On top of a large mountain atop a chain of islands, Brolios sat with a pithos of Ambrosia by his side.
"How long has it been since we've sat down like this?"
His companion hummed before answering.
"If you are saying without any politics or posturing involved? I'd say nearly five centuries, maybe even more. Time is still slightly unstable at the moment, thanks to the imprisonment of the Crooked One. If I had to guess, I'd say it will take a millennium or two before time stabilizes completely."
Brolios nodded.
"Makes sense. It's a good thing that Mother stopped me from destroying that bastard back then. If not, we would have been forced to give birth to a new god specifically to control Time, and that would have been a headache and a half since none of us can choose our affinities for specific domains."
"....I still don't know how Uncle gained control over the domain of Time back then. Father and Mother said that he was not born with those domains. He was born with the domains of Harvest."
Prometheus, the Titan of Foresight, sighed as he spoke.
Brolios just shrugged.
"Who cares? He is imprisoned in Tartarus, and if he ever dares to even entertain the idea of getting out and gathering his pieces together, I'll just destroy enough of him to make sure he can never regain his consciousness ever again. Actually, why didn't I do that from the very beginning?"
Prometheus gave a wry smile to his old friend.
"Maybe because Mother Earth always nags at you to not kill her children through your domain?"
"....Point."
Brolios grimaced at that reminder.
Ever since he gained his domain of nature, he could sense his connection to Gaia through his domain. Over time, as he managed his domain to the best of his abilities and allowed nature to thrive under his gentle hands, that connection only deepened, until, one day, he started hearing her half-formed thoughts while she slumbered underneath their feet.
It was a really hard thing to ignore that ancient and powerful mind for the young god, but eventually, he learned to block out that noise and only listen in when he wished to.
However, as the connection went both ways, Mother Earth was also able to hear his thoughts, and whenever he seriously considered ending one of her children, she would stir. Not rising fully to consciousness, but her love for her children still shone through as her slumbering mind would try to protest against those thoughts.
Of course, this only happened when he thought of killing a Titan. For other creatures, such as that serpent that attacked Leto all those years ago, or other monsters? She could not care less.
Other than that, Gaia seemed to be content letting him do as he pleased. She even seemed to transmit a strange form of approval through their link when Brolios worked on managing his domains, which confused the hell out of him, but he chose to let it be since he did not feel any bad intent from Primordial.
Prometheus put down his pithos and waved a hand, creating an illusory image of his latest project with excitement.
"What do you think? Brolios? Will this work?"
Brolios scrutinized the details of the image.
"Hm. So, this time, you intend to make humanity out of Ash Trees and give them the power of Bronze? Where did you get this idea from?"
Prometheus smiled while scratching the back of his head.
"It was Zeus who originally proposed this idea. After you and Zeus ended the defective humans of the Silver Age, I've been experimenting with all kinds of materials and methods. I've found two methods to be the most viable. Shaping Ash trees or Molding Clay. This time, I want to use the Ash tree method to see if it will be viable."
"Makes sense. Alright. I'll tell Zeus about this and have him send you the resources you need."
"My thanks, Brolios."
Brolios waved his hand.
"No need for thanks, Theus. I am interested to see what kind of humans you end up making this time. The Silver Age humans were, despite their defect, still a rather interesting experiment. Even if they could barely be considered sapient and only knew how to live like animals. Even after you stole a piece of Hestia's fire to gift it to them."
By the end of his words, Brolios gave a light glare to his friend, who chuckled nervously.
Prometheus knew that it was only because of his long-standing friendship with Brolios that he avoided a fate worse than death for giving humanity the power of fire and tricking them during that last banquet at Mecone, where the world of the gods and mortals permanently parted ways.
"I am still mad that you robbed me of a rightful feast. I was really looking forward to that food, you know?"
Prometheus gave his friend a flat look.
"Did I not make a private feast for you later that day? Full of all kinds of food that not even my creations or the other gods could ever fathom?"
"Don't care. I still care about that missed feast."
'This glutton, how hasn't he emptied all of Olympus's treasure in search of food yet?'
Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Prometheus looked into the distance.
"So, mind telling me what you are doing all the way out here in Cyprus?"
Brolios nodded and started speaking.
"It's nothing secret. You remember that old divine signature I've been investigating for the past many years?"
"Yeah, I remember. Didn't we come up empty-handed every time we set out to search for the source? Even Poseidon failed to find any trace, didn't he?"
Brolios nodded.
For a long time now, he had been sensing a divine signature out here, near Cyprus, through his domain of the Lost. A signature calling out into the world in a mix of joy, sorrow, and loss.
However, every time he got close to this place, the signature would suddenly vanish.
