Note: 'Hirose Atsuki' basically looks like Kushina Anna from K Project, except slightly older.
Uses the concept of Ishtar from Fate/Grand Order: Babylonia to explain the manifestation of Kronos (Kronia).
Waking up didn't feel like it was quick.
Mikuni Hirose felt like she went into a pool of water, swimming deep into the ocean.
Sleepy lilac eyes opened a crack, before her vision cleared, focusing on a partially destroyed throne room, its walls slashed and black marks staining the floor.
Her mouth is dry, tongue feeling heavy as she pushes her arms out to sit up. There's a boy holding her, still present baby fat on his face, while his bright green eyes is staring straight into hers.
"Who…are you?" Mikuni asked.
Two months ago
Golden eyes shot open, a gasp escaping, before a hand was raised to press against a frantically beating chest.
"Πού είμαι?" (Where am I?)
"Mikuni! Wake up! You'll be late!" a male voice called out, and 'Mikuni's' head turned, and saw a closed door.
Getting out of a soft bed, bare feet padded on a wooden floor, the cool surface contrasting with the heat of her body.
"Ah…English," Mikuni's lips turned into a frown, and her line of sight found a mirror.
Walking to it, the girl stopped in her tracks, taking in her features.
Staring back at her was a girl in the beginning of adolescence, with straight red tinted black hair, and eyes which seem to be made of pools of gold.
"My name is Kronos…or no. Perhaps…Kronia, to fit my body."
Thunder rumbled in the distance, the room feeling colder when she said the name.
'Kronia's' gaze drifted to a picture frame that was sat beside the mirror, showing her host's body with an older man, and an older teenage girl.
The man had black hair and blue eyes that were nearly violet in color, a lithe looking body, and a wickedly sharp smirk on his face. However, the idea of such a prideful person was nixed by the caring glint in his eyes.
It was clear he was the father of her host, and the one who called out her host's name earlier.
The girl was painfully albino, an adopted sister her father had come across when her host wasn't born yet.
Large red eyes stared out of a cherubic face; a wide brimmed sun hat perched atop her head to protect pale white skin. White hair was pinned underneath, a ribbon tying the accessory to her head.
Looking back in the dusty human memories, Kronia was able to dredge up her name and background.
Hirose Mikuni, or Mikuni Hirose in the American form. Mikuni spelled for 'benevolence' and 'long time'. Hirose, for wide strait.
Mikuni was a Japanese Half-blood, where her father had fallen in love with Bishamonten, the Japanese God of Warriors. Well, according to Genshi, his daughter was always a little godlier than human.
Her father was the heir to a family of once-samurai, who served in the military before retiring from active command to take care of his ailing mother.
The sister's name was Atsuki, with the kanji of 'dark blue' and 'moon'. Clearly, whoever named the girl wasn't the best at naming, or was completely blind.
Genshi Hirose was currently a Japanese ambassador, who had moved to the United States to accommodate his job.
Mikuni was a little over fourteen years old, with a few half-blooded friends from Japan, who connected through Jizō, the god who protected travelers, and would use letters to keep in touch.
Unlike the Greeks, the Japanese Pantheon didn't have the same rule of keeping godly parents from their demigod children.
Bishamonten, or rather Bishamon, visited in androgynous forms, both male and female. They made their presence known on their children's fifth birthday, where the child would be able to understand their heritage.
Demigod children of the Japanese Parthenon had their own man-made island, protected by several minor deities, where the kids would go to school after their seventh birthday and trained until adulthood, when they were strong enough to kill any monsters that went after them.
After Genshi's job moved to the States, so did his daughter.
Kronia looked around the room, searching for something different she could wear, and found some clothes to change into.
While Kronia was originally a man, she didn't feel any different in this demigod girl.
It wasn't as much that he had taken over her body, that Mikuni would never be seen again.
Rather, it was like Mikuni Hirose was suddenly the Titan Lord of Time. Mikuni wasn't less important than Kronos, and he could feel that the girl's body shared the characteristics of the demigod.
Whatever made Mikuni who she was was still there, just lurking in the back of Kronia's mind.
