Chapter Text
Few tales are told of Chronos, whose very name inspires disgust and regret,
and whose altered presence now hangs heavy over both Olympus and the Underworld.
I, however, mean to tell you such a tale. Listen carefully...
Approaching the summit of Mount Olympus, the Princess of the Underworld emerges victorious against the scorching Titan of Foresight, Prometheus. Alas, only barely. She takes a needed gulp from a fountain and feels her blood refreshed.
"Pah!"
She vocalizes as she gulps the cold, calming water down.
"...You're rather more talkative than usual, Homer. You know you don't need to say everything I do, right?"
The Princess fails to see her grandfather, Chronos, the TItan of Time, standing just on the other side of the room, now taking strange glances across the room, as if searching for someone who is not there.
"I see you are struggling tonight, my girl. But there is still Time to clutch another victory against these many undesirable possibilities."
"Ah...! Yes, I hope so. Apologies, you caught me off-guard there."
"Not a problem, my girl. Though, might I ask... with whom were you conversing, just a moment ago?"
"That is... a long story. Well, a short one I suppose, but it ought require some lengthy explaining, and... actually, I think we might have better to talk about. If not now, perhaps some other time with... this?"
The Princess presents her grandfather with a fine-looking bottle of Ambrosia, the finest delicacy Olympus has to offer.
"Aha! My word Melinoë, you truly do not give up. Come now. Nectar is one thing, but Ambrosia... surely whomever gave this to you did not intend for it to go to me."
"If I had been given it, it would still be mine to do as I please with. But actually, I brewed this myself."
"And I assume the recipe was not simply something you discovered on your own, now, was it?"
"If only you had been as perceptive as you are now back when we first met. No, it was Lady Demeter who told me the recipe. But she gave it to me with her trust, and as intelligent as she is I cannot imagine this possibility didn't at least cross her mind."
"And yet still she entrusted you. Well. I suppose I have refused you quite enough, my girl. Let us enjoy this someplace else, and perhaps I may show my power to be better for more than merely tormenting you and reawakening old horrors."
The great Titan manifests a shimmering wormhole of flaken-gold appearance. Not knowing where it may lead, but trusting in her grandfather from the many hops in time afore, she once again plunges into the unknown sands, emerging into the House of Hades, but not in the overthrown state she is used to finding it when leaping toward sandfall, rather, she finds it bereft of any such blemishes, arriving in the Lounge among scattered shades.
"Aha! Just as anticipated. Shall we sit? I imagine you will agree this makes a better venue than the besieged halls of Olympus, does it not?"
"Gods, this is... really what it looked like back then?"
"In between the rampages of my son's faithful hound which numerous times caused this lounge's closure, yes. Or, so I am told."
"It's quite something, as are your powers. Well, shall we?"
The Princess and Titan sit together, a chair's distance apart at the lounge's countertop. A stewardly Shade extends a glass to them each, and the Princess uncorks the bottle of her own brewing, eager to taste for the first time the fruits of her own labor as she pours a small amount for herself, then another for her grandfather, looking back at her with that calm, enlightened countenance which he so often now wears. She takes a tentative sip.
"Oh! Goodness, is that...?"
The Princess begins to doubt herself as she drinks, and begins to question herself as to if and where she may have gone wrong in following her maternal grandmother's detailed and doubtlessly-reliable recipe.
"Hmm..."
Breaking the silence her worry caused, the Father of Time smiles, savoring this drink which he likely never imagined he might have.
"The fermented essence of Golden Apples; a dark starry background, a sizzling of something powerful and ancient; and... hints of myrtle, perhaps? Granddaughter, I must confess, it had escaped me to consider how your occupation as a Witch would behoove you to brewing such as this. Nor would the old me never could have expected my children to have the goodness of taste to deign this their favored brew."
