Getting to Know the Characters! Authoer's Notes Part Five: Kronus

Kronus…I worked very hard on, and even as the story unfolds new facets of his personality are revealed to me as I go. He takes control of his own character development and only reveals his emotions and intentions to me when he feels like it. (I'm only the author, after all ^^;) Kronus started out gentle, kind, and good, and despite his descent into murderous brutality and complete disintegration of sanity over the course of the story I want to reflect that he had a heart…even if it turned cold long ago. He is beautiful, charismatic, poetic and captivating; hardly the villainous kind, but his fixation on ultimate control and insecurity proves to be his own downfall. He comes to see those around him as expendable, mere tools to reach his goal, and his exploitation of Nemesis and diabolical plans for his second son is enough to turn the stomach; if it does bother his conscience he hides it very well. The harder he tries to fight his fate the more he becomes a victim of it. Kronus has an obsessive compulsive personality that he passes onto his sons; he can often be found with a goblet of wine; if not drinking it then playing with it, and his addiction to supremacy is evident. He has devastating powers and is probably the strongest immortal of all time…and knows it…but his return to the human world came at a price, giving him a surprisingly obvious weakness.

-

Woo! Chapter Twenty! I'm really enjoying myself with this story :D I thought it appropriate to share the note on Kronus here, as he really shines in this chapter. He's at his happiest when he's at the centre of attention! No-one's guessed the origin of Cassie and Polly's names yet...I shall reveal it next chapter. Thank you for 42 reviews, dear readers!! I'm so flattered :blushes: The fiftieth reviewer will get a chapter dedicated to them! ;) Um, as always, please enjoy...

Chapter Twenty

The Plan

Hestia was left in charge of the Underworld while her brother returned to Olympus. He stormed down the hallways, past all the Gods and angels who were running about preparing for battle, and entered Zeus' room without knocking.

Hera immediately flew into his arms, and he patted the back of her head kindly.

'Sister…'

'Poseidon!' she looked up at him, her composure wavering. 'He won't listen to a word I say; you must talk sense into him!'

He followed where her trembling finger was pointing to Zeus, who sat on the edge of his bed calmly polishing his golden wristbands. Poseidon glowered.

'Do you think you should be wasting time with that now, Zeus? In case you didn't notice we have a bit of a situation on our hands.'

Zeus smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. 'This is my palace,' he mumbled, 'and my world, and no-one is taking it from me. I am staying right here until it blows over.'

His lip twitching in a snarl Poseidon crossed the room and held his youngest brother by the front of his silken white tunic, lifting him clear off the floor.

'Snap out of it!' he roared, shaking him. 'You're the king of the gods, now start acting like it!'

His words hit Zeus like a cold slap in the face, and the younger god blinked at him.

'We need to get Hades back, do you understand me? Our crazy old man said something about using our brother to take us down; now I don't know what that means but I do know it ain't good. If Hades could get out of this by himself he would have done so already; that means he needs us. Our brother needs us, and we're getting him back, right now!'

Zeus' eyes were dull. 'Nemesis betrayed me,' he said, and Poseidon noticed Hera looking away, tears in her eyes.

'I noticed,' he grunted, setting Zeus down. 'She might not be the last; we have to be careful who we trust.'

Right on cue, Hermes appeared in the doorway. If he'd looked stressed earlier, he seemed at breaking point now. 'We may have another problem,' he breathed. 'The angels have gone completely nuts; they're refusing to go to battle and some of them are even attacking.'

'The angels?' repeated Zeus. 'Surely you are joking? My angels wouldn't-'

'Wouldn't betray you?' said Poseidon, not looking shocked at the news. 'You mean like Nemesis wouldn't betray you? Wake up, squirt. If you treat someone like the crap under your shoe for years there will come a day when they bite back. This is what Hess was telling us all along.'

'There are revolts all over Olympus,' whimpered Hermes. 'What should we do?'

Zeus looked at his wife, who nodded, and then at his brother, who pulled a trident from his robes.

'We fight,' was his reply.

-

'Polly!'

Finally reunited with her other half, Cassie rushed into her arms. Polly squeezed her back tightly.

'Cassie!'

They pulled apart, and nervously studied each other with identical eyes.

