29 Issue #28: X, [First Flame]

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In the beginning, there was darkness and chaos.

From within that chaos, a spark ignited, and thus the [FIRST FLAME] burned true.

-Unknown Text.

(General P.O.V)

The Titans. Most beloved children of Mother Gaia.

But...as their family had shown time and time again, that love only extended so far.

Similar to Kronos' usurping his father's rule by emasculating him and cutting him up into pieces, so did his own son do the same to him.

And Kronos with his top officials, his brothers...were imprisoned in Tartarus for all eternity, never to see the light of day ever again.

That's...what they let THEM THINK.

For you see, Kronos; known as the smartest Titan, had a backup plan. Well, it wasn't a plan per se. More like a last ditch hope.

All his desire for freedom fueled by a hunger for vengeance, placed on a prophecy made by one of their sisters.

Phoebe, the Titan of Prophecies.

And to Kronos' elation, it seemed all that hope was not misplaced. The time for them to regain their freedom had arrived!

The time for the prophecy to come true was nigh!

And following that his cold cold revenge. Colder than the winds of Jotunheim itself...

As soon as his awareness managed to sense the sudden presence of a Primordial Deity, he wasted no time!

"Get him you fools! That's our way out of here!"

He roared out into the chamber that acted as the cell for him, and 4 of his most trusted high ranking Generals.

-0-

As for Kane and Thanatos, the instant they heard the scratchy voice coming from the box they were standing on...

Not to mention the massive titans easily over 20 feet in height, bound by glowing chains around the chamber- that instantly focused on them...

Not to mention how those Titans, following Kronos' orders begun powering up their own divinities...

The two of them looked at each other and came to the same conclusion.

"We should..."

Thanatos begun, standing back to back with Kane.

"Probably bail? Yeah I think so too. Hold on."

Kane concluded hastily, immediately closing his eyes and settling into a focused state.

He breathed out, trying to call out the flames that had landed them here in the first place.

One of the Titans whose skin was covered by glowing red cracks opened his mouth, releasing a huge pillar of red flames at the two intruders.

Kane felt the heat coming from his front, and while he tensed, his spider sense did not go off.

Voompp!

The pillar of fire landed on a dome of death energy created by Thanatos, which instantly nullified Hyperion's flame attack.

"Fools! Shoot the lava! Aim at the lava!!"

Kronos voice wheezed out once more. The origin point coming from the box the two were on.

Kane's face instantly twisted in irritation. Raising a leg, he slammed his foot onto the lid below them, bellowing out,

"Shut up! Your voice is super annoying."

It was also making it hard for him to focus. But he wasn't going to tell Kronos that.

"Raaarghhg!!"

A roar filled the air.

Another Titan, this one covered in stars and constellations begun straining against the divine chains holding it. The chain links collides against the wall behind him and producing loud bangs.

The action was mirrored by the other 3.

"Great Gaea! Are you all stupid!? You can't break the chains! Use your domains! Target the Lava! TARGET THE LAVA!"

Kronos went almost mad with rage, a monumental amount of frustration leaking into his voice.

That said, the Titans did comply with his orders.

And out of nowhere, Kane was hit with a sudden bout of dizziness as four Titanic presences, no weaker than a Major God's filled the chamber.

The action of Thanatos releasing his own divine presence, managed to alleviate the pressure on Kane's mortal soul.

"I'll handle them!"

The God of Death assured.

"Just focus on getting us out. As drained as they are, if they manage to break the seal on the floor...we'll be in trouble."

He flexed his black wings and sent a cloud of smoking feathers at the four Titans.

The feathers shot through the air leaving behind a trail of black, peppering each Titan on their foreheads and chests.

The instant they landed, they managed to disrupt the Titans' internal energy and immediately the 4 slumped in their bindings, dead to the world.

A short moment passed.

The entire chamber begun to rumble. The Lava around roiled, striking the sides of the box both Kane and Thanatos stood on.

Kronos, apoplectic with rage, roared out,

"DAMN YOU THANATOS! I WILL CUT OFF YOUR DICK AND FEED IT TO..."

During the commotion, Kane was not idle.

Following that same burning sensation, he had managed to call out his flames amidst Kronos' tirade.

The flames burning a brilliant blue in the glowing red chamber, encircled the two of them and with a pop they disappeared from the cell.

"...YOUR WHORE COCK-SUCKING MOTH- Eh, they're gone?"

The king of Titans noticed their missing presence 2 minutes into his tirade. He had been on a roll.

"Huh...is everybody alright? I can't- I can't really see anything from inside the box."

He called out to no response.

