An emergency War Council is called for by Zeus, gathering every single deity there is together in the main hall up on Mount Olympus. Nothing is said as everyone slowly trickles inside, thick tension hanging in the air as they all wonder about what will happen; they have all heard the news of Cronus' escape and have begun to fear for their future.
A clap of thunder gathers their attention as Zeus looks down at them from up high on his throne. "As you all well know, we have a crisis on our hands with Cronus free. Not only are we in danger, but the mortals too. Especially the mortals. No longer are we as worshipped as before, many having forgotten us or deemed us as simply just gods of an ancient culture, but still we must protect them as silent entities. I have set out ground rules and listed the roles you all must play as we once again go to war," he gestures to Baekhyun, who quickly flits about, handing out scrolls of paper to every individual.
Zeus stands, "I regret to say that our war preparations are not yet in order and behind schedule, so I need you all to do everything you can to assist to the best of your ability." The hall begins to buzz with whispers of fear, "Go my people, we have a war to win!" He shouts, trying to raise morale, but he could see clearly that no one wanted this or even seem willing to help, reluctance in their every move as they stare up at him.
He dismisses the war council and steps down from his seat, weariness settling on his shoulders. Athena comes up to him, giving him a sympathetic pat on the back, "Worry not, father. The people may be fearful, but they will do their jobs and we will fight back against Cronus. There are more of us now; for that, I know we will be powerful enough against the Titans." Her words weigh heavy with meaning, and Zeus looks no more cheerful than before.
"But enough is not enough. We need more than enough," he sighs, rubbing at his temples. Zeus looks up at the sky. Even all the way up here, the clouds are black and heavy, thunder rumbling and lightning flashing. It wasn't even reacting like this from his own mood.
"I need to see Kai," he mutters, and in an instant, he changes his appearance to that of a young man, "I need to find her as well and tell them about the prophecy, maybe they'll know what to do."
***
The Underworld is frightfully calm, just like it is before a storm, nothing seemingly out of place nor a peep from a single soul. The quietness hangs in the air like a heavy fog, obscuring what may lie just hidden out of sight.
Yet, Kai's eyes are full with a silent rage as he calmly puts the Underworld back in order with an iron fist, handing out orders in rapid fire. With his full recovery in a matter of hours, he is up and about, putting the Underworld into lockdown as he casts a brand-new barrier on Tartarus, locking those within that did not escape in time with Cronus. Kai makes sure that this time, no matter who it is, without the proper procedures, no one can get in or out without bypassing him first.
I watch Kai from his side as he goes about his duties, tightening the security of this realm even further, nothing left out from under his scrutiny. For a while, I was afraid he'd collapse from his wound, but clearly, he is doing even better than before.
We'd somehow ended up asleep in his bed last night, waking up to each other's comforting warmth. Although, as soon as we had eaten breakfast, Kai returned to his work-mode, focusing entirely on strengthening the Underworld's security with skeletal soldiers and supernatural beasts with names I can't pronounce.
When he finally seems to be taking a break from everything, I bring him tea and biscuits as we sit outside in the courtyard. I decide to bring up the topic of my tattoo. "Kai?" He hums in response, watching me pour out the tea for us.
"The tattoo on my wrist is gone, now that Cronus is free," I say outright, "What do you think he's doing now?"
Kai takes my wrist that the tattoo had been on once I finished with pouring tea, and examines the skin there, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin. "I suppose we know now that it really was related to Cronus' return," he murmurs, "and that there really wasn't much we could have done to prevent it."
"I suppose so," I sigh in return. I face him and in all seriousness, ask, "Then, will you tell me how Cronus hurt you that badly? I want to kick his ass the next time I see him!" I say, making a fist and punching the air. Kai chuckles at my remark and shakes his head.
"I was just caught off guard. It's been awhile since I last fought that hard, a couple thousand years I say. I don't really get myself involved in wars or fighting much." He stretches out his legs, folding his hands in his lap.
"Yet you have a six-pack," I deadpan. Once again, Kai laughs. Man, I could listen to his laugh for the rest of my life and more.
"I may not fight, but I still train and exercise to keep fit. Managing a whole place like this takes a lot of stamina, you know, among other things as well," he smirks, raising an eyebrow teasingly. I ignore his hidden innuendo. He continues, "So although my fighting techniques are a bit rusty, I am still fit and healthy."
He gets up and comes to stand in front of me, taking hold of my hands to put them on his shoulders and in one swift movement, he has me up in his arms. He holds me up easily with his arms under me, almost like how you'd pick up and hold a child. Kai peers up at my face and grins, "See? Look how easily I can pick you up."
I roll my eyes at him and pat his cheek, "Like this has anything to do with you and fighting."
Sehun chooses that moment to appear. "Hey, we have a guest," he announces, just as a man steps out from behind his tall frame.
"Good afternoon," he greets, "Nice to see the two of you getting all chummy with each other."
Kai doesn't put me down even as I nudge him to, instead choosing to keep me in his arms and holding me even tighter. "Good afternoon to you too, Zeus. What brings you all the way down here?" Kai asks.
