Kronos. The God of Time

Kronos frowned, and the cycle of destruction and creation in front of him stopped. The world returned to its normal state as if all that just happened was nothing more than a mirage.

“Guess I’ll have to take a look myself.” Muttered Kronos, his form disappearing from the dark space and quickly appearing inside the world.

“What a cursed place, demigod-level seals after seals all over, the Spirit Well link is split, the Tower’s influence is all over it, and an anchored timeline.” exclaimed Kronos while looking all around, his gray eyes peeking into every corner of the world.

“Kronos, we should search for the anchor as quickly as possible. Who knows how long The Tower’s influence will remain weakened.” A deep and hoarse voice resounded around him, and Kronos nodded, slowly drifting across the land, searching for clues.

“Can you feel anything?”

“Walk further south. This place reeks only of death.”

Kronos kept traveling south, going from city to city along the way, slowly looking for a clue about the anchor’s identity. He could feel the Tower’s influence gradually increasing, and a phrase he didn’t know he would ever have to say left his lips. “We’re almost out of time.”

“This place. We’re close.” The horse voice from before spoke, causing Kronos to stop and look around. “But we’re in the middle of nowhere. Are you sure there’s anyone here? We’ve been chasing your wild guesses for too long.”

“I know, but I’ve been feeling risen of all levels all around. There’s also a strong time anomaly straight ahead of us. This is our best clue as of yet.”

Kronos nodded and was about to follow the voice’s directions when a green-haired woman appeared, riding an earth wave right in front of him.

She stopped a few feet from Kronos and looked him up and down. “Who are you? Are you one of Asteria’s students?”

Kronos scrutinized the woman at the same time and shook his head. “Never heard of that place. Who are you?”

As he tried to look into her past and future, both were foggy, like someone was clouding his vision. He knew instantly that she was related to the one he's been looking for in some way or another.

The frown on the woman’s face deepened, and she moved further away. “Then who are you? There shouldn’t be anyone else with time knowledge besides - “. Her words suddenly stopped with a look of realization, and she quickly tried to get away.

Kronos smiled and froze her source in place, causing the woman to fall from her wave, tumbling to the ground below.

“It’s rude to walk away like that, you know? We were having a very nice chat.”

The smile and teasing tone did nothing to soothe the fear on the woman’s face, and she started crawling away on her back.

Kronos also froze her body, forcing the woman to sit there and watch as he slowly drew near, but just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, the voice said with a sense of urgency. “It’s awakening. Take her and leave. We don’t know which god we’re up against yet.”

Kronos’ smile disappeared, and he nodded, snapping his fingers once. The whole world around him and the woman crumbled, revealing an almost empty void.

A lonely light blue throne was floating through the emptiness of space, with no stars, planets, or galaxies visible anywhere.

The woman would have been amazed to see something like this before, but now her eyes were stuck on the man in front of her as he slowly walked up a set of transparent stairs toward the throne.

‘A throne made out of time, fixed at the origin of it all. The throne destined to only be sat upon by the one who rules all time, both past and future.’ The words written in a book long ago rang inside her mind and confirmed what she had already guessed.

She was sitting before Kronos, the God of Time.

‘How did you get yourself in this trouble Aleena?’ the woman asked herself, feeling goosebumps spreading all over her body with each of the man’s steps.

Then, she quickly remembered Seth’s disappearance and looked all around the place, but there was nothing else anywhere she looked.

As she heard the young man’s footsteps stop and she was about to turn towards him again, she noticed how lights started appearing in the emptiness around her.

‘There should be nothing here... what is happening?’

“So, little one. You’re going to answer my questions now. Who are you, and where’s that cursed time anchor?”

Hearing Kronos speak to her, Aleena pulled her eyes away from the space around her and looked back at Kronos. By now, even the throne underneath him had become somewhat transparent.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you? Where are we? Take me back.”

Kronos looked at her ashen face and then into her trembling eyes before shaking his head. “I think you didn’t understand me. You’re the one who is going to answer my questions, so are you going to do it willingly, or do I have to employ… different methods.”

Aleena gulped, her chest already heaving up and down, and she bit her lip, deciding to continue playing the fool and beg for mercy. “Sir, time ascended; I don’t know what you’re speaking about. I know you’re stronger than I am, so please have mercy on me. I’m just a weak fourth shell earth ascended.”

Kronos stared into her eyes in silence for a moment before asking: “Who are you?”

“My name is Aleena. I only have a name since I’m of commoner birth but just lucky enough to be able to ascend.”

“Alright, Aleena. When we met, you said there should be only a single person with time knowledge. Who were you referring to?”

