Chapter 90: Kronos Defeated

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

Zoe is having a difficult time~

-x-X-x-

"But my Goddess, the Prophecy-!"

"I understand, Zoe. You've told me the Prophecy. You've told me what happened. And I've given you your orders all the same. I will not have you sacrifice yourself for this. Another way will reveal itself. Just stay calm and await my commands."

"… As you say, Goddess."

Even as she clings to Percy's enlarged form alongside Bianca and Thalia, the words that Zoe and her Goddess had exchanged to one another ring through her head. How can they not? Finally, at long last, Zoe had a chance to talk to Lady Artemis again. She had a chance to explain and to warn the Goddess of the Moon what had happened and what Fate might have in store for them.

Zoe didn't really believe that they'd settled that part of the prophecy solely by her doing Percy a 'service' by not killing the Ophiotaurus. Especially not when the damn thing had gone and gotten captured anyways and ultimately died. It just didn't make sense. It was too flimsy.

And that meant Lady Artemis was still in danger. Even more so now that Percy was no longer a demigod too. He was a full-fledged god now, one that had apparently drained the power of her father to boot. The Titan of Endurance was no more, his entire being usurped by Percy Jackson in a coup de grace.

Zoe… didn't feel particularly bad about that, truth be told. Atlas might have been her father, but he hadn't ever really acted like it. It had been a long time, thousands of years in fact, since Zoe had truly considered Atlas as anything but the enemy.

In the end, his death was his own fault in a very literal fashion anyways. Because from what Zoe understood, Percy wouldn't have even known how to drain Atlas of his power if not for the Titans' plans to have him do the same to a number of Goddesses.

Even still, Zoe tries not to pay too much attention to how big and strong Percy is now. Or how good his back muscles feel under her as she holds onto him. They make good time to the coast at least, and with how fast they're moving, there's not much room for talking.

The trip down the Mountain and all the way to the Ocean, which probably should have taken hours, instead takes about fifteen minutes. Percy moves with unerring focus too, until eventually they arrive at the harbor where what can only be Luke Castellan's ship is docked. It's impossible to miss it all things considered, because it's a damn cruise ship, massive and white and very, very blatant.

As Percy finally slows to a stop, Zoe expects him to want to make a plan after he sets them all down on the ground. Bianca and Thalia are a lot more unsteady than she is, Zoe notices, even as she finds her footing quite easily and plants her hands on her hips.

"What… what is the plan, Lord Percy?"

Blinking down at her, Percy frowns as he shrinks back down to his original size. And yet, the golden glow in his eyes doesn't go away and despite his shocking control over his divine aura, Zoe can sense it all the same thanks to her non-human heritage and long life as one of Artemis' Hunters.

"… Don't call me that. Just call me Percy."

Zoe grimaces at that.

"That wouldn't be appropriate. You're a God now. I may be sworn to Lady Artemis, but respect still has to be shown."

Before Percy can respond, the others speak up, Thalia going first with a wide grin.

"Makes sense to me. Guess we're dating a Lord now, eh Bianca?"

Blushing a bit, but also smiling slightly, Bianca giggles and bats her lashes teasingly.

"We're at your disposal, my Lord~"

Far from being displeased or jumping to the conclusion that they're having a laugh purely at his expense… Percy chuckles in response. Zoe knows gods who would have smote for less mocking than this, but then… Percy has never been very normal, even in the short time she's had to know him.

Still, Zoe tries her best to get things back on track, namely by voicing the same question as before.

"How would you like us to infiltrate the ship, Lord Percy?"

Straightening up and growing more serious, Percy looks over at the ship in question.

"Luke called it the Princess Andromeda… hm, I can sense a lot of monsters still onboard."

Yes, so could Zoe. Her hunter's senses were tingling, letting her know that there was a mass concentration of 'danger' on the cruise ship before them. Whatever they were here to do, it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. That's why Zoe figured they should probably take things slow, make sure to do this right, and-!

Suddenly, Percy's hand taps her head, as well as Bianca and Thalia. A sliver of his golden aura flows over them, granting them the same strength and power that they'd had while fighting Atlas' forces up on the Mountain.

