Kronos (Book Two)

Struggle

Sweat hits the floor like raindrops.

Hum! Crackle!

Olympian aura contains Dionysus' room as he dodges Medea's magical lightning. In his mind, he imagines fighting his "father" with ruthless aggression. He was once considered "blessed" by him for the creation of wine. Now he will use a partial aspect to defeat him.

He had no idea if this option will work but he must try. Anything for Mina.

He throws a straight jab with his knuckles covered in dehydrated purplish-black grape skins. The bolt hits his knuckles, testing the improvised idea. The current doesn't travel up his arm as it holds in place before vanishing.

He smiles that his plan has merit. He nods to Medea to stop. To her surprise, he bows to her.

"What are you doing?"

"Showing my appreciation."

She scoffs. "I never thought I would see the day."

Thanks to his sobriety, he notices the lingering pain hiding in her voice. "What happened to you?"

A genuine question without any malice towards her. She takes a step back. "Don't you know what I did?"

The god of festivals nods, but the foam of regret is bubbling inside her. "Was....it an accident?"

The witch fights herself from not reacting to that question. Her lips betray her by quivering.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I want to help people. Not just with wine-"

She turns away from him. "Last time a god helped me, I fell in love with a man who couldn't return it."

"I'm sorry."

She spins back to him with a dropped jaw. A god apologizing to her?

"What are the terms? Servitude forever? My body? My-"

"Salvation."

The unexpected words pierce her heart.

The god kneels before her. "Tell me the truth of what happened, Medea."

"Why-Why do you care?!", she almost screams at him.

"Before Mina returns, I want to tell her of the good I've done. Something to make her smile along with everything else I will do. So, please tell me."

The witch crosses her arms, to prevent the pain from erupting out of her heart. The kind, undeserving eyes of the deity breaks through her walls.

Tears stream down her face. Her legs buckle from the burden she's carrying. Shaky breaths escape her lips. Dionysus stays quiet.

"My sons....I did everything I could for them. But they kept crying like harpies. I couldn't sleep a wink. I felt worthless as a mother. It all got worse when they fell ill. I asked Jason to get me an ingredient to break their fever.....he didn't return for days. I wondered where he was. If he was mugged or killed......"

Dionysus holds her hands. Soft, gentle, and warm to help her survive the freezing tragedy.

"I used my magic to find him", as her hands tighten with narrowed eyes. "He was sleeping with someone else. Declaring his love for her. Words that I always wanted to hear from him. Our boys kept crying for him. I had to make something to alleviate their pain.......I used 40 Winks poison so I could finally have some peace. Just enough to have them sleep for a bit....."

Her hands tremble. ".....Their chests didn't move. I pushed them a bit, but they didn't wake up. I....measured it wrong. I did all that I could to bring them back, but they were gone. Jason finally came back and saw our lifeless boys in my arms. I tried to tell him, but.....he thought I did it on purpose.....I snapped and cursed him for betraying me when I needed him the most."

Dionysus squeezes her hands, knowing that the rumors probably came from her late husband. She had no strength to push back after her heartbreak.

"....I already did horrible things, so what's the point of fighting-"

Her words are interrupted by his embrace. She tries to squirm away, but her body laid still. Compassion. What she always needed.

He puts space between them and puts his hands into a prayer. With a glowing hand, he nears it towards her face. His eyes, asking if it's okay to touch her. Her dark chocolate eyes express a yes.

His palm touches her forehead. After removing it, a symbol of a chalice briefly glows before vanishing. The only difference Medea noticed is that her heart has been freed of the chains she put on herself. And that was before the god's action.

"What I did tells the judges in the Underworld to let you pass into Elysium."

She is rendered speechless. Her eyes ask him why.

"I don't want Medus to be in Elysium without you. I'm sorry about what happened to you."

Her pupils waver. What if Aegeus and the others see her, knowing what she did prior?

"And it will allow you to start anew", as if he heard her question. "Their minds will be a blind slate to you."

She latches onto him with tears of appreciation. "Thank you."

He gets up and offers his hand to help her. She takes it.

"Have you...thought of being King of Olympus?"

"I'm not the right one for that. Besides, I want to be more involved. Forgiving more people if Hades is okay with that."

She smiles without a motive behind it. "You will do great", before walking away to collect herself.

Dionysus keeps the grape skins on his knuckles as he rejoins the demigods to oversee their training.

His eyebrows rise up from the peculiar sight. Perseus is riding on Pegasus as he exchanges blows with Orpheus and the others. The speed of the winged horse prevents the others from landing a practice blow on Perseus. Takashi limits himself to FF2.5 to avoid going overboard.

Perseus rubs his mane. "Way to go, son!"

Pegasus snorts in response after evading Taki's charged beam.

"That's good enough for now", as Perseus lands him back on the ground. As soon as he gets off, his son's wings wrap around him.

His father's softly strokes the feathers. "They would be so proud of you."

Pegasus steps back and wants to keep playing. But he stops trotting. He and the others are exhausted from the back-to-back sessions. Before he could bow his head, Hermes appears in front of him.

"Let's see how fast you are", the god challenges him while pointing his staff. "From here to the back of the entrance."

The son of Perseus stomps his feet to accept the challenge. His wings extend with fiery golden energy as he flutters up. 

Hermes plants his feet on the ground. "Ready....set.....go!

Hermes clearly beats him, but the horse wants to try again. The demigods take a break to cheer on Pegasus. They repeat the race several times with Hermes beating him every time. Despite the losses, Pegasus whinnies in happiness from testing his speed.

The god of messengers also finds some relief. He imagines future races after Olympus is overthrown. And the love goddess smiling out of enjoyment.

----

Underworld

Before the break of a new dawn, Hypnos' wings can't remain still. The thoughts of what's happening to his sister and mother flutter through his head. He gets out of bed, but his wife grasps his wrist.

His bloodshot eyes tell her everything. That he can't sleep any longer until he finds out the truth. His wife gets up and kisses the top of his head. Energy seeps into his head to keep his mind ready. He kisses her lips, telling her that he will return to bed with her soon.

The wings of his head flap. His feet trail behind him as he goes to one place where his mother would work. Unholy flames almost touch his face. He ignores the wailing of unfortunate souls punished to eternal damnation. Chained to rocks of magma are giants that make Chrysaor puny in size.

Their eyes follow the son of Nyx as he travels deeper into Tartarus.

"Hypnos?!", the sound of 50 voices cries out.