ItB Book 1: In the Beginning

"If I get what I want from this, why should I care?"

"Because they might give you what they want for their own desires, Ouranos," she said wisely. "Chaos left us to rule our Realms. You need to be in command of yours."

Ouranos thought on the subject. While he wanted to trust his aunt's judgment, it felt wrong to risk everything to chance, when he could simply ask the Fates and be given the directions he needed. "Where are your daughters?"

**********

When he entered their cave, Ouranos could see so much more in their domicile than he had before in the living world above. His eyes gaped at the incredible nature of their home.

Upon their walls, a beautiful tapestry of thread had been woven to show events. From Chaos coming to the land of Greece and bestowing Ouranos a crown as ruler of the lands, to the coupling of Gaia Ouranos, and the birth of the Sisters of Fate, these were all on illustrious display.

**********

When he entered their cave, Ouranos could see so much more in their domicile than he had before in the living world above. His eyes gaped at the incredible nature of their home.

Upon their walls, a beautiful tapestry of thread had been woven to show events. From Chaos coming to the land of Greece and bestowing Ouranos a crown as ruler of the lands, to the coupling of Gaia and Ouranos, and the birth of the Sisters of Fate, these were all on illustrious display.

Parts of the imagery were not sewn yet, but on the far end, Ouranos saw a noble fighting a younger man. He could not be sure, but somehow, one of the figures looked familiar, as if looking into a blurry pool of water. The Primordial King struggled to admit the resemblance because the visage was lesser. It was inferior.

This weaker version of himself wielded a thunderbolt in hand and wore bracers around his wrists with lustrous authority. This caricature of Ouranos had an opponent who was a small thing, yet there was something captivating about that being. Ouranos did not think the smaller being was divine, but he seemed to be wielding lightning, controlling the sea, causing the ground to crack and had smoky beings similar to Nyx at his back. He was dressed in white and gold and wore something on his feet with little wings on the side of the calves.

The right edge of the tapestry was unfinished, leaving the conclusion to the battle unfinished. The First King of Olympus was entirely entranced by what he saw. As he reached up to touch it, all three sisters shouted at Ouranos.

"Stop!" they exclaimed. Their voices echoed with a ringing clarity.

Ouranos halted. Their united voices were filled with a might that reminded him of Chaos. Though Ouranos had plans for Chaos, he did not possess the strength to defeat the Great Progenitor. Ouranos turned to see the sisters wearing cloaks to cover their bodies and obscure their faces.

"This? What is this?" Ouranos asked, captivated by the imagery. "Who are these people?"

The three sisters looked at one another, considering his question. They were careful in their response. "Divine beings of a possible future."

"What are they doing?" Ouranos queried. He marveled at the two figures in the prospective future. While they were his lesser, something about them awed him.

"They are in conflict," the one on the right explained. "In the future, many will fight for rulership in the lands."

Ouranos laughed. "Of course they would." He observed the contenders in a new light. In the future, there would be such small beings that they would fight for the scraps of his Kingdom. In the end, though, they would be under his rule.

The sister on the left asked, "So why have you come?"

The sister in the middle answered before Ouranos could speak. "Sister, His Majesty has come to inquire about the arrival of his children."

The sister on the right added, "They will be here by year's end, Majesty." Upon hearing what he wanted, Ouranos turned to leave. Before he could summon the lightning to take him away, the sister on the right spoke up again. "We would like to remind our grateful servant we do not exist to guide his every step. Our Mother was correct; if you come for our counsel at every turn, you will be a slave to destiny. Keep that in mind."

Ouranos allowed his great magical might to flow into his hands. He turned, preparing to strike the sisters for their temerity; however, when he faced them, he discovered that they had pulled their hoods down. The glare they aimed at him was filled with such ferocity that Ouranos recoiled.

While he could see a time, in his mind, when no one ordered him or forced him to hear their counsel, he recognized that the moment had not come. Restraint was required of the Last Primordial, and he would not be so foolish as to throw away all he had just to harm the daughters of Nyx. His retribution for their disrespect could wait.

Lightning encapsulated its divine master, and Ouranos disappeared.