'Oh Cassie, I'm glad you finally get to join us. You've done such a wonderful job, Lord Kronus is proud of you!'

Cassie smiled, but was confused. 'You look well, sis, and for that I'm thankful. But I expected…'

'You expected what?'

Cassie paused, and tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her right ear as she observed the luxurious hotel room. 'When you said that I had to follow Lord Kronus' orders lest he kill you, I sort of expected you to be at gunpoint.'

'Well I may have exaggerated a little,' admitted Polly with a carefree grin, 'but then you were being such a goody-goody about it. Besides, if you hadn't done it he probably would have killed me. Lord Kronus is a fine man, but he has a short fuse.' She hugged her sister once more, bouncing up and down. 'Oh Cassie, I'm just so happy to see you!'

'Please say I didn't deceive the kindest people I've ever met; the people who gave me a home, all in vain? Tell me it was the right thing to do.'

'And I you,' replied Cassie sadly.

-

When Kronus was done with her and went to greet their new Ker, Iwanami made her way down the stairs to the abandoned wine cellar. She still shivered from his words;

'Persephone evaded Polly and my forces because you did not do what you were supposed to. Be assured; if I did not have a higher purpose for you I would have disposed of your worthless carcass already, and done so in a way that ensured brutal and spectacular pain.'

She found Nemesis huddled over Hades.

'Lord Kronus wants you upstairs,' she said.

Nemesis stood up, tossed her hair over her shoulder and strolled past Iwanami holding a syringe high.

'It's a pity this won't work on you,' she said coldly, and her boots made clicking echoes as she went away.

Iwanami moved closer to the god, unsure what to expect. He was a mess. His hair, dampened with sweat, stuck to his pale face, and his breathing rattled. He was too weak to even sit upright; the only thing keeping him from completely slumping to the floor were the chain links digging into his wrists. His glazed eyes rolled in his head as she approached.

'My my,' she said quietly, trying not to look at his ripped clothes. 'You've looked better, Mr Lord of the Underworld.'

'That you, Nightwalker?' he croaked, trying to focus on her. 'Is this a bad trip, or have ya come to finish me off?' He laughed at the irony of the joke, and ended up in a coughing fit.

Iwanami winced. 'I don't think I need to, the state you're in.'

'Yeah…this stuff is potent,' he quipped, wheezing, 'but the come-down is a bitch.'

'Don't joke about it,' she scolded, unsettled by her feelings. Hadn't she always wanted him to suffer? 'It's just the damn yukata, that's all,' she told herself. 'It's messing with my emotions. He's not Connor. I don't care for him at all.' Hades was trying to talk again, and she leaned forward to hear him.

'I never wanted to kill anyone, ya know,' he was saying. Iwanami could tell by his distant expression that he wasn't even speaking to her. 'I didn't want to be part of all this damned death and annihilation. I was never given a choice. Is this my punishment for the plague I inflicted on humanity?' He laughed, and then made a rasping sound as though his lungs were filled with fluid. 'If I confess all my sins before I die, will I go someplace better than here? I'm really scared. I'm scared of death. Me. Is that pathetic or what?' He relaxed back in his chains and hung there, so still that there was a horrible moment when Iwanami wondered if he was dead. Then his lips pulled upwards in a quirky smile, as though he were privy to a hilariously ironic joke no-one else would ever know.

'Just keep quiet,' she said tersely, afraid he would laugh again. She didn't think his body could take it. 'You're delirious. Don't try to talk.'

He turned his empty eyes back to her, as if remembering she was there. 'I promised petal I wouldn't hurt ya,' he muttered, starting to tremble uncontrollably, 'so why don't you get the hell outta here? I'm gonna tear this place to pieces when I get loose.'

'You really think you're getting loose?' she smiled wryly, kneeling before him. 'You're smarter than that. But then, you spoiled my plans enough times.' She put her hands on his shoulders to stop the feverish shaking, and pulled him upright. His sunken eyes burned into hers.

'What's happening to me?' he asked, looking so pitiable that even Iwanami's hardened heart gave way.

'All I know,' she whispered, 'is that you hold something precious inside you. The key to his victory.'

'Who?'

'That would be me.'