And that came with all the baggage the half-blood had too.
The resentment that her mother couldn't be with her father, the stress of moving to a new country and learning a second language. While the letters were still being sent and replied to, there just wasn't the same connection with her old demigod peers as she once had.
Mikuni was a very lonely girl outside of her immediate family and two friends, barely holding herself together, just knowing that despite everything, she was loved.
A rap came at her door, a light voice asking, "Mikuni-chan, your friends are already at the diner."
"Ah, arigato, nee-chan," Kronia replied reflexively, going straight to the door to open it.
Atsuki Hirose stood at a short 5'3", the teenager recently turning seventeen. Atsuki was also a half-blood, and her divine parent was Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the god of storms and the sea.
Bright red eyes, a cherubic face, long white hair, a shy countenance, and a short stature made the older girl look like a middle schooler.
Already, Mikuni was three inches taller than her, the added height coming from Genshi's genetics.
Atsuki's face twitched when she saw Mikuni's lilac eyes were a striking gold.
"You're not Mikuni."
Water materialized from the air, forming a sword that made itself known in Atsuki's hand.
"Who are you?" Atsuki demanded, looking very cross, eyebrows knitting together in an angry glare, her eyes flashing tiny flecks of gold.
Thunder rumbled not too far from the house, the wind picking up and starting to throw things around outside.
"I woke up like this," Kronia says automatically, tensing, and cursing that she started off the wrong foot, "This wasn't on purpose. I'm…I am Kronia, a divine spirit. I woke up in your sister's body not too long ago. Five minutes at most."
Pursing her lips, Atsuki reluctantly lets the water sword dissolve, crossing her arms instead.
"Explain. Now."
With that, the younger girl is manhandled slightly, sitting on the bed she woke up in with Atsuki standing in front of her.
"What do you know about the Greek Parthenon?" Kronia asks, and it's like the floodgates open.
"So, what you're saying is…the Titan Lord of Time has been pieced together, and you, as the good parts of him, was sent into my little sister's body? And you need to stop him?"
Atsuki's eyebrows are furrowed, deep in thought, coming to terms with the revelation.
"Essentially. A war is brewing, and it might destroy humanity," Kronia grimaces. Unnecessary death was never really her style.
Whatever Kronos was, wherever he is, he's separate from her.
Kronia didn't see humans as lesser or hated the gods that killed her.
She loved the idea of children, back then. Back before…
Back before the slaying of Ouranos. Before her father told her with his dying breath that history will repeat itself, that Kronos will die at the hands of his children, just like Ouranos died by his children's hands.
What was born from that was crippling paranoia, and mindless precaution, the destruction of his forebearer's legacy.
The destruction of Kronos' own legacy.
He and his darling Rhea's children.
Going by his host's memories, there was nothing wrong with children surpassing their parents.
After all this time, it was almost expected.
Remembering the faces of his little godlings, as they killed him filled her mind.
Kronia understood.
How Kronos turned out, throughout the Titan-God war…inconceivable.
No wonder his children reviled him.
"What are you planning to do?" Atsuki asked, biting her lip, bringing Kronia out of her thoughts. She wasn't a stranger to half-bloods being given quests, she and Mikuni had gone on at least one.
Her own quest was to find a bakeneko that had been wreaking havoc in the Shrine of Amaterasu. Said bakeneko was the pet of Susanoo, who enjoyed tricking humans and had gotten it's collar ripped after fighting with another bakeneko, which let the yokai to run loose.
Mikuni's Quest was a little more dangerous, to retrieve the sacred sword Kusanagi from a kitsune who had stolen it for a laugh.
"I need to stop him," Kronia answers, "I never wanted to be this way. Eaten up by fear, paranoia, the inescapable feeling of dread. I need to kill him, once and for all, and make us whole again, and disperse into the galaxy. The time for the Titans have come and gone, and it should stay in the past where it belongs."
"What are we going to tell dad? There are things we need to follow in order to be on a Quest," the older girl started pacing.
