The Death of Time

Trapped in memories and nightmares...

Ananke didn't realize that she wasn't conscious until she saw Chronos walk past her. She also didn't recognize the streets as belonging to Greece instead of Rome, but it didn't matter to her. Like before, the statues were no longer frozen in tableau, instead prowling to life and moving about, as real as she was, and as substantial as the Father of Time striding down the road ahead of her. And even though she had believed the impulse to be as long dead as her other emotions, curiosity propelled Ananke down the road behind him, wanting to know whose mind they were in today. Though the setting suggested that they were in his mind, she couldn't shake the feeling that things were not that simple.

The city around them was eerily quiet, not a breath of wind to break the oppressive silence and even though the mythical creatures of his world moved about her, they made no hiss or growl that she could hear. It was strangely like being buried under snow, where all vibrations and sounds are muffled and aborbed before it could carry to the human ear. But despite the silence, or maybe in fact due to it, her body was tense and her instincts screaming that she could not let Chronos escape from her visions.

It wasn't a simple task, running on a parallel next to the handsome figure of Chronos was a Chimera. It's three seperate heads each demanding attention and making Ananke wish she could stop and inspect it. The snake head tail looked as if it watched her as she tracked the man they both followed, her tongue flickering out but no sibilant sound reaching Ananke's ears. The lioness body prowled around the streets they scrambled across with the grace of a natural predator, and even though a goat's head protruded from the Chimera's back, the creature never looked unnatural. Ananke had never seen anything like it outside of murals and computer graphics, but her own strange heritage resonated that this was a true creature, and not just a figment of madness.

When the Chimera silently snorted and flames danced around the mouths, Ananke started in astonishment, almost forgetting to follow Chronos. Deep down inside, a part of her wished that she could just stay here, even if it was trapped inside Chronos' mind, because this fantastic place was like nothing she had lived through before and safe from her memories. Picking up the pace as Chronos turned a corner and started to distance himself away, even though he hadn't noticed her following, Ananke let her peripheral vision track the curiosity of the Chimera.

But when she rounded the simple street corner and saw the Colesium, not as it is in modern time but as it was in it's full glory, she stopped in her tracks. Her breath caught and the only reason she didn't lose sight of Chronos entirely was because he had stopped as well. But while Ananke stood rigid in surprise and awe, his shoulders were bowed under an invisible weight, grief etching his handsome face.

*~~*

Hades stared at Nyx as the daughter of Chaos puttered around her home, as at ease as if they were all long time friends. It wasn't as if she were the enemy, but Hades was cautious around few men and even fewer women and Nyx was on the short list of those that scared the daylights out of him. He simply did not know all of what she was capable of, the night was her domain and the rumours of her true power only made him more cautious instead of reckless.

"Can I ask why you brought us here, and how you expected us?" Herald asked politely, his voice and body language giving no sign that the change in plans bothered him at all. He was just accepting the new situation and dealing with it as if the fate of Time itself didn't hang in the balance. It was making Hades wish he could just leave now, before things got inevitably worse.

Nyx looked at Herald and it was clear with the focus of her eyes that she saw more than simply the man's surface, his smiling ease. Hades shuddered as he realized that she saw the man, as if his abilities and potential, dreams and nightmares were all there for her to see as others would read a list from a book. It terrified him that she would turn that knowing gaze at him and see all the secrets and shames that stained his soul. "Mortal soul within an immortal form... my Oneiroi children told me to expect you." her voice was serene, as if telling them that her god children of Dreams spying on their little group wasn't eerie news.

"How many gods can we expect to be aiding us thus?" Hades spoke before he realized that the question he meant to ask himself was said outloud. Nyx turned her fathomless eyes on him and he felt rooted to the spot, understanding the term 'turned to stone' like none other than one of Medusa's victims would.

"They don't act out of compassion for the plight that this woman will experience. Instead out of the necessity of preservation. Chronos has very little in the way of supporters here. Something you know well and were smart to plan in accordance to. However, he's not the only one with foresight. Others see that the forks of the future, the possible paths are all converging into two options. Success or failure. And none know which is the likely path. My Keretes and Moirai love him not and in fact, they revel and dance with the joy of his possible ending. Chronos was judged guilty for striking down his wife Rhea, although his actions were necessary, they still wish to punish him for it. But Philotes has extended her offer of help, which is the wont of her nature." Nyx explained, her voice melodius and slightly hypnotic.

