Gaia approached Ouranos, glowing.
At first, he couldn’t speak.
“You are so beautiful,” he finally said.
“Thank you,” she said. “I feel wonderful.”
“Yes. I made them promise not to waste the elements and to be kind to each other.”
“They were miserable. They were not meant to stay. We had not figured out what to do and it felt cruel to make them wait.”
“I suppose that makes sense,” he said slowly.
“And we could always put them back if they do not keep their promise,” she said.
He noticed his own heavens were more radiant as power flowed from some of the children.
“I suppose they are not all bad,” he said. “They do add to the heavens and the earth. I did not realize how much you had faded until now. I have never seen you look more beautiful.”
“And I have never felt so alive,” she said, stepping towards him. “I love you.”
“You love me?” he said. “What is that?”
“It is how I feel when I am with you. It is how I feel when you touch me. It is what flowed through me when you surrounded me. It is that feeling of being whole. It is what I feel when we have created our most wonderful children. It was missing when we made my creatures. To me, they are still good, but I was not listening. I was not loving you. I love you now.”
“Then I love you too,” he said.
“What shall we create with this love that we feel?”
“Create?” he said, stepping back. “I do not want to create more.”
“I need you,” she said, closing the gap again. “I want to create with you. It is not the same as being together. Creation is more. Creation is powerful. I want that with you and no one else.”
He looked down at her. She was glorious. He could feel her power and energy as she reached for him. He tried to contain the desire, but she made him feel so wonderful.
“I want you,” he said, holding her. “I want you more than anything I have ever wanted. But I –”
He broke off as a part of him pulled back slightly. He looked at her, questioning.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
He jolted again, his eyes growing wide.
“I cannot move,” he said, straining. “Something is holding me back.”
He lurched again and he struggled to keep himself around Gaia. With one final pull, he let go of her and she struggled to stay with him.
“What is happening?” he said, his voice urgent.
Gaia looked around bewildered, trying to see what had him trapped.
Krios and Koios stood some ways apart from each other, holding down a part of the heavens. She leaned against Ouranos as she looked behind her and saw Hyperion and Iapetos holding down two more corners.
“We have him trapped Mother,” Iapetos called.
“Let him go!!” Gaia cried, trying to shield Ouranos with as much of her as she could.
“No, Mother. They will not let him go. Not yet.” She turned and saw Kronos approaching them with his sickle. It glowed with some kind of power.
“No,” she said. “Do not touch him.”
“It is the only way, Mother. We need him, not you. Step aside.”
Gaia hurled earth at Kronos, forcing him back.
“You will not touch him!”
The earth began to grow hot as she let her rage begin its flow. She would protect him. She would not let Kronos reach him.
His voice was soft and gentle, cooling her heat a little.
“It is alright,” he said. “Do not be afraid.”
“I will not let him touch you.”
“It is the answer. It is what we have been looking for. It is what must be.”
“No!” she said. “I love you!”
“Gaia, we may not understand, but I feel this is what we created him for. He is meant to take what he must so that he can fulfill his purpose. He will reach me eventually. You cannot stop him forever.”
“I am so sorry,” Gaia said, shaking her head and pushing herself against him. “I never should have let them out. I never should have let my desire to create come to this. We will never get them back into the earth. They have trapped you. I have left you with no other way. I have left you with no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
“I love you, Gaia. I will always protect you. This is the only way I know how. This is the only way I can protect you from Khaos and all of the other creators who will come and take from you. I do not know exactly how this is the answer, but it feels right. It is what I must do. It is how I must fulfill my purpose, my promise to you.”
As she soaked it all in, she noticed his gaze raise slightly. She turned to see Kronos approaching again. She heaved him away with another great force from her earth.
“But I only want to create with you. I do not want another.”
“Follow the path of your nature. Do not fear where it leads you,” he said. “This is my path. This is my choice. It does not have to be yours.”
“Please don’t,” she said, burying her head against him. “I cannot lose you.”
He was quiet for a moment, gazing down at the one he never thought he would come to love. She had been so ugly, so hot and passionate. But she was so powerful. She had rekindled the elements and brought them back from the abyss. She had forced Khaos to make space for them all.
Her heat and her efforts had created him and had made him into the mighty heavens he was now. She was the most beautiful, the most magnificent being in all of the cosmos. He loved her. He loved her so much.
Her desire to create was always pushing her forward, pushing everything forward. It’s what pushed her to set the children free. It was what she wanted before they had trapped him.
There was one more thing he could give her.
“I will create with you one last time,” he said. “Hurry, before Kronos takes what he must.”
Gaia looked up at him, not understanding.
“Just as you wish, let us create. Let us take all of the love and beauty we have created together and give it its own beginning.”
“I cannot lose you,” she said, shaking her head.
“Please, Gaia. Before he comes.”
“He might destroy her,” Gaia said.
