1.26: Prometheus's Damnation

Prometheus used his powers to dial back the catastrophic geothermal activity under the plateau - it was too late to save the entirety of the intricate cave system, but he prevented the Lasithi Plateau from becoming the Lasithi Caldera.

Prometheus used his powers to slide through the rocks as he debated whether to declare the battle a victory or a defeat. Kronos was dead, but Zeus had betrayed him the second the deed had been done. It seemed now that the seemingly endless cycle of war had turned once again, and he would be at war with Zeus now instead of Kronos. Fortunately, Zeus seemed more reasonable than Kronos - negotiation might still be a viable recourse - and even if it wasn't, Zeus's storm powers would be much less of a threat to Prometheus's human army than Kronos's withering necrotic powers, and an army is one thing Prometheus had that Zeus didn't.

Or at least, that was what he thought.

1.25: Olympus Rising

Pandora reluctantly led Zeus through the maze of tunnels beneath Knossos - she kept trying to think of a way to wriggle out of her current situation, but the man was warier than any she'd dealt with before. He kept his hands tight on the coin and the box, threatening to use them on her at the slightest hint of treachery. She'd offered to teleport him directly to where he wanted to go, but he'd correctly surmised her intention to leave him some place inhospitable, and so they'd had to walk to Knossos so that they could use the access tunnel every other titan used to get to Tartarus.

1.24: Titans' End

Pandora hadn't tried to portal very far - she'd mostly gone straight up, hoping to get clear of the cavern by teleporting to the mountainside above. Unfortunately, Zeus had tackled her half way through the portal, preventing her from opening another portal quickly, and sending them both tumbling down the bucking mountain side.

They clattered down through a field of white stones - no, not stones, bones - the entire mountainside was covered with dusty human skeletons. Pandora cried for help as she saw some of Prometheus and Kronos's surviving titans fleeing the quaking mountainside. Only two among them stood their ground as steam vents opened up and lava burned its way out of the mountain.

1.23: It's a Trap

Zeus, in his guise as Jupiter, led his father to the waterfall below the Lasithi Plateau. "This is where I came out," he claimed, "I'm certain Prometheus knows the box is missing by now, but no one saw me disappear into this passage from the stronghold above. You should still have the advantage of surprise."

1.22: Best Laid Plans of Gods

"He did WHAT?!" Morgania shouted. The veins in Macaria's neck showed through as her pale skin flushed green with anger. Pandora had never seen Morgania so volatile when Hekate was her host; the forced partnership with Macaria must be taking a toll.

1.21: Time Flies

Kronos flitted over the valley, his broad, leathery wings flapping with the sound of sails in a sporadic wind. He could no longer soar as he once had on his feathered, eagle-like wings, but it was a minor trade-off next to the raw power he now wielded. He swooped down on the small soldiers fighting below him, and many scattered in fear of his approach. Those that didn’t flee, he seized up in his claws, ripped apart, and tossed back to the ground as heavy, wet bombs that further panicked their surviving allies.

1.20: Deals

Prometheus stood to greet the man as he strode in. Zeus was big, the same size Typhon now was, with a broad frame and powerful muscles that he displayed with a loose tunic. His red hair was long, held back with a ponytail, and his thick beard matched its color. Except for his exceptional size and fitness, though, he actually looked completely human - unusual for a titan.

1.19: Secrets

Amalthea told her story hesitantly - Pandora had come to her and persuaded her that it was time to reveal the palace's secrets, but Amalthea had spent so long keeping them, it was difficult.

"Decades ago, Kronos - at that time prince of Knossos and ruler of this stronghold - decided that he needed to dispose of his legitimate children. Not permanently, mind you, but until he could ascend to the throne. He was sincerely afraid his mother and father would simply pass the throne off to one of their grandchildren, and pass over him entirely."