Iwanami jumped away from Hades as Kronus came stealthily down the stone steps. He was the type of man who made walking look like a threat. Ignoring Iwanami he knelt before his son, as she had done, and took his chin.

'Are you the bastard who kidnapped me?' asked Hades hoarsely, wondering if he was hallucinating.

Kronus gave a dry chuckle. 'They always said you got your stubborn streak from your mother, and your strength from me. When the Moirae gave you that oracle I just knew you were special, my son.'

'Son?' croaked Hades. His vision was just clear enough to register that the lunatic in front of him had golden and ruby eyes. 'Father?' The idea struck him as so ludicrously funny that he leant against the wall, shaking with laughter.

'Haha, you, ha, you're my…father? Hahaha!'

Kronus looked mildly amused, and waited until his son had finished hooting. Hades grinned at him vacantly.

'It's finally happened; I've lost my mind,' he panted, recovering. 'I guess Nemesis fed me one too many of her pomegranate potions.'

'Yes, you must forgive me for the less than warm reception,' said Kronus, gesturing to the chains. 'The pomegranate juice was necessary; firstly to bring you here, secondly to make sure you were co-operative, and thirdly to slow down the growth of the power within you. I could not have you destroying the fabric of existence before I threw a nice scare into your fellow Olympians. Not forgetting, of course, that your brother poisoned me in the very same way. Ah, poetic justice.'

Hades' good humour vanished, and he felt sick.

'What are you talking about?'

'I need to have a private father son talk with my boy,' said Kronus, finally acknowledging Iwanami. 'Go and handle the task I set you. You have until sundown to claim my revenge on that miserable girl.'

Hades felt-if it was possible-even sicker.

'Wait!' he yelled after her, 'are you talking about Harusame? Iwanami!'

'Now settle down,' commanded Kronus, frowning. 'I cannot have you getting agitated, it is not time yet.'

'Iwanami!' yelled Hades, trying to stand up. The world tilted, and he fell down heavily again. When the room came back into focus she was gone, and Kronus was watching him.

'You two have met before?' he asked, interested.

'Yeah,' muttered Hades, his tongue loosened by the drug. 'That Ker spent her entire afterlife trying to kill my girlfriend.'

'Ah, how perfect,' exclaimed Kronus, 'she is just the one for the task then. Strange how fate works itself out, is it not?'

Hades eyed the man with sceptical curiosity. He spoke just like his father, and the eyes were a giveaway, but he looked nothing like him. He looked far too young.

'You get a facelift when you were in Tartarus?' he joked, and Kronus gripped his chin again, his eyes gleaming.

'Do not make light about the years I spent trapped in that prison,' he spat into his son's face. 'I suffered for so long…'

A strand of hair fell into his brow. He leaned back, breathing deeply, and pushed it back into place.

'I performed a soul swap with a human,' he explained, calmer. 'I always knew the pathetic, worthless creatures might prove of use someday. Not that I would marry one.'

'Don't get all disapproving parent on me now. Harusame is worth a million of you, immortal or not.'

'You do not know what you are saying,' hissed Kronus, 'so I shall let that one slide.' His face softened, and he touched his son's neck. Hades recoiled. 'Now, do not be like that. I apologise if Nemesis handled you violently, she can play rough.' He smirked, stroking the swollen red blotches where the needle had been stuck again and again. 'She is very proud of that undiluted pomegranate juice formula. She says it will be invaluable in taking down the gods. Of course; I could never entrust my future to the effects of a mere fruit, so I constructed a plan long ago, for just a situation as this. You are my plan, my dear boy. My Hades.'

He placed the flat of his palm against his son's chest.

'Your heartbeat is so strong,' he whispered, eyes shut, and Hades tried not to twitch in disgust. 'It is time to tell you that it is not just your heart that beats within you. Inside you pulses the end, and the beginning.'

'Talk sense, old man.'

