He remembered talking with Freya before he had set out to explore the volcano. He had found what he thought was just a small little nook, a fissure that he could just squeeze himself into. He wanted to see if the volcano was dormant - it had felt cool even in the cave, but then he'd been distracted by something else. He'd almost thought he saw something move. It was not the heat he expected from lava or thermal vents, he would have known that far ahead of time. He didn't even have enough space to properly shake his fur out, and it was a process every time he had to wiggle his bulk through another tight space.

At some point, Aidon was relieved to find that he had a bit more breathing room. Slowly but surely the passage was opening up to him, and he felt an almost compulsion to continue on. It felt like forever, where each step was a struggle. He had to push himself, paws moving so slowly it felt like he was struggling to cross the River Styx, like he was drowning in the miasma. Was it years? Decades? Centuries? Millennia? He did not know. Time ceased to be, Aidon felt that he even ceased to be.

Then finally there was a change. A light, soft and barely there, was visible in the distance. Somehow, the instinctive response to turn towards the light was what carried him along, and he finally emerged from beneath the world. It felt like the first time he had escaped from Father - had this all been some cruel trick of the Mad Titan? A chill ran down his spine as the thoughts came together, forming his worst fears. What if it had all been a trick? It was something that cruel Cronos would do. He struggled to adjust his eyes to the light of day again after so long. His muscles trembled as he lifted himself to his full height, trying to see something that might help him ground himself. Where was he? The terrain was completely unfamiliar to him. He found he was almost gasping for air, throat constricted and stuffed it felt like. The panic had begun to consume him, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight and tried to calm himself down.