"Watch each other's backs, alright? And follow closely behind me."

Wait, what? Before Zoe can do more than blink at Percy's commands… the newborn god throws himself forward. At least Bianca and Thalia both let out noises of outrage too as Percy lands on the deck of the cruise ship and lets out a bellowing challenge, stomping his foot and sending out a wave of his power in all directions.

"Follow closely behind him?! Asshole knows we can't jump that high, right?!"

Zoe snorts in amusement at Thalia's words, even as the three of them move forward to enter the cruise ship via a more conventional route. Even though they've been separated from Percy for the moment however… it doesn't really feel like it. With his power hanging over them like marital shrouds and Percy himself just a few hundred feet above their heads, its impossible to truly feel abandoned.

They face some monsters as they ascend through the decks of the cruise ship, though nothing that gives them any trouble. Most of the biggest threats have no doubt gone up to the top deck to fight Percy, drawn by his verbose challenge.

Those that wind up facing Zoe's bow, Bianca's sword, and Thalia's spear are the stragglers, cowards, and weaklings. And between the three of them and Percy's power, not a single monster that crosses their path survives.

To be fair… it's not exactly right to call Percy a 'newborn god'. Not really. He might have been on his way to godhood before, and if he'd reached divinity naturally then sure he would have been weaker and fallen under the status of 'newborn' for sure. But that hadn't been how things panned out, not really.

Percy had taken two massive, ancient sources of power into himself both on his way to godhood and straight after his ascension. First was the willing sacrifice of the Ophiotaurus, which was said to have the ability to give the power to topple Mount Olympus to anyone who sacrificed it. Of course, nobody had known that it could simply choose to sacrifice itself. Zoe had her suspicions about whether that made the power Percy had been given even stronger… maybe 'purer' in a way.

But then straight after that, Percy had also subsumed Atlas and that… that catapulted him into the stratosphere when it came to divine power. He was now easily among the likes of his own father, Hades, and Zeus in terms of power. He was stronger than most of the gods and goddesses upon Mount Olympus. He was stronger than Zoe's goddess.

That's why she was so afraid about how this all might end. Swearing service to the one misdeemed… Zoe didn't want her Goddess to think she had to do that just to stay Percy's wrath. She didn't want Lady Artemis to give up everything to shield her and her fellow hunters from their mistakes…

Even as Zoe finds herself with these conflicting thoughts, her aim is true and her hold on her bow is strong. Frankly, she's never felt stronger thanks to Percy's assistance, and she easily kills a number of monsters from a distance before Thalia or Bianca can even close the gap between them.

Eventually, the three of them all make their way up through the ship, finding after a certain point that they are in fact following 'closely behind' Percy. They might have started from the bottom and he from the top deck, but after defeating the strongest monsters guarding the Princess Andromeda, Percy had descended below deck.

Its that path of destruction that they find and follow, until eventually they arrive at the new god's back to find him standing in a large room. Dominating the center of the room is a golden sarcophagus with depictions of awful atrocities engraved on its faces.

Zoe blinks as she sees the last of what look to be several monsters fleeing to the sarcophagus. As they touch it, there's a flash of energy and they disappear into golden dust. The sarcophagus… is surrounded by hills of golden dust, showing just how many monsters have touched it in recent times.

Percy holds up a hand to urge them all to stop… and then glances to Bianca in particular.

"Riptide, please."

Without hesitation, the Daughter of Hades nods and hands over the Celestial Bronze Sword. In Percy's hands, Riptide grows larger and glows brighter, filling with his godly power. At the same time… the sarcophagus shakes… and then cracks down the middle, before exploding violently.

Percy shields them all with his body and power, allowing for Zoe to see exactly what awaits them once the dust settles. Rising from the ruins of the sarcophagus is an amalgamation of human and monster, missing parts of itself while having too many of other things like eyes and mouths and hands.

There are literal holes throughout the creature, some of them big enough to see through as it shuffles forward and snarls angrily.

