Chapter 3

The next morning, I was the first to awake, or rather, Hera was. She was sitting on the beach reading one of the many scrolls Metis had collected for me when I was younger. After camping down Gida, who still had Demeter leaning on her, I prepared two cups of milk and grabbed bread from the pantry.

The island was shaped like a crescent moon, with the cave near the back, and the "safe" area at the front. The sun was just rising on the horizon. Careful to not drop the cups and bread, I sat down next to Hera, and handed her a cup and half the bread.

"Thank you," she said, giving me a soft smile. She broke half her piece and gave it back.

"You know," I said, "It took me years to learn how to read and write. Metis wouldn't let me hear the end of it. I'm surprised you're able to go through the story scroll like that." Hera chuckled and took a sip of the milk, her soft lips barely touching the cup.

They all drank like that. In only sips, much unlike Metis, Gida and I do. Even the noisy Poseidon drank milk and water like it was alcohol but he had to be careful at the council. "Zeus, tell me about Metis." Hera said after a moment.

I scratched my beard. "Metis, well I'd like to say she was the best friend I ever had, and I've known her since I was just a little boy. She taught me how to read and write like for you. She used to always pull pranks on us three. And after confronting her on it, I ended up doing a prank on Amalthea but it didn't end well. She couldn't live here as she needed to return to the West Sea every day as she is an oceanid, but she always made time to come see me. You know, her trickery skills are what helped me sneak a poison into Cronus' drink to free you guys."

Hera looked at me with wide eyes, "Did someone get hurt?" I shook my head quickly. "No, I'm not insane! I'd never try anything to hurt them, but let's just say that Amalthea loves Gida even more than she shows."

Hera frowned. "Hades told me about your plan and to be careful around you. You might be a little insane." I sighed. "I don't think we'll be able to continue living here." Hera raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"Oceanus is actively looking for us, and defending against him on this island will be impossible, so we'll have to move to a small, inconspicuous town in the main land." If we could successfully pass as mortals, that would give us ample time to prepare. And apparently, humans aren't suspicious bastards yet, and they'd gladly take in newcomers and treat them to anything they needed. After all, the Titans made it so they no longer had to do work. They just had to worship and do whatever they wanted. Hell, there wasn't even crime, everybody was nice.

"Demeter always wanted to meet the puny mortals, as Father called them." Her voice changed from soft to sour as she said "father." She took a few more silent sips of milk before setting the still almost full cup back down. "I wish it was just that easy, to just walk up to Cronus and wipe him from the face of Gaia. But alas, that's just a drunk man's dream. He defeated the entire sky, we're essentially no different than humans other than our shapeshifting." I just chuckled. "No, I have a plan. In tartarus, there are enemies of Cronus who would gladly overthrow him. They'll be able to forge us the gear to defeat him, and secure our own rule over the world."

Hera sighed before offering her cup, and laying her head on my lap. "I hope so, Zeus." She said before dozing off. My legs were already numb by the time Poseidon bounded over to me. He looked at the sleeping Hera and smiled.

"So Zeus, when are we going to start?" He said in a loud voice. Hera looked up at him with annoyed eyes before gathering her scrolls and walking back to the cave. I sighed, but inwardly thanked him for saving me from having my legs amputated.

"In a few hours," I said. "You should bathe first." Poseidon smelled his armpits. "I don't smell that ba-"

"You shower everyday, or no training." The olympian rolled his eyes before taking off his robe and wading into the water. I shortly after, joined him. And after a few more minutes Hestia and Hera waded in as well. While Demeter was fumbling with her own robe and blushing furiously Hades walked over with a bucket and some cloth. "Yes, enjoy the water, but be quick. We don't want to alert anyone." He helped Demeter take off her robe before removing his own and relaxing in the cold water.

Metis appeared in front of me. "Well I'll just let you guys finish, Zeus I'll wait in the cave." She whistled as she walked away as I quickly used the bucket and cloth to clean myself off and hurry after her.

"What happened?" I asked, seeing her sulking on the couch. "Zeus, why are you still on this island. Are you trying to get caught?" She put her hand on my face when I tried opening my mouth. "No, you guys are leaving now. Oceanus has already searched the north sea. He's going to be here any day now."

"Good to know." Hades said, walking in. "I suppose we'll be leaving for one of those villages?" He got himself a cup of water. Metis nodded. "There is a perfect one near some woods. It also has a blacksmith so you can properly train."

"And what of Gaea, is she not going to find us quite easily on the mainland." Hades narrowed his already small eyes. He had cut his silky hair so it only went a little past his shoulders. He had groomed his beard fu manchu style, with the beard reaching the center of his chest, and the mustache half the length of that.

