Kronos eyed the scorpion climbing up his leg, not daring to move in case it caused the scorpion to sting him. Usually, he'd not care if a scorpion was going to sting him, but the type of scorpion - a Pit Scorpion from Tartarus - could cause severe pain to even an immortal. Kronos was no stranger to pain, but that didn't mean he liked it.
Ares had apparently grown very irritated over the past month, so irritated that he'd shoved the scorpion through the bottom of the cell before leaving. Kronos didn't know who knew it was in there with him, and he wasn't looking forward to the moment when it would sting him.
As soon as it had entered the cell, it had fixed those beady black eyes on him, scuttling closer to him even as he tried to keep moving around the cell to avoid it. But being in an enclosed space with a Pit scorpion was never a good idea.
It was about the size of a mortal hand, the body glistening black and reflecting the torchlight from outside in the corridor. And it was the same type of scorpion he'd instructed Luke to use on Percy over three centuries ago.
Kronos tried to slowly move until he had his knee against the floor, the scorpion sitting in obvious view on the top of his knee. Its stinger hovered in the air, the point tinged green from the poison on it.
As long as the scorpion didn't get bored, he could sit there however long was necessary.
His hand started tapping on the floor, drumming out a random rhythm. He supposed he was almost as bad as a demigod with his inability to sit still without having something to do. And with a poisonous scorpion on his leg, it was dangerous.
The scorpion shifted, its legs moving as it scuttled further up his leg to the inside of his thigh.
"Please no further," Kronos breathed, not wanting to know how much it would hurt to have the scorpion sting him there. "Look, you don't have to sting me. Can you go and sting Ares instead for me?" he asked hopefully. The scorpion lowered its tail. "No? Okay."
His brothers would be laughing at him if they knew what was happening, he thought fondly. If they knew he was speaking to a Pit Scorpion they'd laugh, then realise that it could sting him. Then they'd rush to get it off him.
Kronos stiffened, feeling it start to climb up his thigh to his hip, then to his chest. He could feel the little thing's legs through the fabric of his shirt and it made him uneasy. It reached the centre of his chest and settled down, beady eyes locked onto Kronos' own.
Kronos slowly started to move back, only to freeze when the scorpion scuttled to the left - it was just below his heart.
His hand fisted, before he swung at it when he saw the tail twitch. His punch sent it flying away to smash into the wall with a horrid screech which had Kronos shuddering. Kronos then pressed his hand to his chest, feeling a burning.
His hand came away covered in golden ichor.
Kronos pulled up his shirt, twisting his torso to see the thin line where the scorpion's stinger had pierced his skin. Yellow pus was already starting to seep out of the wound. Kronos cursed under his breath. What was the chance that a god would visit in the next sixty seconds? Not very good, by Kronos' estimate.
He knew the symptoms of a Pit Scorpion sting off by heart - every immortal did.
His vision blurred, the bars of his cell fading into a complete wall of bronze as he stumbled as close as he dared to the barrier of electricity.
For several seconds he stood there, his hand resting against the bars and a mere half inch away from the electricity, and then his vision faded. He could still feel the metal beneath his fingers - which were getter harder to move - so he knew the poison was just making him lose his vision.
Then there was a tingling in his limbs. He barely even had time to curse out loud before the paralysis set in and he crumpled against the bars, his fingers slipping through the holes into the electrical force-field, which then flung him against the furthest wall with a loud thud. His head slammed against the metal with a sickening crack and everything went black.
--
Lightning crackled, a surge of light streaking down to the earth and sending a group of monsters to Tartarus.
Percy ground his teeth and concentrated on boosting the power of the storm, a hurricane forming and sweeping up dozens more monsters.
"Take it easy, Percy," Iapetus advised as he watched the monster dust settle on the ground. "We don't know how long this battle's going to last."
Percy grunted, lowering his hand to send another lightning bolt flying at a clump of monsters. "That's why I'm trying to kill them all now."
