Chapter Text
One second, Rhea and Kronos were staring at each other in the darkness.
The next, Kronos had crashed against the wall and Rhea has no idea what's going on. Basically, what happened is, Kronos panicked, he rifted three times and ended up crashing into the wall, and Rhea barely had time to react, the next thing she saw being him against the wall, trying to stand up straight. The dim light catches the sharp edges of both his upper fangs, and she can see that the right one, the one that's always peeking out, is broken, a drop of venom falling from it.
That's not good.
Both because its broken, and that he's probably disoriented. Out of anything that could happen, the last thing Rhea wants is to get bitten. She's seen that venom of his kill mortals and paralyze other gods for hours at a time.
Kronos finally manages to somehow stand up, though his legs are visibly.. shaking a little, and he seems to be startled again before sighing in relief that its just her.
"... What are you doing? Here? Right now?" He asked, voice uncertain and blank, barely audible from outside the room. Rhea stared back, noting how he seems to be struggling with balancing himself.
"... What did you think I was doing? You look like you've almost died and came back, idiot. How would I not go in here to check if you're...well, alive?" That made Kronos look away, biting his upper lip, before he awkwardly laughs, "Well, you got that right, haha... Yeah no that's not funny." Rhea raises an eyebrow, now looking more concerned if anything. He seems to notice this and tries to play it off, walking back to his bed, his steps slightly off balance, probably because his wings are damaged, before sitting back down, on the very edge.
Okay. Now what? I can't exactly hide, she's already seen it, what do I do what do I do what do I do-
He feels Rhea sitting next to him, not too far but not to close, and he forces himself to stop spiraling again. He knows she's looking at him, but keeps his expression blank and neutral. The bandages don't fully hide the nervous twitch of his wings, and her knowing him since he was born means she'll definitely catch that.
After a while of awkward silence, she shifts closer to him and whispers, "You know, you don't have to always hide from everyone, especially when you've... clearly went to death and back." He doesn't reply, just keeps staring back at the wall. Deep down, he knows she's right. But he can't, he can't bring himself to do that. To be normal. He doesn't even know what "normal" is anymore.
Kronos finally speaks, his voice raspy and quiet. "I know. I just... can't." As he whispers back, he tries to throw a piece of crumpled paper into the trash can. "... Fuck. Ignore what I just said." He misses, tries getting it back by rifting it to his hand, but fails. Multiple times, sparks and glitchy matter appearing around him, until the rift finally opens and the paper ball gets pulled into it and onto his hand, but he's clearly struggling to even use his powers now.
He looks away and hisses quietly in frustration, even more drops of venom dripping from his broken fang and into his mouth, and Rhea internally wonders how he's still fine, before remembering he's completely immune to his own venom, just like Tethys.
Right. How did I forget that? I mean, Mnemosyne's the titaness of memory and not me. That's for sure.
Rhea looked at him again, at the gaping wound on his left forearm, usually covered by an arm warmer. This is the first time she'd seen it clearly after a long time, and even the sight of it makes her uneasy, as if she's not already uneasy enough.
Kronos seemed to know she was watching, and covers his left arm with the other, attempting to hide the wound. He probably did the entire paper ball thing as a distraction from what he just said. But Rhea's known him for his entire life. She knows his tactics. ".. I.. listen, hiding it won't do anything. I know you've tried, and I know you've failed. But Pandora didn't leave hope in that pithos for nothing. It feels hard, but you can try again. Starting.. with now." She said quietly, as she took his hand in hers.
Kronos' breath hitches, and he stills completely. Out of anything, he didn't expect that. He stared at her, looking for any signs of falseness, deception, and found none. He stared at their hands, slowly holding hers back, though his face still shows disbelief and confusion, but he unconsciously shifts closer to her. He stared at the floor, trying to comprehend what just happened, while the storm in his mind continues, causing his other hand to tremble slightly and his breath to quicken.
She notices, and gives his hand a light squeeze, trying to ground and make him snap out of whatever was going on in that mind of his. Eventually, it worked, he shakes his head and drops it into his other hand, still breathing fast.
