Cronus smiled, turning his dark good looks into something devastating.
His hand landed on top of mine, both of us protecting our child. I’d done it by instinct. I couldn't believe how much I already felt protective over the tiny little bump.
“I will not let anything happen to either of you,” Cronus promised me. “Just stay back and we'll see if we can return the beast in the same way we did many millennia ago.”
Staying back was something I was especially great at, so that would be an easy request to grant, even if fear for my family had me on edge. I didn't know what happened if you “died” again while already dead, but something told me it would be bad.
“Just go and leave me to fight it,” Rhea shouted. “You don't have a coin for me. I know Maisey wouldn’t have bothered to ask for extra, so I'll hold it off.”
#Yeah #Whoops #KindaForgotSheWasHere
“No!” Hyperion snapped back. “If it eats your soul, you will be gone forever.”
#WellFuck #ThatAnsweredThatQuestion #PrettySureHyperionToldMeThat #BlockedItOut
My eyes shot to Cronus and I moved closer again, the newfound power inside of me swirling to life, ready to send some light energy out into the world. No ugly ass bull thing was taking my baby daddy.
“If we can take the Erynomus down,” Cronus said, shooting coils of power from his hands, wrapping them around the beast and slowing its attempts to stomp on Hyperion, “and return its energy, I might be able to mess with the portals enough to smuggle Rhea back with the coins we have. The Erynomus is what's fucking everything up now.”
With that, Rhea found a sudden burst of energy and shot out the largest ice block that I'd ever seen. It sailed through the air and wrapped around the beast, capturing its legs in the same way Cronus had its arms, freezing the demon’s feet in a block of ice.
At first I thought they had succeeded in trapping it, and I couldn't believe how fast they had gotten it under control. This scary, mythical, kill-the-entire-world-and-eat-it creature. But nope. It was just a baby bull with tiny horn—
An explosion of energy slammed through all of us. I went flying back through the air, heading for a very sharp and hurty looking row of rocks.
“Maisey!” Cronus shouted, his coils of energy zooming after me, preparing to stop me before I crash landed.
He wouldn't make it in time, though, and I could do nothing but cradle my stomach and hunch forward so that it would take the least impact. Weirdly, my body slowed just as I was about to slam into the ground, and instead of the pain I expected, the rock turned into a soft mattress that I squished against before bouncing back to land safely on my feet.
What in the fuck? Turning around, I placed my hand against the rock, feeling it hard and unyielding under my touch. Did one of the Titans make it soft like that? Or was that part of this baby Titan's magic as well?
And how the hell was I going to handle terrible twos if the child could do shit like this from the womb? #FutureMaiseyProblem #LaLaLaLa #DelusionLand
“Thanks for saving Mommy,” I whispered, patting the spot I imagined the tiny fetus lay. It was probably ridiculous to think my child had saved me, considering it was only ten weeks old.
Not that I knew much about baby growth—I legit had never expected to be a mother, especially not this young—but I felt like ten weeks couldn't be very developed. I mean, what did it do for the other eightish months if it was already fully formed now?
Man, I wish I had my phone with Google right about now.
“You okay, love?” Cronus asked, reaching my side. “How did you stop yourself from hitting the rocks?”
I shrugged. “To be honest, I have no idea. It wasn't me … like, at all, but it could have been…” I pointed down at my belly and mouthed the baby.
Cronus laughed. “Why are you afraid for him to hear the word ‘baby?’”
The eye roll was involuntary … or maybe the baby did that as well? “How do you know it's a boy?”
Cronus shrugged. “He's powerful already, just like his father.”
For the love of Titans…
“You’re having a girl. Now can I get some fucking help!” Rhea roared.
“A girl,” I breathed, taking in the awed look on Cronus’ face, before I shoved him back to where his friends battled the Erynomus.
“Knew it was a girl,” Cronus said, sounding so proud it was as if he were growing the kid himself.
He held my hand tightly as we returned to the battle, and I was relieved to see that Hyperion looked whole and alive. Rhea looked whole and dead, so everything was in order. The Erynomus was bound in a new block of ice, but cracking it more by the second.
“How are you going to beat it?”
Cronus let out a huff. “We need it to shift into its other form. That one has a vulnerability that we took advantage of last time, but since I'm sure its memory is as long-reaching as its stench, there's no way it will risk that around us.”
“What's the other form?” I asked, shivering.
Two forms? This thing was horrifying. And it was apparently evolving. #NoOneLikesAnOverachiever #It’sScience
“The golden boar,” Cronus said quickly, gathering energy into his hands and blasting it toward the creature in an attempt to reinforce its current prison—sneaky shit had just wiggled one leg loose from the ice block. “It used to be a god, but upon death—a brutal death—the Erynomus was born. It only returns to the golden boar when it believes it has won, because it’s the only form it will absorb souls from. Lauding its victory over the defeated.”
“We have to let it think it’s won?” I said in a rush.
#Quick #PlayDead
Cronus blinked at me.
“Surely there is a way to trick this creature into believing it has killed you all?”
I mean, two minutes ago it was supposed to be as dumb as a bag of rocks. Even with the recent upgrade, there should be a way to get one over on it.
Cronus mulled this over for a few minutes, blasting power as he did. Two legs were free now and they were running out of time. “I’ll see if something comes to me while we fight it,” he said. “It’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while.”
I smiled, feeling quite smug about it.
#IHaveIdeas
“Have I told you recently that I love you?” Cronus said, taking a second to kiss me. “I died a million fucking deaths when I thought we’d be separated for the rest of your life. But you need to know that I would never have stopped fighting to get back to you.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and finally the emotional unbalance made sense. Pregnant hormones. “I love you too, Cronus. More than I expected to ever love anyone. And if I ever have to watch you die again to save the world, I will be really pissed.”
It was either joke or fall down and sob my heart out. The burning agony of watching someone I love die like that would be with me forever. Having him back in my life, even in this manner, was enough to ease some of the ache.
“I’ll never leave you again,” Cronus said, and I felt him gather a ton of power in his hands, swinging both arms out as he shot it all at the Erynomus.
Despite that promise, he did move a little away from me, joining Rhea and Hyperion in battle. They looked relieved to have him on the front line, as he was the strongest of them. Clearly death did not diminish that.