With most of the Greek pantheon, they weren't really able to affect each other, and even though Hades was the King of Tartarus and the Underworld, he still felt Nyx' ability to wrap him in her spell. "You speak in riddles, mother of the night." Hades said, once again his mouth speaking the words his mind meant to keep hidden.

"She speaks plain, you just refuse to look beneath her words." Herald chided from his position near the slumbering Ananke and her passenger. The immortal man still held the tiny woman's hand lightly, seeming loath to release her and lose his sensations again.

"And what is it that I'm being too dense to see?" Hades demanded, finding his control restored and the flowerly language eliminated if he focused his attention on the other man and Ananke. Or maybe that was just Ananke's ability to make things different than they were supposed to be affecting him. She was beyond the Veil now, her latent power might be stronger here.

"That we'll get reluctant help from those that want order and Time to survive. And active interferance from those that relish the chaos. Which begs the question, why is the daughter of Chaos assisting us?" Herald replied, his hand stroking the back of Ananke's in his grip.

Nyx didn't give an answer to their god nor immortal man, instead her attention drawn to Ananke's still form. "She has a fascinating mind. A fracture that splits her but not along the fault lines she expects. She is inevitability, neither Chaos nor Order. Catalyst, catastrophe and change, all the impulses I mother and father. The mortal imbodiment of the crucible we find ourselves in. And her battles have already begun. You would stand as her guard and you as her guide. But neither one of you can follow her on the path she has to follow."

"Her battle has already begun? What have you done to her?" Hades demanded, and despite his respect for and fear of Nyx and her unknown powers, he stepped forward as if he could threaten her.

And he saw something on Nyx's face that made his immortal heart throb painfully and his hot blood run ice cold; he saw sadness and compassion in her eyes. "I'm helping bring them face to face. They need to come together and that means finding a common ground. And a common enemy." she said sadly.

"Who did you put in her head with them?" Herald demanded, seeming to understand Nyx in a way Hades clearly didn't.

"Eris and she brings the Erinyes." Nyx said and Hades groaned.

~**~

Ananke hesitated, wondering how volatile Chronos would be if he realized she was following him through his mind as he had strolled through hers. But the grief on his face resonated with the broken part of her soul, pulling forward an all but forgotten compassion. Her hand reached out and touched the god's shoulder softly, falling away almost as soon as she realized that her feet had taken her over without conscience direction from her mind.

Chronos turned a snarling face at her, the grief she had seen earlier still etched in the lines of his face, obliterating his normally handsome features and morphing them into something grotesque. And before she could step away and give him the space he so clearly demanded, she spoke. "You're not alone. Whatever it is, even as aggravating as you are, I agreed to be here and help you."

He stared at her, eyes burning with a resentful anger, his mouth twisted around a snarl and his body language knotted with conflict. But he didn't lash out with anger like she expected. He glared at her and even looked like he was going to strike out at  her, but didn't. Like everything else about this strange place, he remained silent, as if kept from noise.

Ananke frowned as she realized that although they were in his mind, he was forced into the role of witness and spectator once more. She didn't understand why the universe seemed to conspire to force this powerful man to submit, but she was starting to understand some of his constant anger. She was used to making her own decisions, something Chronos was clearly accustomed to as well, and it would have spiked her ire back when her emotions were close to the surface. Now though, she wouldn't know what to do with anger, even the brief wonder this strange setting allowed her was faded and distant.

Before they could continue their awkard, one sided dialogue, Ananke finally caught the distant sounds of something else.  It was a strange combination of the sounds of something or things approaching, and a chittering of many voices whispering nearly in unison. Come to us.... guilty.... judges.... bear your blame.... feel the pain you deserve...

"This cannot be good." Ananke whispered softly, standing beside Chronos and knowing that the whispered threats were speaking to him and not her.

Next to her, Chronos shook his head, as if trying to cast off the voices calling him onwards. But his feet shuffled forwards, his body seeming to be compelled and Ananke walked next to him. He might insult her, batter them both with his anger and pain and generally act like an ungrateful lout. But she wouldn't condemn him to face this alone, even in the supposed security of his own mind. Something was telling her that just because his body was locked away and safe elsewhere, did not mean he could not suffer. And a part of Ananke was not alright with that thought at all.