Over the past month, Percy's control had grown exponentially. It was now simple for him to summon large storms. Hyperion was killing any monster which tried to get through to Percy, and Iapetus was standing ready with his spear in his hand. The two Titans had named themselves as Percy's bodyguards, something which Percy had quickly become grateful for as the war against Erebus progressed. Originally he'd protested, but Iapetus had pointed out that he was the King and the King should have guards. Percy had said that Kronos didn't, and Iapetus had told him that got him into Olympus' cells.
Percy had stopped arguing.
The war against the gods was at a stalemate, which was used for the Titans to turn their attention to the north and Erebus. Most of the demigods (or demititans, in the case of Zoe and Abiron) had been pulled out of the east and marched north, for they would be more interested in fighting monsters rather than other demigods.
Krios was fighting beside his two children, Zoe and Abiron, and Darren, Percy's half-brother, was staying with them. Percy knew they would be safe with Krios.
"Ready?" Percy asked, lowering his hands and unsheathing Riptide. Backbiter was, as always, sheathed across his back where it was easily reachable and Tsunami was ready to be summoned if Percy needed.
Iapetus nodded and lifted his spear. "Yes. Hyperion, come on."
The other Titan dutifully killed the last few monsters around him before trailing back to Percy and Iapetus. "We're going in?" he asked hopefully.
Iapetus snorted. "Always about fighting with you."
Hyperion's mouth twitched up into a smirk. "Not always," his eyes flickered pointedly down to Iapetus. "If you don't remember-"
"I do," Iapetus ground out. "And stop reminding me."
Percy was used to the two bickering all the time, and the constant references Hyperion made towards something which had apparently happened between the two in the past. Something which Percy had quickly decided was only between the two of them, and he didn't want to know.
He cleared his throat and the two turned to him expectantly. "I don't care what the two of you did," he looked pointedly at Hyperion, "so stop mentioning it. Because, frankly, I can sick when I think of the two of you doing that."
Hyperion raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with fucking? You're gonna have a problem then."
Percy glared at him. "I have no problem with that," he declared. "But I really don't think Iapetus wants to hear you constantly rubbing it in."
Hyperion smirked. "Oh, he enjoys it. Don't you, brother?"
Iapetus sniffed. "Can we please kill something?"
Percy grinned. "Told you," he said to Hyperion. "Take your pick, Iapetus. We'll follow," he added.
The Titan gleefully lifted his spear and plunged into the battle, stabbing the first monster in the groin and making Hyperion wince. Percy snorted. "The two of you can't stop arguing can you?" he asked in amusement.
"Please can we discuss this later?" Iapetus growled out. "Now is hardly the time."
"Agreed," Percy immediately said. "Hyperion, if I hear one more word out of your mouth about your past... experiments with each other, then I'll take your sword away from you."
Hyperion turned to give Percy a smirk. "Are you sure? I don't think Iapetus would appreciate that."
Percy paused to stare at him incredulously. "I really don't think we're talking about the same swords here."
"Enough!" Iapetus exclaimed. "By Chaos, can't you focus, Percy?"
Percy turned his attention to the monsters around them, blocking out Hyperion's answer which he was pretty sure was as foul-mouthed as his other comments.
Luckily, Hyperion's arrival the month before had not only saved Percy's life, it had also given them the first advantage they had over Erebus. Hyperion had found out that a host of Erebus' monsters and shadows (humanoid figures that the Primordial created out of the shadows around them) were moving south through the mountains and planned to hit Othrys.
Percy had immediately taken command and shored up Othrys' defences the best he could. Erebus' army was wiped out within hours as they met the completely unexpected resistance. Hyperion had the approximate location of Erebus' base, which was deep within the Rocky Mountain range, and approximate numbers of the monsters helping the Primordial.
And the Titan had the powers to counter the Primordial face to face.
In light of all that Hyperion had helped with and all that he knew, Percy let him stay at Othrys and rescinded his banishment. Hyperion had, in turn, offered to help protect Percy, something that Iapetus had argued with until Percy said that Iapetus could do the same.