"... Why?" He asked, voice cracking, face hidden in his other hand. "Why what? What are you saying, Kronos?" Rhea asked back, whispering to his ear, the concerned tone in her void increasing with every word. "Why.. why are you doing this? Why are you wasting effort on me? It's... just why?" Kronos suddenly lurches forward, standing up and nearly falling, ignoring the pain in his wings, before turning back to her, now breathing quickly, voice broken, eyes watery and glassy. "I'm not worth the effort. We both know damn well I'm a horrible person! I.. I'm too far gone to save, can't you see?! There's nothing-"
His spiraling was cut off by Rhea standing up and pulling him into an embrace, causing him to squeak and freeze completely. Kronos doesn't pull away, but the shock on his face is evident.
If earlier was confusing enough for him, this is the next level. "Wh.. what are you doing-" She cut him off again, speaking before he could finish. "Let me talk. You were a horrible person, after all you did, it seemed almost impossible for someone, anyone, to ever forgive you. Including me. I used to think I'd never, ever forgive you. Chaos, I hated you with all my life. Then, I saw it. It wasn't clear at first, but I saw it. You've changed. For the better and for the worst. A lot from who you were before." Silent tears were slipping down both their faces now, and yet she continued. "I... I admit it, I didn't know how you could, until I talked with Saturn." The mention of his best friend makes Kronos blink and make a confused noise.
Why mention Saturn?
Rhea seemed to know what he was thinking, and spoke again, this time more quiet. "We've met a few times before, but we never really talked. He told me how you were when you two first met, and I almost couldn't believe how him being there in your life really affected both of you. I thought you were happy, rightfully so, and I was happy for you. But... Then he told me how you suffered too. Especially since Chr... he reappeared." He visibly flinches at the mention of Chronos, and Rhea tightens her embrace slightly. "Times when you finally let your guard down. Nights you thought no one was watching. All of it. I finally, actually forgave you. So," She pulls away but keeps her hands on his shoulders, which is easy considering she's taller than him, and looks him in the eye.
Kronos looks tired, worn out, but she can see the growing hope in his eyes through the tears on both their faces. "Don't carry all the stress, guilt, hurt, and anything else by yourself. You have me. You have Saturn. Just... let yourself be loved, will you?" As she finishes, she pulls him back into the embrace. A moment of silence. Then a choked sob comes out of his throat as he finally returns the embrace, his body now shaking with muffled sobs. Tears were spilling freely now, from both of them, as they held each other for the first time in centuries.
Meanwhile..
Saturn barely held onto the wall, to stop himself from falling. He had felt it hours earlier, the sudden headache and loss of feeling being too overwhelming, almost painful. He had been suspicious it was Chronos who caused the shockwave in space-time, and he was absolutely sure Kronos was either injured, half dead, or maybe even worse.
There was only one thing he could do now. Saturn could feel his best friend's presence now, but it's faint, so faint that he doesn't know where he is. At least he's alive.
But he could clearly feel the distress Kronos was probably feeling. He doesn't know how. Maybe their bond was close enough that they could feel each other's feelings.
He takes a deep breath, before doing something he rarely ever does.
He opens a rift and jumps into it.
Immediately, right after entering it, he maneuvers up, just enough that he could see most of the heart of the void, including the center black hole, and to narrowly avoid the shrapnel, rocks, and leftover energy fragments flying around, some so fast he can't see them clearly.
Something huge happened here, he thought.
He barely dodges another flying rock, before spotting something, or someone, in the center of it, just about 20 meters from the outer ring of the black hole. His breath catches, and he freezes, seeing Chronos floating there, also frozen, his expression shocked, yet the primordial's eyes were darting around, looking at the chaos around him.
Saturn had nearly no time to figure out what could've happened, but he had a base for it. Chronos was definitely the cause of everything, and he had to make him snap out of it, which is extremely dangerous, and thinking about it just leads him back to Kronos.
"High risk, high reward. Who cares?" He remembered Kronos saying that, only two days before.. all this.
High risk, high reward. Alright. I'm actually listening to his advice for once.
He swoops in, dodging energy fragments, rocks, and shrapnel, some sharp pieces of rock hitting his arm, but he doesn't care. He's gone through worse than that. Then a shard of energy almost hits his neck, and he ducks just in time to avoid a critical blow, but not enough to prevent it from cutting through his long hair cleanly, leaving it short, though not as short as Kronos' hair.
