CHRONOLYMPUS

Chapter III: I Reunite With a Grandmother, a Brother, and a Couple of My Kids

―Z―

I could barely hear Orion call my name as the ground grew closer and closer. Wind whistled in my ears, pounded against my face, and sent my clothing in a disarray. It took a while for my brain to register that I was actually freefalling towards the ground, and I was going to die if I didn't do something.

At first, I panicked. I was utterly terrified. The cold air that stung my skin reminded me of how cold my dead body in the alley would feel. I imagined my Dad seeing my corpse, and him grieving my death after he had lost my Mom. I was all he had left, and if he lost me, that would, without a doubt, send him over the edge.

And that was when time slowed down. Literally. I was falling towards the ground at a snail's pace, as if someone had put me in a gigantic piece of Jell-o. "What the hell?" I asked myself aloud.

Then I heard her. Her chuckle was a sound that sent chills as cold as ice throughout my body. My body was paralyzed, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. "It's been a while, my grandson."

Her voice sounded young, but as old as time itself at the same time. It felt like my ears weren't hearing her voice, but her words rang inside my head. She sounded drowsy, like she was half-asleep: not fully awake, but not completely exhausted.

"Gaea," I gasped. My voice didn't sound like mine; I sounded like a little kid who was right about to piss his pants. "W-What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to give you a warning, dear," she said in a motherly tone. The sweetness in her words made me sick to my stomach. "If you continue to resist me and my son, you will surely die. Surrender to me, and I might let you live."

I almost believed her, but then I thought of my Dad, Gina, and Orion, and that gave me strength. And then I did something that surprised me.

I laughed. And it wasn't a fake laugh that would make me seem brave when I actually wasn't; it was real. "You've got to be joking, grandma. You really think I will surrender when I have people that are counting on me to be a hero? They believe in me. I can't let them down."

Gaea laughed again, but it was humorless and almost... sad. "You said the same thing before you saved your siblings after Kronos ate them."

I would've been grossed out by the fact that Kronos ate his own children, but I was too focused on Gaea.

"Very well," she said. "But when I wake, this world will be mine again, just as it should be, and I won't hesitate to kill any other humans, who will all be merely casualties of war. And your father will exact his revenge on you and the rest of the children that betrayed him."

"Um... he ate them! What were we supposed to do?!" I asked sarcastically, crossing my arms. "But uh, how would you be able to wake up? I have this feeling that you're supposed to be asleep for eternity."

"There is a way," she assured me, and some part of me knew that she wasn't bluffing. "Do you really expect me to tell you so you can gain the upper hand, grandson?"

"Whatever," I grumbled, disappointed. But that really was a stupid question to ask.

Gaea yawned. "Goodbye for now, child. It will not be this peaceful the next time we meet, assuming my children don't get you first."

And in the blink of an eye, I was falling again. But I wasn't afraid . I was just fucking pissed. I was mad at how she thought I would just give myself up. I was mad because she was going to involve innocent people in a war that they had no idea about. I was mad that our own father, Kronos, was after us, too. I was mad that I was still new to being a god so I couldn't kick her tree-hugging ass and save myself a ton of time.