Chapter 2

I don't know how long I've been falling, but it feels like an eternity. Long enough, anyway, that my body has aged to that of a young adult—maybe sixteen years old, if I had to guess. It's not like there's a mirror around to check. Just endless darkness and the unnerving sensation of being pulled deeper into the abyss.

Boredom creeps in faster than fear. My mind starts to wander, thinking about everything and nothing all at once. Then, in the distance, I spot something—a faint light, an exit. Relief surges through me until my eyes adjust, and I see it for what it truly is.

Acid. A massive pool of seething, bubbling acid waiting to welcome me.

Panic replaces boredom in an instant. My instincts scream at me to do something—anything—to slow my descent, but nothing works. It's as if my powers are sealed away, trapped behind some invisible wall. The closer I get, the more I can feel the heat and the acidic vapor rising toward me, and every nerve in my body tells me one thing: if I land in that, I'm done. It didn't matter if I was now a god, whatever acid was down there would literally kill me. 

I started hyperventilating and panic flooded my systems, suddenly I screamed in pain as I felt the skin over my shoulder blades rip open, as I felt something forcefully push through it, god it felt so painful, I could feel something wet drip down my back as the pain shifted, replaced by an almost alien muscle flexing that was not there before. A jolt ran through me, as I felt myself be yanked back as I stayed floating several feet above the acid. 

I glanced over my shoulder and gasped in amazement. There, extending from my back, were six massive black wings, spanning about 20 feet in length. The black feathers were dripping with golden inchor. 

"What the…" I whisper, the words trailing off as I touch one of the wings and gasped at how soft it was. This must have been something that Hades kept secret… unless something had happened to them.

No time to dwell on it. I need to find somewhere to land fast. I focus on the wings, trying to get the muscles to move. They respond, clumsy at first, but enough to keep me aloft. Flying isn't as easy as I imagined, I flew all over as I tried to figure out how to control them. Before long, I spotted what looked like a good place to land and tried to slow down but ended up crash-landing onto solid ground.

"Well, that's one way to get used to it," I mutter, brushing myself off as I stand. My legs wobble, and my whole body feels raw, like I've just been through a battle I didn't know I was fighting.

As I looked around, I couldn't help but feel disgusted with everything that I saw. The stomach seemed to stretch quite the distance, there was a single mound of flesh that stayed above the acid, this being the island that I had landed on. 

Massive walls of flesh extended all around, leading to a single hole where I had dropped from. The island was empty, well except for me, from what I could see, I was the first born. I don't know if Chaos herself meddled to make it so, or if this was how it was always meant to be. 

I paced back and forth on the small island, my thoughts swirling like an endless storm. The myths I remembered were vague and contradictory at best, but they were all I had. If I could piece together some semblance of a timeline, I might be able to prepare for the challenges ahead. Preparation was survival, and survival was all I had for now. But a plan wasn't enough—not without understanding what was wrong with me.

I couldn't shake the feeling of being incomplete. My divinity felt distant, like a buried ember in a field of ash. Why couldn't I access it when I needed it most? Was this punishment? A cruel joke?

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, I drew a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Closing my eyes, I reached inward, searching for that elusive spark of power. Time melted away as I focused, my breaths steady, my mind quiet but intent. 

I don't know how long it had been as I continued to focus, but finally I felt something.

My inner vision opened to a surreal landscape. Before me was a vast pool, glowing faintly, its surface shimmering with raw energy. Bowls floated around it, suspended in midair, each unique in design and color. Candles were set in the center of each bowl, though they were not lit.

The bowls weren't filled with water as I'd initially thought; they held what looked like the same stuff in the large pool. My guess was that the stuff was mana or maybe divinity?

I scanned the scene until something caught my eye. From the central pool, a faint, flickering thread extended toward a bowl that was quite far from the rest. The thread struggled to reach its targets, trembling as if they might snap at any moment.

I walked to this black bowl and I pushed it toward the pool. As I did, the thread connecting it grew stronger, more stable. Encouraged, I pushed the bowl all the way into the pool.

A surge of energy shot through me like lightning, making me gasp. The candle in the bowl flared to life, I could feel this new power flow inside me.

I flexed my fingers, feeling these new connections. So I started with shadows, there was a lot that I could do with it, I looked around to see that there were no more threads connecting to any other bowl.

I wonder if I could…I walked toward the closest bowl, the domain of ambition, with effort, I tried to drag it closer to the pool. At first, it moved—but as soon as I pushed it to the edge of the pool, it was violently rejected. The bowl shot back to its original position, spinning wildly before settling into place. I did try with other bowls as well and got the same result. 

"Of course it won't be that simple." I couldn't help but laugh. I take one last look at the pool and bowls as I force myself out as I open my eyes, standing as I stretch, relieving the tension in my muscles and popping my stiff joints. I even stretched out my wings as the feathers ruffled before returning to normal-A high-pitched scream made me freeze on the spot and look toward the opening up high. 

It didn't take long. As a figure began plummeting toward the acid. Without hesitation, I ran forward, my wings extended as I put some force in the muscles as I leaped into the air, slamming my wings downward as my body lurched forward at high speed. 

I reached forward with my hands and grabbed them in my arms as I struggled to come to a complete stop in the air. "Man this is really difficult without tail feathers, who's idea was it that only wings were needed to fly?"