"TOO SOON, PERCY JACKSON! YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON! WHY HAVE YOU DONE THIS?! I OFFERED YOU EVERYTHING AND YOU SPIT IN MY FACE!"

A wave of sheer malevolence pulses out of the amalgamation, nearly knocking Zoe, Bianca, and Thalia off their feet. It's a testament to this thing's power that Percy can't even fully protect them from it either, his aura forced to focus on defending him above all else.

And yet… he's the God of Endurance now. He endures. One foot in front of the other, Percy approaches the creature standing amidst the ruins of the broken sarcophagus.

"You offered me nothing but a collar, Kronos. You offered me servitude. I refused. Really… you should have seen this coming."

"YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU AND YOUR LITTLE LOVERS!"

This was Kronos?! This was the Crooked One?! No… it couldn't be. Or at least, it wasn't how he'd wanted things to go based on what he was saying. From the sound of things, this wasn't what was supposed to happen. This wasn't Kronos' plan for coming back from being cut into a hundred different pieces and shoved into Tartarus.

"You'll try."

With a roar that echoes from a dozen differently shaped mouths, the Titan of Time's botched resurrection lashes out with a huge arm, right in Percy's direction. At the same time though, more tendrils whip across the floor, moving around Percy on either side and aiming… for them. Zoe clenches her jaw and draws another arrow, ready to defend herself. Thalia and Bianca also prepare themselves, even though the latter is unarmed now.

None of them wind up having to do anything though. Percy swings… and Riptide flows like water rather than the sword it should be. The Celestial Bronze Blade whips through the air and cuts across the entirety of where Percy stands, slicing not just the arm aiming to crush him, but also the tendrils aiming to strike out at them.

Kronos screams in agony, rearing back in pain, and Percy launches himself forward. What follows can only be described as a beat down. This isn't like when Percy fought Atlas and Zoe had to take the burden from Lady Artemis so they could tackle the Titan of Endurance together. Kronos isn't nearly at full power here. Meanwhile, Percy is more powerful than ever.

He rips and tears through the collection of monster and human parts that Kronos is possessing with a ferocity that goes entirely unmatched by his opponent. And in the end… the creature lays on the floor among the fragments of the sarcophagus it was birthed from, while Percy stands over it, hands curled into fists.

"WILL YOU CONSUME ME NOW AS WELL, PERCY JACKSON?! YOU DARE NOT! YOU WILL CHOKE ON MY POWER!"

Kronos' voice is still loud but has clearly lessened in volume considerably at this point. He's weak. He's… defeated. Zoe can hardly believe it. Though, she feels a tendril of fear at the thought of Percy taking everything Kronos has as he did Atlas. What will he become then? Who will be able to stop him? She-!

"I don't want your power, Kronos. I just want this to end. So I'm ending it, here and now. You are no King, Titan of Time. You are no monarch. You have lost… I strip you of your divine right to rule."

Percy's voice is almost soft as he hands down his verdict. Zoe's eyes widen as Kronos howls. Could Percy do that? Just… strip the Titan King of his title? What would that even do to someone like Kronos? Apparently, for something in his state… quite a lot.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Kronos' denial is the last thing any of them hear from him as the amalgamation dissolves and he's sent back from whence he came. The Titan of Time, reduced to nothing in the bowels of Tartarus once more. Except this time, he could no longer lay claim to kinghood. The God of Kings had stripped that right from him.

What did it mean? Zoe didn't fully know or understand, but she did know one thing… this might be her only chance to take matters into her own hands. Here and now, in the midst of Percy's victory… she could safeguard her Goddess against the possibility of something more… permanent.

Or she could follow Lady Artemis' Will and leave it be. But how can Zoe just allow her Mistress to fall under Percy's sway? Sure, he's not a bad man and hopefully he won't be a bad god either… but Zoe knows her Goddess prizes her independence above all else.

And all Zoe needs to do to ensure Artemis remains independent is take a step forward… and bend the knee.

-x-X-x-

The Vote:

[ ] Zoe breaks from Artemis and swears herself to Percy right then and there - 23%[X] She can't do it, she can't betray her Goddess so in the end she holds her tongue - 77%

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