"Iapetus? Crius? Coeus?...Hyperion?"

He called out again, his tone unsure.

None of them answered.

A bad feeling gripped the king of Titans.

Only for his worries to be dispelled by the knowledge that death was not permanent in Tartarus(in case Thanatos had killed them) and secondly, the prophecy still remained unfulfilled.

"No worries...we'll huh, get them next time boys."

Kronos added.

"Good job. Though...you should have gone for the lava like I said, you STUPID DUMB MORONS!! I CAN'T BELIEVE I CALL MYSELF YOUR-"

-0-

Olympus.

The seat of power to the Greek Gods.

Each deity, with a distinction between the Major and the Minor ones, had a temple dedicated to them.

Said distinction laid in the fact that the 13 major God's temples were grander, bigger and more opulent as compared to the minor deities.

This was not dependent on only station but rather POWER AND ZEUS.

Of all, few could claim a higher authority or power than the eldest female Olympian God.

The flame of Olympus. The heart of the greek gods. The goddess of the Hearth- Hestia.

Bloomp!!

A sphere made of blue flames materialized in a beautiful hall.

While the hall was small, barely the size of a school auditorium, that was only in relation to the other temples surrounding Mount Olympus.

In truth, Hestia's temple while fulfilling most criteria of being grandiose and opulent, was a much more tamer version of her sisters' and brothers'.

"What the heck was that about?"

Kane asked his travelling buddy, The sphere of flames dispersing around them.

"And don't lie."

He added.

"It's clear they were expecting you."

Thanatos frowned, looking away.

"There's a prophecy...that I will one day be the reason Kronos and his Titans walk the world once more."

Kane's brows raised.

"Okay. Wow."

"Only the boss and my family know. "

The God of Death turned to Kane, a serious look on his face.

"And now you as well."

"I'm not going to run my mouth if that's what you think. It's not my business anyway."

Kane shrugged.

His thoughts went to his encounter with the hooded woman during Persephone's banquet.

"Besides I happen to think prophecies are dumb. We get to choose our own fates."

He snorted.

Thanatos stared at Kane with a complicated look.

"You are a very curious mortal, Kane."

"And you're a very curious God, Thanatos."

Kane replied with a smile, extending his hand out with the fingers locked.

The God of Death stared at the hand, cluelessly.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh man...you don't know what a fist bump is?"

The assassin gaped, shaking his head.

"That's it. Soon as we get back, I'm telling Hades to let you out more. Speaking of...where are we? I was expecting more doom and gloom."

Before them, was a fire burning on a stone layered floor.

The flame on the hearth flickered a soft yellow. As common as could be found anywhere.

And on the other side of the hearth, stoking the red coals was a small teen girl with short black hair, dressed in a yellow dress with all kinds of flower petals across its length.

Thanatos immediately bowed, with Kane following his lead, even though he didn't understand why.

"Lady Hestia...forgive us for the intrusion."

Hestia?!

Kane looked up...or rather down at the little girl who seemed to pay them no attention.

Then she spoke.

"You smell like Daddy."

Kane and Thanatos stared at each other- something that was becoming a routine now.

"Uh...we got sidetracked and landed in Tartarus by mistake."

Kane found himself answering in honesty.

The assassin frowned rubbing his neck in surprise.

"How..."

"You can't hide anything from me silly."

Hestia giggled, finally looking up from the flames she was tending to.

Kane blinked at the fire burning in her eye sockets. She didn't have regular eyes, just two glowing yellow orbs.

"Oh. That's great, I guess."

The assassin replied, tapping into the flames within him, in case things turned ugly.

With each activation, they became easier to call out.

"Oooh, such a beautiful flame, you have."

And suddenly Hestia was next to him, his left palm held within her soft hands.

"But you're using them so crudely."

She tutted in disappointment.

"Like that brute Hyperion."

The little goddess tilted her head to the side, tapping her chin in thought.

"Are you also a brute, mister Kane?"

To Thanatos shock,

Kane bent down to her level, placing his hand on top of her head. Then he tousled her hair with a gentle smile.

"Maybe."

The God of Death almost had an heart attack at how free his new friend was acting with the goddess.

This was Hestia! Despite looking like a child, she was older than almost every other Olympian.

If she complained to Zeus or Chaos forbid, Hades...he was facing 100 more years to his suspension!

Not to mention, she could obliterate Kane herself and Thanatos would be placed in a tough position.

He could try to defend his new friend and face almost every Olympian's wrath or not and lose the only person who could possibly visit him in his realm to play chess!

Why couldn't they have ended up in another temple?!