No matter how he tried, from flying over with his Ki, using Instant Transmission, or divine teleportation or translocation, the signature would vanish the moment he arrived at Cyprus, hiding from all his senses, no matter how he tried.
And it wasn't just him.
He even sent others in his place, thinking that the source was probably afraid of his reputation as the God of Destruction. He sent Prometheus, Zeus, Hestia, Hades, Persephone, and even Poseidon, who should have absolute authority over the oceans around here and have some level of authority over the islands as well, but still failed.
It was a mystery that bugged him incessantly since this pulse of divinity would not stop transmitting its emotions through his domain the moment he got away from Cyprus.
'I swear, the moment I find the source, I will definitely give whoever it is a good spanking to drill the concept of keeping their thoughts and emotions private into their skulls!'
Brolios grumbled in his mind while Prometheus shook his head.
"So, you are chasing that trail again this time?"
"Yes. I think it is a nice distraction from my workload these days."
"And it is merely a coincidence that you are getting away from the incessant challenges from Ares and how Hephaestus's curious questions, right? Uncle?"
Brolios slumped a bit while Prometheus's spine straightened at the amused feminine voice as the space nearby twisted, revealing the Goddess of Childbirth, Wilderness, and Archery. Artemis.
"Is it really that obvious? Niece?"
Artemis huffed in amusement and sat down beside her uncle.
"Not really. But to me, Athena, and Aunt Hestia? It is very obvious that you are trying to distance yourself from Olympus so that you can avoid Ares's challenges every day and Hephaestus's continuous questions about all kinds of things. Things that have been eating into your so-called 'personal time' as you put it."
Brolios said nothing because he knew she was right.
Truth be told, he did not hate Ares's challenges or Hephaestus's questions. In fact, he would have been ecstatic to face Ares all day, every day. However, Brolios reveled in fighting with opponents who learned from their defeat and came back stronger. But Ares? he never learned. He did the same thing during every fight. Same moveset, same fighting style, same thought process. No progress at all. That is why Brolios started to find Ares boring and chose to avoid him now.
Brolios passed her another Pithos, which he materialized through his magic, making Artemis stare at it with wonder before drinking it and savoring the taste.
"No matter how many times I see it, I still can't understand how you can create something permanent like that without holding the domain of creation. Even Lady Hecate can't do something like that, much to her jealousy."
"Ugh! Don't remind me. She still hasn't given up on nagging me all day, every day to replicate my technique, even after I clearly showed her how I do it and how she can do it as well so many times."
"Heh. I see."
"Anyways, what are you doing here, Artemis? Last I heard, you were out hunting some monster that escaped from the Underworld, right? Did something happen? Need a hand?"
Artemis shook her head with a tiny smile.
"Nothing happened. The hunt was a success. Turns out, it was just a remnant of the Silver Age escaping to the surface. Although I do wish to go to your sanctuary and recruit some of the spirits there for my hunt."
Brolios gave her a surprised look.
"You managed to convince Zeus of your plan after all?"
She gave her uncle a proud look.
"Of course I did. Who do you think I am? Now, I can officially start recruiting for hunters under my command."
Brolios chuckled at her words and ruffled her hair, much to the young goddess's annoyance.
"Hey! Stop that."
"Sorry, sorry. You just look so cute with that proud look. Anyways, as for your request, go right ahead. Talk to those who are nearly done healing in my domain and ask them if they wish to join you. But, you remember the rules, yes?"
Artemis nodded and recited the rules her uncle had given her before when she first came up with this idea for her own group.
"No fooling them. No half-truths. I must tell them very clearly what benefits they would gain and what they would lose should they accept. I must make sure they understand both the consequences and benefits relative to what knowledge they have, so that they clearly understand what I mean. And, if they don't accept, I must not threaten them openly or subtly and accept their choice."
Brolios smiled and nodded.
"Good. As long as you adhere to those rules, you are free to recruit from my domain. Although make sure to keep away from the more...broken ones in my domain who are still in the process of healing and coming to terms with their pasts."
Her eyes softened a bit at the pensive look on her uncle, whose gaze looked into the distance, presumably concentrating on his domain of the Lost.
"Don't worry, Uncle. I know what I am doing."
"I know, niece. You are one of the most restrained and level-headed ones of your generation alongside Athena, so I am not really worried that you will overstep your bounds. Now, if it were Apollo or Ares asking me of this? Now that would be a completely different scenario altogether."
Artemis chuckled as she took a swing from the pithos
One Titan and two Olympians spent the day like that, talking about all kinds of things before the Goddess of Archery finally left, soon followed by Prometheus, leaving Brolios alone.
"Alright then, time to get to work. Hopefully, I'll have a breakthrough today."
He muttered to himself and got to work on trying to sense the origin of that incessant divine signature.
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