Clothos looked at Atropos with disdain for their departed guest. "How many times will we allow him to be disrespectful before we punish him, dearest sister?"

Atropos looked towards their tapestry upon the younger god battling against a King of Olympus. "Perhaps we already have, my lovely sister, but let us allow him one more mistake before we invoke the inevitable."

The other two seemed to accept the answer of the eldest sister. Together, they measured and then spun them while Atropos constructed a pair of shears. Soon, she would need to clip the first thread of life from Chaos' Realm. As Atropos worked on her creation, she muttered, "Might we summon Thanatos if Ouranos forces our hand, dear sisters?"

"Of course, dearest sister," the other two sang.

**********

On Olympus, Gaia sat with her children.

She was so proud they were growing, becoming the size of small mountains. They would not be able to stay with her in the Realm of the Divine if they continued to grow. Olympus was wide, but Mother Earth was not sure how it would handle the height and weight of her large children, let alone their offspring.

Maybe with time, Ouranos could see the potential within them.

When she stopped thinking of Ouranos, her attention returned to her children. She shook her head as she considered her children's actions. Cottus was banging one rock against another.

"Cottus, you silly boy, you cannot keep hitting things against one another." Gyges was getting bigger every day. Briareos was making a bowl out of clay. "Oh, aren't you creative, sweetie," Gaia said, kissing Cottus.

"Momma?" Briareos asked. "When you have other babies, will you stop spending time with us?"

Though they were getting larger and larger, they were barely out of infancy. Gaia was discovering what all parents would come to know about babies becoming children.

"Oh! Honey! I would never!" Gaia exclaimed.

She did not care if they came to dwarf both her and her husband in terms of size. These were her little ones. They were to be loved and cared for, and they would know that they were loved by her.

"I don't think Dad likes us much," Gyges casually said. Together, he and Cottus were working on condensing the air until there was a shimmer of magic over the stones, turning it into the head of a hammer.

Gaia watched, amazed by the craftsmanship and talent of her sons. Never had she considered the creation of a tool. All she wanted could be grown or given to her by the very Earth itself. Their ingenuity brightened up her day and made her think all the more of her children.

"Oh! Yes, he does," Gaia said with soft defiance.

She knew the complexity of Ouranos, but what she was not ready to recognize was her feelings towards her husband. She could not acknowledge the weaknesses of her husband; therefore, she was unable to see that she was turning a blind eye to him or hiding deep in her heart that she had just lied to her child.

"He has a hard time showing it to you," she went on in defense of her husband while maintaining adoration for her babies. "He's the first father, after all. It must not be easy. He is learning even as we are" Though she smiled and told those things to her children, the words rang hollow.

"He's going to get rid of us," Gyges said bluntly. The many armed child looked at his mother with soft eyes that held the conviction of truth inside of them.

"No!" Gaia exclaimed. "He won't. I won't let him do such a thing!" She wrapped her arms around her large son with all the love in Greece.

**********

By the end of the year, Gaia had given birth to twelve new children. The experience was more painful than her first pregnancy and left her exhaustedly drained. For his part, the Primordial King did not notice that pain because he was far too busy being overjoyed for the fruition of his progeny.

Each child was unique to one another, but after the Fates had said, they were far more in line with Gaia and Ouranos than with the Cyclopes or Hecatoncheires. Even as children, each shined in their own way as these baby Titans were similar but altogether unique.

Gaia observed Oceanus never wanting to be around them. He was far too busy playing in the water. Gaia could see he was obsessed with puddles and pools as a toddler, but all too quickly, he grew up and was swimming in any body of water, from rivers to the ocean. He was strong and handsome like his Father, Ouranos.

Coeus spent most of his time staring at the night sky. Gaia wondered what was up there that had him so captivated. He was going to be a problem child; she could tell. He happily spent time with his hundred-handed siblings, and for that, Gaia was excited.

Crius was also obsessed with the heavens. But unlike Coeus, when Gaia asked what he saw, he said, "Stars, Mother. The stars are coming." She had no idea what that meant, but his love for the heavens made her smile.

