He frowned at my words, but paused nonetheless, “My lord, I have no means of containing it and would have to release it as well.” That wasn’t such a terrible thing, if nothing else I did here mattered, the least I could do was give my people Hope.
“It’s fine.” Atlas nodded reluctantly and reached back in once more, feeling around before he pulled out of the chest a small, round glass ball. He held it out to me and I looked it over as I rolled it around in the palm of my hand. “This is it?”
“It would appear it has chosen to take this form for you.”
“For me,” I repeated, rolling the painfully unspectacular ball around in my hand once more. “Alright,” I said looking back as Atlas returned the now locked chest to the niche and closed it once more, safe and secure. “Wait for the appropriate time next time, not… whatever made you open it this time.”
“Yes, my lord.” Atlas nodded before walking past me and coming to stand beneath the hole I had fallen through. He turned back to face me and held out his hand, “It is the only way to ensure you can leave Tartarus.” I doubted but reached out and took his hand nonetheless. He stepped into the light that seeped in from the hole and we were both sucked through, landing on our feet in what looked to be the middle of someone’s apartment.
“A millennium is a long time to be alone standing in one place, my lord. I hope it’s okay but I made this place for breaks and research, when the time comes.”
I looked around taking in the small, but apparently cozy apartment before looking back at the Titan with no amusement on my face.
“I’m fairly certain your punishment did not entail the comforts of break times, Atlas.”
“My lord…” He stammered again, looking ashamed of himself before I shook my head at him.
“Whatever, there’s not much I can do right now. Find Cronos for me and let me get back to my time.”
“As you prefer,” he said, moving over to a globe sitting by a messy desk and held his hand out on it as the other spun it. It began to move faster and faster in a circle until an image like a projection appeared above it revealing a man walking through a crowd. “Cronos, Lord of Time.”
“Good, now how do I get there?” Atlas stepped away from the globe, continuing to let it spin before he moved the projection across the room, stretching it until it filled the room from side to side. Now the people walking the street were life-like and it seemed as though this scene were happening right here with us.
“Go on, you can step into it.” He nodded at the scene and I turned to him in surprise. “It won’t hurt, step right through.”
I walked toward the scene, my eyes still on Cronos. As I reached the edge of the image, I turned back to Atlas, “Don’t do any more stupid things, got it? I like my time just fine.”
“Yes, my lord,” he said with solemn bow of his head and I stepped through the image walking right onto the bustling street of… Gods only knew where.
I appeared out of nowhere, startling the woman in front of me as she went about her daily activities. My appearance didn’t help the situation, given I was still wearing nothing but my boxer briefs. She was staring at me in horror, taking everything in from my bare feet to my short-cropped hair.
“You don’t mind if…?” I reached out, watching her face as I undid the knot of her cloak and slid it off her shoulders before sweeping it around my own and fastening it again. Her eyes widened further, if this was at all possible and she remained mute as I walked by her trying to drift into the crowd and blend in. It wasn’t until I was a few steps away when I heard the croon of ‘THIEF!’ behind me and I knew she had snapped out of it.
A quick glance over my shoulder revealed she had alerted the attention of what looked like two officers who moved directly towards me. I didn’t have time to be chased and risk losing Cronos but it seemed I didn’t have a choice. Weaving in and out of the crowd, I made my way down the street before reluctantly cutting into an alley between two buildings in hopes I might emerge on the other side and lose the officers. Except the alley I moved into was blocked at the end with a brick wall erected to… well, I wasn’t sure but it was in my way.
I stopped, glancing over my shoulder to see if I was trapped, spotting at door to my right. Going inside would mean losing any hope of catching Cronos easily but it also meant potential safety from my own arrest. And I had seen how these things ended first hand, I wasn’t looking to be barbecued any time soon.
With little other choice ahead of me, I strode to the door and pushed it open, stepping inside. As I closed the door behind me, I looked around to get my bearings. Stairs were to my right, I took two at a time knowing those officers were behind me. If I could find a change of clothes, I could pull off losing them. Although, finding Cronos again would prove to be difficult.
At the top of the stairs I started down the hallway, peering into each room looking for a bedroom. I rolled the ball of hope in my hand, and prayed it would be of use as I stepped into a bedroom and found clothing for a man not for a woman. I shrugged off the cloak and balled it up before kicking it under the bed to be safe. I opened the drawers looking for clothes, finally finding a pair of baggy pants. I used a rope belt, tightening it as much as possible to hold the pants up. Next, I found a white blouse that looked a bit like a woman’s but I assumed in these days when men wore frilly things and wigs of long hair I could get away with it without being glanced at with strange looks.
Now the only problem was my hair, short as it was, would be cause for concern to anyone who looked at it. But I didn't have time to worry about that.
Heading back out into the hallway, I paused for a moment listening carefully as I heard voices below. They spoke in a language I didn't recognize, thick and brutish as though it were a Northern European accent and language. And yet the harder I concentrated, the more it seemed the words turned to English and I could understand them once more.
"We're looking for a man, he was seen coming this way - you haven't seen him, have you?"
"No sir, I haven't seen him. I live here with my husband but he's not home right now."
