Avengers: The Goddess of Magic

Prologue

Kronos swallowed each of his children to prevent the end of his reign. His wife Rhea, pained by the continual loss of her children, saved her youngest daughter, giving Kronos a swaddled rock to swallow instead.

Her daughter grew strong, the goddess of magic who could fight with both a sword and lethal spellwork. Her words destroyed enemies like poisonous snakes that slithered off of her tongue and her sword cleaved flesh from bone as easily as a young child picked a flower.

She stood before the Titans alone, a goddess ready to free her people from Kronos. She fought the Titans bravely, slashing throat after throat, uttering curse after curse to turn their blood to stone. Finally, she came upon her father, the last one.

The goddess was red with blood, most of it not her own. In human time, she had fought for months. It all blended to her, one stretch of blood and pain. "My own daughter. You come to kill me?"

The woman raised her sword, the stones in the hilt shining. Magic spread from her hands and down the blade. "I come to save my siblings." Kronos laughed "the prophecy said that my child would kill me. I thought it would be a son."

The woman laughed, tossing hair dark with blood. "You underestimate me and now?" Her eyes glowed with power "you die." She leaped into the air, cloak flapping in the wind. She sliced open his stomach and her siblings tumbled out, covered in stomach fluid, but alive.

She and Kronos battled for days, a Titan and a Goddess locked in deadly combat. The final result, however, was a dead Titan and the end of a war. The woman went to her siblings expecting a homecoming, but instead got betrayal.

Her brothers: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades locked her away. They knew that she was weak, unable to destroy them with the flick of a finger as she would have been able to after having rested.

They took credit for the Goddess's fight, saying that it was Zeus who defeated the Titans and freed the Gods. The Titaness Rhea, however, was not fooled.

She alone knew of the fight that her daughter had put up, the great deed and the great cost at which it would come. While maidens and men alike marveled over Zeus and how despite his battle he had no injuries, the true hero was locked in a cage, bleeding and dirty.

Zeus took the sky and the mantle of king of the Gods. Poseidon took the sea, and Hades took the land of the dead. Poseidon and Hades tried to silence their consciences, still seeing the face of their sister when they slept. Zeus felt no remorse.

Rhea went to Zeus first, pleading to let her daughter go free. Rhea warned him that his sister was no force to be trifled with, and would escape. "When she does" Rhea warned him "she will come for you with sword in hand and curse on her lips."

Rhea urged him to free her, knowing that it was not too late, that she would forgive her brother if he apologized and spoke the truth. Zeus laughed and sent the Titaness away.

Rhea could feel her daughter's magic that night, could feel it as strong as the day that she had been born. She could hear her whispering through the wind. "I love you, mother." The Titaness cried for her daughter, and resolved to free her.

She went to Poseidon next, begged him to free his sister. Poseidon hesitated but refused sorrowfully, fear of Zeus overtaking him. He did, however tell Rhea that Zeus was brutalizing her, to move quickly.

Before his mother Poseidon's voice broke as he described the sorrowful state of the once powerful Goddess. "She's more animal than person" he said "nearly dead with pain and fear. Zeus must keep her captive and weak, for if she was free she would defeat him."

Rhea felt a swell of anger at Zeus and pity for Poseidon. He had been young. Power hungry. Now he was a man despairing at what he had done. She went to Hades last, hope almost gone.

She begged Hades to help his sister but Hades was hollow, and could only promise a visit. Rhea followed him to a cage in the corner of the Underworld, surrounded by guards of bone. She saw her daughter in the cage, bound and gagged like an animal.

Rhea threw herself upon the cage and wept, the tears of a mother. The tears dripped onto the woman in the cage, landing on her wounds. The tears healed the Goddess for they were born of love.

The Goddess stood then, ripping the gag from her mouth and chanting in a language older than time. The ground rumbled and the sky darkened as she cursed her three brothers for their betrayal.

Zeus she stripped of his position as king of the Gods and confined him to the sky, unable to speak as she took his voice as well. Poseidon she confined to the sea, and Hades she confined to the underworld.

She told the Gods the truth and they believed it, seeing how she spoke, held herself, and walked. Hades returned her sword as an apology, kneeling before her to pledge his allegiance.

She took the sword, lifting his chin with the blade. Her words were hoarse, her throat sore from years of screaming curses into a magic gag. "You betrayed me too, brother. This does not make up for it." She walked away, the sword gleaming by her side.

She was weak, however, pain and torture still holding her captive. Rhea watched her daughter push on helplessly, coughing fits often overtaking her. She was on her deathbed soon, the most powerful Goddess to ever walk the world felled by years of  injuries so horrid she almost died.

Rhea cursed Zeus's name, the psychopath she herself had borne. Her daughter told her not to worry, that she had a plan. She would make herself a human child, and go to earth. In a human's body, she would be safe. Her magic would remain, but her memories would be hidden until she once again touched her sword.

Rhea knew it was the only way, but she despaired at losing her daughter. She looked down at this woman, so far gone she was almost translucent and kissed her forehead. Her daughter said one more time "I love you, mother." Before disappearing, her sword with her.

On Earth a little girl no more than six years old appears on the steps of an orphanage. A sword hid itself in a nearby tree. Memories wiped from her mind. The Titan Slayer was not there, only a child who spoke nothing but Greek. One hint to her Godliness.

The orphanage took her in but soon discovered this was no ordinary child. This child had magic and would laugh, turning spoons into butterflies. The little girl delighted some caretakers and scared others. Some called her an angel, others a devil's spawn.

One dark night as the girl lay asleep, the head of the orphanage called a certain evil organization, telling them of the girl and her capabilities.

The scientists payed the head of the orphanage enough money to where they never had to work again and took the girl. They tested on her for years where she cried for a mother she did not remember. One day Phil Coulson came to save her in a raid, something telling him the name of this girl as he stood beside a tree, reading files stained with blood.

This girl's name was Hecate. She was as her brother said "more animal than person" at times, a result of being captive for so many years. Her sword remained in the tree, forgotten. All of that was about to change.