章節 15: Time
In a colossal hall supported by gargantuan columns, Kronos, the Crooked One, gazed at the shimmering night through a large window.
A cold wind blew through the hall, swaying the green fire in the braziers, driving away the darkness, and revealing a tall figure draped in northern winter.
The icy figure was none other than Koios, the Titan of the North, Knowledge, and Farsight.
"My Lord." Koios bowed to the mighty figure bathed in starlight.
Kronos hummed in recognition.
The Titan of the North shifted hesitantly. "We can ascertain it, my lord," he said, his posture jittery. "Your visions, my farsights, and now the sudden descent of night—everything points to the bitter truth—the Gods have another powerful ally on their side," he continued, sensing his lord's silence. "However, we are still unable to confirm the identity of their ally..."
"Koios," Kronos turned sharply. "You know I hate lies, and yet you still always spout them audaciously to me," he brooded over Koios, his aura crushing Koios to the ground. "In hope of avoiding my wrath…" he uttered, bending down toward Koios, his swaying shadow engulfing the other.
"M-My L-Lord..." Koios sputtered in pain, suffocating under the seething shadow that gripped his neck tightly.
"You should have known better, Koios," Kronos said indifferently, hurling Koios to the other side of the hall with his shadow. "Such folly is so unbecoming of you, the Titan of Knowledge.."
Kronos returned to his huge black throne, his seat of power. He looked down, dismissively, at Koios, who was now crouching in front of him, trembling.
The Titan of the North pleaded weakly. "For-forgive my ins-soulence…"
"Enough!" Kronos said irritably, boring his golden eyes at his brother. "Don't mistake my continued kindness for ignorance, Koios."
The Titan of the North nodded quickly, clutching the straw thrown at him. "And I am eternally grateful for your kindness, my lord," he mustered, looking up at the King of Titans and revealing his hidden guess. "The new alley of gods is most likely a child of Night," he said slowly, his staunch taut with worry. "That is all I know, my lord."
"He is Hypnos." Kronos suddenly revealed, thrumming his fingers on the armrest. "The Primordial of Sleep."
"The Primordial of Sleep…." Koios repeated in surprise, and an immediate sense of relief washed over him.
Noticing this, Kronos felt utterly disappointed. "You may leave," he said, resisting the urge to summon his scythe and slash his incompetent advisor to death.
"However, my lord, another matter requires your attention." His incompetent advisor attempted to reason with him. "Your subjects are becoming restless with the descent of Night…"
"Have I not made myself clear?" Kronos whispered lowly, sending cold shivers through the very icy being of Koios.
The Titan of the North vanished in a swirl of snowy wind with his tail tucked behind his back.
Kronos reclined in his throne, tapping the armrest in contemplation, as silence consumed the throne room. Despite the grim development of the war, there was no despair in his heart, but rather a faint flame of hope sparked in the dark crevices of his crooked heart. 'This should be enough; it really should be enough,' he reasoned. Though, as that thought arose in his mind, hesitation still marred his features.
Finally, the Crooked One rose from his colossal throne, his last hesitation swept away by an ocean of determination. He closed his eyes and connected with his time divinity, sinking into a river of time that splayed all across the entire cosmos. It was flowing back to its beginning, swirling like an abyss into the deepest part of creation.
In the swirling abyss of eternity, time seemed to have lost its meaning. Kronos had no idea how long he had been travelling in the raging river of time. Has it been a second or an aeon? He wasn't particularly worried, though, since whatever time he spent in this swirling abyss would not be reflected in reality.
Finally, his seemingly endless journey came to an end, which was a paradox in and of itself, and Kronos opened his eyes to find himself on a long, golden beach with glistening sand.
A gothic city loomed in front of him, drenched in the bloody veil of the crimson moon and set against a dazzling night sky. It was all enveloped by a contradictory sense of eternity and transitory.
Kronos regarded it all with familiarity. He began walking towards the tallest tower in the heart of the city, which looked like an hourglass. He passed swiftly through the streets filled with humans wearing suits and gowns, dark carriages pulled by horses, and rising dark buildings, unperturbed and uninterrupted.
Finally, the Titan of Time pushed the colossal door at the entrance of the hourglass tower, bathed in the sanguinary light of the moon and under the fallaway ringing of church bells. And he began to make his way straight up to the highest floor through a twirling staircase, not daring to enter any other part of the tower for fear of becoming lost in the sands of time.
The staircase eventually came to an end, leading into a dim room. It was decked out in an orderly yet chaotic manner, with clocks from every era and books from every epoch. A Primordial stood in the centre of it all, surrounded by ticking gears and swirling projections.
The Primordial was tall and lean, cloaked in an eternal radiance. He had expressive, heavy-lidded, dark blue eyes that were covered in broken dark lines that resembled a roman clock. His hair was shoulder-length, straight, and white. He was dressed neatly in a black suit with matching pants and a silver pocket watch connected to his suit.
He has many titles and honourifics: Eternity, Aeon, Zen, Infinity, Ouroboros, Father Time, Sage of Time, Mightiest Primordial, Great Vanguard of Primordials, Husband of Destiny, and so on and on.
Ultimately, he was none other than Chronos, the Primordial of Time.