‘Fuck. Me and my stupid mouth!’ screamed Aleena in her mind, quickly thinking about a response that would not get Seth in trouble.

“Our academy in the Death Kingdom is the only one with time knowledge. There shouldn’t have been anyone so far south that could have had it; that’s why I was so surprised.”

“Death Kingdom?” asked Kronos with a raised eyebrow before an old man with a long gray beard and light blue eyes appeared sitting on the armrest of his chair out of nowhere. “She’s lying, Kronos. She’s covering for the anchor.”

Aleena’s eyes moved to the old man, trying to figure out who it was.

‘Is the young man not Kronos? Is the old man him?’ But that also did not feel right to her since the young man was sitting on the throne.

‘Will of time? That has to be it…’

Gulping once, Aleena didn’t wait for Kronos to respond and said: “I- I’m not lying. You can go there and confirm it yourself.’

Looking into Aleena’s big eyes, Kronos smirked and shook his head. “You’re too young to be playing games with me. Time, teach her a lesson.”

The old man’s eyes brightened, and he stood up from the throne’s armrest, slowly floating towards Aleena.

Aleena knew she was done for and didn’t hesitate anymore. A teardrop appeared in her eyes, along with a sad smile as she started spinning her source. ‘I’m sorry, Seth. I hope that wherever you are, at least you’re alright.’

The old man’s footsteps halted when he felt the earth energy swirling inside Aleena’s source, but he didn’t do anything to stop her. Earth spikes suddenly grew from Aleena’s source, crushing her heart as the teardrop she was holding slowly flowed down her cheek, and she drew her last breath.

“Nice try.” muttered the old man, the spikes growing from her heart receding inside her body, healing all the damage instantly.

As Aleena looked down at her healed body in horror, the old man spoke again. “Who said that you can die? We’ll have so much fun, you and I, and when I’m done with you, I guarantee you’ll tell us everything we want to know.”

Kronos ignored the screams of pain that soon started flooding the place and looked far off into the distance, watching as the universe slowly moved through time toward the present.

“That damn anchor. Even ruined my home.” He muttered in annoyance before standing up. “Keep torturing her Time. I want to know everything she knows about that anchor.”

The old kept laughing while slowly using time energy to wither parts of Aleena’s body off before growing them back on.

Shaking his head, Kronos left his throne and started stepping away through the emptiness of space. As the throne and screams disappeared from his ears, he sighed and waited in place.

A majestic pure white tower materialized before him, its beginning and end impossible to grasp even with Kronos’ sight that spanned through all time. Looking at the wide open doors in front of him, Kronos frowned and asked: “Why did you call up to me, you cursed thing?”

An aged voice resounded through the wide open doors of the Tower. “Wipe your prisoner from existence, and you’ll be granted a wish from the Tower. As long as it doesn’t interfere with another granted wish, anything is possible.”

Kronos’ body shook as a look of surprise appeared on his face, but just as he was about to ask more, the tower disappeared just as it materialized, leaving him with his lips partially parted.

Kronos remained on the spot, lowering his head with a pondering look. ‘Wipe her from existence? Why? Weren’t you supposed to be a neutral existence? Did someone wish for this as well? But that’s too far-fetched.’

Clicking his tongue, he slowly made his way back to his throne, where his time will was still torturing Aleena. Waving his hand, the old man disappeared and got sucked back inside his body.

Kronos then crouched next to Aleena, lifting her bloodied face with his hand and staring into her eyes, a sense of urgency in his tone as he asked: “Answer me. Who are you? Why would the Tower want you dead?”

Aleena blankly looked into his eyes while muttering: “I know nothing….”

Kronos dropped her head to the floor and started pacing back and forth angrily. “What do you think?”

“Suspicious.” Said the old man.

“Tell me about it. Is there something special about her?”

“I’ve tortured her for thousands of years, but that’s all she’s been saying. Other than a strong will, there’s nothing special I can notice about her.”

“Then it must be about whoever the Tower gifted the time anchor to. This whole situation got even more frustrating.”

After pacing back and forth some more, Kronos returned to Aleena and placed a hand on her forehead, a giant light blue crown appearing right above his head.

“Fine. If it wants you gone, then you’ll be gone.” Following his words, one of the spikes in his crown broke, and Aleena disappeared from beneath his hand like she was never there in the first place.

With his feet wobbling slightly and his material form almost destabilizing, Kronos stood up and said out loud: “Fine. She’s gone. Grant me my wish.”

It didn’t take long after his words ended, and the tower appeared in front of him again, the voice from before returning.

“I can confirm all her records are gone. What is your wish?”

“Show me everything in the records and about the owner of the time anchor.”