Saturn stopped for a moment, taking a look, but soon rifted towards Chronos, until finally he reaches him, and hits his head with the handle of his scythe.
Chronos did seem to snap out of it, looking confused, and the flying objects slowed, the stopped around them. He shook his head, before noticing Saturn and blinking. "What-"
Saturn cut him off. "Alright old man, what in Tartarus did you do now?!" He almost sounded like his best friend in that moment, ironic. "I'm not blind, you know. Just... tell me what you fucking did." He said, less of a yell and more of a tired sigh, gesturing at the chaos around them and the black hole. The other man looked around as well, expression bordering between annoyed, and... guilt? After a while, he says quietly, "The shockwave... you felt it, didn't you?"
"I did. What else did you think I felt, huh?!" He yells again, sounding more tired then angry now. Chronos looks away, towards the heart of the void, and it all clicks. "I... went too far. Kronos, he.. I-"
"I know. But he's alive, and the void's stable..for now. I absolutely hate to say it, but thanks.. i guess. For being actually honest." He rifted out of there the second he finished talking.
Saturn reappeared in his room, head lowered, before sitting down on his bed. "Chaos," he started, voice cracking slightly. "Why did he have to.. throw him into the heart anyways?! Out of anything-?!" He stopped himself. Kronos is still alive. The void isn't as chaotic as before. All is good. All is good.
Or... is it?
His best friend's presence was clearer than before, and he can tell where he is, at his own room, and Saturn could feel a rare sense of contentment coming from him. He breathes a sigh of relief. Hopefully, he can check on him in the morning. If Kronos doesn't disappear like he always does.
He chuckles quietly, trying to remember happy moments, in an effort to tone down his worry.
And frankly, it worked.
The next day..
Kronos woke up, his wings and cheek still hurting, but not as much as yesterday. That's a relief. There's still faint tear tracks on his face, he remembers how much he actually cried last night. Well, he doesn't want to remember. He looks up, sees that Rhea was still asleep, and decides to try and go back to sleep himself.
Only problem, he can't. No matter how hard he tries, he just... can't.
Maybe Saturn was right. Maybe I do have insomnia.
Kronos stared up at the ceiling, expression blank and emotionless, until he feels a hand brush his injured cheek, not enough to actually hurt but enough to make him turn his head.
It was Rhea, she was awake the whole time and he didn't notice. "Can't sleep?" She asks, voice quiet but audible enough to be heard. "... yeah. It's already morning. I should uh, head out." He sits up, about to get off the bed and stand, but Rhea stops him with a question. "For... what? Kronos, you're...not going back to the void, right?"
He pauses. No way in Tartarus is he even considering going back to that damn void. "What?" He asks, in disbelief that she would actually think he'd go back. "No. Of course not. Why the fuck would I? I'm just gonna go to Elysium. I, uh, haven't.. actually been there for more than 10 minutes, ever since... uh, a century?" He rubs the back of his neck as he stands up, though he clearly hesitates. Rhea sits up as well. "Then I guess...see ya later. And uh-"
"I know, I'll avoid Chronos at all times. But, jokes on you, I've already planned to do that." He laughs it off, before putting on a scarf, wrapping it around the lower part of his face so his cheek wound can't be seen, and of course the arm warmer over his left forearm. Rhea watches him walk out, his steps still off balance, with a slightly concerned grimace.
Chaos, I hope he doesn't get into anything stupid. He's already a Hel of an idiot now, he doesn't need to do anything stupid, She thought.
Kronos kept walking along the hall, wings folded on his back so no one sees the injuries, avoiding eye contact with anyone, until he reaches the crossroads that lead to either the plains of Asphodel, or the fields of Elysium. He knows there's gonna be people there, and the last thing he wants is to be the center of attention.
He decides to take a risk. It's not like.. Chronos would still be in the void, right? So he should be safe.
With a slightly pained breath, he disappears in a rift.
He reappears moments later, nearly collapsing onto the ground, his legs shaking. That clearly took a toll on him. After a while though, he looked up and paused. There was no one else here, which was a relief. But that wasn't what he noticed. He was standing under a large tree, with a small, but noticeable mark on a lower branch.
Kronos realized it was the tree where he and Saturn first met.