"The truth. I…Mikuni knows he loves you and her. We need to tell him," Kronia reasoned, "Even if he isn't my father, he is Mikuni's father, and he needs to know."
Lips pinched in a grimace, Atsuki nods.
The two found Genshi in the living room, looking through the newspaper in search of coupons. His dark blue eyes notice the gold of Kronia's, drawing himself to his full height of 6'1".
"You are not my daughter," he says, already weary of the person residing in his daughter's skin.
Kronia shook her head, "I'm not. But, this wasn't on purpose."
And the explanations started anew.
Genshi was strangely prepared for Kronia to leave, already going to call his daughter's friends that there was a family emergency, and she couldn't hang out with them.
"Heroes can go anywhere, as long as they have the courage to," Genshi said, as he packed a lunch for Kronia, pulling things out of the refrigerator, "My daughter's mother said so herself. All of Bishamon's line are warriors from birth. Mikuni herself was already talented in weaponry when she was a young child."
"Mikuni's mom gifted her a weapon, for her first quest," Atsuki adds, "It's on the necklace you wear. The chain is charmed to never break or be removed by another, and will not choke, even when pulled."
Kronia tugs on the necklace she hadn't noticed, watching as the chain lengthens, but when it stops, doesn't allow it to go over her head.
What hangs from it looks like a Sakura bloom, with twin pink and red center stones.
From Mikuni's memories, she remembered that when detached from the necklace, which was also charmed to never be removed unless the holder wished, whatever weapon the girl needed the most would appear. The charm would always reappear if she lost it while it was detached.
Trying it out now, the Sakura turned into a scythe sized for Kronia's height, a wickedly sharp blade at the end of it. Sakura petals decorate where the blade meets the body, some of the petals joined with similarly pink and red gems.
"Be careful, Kronia," Genshi warned, "That weapon was drenched in the blood of two lovers, made from a broken promise of devotion. It is cursed to wither flesh like how the love destroyed them. The name is Norowareta-ai, Cursed Love."
"I know," Kronia mutters, already familiar with the history of the weapon in her hands, the memories a big help.
"Then, you should be familiar with what Mikuni inherited from her mother," Atsuki stares at Kronia expectantly.
"Yes. The ability to perceive other's weak areas, and innate knowledge of weaponry. I have them too. It's somewhere in this head of mine," the younger girl nods.
"The boy you are looking for is Perseus Jackson, you say?" Genshi hands over the book bag filled with food to Kronia, the girl slipping it on her shoulder, "The child of your prophecy?"
"It would be best. To find him, would be to find the Crooked One. That boy is a child. He should not have blood on his hands."
Kronia almost surprised herself with the declaration, before reasoning that humans grew slower than the Titans or the Gods had. They weren't born completely grown, nor did they mature that fast.
"If that's the case, you'll need a head start," Genshi told her, "Send us a letter if you need extra help, or turn your necklace into a whistle, and blow into it. We will hear you. May Jizō protect you, Kronia."
"Thank you. Genshi. Mikuni is lucky to have you. Both of you."
A wallet was tossed into Kronia's hands, the girl catching it reflexively.
"Three hundred U.S. dollars, 30 pieces of sacred silver, and 10 bits of jade. That should be enough," Atsuki said, her red eyes fixed on Kronia, "The storms will be with you. All you need is ask."
"Thank you, Atsuki. I…I'll try to keep Mikuni safe. I swear on the River Styx."
With that, hitching the backpack so it's contents didn't dig into her back, Kronia left the Hirose family home, a slight hum coming from her lips.
Present
"Kronia? Kronia!" Percy's voice echoes in the chamber, worry and terror laced in his shout, as he runs and jumps over the rubble that some of the God's thrones have been smashed into.
Charred marks and cracks run deep into the walls, made from the fight between Kronos and Kronia.
The golden eyed girl looked across from where she stood motionless, staring down at the corpse of a man who once held the main parts of her. Luke Castellan, the child of Hermes, the one who fought for rights of lesser-known gods, who fought for the right of recognition from their godly parents.
Red blood flecked with bits of gold were smudged under her fingertips, Norowareta-ai dropped on the floor, the cursed weapon still in its scythe form.
