The Thirteenth Trial(?) - At the Western Edge of the World, Gaia's Palace
The great goddess Gaia, goddess of the earth and a Protogenoi, the very embodiment of Achaia itself, awoke to some unexpected news.
"Heracles is still at Mount Etna?"
"Yeah, I was shocked too when I went there on a whim."
"Incredible. Of all things, does that boy actually have talent as a blacksmith?"
"According to Adamantia... well, it's not like he has none."
"Oh? Is that so?"
Exactly one year prior, Gaia had imposed a trial on Heracles out of half-petulance after he slew Ladon. It was half-justified, given that he'd not only snapped off a branch of the Golden Apple tree—a gift Gaia had bestowed upon Hera—but also set a massive blaze in the Atlas Mountains. In any case, she'd figured Heracles wouldn't catch Adamantia's eye anyway, so she'd forgotten about it after a few days.
But the news Thalassa—female counterpart to Pontus, goddess of the sea—brought today was utterly unforeseen.
"So, what is he doing now?"
".........Um, well, he's like a servant?????"
"What? .......Heracles???"
"Yeah, he's totally playing servant to Adamantia."
This was another surprise. Curiosity piqued, Gaia prodded her daughter with a sly expression.
"What kind of servant?"
"Get real, Mom. Not a bed-warmer. A real servant, I tell you. Looks like he's built a total wall around himself."
"Sigh, what a letdown."
Unaware of her mother's dashed hopes, the thick-skinned girl deflated Gaia's enthusiasm. Ignoring her mother's crestfallen tone, Thalassa pressed on.
"But hey, Mom."
"What is it, you rascal?"
"That.......... Adamantia."
"Yes, what about our girl???"
"Is she really that pretty???? It's been thousands of years since I last saw her face, so I wouldn't know."
"Is that what you call a question????? Don't even compare yourself. Dream on."
Thalassa bristled at Gaia's reflexive retort, her voice sharpening.
"What's that supposed to mean??? Is she really prettier than me???"
"That's what I'm saying."
Gaia smirked sourly at her sulking second daughter. Her blue hair cascaded to her waist, eyebrows arched in a perfect crescent, forehead pale, eyes a brilliant cobalt blue. A beauty mark at the corner of her eye drew the gaze, her pert nose leading to thin, pale pink lips. The maternal allure inherited from Gaia herself and her slender waist were intoxicatingly seductive. She was a stunning beauty by any standard, but to Gaia, whose love for her children knew no bounds, her second daughter simply couldn't compare to her firstborn.
Shaking her head, Gaia watched Thalassa fume over her "harsh" words.
"No, you'd have to see her face to make me believe you, Mom. I haven't even seen it myself."
"Now, now, trust your mother. Our eldest is far prettier than you."
"..........Say that to my face—'you're prettier' or whatever?"
"Didn't you say it creeped you out before?"
"Argh, whatever!!!!"
Thalassa fumed needlessly. For thousands of years, her eldest sister—right above her in age—hadn't shown her face once, and now she was supposedly a beauty? Absurd. Her hair was always full of soot, her hands callused and rough, her face half-hidden behind that mask of heavenly steel every day. No way was she some hedgehog pup that Gaia would rave about.
Thalassa decided to steer the conversation elsewhere.
"What's with the sudden silence?"
"No, think about it—it's weird. Why send the trial to her? There are still tons of monsters out there."
"Hush now, don't you think about your monster-making mother's position?"
"What, only you make monsters? I do too. ..........So what's the reason?"
The oddity lay here. There were plenty of monsters left if she'd just wanted to assign a trial. Heracles had culled the land monsters significantly, sure, but tales abounded of a bull calf born on Crete, and the seas teemed with them. Thalassa herself was one of the prime culprits behind their proliferation, but monsters still overflowed regardless.
Why had Mother sent Heracles to her???
"Oh, just half out of spite."
"Then what's the other half?"
"Enough, stop prying. If that's all the outside news, off you go."
"What, did I ask something I shouldn't? Why the reaction?"
Gaia, clearly hiding something, shoved Thalassa toward the door without answering. But a Protogenoi of the sea wouldn't yield so easily. Grabbing Gaia's white arm, Thalassa wheedled.
"Come on, just tell me. I won't even tell Tyrrhenus."
".........No, I won't. Go on."
"You think that'll make me leave? You know me—spill it."