1.18: Plans

Prometheus wasn't sure how long they had. Kronos might decide that the disarray among both forces would ultimately balance in his favor, and that it would be better to make an awkward, clumsy attack against Prometheus now, than to wait until he had a solid grip on his remaining forces. Alternatively, he might decide there were too many unknowns - too many variables - to make that decision, and decide to move cautiously. Nyx seemed badly injured by Echidna, and as his best military commander besides Prometheus, that would make it even harder for him to regroup and attack. Whatever the case might be, they themselves needed to regroup, and they couldn't do that without taking a few moments to rest, and the best place to do that was the Lasithi Stronghold.

Prometheus was now standing at one of the stronghold's high windows, overlooking the scorched valley below. Saplings were starting to emerge from the black soil, but nothing substantial enough to be visible from such a distance.

"I don't hear anything," Echidna said, "You said we were supposed to hear a voice, right? Inside our head? The only voice I hear in there is mine."

"Typhon?" Prometheus asked, "Is it the same for you?"

"Yes sir," Typhon nodded, "I feel the same I always have, I think. I mean, I feel stronger, faster, tougher... but I'm not hearing voices."

"Kronos doesn't stand a chance now," Echidna said, "We're death-proof, like you sir."

"Death proof?"

"Yeah, the only thing that can hurt a titan is iron or steel, right? And we're all immune to that stuff. Deathproof."

"There're still a lot of things that can kill most titans," Prometheus said, "With enough force, even non-ferric substances can do damage - though admittedly, that sort of force generally only comes from a titan... But titans still need to eat and breath, of course, and enough cold or heat can kill most of us..."

Typhon held his hand over a candle on the table, "I'm immune to that!"

"I'm not talking about simply burning - some titans will burn like kindling, sure, but the rest can pass out and die from heat without their skin blistering. Same for cold - we don't get frostbite, but we can die of hypothermia."

"So, don't push my luck then," Typhon said.

"Exactly. And as far as your iron-immunity," Prometheus conjured an iron-nail and tossed it to Typhon. The man caught it, inspected it for a while, and then noticed his fingers itching.

"Feel anything?" Echidna asked.

"Yeah... I think I'm getting a rash or... ugh," he dropped the nail on the table.

"When we started our march here iron didn't affect you at all," Prometheus said, "Now it triggers, at the very least, an allergic reaction. I imagine the more like us you become, the more vulnerable you will be."

"So that's it, then," Echidna said, "It's reasonable to assume we're going to become titans..."

"That would make sense," Prometheus said, "The Legacy A.I. would need to adapt your physiology before it could bond with it. With training, you might be able to create objects or change shape as we do, maybe even hear other's thoughts."

"Wait, what?" Typhon asked, "That's a thing you can do?"

"If we concentrate, and if the other person isn't shutting us out," Prometheus said, "We can communicate with each other silently, when the situation calls for it, but it's fairly easy for a Titan to close themselves off - it's just like refusing to talk to someone."

"Have you been reading our thoughts all along?" Echidna asked, "Or does it require we know to answer you...?"

"If someone doesn't know I'm doing it, it's fairly easy for me to slip into a human's thoughts and prompt him or her to think about certain things, then listen to the unguarded answer - I mean, I can't stick beliefs in someone's head, but I can prime him to think about something. Three notes of a song will get him started thinking about the whole song - the smell of baking bread will remind him he's hungry, that sort of thing."

"That still feels... invasive," Typhon said.

"Humans and titans alike communicate through body language, right? We use facial expressions and posture to tell how someone's feeling or whether they're lying. If you exercise those skills to read the feelings of a blind person, who cannot do the same in return, would it be invasive?"

"No I suppose not," Typhon said, "But it still feels that way."

"Well, I obviously can't tell you what you should or shouldn't feel," Prometheus said, "but if it makes you feel at all better, it's saved both of your lives multiple times. Knowing what you're thinking in the heat of a battle is pretty helpful."

"Fair enough," Typhon nodded.

"Though, more on the privacy invasion thing, since we're talking about it anyway... you two really ought to stop tip-toeing about the romance thing and act on it."

"What?!" Echidna exclaimed.

"I wouldn't say anything, except I've heard both of you thinking about it, we could all die tomorrow, and I just lost the woman who might have actually been my soul mate, so seeing the two of you afraid to express your feelings because you - incorrectly - imagine they won't be reciprocated, I just... I can't even do it anymore. Sorry."

