Ouranos stayed away from Gaia for a while. It was the logical way to stop the flow of constant creation. He knew it was in Gaia’s nature to create. That was why Khaos was so upset with her. But Ouranos had never imagined the two of them would create so many so quickly. It seemed all he had to do was touch her, talk to her, or even just look at her, and another creation appeared.
Things were spinning out of control and he needed to think.
He watched her as she attended to everyone. She acted like she wasn’t bothered or overwhelmed but she had to be. He had seen it when they were together. She was a little less bright, had a little less energy. She didn’t seem to want to acknowledge that there were too many creations. She let them distract her and keep her endlessly busy.
He still wanted her, but he wasn’t sure what to do.
He no longer craved his independence. It was almost laughable that he had once wished to leave her so he could roam the vast nothingness. No, his cravings had shifted and he found himself endlessly wanting her. Her energy and power, combined with his, was exhilarating.
But the results of the creative process felt unpredictable and messy. He had to figure out what to do about the others before things got worse.
He watched Khaos float by.
Khaos had been pretty upset when Ouranos chose to protect Gaia. He had fully expected the Heavens not to care. Soon after it was clear the barrier was strong enough to keep him out, Khaos retreated back into the void for a while. But, Khaos was bored again and was back to looking for ways to get through. Ouranos could feel his efforts were occasionally successful. Small doses of Khaos’s dis-creative power floated in the heavens and sometimes made its way to the earth. Ouranos had to actively sense and remove these to keep them from causing too much damage.
“Well, Ouranos,” Aether said, approaching him, “I see you have grown considerably. You now cover Gaia entirely. Did you mean to do that?”
“It was better for both of us,” Ouranos said, turning away slightly. He didn’t really feel like talking.
“Interesting,” Aether said, thoughtful. “How did you come to that understanding? Do you no longer wish to explore the void?”
“No,” Ouranos said.
“I see you have made creatures of light too. Hyperion and Theia have added something different.”
“That was an accident,” Ouranos said.
“How did you create them? Hemera and I have been talking, wondering about the creative process. We aren’t sure how we were created. We only remember coming into existence. We don’t know anything before that.”
“I cannot help you.”
“But don’t you know how to create things?”
Ouranos sighed.
“It just happens. I do not know the process.”
Aether sat thoughtfully.
“Are creations only accidents then? Are we all created without plan or design?”
“I do not know.”
“I would like to understand how to create,” Aether said. “If we had a better understanding, we could create with intention. Perhaps we could even design what we wish to create.”
Ouranos wondered. Would it make a difference if he and Gaia had a better understanding of what they were creating? Could they design their creations rather than just having them appear?
“Perhaps I can ask Hemera and discover ways to create,” Aether said.
“Be careful,” Ouranos said. “It is good to try to create with — more intention — as you said. But creation is not so easy to understand. Before you can understand, you may have created too many as I have done. The results of creation do not seem to be able to be undone.”
“Undone?”
“You cannot undo your creations once they have been created,” Ouranos said. “You are stuck with them.”
Aether nodded, thinking.
“That is a problem I had not considered.”
“I wish I had understood it before I started creating,” Ouranos said.
“Do you regret your creations?”
Ouranos wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Which ones do you not like?” Aether asked.
Ouranos shook his head.
“It is not that I do not like them. I do not know what to do with them.”
Aether nodded.
“I will be careful,” he said. “Thank you.”
Ouranos watched him join Hemera for the shift between day and night. He didn’t feel like following them. Now that he had enough of his elements he enjoyed the cooling nature of the darkness.
He sat thinking for a while, wondering what could be done. He hoped Aether and Hemera would be more careful. While he couldn’t be sure, it was likely creations could not be undone. The idea did make him wonder about a lot of things. How did creation really work? How could it be better controlled? Was there a way to design a new creation?
Before he could fully form any answers, he noticed Gaia. She was wandering a quiet part of her earth by herself. Was she looking for him? He noticed she looked somewhat faded. He knew it had to be because of the others. He suddenly felt sorry for her.
Against his desire to avoid her to prevent more creating, he made his way to where she was wandering.
“There you are,” she said.
“Were you looking for me?”
“Yes. I always feel better when I am around you.”
That made him feel surprisingly good.
She sighed and reached for him. He moved so she could sit, but he tried to avoid doing anything that might create something.
“It has been such a day. The children have so many new things they are doing and so many things they want. It is hard to keep up.”
“It is taking your energy,” he said.
“Yes. So much energy. I am so tired.”
They sat in silence for a moment.
“Do you understand creation?”
“I understand my earth.”
“Do you understand how we created these others?”
Gaia shrugged.
“When I first started creating with Pontos it was because we needed to reshape the earth to control his seas. Nereos came as we tried to figure out what to do. He helped.”
“Can creations be undone?”
She gasped slightly, a look of horror crossing her face.
“Why would you ask that?”
“I am trying to understand. Creation seems to be without design.”
“There is a design. There is a sense of what is needed. Our creations come as an answer to a need.”
“Need and design are not the same.”
“Well,” Gaia said, frowning, “maybe we are designing them without knowing.”
“How can we design our creations and not know that we are doing it?”
“Because it is part of our nature as creators.”
Ouranos wasn’t sure.
“What if we design something which should not be created?”
“That cannot happen.”
“Are you sure?”
“We cannot undo our children,” Gaia said defiantly.