"Thank you, Grandfather. I'm appreciative you like it... though, you might appreciate more some straight from Lady Demeter herself. I fear I may have made a misstep in making this, though I could have sworn I followed my grandmother's recipe to the letter."
"Whatever it is you did, my dear, it tastes all right to me. Your impulse to perfection may serve you well. Just don't let it undo you."
"Certainly. I needn't dwell on it; I have bigger things to worry about than culinary perfection."
"Yes... though I am glad you are able to make such... time-between-time, as it were, for your old grandfather."
"It's not like time is something I'm likely to run out of what with your involvement."
The Princess enjoys another sip of her drink as she gazes amidst her surroundings.
"Is it true that... you'll be staying here, once all of this is over, and our new task is complete? I can hardly believe my father would agree to such a thing."
"There is an arrangement, yes. The Underworld is where I laid rest for aeons. I can stand to reside there for some time more, especially if I were to be in more gracious company such as your brother... and perhaps you, and, perhaps, my son and daughter-in-law, eventually. In many ways things could be better, but things are merely starting and there are none above who would take me, not now and perhaps not ever. If they could see me now... they might tear me apart a second time for partaking in such sacrosanct, haha!"
"Ah, but so what if they did? If they ever should tear you apart, Grandfather, I shall simply find all your pieces and put you back together again, good as new. Hopefully without the need for satyr blood rituals this time..."
A pause. The Titan of Time lets out a soft sound from his mouth. A light chuckle of surprise and fondness. He goes silent for some short time, then lets out a mumble.
"Twisted Fates... how they still play with my mind, even from the depths they now lay in."
"Is... something wrong, Grandfather?"
"Not wrong, no, my dearest. Merely... I must admit I am thrown a tad off-balance by what you said just now, for you said something much the same when you were but a little girl, in our past that never was."
"I see..."
The Princess of the Underworld seems uncertain how to reckon with any information from that ephemeral, accidentally-birthed alternative history.
"I see upon your face you have some trouble accepting this. For whatever it is worth, so do I. That past, that is. Difficult to accept something which exists only in memory without any tangible proof."
"Well, I don't suppose that's entirely true. In a way, the man you are now stands as proof of whatever 'happened' back then."
"So it may be. I would prefer it that I might most embody the man I became as a member of the Cthonic family."
"You've already done as much as become a part of the family, as far as I'm concerned. Always would be, whatever happened."
"The blessing and curse of familial connection, yes. It cannot be severed, and it cannot be severed."
"Unlike one's family members themselves."
"Ha! Ah... Melinoë, sampling your own brew has only made you yet bolder than before."
"That it does. Odd fellow that he is, I must admit Lord Dionysus may be on the right track about this fuzzy feeling. I understand why mortals favor their version of this."
"Ah yes... you know, you ought never repeat such a thing, but I feel my grandson Dionysus would have absolutely loved the Golden Age."
"Truly?"
"Without a doubt! The splendor, the rancor; men back then lived as gods do now! The Earth gave fruit in abundance and without labor, and was feasted upon by all. There was no sorrow, no toil, no grief... even death, for those men, was merely akin to falling asleep. Such peace there was. Dionysus would have been King of Arcadia."
"My, how beautifully told, Grandfather. You could almost fool me into thinking you're back on your old path to tyranny again."
"Ah! Aha... forgive me, please, I merely got too preoccupied in my memories."
"Was it really that good?"
"Hmm? Well, yes. Yes, it was. Though... looking back, with a more humbled gaze, I cannot claim all that glory was my doing. I inherited a good world, free of evil, then... well, I needn't dwell on it. Let us say that a certain woman was fooled by the Gods into unleashing all mortal evil into the world and then... thus spelled the end of my age! I realize now, good as it may have been, there is no power that may be to bring things back to how they were. Time cannot flow backwards... not like that, at least. Now it is just a pleasant memory. And a good story, it would seem."
"A good story indeed..."
The Princess of the Undead chuckles to herself, having just swallowed another gulp of her brew.
