Grandmama said lovingly still crouched in front of Chronos,
" I just want you to know that it is perfectly ok to be an average Prince, there's absolutely nothing wrong with leading a peaceful and exuberant existence without a worry in the world with us as your shield!"
Chronos instinctively started recollecting his life on Earth in his Pre-Birth Simulation.
He saw every minute detail of every droplet of blood, every tear and every stroke that painted the story of choked desolation.
Lost in the background of gray, with brush strokes so cruel, he stood surrounded in shadows alone.
Loomed over by his mother's soulless eyes, no tears, no pain, just a numb gaze of hopelessness.
As the memories flooded his mind, he felt a piercing pain in his brain.
Vorta's cursed energy had been lying dormant within him all this while, waiting for a trigger to awaken it. And this sudden onslaught of painful memories was just the trigger it needed to strike at his consciousness.
Chronos could feel the energy coursing through his body, twisting and turning his thoughts until they were almost unrecognizable.
In that moment, it was as if a switch had been flipped, a malevolent darkness started creeping out the depths of his consciousness, like a shadow slowly devouring his soul.
As Vorta's cursed energy struck Chronos's consciousness, the darkness within Chronos began to stir, its tendrils wrapping themselves around his thoughts like a serpent coiling around its prey.
He could feel its icy grip tightening around his heart, squeezing the life out of him with each passing moment.
But as the two energies clashed, a fierce battle erupted between them, each vying for dominance over Chronos's psyche.
The cursed energy burned hot and bright, crackling with a fierce intensity, while the darkness smoldered and pulsed with a sickly, oily quality.
The two energies clashed and seethed, their struggles echoing through the depths of Chronos's mind.
For what seemed like an eternity, the battle raged on, neither side gaining the upper hand.
Both malevolent ethereal entities seemed to cancel each other out, but their war left Chronos drained and disoriented…
Suddenly…
*SMACK*
Out of nowhere, Chronos felt a sudden, sharp smack on the back of his head.
"Helloooo... Tertius to Chronos~ Grandmama asked you a serious question!"
Athena stood tall, her face stern but with a glimmer of excitement in her eyes.
She relished the opportunity to discipline her newborn brother.
'HMPH! One Sophia is enough... Now we've got another smart ass in the family! I better set the sibling chain-of-command in stone while Chronos is still young...'
Athena thought to herself, bathing in self-satisfaction. as her baby brother stood obediently, eyes widened in shock and fear.
Athena misunderstood Chronos's shock for respect for her authority as the eldest sister. But Chronos was still reeling from the near-consumption by the darkness within him.
Chronos stood there with cold sweat trickling down his back.
He gasped in fear at what had almost transpired, shocked that the darkness and anguish he thought he had been liberated from was just … suppressed.
'Fucks sake… I knew something felt off…'
'And I thought I had magically been freed from the scars of my dark past…'
'WTF was that?'
Chronos pondered in worry.
Still, the terror lingered in his mind, as he pondered what had just happened. He had thought he had escaped his past, thought he had been liberated from the scars that haunted him.
But now he knew better.
The darkness was always there, lurking in the depths of his consciousness, waiting for the right moment to strike.
And ironically, the thing that saved him was Vorta's curse and Athena's smack.
"Athena! How could you hit our baby brother so hard! Look! He's still in a daze!"
Sophia chided, her amiable angelic persona instantly transformed into an overbearing protective sister.
Chronos rubbed the back of his head, still feeling the sting of Athena's smack.
He looked up at his family, feeling a rush of love and gratitude despite the pain.
Chronos couldn't help but grin, feeling the tension from earlier dissipate.
He took a deep breath, jumped onto his chair, looked upon the 3 pairs of confused gazes, patted his chest twice and declared,
"I may still be small, but… I WILL PROTECT ALL OF YOU!"
As soon as the echoes of Chronos's exclamation trailed off, Athena broke out in laughter,
"HAHAHA… Big words for a baby! Do you think you'd be able to surpass your two genius sisters who have 100 years on you?"
"Hmph! speak for yourself…. I'm only 21 !"
Sophia grunted.
"Bitch ! we agreed never to speak about age!"
Athena shouted.
"I just didn't want our dear baby brother to mistake me for being an old hag…"
Sophia taunted, pulling one eye down and sticking her tongue out.
Chronos jumped off my chair before the fight between his sisters broke out.
He jutted his chest out, arms akimbo and struck a herculean pose, or whatever the five-year old equivalent is, and snorted,
" The weight of a man is measured by what he pursues! Don't really know what it means yet, but one day soon enough, I will reign Supreme even amongst the gods!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, the world fell into a shrine-still silence.
Chronos looked up towards the sky, only to be met with a foreboding sight.
Like a tightening noose, it was coiling in on itself, purring with a suppressed rage.
*Rumble* *Rumble* *Rumble*
Dark-gray clouds pregnant with malice glared back onto him balefully, threatening impending doom.
Splayed lightning writhed through the moiling sky like the ruinous cracks on crumbling mortar.
A single pronounced vein of arcane lightning, blazed out in the sky.
A blinding flash made his heart skip a beat.
Then, a sonic boom ruptured the eerie silence, and Chronos raised his arms in defense, just as a golden spear of the Apocalypse shot straight at him.
*BOOOOOMMM!*