Chapter 16 - Closed

The first week after Kronos left was unbearable for Percy. He kept thinking that he saw the omega across the street or skulking in the alleys, a black jaguar sprawling over the tarmac.

Percy would retreat to Central Park to lounge beneath Hyperion's maple tree, the leave starting to brown and the bark peeling off at the demigod's touch. Hyperion's fire was killing the tree. Percy wouldn't be surprised if Hyperion was still alive in there – Kronos seemed to think he was, though the alpha had a suspicion that Kronos had fiddled with the tree a little somehow to assist his brother.

A month after Kronos left, Percy admitted to the gods that the omega was gone. Immediately frantic, Zeus ordered Artemis to hunt him down. But, just as Percy's mother had predicted, Kronos was a wily and intelligent immortal, and the trail was a month old before Artemis found it – the Titan had disappeared completely and even the goddess of the Hunt couldn't find him.

Another month passed, marking the two month mark with no sign of Kronos, and then suddenly the gods went silent. Percy's daily IMs to various gods were rejected, the drachmas flung back at his face. His father even went silent. Percy tried to go to Olympus, certain that something was wrong, and was promptly turned away at the desk by the security guard.

"Olympus is closed," he said as he turned Percy back to the door. "Completely. Nothing gets in, and nothing gets out. That includes you, Percy."

"What's happened?" Percy asked worriedly. "Has Kronos been found?"

"Hades if I know. You think Lord Zeus tells me anything? I don't know, I just have orders to not let anyone pass."

So, at the three month mark, Percy had completely exhausted every possible way of finding Kronos that he could think of – without Olympus' help. He'd even gone as far as flying across the country to San Francisco, but Othrys stood silent and empty.

In fact, he was starting to think that some terrible accident had befallen his omega. Maybe the reason Kronos hadn't come back was because he had died and was having to reform in Tartarus. Then Percy was likely to never see the omega again.

So when the first monster came after him on December Twelfth, the day before Camp was due to begin for the Winter, Percy was entirely unprepared.

The lull in attacks the past few months had given him a false sense of security. The Empousa caught him by surprise that evening in an alley a few blocks away from his house. Her fangs were out as she leapt at him. Off-balanced and struggling to draw Riptide, Percy leapt aside and threw himself at the grimy wall of the alley. Riptide sprang to fell length in his hands, and he spun as he decapitated the Greek vampire.

He brushed the monster dust off his clothes and straightened his shirt, intending to head back out onto the street now that the monster was dead… only to hear movement behind him.

Percy turned to see the golden dust skittering over the ground, slowly reforming the empousa before his eyes.

"How…?"

The empousa laughed and her hair burst into flames. "We cannot die, Percy Jackson. Not anymore. She forbids it."

"She? Who's she?" Percy demanded.

The monster didn't answer, instead taking another lunge at the alpha demigod. Percy growled and vaporised her again.

And again.

And again.

Eventually, he killed her and then turned and ran. Evidently something was stopping her from being sent to Tartarus.

Percy was so preoccupied by the empousa chasing him that he didn't see the Cyclops until it hit him in the face. In Central Park a giant wooden bat crashed against his nose. Percy felt weightless for several seconds then slammed down on his front.

He groaned and tried to roll back up, but a foot landed on his back.

Percy grunted, his head spinning from the force of the hit.

"The Mother will be pleased to meet you," the empousa hissed. "She intends to share words with the one whom dared to touch her son."

His hearing fading in and out, Percy only caught half of the empousa's sentence. He did, however, hear the sudden scream from both empousa and cyclops.

The weight on Percy's back disappeared.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Someone nudged Percy over onto his back. The demigod stared up, his vision immediately clearing as he recognised the handsome face above him. Incredibly happy, Percy tried to smile up at the scowling omega. "Did you know your eyes look like Venus?" Something must still be wrong with his vision, because the Titan scowling down at him flickered.

Kronos reached down towards him, and only when he grabbed Percy's shirt and hauled him to his feet did the demigod realise that – holy shit – this was really his omega and not a figment of his imagination. As soon as that registered – maybe even before it did – the demigod pulled him closer and kissed him.

