I soared over the mountains, as the winds howled around me, but it was a song I had long since grown accustomed to. Mount Ida loomed ahead, its rocky peaks piercing the heavens. As I descended, I spotted the faint glow of a fire flickering within a cave.
With a gentle thud, my feet touched the ground, and I folded my wings. They vanished into my back with a faint shimmer, leaving no trace of their existence. Walking into the cave, I found my siblings sitting around a table drinking some beverages and eating snacks while waiting for someone. Zeus and Rhea were nowhere in sight, so I assumed it was them.
The first person to notice me was Hestia. She stood from her seat at the wooden table in the center of the cave, her face lighting up like the hearth she embodied.
"Hades!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with warmth. She rushed to me, throwing her arms around me in an embrace that I returned. Hestia's hugs always felt like coming home, even in a place as barren as this.
"It's good to see you, Hestia," I said, pulling back with a smile. "Where's Mother?"
"She's out talking to Zeus," Hestia explained, gesturing toward the back of the cave. "They'll be back soon."
Nodding, I moved to take one of the empty seats at the table. The others were already there: Poseidon, Demeter, and Hera. They looked up as I sat, their expressions a mix of curiosity and caution. Poseidon's eyes lingered on me, his brow furrowed slightly.
"We heard an explosion a few hours ago," Demeter said, breaking the silence. "What happened?"
I leaned back, shrugging nonchalantly. "Nothing to worry about," I said.
Hestia returned to the table, placing a steaming cup of tea in front of me. I thanked her with a nod, savoring the warmth of the cup against my palms. For a while, no one spoke. The only sound was the crackling of the fire and the faint rustle of the wind outside. It was a comfortable silence, though tension still lingered beneath the surface.
Eventually, footsteps echoed from the cave's entrance. All heads turned as Rhea and Zeus entered. Mother's eyes widened when she saw me, her face breaking into a radiant smile.
"Hades!" she cried, rushing toward me. I rose from my seat just in time to catch her in a tight embrace. "I was so worried when you didn't arrive with your siblings. I am glad that you are okay!"
"I am sorry that I worried you," I said, chuckling as she stepped back to look me over.
Zeus stepped forward as he and mother both took their seats. "Mother and I have been discussing our next move," he said. "We're going to Tartarus to free our uncles, the Cyclops that father had released and then imprisoned again. Mother believes that with their crafting skills, they can create us weapons that will help in the war."
A murmur of agreement rippled through the group. Rhea raised a hand, silencing us.
"Before we do anything else," Rhea began, standing at the mouth of the cavern, her face washed in the golden light of the setting sun, "you need to be properly trained. Luckily, Adrastea just got a lot of free time."
From deeper in the cavern, I heard a muffled curse followed by the scrape of boots on stone.
"I swear by Styx, I was finally going to take a nap," grumbled Adrastea as she emerged from the shadows, a scowl tugging at the corners of her lips. Her silver eyes scanned the group gathered before her, each of them still pale and gaunt from their time inside Cronus. "Instead, I get a bunch of half-digested siblings with no combat experience."
Poseidon gave her a crooked grin. "Don't worry, I bite."
"With half an arm?" she shot back.
His smile faded.
"Good. That means I can work with you," she added.
The others chuckled—albeit weakly. Humor was still new to them, a thing to be remembered like an old song half-forgotten. Hera looked like she wanted to argue, but Hestia placed a gentle hand on her sister's arm and gave her a tiny shake of the head.
Rhea turned to Zeus and me. "You two are exempt. You've already had your baptism by fire."
"I don't mind helping train them," Zeus offered, standing straighter. "We're a family, right?"
Rhea raised an eyebrow. "Then trust me when I say you'll help more by not being in the way."
Zeus blinked. I clapped him on the shoulder as we turned to leave.
"Come on, 'baby brother,'" I said with a small smirk. "Let's go see what new disasters we can create without supervision."
