Class of the Titans: Chapter 1
Titans:
Why does time have to go slower when you're waiting for something? Jay thought to himself. Well Cronus is the God of Time, so of course he found some way to make it painful. The six titans had been waiting for Theresa for over an hour. Once they had gotten back to the school Hera and the other gods had wanted to talk to Theresa. And there has been no sign of Theresa or any of the gods since. They won't punish Theresa too severally? Would they?
Jay sat there with his head down consumed in his own thoughts. The other titans also feared what was to become of Theresa. Even Neil was stressed, though some wouldn't notice, he was filing his nails too fast unlike his usual slow and careful pace so he could shape his nails to perfection. Atlanta had her head on Archie's shoulder and their hands were clasped together so hard that their knuckles were white. Odie was leaned back and taping his fingers, whether he was pretending to type on an invisible keyboard Jay didn't know. And Herry was leaning against the wall facing the door in which Theresa and the gods had gone through. The look on his face made Jay wonder if Herry was plotting to burst down the doors. Something that Jay was on the verge of doing.
It was dead silent, besides the taping and the filing. Most of the titans were too stressed to speak. But Neil's always an exception.
"Aren't they done yet? It's been a whole hour." Neil questioned, even though he knew that none of them knew more than he did, in his usual winy voice. Jay had once wondered when they had first met whether his voice was naturally that winy or if he just did it to make a fuss or maybe to annoy people. After spending so much time with him though it was plane to see that no one could keep up that act for that long and do it that well.
Jay ran his fingers through his hair. "We don't know Neil, but they'll probably come out as soon as their done talking."
As if on cue two doors burst open at that moment. The six titans were now all standing for this was the moment they had been waiting for, though they were dreading it. Hera was the first through the doors followed by Theresa, who was looking at her feet and looked paler than usual which made Jay more panicked. The rest of the gods followed, all with the same look on their faces which was a combination of mostly worry, a bit of anger (wore only on Ares face), with a hint of outright fear in them all.
"Titans," Hera addressed them "we have something that you must know. Due to the current events..."
"Hera," Jay cut in "you can't punish Theresa for what she did because we all sort of feel the same way. The pressure to defeat Cronus has been getting to all of us..."
"Jay..." Hera broke in.
"And it's my fault because I've been pushing us way to hard..."
"Jay!" Hera said more loudly and this time the young titan kept quiet. "We are not punishing Theresa for what she has done." Sighs of relief came from six titans for all of them had been holding their breath. "Of course she is going to have to spend some time with Persephone to make sure this doesn't happen again, but we know that it has been difficult on all of you, this burden of your destiny. And if we weren't in such danger I would surely let you all have some time with your families, but as we stand now..." Hera cut off.
"Hera, what's going on?" Jay asked now realizing how the gods weren't worried on Theresa's part but it must be something else, something to even make the gods fear.
Silence filled the room for over two minutes. The titans looked at Hera, six with questions and curiosity blazing in their eyes, and Theresa with a sad and apologetic look. Hera was looking down; Jay guessed she was trying to find the right words to tell him and his team mates the obvious bad news.
Then Hera looked up and said, in the simplest context she could put it in; "The prophecy has been broken. You have defeated Cronus."
Voices boomed in from the six titans saying things like; "That's impossible!" "But we haven't stopped him!" "He's still out there!" The only titan that kept silent was Theresa. Who looked upon her friends faces watching their reactions with the same distraught look on her face.
"Quiet," Hera said above the frantic teens. She let out a deep sigh; it was easy to see she had already explained this once before. "When Theresa turned Cronus mortal she defeated him. So now the prophecy has come true."
"So what does this mean?" Atlanta asked bluntly, still holding onto Archie's hand.
"It means that your destiny to defeat Cronus is the past, and your success in the battle against Cronus is no longer guarantied."
"So we could fail?" Odie asked.
"Yes."
It was quiet. Jay sat down trying to comprehend what Hera was saying to be true. Could we possibly fail? The question had never come to Jay's mind since his first day knowing of what his destiny was, and now the question seemed to be weighing him down.
The other titans seemed to be thinking the same thing. Except for Theresa, she just stared at her friends.
Jay stood up. He had made his decision. "It doesn't matter. I won't let Cronus get away." He said with fire blazing in his eyes. "Cronus must be stopped, and no matter what it takes I will never stop fighting until he is locked up and the world is safe again. We've been fighting him off all this time, and I'm not going to stop now." Jay searched the room for more followers. "What do you say?"
There was silence for a few moments until; "I am with you Jay" rang from the voice he loved more than anything. Theresa walked up and stood beside him. "Until Cronus is gone I won't give up." Theresa's eyes blazing with the furry of hope, and purpose.
Each one of the titans joined up again, all saying that until Cronus is defeated they will all stick together. Until Neil was the only one who hadn't.
