War of the Titans (Part 6, The End)

But Zeus did not remained unobserved for long. His true, majestic nature did not escape Rhea’s eyes. She had been studying him the moment he took his seat.

Whether it was nostalgia or the draw of destiny, Rhea felt the urge to come to the games. She had lain on the spot where Cronus had thrown her and remained there for months. She wanted to die--to escape the pains, the disappointment, and humiliation she felt.  But death would not come; hunger did. So she got up and fed herself. Food gave her strength and her renewed strength took her to her favorite spot by the stream.

For the next two years she waited for--but not really wanted to see--her mother, for she did not know what to say to Gaia if she saw her. Was it her destiny to suffer? Would all prophecies come to pass?

Rhea had been living by herself in a small cave she found near the stream. Her strength slowly returned, as did her desire to live and her nostalgia for her former life.

Rhea felt a powerful connection with the youth even though she had not seen him before. His face, his majesty, and his aura of greatness felt vaguely but profoundly familiar. And then it all came back to her: she saw him in her dream, just before Gaia came back and promised her to save him from Cronus.

He must be Zeus! The only child she was able to hold in her arms. Rhea could barely control her longing for Zeus. Her eyes became misty and she started crying silently. For the very first time in her life, Rhea was not shedding tears of sorrow; she was shedding tears of joy. She knew, she just knew, she would soon be avenged.

***

Rhea struggled mightily to remain silent and to keep herself from running to Zeus’s seat, to throw herself at Zeus’s feet, to kiss him, and to tell him how much she loved him.

As soon as Rhea regained control of her emotions, she got up and left the stadium and headed straight to Gaia’s house.

Gaia did not look completely surprised to see Rhea. “Why did you not let me know that you had saved Zeus? Did you not know how much I would suffer?”

“I did, dear child,” Gaia answered gently. “But I had to let you suffer so that Cronus would think that he had swallowed Zeus. It was the only way, my dear Child. I wish there were a gentler way, but it was the only way.”

“Please take me to where Zeus lives, dear Mother.” Rhea did not care about how Gaia had saved Zeus; she just wanted to see her precious son.

When Rhea saw Zeus standing in Cynosura’s house she could control herself no longer. She threw herself at Zeus’s feet and kissed them. She kissed and she cried. The more she kissed, the more she cried.

It took Zeus only the briefest moment to figure out who the stranger was. He gently lifted her by her arms and kissed her on her forehead. “Yes, Mother. I am your son Zeus,” he said softly.

Rhea buried her head into his chest and cried. When she finished crying she told Zeus what had happened since the time his sister Hestia was born.

***

Zeus’s anger at and hatred for the Titans grew and grew as his mother’s story progressed. He felt his body temperature rising, his face reddening, his heart pounding, and his muscles tightening. He wanted so much to pick something, anything, up and smash it against something else to release his anger. He wanted so much to pick up a sharp-edged rock, march straight to Cronus’s house, and smash his skull, and grind it into small pieces.

“Please help me find a way to capture Cronus so I can split his body open and free my brothers and sisters,” Zeus pleaded.

“Be patient my child,” advised Gaia. “Cronus is too strong and he almost always has other Titans with him. You cannot simply overpower him; we have to trick him. I know a way.”

Gaia proceeded to describe her idea. Everyone agreed and they put that plan into action.

***

Gaia and Cynosura immediately set out to gather all the leaves they needed. They put the leaves into a pot, poured some water and nectar into it, put the pot on a stove and let it simmer until the liquid turned dark red, the color of Cronus’s favorite wine. They poured the liquid into a jar, sealed it, then gently dropped the jar into the stream to cool it down.

Meanwhile Rhea took a bath with aphrodisiac oil and made herself as attractive as possible. Then she took the jar and went home to Cronus.

Zeus had already found a hiding place from which he could observe everything that was about to take place in Cronus’s house.

***

Cronus was not home when Rhea got there. She quickly cleaned the house and cooked him a sumptuous meal, but not before pouring the content of her jar into his wine.

Cronus was a little surprised to see Rhea home. She looked happier, healthier, friendlier, and more attractive than she had been in a long time. Cronus was glad. Glad because he thought that Rhea had forgotten about the children, glad because he thought there was no longer a threat to his rule.

Without being asked, Cronus sat down on his chair and began his meal. Rhea joined him. They ate in silence as each was absorbed in his or her thought. Rhea did not drink while Cronus drank one cup after another. This was the best meal he had had for a long time.

Before his meal was over Cronus felt something stirring and swirling inside his stomach. The stirring and swirling became more and more pronounced until his stomach started to churn and turn and make him ill. Cronus willed himself to continue his meal, but that only made the matter worse. Moments later Cronus succumbed to the urge to empty his stomach.

