3000 BC
Growing up and being a Titaness, Rhea had known what her duty and fate were since her birth, for that was one of the many joys of being one of the divinities, such as herself and her family, for the divine knew what was expected of them. Something that her brother always regarded as a joke and a cruel one at that, which always made her curious about why Kronos had such hatred for fates. Growing up was something that Rhea did not have experience with, nor did her siblings; that was some type of strange thing that only happened to mortals, or so they thought until her youngest brother, Kronos, had been born a babe instead of a fully grown-up Titan, and while they could and did care for themselves immediately, Kronos was raised by their mother, and both spent many years together, with her mother looking after and raising him Perhaps that was one of the reasons that her mother and Kronos were so close together, for while other children of Gaia were all grown up and independent at birth, at least in the physical sense, and without need, the same was not true for Kronos, who was at the time of his birth a baby that needed her attention, something that her mother had been more than happy to surround him with.
Even as a child, her brother was a stranger; for one, he even had something that he called childhood, and for that, their father would have almost tossed him into the pit if not for their mother's pleading that he was healthy and perfect and not defective like the others. That was another hard thing, for Rhea, to swallow—the fact that she had unknown siblings that she had never managed to meet because their father had found them some way defective and thus had tossed them into the abyss. It baffled her that her father would do that and throw away his children as if they were garbage.
The strangeness of her brother had only increased when their family discovered that Kronos had broken the forbidden law of their father and ventured down onto earth to mingle with the creatures that Kronos called humans The wrath of heaven had been an infinite and terrible thing to witness, for the anger of her father was as swift and terrible as the mightiest of thunderstorms, but Kronos had been on the ground in contact with their mother, and out of the influence of their father, the sky, for their mother had hidden him deep and hid him even as thunder repeatedly hit the ground and scared it until the wrath of heaven had subsided.
She could not help but wonder why he would ever bother with such creatures, Their time in the world of living was so short, their lives were fleeing and their nature itself was so brutal and savage. Why would a divine being ever wish to mingle with them? It was something that had made Rhea ask her brother for the answer.
For an answer, Kronos had them disguise themselves as humble travelers, they had descended to a gathering of so-called humans, and what a gathering it was for Rhea, who had only lived with her siblings and their cousins. In their palace, while Rhea was used to large buildings, the sheer number of buildings was not something that she was used to. There were so many stone houses, and the mortals there were so many of them, and their settlement stretched as far as the eye could see, and it was no simple wood and straw like many others, but all houses were built with strong wood and stone, and outside the settlement stood a mighty wall that was 45 feet thick and 50 feet high The walls were decorated with yellow circles with eyes, smiles, and other strange symbols. Rhea turned around and saw her brother's eyes glinting with something that she saw rarely, and that was her brother's smile, a deep and genuine one, not a smirk he had when he beat Atlas at Regicide, an ill-named strategy game.
"You see, they aren't dumb, at least most of them. All it took was simply showing them that there was a better way for them to live and teaching them that they could farm and build instead of having to hunt. and now they even have a city I named Byzantium; it has over one hundred fifty thousand inhabitants."
Now that Rhea understood why Kronos was rarely with them and playing with them, especially not spending time with her, he should never leave her, and Kronos should take her with him everywhere, He was interested in playing with these mortals. Rhea did not doubt that he was spending time with some mortal girl, like the degenerate he was, another word that she had picked up from Kronos himself—not that she knew what that word meant, but it made him almost choke.
Rhea was beautiful or so said her mother and all of her brothers. Several of her brothers had even proposed to her for marriage. She truly did not think that was the case. Rhea thought her brothers were being polite to her about how ugly she was. If she were not ugly, why would Kronos not want to marry her and fulfill their fate? That was why he was meeting the Nymphs instead of being with her; Rhea had been heartbroken and still was.
Rhea remembered that night very well; it was like many others in their household, and once again, when that started, Rhea had attempted to simply not be focused on what was happening. It's like it always begins in their palace, where their entire family gathers for what Kronos calls family dinner. The fact that he was daring enough to question their father about the way he was treating their mother, and the fact that he made his opinion clear that he thought what their father was doing to their mother was wrong, left everyone amazed. Kronos, her little brother, was daring to talk back and question their father, even without any domains or authorities, while her elder brothers, with their own thrones and domains, remained silent to the cruelties that were inflicted upon their mother by their father.
Even after every beating that he was inflicted with the next day, he still did it, speaking out for their mother. It was terrible hearing her mother and father fighting, and Rhea herself was looking at Kronos's broken and beaten body while her mother cradled him and begged their father to stop and spare him. It broke her heart, especially how they shouted at each other and how their father would later drag their mother away. But she would never forget how she saw him, for fear had been present in the eyes of Kronos, and yet, perhaps more impressively, he had still chosen to stand against the vastness and terror of the heavens that was their father.
"Why?" Rhea had asked him as she helped him drink in the nectar with his broken teeth and badly hurt body. Rhea had been afraid that her father had gone too far this time.
"Why do you do this, brother? Brother? You know that our Lord's father is who he is, and to go against the heavens itself is the utmost form of foolishness, and not even our brothers, your elders, dare to mock our father, so why do you do this to yourself?"Were the words Rhea herself had spoken to her brother
Even with the battered face that was mostly bruised, Kronos still managed to grin something that made Rhea's heart beat faster, but not in the same way as he normally would when he had all of his perfect teeth and his face was not bruised, but in the way in which she was scared for him. "It's wrong, Rhea It's so wrong that I can't stand it. I know that he might kill me, but what can I do but try to stop him? What else should I do but stand against him? I was scared and even frightened. But at that moment, watching Mom and how hurt she was gave me the courage to stand against him. I was afraid, but perhaps' That is the only time a person can truly be brave.
What a fucked up time we live when a man beating his wife is seen as an acceptable thing, and even normal, well, fuck that. I love Mom, I love you, Rhea, and I love all of you guys, and I will shield you guys, even that Iapetus jerk, .""
After that day, Rhea was sure that she was in love with her brother. She was even the way he was, even if he was strange sometimes, used funny words, and sometimes spent time with nymphs. Rhea truly was in love with him.