Gaia and Thalassa bickered and arm-wrestled for minutes, then hours, stubbornly entangled. After half a day, Gaia raised the white flag.
"Fine, you win. Strong girl. I'll tell you."
"About time. So....... what's the reason???"
"..........Just in case.........."
"What? Speak plainly, Mom."
"I mean it—just in case, okay?"
The great sea goddess Thalassa couldn't for the life of her grasp her mother's "just in case." Heracles going to Adamantia, Mother's expression like a kid caught with a hidden toy, her dubious claim that Adamantia was prettier than her, and the fact that her sister—after seven thousand years—still had no mate... It took a while, but lightning finally struck Thalassa's mind.
"Mom, are you insane??? Heracles???"
"What's wrong with that? Isn't he the handsomest man in Achaia right now?"
"Even so, Heracles is human."
"Zeus will deify him in a few years anyway. Obvious story."
".........Huh."
There was only one reason Zeus would deify Heracles.
The Gigantomachia, the war Gaia had prepared for centuries to topple Zeus's regime by unleashing her giant Gigantes.
Zeus will need a human hero's aid to defeat the Gigantes.
If the hero born for that prophecy became a god...............
"Mom, you're not thinking of abandoning the Gigantes???"
"Who said anything about abandoning??? I said 'just in case.'"
"Even so............ Sigh."
Thalassa sighed. Half "just in case" meant she was seriously considering it if Heracles caught Adamantia's eye.
"Mom, you're crazy. Weren't you set on crushing Zeus? You'd give that up???"
"What do you mean 'give up'? When did I say that?"
"What kind of nonsense is that? If half is 'just in case,' that's giving up, isn't it???"
Oblivious or not to her daughter's dismay, Gaia spouted ever more inscrutable words.
"Think about it—how many heroes has Zeus churned out to stop the Gigantes? I even complained it was overkill before."
"Yeah, hundreds that I know of. Slimy bastard made a ton............"
"But the only hero who can face the Gigantes is Heracles, right???"
"Exactly????"
"I guarantee you, if Heracles falls for our eldest, we'll have plucked that one irreplaceable hero right out from under them."
".........Not gonna be easy."
Thalassa unwittingly clicked her tongue. Heracles wasn't just anyone—he was Zeus's son. Son of the lecherous king of gods who sampled every beauty in Achaia. The half-god prince doted on by the new king, burdened with siring heroes.
Heracles had bedded over fifty women in a single night before, even slept with Hippolyta. Unless that lie about her being prettier held water, no ordinary beauty stood a chance. And if he became a god............
"If he becomes a god, Zeus'll pair him with one of Hera's daughters. You okay with that???"
"I keep telling you, she's prettier than you. Think Hera's girls can compete?"
"Huh???"
Mother showed no signs of dropping the fib.
"Ugh, whatever."
"Oh my??? You really won't believe me to the end."
"How could I??? She's hidden her face for six thousand years. I've forgotten what she even looks like. You think I won't burst a vein, Mom?"
"Hey, if you're about to burst, imagine how I feel? I've wanted to rip off that mask hiding her pretty face for ages."
"..........Wanna bet on it???"
"A bet???"
Irked by her mother's persistent lies, dutiful daughter Thalassa suddenly recalled a wicked prank.
"Sicily's part of Sis's body, but it's still attached to you and me, right???"
"Sure is."
"So let's trigger a little earthquake."
"An earthquake??? For what?"
Thalassa found her oblivious mother exasperating.
"Jeez, Mom, you're slow. A small quake to spark a fire on her mask. She won't keep wearing a burning one."
"Ah, expose Adamantia's bare face to Heracles that way?"
"Exactly! Now you're getting it!!!!"
"Oh, but then it'd be too easy. Heracles would pounce on our girl for sure."
"Pfft, with that brute strength of his? No way she'd let herself get jumped."
"True.........."
Gaia knew better than anyone the power of her firstborn Protogenoi. Her daughter's point made her throat burn and itch oddly.
"Who knows? Heracles might end up with the harder task."
"Ooh, that could be fun, Thalassa."
"So we're doing it for real."
"Heck yeah, let's do it. Let's!!!!!!"
The two Protogenoi's sinister laughter echoed through Gaia's palace. No one knew that Uranus, curled up asleep on the upper floor, shuddered at the eerie sound.