To Swear On Styx

Chapter Five: I Try Not To Push Eros Off My Balcony

Playlist Part Five:

Prodigal - OneRepublic

Czardas - Ksenija Sidorova, Nicola Benedetti, Petr Limonov, Tamas Andras, and Thomas Carroll

~*~

It was hours later when Kronos finally pushed open the door to Percy's room. The younger was laying in bed, curled up on his side with the sheets partially covering him, his back facing the door.

Without looking up, he snapped: "Get out."

Kronos wavered in the doorway. "Is that a wish?" He asked after a beat. When Percy remained silent, Kronos simply sighed and shut the door behind him, crossing the room over to the bed and sitting beside Percy's feet. The demigod-turned-Titan pulled his legs up away from Kronos, caving in on himself and becoming little more than a lump under the covers, just his shock of black hair and hunched shoulder peeking out.

Clasping his hands between his own knees, Kronos glanced over at Percy, who was almost completely motionless, before letting out a perturbed huff, running a hand back through his own hair.

"I have a nephew named Atlas," he began after another moment, his voice soft. "I remember when he was born... He was so small. Had he not been a Titan, I would've feared he'd not make it to see his first birthday."

Tapping at the golden band round his right ring finger, Kronos frowned, his eyebrows furrowing and his lips turning down at the corners. "He helped me during the first war. Said he owed it to me. Wouldn't take no for an answer, so I set up a front for him, gave him a legion, a sword, armor... When we lost, he wasn't condemned to Tartarus like the rest of us. No- Zeus thought, for some reason, that having my nephew, cold and alone and separated from his family, hold up the weight of the sky for eternity would be a fitting punishment."

Kronos' gaze lidded. "...And I never understood why. You'd think, Perseus, that I would've been the one to shoulder that load, but no- my innocent, helpful nephew was condemned to a fate some might even say was worse than Tartarus. And for what? Being loyal to his family? Supporting us during a war that we didn't start? It was barbaric."

Kronos turned his attention back to Percy, who had shifted slightly, his tired eyes watching the Titan King as he spoke. After a beat, the younger muttered: "What's your point, Kronos?"

"My point is that this is war, Perseus," Kronos asserted, his expression strained. "This is a war fueled by millennia of hatred and pain and suffering. What I've done- killing Zeus, hurting your friend- it's not without reason. All of this isn't just happening in a vacuum."

Scowling, Percy sat up, pushing the covers back with an angry swipe of his wrists. "You're not the victim, Kronos. You ate your kids. No wonder they wanted to see you dead. Plus," Percy continued on, talking right over Kronos as the other opened his mouth to say something else. "-you didn't have to start two other wars. You didn't have to kill Zeus, you didn't have to make me hurt Nico- something I will never forget, by the way." Shaking his head, Percy tsked, gritting his teeth in vexation. "You're a bad guy, Kronos."

"And Zeus wasn't?" Kronos asked, leaning forward slightly so he was staring directly into Percy's eyes. "Who's to say that Zeus is any better than me?"

Shaking his head, Percy let out an irritated sigh. "Zeus never made me mutilate my friend with a knife," he retorted.

"But he did want to kill you when you were twelve for a crime you didn't commit," Kronos pointed out. "And he's done much worse than that, I can assure you, Perseus."

"I don't want to talk about this," Percy spat. "I want you to get out of my room so I can sleep, and then preferably not see you until my arranged marriage, which, funnily enough, is another thing Zeus wouldn't've made me do." Percy then turned his fierce gaze up to meet Kronos'. "Zeus may not have been perfect, but at least he wasn't you."