Quite honestly, Percy would be content to stay like that forever. Unfortunately, mortals had to breathe. The demigod pulled back, only just enough that he could breathe. "You came back," Percy whispered, staring at the Titan in wonder, in amazement. "You actually came back."

The Titan had filled out again, now the perfect model of immortal strength. Once again a fit immortal, packing enough of a punch to destroy the entire eastern seaboard – and potentially even the whole of America. Percy kissed him again before he could even answer. He was kissing a ticking time bomb with unparalleled strength and power. Beneath his skin, Kronos' divine form crackled and burned. His lips were warm.

"You were hurt," Kronos murmured. "I couldn't have that." And, really, Percy wasn't lying when he said that Kronos' golden eyes resembled stars. Especially now more than ever, it was like staring at two brilliant planets in the sky.

"Three months," Percy whispered. "Gods – three months. What have you been doing?"

Kronos smiled. "Catching up with family," he offered, lips twitching slightly as if sharing a hidden joke. "Close family. And extended family."

Speaking of family. "Do you know why Olympus is closed?"

Kronos' twitching lips broke out into a full grin. "I might if you ask nicely," he drawled. Percy offered his hand, starting the trek back to his house, and the omega didn't even hesitate before taking it.

"Please?"

"Hmm, no."

"What?"

"I said might, Jackson. Not will."

"Asshole."

Kronos smirked. "But I'm your asshole."

Percy's brain short-circuited and then rebooted before he could even begin to answer. "I've missed you," he said quietly. "I thought I'd be patient and wait, be calm even if you never came back… but I kind of went crazy. Hades, I even had Blackjack fly across the country to Othrys to see if you were there. I thought it might be unbecoming of an alpha, but I'd have got onto my knees and begged you to come back if I found you."

The Titan's expression shifted slightly. He seemed surprised – and a little pleased – that him leaving had that reaction. "When you're an immortal time has little meaning," Kronos said. "Even for me. I'm aware of time when it passes, know how much had passed, but three months is a blink of an eye to me."

Percy nodded slightly. He knew that much. Percy's life would be a lifetime to him, but to Kronos it was nothing but the blink of an eye – a passing moment which meant nothing to his existence. Percy frowned slightly. "So where have you been these three months? Artemis couldn't track you."

Kronos grinned. "I'd be surprised if she could. That little goddess isn't infallible."

That was true. Even Artemis couldn't find everyone. Percy shrugged, and then he sighed. "Right. Well do you know what's going on with the monsters at least? Firstly, that was the first one that's come after me all this time. Secondly, she wouldn't die."

Kronos sighed. "That… is an issue," he admitted.

"No shit."

The Titan shrugged, his hand tightening slightly around Percy's. "But I can't help with it."

"You killed them," Percy pointed out. "You interfered."

"We're alpha and omega," Kronos said. "I can interfere, so long as you're involved. Your business has become my business."

"Has yours become mine?"

Kronos snorted. "Not quite."

"Camp begins tomorrow," Percy said to Kronos. "I don't… are you going there with me?"

Kronos cocked his head to the side. "I don't see why not. Not like I've got anything better to do."

Percy nodded. "Yeah. Good." He blinked up at the door to his apartment, and then he wearily opened it and stepped in. "Mom! Guess who followed me home today!" He exclaimed, betraying his excitement at having Kronos back.

The omega huffed, nudging Percy forwards and stepping in himself.

"If it's a dog," Sally called, "we're not keeping it." She stepped into the hallway, and promptly froze as her gaze landed on Kronos.

Percy grinned. "Can we keep him?"

Kronos grumbled and Percy snickered at him.

Sally's lips twitched up slightly. She tried to look stern with the two. "As long as he stays off the beds. And he has to be house-trained too. I don't want to have to clean up after him."

The look of affront that crossed Kronos' face had both mother and son cracking up. Sally smiled faintly at Kronos. There was some part of her that would always be wary of him, but the knowledge that he returned to her son had earned him some brownie points. And, dare she say it, she had become rather fond of him in the time that he was here.