The rest of the team waited. Neil sighed. "Well if everyone else is going to..."
They turned to face the gods, and Jay being the leader asked the question they all wanted to know the answer too. "What do we do now?"
Hera was smiling at the dedication, strength and most of all the bravery of the young teens that were not so young anymore. "You must first go see the Oracle."
Cronus:
"Egnon!" Cronus called through his hideout. "Where is that nitwit when I need him?"
Egnon came running to Cronus.
"Egnon I need you to find someone for me," Cronus started pacing in front of the giant, "for the prophecies have changed and we have to act fast before those brats come up with a plan to stop me again. And this time I won't leave it in just your hands; I will go with you myself. Just to make sure it's done right."
Egnon made a grunt as to object with his masters accusations but Cronus just ignored him.
Cronus turned from Egnon looking up to the ceiling of his rock hideout.
"You won't win this time Jay; this time I have the upper hand." Cronus, talking to his opponent who could not hear him, started to laugh about how devious he thought he was.
Titans:
The titans headed for the Oracle's usual spot. They usually found him by a magazine stand. And like every other time he was there probably waiting for the titans because he knows what's going to happen before it happened.
"Hello titans, you are here for the new prophecy." The Oracle stated instead of asking said in his raspy voice.
"How did you know?" Neil obviously.
"Well you are late, for Cronus has already heard it so you will have to act fast." The Oracle took off his glasses to reveal his eyes that did not have the power to see what is before him but gave him the power to see what will be. "In your current state the seven of you will surely be defeated by Cronus."
Gasps came from the all the titans, except for Odie. "What do you mean in our current state?"
"Seven heroes are no match for Cronus but with the eightieth hero you will have a good chance of defeating Cronus for good this time."
"An eightieth hero? Who is it?" Jay asked for their fate and the world depended on this person.
The Oracle created a sphere in his hands which in it had the outline of what looked like a girl. "Her name is Penelope Sanford; she is the descendent of Perseus. Cronus is already searching for her." The sphere disappeared in his hands and the Oracle put on his glasses again.
"Why didn't you tell us about this girl before, we could have saved a lot of time." Neil said as if that would have solved all of the world's problems, though it would have solved a big one.
"What Neil means is 'Thank you for your information!'" Atlanta elbowed Neil in the stomach.
"Ow!"
"I am just doing my job, now go do yours." The Oracle responded to the thank you, obviously ignoring Neil's remark.
"Come on we have to go." Jay instructed on the other heroes. They all said goodbye to the old prophet and started to leave except for Theresa.
"Yes, Theresa? There's something you wish to ask me, correct?" The Oracle asked.
"There is." She hesitated for just a moment before "Did you know about how I would defeat Cronus?"
"My dear," The Oracle said starring at her, "you of all people should know how prophecy works. We know what is and what is to come, not why or how it happens."
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Theresa said apologizing for asking of something that she already knew too well.
"Come on Theresa!" Jay yelled from the jeep.
"Coming! Thank you." She yelled while running to join her friends.
"You're welcome." The old prophet said to himself, and once the titans had drove off he whispered; "I hope."
Penelope:
It was the first sunny day in two weeks and Pen was enjoying every minute of it. Sitting in her favourite tree, reading her favourite book; nothing could ruin this day, so she thought. But an angry Greek god of time with a giant troll wasn't exactly what you would classify as a 'bad day'.
So when she saw a man with grey hair and black clothing walking through the tiny forest, Pen didn't think much of it except that he didn't look like a hiker.
"Hello up there," the man barking up her tree "could you come down for a minute? I seem to be lost."
"Just a second," Pen called back "I'll be right down."
Pen slipped over to the other side of the tree, opposite of the man, put her book into her backpack and jumped. Five metres to the ground and she landed on all fours, knowing exactly how to distribute her weight without hurting herself from the fall.
The man walked over to her. Close up Pen didn't like him; he had a scar running down half of his face and his expression was too sweet and too fake. Pen ignored the unease in her stomach and her instincts that screamed she should run just thinking, I'll just get this done with and then I can go.
Pen, trying to be polite, said "If you just walk in that direction," pointing back to town, and away from where she lived, "you'll end up right back in town."
"Well thank you," he said while approaching her at a steady rate, the same rate that Pen started backing up in, "but I have a better means of transportation that is much more efficient."
At that very moment Egnon came out from behind a giant oak and grabbed Pen from behind. Pen kicked and screamed, and maybe even cursed a little, but the giant held tight and her resistance was futile.
"Good work Egnon," said the man to the giant troll, "now we have to get her out of here before-"
"Us?" Yelled a teenager with, what looked like, a sword in his hand standing ten metres away. He was surrounded by six other teens, most carrying weapons of some sort but all of them were focused on two things; the strange man, and Pen.
-EJME