“I am not saying we should undo our children.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“There are too many of them.”
“What do you want me to do?” she said, turning away from him. “You are not helping. You enjoy the freedom of the heavens. I am here on my earth where there is so much work to be done. The children have so many needs. You do nothing.”
He turned to her.
“The problem is not whether I am helping. It is that there is too much work. There are too many others,” he said. “Every time we are together, we create. Everything we create — the results feel messy and out of control. There is no design, no plan. It is not good.”
“Not good??” she said, frowning. “Those are the words of Khaos.”
“I know you are afraid I will be like Khaos,” he said, turning to look out over the earth. “But I do not know if all creations are good. Before all of these others came, I felt like it was perfect.”
Her frown deepened.
“Perfect? Khaos says nothing is perfect. I say that creation has potential.”
“But creation takes from you,” he said. “I do not know how to control it.”
“Why would you need to control it?” she asked.
“Because,” he said, turning to her. “I promised to protect you.”
She softened.
“You are protecting me. You keep Khaos away from my earth.”
“He is still there. He is able to break through little parts of my heavens.”
“What??” she said, standing. “He has been breaking through?? We cannot let him! He will get the children! He will destroy them! We must stop him!”
“Gaia,” Ouranos said calmly. “It is not a problem. I am able to handle it.”
“No, we must do something! We need to make something to stop him!”
She reached for him.
“No,” he said, pulling away. “I do not want to create more. We do not know what we are doing.”
“We need to make ones which would help you protect us against Khaos.”
“How would you be able to design them in such a way? We do not know how,” he said.
She stopped.
“You are right. We are still learning. Our children remind me each of Hemera’s days all of the things I do not know. But I need to do something. I must protect my children. Please.”
Ouranos stood for a moment thinking. She reached out and managed to touch him. He shuddered as they connected and he felt her energy. That lessened his resistance and within a moment, he was eager. As they came together, though, it was not like the other times they had created. Gaia strained to imagine something fearsome and powerful, a creature that could see Khaos from every possible direction. She needed a creature which could stop Khaos from ripping things apart. With great force, she pushed out some of her inner core. As the hot, melted rock touched the heavens the strands instantly cooled and transformed into the hecatoncheires.
“They are ugly!” Ouranos said, recoiling.
“Yes, they are quite ugly,” she said. “What else should we make besides these? Do you have any ideas?”
“No,” he said, backing away. “These are already useless. They will do nothing to stop Khaos.”
“They are not useless. Now, we need to make something else.”
“I do not want to make more, Gaia. These are even more than we need.”
“Ouranos, Khaos is dangerous. We need to make sure we are well-armed.”
“Well-armed? Your new creatures already have one hundred arms each, besides their fifty heads. How many arms do you need?” he asked.
“I did not mean it literally,” she said, suddenly impatient. “You need to speak with Mnemosyne more often. She was explaining that some things are symbols. The arm is a symbol of strength and power. Arms can also represent more helpers. Or something like that. She is very good at explaining.”
“I do not want to create more,” he said, masking his irritation.
Gaia paced slightly.
“We need at least one more creature, one smart with making things of metal found within the earth. We need things which we can use to fight.”
“Things to fight?” he said. “That does not make sense. Khaos is a different kind of force.”
“Do you have any ideas?” she said, facing him. “We must protect our children.”
Ouranos stood silently for a moment more before reluctantly approaching her.
“If it will help you feel protected I will help you create one more,” he said. “But I can protect you without these others to help.”
“Even you need help, Ouranos,” Gaia said. “You cannot do it all by yourself.”
He didn’t say anything, but it was clear he disagreed. They connected and Gaia tried to think of how to make the creature she had in mind. It was awkward and somewhat difficult.
As they finally stepped back, Ouranos grimaced. “Why did you make them with only one eye?”
“So they can focus better on their work,” she said. “The cyclopes cannot be distracted by a second eye.”
“They are all hideous,” Ouranos said, turning away.
“You could hurt their feelings,” she said, lowering her voice.
“They are hideous, whether I call them hideous or not.”
“You once said my earth was ugly. It is not so ugly now. When these new children have shown you what they can do, when you see that they are useful, you will not think they are so hideous.”
“Until then, can you at least keep them hidden inside your earth? I cannot stand the sight of them.”
Gaia frowned, but opened her earth and made a warm and welcoming space for her creatures.
“Now that we have prepared ourselves, what else should we do?” Gaia asked.
Ouranos shook his head.
“Nothing.”
Before she could convince him to make anything more, he turned and left.
Gaia watched him go.
He seemed different.
Not the kind of different he meant when he said he was different from Pontos or Khaos. He was different from the way he’d been after he’d surrounded her.
She cocked her head, thinking.
Did she need to worry that he was overwhelmed by all of these creations? He did seem unhappy. Was he going back to what he wanted before?
She had felt better with the creation of her monsters, but now she felt another concern.
A bigger concern.
What if Ouranos changed? What if he wanted to be free? He had kept away from her after Iapetos had annoyed him with his appearance. Maybe he didn’t want her anymore. He’d gotten his heavens. He had what he wanted. He was talking like Khaos, complaining about things being messy and not good. He was acting like Pontos, focusing only on what he wanted, not caring about what she needed.
Maybe she was wrong to trust him.
Maybe he really wasn’t different.
If I Had Words 
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