"I hope you don't have any plans to kill any mortals for the next twenty-four hours?"

"Who's killing mortals?" Paul questioned as he appeared behind Sally. He mock frowned at Kronos. "Ah. You're back." Paul shrugged. "I don't think there's enough food on the table for you, but we can easily whip up some more before long."

And the mortal teacher disappeared back into the kitchen. "Sally, where did you put that tomato sauce?" He poked his head back around the corner, this time addressing the Titan. "You don't mind spaghetti, do you?"

Kronos shook his head slightly, seemingly unable to speak to answer Paul.

Percy grinned, patting Kronos on the back as he trotted past them into the kitchen. "I'll help, Paul."

That left Sally and Kronos in the hallway. Behind Kronos, the door was still open. "Well come on in then," Sally scolded. "Shut the door before all of the warmth flees the house."

Kronos did as the mortal had commanded.

The mother – woe befall those whom make mothers angry – had her hands on her hips when Kronos turned back to face her. "I hope you're not intending to leave Percy again. If you put my boy through that again after giving him hope, you'll regret it. If he gets put through that much pain again, so the gods help me…"

Kronos' lips twitched up slightly. "Trust me. That's the last thing I want," he promised.

For some reason, that promise had something cold stirring in the mother. "That's good," Sally managed, though she wasn't able to keep the sudden iciness from her tone. Suddenly… Kronos' miraculous reappearance was more foreboding than relief. After all, the Titan was known as the Crooked One. None of his promises were to be trusted. Call it mother's intuition.

"That's the last thing I want," Kronos repeated. If it were even possible, his promise sounded even hollower to Sally.

She crossed her arms. "If I catch you on the bed with Percy again…"

"What about-"

"Or in the bed," Sally said. "You will be sleeping on the couch."

Kronos grinned, a look that immediately wiped away the lingering darkness in his eyes. His golden eyes glowed down at Sally, as bright as ever. He didn't look physically different, but years seemed to drop off his shoulders as he laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

And, just like that, Sally's uneasiness faded. "Good," she said with a small smile.

Percy poked his head back around the corner. "You two coming? We're nearly done." His eyes had lost the dullness he'd gained in the past three months. Just looking at Kronos he seemed to brighten. And that alone had Sally grateful that Kronos had returned.

"Yes," Sally said. "Come on, Kronos."

Percy beamed. "Welcome home, Simba."


Fun fact: Bambi, Simba and Frostbite were in the running for a name for Kronos. And Since Kronos' form is a jaguar... Simba (a cat of some sort at least) won out.

A few plot details first - as mentioned in the chapter, the final part of this chapter takes place on 12th December, 2009. In the book, Camp begins on 13th December. That night Percy goes missing. On the 17th December, TLH begins. The Winter Solstice deadline that year would have been 21st December. So that means that around mid-November the gods go silent. Kronos was with Percy for a little under a month before leaving (until September 16th), and he spent nearly 3 months away doing... things (catching up with family, he said, *hint hint*).

So next chapter will be back at Camp, and the one after that will begin TLH. Is it going to be different? Yes. Is Kronos going to ruin all of Hera's best laid plans? Yes. Is he going to enjoy it? Ohhh yes. So, I know that in the actual series, monsters didn't start reforming as quickly as that until a little later. That was intentional.

Colts12broncos18: Kronos came back :). What's he feeling about all of this... I don't know. Well, I do, but you don't. And that's intentional xD. Kronos didn't feel sorry for his death either, so don't worry. As for the gods... well, they've now closed off Olympus. Big mistake. And Kronos knows it, since they're not keeping an eye on him anymore.

ghostfall: Yeah... I wasn't sure if I managed to get the feels right...

That Weirdo Writer: Thank you, I try.

Also, it's good to read that their parting had the right feel to it. I was a bit hesitant about that... I'm still working out the future plot, but at least I have the ending of BoO sorted (*insert evil laughter here*) and the next few chapters from now plotted out. TBH I usually let the story write itself with a few checkpoints along the way... but not this one. Not this one. This is being done properly xD.