He perked up immediately. "I was thinking of seeing how far I can throw a thunderbolt today. You know, for… scientific reasons."
"Just don't throw it toward the mountain. We're still rebuilding the goat pens."
"No promises!"
☼
The weeks that followed bled into months.
Zeus and I trained in the high passes above Amaltheia's valley. We found a cliff crowned with dead trees and wind-churned clouds—a perfect storm-breeding ground. Zeus practiced flinging bolts into the sky, then learned how to hurl them horizontally with devastating force. He celebrated every successful hit with a boyish whoop that echoed for miles.
Then came the day he learned to vanish into light.
One moment, he was standing beside me. The next, I felt a static ripple and turned to see him re-materializing near a lone pine tree, arms smoking faintly.
"You saw that, right?" he beamed.
"Yes. You exploded."
"It wasn't an explosion—it was... lightning-based displacement!" he said proudly. "Still working on keeping my skin from steaming."
"Good luck with that."
He grinned and launched himself again.
While Zeus did his own thing, I started training my other abilities. The domain of the underworld was a mess to learn, having many abilities all stacked on top of it. I could create shadow gateways to travel through, I could feel a slight control for the dead so I knew that there was a lot that I still didn't know that I could do.
But most fascinating—and disturbing—was the manipulation of bone.
The first time I had tried it, I was meditating near a fallen deer. Its carcass was old, stripped clean, the ivory skeleton half buried in moss. I reached out instinctively, and it answered.
Within weeks, I could manipulate any bones that were near me. The one thing I trained hard was to create an exoskeleton over my arms, shoulders, and legs, binding to my divinity like an extension of will.
The first time I showed the others, I probably should have warned them.
We had returned to the main cavern for a strategy meeting. Adrastea was in the middle of barking instructions when I stepped in—fully clad in a chitinous white armor that clicked as I walked, a twisted goat skull covering my face.
Hera shrieked and hurled a rock.
Poseidon scrambled behind a stalagmite, drawing water from a nearby spring to form a makeshift blade.
Demeter nearly fainted.
Zeus just laughed.
"It's me!" I said quickly, raising my hands. The armor receded into my skin like melting wax, the skull mask crumbling into white dust. "It's a new trick."
"By Gaia's womb, Hades!" Hestia gasped. "You looked like a monster!"
"I am learning to use the power of death," I said with a shrug. "Monstrosity comes with the territory."
"Well warn us next time!" Hera snapped. "Some of us don't enjoy heart attacks."
☼
It was one of those golden mornings that made you forget the world had ever been cruel.
The valley lay still, dew clinging to the grass like tears that had decided to stay. A soft breeze tugged at my robe as I stood atop the cliff, bone armor dissolving from my skin as I cooled down from my morning drills. The others were still asleep—except Zeus, who had launched himself into the sky hours ago and hadn't come down since.
I turned, sensing the disturbance before I saw it. A pulse. A shifting in the air. As if the wind had paused to hold its breath.
Then they arrived.
Light streaked across the horizon—blinding, radiant, and warm. Not sunlight, but kin to it.
Phoebe landed first, her silver cloak catching the breeze as she touched down on the stone bank near the stream. There was always something calm about her—composed, deliberate. Like someone who never raised their voice because they never needed to.
Helios and Selene followed close behind. Helios hit the ground with all the subtlety of a falling star, golden and theatrical, while Selene's chariot hovered gently above the moss before she stepped off, graceful and quiet as always.
Then came the others. Eurybia, with the scent of salt and seawater clinging to her like perfume. Astraeus, his dark robes flickering with soft glimmers of starlight. And then… new faces. Five of them. Younger, unfamiliar. Their energy was different—rougher around the edges. Not raw, exactly, but… unshaped.
I leaned slightly toward Phoebe. "Who are they?"
She turned her head without looking away from the stream. "The younger ones. They were born after the old wars."