Just looking at it makes his eyes tear up. He remembers it so clearly, it almost feels like yesterday. He slowly walks over to it and lies down between two of it's roots, knees pulled close to his chest and wings still folded on his back. The weather was nice, not too hot or cold, and he's already sleepy enough from earlier.
Slowly, he falls asleep again.
Saturn rifts back into Elysium just moments later. He's more balanced with his landing, which makes sense because he hasn't been yeeted into a black hole. And of course, Kronos is nowhere to be seen. "..."
He decides to go back to the tree. Kronos himself rarely goes there, but Saturn figured out, that after... whatever happened, maybe his best friend would be there.
He walks along the path, humming unconsciously as he finally reaches the tree. Saturn didn't notice anything or anyone at first, but upon closer look, there was a dark spot, between two of said tree's roots.
Is that.. him?
He approaches, crouching over the root and inhaling sharply in shock. It is Kronos, sleeping, his lower face covered by a black scarf. But Saturn knew something was wrong. He was pale, too pale, there was a slight discoloration, barely visible on his left cheek, and what looks like... dried ichor?
With a steady, yet unsure hand, he gently pulls down the scarf, just enough to show what it was, and he almost fell back from sheer shock and disbelief.
A gaping wound, under his left eye and almost trailing to the mouth, was completely visible, now that the scarf isn't hiding it anymore.
Saturn's hand shook as he traces the wound, his finger touching a raw spot and causing Kronos to flinch in his sleep. He pulls back his hand, whispering "sorry" under his breath, and focusing on his wings instead. The way they're folded, Saturn has known his best friend enough to know he wouldn't do that, not at all. He crouches lower, and peeks under the bandages on one wing.
The sight of charred feathers and red, raw skin makes bile rise in his throat. Saturn pulls back, breathing faster and faster with every second. He almost couldn't believe it, he almost thought he was hallucinating. But no, it's real, very real. He drops his head into his hands and forces himself to calm down.
All is good, he reminds himself. No one's dead, no one's dead, just... very much not fine.
All he could do is stare at Kronos' face, still sleeping, despite all he's been through. Saturn's disbelief turns into sadness. He slowly reaches out his hand, sliding it under the other guy's head, carefully lifting and turning it to check for any other wounds, finding no major ones. He sighs in relief, a small smile forming on his face, before he leans in and nuzzles Kronos' uninjured cheek, a content sigh coming from him.
Kronos felt something rubbing against his cheek, and slowly, he opens his eyes. He almost didn't recognize him, but it's Saturn.
He looks... different? His hair is way, way shorter than before, no wonder he was confused. He looks nice, he thought as a faint blush starts appearing on his face
And why was Saturn doing this all of a sudden? Kronos didn't mind, not at all, but why? Then he noticed.
His scarf wasn't covering the wound anymore.
Oh. He saw them.
That's why he's doing... whatever this is.
He unconsciously starts leaning into it, which made Saturn stop and look up.
For the next few minutes, they both just.. stared at each other. No one speaking. No one moving. Just, still as a statue.
Eventually, Kronos spoke first, an awkward grin forming on his face. "Did you... cut your hair? It uh, uhhhh.."
Saturn looked away, having seen this comment coming from kilometers away. "Uh, I didn't actually cut it, a uh, leftover energy fragment did. Yeah, i know it doesn't really look good on me-"
"Wait no, that's not what I meant, it looks great on you. I.. uh, honestly like it. A lot." That actually made Saturn smile again, though he's still looking away. He moves to sit beside his best friend, who, judging from his half opened eyes and blank stare, is still tired. Or maybe, he's just avoiding the question.
"What happened?"
"Okay, fine, before you ask, Chronos happened-"
"I know that, idiot. I asked him yesterday. By asked, I meant yelled." Saturn crosses his arms, eyebrow raised, looking at Kronos like he's challenging him to reply. Kronos just stared at the other guy in disbelief and.. admiration? "... Wow. I didn't know you learned from me. And I know, I can't really speak since I'm the one who got beat to shit by him, but-"
"Understatement of the century. You literally almost died."
"... Okay, I get it- what are you doing?!" Kronos squeaked, as Saturn wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him closer, while also barely holding in his laugh.