Hyperion envisioned a light for the sky. In his ingenuity, the young Titan created flames in his hands before condensing that fire into a ball right in front of Gaia. Much to Gaia's surprise, after Hyperion created this ball, Chaos arrived on Olympus to breathe on the creation. After which, Hyperion threw the ball into the sky, and it became Greece's first sun.

The oddest thing about Hyperion, in Gaia's estimation, was that he spent more time away from the lands of Ouranos than his siblings as he got older. He traveled to the east of Olympus and continued to return with news of lands called Babylonia, Norvegia, India, Aígyptos, and Sinae. Gaia wondered what those lands would bring, but these were thoughts for the future.

Iapetus was obsessed with Nyx's son, Thanatos. Gaia was unsure of what that meant. It was a blessing that her children were getting along with Nyx's children.

Mnemosyne and Phoebe were the same yet opposites. They constantly spent time with the daughters of Nyx. Mnemosyne talked with Clothos about what had already happened, while Phoebe discussed what could be with Atropos.

Theia was as bright as the ball of fire Hyperion made, but it was more than that. When Hyperion came home to see Gaia, Theia was obsessed with him. Gaia found that to be adorable.

Rhea was different. She was beauty personified, with piercing ice-blue eyes and dresses that matched with a hint of silver. Her body was similar to Gaia's in that she was shaped like an hourglass, one of Iapetus' inventions. Rhea learned to copy designs from Nyx's Daughters of Destiny, from which she could make clothes for all her brothers and sisters. She was the child to name her siblings, proclaiming they were so large they were Titans.

Tethys was obsessed with Oceanus but would never go as far as the ocean. She was more content to play with rivers, streams, and springs. That did not stop Tethys from always being affectionate with her brother.

Gaia considered which children would pair together; it made sense in her mind. Gaia had Ouranos. Nyx had Erebus, even if they were different. It seemed the newest generations would have pairs, too.

Gaia hated that Themis would lecture everyone about what was fair. To be scolded by her child was a new experience, much like everything, but Gaia navigated it well.

And then, there was Cronos. If ever there was a son Ouranos craved, it would be his youngest child. Cronos was the largest of his siblings and he was powerful in every sense of the word. He would wrestle and play-fight with all of Gaia's sons, including the hundred-handed children and the Cyclopes, and scarcely lost. Only Crius was mightier than the youngest Titan. However, if Gaia had to guess, Cronos' bald head and hairy body disappointed Ouranos.

To see all of her children's differences brought joy to the Earth Primordial. Gaia was happy watching over all of her children and seeing them grow while imagining what they would bring to her life.

In the coming centuries, she would see them mature and change as all true mothers do. The Realm of Greece would flourish for their very existence. The other lands that Hyperion told Gaia about would some day recognize Greece, and by extension Mount Olympus, as the focal point of divinity.

**********

Ouranos was pleased with his children. They were all so wonderfully different. Each was a mighty force in their own way, but they all kneeled before him as Father Sky.

Finally, there were proper followers to his greatness. They recognized him as the supreme being of the lands.

Having such obedience and supremacy, he wondered if destroying Chaos was possible. With that domination over the Progenitor, even Nyx would kneel before Ouranos, and he would have all Greece under his rule.

The Last Primordial would pay attention to all Hyperion said when he came back from other lands. There were some worrisome accounts. Some beings gave Ouranos pause.

Norvegia had beings called Borr and Bestla, who had three sons that were violent in nature. The so-called Progenitor in their land...Ymir...Imir...Mirmir? What did Hyperion call them? Ouranos could not be sure, but the Primordial King believed that the family of Borr's might just succeed in deposing their Progenitor. And if they could, why could Ouranos not do the same?

Then there was that king in Babylonia who slew something called a dragon. That showed promise for the Last Primordial's goals.

Sinae had great fights that Ouranos could not fully understand. That would prove dangerous no matter what the Primordial King did.

The world was filling up with divinities to invade their lands. Every corner could prove to be problematic. Even if Ouranos defeated his Progenitor, there were other Progenitors, and they had offspring. He could not limit himself to just controlling and containing his power in Greece. He would need to destroy Chaos, and then, and only then, could he seek to expand to the other lands.

