On the soft grass of a peaceful forest, where tall trees stood in silent watch, Rhea lay surrounded by her handmaiden, companions, and most trusted allies.
Amalthea knelt below her, ready to assist with the delivery.
On Rhea's face was an expression of strain as she struggled to push the baby out—not from pain, but from effort.
Unlike her first pregnancy with Aetherion—the first child she had given birth to and the only one whose arrival had ever caused her pain—this one was like her other 5 children.
That birth had been difficult and unlike anything she had been told.
Even her mother, Gaia, had never warned her that childbirth could hurt.
But this time like the other 5 children after Aetherion, it wasn't painful, just difficult.
The baby was taking its time.
Rhea waited, curious to see whether she would be blessed with a son or a daughter.
"Come on, Lady Rhea, just one more push!"
Amalthea encouraged, trying to strengthen Rhea's resolve.
"Yes, my lady, you're almost there!"
Ida added, anxious for the delivery to be done so they could safely retreat into hiding.
Meanwhile, Adrasteia stood guard nearby, scanning the area.
Though they had cloaked their divine energy to avoid detection, caution was still necessary.
No one—not even a deity—could be allowed near Rhea during this critical moment.
Rhea gave a small smile despite her exertion.
"I'm trying… but this little one seems to be putting up a fight,"
she chuckled softly, still pushing.
And then, at last, the child was born.
Unlike with Aetherion, there was no great cosmic shift, no unnatural phenomenon, no sign from the world itself.
The birth was simple—normal, like her own had once been, or even Kronos's. But she did notice something…
Amalthea took the child gently into her arms, smiling down at him.
"It's a son,"
she said warmly, holding up the infant's tiny hand and letting him curl his fingers around hers.
His soft, innocent laugh brought smiles to all their faces.
She handed the baby to Rhea.
Rhea looked down at her newborn son, his pure white hair glistening in the soft light, and his electrifying blue eyes gazing around the world with curiosity—especially at her.
She simply smiled, though she could still feel a faint charge in the air as she held him, like a soft crackle of static light radiating from his tiny form.
It was truly fascinating to her.
But before she could dwell on it any longer, a voice echoed through the place.
"So… you've finally given birth."
Everyone reacted at once.
Ida summoned water to her hands.
Amalthea raised thick, defensive branches from the trees.
Adrasteia readied a spear carved from living wood.
But Rhea only smiled.
She knew that voice.
It was her son—Aetherion—standing nearby in his divine form.
"Mother, we need to hurry. Give the child to a handmaiden so we can proceed with the plan,"
Aetherion said, his voice urgent.
He exited his divine earth form, returning to his normal state, now holding the fake baby in his arms, wrapped carefully in a cloak.
Rhea looked down at her newborn and softly spoke the name she had chosen.
"Zeus. Your name will be Zeus."
She gently handed the baby to Amalthea, noticing that her handmaidens were momentarily stunned—entranced, almost, by the sight of her son.
But with a soft cough, Rhea snapped them out of their daze.
Amalthea took the baby carefully, just as Aetherion stretched out his hand and opened a portal to the hidden island he had created.
The portal shimmered with soft green light.
"You can proceed from here," he told them. "It will take you to a safe place, far from the reach of any deity's."
His words were calm, his tone confident—like the moonlight itself offering protection.
The handmaidens gave a final glance toward Rhea, then Aetherion, and nodded silently, stepping through the portal without question.
And yet, in their minds, questions lingered.
Wasn't that a divine form?
He was what? Eight now?
How could he achieve something like that?
How could this all be possible?
But they dared not ask.
Whatever strange things they had seen today, they trusted the Queen and the Firstborn.
The plan had to be carried out.
And so, holding the real Zeus, they walked through the portal, vanishing from sight.
Now alone with his mother, Aetherion turned to her and said quietly,
"It's time to proceed with the next step."
He handed her the fake baby and added,
"Now, let your energy drift. Make it believable, so Kronos won't question it."
Without another word, he sank into the earth, cloaking himself with layers of illusion and suppressing his divine energy.
Hidden and protected, he waited—watching, listening, prepared to strike if needed.
His whisper echoed in Rhea's mind:
It's time to act, Mother. Make it believable.
Rhea smiled faintly, holding the fake baby in her arms.
She had worked tirelessly for this moment—this plan.
And now her son had ensured it could happen.
She would not let fear or doubt ruin it.
She would play her part.
Convincingly.
"Alright,"
she whispered to herself, steeling her resolve.
"Let's begin."
She looked down at the fake baby in her arms and began to release her divine energy, letting it pulse outward in waves—as if she had slipped up under the real birth had just occurred.
Then, the earth trembled.
The sky darkened.
And high above, the moonlight vanished beneath a massive shadow.
A figure tore through the heavens at immense speed.
Boom.
He landed.
A towering figure, 40 meters tall—Kronos, in his full titan form—descended upon the forest clearing like a divine calamity.
Power radiated from him, thick as storm clouds.
"RHEA,"
he bellowed, voice echoing across the mountains.
"GIVE THE CHILD TO ME!"
Rhea looked up in feigned fear, clutching the fake baby tightly, eyes wide as if she were trembling before her monstrous husband.
Her own figure was trembling as she held the baby closer to her chest.
She wanted to make it truly believable—that she was afraid, afraid of losing another child.
She needed to be convincing to fool Kronos.
'I do have some experience in this area because of that bastard.'
But when she looked up at him, her husband, she could already tell.
'he had gone mad, hadn't he?'
she thought to herself.
A small smile formed in her mind.