"Just go back to sleep, dumbass. You look like you need it. Oh, who am I kidding. Of course you need it." He ruffles his best friend's hair, as the latter looks at him in annoyance, but Kronos reluctantly closes his eyes again and leans his head on his shoulder.
Saturn looks ahead, at the grassy fields, at the clear blue sky, up at the mark on the tree's lower branch. Said mark, was from when he and Kronos first met, 256 years ago.
256 years ago, 1750, 5 months after Kronos was given role as timekeeper..
Saturn didn't really think anything would happen on that day. Well, he knew that a Greek titan was now the current timekeeper, which was great because he didn't really like the void anymore, something was off, really off, probably because, uh what was his name again? Oh yeah, Chronos, disappeared over... thousands of of years ago. No trace.
He keeps walking, passing a tree, but he stops for a moment.
Is that someone under that tree?
There was someone under that tree, seemingly sleeping, and they seem tall, judging by their posture.
Saturn couldn't see their face, but he was curious. Who is that? Upon closer look, the person was male, and definitely not a mortal soul. He was definitely a deity, looking at his wings, but the state he's is makes Saturn feel... concerned? The person's left forearm was missing a huge part of flesh, leaving a part of bone exposed. A few other parts of his body were missing too, and golden ish scars covered his body.
As Saturn continued looking at the guy, he accidentally steps on said person's wing. He curses under his breath, but it's too late.
The person's eyes snapped open, confused and disoriented, before he looks up and locks eyes with Saturn. They both freeze, staring at each other, and the slight resemblance isn't helping, not at all.
"Hey-" Saturn starts speaking, but by some ungodly reflex, the other guy squeaks and launches himself up into the tree with his wings, but they... can't seem to spread fully, and that causes him to go off course and crash into a low branch. He falls down in the same spot at before, and Saturn just watches, speechless, because what in the actual fuck did he just witness??
"..ow my head.." The other man groans, holding his head in one hand. ".. what the fuck? Why you do that?" He asks, tone slightly offended. He also seems to be speaking in broken, accented english.
Saturn shifts uncomfortably. He's not good at talking to people, especially when he doesn't know them. "Oh uh.. sorry. Are you.. well, fine?"
The person stares at him. "What do you think? Yes. I've been through worse. Oh well. Who even are you?" He says, standing up. They're about the same height. "I'm Saturn. Roman god of the harvest and time. What about you?"
The other guy raises an eyebrow. "Saturn, huh? Well, my name's Kronos. Greek titan of the harvest and time. I basically you, but Greek." That made Saturn pause. Oh. Ohh. Kronos seemed to know what that expression meant and sighed. "... don't ask now. And sorry if I sound.. weird. I'm still not used to speaking uh, what was the name, oh, english."
Saturn was already awkward enough, yet Kronos is somehow so relaxed, even though he almost got a concussion earlier. He also saw how the other man's wings couldn't spread fully, like there's something holding them back. He decides to take a peek when Kronos was distracted by something. There was two connected metal bands, or whatever it is, on the base of both wings, the reason why his wings could move as much. And why he can't even fly.
Kronos could basically feel Saturn looking at his wings. He shifts awkwardly, trying to block them from view. He's tried to get the metal things off for days now, and he can't. Maybe they're just meant to stay there forever. Maybe.
What is he going to do next, huh?
Saturn suddenly reaches out, lightly holding one of the metal bands, doing... something with it, and it releases. He does the other one fast enough that Kronos didn't even have time to react. "Wh... what are you doing-"
"What did you think?" Saturn replies, as he loosens the other one enough to throw it away. "There. Nothing holding them back now." This time, Kronos was speechless. He'd barely met this man for an hour, and said man just did something he'd been trying to do for days.
".. I.. thank you, but why? Why are you doing this? We haven't even met for 1 hour?" He asked, disbelief evident in his voice. "... It's the best I could do. You almost got a concussion from... whatever happened."
"... Thanks again. For that."
Flashback ends..
Saturn shook his head, snapping out of the memory. It all felt like it happened yesterday. They're still in the exact same spot, and he can't believe it's been over 250 years since that happened. Time does fly fast when you're not thinking about it, huh. Oh well.
They've both been through hell and back, but at least now, they hopefully won't.
With a content sigh, Saturn closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.