“Let us form only her potential. That will make it easier to keep her hidden. She can grow and emerge when she is ready.”
“How? We have not mastered creation yet.”
“Try,” he said. “Even if it doesn’t work we can try.”
Gaia stood pressed against him. He was willing to sacrifice everything for her, to keep her safe. He loved her. With him, she had finally felt complete. Now she didn’t know what Kronos would take, but she could feel it would not be good.
She could feel it would mean their end.
“Please, Gaia. Show me. Show me how much you love me.”
She finally surrendered. She would trust him. She would let them create once more. It would be their most glorious creation.
She let love fill her and from her, she began pouring it into him. She could feel his love too. It was so powerful, she felt herself rising, glowing, shining, brighter than she’d ever seen Theia or Hemera. She poured in her beauty, all of the beauty she felt when she was with him. As she floated, Ouranos kept her grounded, his four corners still pinned to the earth.
As she finally came back down, she noticed a small bundle of pale pink light had formed between them.
“Hide her,” Ouranos said. “Do not let Kronos find her.”
“Step away from him, Mother!” Kronos cried, climbing up over the last ridge of earth.
“She does not have a name,” Gaia said, ignoring Kronos’s cries as she hurled more earth at him.
“She will find a name,” Ouranos said. “She will find her purpose.”
“Keep her safe. We must face what comes next.”
Gaia let her tears flow as she thought about what would come next. What would they do to him? What would they take from him? As her tears flowed, she let the small bundle in her hand float away. She silently called to Tethys, hoping she would understand what to do with the little pink light.
“You cannot stall forever, Mother!” Kronos said, using his sickle to break through her earth. “Move aside.”
Gaia stood and faced her youngest son.
“At least I made you work for it,” she said with satisfaction.
“This is not the way,” Gaia said, not moving.
“What is the way, Mother? To let you bury us in your earth? Allow you to control us? You had your chance. This is what must be done.”
“We can find the answer together. We can find a way for all of us to exist without taking.”
“It’s not possible, Mother. It’s not the nature of creation. And you and Father cannot be trusted. You are too powerful together. You won’t let us grow. You won’t let us reach our full potential.”
Kronos continued stepping forward, getting closer and closer to Gaia.
“Do not let him touch you,” Ouranos said from behind.
She quickly turned to him, holding him one more time.
“He will not destroy me, Gaia,” Ouranos said. “I will give him what he wants.”
“I will always love you,” she said.
Then she turned and let Kronos face Ouranos.
“I have found my purpose, Father. I am the answer!” Kronos said. “I am the key to what must come next! I am here to take what I must so that you will not be able to hold us back.”
“Take care, Kronos,” Ouranos said. “You are the answer to my question, but there will always be more questions and more answers.”
“You told me to find my purpose. You gave me that responsibility. Did you help me find it? Did you show me the way? No. You used your might and strength to limit us. I have grown stronger. You are not strong enough to keep me back. And now I will take what I need to fulfill my purpose.”
Kronos now stood face to face with his father. He looked at his helpless, outstretched figure. His plan had worked perfectly. Mother had been desirable and his father had not resisted her. Kronos would easily find what he wanted.
“It is yours,” Ouranos said.
Kronos hesitated. He had expected some fight from his father. No being would willingly give up something so powerful. Why did his father not fight? Was this a trick? Had he missed something from what he’d taken from Themis and Mnemosyne?
No. His plan was perfect. He had his father right where he wanted him. He would not lose this moment. He would fulfill his purpose.
Kronos drew in a breath and with a mighty heave, he thrust his sickle deep into Ouranos. The heavens shook and cracked as Ouranos let out a thunderous cry. Kronos kept his sickle in, searching for the creative power that lived in the heavens. Finding it, Kronos pulled it out and held it for the others to see. Ouranos collapsed as the four finally released him.
“At last, I have what I need,” Kronos said with satisfaction. He held the heavenly power until it was fully absorbed. His entire form glowed. “With it, I will keep balance. I will rule the heavens and the earth so that all will be free to grow and thrive in their spheres.”
“Kronos,” Ouranos said, as Gaia helped him stand. “One day — or perhaps one night — a child of your own will take this power from you just as you have taken it from me. There will come a time when your purpose of having such power will end and you must surrender it.”
Kronos glared at his father as his brothers joined in behind him.
“That’ll never happen. I’m too powerful now.”
“You are powerful, Kronos, but your children will grow beyond you, just as you have grown beyond us,” Gaia said.
“I will keep the balance. I will maintain order!” Kronos said. “I will take what I need to fulfill my purpose!”
Gaia thought about her purpose.
“And when your purpose comes to an end?” Gaia asked. “When it comes time for another to fulfill their purpose?”
“That will never happen,” Kronos said.
“But it will,” she said. “And you too will be unable to stop it.”
