165. ‘KRONOS!’
‘ KRONOS! ’
It was the voice of a dozen gorgons,
thunderous with frightening fury.
It was the sound of a hundred sirens,
screaming against the ocean wind.
It was the cry of a thousand harpies,
screeching before they descended on prey.
So primordial was this sound
that the three I had split into
were jarred back together as one.
The raging pain pulsed through
my whole body as I felt the other
two versions of me stitch themselves
back into my body again,
and I felt myself burn and stretch
and return until there were
no others like me left.
Only one.
Just me.
And then the voice
filled the whole room again.
‘REMEMBER, TITAN,
WHERE YOU STAND.
YOUR OATH TO ME AND HADES
DEMANDS AN ANSWER.’
Kronos, who had been terrifying
to me, suddenly sounded very small.
‘F-forgive me, Goddess of the Dark.
I… I have simply been lonely.’
There was a terrible, cold silence
that followed and then the voice spoke.
‘LET THIS BE THE LAST TIME
YOU brEAK YOUR OATH,
FOR THE NEXT TIME,
IT IS TARTARUS
OR STYX’S WATER.
THE CHOICE IS YOURS.’
I could hear the warble in his voice
as he whispered, ‘I apologize.
I am so sorry.’ A shaking sob
escaped his chest.
And that was when the voice
turned its attentions to me.
‘HEKATE, CHILD OF ASTERIA
AND PERSES. YOU WILL BE
brOUGHT TO THE HALLS
OF NIGHT WHERE YOU WILL
EXPLAIN YOUR PURPOSE
FOR THIS INTRUSION.’
I winced at the word intrusion .
But before I could acknowledge
the message, a hurricane of darkness
swept me off my feet,
turning everything around me
into a swirling abyss.