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And as his children cut his body up, agony filling his entire being, his fate was signed and his consciousness with his physical form trapped in the abyss beneath the entire world that is Tartarus.
As he settled in his Prison, his Siblings cast after him, the Pain did not leave him, throbbing faintly in his mind but not fading.
seconds.
minutes.
hours.
days.
months.
years.
the pain did not fade, he could feel every spot that had been cut. sliced by his very own weapon. He felt his body spread through tartarus but the feeling never went away.
Well, Kronos had some years now to get used to it.
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It had gotten quite boring down there over the millennia, his Siblings argued and fought and bantered. against the terrors, with each other, with him. It was a nice Distraction from the pain but nothing ever really hap–...
oh.
oh no. nope, not happening.
He could feel an Itch building up on his Shoulder, small but persistent. He could also feel it spread over several miles through Tartarus.
One thing they don't tell you when you get cut into tiny pieces and left without a physical form is that you are helpless to any sensations your broken down body may experience, or any phantom feelings for that matter.
You can try to stretch and scratch and squirm and move in any way to relieve yourself.
but you can't move. you can't squirm. you can't get any relief.
Kronos was not getting his last pride robbed by such a silly thing as an itch getting him down, he was going to man(titan)up and just wait it out. He could handle it.
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He couldn’t handle it.
It's been exactly two months, three weeks, six days, fifteen hours and seven minutes and Kronos was at his limit.
He couldn’t handle the need but inability to move, he couldn't handle the itching, he couldn't handle feeling it in more than one but also the exact same location.
Kronos decided he needed something done about it and he needed it now.
Hyperion was the easiest to ask, since he had just sat himself far away from the others for some peace and quiet, and frankly, he was Kronos' favorite Brother.
Nobody tell Okeanus.
"Brother." Kronos hissed, startling the older Titan and causing him to fall from his sitting place. Making Krios and Iapetus look over to them, the latter laughing at his glowing Brother.
"Kronos, Brother! Do not sneak up on me like this!"
a retort, maybe a slight insult or remark was right at the tip of Kronos' Tongue, but he really couldn't handle it more, he needed his help.
"Brother," he began again, softening his tone, "I wish for you to..aid me?"
"..are you pleading?" Hyperion asked in a low tone so their conversation remained between them and not their eavesdropping brothers, a grin on his face quite immediately, causing his youngest Brother to grumble.
"I- No." he thought about it, about how to get Hyperion to act along "well..maybe i am"
His older Brother settled into a sitting position once more, his legs outstretched, touching slightly buried pieces of what used to be parts of the youngest back causing Kronos to shudder slightly.
"Do tell." Hyperion leaned back, waiting on an answer, taking his brother's presence so close to him as Kronos settling down next to him.
"...don't ridicule me-" Kronos started.
"-I wouldn't ever." Hyperion replied, not even trying to stop his grin.
"I..might need you to...relieve an itch for me?" embarrassment crept into his voice, making Kronos go quieter through the sentence.
Hyperion chuckled, staring at his general direction "You need what?"
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The favor was far easier asked than done.
Despite many tries of finding the pieces, hours of stepping around and shovelling in the dirt their only accomplishments were Hyperion growing tired and Kronos growing even more agitated than he had already been.
"Can't you hurry up?" Kronos asked, impatience and irritation slipping into his tone, poking his brother with his presence who merely swatted at him.
"Shut it, I'm trying my best!"
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"Hey, Iapetus, Hey!" Kronos nudged his Brother, who blearily opened one Eye "mgh..?"
"Wake, Brother!" Iapetus tried to push Kronos away, but that doesn't quite work when the Person in question is not physical.
He sighed and slowly sat up "What do you need?" Iapetus rubbed his Eyes, trying to look in the General Direction of Kronos's Essence.
"Would you like to wreck some Chaos?"
That certainly got the Titan of the West's Attention, He stood up and grinned "Oh, Do I" then he shook his Head "Wait, you said not to wreak Havoc down here."
"Yes, but also some of the Terrors have gotten too cozy on some parts of my abdomen and they feel quite a bit too heavy."
"Got it" The Piercer summoned his Spear, grinning even bigger, "Older Brother to the rescue of his poor little baby brother"
"Thinking about it, maybe i should ask someone else"
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He couldn't breathe. He didn't need to.
But Kronos felt like his Lungs had to right now, get Air out, Air in.
He couldn't die, he was a Titan God.
He couldn’t suffocate, but he was right now? No, he wasn't but it felt like it.
Krios was speaking to him, He could hear it but it wasn't making any Sense.
He could not comprehend his brother's words.
He needed to
breathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathe.
breathe.
breathe breathe breathe.
Krios was still speaking.
breathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathbreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathebreathe.
Krios is speaking. What is he talking about?
breathebreathebreathebreathebreathe.