Metis shook her head, "Gaea has already notified Cronus she wasn't going to help him, so we should be safe." Hades seemed to relax. He trusted Metis more than me. At least he trusted one of us.

"Go tell the others," I said. "We'll leave in an hour." Hades nodded and made his way out. Metis knocked me on the head. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot. I did not waste 3 years teaching an illiterate monkey just to have him die because of his own carelessness. "

"Monkey? I am quite handsome you know?"

"Yup, a handsome ape." I looked into Metis' sea blue eyes and pouted. She sighed and put her similarly colored hair into a low ponytail. "You should get your eyes checked. I miss your eyes. And not whatever those marbles are."

I shrugged. "A small price to pay for salvation." She kissed me and began to write a note for Amalthea when she returned. Hestia bounded into the cave. "Hey Zeus, I heard we're going to meet the humans. Do you think they have any fun games?" I had tried teaching them checkers but Hestia soon got bored.

"I don't know. Probably. At least we can sleep on a bed now, so that's a plus." Hestia began ranting about all the things she wanted to do with the humans when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see Demeter holding a white wool cloak.

"Oh thanks, these will come in handy." I said as I daped it over my back. It reached all the way to my ankles and had more stones lining the bottom. The hood was just large enough to hide my eyes but not hinder my vision too much.

"Hades said it wouldn't work unless you buttoned it." Demeter whispered. I smiled and took the stone on my right collarbone and inserted it in the space on the left, covering me completely. It was tight enough to not be annoying to walk around in, but loose enough to allow free movement.

"It's perfect. Good job Demeter!" I patted her head and she blushed before handing the other olympians cloaks of their own. With everyone ready we turned into a colony of inconspicuous seagulls.

After flying over the sea all morning, and through the mainland in the afternoon, we finally reached the village as the sun was setting. On a few hills surrounded by forest, the small settlement was made up of only thirteen different buildings. Eight one story houses, a stone blacksmith building, a carpenter, the farmer, the baker, and the hunter.

We landed in the woods, turned back to mortal form, and walked into the village. There were a total of seven different families living there. The baker, Jon and his wife showed us to our house, no questions asked. It was honestly weird, they were so trusting, not like we would hurt them, but they saw a random group of seven wearing matching cloaks, and they didn't bat an eye.

"Here you go newcomers," They said, smiling. "Just go to the fountain and Morris the hunter and I will be handing out bread and meat for the day. You can use the well anytime." I nodded.

"Thank you for your hospitality." Metis said. The man's smile grew even bigger. "It's honestly no problem. Enjoy your stay." The large, 6'8 baker, and his 5'6 wife walked away. I actually didn't trust them and neither did Hades. They were too nice, but Metis went along with it, so I assumed humans were just like that. I wonder what turned them into selfish parasites. Probably Pandora.

I didn't plan on changing that, the humans were too nice and what would Ares do if all the people were friends?

Metis clapped, "Oceanus is upgrading security in the oceans, so I won't be able to visit everyday." She gave me a kiss and I returned it. "Good luck guys. Stay safe." She turned and ran into the woods.

Hestia clapped. "Oh, the humans are so nice! Hey Demeter, want to go see the farmer, Krillin, next morning? His son is just so cute!"

"Hey! What about me?" Hera asked. Hestia just giggled.

"I thought you were going to spend more quality time with Zeus."

Hera turned beat red and gave me a peek. "It wasn't like that! We were talking about important things!"

"Like how many kids you'll have?"

"Actually," Poseidon said, "Zeus will be training me, so you'll have to wait woman."

"Ugh!"

While they took turns teasing Hera, Hades and I cleaned up the house. There were two large bedrooms, so the girls could get one and we could get one. The living room was just an assortment of colored sofas and the dining room was a large round table and 12 chairs. The cellar was completely empty.

While we sweeped the girl's room floor, Hades cleared his throat. "I want you to teach me how to fight as well." I raised my eyebrow.

"Oh, and why is that."

Hades sighed and sat on the bed. "I already know what's going to happen. A titan will find us and I'll be completely helpless while you two die fighting it. Maybe if we could overwhelm the titan, we could take it down before the others come. But I'd need to at least learn how to use a sword."

I smiled. "No problem! We were going to start at noon, you could join us." Hades grew the smallest smile, impossible to notice if you weren't paying attention. I'd seen him smile only once. When Poseidon was flexing his spear skills. This was the first time it was for me. He picked up his broom and poked me in the chest.

"Get back to work."