PJO: Son of a Primordial

{Tartarus, Unknown Time}

Kronos POV

The shards of the shadow dome rained down around me, a testament to my triumph. I had done it. I had killed Odysseus, that insufferable thorn in my side, now vanquished for eternity.

The satisfaction coursed through me like ichor, but I knew better than to revel in it for too long. Things had gone awry, yes, but the end result was what mattered. I stood victorious, and the future was ripe for the taking.

I looked down at the Master Bolt still crackling in my grasp, its raw power sending shivers of anticipation through my body. The Olympians were bereft of their mightiest weapon, and I held it in my very hands. Oh, how the tides had turned.

 The war between those petty gods would begin soon enough, a conflict that would serve my purposes beautifully. More demigods would flock to my banner, seeing me as the lesser evil in a world torn asunder by their divine parents' squabbles.

Time. Time was on my side now, ironic as it may seem. Time for monsters to reform and join my ranks once more. Time to free my brothers from their eternal prisons and aid my sisters in breaking their own chains. Eighty long years of meticulous planning had finally borne fruit, and the taste was sweeter than ambrosia.

My gaze drifted towards the gaping hole in the ceiling of Tartarus, where the Hundred-Handed One still peered down, fear etched into every one of his numerous faces. I couldn't help but smirk at his terror. Then, I turned my attention back to the pit itself, to the primordial god whose realm I had been trapped in for millenia. Tartarus seemed to be catching his breath, the very air around him rippling with barely contained fury. I had no intention of overstaying my welcome and testing the limits of his patience, Odysseus had pulled quite a number on the primordial of the Abyss.

In a flash of golden light, Luke materialized at my side. The remnants of my power still coursed through his mortal form, a distasteful but necessary precaution. He had been my failsafe, my vessel if all else had failed. But now, he would serve a different purpose.

"Let's go," I growled, seizing him by the scruff of his neck. With a thought, we were airborne, rocketing towards the opening above. In mere seconds, we burst forth from the bowels of the earth, free from Tartarus' grasp and back upon the skin of my mother, Gaia. The rush of power I felt at that moment was indescribable, like a starving man finally tasting food after an eternity of famine.

I turned to face the Hundred-Handed One, his multitude of eyes wide with a mix of awe and terror. "You have played your role well," I said, my voice dripping with false gratitude. "However, treason must always be punished."

Before he could utter a single word in his defense, I lashed out with my scythe. The celestial bronze blade sang through the air, cleaving him in twain. In an instant, the ancient being dissolved into a cloud of golden dust, scattered to the winds by my will alone. One less loose end to worry about.

"Where to now?" Luke asked, his hand instinctively moving to Backbiter's hilt. The boy was eager, I'd give him that.

A grin spread across my face, cold and calculating. "We find donors," I replied, hefting the Master Bolt. It crackled to life once more, its divine energy shattering the nearby walls of the Labyrinth. That twisted maze would prove useful in the coming days. I made a mental note to send scouts to map its ever-changing passages. My forces would need to move swiftly and secretly in the days to come.

With a thought, we were airborne once more, bursting through the walls of our earthly prison and into the open sky. I savored the feeling of true freedom, grateful that my father no longer held sway over this domain.

The old fool Ouranos would have sensed my presence immediately, but Zeus? Zeus was weak, distracted, and riddled with more faults than any divine being I had ever encountered. His blindness would be his undoing.

Luke gaped at the world around us, his mortal eyes struggling to comprehend the sheer vastness of it all. I could see the awe written plainly on his face, an expression I would need him to inspire in the demigods we would soon recruit. We soared through the air at impossible speeds, our destination clear in my mind: the headquarters of Triumvirate Holdings.

There, I would secure the funding necessary for my grand designs, as well as three more pawns to manipulate in this cosmic chess game. The mortals below remained blissfully unaware of our passage, their feeble minds clouded by the Mist. Speaking of which, I made a mental note to secure Hecate's allegiance in the coming war. Her mastery over the Mist would prove invaluable.

In a matter of minutes, we descended upon the Triumvirate Holdings building. I cloaked us both in Mist, rendering us invisible to mortal and immortal eyes alike. My helm glowed dimly, its power of intangibility spreading to encompass Luke as well. We phased through the ceiling, entering a opulent boardroom that reeked of mortal hubris and divine ambition.

Three throne-like chairs dominated the space, though only the central seat was occupied. A logo featuring a golden triangle on a field of purple adorned the wall behind them, a symbol of power that paled in comparison to my own.

The figure seated before us was young, slender, and lithe. He exuded an aura of dangerous charm, handsome in a thin, angular way, though his ears protruded a bit too prominently for my taste. His smile was a twisted thing, too thin and sharp, like the edge of a knife. Placid brown eyes, set slightly too far apart, regarded us with a mixture of curiosity and barely concealed hunger.

Caligula. One of the three god-emperors, a name too worthy for someone of their place, glorified mortals that is what they truly were..

"Welcome, Lord Kronos," he purred, his voice dripping with false subservience. "I see that your plan has fared well."

I met his gaze, unflinching. "It has, Caligula. Now, the time has come for you to make your choice. Join me, god-emperor, and I shall deliver unto you and your kin, the greatness you so desperately crave."

His eyes widened, before a smile was formed, sly and dangerous I knew he would most likely not bend to my will not truly, a mortal willing to become a god was always dangerous and one that had done so by himself was even more so, still for now I needed him, but once we were finished I would dispose of them, unworthy of the divinity they had gained.

He spoke once more to my words, "Of course Lord Kronos, I hadn't thought of anything else."

"Good," I replied to the false god. "Luke, find your way back to Camp Half-Blood and gather support, don't use planes, and don't let Chiron that horsebreed see you, understand."

"Yes, Lord Kronos."

"I will make an arrangement with my kin, so they come and meet you, Lord Kronos," Caligula said, placing his hand on his thin pointy chin. Luke started to walk towards the elevator at the far end of the room, ready to go to his camp once more.

I however stayed in the room, freezing time around me, the air solidifying into the shape of a throne, stopped in time, I sat on it and looked downward at Caligula, placing my weapons on my throne's armrests.

 I started to think about the fastest ways to bring my kin out of Tartarus or release them from their shackles. The game was afoot, and I intended to savor every moment of it.

After all, I had all the time in the world.

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