Once he had started Cronus simply could not stop. First came Poseidon, then Hades, then Hera, then Demeter, and finally Hestia. Cronus became ever more desperate and enraged as more and more of his swallowed children came out.

He quickly recovered his strength and let out wrathful and deafening roar. The roar frightened the future Olympians. They looked around, dazed, confused, and unable to take any course of action. Sensing that it was time to act, Zeus jumped out of his hiding place and dashed toward his brothers and sisters while they began to grow into full-sized adults. “I am Zeus, your brother. I’m here to rescue you from that monster. Follow me,” he urged. Zeus’s siblings followed him after a brief moment of hesitation.

Realized that he was tricked by Rhea and consumed with rage, Cronus swung his arm with all his might and stroke Rhea in the face with his fist. The impact almost snapped Rhea’s head and sent her tumbling. Cronus stepped forward and drove his foot into her in the stomach, sending her flying several feet. Rhea landed on her side and screamed. Cronus leaped to where Rhea had landed, grabbed her hair with one hand and her ankle with another, lifted her up above his head and then slammed her body to the ground.

Zeus saw the attack. He bent his body slightly forward and charged at Cronus. Zeus’s shoulder crashed into Cronus’s stomach and drove him backward. As Cronus fell to the ground he grasped the handle of his sickle, drew it, leaped to his feet, and started to swing it at Zeus while calling the Titans.

Zeus retreated from the swinging sickle. His mind searched furiously for a way to disarm Cronus as he evaded the deathly sharp blade swinging, whistling in front of him. Zeus cursed himself for failing to anticipate this scenario.

Cronus’s swinging sickle brought him enough time. The other Titans heard his call and were now rushing to his aide. But it also brought Rhea enough time to steel herself for what was coming.

She said calmly, “Zeus, my dear child. Do not be concerned about me; I shall survive as I have several times already. Take your brothers and sisters to safety and prepare for the battles to come. The time for battle is not now, your brothers and sisters are not ready yet.”

Despite his desire to protect his mother, Zeus knew she was right: they were not ready yet. “I shall be back to avenge you, Mother,” Zeus said in a sad but determined voice. Then he turned to his waiting siblings, “Let’s go.” He led them to Olympus.

***

Cronus and the Titans found Zeus and his siblings the next day on Mount Olympus. They were determined to subdue Zeus and his siblings, bind them, and throw them into the Tartarus.

But the Olympians were ready, they formed a line on the level ground and waited calmly for their elders. The Titans quickly formed their own line and charged. On Zeus’s command, the Olympians leaped forward in unison and sallied forth to meet their foes.

The earth shook and rumbled; and its dust particles rose as if to block the sun as the two surging, raging, thundering tsunamis, one of hatred and contempt, the other of wrath and resentment, collided into each other and became a swirling, whirling, breath-stopping, bone-breaking maelstrom of malevolence, each intending to finish off the other. Moments later the battle became a melee of screams and shouts, smashes and strikes, kicks and punches, elbows and knees, and lift-ups and slam-downs.

Again, Zeus drove into Cronus’s stomach, lifted him up, bent a little forward, jumped up a little and slammed Cronus’s head and shoulders into a rock on the ground as both combatants fell down. Cronus quickly rolled over Zeus and got on top of him. Then he yanked his sickle, raised it, and smashed its blade down to Zeus’s head. Zeus grabbed the rock with both hands and used it to block the sickle’s blade. The blade shattered when it hit the rock. Zeus pulled the rock back a little and smashed it into Cronus’s head.

Cronus rolled off Zeus and got up to his feet. The king of the Titans kicked Zeus in the head as Zeus tried to get up. Zeus fell back to the ground. Cronus picked up a rock with both hands, raised it above his head, and with all his might hurled it down at Zeus’s temple as he tried to get up again.

The rock hit its target. Zeus felt as if his head had exploded; he saw stars, thousands of them. Everything went dark and Zeus temporarily lost control of his body. Cronus surged forward and stepped behind Zeus’s back. His right arm wrapped around Zeus’s neck and pulled him down while his left arm went under his right hand. Cronus grabbed his right shoulder with his left hand and cinched the hold with all his strength, intending to choke the life out of Zeus.

Zeus struggled to free himself from the choke hold, but he felt weaker and weaker until his body almost went limp. He began to panic.

Poseidon saw what was happening and rushed to Zeus’s aide. He grabbed Cronus’s hair and slammed his knee to the back of Cronus’s head repeatedly until Cronus loosened his hold on Zeus. Zeus regained his strength, broke himself free, turned around, and began to smash his elbows into Cronus’s head.

Iapetos plunged at Poseidon; Poseidon leaped up in response. The two collided and crashed into the ground, each was trying to get on top of the other. More combatants joined the fray and the battle again turned into a chaotic series of smashing and striking, kicking and punching, elbowing and kneeing, and jumping and stomping.