She pointed subtly, one by one. "Cael is the Titan of storms. Oren the Titan of wild beasts. Naia the Titaness of dreams. Vexa the Titaness of rot. And finally Kael the Titan of dragons."
I didn't recognize their name so there was a high chance that they hadn't survived the Titanomachy and were forgotten about. They stood awkwardly at the edge of the gathering, trying not to look nervous and failing.
I gave them a small nod. They nodded back. That was it.
Zeus arrived not a moment later, a streak of white lightning arcing across the valley sky. He landed beside me with a thunderous crack, brushing dust from his shoulders.
"Well," he muttered, shielding his eyes from Helios's glare, "it only took them two months."
Phoebe stepped forward, graceful despite her gleaming armor. "In our defense," she said, her voice calm and noble, "the Aegean has… many islands. And some of us refuse to use mortal maps."
Helios rolled his eyes. "I'm the sun. I don't need a map."
"You're also the one who led us to the wrong mountain range," Selene pointed out with a soft smile.
"Twice," Phoebe added.
"I said I was sorry," Helios grumbled, folding his arms, the glow around him dimming.
I stepped forward, brushing the dust from my tunic, and gave Phoebe a respectful nod. "Welcome, Lady Phoebe. It's good to see you. We're glad you're here."
Her gaze softened, and she inclined her head in return, ever the picture of quiet strength.
"Come," I added, gesturing toward the old stone steps that led into the hall. "We've got some plans to go over. Might as well get comfortable before it all gets complicated."
The group followed, boots crunching against gravel and old leaves as we moved toward the central chamber. The sun had dipped low, casting long shadows through the colonnade. The air inside the hall was cooler, still carrying the faint scent of smoke and ash from the fire that had been burning since dawn.
We gathered around the central fire pit, its flames now low but steady. The seats were uneven—some stone, some wood, a few just worn patches of earth. No thrones here, no grand declarations. Just a circle of gods and Titans with too much history and not enough trust.
The atmosphere was strange—part camaraderie, part unspoken tension. Everyone was here for a reason, but not everyone agreed on what that reason was.
The elder Titans carried themselves like statues chipped by time—noble but hardened. Even when they sat, they didn't relax. Their shoulders stayed squared, eyes sharp. They were from a different world—one where the stars had names no one remembered and wars had been fought over things we now ignored.
I sat down beside the fire and glanced around at the gathering. Plans would be made, but first, everyone had to remember we were still on the same side.
At least for now.
Rhea took the floor, her voice steady. "Our next objective is clear: we must rescue the Elder Cyclopes from Tartarus. Their strength and craftsmanship are vital to our cause."
Phoebe nodded. "Agreed. While you, the gods, undertake this mission, we Titans will scout for a suitable location to establish our base of operations."
Helios leaned forward, his gaze intense. "Time is of the essence. Cronus may be weakened, but his influence still lingers."
Zeus clenched his fists, sparks dancing between his fingers. "Then let's not waste any more of it."
Over the next few days, preparations were in full swing. The gods trained relentlessly, refining their abilities. I focused on mastering my control over shadows and the underworld, the weight of responsibility pressing heavily on my shoulders.
On the eve of our departure, we gathered one last time around the fire. The flickering light painted each of our faces in gold and shadow, as if the flames themselves were trying to remember us—just in case we didn't all return.
Rhea stood, her expression calm but her voice steady with emotion. "Tomorrow, the world changes. Not just for us—but for everyone who will come after. Stand as one, or fall divided. Trust in each other. That's how we survive this."
Zeus raised his cup high, the firelight catching the bronze rim. "To victory."
I hesitated, then lifted mine as well. "To family," I said, more softly. The word settled in the silence like a promise.
Around us, the fire crackled. Shadows stretched across the stone, shifting and reshaping—like the future itself. None of us spoke for a while. We didn't need to. The silence between us was heavier than any oath.
In that quiet, as the night deepened and the stars blinked open overhead.