forever.
“Run, Zeus!” Poseidon said.
I started, but immediately lost my balance and fell flat on the ground. I scrambled up again and ran as fast as I could, but the sound of the beast’s jaws snapping told me, that Poseidon was no more. I skipped steps, jumping down three or four at a time, waiting for the inevitable. A booming crash almost made me lose my balance again and I turned around to see the wall of my father’s palace exploding as the ram came rushing out of it.
“Your life is forfeit!” the beast roared.
I put even more strength into my feet and tried sending some lightning bolts at him. Even though they landed perfectly, it didn’t look like they had any effect at all. I was unbuffed and without my fighting gear. Despite being level fifty-five, I wasn’t as strong without my equipment and he was most probably armed to the teeth right now.
As I reached the base of the almost one thousand steps, I could feel Cronus’s hot, wet breath on the back of my neck. There was no way I’d be able to outrun him and looking at how he’d destroyed the wall to pursue me, I didn’t think hiding in a building would work either. Being an immortal god meant that I could never die but it didn’t mean that I could never be killed.
My face hit something hard as I dared glance back at Cronus for a split second. I was sure there had been nothing in my way. Just as I was brought to a stop, so was my father. I picked myself up as fast as I could and looked at what had stalled my running.
* * *
Name: Rhea
Race: Titan
Class: Queen of Titans
Level: 65
* * *
“Mother, Cronus has gone mad,” I said hastily. “He devoured them. Poseidon, Hades, Demeter. He ate them all.”
“You made a promise to me, Cronus!” she screamed, while using her hand to pull me behind her. “You said you would never bring death upon our offspring.”
“And I never broke that promise, Rhea,” the beast replied, not moving to attack her. “I have devoured them. They are not dead but live inside of me. Where they won’t be able to hurt me.”
“You may have escaped punishment from the Dark Energy, but you have broken my trust,” she said.
“Mother, we need to run,” I pleaded.
“We’re both titans, son,” she replied. “He can’t kill me. If you want to get your revenge, you need to hide somewhere that your father has no control over.”
“Step away from Zeus,” the beast insisted, “and all will be over.”
“Nothing is over,” she said, nodding at me to run away. “This is only the beginning. The beginning of your undoing, Cronus. Run, Zeus!”
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Mother went through the same transformation, all the while standing in the way of my father. I resumed running down the slope of Mount Orthys as the shadow my mother cast grew larger behind me. A gigantic bird made of flesh and metal emerged from her human body and flapped its wings so hard it sent me flying down the mountainside.
* * *
The gigantic golden eagle flew at the ram-like beast. Her razor-sharp talons dug into my father's eyes as he snapped his head from one side to the other, trying to get rid of his aggressor. Momentarily, I thought of running back into my own palace to get my gear so I could join the fight. But there was nothing I could possibly do against him. He was just too strong for me.
Instead I did as my mother bid me and ran down Mount Orthys as fast as I could. The sounds of the booming battle were still strong when, hours later, I reached the base of the mountain. Even though the two gigantic beasts could not be seen anymore, the mortals that lived here were all outside of their houses and looked up toward the catastrophe taking place so close to their homes.
“Prepare my ship!” I shouted at them, reverting to walking at a brisk pace so as not to create absolute chaos. “And load the boat with food and water!”
The men and women who had fallen on their knees to welcome me quickly stood up and followed my commands. This might have been a town that worshipped my father, but none of the mortals were stupid enough to disobey the direct orders of a god, much less those of the son of Cronus. What I needed to do was get away from here before my father or his minions caught up to me.
The boat was not the fastest means of transport but leaving in such a hurry, I had no magical items available. What’s more, the seas would provide a much faster journey than the few roads if I had gotten a horse. And even though I could last without food and water for much longer than a mortal would, I didn’t want to go through that when I could take just a few minutes to prepare myself better.
Moving toward the marina, I saw people rushing to fetch everyone from the Mistress of Thunder’s crew. She wasn’t the biggest of ships or the best for naval fights but she was definitely one of the faster ones. Of course, no mortal ship could ever hope to outrun a magical means of traveling, but this was the best I had at the moment.
I stepped onto the ship and shouted at the men to hurry as I looked through my inventory. It was no surprise that I didn’t find any weapons or armor there. I kept all of my equipment in a magically enlarged storage room at my palace while keeping only the necessary items for my daily life of entertainment on my person. My inventory was filled with wine. Great quality wine, but not very useful in running-for-your-life-type situations.
The ship left the harbor within five minutes, during which I stared up the mountain, waiting for disaster to strike. But the fighting was still going on as the port disappeared from view.
“Our heading, sire?” asked a man I recognized as the captain.
* * *
Name: Proreus of Meton
Race: Human
Class: Fighter
Level: 13
* * *
“Proreus, son,” I said, trying to maintain my cool exterior as much as possible. “East to southeast would do for now.”
“Certainly, sire,” the man said and turned around to start shouting commands to his crew.
I was left by the rails of the small ship as the men opened the sails fully. Being the god of thunder and storms had its advantages in this situation.
* * *
Name: Master of Storms
Level: Divine Skill
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
DP Consumed: 1
Power: N/A
Range: 7000 inches
Precondition: None
Description: The divine domain of Zeus, son of Cronus of Mount Orthys, covers all aspects of thunderstorms. This includes manipulation of electricity, winds, clouds, and rainfall. Zeus is able to control all of these elements with a single thought or even command them to act in a certain way for up to four hours without having to expend any concentration or MP on them.
* * *
I triggered my Master of Storms skill and gathered the clouds around the city we’d just left, as well as above us. This way, if anyone came flying to look for me, they would need to be flying very low to be able to see us. And they wouldn’t be able to see very far either.
I made sure the layer of clouds that covered us was not as thick as elsewhere so that no rain would hinder our progress, while I channeled the winds to blow into our sails as hard as possible without ripping them apart. The ship was practically flying through the water and the crew seemed to be enjoying it.
With each minute we moved away from the shore and deeper into the Aegean sea, I felt I could breathe a tiny bit easier. Searching for us out here would be harder, especially since we’d reached open waters and could have gone in any number of directions. Yet no matter how brilliant this plan sounded initially, while I was analyzing the food and water in my inventory a couple of hours into our seafaring journey, I saw two dozen black spots at a distance in the sky.
I prepared myself for battle as the blips in the sky became larger and I was able to make out exactly what I was seeing.