And so they fought for several days--neither side was able to subdue the other, and neither side believed it would lose--until they could fight no more. Exhausted, the Titans retreated to Mount Othrys; totally spent, Zeus and his siblings made Mount Olympus their home.

And that was how they fought their battles in the next ten years. Their animosity toward each other never once diminished, but their enthusiasm for battles waxed and waned. As time went on their battles became less frequent and less intense. An uneasy truce appeared on the horizon... until Zeus decided to look for allies.

***

Zeus’s quest to overthrow the Titans and to become Lord of the Universe never diminished, however. After he had successfully recruited Prometheus and Epimetheus to his cause, he told everyone he met that he was looking for allies in his war against the Titans.

Words of Zeus seeking allies to defeat the Titans finally reached Brontes, one of the Cyclopes. He had witnessed Uranus throwing the Hecatonchires into the cave and sealed it, but he never told anyone. He was afraid that his brothers would try to rescue the Hecatonchires and therefore incur the wrath of the Titans.

He had been agonizing over that decision ever since. He had never been truly happy knowing that his brothers, the hundred armed Hecatonchires, had been suffering in the cave.

Upon knowing about Zeus’s intention, Brontes came to his brothers Steropes and Arges and urged them to join Zeus. His brothers agreed that the three of them would join Zeus if he agreed to free the Hecatonchires.

Zeus was more than happy to agree. He gained not three, but six powerful allies in the process. A decisive victory was suddenly within his reach.

The Cyclopes made Zeus and thunderbolt that shot powerful lightings that could temporarily incapacitate its victims, Poseidon a trident that could split the earth deep enough to reach the Tartarus, and Hades a helmet that could render its wearer invisible.

With new allies and new weapons Zeus quickly devised a plan to defeat his enemies. For the next several months Zeus, his siblings, and his allies stealthily brought millions of huge rocks and stones to the top of Mount Othrys under the cover of darkness. They worked slowly to ensure that their plan remained a secret.

***

Once everything was in place Zeus gave order for the final surprised attack. At dawn Zeus, his siblings, the Cyclopes, the Hecatonchires, Prometheus and Epimetheus silently made their way to Mount Othrys. They took positions near to the rocks and stones they had brought there.

Zeus flew up to the sky and shot lightnings from his thunderbolt at Cronus’s house, setting it ablaze. Awoken from his sound sleep, Cronus hastily rushed out of his house and ran toward a level ground where he had planned to fight his battle. Zeus shot dozens of lightnings at Cronus, temporarily stunning him. Poseidon leaped up a hundred feet into the air and slammed his trident onto the ground as his feet landed. The earth shook on the impact and began to crack. The growing, deepening crevice ran toward Cronus like an angry python as it reached down to the Tartarus. Still partially stunned, Cronus jumped forward to escape the fast approaching crevice, into the invisible, crouching Hades.

Hades plunged forward like a raging bull and crashed into Cronus, sending him falling, screaming, and cursing into the depth of the Tartarus.

Meanwhile the brilliant flashes of lightnings and the thunderous sound of the earth cracking roused the other Titans from their sleep. Un-led and unprepared, the Titans made a mad dash toward the level ground according to their agreed upon battle plan. But they never had a chance.

They ran straight into the ambushing Hecatonchires, who were eager to take their revenge. The sight of the Titans suddenly unleashed their long-suppressed, fiery rage. Each of the Hecatonchires simultaneously let out a booming, roaring cry of vengeance that stopped the Titans in their track and left them shaking.

Before the Titans could recover their nerves, the Hecatonchires picked up rocks and stones and hurled them at the Titans with blinding speed. Each of their hands automatically picked up a new rock or stone to hurl as soon as the last one went on its way.

The volleys of rocks and stones streaked across the sky like a racing, screaming meteor and blocked the dawn’s early light. They shattered and leveled everything that was in their path, and then slammed relentlessly into the Titans with reverberating thuds, breaking their bones, smashing their spirit, and knocking them into the ground.

The Titans struggled to get on their feet and run, but none could run more than a few hundred feet before he or she was knocked down again by another vengeful salvo.

The rocks- and stones-filled sky became so dark that the battered Titans could barely see a few feet in front of them. They kept staggering forward because that was all they could do.

When they reached the edge of the Tartarus, Zeus threw his lightnings, Poseidon slammed his trident, and everyone one else hurled the last, decisive volley. The effect was both immediate and devastating. Some Titans struggled more valiantly than the others, but eventually all of them were pushed, shoved, or thrown into the Tartarus--by a rock, a stone, or an enemy.

Everyone cheered when Zeus crowned himself Lord of the Universe… Almost; everyone except Poseidon cheered when Zeus crowned himself Lord of the Universe.