Cry of the Moon

Chapter 3: A God is Born

Now I will skip forward a few centuries since not much happened that is important to my story. In that time, Helios and I finished growing up and settled into our roles driving the Sun and the Moon. Many more young Titans were born, including Metis, Titan of Wisdom and Prudence, Prometheus and Epimetheus, Titans of Forethought and Afterthought (remember them, for they will be important later), and even my own little sister Eos, Titan of the Dawn.

As Eos grew up, Helios and I would trade giving her rides in our chariots. She loved seeing the bursts of colors she could create just by reaching up and running her fingers along the night sky. Helios loved making her giggle when he drew patterns on her spotted arms, outlining the lighter shapes on her dark skin with liquid sunlight.

A little while after Eos was born, I was having dinner with my mother when she mentioned she'd heard Queen Rhea was finally pregnant with the first royal child. Everyone was enormously excited for them, as they were the only Titan couple who had yet to have children.

However, as I continued to listen for news of the royal birth, the world stayed quiet. Whenever I asked my Aunties for news of Rhea, they avoided the question or acted as if they'd never heard she was pregnant in the first place.

A little while later, I was passing over the royal palace when I saw two figures in the courtyard. They were clearly arguing about something, and when I look closer, I realized it was Lord Kronos and Queen Rhea themselves. Rhea seemed to be holding a small bundle in her arms, but it wasn't until it squirmed and reached a small arm out that I realized it was a baby. Queen Rhea had had her child after all.

While I hovered there, watching and pondering what might have been the reason for all the secrecy, Kronos reached towards the baby. Rhea tried to pull away, but Kronos was too fast. He grabbed the child and, before I could process what was happening, opened his mouth and swallowed the baby in one gulp.

I let out an involuntary scream and both Kronos and Rhea's gazes shot to the night sky, searching out the source of the noise. Sensing my panic and shock, my bulls pulled away and continued our path in the sky. For the rest of the night, I paid no attention to anything happening around me. For once, shooting stars held no beauty and the waves beneath my fingers brought no comfort. I had just seem the king of the universe swallow his one and only heir whole, without hesitation.

That was the first time I realized our little bubble of life wasn't as perfect as I'd been raised to believe.

For the next few weeks, I kept to myself. At night, I continued to drive my chariot around the Earth and during the day, I spend my time walking the Earth, admiring the beauty of my Grandmother Gaia's creations. I had spent lots of time when I was younger with my Uncle Oceanus and had come to know the creatures of the oceans, rivers, and lakes quite well. However, on land, I came across many more creatures I'd never known existed. I found animals that walked on four legs, some that walked on 100,000 legs, and even some that had none and crawled everywhere on their stomachs.

One day when I was walking along the beach, one of my favorite places to relax, I came across an animal I'd never seen before. It was large with golden fur and a long, shaggy mane of hair. As I approached it, intrigued, it let loose a deep growl, baring fangs as long as my forearm. I tensed, worried the animal might attack, when I heard a quiet voice from the shadows.

"It's alright, my dear. She's no threat to us."

Startled, I send a column of moonlight towards the voice. To my astonishment, it illuminates none other than Rhea, Queen of the Titans. She steps out of the shadows and I see an odd bundle of what I think it clothing strapped to her chest. It's an interesting fashion, though I had no idea what it's purpose is until suddenly it moves and lets out a fierce cry. I gasp, taking a step back.