Kronus opened his eyes. 'Inside you is the Spirit of Destruction…no, by now it is more apt to say that you are the Spirit of Destruction. I have sewn inside of you the seed that will destroy the entire universe as we know it; yes even the gods themselves. You see, gods are only immortal so long as there are mortals to counter their existence, just as life can only exist where there is death. I learned in my years imprisoned that there is a higher state of consciousness one can attain that is beyond the earthly realms of existing, or even not existing. There is an ultimate truth; a paradise that can only be found when all else is put asunder, and I will attain it. I realised the full purpose of the power within you, and what it must be used for; for the good of the world. When the apocalyptic destruction is complete you will be gone, and your fellow gods will be gone. All of the human race will be gone, and only my titans and I will remain. We will live in the New Golden Age; a utopia pure and untouched where all will be subservient to me.'

Hades listened to this speech, his incredulity growing.

'So what, if you can't have the world no-one can? Your answer to someone giving you what you deserve is to throw your rattle out of the pram and remodel the cosmos?'

'Naturally, you are too young to understand my vision.' Kronus sighed, and got to his feet. 'For what it is worth, my son, I did not wish it to happen like this. I never would have summoned the Spirit of Destruction within you had I not good cause; we could have all lived happily forever if your brother had not come along.'

'Don't blame your crimes on Zeus,' Hades snapped, realising for the first time in his long existence just what his brother had been burdened with. 'He was just an innocent little kid born into this. Maybe if you'd kept it in your pants-'

He received a harsh smack around the mouth. Kronus watched his son fold in two and sink down, one cheek pressed to the cold floor.

'A pity,' said Kronus. 'I hoped we could be amicable in your final hours. Of all my children I thought you best would see the corrupt, rotten nature of this world, but no, you have been blinded by human fantasies like love and hope.'

'Now I know for sure you're my father,' murmured Hades, dizzy in the head from his fall. 'You're a total psycho.'

Kronus smiled unpleasantly, and checked his watch. 'You have about twenty four hours. Of course, your affianced will be dead by then; perhaps your grief over her demise will spark your power into early awakening. Sleep well, my dear son.'

He put his hands into his pockets and left, humming to himself as though he was leaving a dinner party. Hades pulled weakly at his chains to no avail, and then turned over on the floor to face the window. The sun was close to setting on the horizon, and he realised that while he had love, he didn't have much hope.

His only wish that day was that Harusame had somehow made it to safety, and had the good sense to stay there.

-

Harusame was horrified to see the state of her once quiet little town, as Axel flew her over the rooftops.

'Oh dear, its all going to hell in a hand basket, isn't it,' said the angel sadly.

There were cars crashed into shop windows, sirens screaming, homes ablaze, and bodies strewn across the streets in puddles of blood. Everywhere she looked there were people running and shouting, and occasionally demented looking women would appear; leaping from a rooftop or crashing through the window of a building, knocking things down with superhuman strength and generally causing as much destruction as they could manage.

'I had no idea there were so many of them,' she whispered, the breeze whipping at her hair. 'They kept themselves so well hidden. To think there were this many lonely souls in the world, suffering in the shadows while no-one noticed.'

'You'll forgive me if I don't weep for them,' said Axel dryly, as they came into land at the park.

It was relatively quiet, with only a few people still running about. He set Harusame down on the ground and she took a deep breath. She'd changed from her yukata into a short red skirt allowing for mobility, a figure-hugging black and silver breast plate and long black boots. With Hades' ring upon her finger completing the look, she made quite the stunning picture. She'd never felt more like the Lady of the Underworld.

'My my,' said a very familiar voice, 'are we playing dress up?'

Harusame had been expecting Iwanami to turn up; it was almost a relief to see the Ker emerge from behind a tree, her usual unhinged grin in place.

'Aya-san. I need your help.'

'Don't ever call me by that name!' screeched Iwanami, flinging her hands to her ears. 'Why would I ever help you?'

'Because it's the right thing to do.' Harusame smiled at her hopefully. 'Because it's what my father would have wanted you to do.'

Iwanami bared her fangs at the mention of Connor, and Axel stepped in front of Harusame.

'Let me take care of this My Lady,' he said.

'You unwitting fool, you've just made this much easier for me,' thought Iwanami, and extended her manicured nails into sharp claws. Somewhere nearby a golden firework screeched into the sky and burst out in shimmering colour, followed by another, and another. Her hatred for the celebrations; for everything Tanabata stood for, burned inside and made her hot with fury. 'I may have hesitated to kill her, but you…I have no qualms about.'