Issue #06. Helps From A Nice Friend

[Ch. 10]

"You know, I really want to kill him," Kronos muttered before readjusting his scythe.

"Kronos," I warned him, flashing him a look.

"Whatever you say, Jamie, I would always kill him over and over. That's my vow."

 I sighed, and he just smirked.

"You do have your master plan, don't you?" I asked.

"Don't worry about me. Worry about your mortal life."

 When he saw my facial expression, he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Kronos, what-"

"I love you," he said to me, turning to look at Zeus.

"So," Zeus snarled. "You thought that I would drop off to Tartarus that easily? You'd bet."

"I wished," Kronos muttered. "I'm not an idiot to know that you would die that fast."

"But you never knew that I would regain my strength this fast."

"Uh-huh."

"What does that mean," he growled.

"Now I know what you want to say. You have all of your godly stength plus some skills that you got from Ouranos. Me? I have only half of them. So that means you can overpower me."

"I CAN," Zeus hissed.

"Theoretically," Kronos said, his thoughtful gaze sweeping over Jamie's head. "But not really."

"How? Your divine energy had been stolen by us when you woke up inside Castellan's body. And we're now going to use it in our own business when we're done with you and your pathetic followers."

 Kronos' lips twitched into a sinister grin. "Do you really think that my whole life as a Titan would end like that?"

"What?"

"I might not be in my divine form, but I'm still strong enough to defend my fortress from you," he said, his last word touched with slight hiss.

"I can always-"

"Aaah, that PATHETIC word again. You know what? My host, my dear commander, my first friend... Luke Castellan has already begun his transformation too."

"Luke?" I asked, suddenly anxious by the word 'transformation'.

"J, you know what I mean. He already chose to walk his path with me. Back in the second war with the Olympians, he didn't agree with me... though our minds were connected. But this time..."

"His heart is with you," I whispered.

"To save my dear princess from the waves of darkness," he murmured, nodding.

"NO!!!" Zeus screamed suddenly. We both looked at him, my ears covered by Kronos' hands.

"What the hell you're screaming about?" Kronos asked casually.

"You didn't... you didn't made him recover fully!" He shouted, full in rage.

"Of course, I made him recover first than I did. Does it matter?" Kronos asked, his eyes narrowing into slits.

"No, no, no..."

"Why," Kronos spat.

"You should have gone weaker..."

"I think he means that if you recovered your own body first then went to recover Luke's, the result - your health - could have been far worse. And he wanted that to happen, not the other way around." I said slowly.

"But I never make big mistakes like that. I may be a selfish man, but I still care about you two."

"Thanks?"

"Thank Luke later," he grumbled. "Before that, we'll have to deal with this... son of mine."

"What... but how...?" Zeus asked, dumbfounded because it didn't turn out like he had thought.

"Okay, I've got this. What is the first thing I would need to resurrect myself from death? Luke Castellan. What is the next thing I would need? A host, especially someone who is strong enough to contain my spirit. And that's Luke Castellan. And what is the last thing I would need when I regain my throne, my title, and my hometown? I would need Luke Castellan there too. He is the only one who stood at my side, like always. You know what we did together, don't you? That's why he is so special to me."

"You really seem to like Luke," I murmured.

"I do. After all, he was the one who planned the attack on Camp Half Blood." Kronos said, grinning widely. His calm golden eyes seem to scan me. Then he smirked.

"You didn't!"

"I didn't what?" Kronos asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You didn't just..." He trembled in rage. "You aren't planning to attack us first!"

"What if I really do?" Kronos asked, enjoying this conversation. "What if I attack you without warning? Sorry, boy, but I've got much power left to both attack and defend."

"NOOOOOO!!!" He screamed, and he lunged at us without giving any hints of it.

 Using his left arm, Kronos dashed us out of the air, and we landed on the ground without any harm. Looking back at the god of the sky, Kronos spinned his scythe in the midair. That was a good act since we've got no other weapon except my sword. And that wouldn't scare this god off.

 Thanks to my dear boyfriend's super automatic reaction, we were able to spare time before counterattacking. He told me to make sure that Zeus is on the ground, not flying in the air. It would be much easier if he was not able to fly.

 I jumped as high as I could, and with the help of my winged sneakers, I pushed him down toward the ground. Beside me, Kronos just growled near the god's ear.

"If you don't touch the ground, I might rip your throat out here."

 That did make the immortal plummet toward the ground. But before we even touched the earth, he roared and attacked us with millions of little lightning bolts.

"Jamie!" Kronos cried out as he found that the attack was on me, not towards him. He rushed as quickly as he could to protect me, and he got the full attack.

"Kronos, no..." I whispered as he hissed lowly. The lightning bolts were still crackling around him, and I could see that he was severely hurt. His black wings were tattered. He barely had enough energy to look at my eyes. But he did.

"I'm okay," he growled, shooting a glance at the triumphant god. His eyes began to turn cold, and suddenly they became the insane 'molten' gold. The snarl he had disappeared as he put his infamous smirk on. No, it was not just a smirk. It was a dangerous smile that meant death.

 Kronos let his divine energy shoot out at me, coiling itself around my body. He then made other strings go around his body, healing his wings. Even after they were completely healed, he just stood like that, doing nothing.

 He bent down his head, and kissed me on my forehead without hesitating.

"You are going to have my divine energy around you until this battle ends, Jamie," he told me.

"Why?" I asked in confusion.

"Because everything goes wrong when you are dead."

 Kronos turned to look back at Zeus. Embracing me closely to his chest, he took out his scythe again from nowhere.