"You wouldn't mind if we looked around for a moment, to be on the safe side. We would hate to leave and find out he attacked you, he's already had his way with one woman." I arched an eyebrow at that, I hadn't touched that lady, I just took her cloak off.
"Of course sir, feel free to look around." With that, I heard the clunk of a boot as it moved towards me. I knew one of them was coming upstairs. My cover would be blown if they came upstairs. Twisting around to look I tried to find somewhere I might be able to hide. If he were truly an officer of the law he would at least have the sense of looking everywhere before declaring the house empty, I just hoped he was too lazy for that. It was at that moment we made eye contact as he came up the stairs. He stopped in the middle.
From behind him, the woman he had been speaking to appeared and for a second an expression of alarm cleared her face before she smiled.
"Oh, I didn't know you were home already, husband," she smiled sweetly and made her way toward me, passing the officer. She walked right to me and brazenly kissed me on the lips before taking my hand and turning back to the officer. "I didn't hear him." She said, "Quiet as a church mouse, this one." She gave my hand a squeeze and I looked at her before turning back to the officers.
"Yes, unfortunately I ripped my pants at work and had to come home to change. These were the only ones I could find. I see your sewing skills haven't gotten any better during my time away, dear." I gave her a smile back, trying not to wonder too much about the language coming out of my mouth. She laughed before leading me down the stairs.
The officer stepped back as they both sized me up uncertainly. They hadn't gotten close enough before to see my face so it was a matter of whether he could recognize me from behind. But without the cloak, there was no way he could've known it was me.
Finally, they nodded and excused themselves to search the rest of the house as my newfound "wife" led me into the kitc
hen. All I could think about as she pulled out a chair for me was Savannah would not be happy about this woman playing my housewife. There wasn't much I could do, she was saving my skin though I didn't know why.
As if to answer my question, the ball of hope burned hotly in the palm of my hand, making me flinch, almost dropping it before realizing whatever power hope had it was manipulating the situation to save my ass. We sat in silence as she went back to work, kneading dough and humming to herself as though this was nothing unusual to her. The officers finally came down, clearing the house and going on their way.
I rose the moment I heard the door open and she turned to me with her hands on her hips.
"Who are you?" Gone was the dainty voice and demure attitude as she glared at me. "Are you a thief? Have you robbed us? Turn out those pockets. I want to see the inside!" I held my hands.
"Listen lady, I haven't done anything, I was seriously looking for a pair of pants."
"Yeah well, I count that as thieving. I don't think my husband would appreciate you taking his church pants." I looked her over and thought of the size of the pants, looking her over once again before nodding.
"I'm sure he wouldn't but do you want me running around on the streets with no pants on?"
She considered what I was saying for a moment before reluctantly nodding her head, "Fine, you can have them."
"Much appreciated, ma'am," I said with a nod, "I'm grateful you didn't turn me in. Although I'm not sure why you didn't."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I figured if you were a criminal you wouldn't be dumb enough to stand there waiting for the officers to come and get you."
I laughed, "No, probably not. I have to say I'm not used to having to hide so quickly, at least not in these circumstances."
She didn't seem to understand my meaning but shrugged her shoulders anyways, "Well, you're free to go. The door is that way." She pointed me out and I started to leave, rolling the glass ball around in the palm of my hand, mentally thanking Hope as well.
As I stepped back out into the sunlit street, I gave the ball another squeeze, "Don't suppose you could give me directions to Cronos as well, could you?" The glass ball did nothing so I sighed, "It was worth a shot."
With a pocket now, I was able to securely tuck the ball away leaving my hands free. I considered my earlier plan of using my magic in the same way before but I couldn't do it here with people watching. Hopefully whatever magic was conjured, it would be discreet in helping me find him.
I carried on the street in the direction I hoped would get me closer to Cronos, even if I wasn't sure. I needed somewhere to tuck myself away from prying eyes to consider what to do next. A grove of trees laid in the middle of a park designed in the middle of the town was the best place to hide out, shielding myself. I set my hand against the bark and summoned that cold feeling all the way from my toes until it surged out of my palm and into the tree.
I imagined what I was looking for, picturing the face Atlas had led me to. I sent a silent request through my magic hoping it would be able to guide me to the God I sought. When I pulled my hand away, a glimmering arrow was etched into the wood in front of me, pointing ahead. It disappeared and in its place another arrow appeared pointing right before disappearing and another appeared turning right. When the arrow disappeared the last time, it didn't come back.
They were rudimentary directions at best but at least they gave me an idea of where I needed to head. I started walking, looking for the first road the arrows wanted me to take. As I followed it, I came to a street corner and as directed I took the right. I continued walking until the next right, stopping as I peered down the street taking in the faces before me. If the magic was to be believed, he had to be here somewhere.
I held my hand out in front of me and closed it into a fist, feeling the magic fill me until it landed heavy in my palm like a solid object. When I opened my hand, a compass sat there, the needles spinning wildly as I thought about finding Cronos. The needle stopped and I walked, eyes glued to the device as it led me down the street, past the various faces until I walked into the shop of a cobbler.