With Hyperion's information, they had been able to finally launch a counter-attack, which was the battle they were currently fighting. An attempt at driving Erebus back out of America.
Percy beheaded a dracaenae and stabbed a shadow through the gut, letting Hyperion blast it apart. He sent a quick thought towards forming a hurricane and watched as it forged a path through dozens of monsters before sending them shooting out and across the land.
He could feel his powers thrumming through his body, sending his senses on high alert and making him almost want to just lash out and see how far he could take it, but he knew that would be dangerous for himself and everyone around him. He feared he'd get drunk on the power and become like Kronos was infamous for. The storm above them sent lightning down to fry some more monsters at Percy's command.
Percy's mind was almost blank as he hacked and slashed through the shadows and monsters, his sword a blur of bronze and Backbiter a solid weight on his back, comforting him with its mere presence.
It was hours later that Percy finally found himself running out of enemies. He lowered the tip of Riptide down to the ground. "Are we done?" he asked, realising that he was more tired than he'd thought he would be. He frowned slightly and rubbed his chest through his armour, feeling a stinging just below his heart. "Ouch," he muttered.
"I feel it too," Iapetus nodded, stabbing his spear into the golden earth beneath him. He had monster dust covering his silver armour, making Percy wonder what he himself looked like. "Hyperion?" he called over to the golden Titan.
Hyperion grimaced, anger briefly flitting across his face. "It must be Kronos," he said simply.
Percy stiffened, his hand fisting around the hilt of Riptide. He stared down at the bronze blade, his mind racing. They had rarely felt pain from Kronos bounding across the link which joined all Titans - it seemed to gods were reluctant to torture him. Percy idly thought back to his own time with Kronos in Tartarus before he banished the thought. His face was reflected back at him from Riptide's blade. He now looked older and more worn than he had before Kronos was taken, and he knew it was his worry and hidden fear for the other Titan that was causing it. "Do you think he's alright?"
Iapetus sighed, looking up at the darkening sky. "I think that the gods aren't going to allow him to escape," he said finally. "He won't be able to himself."
Percy stared out over the battlefield, watching as Oceanus summoned enough seawater to wash away the evidence. "You mean he'll need help," he stated.
Iapetus stilled, his eyes widening as he spun to face Percy. "You can't be serious! Percy, you're needed-"
"By Kronos," Percy interrupted. "Besides, you can easily hold Othrys together. Please, Iapetus? I need to do this! I can't stand it anymore! He's hurt right now, and I don't even know how! He could be dying, Iapetus! The gods aren't going to keep him alive forever," he pointed out, visibly struggling to calm himself down.
"What about the little one?" Oceanus asked, crossing his arms as he stopped in front of Percy. "You'd trust us around Leander? And how would you even convince the gods you're still on their side? They'll be suspicious."
Percy thought for several moments, before he smiled slightly. "I'll take my Father," he explained. "Get him to swear on Chaos to not reveal anything about the two of us. They'll trust me then."
"Poseidon is a valuable hostage," Krios protested. "Perseus-"
"And Kronos isn't?"
"He has a point," Koios said. "The gods know they can stop us from doing anything by merely holding a blade to our brother's neck."
Percy looked each Titan in the eye. "I can do this," he insisted. "I'll take a few days to plan, another few to gather everything and sort out a few details." The times that he'd rush into a problem without a plan were long gone now.
"If you can bring Kronos back," Iapetus said slowly, "and ensure your safety. Then I will do all I can to help."
Hyperion nodded in agreement. "As will I."
And Percy felt a weight lifted off his shoulders, now that he was doing something other than staying at Othrys, on the other side of the entire Tartarus-damned country to Kronos. "Good," he said with a grin, adding under his breath, "finally."
The Titans all flashed back to Othrys, leaving him standing there for several moments. Percy turned and looked east, stretching out his presence in an attempt at reaching Kronos, but he couldn't sense someone so far away. He fisted his hands, his knuckles whitening. "I'm coming, Kronos," he murmured.