The Death of Time

It's Not About Having...

…when what if and should have been come together.

Intellectually, Ananke knew that she was an incorporeal being for the moment and yet she still drew strength from the contact of Chronos’ hands upon her shoulders. She might be facing her doom but she was thankfully not alone.  Such a drastic shift from how she was a week or so ago, wanting to avoid any and all contact with others and hunting down solitude.

Since we’re lacking the Time for me to get even a basic crash course on this Pantheon, and I have only the most bare bones concept of what to do, why don’t you take charge and I’ll follow your lead? Ananke suggested to the God holding her close. It should have been uncomfortable; the embrace was protective, comforting, and far more intimate than it probably should have seemed, and yet Ananke felt safer with the fallen Titan at her back.

Chronos felt the mortal woman’s psyche start to fray at the edges, too much raw Power attacking the parts of ‘nake’s mind that had no protections. She was so vulnerable here, and yet strong enough to pit her faith in him. Now the Father of Time simply had to do his best to not disappoint her. Letting Ananke down would cost a lot more than just her trust and respect; it could mean the end of everything. Truthfully a concept that Chronos would have taken to heart not too distantly in his own past. He’d lived for eons as a Titan God King. Then he’d died and his punishment began. A prisoner bound to Time itself, a necessary infusion that not even the combined power and knowledge of the Pantheon this world had to offer could understand. But as strong as Chronos yearned to be free, he also felt deeply driven to ensure this human of his was kept safe. He buried that protectiveness down deep, focusing instead on the task of holding the frayed bits of ‘nake’s psyche together. It cost him some of his own barriers, needing to stretch them out to guard her as well but it was worth the loss of his privacy. If this mortal woman wanted to, she could force her way through the last layer of his defence to break into his mind. But as Ananke was trusting him with her life, he could do no less than trust her in return with his dignity.

Adi Parashakti is going to be taking us both somewhere that is likely going to involve little in the way of sanity or planning. I’d lie and say that I’ll be able to handle everything no matter what, but lying to you is distasteful. Chronos found the truth spoken before he even realized that was how he felt. Adi Parashakti or one of the others must already be manipulating him.

Ananke didn’t verbalize her response despite his indiscreet confession of honesty. Instead she simply squeezed his hand on her shoulder. She didn’t judge him for it, which was all that allowed Chronos’ pride to let go and focus on the events sweeping them up.

The Tridevi spoke again, their layered voices hard to discern as they spoke identical words at dissonant timing. “You come to us with a terrible burden of Destiny.”

Chronos pulled Ananke into the protective circle of his arms as he realized that the three Great Goddesses of the Hindu Pantheon were almost entirely ignoring his presence. They didn’t want him present for this and yet nothing made move to pull him away from the mortal under his domain. He’d promised to not leave her and he would break reality before he’d willingly break that promise.

I don’t believe in Destiny. Ananke’s mind voice confessed softly, making the Goddesses of knowledge, prosperity and power laugh like long time friends. Ananke stood in the face of their amusement without any sign of embarrassment or irritation. It was that damnable calm indifference of ‘nake’s that both frustrated and fascinated the Time God. It had a different effect on the Tridevi; their humor vanished the way a puff of smoke on the wind does at dawn. And even lacking any physical form at the moment, their unadulterated attention burned across both God and mortal like a physical assault. The nonexistence around them was disorienting but Chronos didn’t think he really wanted to handle looking at their True Faces.