There, behind the counter, hammering at the heel of a boot stood the man whose image I recognized from the Underworld. There was Cronos.
Chapter 20
He looked up from his work and smiled, which in itself was unusual. I couldn't fathom the idea of a friendly Cronos.
"Good afternoon, sir, can I help you?"
"You can," I said, stepping to the counter. "This is going to sound a little crazy but you have a voice in your head." I stated matter-of-factly, setting both palms on the counter and leaning in closer to him. "You have a voice inside your head telling you to do things and it only started talking to you today. You think you're crazy, but you're not. Everything it has been saying to you is true." As I spoke, Cronos' eyes opened wide as disbelief filled them while he stared at me. And then, they narrowed, filling with suspicion instead.
"Get out of my shop, you devil!" He brandished the hammer as if he was going to pummel my head with it. I had only one option and Cronos was going to come with me whether he liked it or not.
"Listen, guy, I'm sorry how crazy this sounds but trust me. You are a Greek God. Your name is Cronos and I am also a Greek God. My name is Zeus and I am from the future. And you, as God of Time, need to take me back to it." This time he swung with the hammer and I barely managed to dodge backwards, arching my back to lean. Taking a step backwards, I dodged again as Cronos pushed his table out of the way and came at me once more.
This was going downhill fast, worse than I imagined, not that I imagined it going spectacular either way. I needed to convince him and there was only one way to do that. The next time he jumped at me, I held my hand out and from my palms spurted a lightning bolt shooting across the room and flying into the wall. Sparks shot everywhere and he turned in horror, the hammer slipping from his grip and he stumbled away from me.
"Like I said, I'm Zeus, you're Cronos, and you're taking me back to the future." I brandished another lightning bolt this time with the unspoken threat of using it on him hanging in the air.
He shook his head at me, "I don't know how to do that."
In a flash, the lightning bolt disappeared and I tried to smile as winningly as possible, "Don't worry mate, I can help you." I clapped him on the shoulder, my hand sliding to his elbow as I held tight to make sure he didn't try to run away. I steered him through the shop and out onto the street.
Once there, I continued to hold fast to make sure he didn't run away. We made our way along the cobblestone toward the line of trees ahead of us that would provide shelter.
"It's not hard, you need to trust me. Trust the voice in your head. And you need to draw on that feeling inside of you, the one in the pit of your stomach. I don't know if it's warm for you or cold for you but whatever it is, you need to reach for it and hold onto it. That is your magic and once you feel it filling you, you need to tell it what you want. What you want is to make a portal that will take you to my future."
"What future?"
"Ahh..." I paused for a moment. Shit, I didn't know what year it was and I had no idea what to tell him to get us back to where I wanted to be. "Give me a second," I told him as we kept walking, trying to do the mental calculations. I mean, worst case scenario I botched this and we ended too far in the future and we would have to use his magic once more to go back in time a little bit. Maybe we would need to keep using his magic and hop around a little bit until we found the year we wanted. Then again, I didn't have time for that. Gods only knew what happened while I was gone and how far Asher had gotten with his mad power trip.
Unless, of course, having already killed off his parents in the past everything had been righted once more. Gods, this was all confusing.
"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together, "we're going to go to 2025." It seemed like a safe bet. The last year I remember was 2015 but my mother had only been 55. The woman I met in the Underworld looked much older whic
h gave me hope she had died many years after the last time I had seen her. I took a guess and added 10 years to her age and hoped for the best.
"You're going to take me to 2025!" I repeated, this time with much more authority. The cobbler's eyes widened unable to fathom we were in the years 2000 now. "I know, I know, we're not going to talk about it, you're going to do what I need you to do." Into the tree line we walked until I finally found a place that seemed good enough to cast a portal. I turned to him with expectation.
"That feeling? Have you found it? The one in your stomach?"
"Sir, the only thing I seemed to have found is a lack of nerve."
"Yeah, well, that doesn't surprise me at all, Cronos. But I need you to focus. Pull from center, let the magic fill you and think about needing a portal to 2025," I said firmly.
He stood there for a moment, closing his eyes and his face scrunching together like all the sudden, he was constipated. I was unprepared when between two trees ahead of us the first glimmer of gold appeared, then another, then another and before long, a shimmer hung between the two bodies exactly like all the other portals I had seen in the short time I myself had been a God.
"Perfect!" I said cheerfully as I patted him on the back. "I'm going to go through first because I don't want to risk it closing as you go in and you can decide if you want to go to the future." I paused, "You should come with me." I reached out and grabbed his shirt, pulling him with me. The last thing I needed was another Titan running around in the past making power-hungry and evil Demi-Gods that would come back to haunt me.
On the other side once we cleared the portal, I found myself stumbling into the middle of a ruined city.
"Holy crap..." I muttered under my breath, looking around. The buildings were dilapidated, falling in on themselves and the road was destroyed. Various bones lay around to signal where people had rotted away to nothing. It was sheer destruction and I knew exactly what had been the cause - the Titans and their attempt at world domination. This is what happened as they harvested humans for their faith.
Grace of Gods Boxset: Reincarnated Greek Gods YA/NA Series Page 87
