The ground shook and a deafening blast followed.
Chronos closed his eyes and covered his ears, in a futile attempt to protect himself.
When he peeked out with a single eye, he saw a whirlwind of dust and rubble surrounding him.
'I'm… Fine…??'
He muttered to himself.
He quickly patted himself down, checking if he was missing any limbs, and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized he was unharmed.
Suddenly, he pointed his stubby finger at the skies and screamed,
"HAH! LIGHTNING MY ASS! COME STRIKE ME DOWN ! I DARE YOU!"
Chronos then bent down, pointed his cute butt toward the sky and pulled down the back of his trousers to expose his supple butt cheeks.
As he started wobbling his butt, he turned his head toward the sky and stuck his tongue out.
"Blehhhh … That's what I thought! "
But as he taunted the heavens…
*RUMBLE* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
The menacing sea of gray clouds writhed with veins of crimson lightning, thunder rumbled malevolently, threatening to strike down at the insolent little child prince.
Chronos's bravado quickly turned to panic, and he muttered,
'Fuck… Fuck… Fuck…'
Chronos quickly pulled up his trousers and darted toward Grandmama.
Without warning, he dived under the skirt of the Empress Dowager's imperial gown.
Chronos's handsome baby face peeked out from the bottom of his Grandmama's dress and rolled his eyes at what he saw.
Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the storm cleared out almost instantaneously, revealing a brilliant blue sky that shone like a gem in the sunlight.
This picturesque view felt like a resounding slap on Chronos's face, the whistling breeze a cacophony of laughter and mockery at his cowardice.
Chronos however, ignored all of it.
He crawled out from beneath Grandmama's long dress, calmly wiped off the dust on his clothes, raised an arm and said,
"No need to thank me for rushing to your aid," he said.
"I promised to protect all of you, after all!"
Grandmama, " ???? "
Athena, " ???? "
Sophia, " ???? "
" *Ahem* So where were we… Yes! I've decided that I will become…"
Chronos snuck a peak at the sky above before continuing,
"... Strong!"
The three most important women in his life performed a synchronized eye roll, speechless at the shamelessness of the little prince.
Grandmama was the first to snap out of her shock, she warned sternly,
"Beware of the claims you make, especially when you are weak…"
Chronos's expression turned stern, his aura shifting as he gritted his teeth in defiance.
He glared up at the sky, a burning resolve taking hold.
This incident would plant the seeds of his morbid obsession for power.
"I know not who or what to enact my vengeance on,"
he declared,
"But I know that I must become stronger. The weak have no right to speak, and I have much to say!"
Sophia rushed to his side, embracing him warmly.
"Are you alright, baby brother?"
Athena gasped.
" Woah, I know you've taken after dad and all, but to actually be struck by lightning..."
" I wasn't joking when I said that it would be a perilous journey!"
Grandmama reiterated her warning.
"The path you are taking challenges..."
She said, looking upward and pointing to the sky.
Chronos drew a deep breath and spoke with more conviction.
" I don't really know how to feel about Mom and Dad yet. I mean… I've barely even met them. But as the only man left in the house, it's my duty to become strong enough to protect our family"
Athena smiled and rubbed the top of his head.
"Attaboy! Though that's sexist and we don't really need your protection. But it's always better to be strong rather than weak!"
She smirked,
"My suitors can form a line stretching all the way to the Kingdom of Dadirri and I can probably beat them all with one hand! Nothing's more unattractive than a weak man…. "
Athena abruptly cut herself off when she noticed Grandmama scowling at her.
Noticing Grandmama's change in expression, Sophia and Chronos looked at each other and started breaking out into a duet of muffled chuckles.
But the jovial atmosphere was short-lived as Grandmama's expression turned serious.
She grasped Chronos's shoulders and spoke firmly,
"Listen to me carefully, Chronos," she began.
"There is a war coming. It may be in a hundred years, or it may be in ten, but the peace we enjoy on Tertius now is but an illusion."
"There is much I'm prohibited from revealing but know this, the enemies that are to come dwarfs our current Empire of Astral to an unfathomable degree…"
Chronos's eyes widened with concern, and Athena interjected with her own question.
"Do the Technians have anything to do with this? What you said yesterday to Emperor Technia….."
"Yesterday?"
Chronos interrupted, curious.
"What happened?"
Athena briefly recounted how she stood up for Chronos by blasting at Zukun, how Grandmama crushed the mysterious veiled chuck of metal, threatening a DNSuit out of the Technian Emperor with her almighty black hole secret technique that Grandmama will VERY SOON teach her.
Chronos felt a warm rush of gratitude and pride wash over him as he listened to Athena and Grandmama recount their heroics in his defense.
Chronos felt lucky to have such fierce and protective women in his life.
His train of thought was interrupted by his Grandmama's shocking statement.
"The Technians are just tools of different external powers,"
Grandmama said,
"That's why I was content leaving with the DNSuit. Do not underestimate the Empire of Technia; even the Emperor is just a puppet."
Grandmama looked up to the sky and let out a sigh, and for the first time, Chronos noticed the fatigue behind her warm loving smile…
"Believe or not ~ even the powers behind Technia are but one of the many forces that threaten our existence…"
The weight of Grandmama's words hung heavily in the air, and all of them knew that the road ahead would be an arduous one.
They gazed up at the sky, their faces etched with weariness and worry, Chronos couldn't help but wonder if they were truly ready for what was to come…