The Titan King took a deep breath and strode into the dim room. He eventually came to a halt before Chronos. "My liege," he bowed lightly.
"Yes, Kronos?" The Primordial of Time spoke, his gaze fixed on the holograms.
Kronos immediately informed Eternity. "Another primordial had joined the side of my children in the war."
"So?" Chronos said airily.
Kronos was unfazed by his liege's tone and continued to present his point. "The presence of two primordials will bring utter chaos to the war, turning all the odds in favour of my children. This war is no longer solely between us, Titans and Gods." He bowed deeply, carefully phasing his next words. "So, my liege, I beseech you to restore balance to the war."
Chronos finally shifted his gaze away from the projections to the Titan King. "No," he said bluntly. "I've already given you the answer, Kronos, and I stand by it."
Kronos gazed down for a minute, his face cast in a shade of disappointment. Then he returned his stare once again to Eternity, who was gazing back at him apathetically. "Why, my liege?" he finally queried, despite being fully aware of the perils involved, which could even entail his own death. But he needs to understand why his liege refused to interfere at all.
Chronos, surprisingly, did not blast him to pieces. "You are a disappointment, Kronos." he responded sharply, causing the Crooked One's eyes to widen. "In the beginning, I saw so much potential in you that I ended up granting you access to my domain."
"But look at you now; you're just a shell of your former self. After reaching the pinnacle of your brethren, you became complacent and stopped improving your abilities entirely." Eternity continued, his ethereal tone marred by disappointment.
"If you had put in the same amount of effort as you did in your worldly activities, you might have stood a chance against Hypnos himself, let alone your weak children..."
Kronos took deep breaths, trying to suppress his chaotic emotions. "But Hypnos is a primordial," he finally managed.
"A second-generation primordial." Chronos corrected. "There is a world of difference between an original primordial and a second-generation primordial, so much so that a truly powerful god may actually stand against them," he paused, staring down at the Titan of Evil. "But, Kronos, you've already missed the opportunity to become such a god."
"There is nothing you can do now but await for my beloved's final judgement."
"No," Kronos said suddenly and unexpectedly. "It was you, my liege, who said 'there is always time.'" He looked at his liege with burning determination. "I may indeed have lost most of it due to my own actions, but there are still a few left in my grasp, and I have no intention of giving it up."
Chronos squinted at the Titan of Time, almost catching a glimpse of his past shadow in his present crooked form. "You are right, Kronos." He found himself acknowledging his disappointing subject. "You still have some time; utilise it wisely and strengthen your power for the inevitable battle with your youngest son..." he paused, "who will be trained by Hypnos."
"Thank you, my liege," Kronos said, grateful for the recognition and information.
"You may leave," Chronos said dismissively, returning his gaze to the swirling holographic projections. "Remember, every second counts from now on if you want to survive in the end."
Kronos bowed deeply to the Primordial of Time and made his way out of the Tower of Eternity, beginning his journey back to reality.
Chronos silently looked up from his projections at the closed door to his room.
"You know, husband," A dainty voice called out to him. "You could have helped him."
Chronos shifted as a pale woman appeared in front of him. Her silver hair was long and flowing like an argent waterfall, and her eyes were as crimson as the moon that graced his realm. Her beauty, though, was what stood out the most, for words could never do justice to describe her transcendent ethereality.
She was none other than Ananke, the Primordial of Destiny.
Chronos drew his wife into a loving embrace. "And destroy your hard work?" he asked, lightly kissing her crimson lips. "No need."
"I could handle it." Ananke pouted, twirling her silver locks.
"I know, you could." Chronos acknowledged with a smile on his lips. "But isn't it better this way?"
"Yes," Ananke decreed faintly. "The era of the Titans needs to end,"
"That settles it." Chronos nodded. "So, where did you go off this time?"
"Jotunheim," Ananke briskly said. "I joined forces with Utgard-Loki to prank Thor," she laughed loudly, her hands over her mouth. "We scared the soul out of the proud son of Odin, especially my new form; it made Thor literally cry!"
"You should have been there….." The Primordial of Destiny took deep breaths, trying to suppress her laughter. "It was fun."
"I bet." Chronos chuckled as he heard another one of the escapades of his wife.
"Well…" Ananke drawled as her laughter died away. She took in the swirling projections around her. "What were you up to, meanwhile?"
For a brief moment, Chronos remained silent. "I think I found the answer," he finally said, his ever-serene voice taking on a solemn tone.
Ananke immediately snapped her gaze at her husband. "Show me."
Chronos swept his hands at the projections, willing for everything to swirl around them. It began to multiply and multiply to infinity, revealing images of countless futures, possibilities, and probabilities. Everything was in order until the projections began to show Hypnos, at which point each image became blank, collapsing into chaos.
The Primordial of Time turned toward his confused beloved. "The answer was always there; we were just looking at it from the wrong perspective, overcomplicating it." he spread his hands toward the chaotic, infinite projections. "Every time we try to scry about the true origins of Hypnos, it always ends in chaos," he paused. "I think that's it."
"You mean.." Ananke drawled, her crimson eyes widening in realisation.
"Yes." Chronos nodded gravely. "The anomalous existence of Hypnos is most likely related to…"
"Our mother, Khaos,"
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