"You know, I swear... usually I hold my own much better than this. Golden apple, myrtle, iris, stardust... did I forget something? Did I add something I shouldn't have? Blast it..."
The Titan of Time laughs, amused by his granddaughter's unexpected stuphor, jollified by the drink but not quite as inebriated as she.
"Perhaps this night you shall not reach Typhon at all, or you shall be rather late to him!"
"N-no, I cannot!"
The girl quickly attempts to reconstitute herself, as though she were the one scattered to sand tonight.
"Dear girl, there is no need to rush. Need I remind you that your have Time right here?"
"I... certainly I understand that, Chr... Grandfather, but... apologies, I must simply not know how to pace myself. Rather inappropriate, isn't it? Ought I not be some manner of heroine?"
"Oh, do not sell yourself short, my girl! You are a sterling woman. Though your brother may have gotten all your father's brute strength, you have both your parents' magical prowess... and for that matter, your mother's kind heart and appearance."
"I really look like my mother, do I?"
"Moreso than you look like me or your father, though I suppose..."
The Titan leans down to take a better look at the Princess' face.
"Well, not anymore, but I recall your scowl putting me in mind of him."
"You mean like... this?"
The Princess glares at the Titan as though he were the old enemy he once was, eliciting another newly-characteristic chortle from the latter.
"Yes, my girl, precisely."
The tall Father of Time takes another glance at the appearance of the kin stood before him.
"...You know..."
Yet, he seems to reconsider himself.
"What is it, Grandfather?"
He takes but a moment's pause, wetting his lips with eyes glanced away, his expression falling in his eyes while his lips remain curved upward.
"I wish not to speak of her at length, but your hair, my girl. Not exactly the same, but... you have some indication of your ancestry, shall we say. Your grandmother."
"My... grandmother? You mean Lady Demeter, or..."
The Princess begins to comprehend why this may be a sore subject for the Titan.
"I will tell you as much as her name was Rhea. If ever you were to hear her spoken of, or if ever you had. Though I suspect you have not."
"...No, I haven't. Hadn't really given it much thought I suppose. That you would... well, necessarily needed to have had a wife."
"Aha. Yes, well, Rhea was not the one who rose from the depths of Tartarus and stole away your family, was she? You have little reason to be concerned for her, save for my aching heart."
"Perhaps that ought be reason enough, Grandfather. If your servants were able to reconstitute you..."
"I..."
Yet the powerful Titan can only muster a sigh and a pitiful, pained laugh. He cannot meet his granddaughter's gaze.
"You are so kind, my girl, it makes my heart ache... and my chest swell with pride. To extend kindness to all around you, those to whom you have already given so much, even someone such as I who has taken so much from you. It is... deeply, deeply admirable. I must refuse your offer, however, for you are mistaken on one key account. My dear Rhea was never defeated such as I was. Her remains lay not in Tartarus, for she yet lives. Though, where exactly I know not, and I suspect none in your family know either. Not that it much matters, for she would never wish to see that I had come back into this world."
"Truly? Perhaps... however ill-advised it may be, we could find her. She hasn't seen the new you."
"And you, my girl, have not seen me at my worst. Rhea has."
The Titan's words leave his lips cold and harsh with truth.
"...The Fates foretold I would fall to my children, just as my father Ouranos fell to me. It was she who aided in the process, secreting away my youngest son Zeus so that he might grow to strike me down, which he and the rest of them eventually did. The monster I was back then... I was furious at her for her betrayal, yet now I cannot imagine however she allowed me to consume my first five children."
"Consume? You... ate them? I had heard Father make reference to such a thing offhand a sparse number of times. I figured he was merely being hyperbolic."