"Perseus Jackson," she said, her soft voice a sharp contrast to the shouts of anger towards Kronos not five minutes ago, "I will fade soon."
The green-eyed teen reached the younger girl, stopping just as he was in arms reach of her.
"What's going to happen to you?" he asked, eyes wandering all over her dusty form.
"The girl inside, Mikuni Hirose. She's going to wake up confused," Kronia told him, "I had a momentary glimpse into your future."
"Did you? Am I happy in it?" Percy couldn't help but ask, the question coming up without him intending to ask.
From the corner of her eye, Kronia could see her children and her grandchildren arrive in their gargantuan forms, battered, but strong.
A warmth settled in her heart when she saw how much they'd grown.
"Perseus Jackson, son of the Lord of the Sea, Earthshaker, Father of Horses. Your life will be full of suffering. It'll be long. It'll be difficult. Sometimes, you will curse your life, asking the Fates why you suffer. But…you will live long enough to see your grandchildren. You haven't faced your worst enemy yet. Something bigger than me, or the gods."
"Live your life, Perseus. Heroes…they can go anywhere, do anything, as long as they are brave enough. Remember me. Remember what you lost. Remember that there will be times where you cry, and times where you'll laugh."
Reaching out, Kronia caressed Percy's chin, thumb moving to rub off a fleck of dirt from his cheek, "You have my son's eyes."
Small particles of gold rose from her skin, the gold of Kronia's eyes starting to fade away.
"Goodbye, Kronia," the boy blurted out, before she was gone for good.
With one last smile, Kronia faded away, and her host's body slumping over, Percy reacting to catch her in his arms.
"Percy?" Poseidon, from all the gods, spoke first, "Who is that girl?"
"Well…she's the one that killed Kronos," Percy replied, his knees sticking so he didn't drop the unconscious girl, "It wasn't my action to make."
"The one who possessed my daughter is gone," an unfamiliar voice spoke up, making everyone search for the speaker, "At least she's still alive."
A man had his arms crossed, leaning against a wall with his boot touching the stone. The god had waist length black hair that seemed to leech light, red highlights streaking through the locks, and lilac eyes, with catlike slit pupils. He was dangerously handsome, bold, and all together, someone not to mess with. Bishamon wore a worn leather jacket and pants, a policeman's cap, and a coiled whip fastened to a red leather belt.
"You're her mom?" Percy could see the resemblance between the girl in his arms, and the god that showed up. He remembered Kronia mentioning that her host's godly parent tended to switch between male and female forms.
"Correct. I am Bishamon, God of Combat and Warriors, commander of the yakshas and the Heavenly King of the North. I came to reclaim my wayward daughter, once I heard from her father. I don't often intrude on another Parthenon, young half-blood," Bishamon gave a cheerless smile.
"My little benevolent future. I knew she was special." The smile curled into something warmer, a little less frigid than when he first showed up, "Thank you, Perseus, for not turning her away when she asked for your help. I would've cursed you if you let my daughter and her tagalong get harmed while under your care."
The girl in Percy's arms gave a small groan, making Bishamon pause in his threat.
Sleepy lilac eyes opened, Mikuni making a soft snuffle.
"Who…are you?"
"Daughter." Bishamonten approached the two demi-gods, Mikuni perking up at a familiar face and voice.
"Okaa-sama!" Mikuni wiggled out of Percy's hold, rushing towards the god, who opened his arms immediately, letting the young teen hug him tightly.
"My sweet child. Don't worry, Kaa-san is here," Bishamon murmured into the dark locks of Mikuni's hair, "Thank Jizō you're alright."
He then addressed Percy once more, looking over at the green eyed teen with a thoughtful gaze.
"I Bless you, Perseus Achilles Jackson, for your service. For the one instance when you need it most, when your Will is at its mightiest, your blade will always strike true," The god promised, before both Bishamon and Mikuni teleported away with a flash of red light, leaving a slight scent of cherry blossoms in the air.
Note: Not quite related to my other Percy Jackson work, Pseudo-Servant Kronia.