Typhon and Echidna stared at each other in shock. They'd been close for years, but it had always been platonic... hadn't it? But then Echidna's mind jumped back to the more pressing point.

"Wait, what do you mean 'we could all die tomorrow'?" she asked.

"Right, business first, relationship issues later," Prometheus sighed and pulled up a chair next to the map table, "I've been thinking about Kronos's new powers, what they did to your weapons and your bodies. With two unpracticed hits he nearly killed both of you when you were mortal."

"Yeah, but it doesn't work on us now," Typhon said.

"True, but we're standing at the front of several thousand men and women upon whom his powers will work just fine, and he'll get stronger the more people he subjugates with them. I was worried he'd use the lives of Crete's human populace as leverage to force my surrender, and he now has the power to do that in a spectacularly sadistic fashion."

"Aging one or two people at a time..." Echidna said, "He could have killed people with his bare hands just as quickly..."

"But he'd only had his powers for a matter of seconds when he did that to you. He will certainly grow stronger with time."

"How strong?" Typhon asked.

"I don't know for certain," Prometheus said, "But imagine that thunderstorm he used to raze this valley, but with it raining down those black lightning bolts instead of the good old-fashioned stuff."

"He could wipe out an army," Echidna said.

"Or a city," Prometheus nodded, "Or if he feels like being a bit less direct, he could just wipe out thousands of acres of farm land and plunge us all into famine. The fear my people used to dominate your people for thousands of years, Kronos will now have that a hundredfold. People will throw themselves on swords to spare his wrath being visited on their homes."

"Well, how are we supposed to fight that?" Typhon asked.

"I don't think we can fight a war against it," Prometheus said, "If Kronos attains that sort of power, our armies will be wiped out quickly, with nothing to show for their sacrifice. At best, they'll desert to join his side. From this point forward, we need to assume that any engagement on the battlefield will be a total defeat for us."

"So, no more armies fighting armies," Echidna said, "now we have to make it personal."

"I think that's the only way to preserve Crete," Prometheus said, "We should retain a few of our best soldiers, but we should be honest with everyone about what is at stake. Anyone who thinks they have anything that can't afford to lose - including their lives - should go home, tend to their crops, rebuild their houses, and keep their heads down."

"Go back to slavery," Typhon said grimly.

"For now, yes," Prometheus said, "But Echidna's right. We don't need to surrender, we just need to de-escalate this conflict so that Kronos won't be inclined to wipe out the people we're trying to liberate. We need a way to change this from a war into a face-to-face barroom brawl between us and the Kronies."

The clip-clopping of hooves on the stone floor announced the arrival of the fortress's steward, Amalthea.

"If you want to get up close and personal with Kronos, I might have a place for you to start..." Amalthea said.

1.17: Changing Faces

The urgent chirping from the earring Hekate had given Pandora was her cue to leave.  Pandora was a Titan - strong and resilient as any average member of their race - but she couldn't fight her way out of a camp full of trained soldiers with steel weapons. Fortunately, she was also one of the few free Legacy Bearers left in the northern Mediterranean.

1:16: Scions of War

Typhon and Echidna got to their feet, looking young and healthy again, though their armor was still rusted and rotted from Kronos's magic. Kronos reached out with both hands and unleashed more of his black lightning on the two humans. Their armor disintegrated, leaving them both stark naked on the battlefield, but they didn't age or wither. To the contrary, they seemed to get somewhat larger and... more powerful looking.

"Why don't you die?!" Kronos shouted, striking again.

1.15: Crossroads

Prometheus stayed at his knees, simply breathing exhaustedly, trying to get his mind clear. Kronos flapped down to one side of him, prepared to congratulate him on his victory, but Hekate reappeared to his other side.

“You’re a fool to come here witch,” Kronos said, “You’re trapped on all sides, just like your pets.”

“If you knew what an orbital transport relay was, you’d think that was hilarious,” Hekate said as she nonchalantly clicked one of her bracelets.