Stars. Krios missed them. They missed them too.
b r e a t h e.
Krios told him about how he knew they had changed.
New Constellations, He couldn't wait to meet them.
Krios kept talking, Kronos was starting to truly hear his words.
He listened to his brother tell him what the Terrors had told, about Heros put into the Sky as Constellations.
He hadn't seen Krios this excited in a while, smiling and gesturing quite wildly, just thinking about his Stars.
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Kronos groaned, while Koios barely looked up from playing Checkers with Iapetus "What is it this time?"
"My Legs are cramping."
"Thee has't not forks"
"I know that! But I can feel it!"
"Doth thee wanteth a hugeth?"
"...No, but also you can't hug me!"
Iapetus looked up from the Rocks they were using as figures for their Game "We can try!"
Kronos shook his head, staring at them "you quite literally can't do it!"
"Try me!"
"thee can tryeth to relaxeth" Koios went on, ignoring his other Brother, "haply focusing on something else entirely couldst halcyon yond?"
Kronos sighed and resigned to watching them play.
"You should stop threatening the Monsters into bringing you those Man's Plays." Kronos huffed.
"Tryeth and maketh me doth yond, mine own infant broth'r"
"They should've sliced you to pieces instead."
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He was sick and tired of all this, He hated it. Kronos wanted his Body back. He needed it back. It had been so long in this Prison, His Children would never release him, They would never release his Brothers. They would give no Mercy to Atlas, who was punished with holding the Sky away from crushing back onto Mother Gaia. Mother Gaia, He missed her. She had begged for Mercy on them. She had been refused. She raised another Generation of Children to avenge and rescue them. They had been defeated. slaughtered. There would be no Mercy. Not for Kronos, Not for his beloved Family, Allies of old and new. None.
He wanted his Body back.
He wanted to get out of here.
He wanted them to get out of here.
Luke Castellan was currently awake in the Hermes Cabin, sharing a Bed with Connor Stoll who had come to him after a Nightmare. To his Brother like a Father. A Bandage was wrapped tightly around the older Boy's Face, one arm around his younger Brother and Eyes on the poor, many children on the floor.
Anger for and against his Family burning deep in his Heart.
Kronos could work with that.
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Kronos couldn't work with this.
You would think after coming as far as Possessing a Demigod as Host, for your steadily reforming Presence and Form, everything would start to be swell, right? wrong.
Human Bodies suck! They need so much stuff, like sleep and food and water and consistent breaks!
He did only find the worst out the painful way, the really painful way.
His, Luke's, Head hurt so much, the lights were too bright, He wanted to say they felt too loud actually. The Light felt loud, the new Clothes they got, to swap out all the old Camp shirts felt like sandpaper, he felt too hot and the sofa he was sitting on felt disgusting, the texture of it made him feel like ants were crawling over his arms. everything was disgusting, absolutely disgusting, disgusting, disgusting. dis-gus-ting.
Luke came back to the front of their now shared consciousness.
Next time Kronos opened his Eyes, Luke was laying in a Bed, his hair still felt moist against his, their?, face and they were wearing something different. It was soft and the fabric was thin. All the lights were dimmed, a sheet in front of the big window keeping the light out. It was quiet.
Kronos laid there for twenty-five minutes and seven seconds, before he felt a pain in his stomach.
Right, Eating.
Hopefully Luke’s Body wouldn't despise the feeling of their food this time.
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In some ways, it was a relief to be stopped. His Head had felt more than clouded Weeks leading up to the War.
His and Luke’s bodies' sensations had split and mixed at the same time; how either of them could think properly he had no idea.
Then of course Luke's Body had almost been torn to shreds. That hadn't been the plan, but everything seemed to have gone wrong anyways.
Probably the Fates, who knew.
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This was the weirdest possible way they could have decided to give him his own physical form back though.
Look, Percy and Annabeth didn't precisely plan this outcome…But! But! Listen! They couldn't just leave them down there! Tartarus would've destroyed their Essence and honestly, Percy thought that they had suffered long enough. He was sick and tired of everyone's bullshit, He was rewriting this bullshit, the Fates can come to a meeting and talk it out with him if they want.
Their half-allies, half-enemies had been a lot more cooperative than they thought they would be, but that might've been because they found their deal of an Oath to not try to upstage the Gods again against their Freedom a halfway good choice or because their youngest brother and king had gained his Body back. Honestly, neither Percy or Annabeth could give a shit about that right now.
Behind them the Brothers were discussing their next steps with each other and picking on their freshly returned Brother, as the doors to the upworld opened in front of them.
"So.." Percy said, stepping or more so stumbling out of the Elevator and addressing the waiting Demigods, "you may be wondering why we have five Titans behind us, well..That's none of your Business. Now let's go!"