Bonds

Knight And Annabeth Sitting In A Train

The Penta-rail's cabin was as close to silent as New Tartarus got. The only sounds coming from the quiet hum of the electromagnets, the faint frequent clicks of the Mist projectors displaying his closest kin, the heavy breathing of Hyperion coming out of the cabin's speakers, and the light breaths of the daughter of Athena at his side; her fingers laced firmly within his own.

He really wished that someone would strike an anvil to break the silence.

All eyes and their corresponding cameras were focused on him. All waiting to see how he would respond to the tale Annabeth had told.

Some, like Hyperion, Theia, and Bob watched him with fearful apprehension. As if he was an unstable power core of an automaton moments away from exploding.

Brontes, Steropes, and Flippy, looked at him with pain in their eyes. If they would have been in the same room, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he wouldn't be tackled to the ground in a one of telekhine's spine-shattering embraces while his mentors prepared a sugary treat and design problem to lift his spirits.

And some, Krios, Eurybia, and Annabeth looked upon him with a strange mix of guilt and relief. As if a terrible burden had been removed from their shoulders but were not comfortable with the cost.

Somehow this small collection of his closest friends and family watching his every movement was worse than delivering the news that they were at war to the peoples of New Tartarus.

Time slowed to a crawl and returned to normal with each beat of his heart, making the crushing silence seemingly last an eternity. And if he possessed the strength, he might have brought time to a complete halt to stop the events Annabeth had set in motion.

But then Annabeth moved their hands so they rested in his knee, and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Take your time, Knight," she whispered. Her words fluctuating in pitch to match to changing flow of time. "It's a lot to process."

That's an understatement...

Still, Knight returned the squeeze, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. After three-seconds-ninety-eight-milliseconds-and-forty-five-nanoseconds he was able to stabilize his control over the flow of time and opened his eyes. "Is it true?" He asked, his voice a hoarse whisper. "Was my father evil?"

The projected form of Hyperion cleared his throat. "Well... Thing is..."

"It's all a matter of optics," Brontes cringed. The cyclops suddenly discovering a defect in his mechanical hand that required him to look away from Knight.

"People aren't binary, Knight," Steropes said with a forced smile. "There's not some bitfield in their being that defines the states of good and evil." He narrowed sky blue eye. "I think?"

"Knight, you not know?" Flippy asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Your father was certainly a flawed individual," Krios' projection explained as the titan cleaned his glasses with his jacket. "Not the perfect king you thought he-"

"Your father was a sadistic monster who only cared about his throne," Eurybia growled. The Titaness pushing her silver husband out of frame.

"What?" he gasped in shock at his aunt's unexpected bluntness. Annabeth having a similar reaction.

"Eurybia!" the titans and cyclopes cried. Theia and Flippy rolling their eyes at the outburst.

"Have some tact, woman!" Hyperion bellowed.

"This is a delicate issue!" Brontes chimed in, struggling to contain the dozens of tools and gadgets popping out of his hand.

"Oh, shove it up your asses," the Titaness scoffed, shooting her husband a look that dared him to say anything. "I can't tell you just how mind boggling stupid I find it that none of you told them the truth about our brother. I can understand not telling them the full truth when they were children, but for Chaos' sake, you should all be ashamed of yourselves!"