'Maybe having friends isn't as good as it's made out to be.' Thanatos reasoned, glaring at Kane.

This guy could be the death of him! And he was DEATH!!!

"Lady Hestia, forgive my companion. He breathed in Tartarus' air and his mind was affected."

Thanatos said apologetically, placing a hand on Kane's shoulder and pulling him away from the heart of Olympus.

"We'll be out of your hair as soon as..."

"Mmph."

Hestia snorted.

Then her foot rammed onto Thanatos' shin with a resounding whack!

Thanatos' pale face twitched.

"That won't work. I don't feel- huh?"

His wings trembled.

His face grew red. With a pained howl, the God of Death clutched his shin.

"Ow ow ow! Hades on a Pitchfork!! That hurts!! Why does it hurt?!"

The little girl giggled darkly, turning to Kane.

"As I was saying...your flames are pretty. Instead of using them like this..."

She held out a hand and above the palm, a brilliant blue flame begun dancing in erratic fashion.

It burned in the air. From the base to the tip, measuring a few inches in height.

The tongue of the flame was clearly unstable and rough, dancing to an hectic tune with no rhyme.

"Use them like this..."

The erratic flame instantly smoothed out. It grew shorter, reshaping from a cone to a gentle blue sun, the size of an orange.

The inner core of the flame was a deeper hue than the outer layer.

"Hellhounds don't sense other flames and then burn through space to teleport, silly. That's impossible."

She lightly admonished.

"Though in your case you're more like a spiderhound..."

Kane shifted his intent gaze from studying the flame above her palm, to her.

The way she guessed his thought process astounded him.

Was he that open? He knew he wasn't. Rather She was...scarily intuitive.

She might not have been as physically imposing as Hades, but out of all the Gods he'd come across, Hestia had to be the most interesting.

Or if he was honest with himself, most terrifying.

"They connect to the singular flame. The [FIRST FLAME]. The one where every other flame comes from. Including my own. Including Prometheus'."

Kane was rendered speechless. All he could do was listen.

Unaware of his fascination, Hestia continued,

"And then using that connection, they can link to another flame, allowing travel to anywhere, anytime, any plane...with no restriction."

The flame in her palm disappeared.

Hestia turned around, crouched before her hearth and continued tending to the fire.

"You know...I could send you right at the entrance of Big Brother's palace."

"Oh yeah?"

Kane breathed out, half of his mind occupied with the revelations of the gift Pyra had left him.

He stood to his full height.

"And what would it cost?"

"Nothing silly."

Hestia giggled.

"I would do it just because I'm nice."

Her gaze went unfocused as she stared into the flames.

"I'm the nicest God in Olympus after all. Isn't that right, Thanatos?"

She gazed at the God of death over her shoulder, almost daring him to say otherwise.

"Uh...yeah. Of course Lady Hestia."

Thanatos bit out, still feeling the pain radiating from his shin.

"None are as kind and nice as you."

Kane opened his mouth to sate his curiousity on the relationship dynamic between the two, but instead shook his head.

"I'll tell you what I told another God. Nothing is ever free."

The assassin stated bluntly in reference to Hestia's offer.

"Okay then. How about this: I'll help you because it's within my divine right."

The wood on the hearth crackled as she prodded it.

"As the goddess of home and family, proper treatment of guests falls under my purview. If that's not enough, then take it as thanks for saving my little niece."

"Diana."

Kane muttered.

Even with such a huge distance between them...the Princess was still helping him.

"Then I accept, Lady Hestia."

Kane bowed his head in gratitude.

"But perhaps you could instruct me on how to do it instead. I can't count on you being there to bail me out."

"No."

Hestia immediately refused.

"That responsibility is not mine."

Thanatos lightly tapped Kane's shoulder, shaking his head in a gesture that said, 'don't push it.'

"Alright."

Kane nodded.

"We are ready when you are."

Hestia dropped the stick in her hand into the fire.

Immediately, the flame jumped up, growing in size and shifting colors from a gentle yellow to a dark blue, with starlights glinting in its ethereal shape.

"Come back here when you're done with Ares, and I'll tell you more about the [FIRST FLAME]. Who knows, it could be useful to you."

She said mysteriously.

The flame before them, coiled like a snake according to Hestia's direction, her hand movements beautiful- as if she was directing an orchestra.

It wound around her in a stream not unlike water, engulfing both Kane and Thanatos.

Hestia waved at the two before with barely a sound, the flames imploded, sending them away.

Hestia stared at the place the two had occupied, a complicated expression on her face.

"So, that's him...interesting."