I look at Zeus but don't recognise him. He looks different to how I last remember him. Zeus notices my gaze and smiles, although it doesn't reach his eyes, "You can call me Chen in this form."
"Ohhh," is all I can say.
Chen meets Kai's eyes with a hard look and begins to speak, "I came to see the both of you. About a prophecy."
Kai doesn't move and remains standing as Chen explains about this prophecy that no one knew of. The more I hear, the more I understand that I am the one the prophecy is talking about. A particular voice echoes in my head, it is written in your fate ever since Aphrodite's petty meddling changed the course of your future, Persephone says, but you can change how it ends. After all, you write your own destiny. There is a difference between your fate and your destiny, you know?
So, she must be saying that I had thought everything wrong since the beginning. Believing that fate and destiny were one and the same, I thought I had no more choice left in how my life flows, that everything I do is already predetermined. However, if my destiny is different from my fate, then that means I do have a choice.
I tune back into the conversation between Chen and Kai, listening as they discuss tactics and plans, each rebuking the other's plans about the cracks and flaws. I listen a while longer, the two unable to come up with any plausible plan before butting in with my own plan that had been forming in my head. After all, it seems I should be carrying out the prophecy and not them.
"How about you let me do the planning?" I ask.
The both of them turn and shout, "No way!" at the same time. I raise my eyebrows in shock and how unified they can sound when they want to. They really are brothers, aren't they?
"Why? You think I'm too 'delicate' for the job? Think I can't fight off a single grown man throwing a hissy fit about taking over the world?" I scoff, crossing my arms.
Kai shakes his head, "Of course not! I just –" he stops but there's a pleading in his eyes that I recognise. The same plead from when I woke up after my week-long coma, that same lost look in his eyes. "I just don't want to lose you," he whispers, pressing his face into my shoulder as he squeezes me tightly.
Chen watches with a look of hopelessness, both at Kai's show of weakness and at the fact that this one girl is his weakness. Their weakness.
Tell father not to worry so much, Persephone whispers in my head, he's only going to get more wrinkles like that. I repeat her words to the man himself, who lets out a somewhat self-deprecating laugh. "I don't have time to worry about my appearance, dear daughter," he replies easily, then covers his mouth in shock. "Ah, my apologies. I was reminded of how Persephone was like in the past. You sounded just like her," he says in wonder.
I simply shrug. Persephone doesn't seem to want to reveal herself, and I'm not going to do it either; I suppose she's waiting for when the time is right.
"Well, even if you guys say no, I'm stronger than before. I can do more than a mortal anyway," I say defiantly. I feel like the more words that tumble from my mouth, the more I sound like an indignant child, but if I'm supposed to convince these two to let me fulfil my fate then I'm going to use everything I have to make them accept.
Kai doesn't move or say anything, but I can tell from the way his breathing sort of hitched, that he is listening. Chen doesn't seem to understand and enquires about what I mean. I decide that it'd be best to just show him.
I raise a hand and open my palm out, closing my eyes to concentrate. I open them to see that flowers have now bloomed in the centre of my palm, their vines dropping to the floor, leaves still unfurling themselves. Like a hyper time-lapse of a plant growing.
Chen looks confused for a moment before frowning, "That doesn't exactly assure me that you can fight Cronus. What? Are you going to hand him a bouquet of flowers and he'll just obediently go back to Tartarus?"
I blush out of frustration and embarrassment. "No," I emphasise, almost wanting to face palm, "I was just simply showing you that I have as much power as any other god or goddess in the pantheon. That I can fight Cronus too." I close my palm and the flowers disappear in an instant. "This is just a snippet of the things I can do."
Kai finally looks up, "Yeah, she's telling the truth. I was dealt a pretty bad blow from Cronus last night and she managed to somehow completely heal me – more than what Apollo can do with medicine." He sounds resigned as he explains last night's situation to Zeus. The other god has worry etched all over his face as he listens.
"I suppose I shouldn't underestimate you," Chen contemplates, tapping his chin, "Then I will leave you to do the planning. We can communicate via this," he produces a mobile phone from his pockets and hands it to me, "Just press the speed dial 1 when you need to call me."
I take the phone and almost burst out laughing; it's such a modern object that I haven't seen in months, it feels somewhat comical to think that even the gods use this man-made object. "Seriously? A smartphone?"
"Yes, yes, laugh all you want, but with you having zero telepathic power, I have to give this to you," Chen shakes his head, "Unless you want to use birds or something? What are we in, the stone age or something? Of course not. So, a phone is the most convenient and fastest way for us to keep in touch."
I hold the phone tight and nod, "No problem. I suppose we'll keep in touch then," I say, as Chen waves goodbye and walks away. Once he has disappeared, I look at Kai. He's been silent for a while now. "What are you thinking about?" I ask.
"Nothing much. Now that we're to face Cronus, I'm thinking of giving you some training. You're skinny as a twig; how are you supposed to kick his ass with these thin arms and legs?" Kai replies, patting my leg.
"True, I haven't exercised in a while, nor am I the type who voluntarily goes to the gym," I hold out my arm and see the lack of muscles there, "Just go easy on me, alright?" Little did I know how hard it will be to have Kai as my personal trainer.