The acid hissed angrily below, splashing upwards that I quickly dodged. With careful precision, I flew back toward the shore of the island. I tried to land as soft as I could but ended up crashing as I wrapped my wings around us for some defence as we skidded to a stop. I groan as I unwrap my wings as I stay down. 

"W-what happened?" A girls voice asked. I looked up to see this beautiful pale skinned redhead lying on top of me.

"What happened is that I still suck at landing." I responded groaning as I pushed her off and stood up as I stretched my wings as they vanished back into my shoulder blades. "Wow, that will come in handy." 

"Uhm who are you?" She asked, looking a little nervous. 

"Hades, I am your elder brother, I do take it that as soon as you were born father swallowed you?"

"Y-yeah, he did. Just walked in the room, took me and swallowed me without a single care. W-why would he do such a thing?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. As I helped her up. "So tell me, what's your name?" 

"I'm Hestia, that is the name that mother gave to me." She responded. I nodded having already expected it as I waved a hand trying to imagine the shadows forming clothes and it worked out as I watched the shadows creep up Hestia's body and transform into a chiton. I then gave myself a toga, it was actually so comfortable.

"Thank you." Hestia said as she looked at where she had dropped from. "How long do you believe that we will be stuck here?" 

"Hmm... I'm guessing somewhere between the runtime of an extended director's cut and eternity." I couldn't help but chuckle at my own joke.

"Director's cut? What is that?" 

"Don't worry about it," I responded, waving her off. "Now get comfortable because we have so much that we can do here."

"Like what?" Hestia asked excitedly. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to introduce some modern games, what is the worst that can happen?

I smirked. "It's a game called 20 Questions. Simple, really. I think of something, and you have to ask yes-or-no questions to figure out what it is. You can only ask twenty questions, though." 

She lit up at the idea. "Oh, that sounds fun! Can I go first?" 

"Of course," I said, leaning back against the stomach wall, which thankfully was softer than I'd imagined it would be. "Ask away."

Hestia's questions came rapid-fire, and though she struggled at first, she eventually got the hang of the game, having managed to have guessed the concept I was thinking of in the end. It only seemed appropriate given her eventual domain. By the time we were done, she was grinning and ready for another round.

Over time, my siblings arrived one after the other. Demeter was the next to drop in, about ten years after Hestia, followed by Hera, who immediately took charge of bossing us all around. Poseidon was the last to arrive, a ball of sunshine that we threw into the acid lake when he annoyed us too much. 

Wow you may be confused about that as earlier I said that the acid would literally kill me, yeah turns out that was my mortal way of thinking that had made me panic. The acid still burns us, well some of us as Poseidon is actually immune to the acid. Something he took great advantage of and would 'go play in the acid.' 

For the rest of us, we had nothing else to do but watch Poseidon play in the acid or talk, so we got bored quite quickly. Even playing 20 questions got boring after a while. One of the more exciting moments came when I introduced them to the game of chess. Using the shadows to form the board and pieces, I taught them to play. Unfortunately, only Hera truly got into it. She loved the strategy, the power plays, and the chance to beat me—though, of course, she rarely did.

"Checkmate," I said, moving my queen into place with a small grin.

Hera huffed, flipping her brown princess curls over her shoulder in frustration. "Again!" 

Demeter groaned from the side, where she sat braiding Hestia's hair. "Hera, you've lost a hundred times already. When are you going to give up?" 

"I'll stop when I win!" Hera snapped, as she slammed her palm onto the shadowy chessboard, glaring at me with fiery determination. "Set it up again, Hades!"

I chuckled, letting the shadows reform the pieces as they slid back into their starting positions. "You're very persistent, Hera. But you know that you won't be able to beat me."

In my past life, I was part of the chess club in Highschool and College, so I have had years to practice and learn how to play the game. I had even participated in tournaments and won a couple times, not that I want to brag. But I was really a nerd in my old life.

"I'll beat you one day," Hera declared, flipping her curls again with a flourish. "Mark my words."

I smirked, resting my chin on my hand as I leaned back. "I'm sure you will—just not today."

Hera narrowed her eyes at me, her lips curling into a determined pout. It was amusing, really. Her fiery spirit reminded me of some of my old chess club rivals, the ones who would never quit until they found a way to outsmart me. Back then, I thought I'd left those competitive days behind. Little did I know I'd be resurrecting them in the stomach of a titan.

Demeter, ever the voice of reason, groaned dramatically from her spot beside Hestia. "How long are you two going to keep doing this? We're literally trapped in our father's stomach, and you're fighting over chess."

Hestia chuckled softly, braiding a strand of Demeter's hair. "Let them have their fun, Demeter. It keeps them entertained, and it's not like we have much else to do."

"Speak for yourself," Poseidon called out as another wave carried him across the acidic sea. He wobbled slightly on his board before regaining balance and striking a ridiculous pose. "Some of us are making the most of this place!"

Hera rolled her eyes. "Making the most of it by playing in acid? Brilliant."

"It's better than losing at chess a hundred times," Poseidon shot back, grinning as he rode another wave.

"Enough," I said, shaking my head in amusement. "Let's not pretend any of us are thrilled about being here. But if we're stuck, we might as well make the best of it."

Hera huffed, her arms crossed as she glared at the chessboard. "Fine. One more game. Then I'll take a break."

"One more?" Demeter snorted. "You've said that fifty times already."

Hera ignored her, gesturing for me to start. I obliged, moving my pawn forward.