Dividing the World

I wake up to a symphony of groans and arguments.

I sit up groggily and blink my eyes to clear out the blurriness fogging up my vision. I wince from the pain and cramps that hit me when I move but I force myself to look around.

The battle was a massacre, if you can even have a massacre where nobody dies.

The once beautiful and majestic Mount Orthys that struck fear into any onlooker was no more.

Now in its place are multiple mountains of rubble and flattened-out, barren, blackened land.

Knocked out and tied up Titans decorate the floor.

Mount Orthys was originally huge, impossibly huge.

Before we razed it to the ground it seemed to stretch on for miles and miles—impressive and massive.

It was so big that I think that maybe it's in a warped dimension of its own. Like a layer upon reality...maybe that's how Olympus is?

But now it is even smaller than Olympus due to the bombardment from the Hundred-Handed Ones and our own attacks.

"Poseidon! You're awake!", Hestia calls out to me warmly.

I break free from my thought and look towards Hestia.

"Yeah, can you help me up though?", I say to her.

"Of course", she responds and then proceeds to let me lean on her to stand up and walk.

The others are on the center of the mountain sitting and laying in a circle surrounding Kronos, his brothers, and Atlas.

Zeus and Hades both look weary and tired but they both nod in acknowledgement of my presence.

I nod at all of them in return and then sit down and Hestia sits too.

"We should probably clear out any of the remaining Titans that we may have missed", I say begrudgingly.

"Yeah", They all sigh in return.

We're all tired. Hades, Zeus, and I aren't the only ones. The girls spent a lot of energy too while fighting the other Titans and we have barely had any rest.

Based on the what they tell me, I was only out for about thirty minutes.

We all unanimously decide to wait for an hour.

...

After we rested we flew around and mopped up the resistance, while Hestia stayed back to watch Kronos and the other Titans.

She said that she never wanted to fight again so she offered to do so.

A few Titans tried to counterattack but they were all easily taken care of.

The Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones dug the Titans out of the rubble and began chaining them up with glistening reinforced celestial bronze chains.

Once we returned, Atlas, Koios, Krios, Hyperion, and Iapetus were dragged to kneel before us.

"What should we do with them?", Demeter asks.

"Just throw them into Tartarus", Hades suggests.

"That's cool with me", I say.

"It's decided then! We'll throw them into Tartarus!", Zeus declares.

Hestia frowns slightly, but we all ignore that.

Atlas then suddenly interrupts us.

"Puny gods!", he bellowed.

"You know nothing of how the world works! If you throw these four into Tartarus, the entire sky will fall!"

"Only their presence at the four corners of the earth keeps the wide expanse of Ouranos from crushing us all!", Atlas roars.

Zeus gains a wicked gleam in his eye, but I don't comment on it although I know what's going to happen.

"Maybe", Zeus grins.

"But fortunately, Atlas, I have a solution!", his grin grows even wider.

"You're always boasting about how strong you are. From now on you're going to hold up the sky all by yourself!"

I don't even know how I feel right now, it's feels kinda like when someone roasts someone, but mixed in with a bit of pity.

Atlas's face drops, drops of sweat form on his forehead.

"What?", he says.

"Brontes, Arges, Steropes," Zeus calls, "He's all yours."

Atlas opens his mouth to say something but his pride forces him to close it.

The Cyclopes first drop the other Titans in Tartarus and then drag Atlas to a distant mountain top where the sky is very close, while Zeus, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and I follow, Hestia stays back.

I don't know or understand how they did it, but they caused the sky to form a new central support pillar—a single funnel cloud, like the bottom point of a spinning top.

They chained Atlas to the mountain and forced the entire weight of the sky onto his shoulder.

Atlas couldn't even scream in fury or pain due to how much focus he had to put into holding up the sky.

Based on what I see and remember from the books, being under the sky is like being stuck under a loaded barbell during a bench press.

You can't lift it, because it's too heavy.

You can't release it, because it will squash you as it drops.

All you can do is hold it in place, sweating, straining, and whimpering "Help!", hoping someone will walk through the gym, notice you slowly being pressed into a pancake, and lift the weight off you.

But what if no one does?

Imagine being in that situation for all of eternity.

Plus, he can't even run away if he wanted to, due to him be chained on there.

I feel extremely bad for him, but what both Zeus and Atlas say is true.

If no one holds up the sky, then it will fall, but we can't let Iapetus, Krios, Koios, and Hyperion out because they may group together and rebel.

I look away feeling disgusted with myself for condemning someone to a life like that, even if it's my enemy.

We return to Mount Orthys and then Kronos is brought before us.

"Mother came while you guys were gone", Hestia announces somewhat solemnly while we all look at the still unconscious Kronos.

I'm confused about why she looks so down when she says it, until I turn to look at Rhea, who snuck up behind us while we were looking at Kronos.

"Hahahah...You'll finally get your retribution! You shall pay for what you did to my children and I!", she continues, "Zeus! Cut him up into tiny pieces for me!"

Rhea looks ragged and seems to be drunk on nectar.

"Kill him! What are you waiting for!", Rhea screams.

Zeus looks extremely uncomfortable and says, "I thought we could just throw him in Tartarus, or something....", timidly.

"No!", Rhea wails.

"Mother, please calm down first", I say to her.

Rhea then gives me the dirtiest look imaginable and says,"Why can't you be more like your brother?"

"I can barely even stand the sight of you! I have to love you, but I don't like you!", Rhea screams.

My heart breaks, but then immediately hardens.

I don't even show a sliver of a reaction on my face, but on the inside I have gone through a change.

Though the change may have occurred in a split-second to others, due to my godly brain I could think it all out.

Is it because I look like Kronos?

Is it because of that one fight with Zeus?

Is it because I am colder than the others?

Why?

Questions that I want to ask her reverberate in my head.

"It doesn't matter, you're OK with this, you don't need a mother, you're all right...", I console myself in my head like that.

But a small voice in my head says, "Did her domain of Motherhood force her to love me?"

An angry voice inside me says,"Those guys f*cking knew this too! They don't even have the f*cking decency to look surprised!"

I shove those voices down and cement the cracks in my heart with anger, sadness, and the loneliness that has managed to worm its way into both of my lives until my heart hardens.

Everyone is silent and looks uncomfortable, even Rhea.

Though this just goes to show that what Rhea just said was true.

" I-I.....I didn't mean...to say that", Rhea stutters out timidly and pitifully in a moment of soberness.

"Shut up", I say calmly.

"What are we gonna do with Kronos?", I say evenly.

"We'll cut him up and seal him in different locations of Tartarus". Zeus says awkwardly.

I already knew this so I just nod and say, "You guys deal with that", and start leaving, but then turn around to say something.

"I'm taking the Ocean."