The Titanos

Theo stared blankly at the temporary blue sky, no emotion in his face. He saw a black bird with short but strong looking wings, oily plumage, a downwards curved beak and large eyes. It was probably a species of bird that went through evolution to survive the rain. It started cawing as if laughing at him. After a moment, he looked to his right as Leo was laughing hysterically, holding his stomach, and he heard a small snort to his left. Cleo was looking away with her shoulders shaking. “Great. Even the girl with no emotion is laughing at me.” he thought with a deadpan expression. He closed his eyes and gained a small smile. Well, nothing wrong with giving them a laugh, even if it was at his expense. The world is hard enough as is. He wiped the bird stain off his head with his sleeve and got ready for what came next. As the sun shined on the door, it began to rumble and lower into a slot in the ground. Leo was still laughing and Cleo kept shaking, but both of them and Theo froze when they heard shrieks from inside the cave. The Eyeless.

Several Eyeless came running outside the cave, but froze when the sun hit them. Leo and Cleo pulled out their swords and got in front of Theo. The Eyeless’ expression soon turned into an expression of anguish and anger, with black tears pouring out of their sockets as if they were crying upon seeing the sun. They rushed towards the three with Leo and Cleo parrying their claws. Leo pointed his hand at the third heading towards Theo, a fireball being shot out of a magic circle from his hand, sparks bursting forth with heat. It jumped back from the fireball as if cautious, giving Theo enough time to run into the gave. Picking up on the monster’s reaction, Theo yelled “Leo! Cleo! They seem to fear fire! Come on!”

Leo and Cleo gave each other a nod before impaling the Eyeless through with their swords before kicking them away. They stumbled back, black ooze coming out of where they were stabbed before shrieking angrily. Leo cast more fire from his hand while Cleo ran ahead. Both her and Theo waited for him as Leo stepped backward, and using both hands to release a wave of fire. The three would run deeper into the cave, hearing the Eyeless scream behind them. As they got deeper, the temperature began to get hotter, as if they were charging straight towards a volcano. The heat started to become unbearable, with the trio beginning to sweat. The shrieking stopped, and the Eyeless turned and ran away, their black tears leaving a trail behind them. The three panted heavily “Looks like they really are vulnerable to heat.” Leo said while wiping sweat off his brow. “Yes but it seems to merely make them uncomfortable, they still are largely unphased by physical attacks.” Cleo replied. Theo stood straight and began to walk forward. “Come on. Let’s find the sanctum.”

Reaching deeper into the save, there was a giant hole where the walls inside glowed orange and red, with incredible heat coming from within. Before they got any closer, a large rumbling began to shake the area, a large cranking sound came from the bottom of the hole, and as the sound came closer, the rumbling increased in intensity. Theo, Leo, and Cleo got ready for whatever came next. It must be the Titanos. The descendants of giants. Beads of sweat rolled off their faces as a giant metallic hand grabbed the outer edge of a hole. However, it stopped, and the cranking sound continued. What came into view soon enough was four tall guys on a rectangular elevator cage with pure black skin and white hair. The cage door opened and they used the hand as a platform. “Yo!” One of the said with a wave.

Theo, Leo, and Cleo all shared the same deadpan expression. “Are you the Titanos?” Theo asked dryly. The man who waved had wavy hair and yellow eyes, all of them wearing white shirts and overalls. “Huh? Yeah. Isn’t it obvious?” Theo twitches. “You guys are just a bunch of tall guys. Like...4 Leo’s put together! I mean, yeah, that’s big but…it isn’t what I think of as a giant” Theo pinched the bridge of his nose in disbelief. The tall man shrugged “We’re the descendants of giants. Of course we got smaller over time.” Leo looked confused, looking at Theo. “Wait, why’d you choose me as your height example?” Theo kept pinching the bridge of his nose. “Because I’m the butt of the joke enough as is and Cleo scares me.” Cleo tilted her head confused “Huh? Am I scary?” “Yes.” Theo and Leo replied simultaneously.

The Titanos man in front laughed lightly “You three are an odd bunch. But the fact you’re here...one of you is the Rain Wizard right? That’s the only way you could have gotten in here.” The three brought their attention back to the tall, white-haired man. “Yeah. That’s me. I’m Theo” Theo stepped forward. The man looked down at him. “Hello Theo. I’m Tono. Behind me is Hiro, Sero, and Jero.” He stated, pointing at each as he said it. “We’re brothers. Us and others of the Titanos race have been trying to build tunnels.” Theo looked at the three men behind them, which looked similar in appearance. They must be qaurdruplets. “Hi Tono, Hiro, Sero, and Jero. We’re Theo, Leo, and Cleo.” He said pointing himself, then Leo and Cleo in the order he said it. “Nice to meet you. I assume you’re here for the relic. Follow us.” Tono led them to the elevator pas the mechanical hand. The ‘arm’ of the hand was a straight line with ridges that went for what seemed miles down. As they started to go down, the heat began to become more intense. There was a steel box in the corner of the elevator, and Tono leaned down, placing his coal-black hands on the box. It looked like it burned his hands but he seemed unphased. Inside, he pulls out several clothes. One was a part for the upper body, which was orange with a hood. He also pulled out dark red pants, a green scarf, and a blue sash. “Put those on you three. Clothes made from Lava Boars. They’ll protect you from the heat.” Teo said. “...I don’t like those colors put together like that.” Cleo replied. “Just put them on Cleo, or otherwise we’ll overheat in our armor.”

The three took off their cloaks as Theo began to take off his trench coat. Cleo frowned but began to unbuckle her armor along with Leo. Theo was left in his boxers and a white t-shirt, while Leo and Cleo wore sleeveless cotton shirts and underwear. “Look and I’ll kill you all.” she said calmly as everyone looked away. They put the pants, sash, long sleeved shirt and hood on with the green scarf. Teo gingerly took their previous armor and clothes and put it in the steel box. The elevator continued to go down for what felt like miles, but the clothes they wore seemed to keep them at a neutral temperature. Theo looked over to Teo. “So you’ve guys been trapped here? For how long?” “Several hundred years. By one of the Rain Wizards” Teo replied. Theo gulped “You don’t seem to be hostile towards me. So you don’t see me as your enemy?” Teo chuckled. “Oh no. We hate your guts.”