For that longer goal, he would need more children.

The problem with this was that after having the Titanic children, Ouranos found himself losing interest in Gaia. Though with her maternal love and affection for the children, the Primordial King was not expected to even pretend that he wanted his wife.

She was so caught up in their new life that she did not see what he did. The Titan children all had potential for his grander vision.

With his children as influential as they were at their young ages, he was considering what having an army of beings nearly as strong as him would look like.

He could conquer the world, be a deity above deities, but... even as he considered it, he realized that it might not be the smartest course of action. He was certain he could battle a few of his children even if they grew stronger, but if there were too many, they could decide to alter their attentions from conquering other realms to battling him.

In that scenario, he suspected that he might not be up to the task of battling hundreds of his own offspring. If each Titan were only a quarter of his might, the six male offspring that he had might already be too much for him.

He would need someone who could give him many children, was attractive, and would do all he wanted. There was also the stipulation that Ouranos required them to produce weaker offspring. If each generation of divinity were weaker than the last, as the Last Primordial suspected, given he was weaker than Chaos, and both Hyperion and Cronos were individually weaker than him, he would need someone able to produce him many children that were inferior to the Titans.

For a moment, he considered Mother Night, but Nyx would never go along with his plans. She was too enamored with the Realms of Tartarus and Erebus. Perhaps Eros, in his invisible influence, was what brought Nyx and Erebus closer together. Ouranos had not seen that flitting man since he had been made King.

Regardless of that, Nyx was no good. As a fellow Primordial, she would likely birth beings equal to his Titan children from Gaia.

Options, it appeared to him, were limited.

Even as he thought about his plans, he looked at a small clearing lived in by Cronos in Greece. There, amongst the trees, rivers, and foliage, was Rhea lounging in the light of Hyperion's sun. Ouranos was no fool; he could recognize how her form had matured in the last fifty years since her birth.

He could not be sure of it then, but she had the body of what the mortals would one day compare to that of a twenty-year-old.

As his eyes fell on her, he found himself intrigued by her smooth, soft form. She was no Primordial and (more importantly to him) was young. While Chaos had indicated that they would go on forever, Ouranos could not help but think a younger partner might be useful for his endeavors.

Gaia had mellowed and wanted to be more nurturing with time. Rhea could be the same, but as a generation separated from Ouranos and Gaia, she would likely produce those weaker offspring that Ouranos wanted.

A growing lust was taking hold in the Last Primordial. His body reacted to the idea of putting his plan into action. He needed to be more clinical in his thinking, like Coeus. Rhea would not likely lie with him just because he asked.

Ouranos was considering what it might take. He could make Rhea his second wife, but that might upset Cronos, who Ouranos was aware had a certain affection for her. If he made it appear to everyone that Cronos was her husband and the only man to lie with her, no one would be hurt. After all, who would know?

All of the thinking was circumspect and hypothetical, but... Ouranos knew Rhea had an affection for him. He would simply need to bend that to his will. Once that was done, he only needed to put the offspring in her womb.

Once his superior children were in her, what did it matter? Cronos would believe the children were his, and no one would be the wiser.

Rhea needed to comply first though. Without her, all of his plans were for naught. The Primordial King was lost in his thoughts even as his eyes never left his favored child. Plans would progress in time. She was not going anywhere. He had forever, after all.

**********

Red-headed Mnemosyne's eyes were gray. She wore a dress of white and gray. By comparison, in her appearance to that of her siblings, she was considered dingy. She sat in the cave with Clothos, lost in the thoughts of time gone by.

"Surely that means memory is the same?" Mnemosyne asked Clothos. Though she was a Titaness, Mnemosyne recognized the wisdom within the Sister of Fate and gladly accepted any counsel the daughter of Nyx might give.

Clothos held out a piece of her and her sisters' tapestry. It was a long, thin fabric that might have been mistaken for any piece of cloth if not for the fact that it revealed the most notable events that had occurred, and ones that were yet to come.