A/N: Writing this chapter was fiendishly difficult. A couple of times, I nearly gave it up as impossible, but I finally found an approach that I think works. Enjoy!

Chapter 9
Honest Answers

This is insane, I thought as Alcyoneus and I chipped away at the solid stone in front of us. Releasing the Typhoeus was one thing, at least Cronus could control that monster, but this is just crazy.

I could not imagine what had possessed Cronus to try sending Stymphalian birds after our teenage foes. The large metal birds were incredibly dangerous. I had never encountered them myself, but I had heard whispered accounts in Tartarus of what happened to those unfortunate enough to cross their path and that was enough to tell me that I never wanted to be one of them.

Besides, I mused, what makes Cronus think they'll go after the heroes? For all he knows they'll just attack us instead. How does he plan to control them?

I hoped he didn't expect us to go after Hermes' Herald's Staff again. I had no desire for a repeat performance of that disaster. It didn't seem likely though. If Cronus wanted the staff, he would have sent us to retrieve it before releasing the birds, but if he wasn't planning on using the staff, then what did he have in mind. Whatever it was I hoped it worked.

"Move faster, you idiots!" Cronus barked, pulling me from my contemplation.

You could help us instead of yelling, I thought. You blasted away the rock face concealing the Typhoeus why can't you do the same with this.

I knew I wouldn't get an answer even if I voiced my thoughts aloud, which I wasn't stupid enough to do. It was frustratingly slow going though, so I did wish Cronus would take a more active role, even if it were incredibly unlikely.

Suddenly, the rock in front of me gave way, sending me plunging into the abyss below. Fortunately, I landed in a pool of water not on hard stone. Moments later, Alcyoneus landed beside me.

The two of us eyed our surroundings nervously. Puddles of water, like the one I had landed in, dotted the ground and there were giant trees with mushroom-shaped canopies everywhere. An eerie blue glow that came from the trees lit the cavern.

A strange screeching cry abruptly tore through the air. It had an odd almost metallic quality. Alcyoneus and I glanced around apprehensively trying to determine where the cries were coming from. We knew what had made them, so we wanted to keep our distance.

We climbed out of the water and kept an uncertain watch on the area around us. A few moments later, Cronus stepped out of a portal. He gave us a cursory glance before turning his attention to a dark shape in a nearby tree.

"Excellent," he declared. "Those kids won't know what hit them."

The shape in the tree screeched again and then spread its wings. Cronus chuckled as the Stymphalian bird flew over our heads and I turned to watch as it disappeared through the hole Alcyoneus and I had made. A few minutes later, a second bird joined the first. Obviously, Cronus had some means of controlling them for which I was exceedingly grateful.

I wondered how long it would take the birds to locate the heroes and what would happen when they did. Would they tear them apart immediately or bring them back to their nest first? I could hardly wait to find out.

Cronus opened a portal and the three of us returned to our hideaway. However, after depositing Alcyoneus and me there he took off again immediately. It seemed he wanted to watch his handiwork up close, possibly to keep anything from going wrong. Normally, I would have watched events unfold on the scrying pool, but ever since I'd made an unfortunate comment about Cronus' courage or rather his lack of it he had banned my brothers and I from it without his permission. I didn't dare disobey him, so I would have to wait for him to return to find out what was happening.

As soon as Cronus left, Agrios, Clytius, and Gration came over to find out what had happened.

"Well?" Gration asked when I didn't immediately start volunteering information.

"Well what?" I fired back.

"What happened?" he exploded in frustration. "Did you see the Stymphalian birds? Did Cronus release them?"

I glanced over at Alcyoneus to see if he wanted to answer these questions, but he just shrugged.

"I saw the birds," I began, "and yes Cronus released them. They're big and powerful with razor sharp talons and beaks."

"Do you think they'll defeat the heroes?" Gration asked eagerly. "Do we have a chance of winning this time?"

My brothers clustered around me, anxiously awaiting my answer.

I stood for a moment, trying to decide what to say. Should I be honest or lie? I wondered. I decided to try honesty.

"No," I stated flatly.

"Why not?" Agrios demanded.

"We never win," I replied. "Think about it. How many times has Cronus sent us to fight the heroes or sent someone or something else to fight them? Out of all those confrontations when have we ever emerged victorious?"

My brothers stared at me, stunned. I knew they weren't expecting that answer, but at least I was finally being honest…with them and with myself and now that I'd started I suddenly found I couldn't stop.

"The truth is we never had a chance," I continued. "We've been unprepared from the very beginning. We thought we'd be facing ordinary humans, then, we discover our foes have extraordinary abilities. Then, the gods whisk them away and give them, weapons and training. What do have? A homicidal maniac, who's never given us any training, let alone weapons, who rarely confronts our enemies and when he does runs away the moment things go against him!"

I paused for a moment to catch my breath before plowing on. I knew my sudden outburst had confused my brothers, but I had to get all this off my chest while I had a chance.

"Look at us!" I shouted. "We've been fighting the heroes for nearly a year and where has it gotten us? We skulk underground afraid to show our faces for fear we'll be dragged back to Tartarus! We lead insufferable lives as virtual slaves to a megalomaniacal god who'll never be satisfied until he has the whole world bowing down before him!"

"But the Stymphalian birds…" Clytius began.

"The birds are powerful and impressive," I interrupted, "but so were a lot of the other creatures Cronus used against the heroes like Cerberus, all those Minotaurs he had created, Scylla, the Kraken, Talos, those soldiers he turned into giant ants, even that Chimera, especially, the Chimera. We were all convinced that it killed Jay, but somehow his friends managed to save him. If none of those monsters managed to defeat the heroes, why should the Stymphalian birds fare any better?"

