Thoughts began to swirl inside the immortal beings head. Thoughts that she had no control over. Thoughts that she didn't want to confront.
Was it worth it? She had been forced to give up her own eyeball, and steal the Witch of Endor's to replace it, just to see through time: the first step of two in mastering the all-powerful and elusive fifth element.
Was it worth it going through all this trouble to mass an army to destroy the Dark Elders whom she knew could only be stopped by killing them all, which would only cause to offend the other related Elders?
She had come to a conclusion: The war against the Dark Elders would not take place. It would end only in vain, and she knew it.
But, her revenge was imminent. Inevitable. So, she decided, she would focus every last inch on her power on destroying those who had destroyed her.
Those who had killed her.
She blinked, once, twice, when she realized that she was looking down on the huge crystal blue pool that was located in the Grand Hall to the Yggdrasill. She looked up from the still waters and watched the Torc Allta clear off a massive wooden table on an elevated branch.
They wee so calm; so serene. Did they not know? Were they unaware of the ancient Elder coming to the Shadowrealm to confront her?
Chronos.
She had sent him a very persuasive letter (by Lizard Nathair of course) inviting him to indulge in the grandeur and splendor of her home.
He had no idea that she had been murdered. No idea that the only reason she was inviting him to her home was to steal his power. To kill him.
Chronos, a vile and easily loathed Elder, had the unique power of being able to dip through time. There were, of course, certain rules that applied to time travel. Like how it was impossible to travel into the future, because once you entered the future, it became the present, and then you were back to where you started. Hekate shrugged: She had no urge to actually visit the future. It was way too complicated.
You could, although, travel back in time, although you could not change the past. You could however, take someone or something from the past and bring them to the present, and depositing them back at the exact moment you transported them. Doing so would cause no tear in reality and the future would not change.
There was an electric noise echoing from one of the many chambers above Hekate, and the goddess immediately felt the rise in pressure in the air by the waves of energy emitting from the powerful Elder whom had now entered her domain.
Another perk of time travel, was the ability to stop time. It wasn't an actual freezing of time, but more of a slower version of it. It would be like moving so fast, that the rest of the world looked like it wasn't moving at all. This ability, in a battle, would make your enemy fight an invisible attacker. And it also helped in speedy transportation.
And at that moment, while the Goddess with Three Faces was trapped in deep thought, the Elder of Time stepped out of one of the myriad rooms in the World Tree, and, for the first time in eons, rested his gaze upon the solid black figure standing before a pool of crystalline water.
Hekate glanced up at him, not forgetting to feint surprise at his entrance. Chronos, like many of the Elders, were vain.
She was particularly surprised by how he looked. He had a gray-white beard, although the rest of him was entirely youthful. His storm cloud eyes sparkled with arcane knowledge. His snow white wings flapped carelessly behind him where they sprouted from his back. He wore a loosely fitting tan cloth around his waste, but other than that, his body was bare. His body was a light tan and smooth, unlike the wrinkles that you would expect from someone who represented age. He carried a long scythe that shimmered with new sharpness. A black raven perched on his shoulder, tilting its head in curiosity at the all-mighty goddess below it. And she noticed a pitched black hour glass symbol tattooed over the spot where is heart was.
The tall, elegant Elder glided on his soft, albino wings and landed silently on the ground. He looked at Hekate with his stone gray eyes and then bowed deeply.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet the legendary Hekate," Chronos said, genuine awe in his voice.
The Goddess with Three Faces didn't speak, but kept her eyes glued to the swirling pond, following the giant koi's movements.'
The Elder of Time sighed deeply. He closed the distance between them in one long stride, ending up standing right behind her. He began to breathe along the back of her neck, making her hair stand on end. "See, this isn't so bad, is it?" He lifted his tan hand and…..
…..Hekate whirled around and grabbed his wrist with her jet black hand. "Don't…Touch…Me." She said slowly, emphasizing each word.
Chronos smiled. "Hekate, how could you ever forget what we once shared?"
The incredibly ancient Elder looked away. She may have, just one tiny little moment millions of years ago, pretended to love him. It was just all in a desperate attempt to bring Ymir back to life. But, unfortunately, Chronos had not been at the legendary Battle of the Red Moon, the final battle that ended the Great War. And you cannot revisit a time you have not been too.
"We shared nothing." She spat. She wanted, needed, to turn away and rebuke him from her Shadowrealm, but she needed his power. And these things had to be handled with care and delicacy.
He spoke calmly, "But, my Love…"
"Go to Hell, Chronos," Hekate said, whirling around and latching her suddenly clawed hand at his throat. She lifted him up above the earthen ground, a low, rumbling snarl echoing from the back of her throat.
He rolled his eyes, unaffected by her threats. "I'm not afraid."
"You should be afraid," She growled, "You should be terrified."
His serene eyes suddenly filled with horror. Hekate grinned menacingly. He knew hwat he had just realized. And it gave her pleasure.
"Hekate…" He began.
"No, Chronos. No more."
And in the moments before his desperate plee, the Elder of Time realized that he would die.
And that was when the battle for his life began.
When his throat was enclosed in Hekate's tight grasp, he flapped his feathery wings, twirling and gusting up dust and sand into her eyes. She released her grip, wiping the dirt from her face.
He rose to the air, high above her reach.
When the Goddess had recovered, she lifted her hands and let loose a gush of fire towards him. The fiery tornado burst all around him, singing his wings.
Chronos hurtled to the ground, crashing hard. He stood up slowly. He would have to fight her in hand-to-hand combat.
But there was one fatal flaw.
He had failed to realize that Hekate had absorbed the Witch of Endor's powers. So as soon as he punched, lunged, or kicked, she would see the hit coming, and block or dodge it. Then she would react by hitting harder and more powerful than the blow before it. Chronos wouldn't see the hit coming, and he had discovered that there was no fighting this almighty, all-powerful goddess. Her power was immense. It even rivaled, if not eclipsed, Odin's power. There was no battling her. There was no winning this fight. And, deep in his gut, he knew there was no escape.
"Oh Chronos, don't worry," Hekate said, a devilish happiness rippling through her voice. "Everything is going according to plan."
The Elder of Time decided to use the last option he had. He whipped out every last drop of energy he had to warp back in time. He closed his eyes in concentration, and when he opened his eyes…..
…..He was still there. He hadn't moved. He attempted to use his time powers, warping, traveling, soaring, anything. But nothing would work.
And then he understood.
Yggdrasill.
It absorbed energy. His energy. The Goddess with Three Faces had planned this perfectly. She had stalled him long enough to render his rare ability useless.
Hekate smiled a jagged, twisted smile as she slowly pulled out a black marble dagger from behind her back.
"I'm not sorry," She whispered as she plunged the knife deep into his heart…..
She lifted the crystal goblet into the view of the artificial sun of her Shadowrealm, the light sending crimson diamonds sparkling all around her.
Hekate ignored the sliced, bloody body laying behind her in the pool of clear blue water, it's wings stained with the blood of his heart.
"I'm not sorry" she repeated quietly, as she lifted the goblet to her lips, drinking the thick, ruby liquid. It had a sweet, metallic taste.
As she drank, a collage of rainbow colors exploded around her, pulsing in brightness.
She continued to drink the ugly blood as she slowly mastered the Fifth Element of Time.
And became the most powerful Elder in existence.