"He was not. I did. It was the only way I could imagine to avoid the course the Fates had woven for me. Though of course, it did not work. Torn from the inside-out and the outside-in by children he had... failed, truly. Truly that is the only word for it. That... miserable disgusting whelp... that is the Chronos whom Rhea knew, and for a time, loved. I appreciate your offer, Melinoë, but I must refuse the thought wholesale. After everything I put her through, to track her down and besiege her yet again with all the memories of such times... memories I am sure she spent millennia attempting to forget... no, dear, the best apology I could ever give to her is my absence. I hope you understand."
The Princess of the Underworld looks up at the Titan, her eyes fluttering and her limbs feeling notably more heavy than before. As their eyes meet, there is a silent communication and understanding.
"I... suppose in some way I do, Grandfather. That must be... well, quite a lot to deal with. I've had my share of self-doubts, perhaps regrets in paths I've taken. Yet everything I've wanted to achieve has come to pass, even as result of those things I once regarded as mistakes. It makes them quite easy to forget about. I cannot imagine what it must be like to shoulder the amount of guilt you carry."
"So empathetic as always, my girl. To think your hatred of me was so powerful to almost quash that tender care for others which burns so brightly within you."
The Princess takes a contemplative glance elsewhere.
"I really had never considered it a skill of mine. I never honed it. If anything, I honed only hatred."
"Heed my observations however much you believe is deserved, my girl, but... it would seem you know fairly well how best to dish out fury as well as kindness, and when is best to do either. You are feared by all who stand opposed to you, yet beloved by all who stand by your side. I imagine Aphrodite and Ares are both quite proud of you, as am I."
She smiles in contented silence, letting an exhale out through her nose.
"Why are you always so nice to me, Grandfather?"
"I believe it is deserved... and, though you do not remember it, though it may not have ever happened... in a way, I return the favor.."
The Titan appears almost shy as he downs his glass.
"Candidly I am more than slightly anxious to come live here in the House, whensoever that is to go into effect. It was not... easy, at first. When your brother threatened me into yielding at the dual-points of Gigaros, and I was taken in... ha! Zagreus that... bold-headed scoundrel. Thinking he could domesticate me like some battered stray dog. I remember thinking him so utterly foolhardy at the time. Even now... I still cannot quite understand how it all worked. Perhaps the credit goes to you."
"To me, Grandfather?"
"Yes... Zagreus believed in me, but I always held some resentment against him for what I saw then as humiliating me. You however... you were but a child. You knew only what you were told and what you saw and... you saw your Grandfather. Zagreus tried to treat me like a part of the family, and I still do appreciate that. But he was trying, it was all so natural to you, stringing me along in games throughout the house, showing me with pride as you learned those little Cthonic tricks..."
"We played games, did we?"
The Princess looks at him fondly.
"And much more. I saw you grow up... saw you spar with your brother, saw you make your parents proud. You never saw the surface but I told both of you all about its wonders. And then..."
The Titan looks out longingly at nothing in particular, then vocalizes:
"Poof! Gone. Back here."
"Mmh. Well, I don't think being back here is so bad."
"Not at all, my dear. Though, I must say, you look as though you may..."
The Titan does not finish his sentence, seeing the Princess fast asleep resting her head in her folded arms.
"...There is nothing wrong with your brewing, my dear. Merely, you are overdue for a long rest."
The Princess breathes softly, unfazed by the Titan's softly-spoken words.
"Hom... Homer..."
"Caught in some strange dream, are you? Here."
The kindly Titan takes from the surroundings a tablecloth to drape the Princess with, and then, with a fond gaze as she slumbers, places a kiss upon her forehead. Her unconscious self giggles slightly in response.
The Titan turns and stands, sighing as he rests his head in the palm of his hand with a self-scolding smile.
"Perhaps that ought not have been done... my own judgement must be clouded."
The Titan turns back to look at the Princess, still sleeping peacefully, and so as to not risk any further overbearances, and to give the girl a peaceful and unbothered sleep, the Titan takes his leave, vanishing in a flash to allow the Princess to stay in this bubble of time for however long she needs before emerging again to continue her work.