1.14: Titan Fall

The next morning, Prometheus stood on top of a hill to the northwest of Knossos with Macaria, watching the port city, Heraklion, to his northeast. He couldn’t see Tiamat closing on the city, but he could see Oceanos’s iron-prowed war galleys chasing her. The troops around him began shouting, and he turned his gaze southward – Kasios was rounding the walls of Knossos, trudging along in some sort of gigantic mechanized suit he’d created from his memory of their home world. Human troops pursued him with slings and spears, but they plinked off his alien armor – good, Kasios needed to think they weren’t a threat.

1.13: Pandora's Box

Prometheus, understanding that the war was also a battle for the hearts and minds of the humans that fed their powers, did everything he could to manage their images. He inundated the people – Titans and humans alike – with propaganda.  He composed poetic ballads praising Kronos, spreading tales of heroism and valor, and angelic statues celebrating Kronos’s death-from-above aerial campaign. His renditions depicted Kasios and Tiamat as demonic monsters, driven by a lust for carnage. Following their intimate encounter after the battle of Selakano Valley, though, Prometheus played soft with Hekate's image. He'd already had doubts about Kronos's leadership when Hekate came to him, and when she left, he was beginning to think about alternative paths ahead. Just in case Prometheus ultimately decided she was right, he some breathing room to make decisions - if he convinced all of his followers that Hekate was the ultimate evil, his options would be far more limited.

1.12: Star-Crossed

Prometheus came back to his senses in his chambers, Amalthea and Kronos at his side.

"There you are!" Kronos said gleefully, "I almost joined you in the dirt you know, that took an incredible toll on me. Father might have been able to do that sort of thing easily, but without a Legacy A.I. to do the math on the dynamic charges in the clouds, it's a lot of work."

"Did we get Kasios?" Prometheus asked.

1.11: The Battle of Selakano Valley (Part III)

Prometheus could see Kasios retreating through the smoldering fires on the far slope - Typhon and Echidna had defended the forts well, but now Kasios's ire would surely turn this way. The man depended on his troops' reverence and the deaths of his enemies to fuel his powers; suffering a lop-sided and embarrassing defeat would weaken him severely. Unfortunately, the routed battalions were far from destroyed, and Kasios still had two fresh battalions waiting in the forest below, which were now marching straight towards the mountaintop stronghold.

1.10: The Battle of Selakano Valley (Part II)

Kasios twitched his fingers and created another roll of dijoa weed. He put the roll in his mouth, touched it to one of the hot muzzles of his rotary plasma cannon to light it, and took a long slow drag off of it. The best part of the borderline immortality of being an Alpha was the ability to indulge in all the best vices consequence free.

1.09: The Battle of Selakano Valley (Part I)

Prometheus's war of attrition proceeded with the same pace that most such wars do - that being a very slow one. With little infrastructure prepared for the task, it took years for Prometheus to smith enough steel weapons just to arm his personal guard, a process that was greatly slowed by Hekate's guerilla tactics. At some point, Hekate clearly figured out what Prometheus was planning, because she began to make a point of targeting ships heavy with iron, and destroying caravans traveling to Knossos from Crete's various mines.

1.08: Strategic Concessions

The entire region around Knossos became a warzone, host to a conflict unlike any the world would see for thousands of years. With the help of Tiamat and Kasios, Hekate was able to win the awe, fear, and love of a large portion of the human population. The humans who’d become disenchanted with Oranos’s rule and moreso with Kronos’s rule saw her as their great liberator. Kasios and Tiamat thrived on the carnage they created, but it was Hekate – as their master – who received the mortals’ worship, a large and dedicated cult forming under her.

1.07: First Blood in Tartarus

Prometheus sat up too quickly, his mind wobbling from the disorientation of leaving the simulation. It took him a while to comprehend what Thanatos was saying – Hekate was in the underworld, she’d released Kasios and Tiamat, and Macaria was alone in the prison block with them. Prometheus nearly collapsed when he set his feet on the ground – his whole body felt numb – but he followed Thanatos out of the facility, across the cavern floor, to the nearest loading ramp of the scuttled Tartarus. An army of skeletal automatons created by Prometheus and Macaria’s predecessors stood ready to charge into the ship and fight.