"I think Agnon has a point," Alcyoneus put in suddenly.

"What?" I gasped. I wasn't expecting any of my brothers to agree with me, just put up with my ranting about our intolerable existence until they got bored and left.

"I think you're right," Alcyoneus replied. "We do have an unendurable life. We've seen Cronus send countless creatures against the heroes only to have them all fail miserably and there is absolutely no reason to expect these overgrown metal monstrosities to fare any better. If we've learned anything from our encounters with the heroes it's that they always mange to win, even when the odds seem hopelessly stacked against them."

I stared at Alcyoneus too stunned to reply.

"I also think you're right about Cronus," Alcyoneus continued. "He is a maniac, he won't be satisfied with anything less than world domination and he doesn't care who he steps on to get it…including us."

"I thought Agnon said Cronus wouldn't allow all of us to be destroyed or captured," Gration protested, "because then he'd have to do his own dirty work."

"I did think that once," I responded, "but I've changed my mind. Cronus stood by while the Typhoeus devoured Porphyrion and while Enceladus drowned. He disappeared and allowed Campe to take Eurytos back to Tartarus. He killed Thoon and did nothing to prevent his army of ants from tearing Mimas apart. I don't think he even noticed Ephialtes is gone. He doesn't care about any of us. He's a coward, and if he has to choose between helping us and saving himself, he'll save his own skin every time."

"He doesn't even know most of our names," Agrios grumbled, "just yours."

"That's also true," I conceded.

"He's always blaming us, even when something's his fault," Gration added. "Sometimes even for things that happened when we weren't around."

"Right," I said.

I had a sudden feeling of pleasure. I hadn't expected my furious rant to turn into a full-blown discussion, and it felt good to know I wasn't alone in my feelings.

"What can we do about it?" Clytius suddenly asked, taking us all by surprise.

I stared at him for a moment, unsure how to answer. Nothing had prepared me for the direction our conversation had taken and I'd certainly never expected one of my brothers to voice a question like this, but I felt he deserved an answer…an honest answer.

"Nothing," I replied softly.

My brothers all turned to look at me.

"We can't fight Cronus," I continued. "We all know he's too powerful for any of us to defeat him. We could leave, but where would we go? If Cronus found us, he'd punish us for deserting him and if the heroes found us, they'd send us back to Tartarus. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. We made a bargain with Cronus. We agreed that we would serve him in exchange for our freedom without stopping to realize that we were really exchanging one prison for another and like it or not there's nothing we can do to change that now."

I waited for someone to reply, to dispute my claim and offer up a plan of escape from our dismal fate, but Agrios, Alcyoneus, Clytius, and Gration just stared at me. I could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew I was right. The choices we'd made had trapped us just as surely as if we had remained in Tartarus, and this time there would be no escape.

The silence between us stretched until it became almost unbearable. Finally, Agrios opened one of his mouths to offer a comment. Unfortunately, I never got a chance to hear what he had to say. At that moment, a portal opened and Cronus came hurtling out of it as if all the demons of the Underworld were on his tail.

What in the world is wrong with him? I thought as he raced by me.

My brothers and I all turned to face the still-open portal wondering what could have caused Cronus to panic like this. That moment of hesitation cost us dearly. We barely had time to react when two full-grown Stymphalian birds burst into the room. We instantly abandoned all thoughts of brotherly solidarity in our mad scramble to escape their razor sharp talons and beaks.

Suddenly, I heard a bellow of pain. I hesitated for a moment, then, finally turned to see what had happened.

Alcyoneus had tripped on something or been knocked down by the birds who were tearing him to shreds. I wavered for an instant before gathering up a handful of stones and throwing them at the birds. I knew my attack wouldn't do any damage, but I hoped it would distract them long enough for Alcyoneus to escape.

Screeching, the birds abandoned Alcyoneus' prostrate form and turned their attention to me. As they hurtled toward me, I dropped to the ground. They passed harmlessly over my head and straight into the portal Cronus had opened behind me.

I didn't thank him. I knew he had opened the portal to get rid of the birds, not to help me. Instead, I hurried over to Alcyoneus' blood soaked form and was both surprised and relieved to discover that he was still alive. I waved Agrios, Clytius, and Gration over and together we managed to get Alcyoneus to the cavern we used as our quarters.

Many hours, and bandages, later, Alcyoneus was resting as comfortably as could be expected. The birds' talons and beaks had done significant damage, and I knew it would be months before he'd be able to help in any further missions against the heroes, if he ever could.

I still had no idea how Cronus had been careless enough to allow the Stymphalian birds to follow him or why he'd been stupid enough to bring them here. I also knew I would never get an answer to those questions.

That the heroes had triumphed yet again was a forgone conclusion, but I had long since learned to accept such things as inevitable.

My brothers and I never spoke of our shared conversation again. The realization that we had trapped ourselves in a prison far worse in some ways than Tartarus had ever been was not one we cared to discuss again, but I was glad we had talked, however briefly, about the dark path our foolish choices had set us on.

A/N: Before I wrap things up, there are some points I need to cover. You can skip this if you want.

As I mentioned above this chapter was extremely difficult to write and I am well aware that it may not be my best work. However, considering I took one minute of screen time for the giants and spun it into an entire chapter I think I did fairly well. If you have any suggestions for improving this chapter, please leave them in the form of a politely worded review. Constructive criticism is welcome, but nastiness is not.

Some of you may feel that the conversation between Agnon and his brothers was out of character. I do not. The truth is none of us knows what's going on in their heads, which was why I decided to write this story in the first place.