“That’sthe first one? I thought the first one would be a bit milder, like envy or something…”
Cronus eyed the necklace at my throat. “There is nothing mild about the nine deadly sins. Not a single one of them. They actually get worse as they go on.”
I swallowed hard. “Noted.”
As Hound started to dig in one corner, Cronus took a step closer to me. “I want you to know that I don’t blame you. Not completely. If Thanatos would have told me Pandora’s Box was in that cave, I never would have taken the daughter of Selene there. You can’t help that your hair sheds like a dog.”
There was a nice sentiment in there somewhere … maybe.
“Thanks for that insight. About Selene … is she … alive?” He still hadn’t really explained how I was descended from her, outside of his amazing sarcasm about “not knowing by looking at me.”
I grew up with an amazing mother who died when I was seven, and now hearing that she might not be my “real mom” was unsettling. Was I adopted? Had it been my father who was somehow related to Selene? I mean, the father I knew was a complete loser, so it was hard to believe…
It was too much for mymostlyhuman brain to comprehend.
Cronus looked at me, his eyes softening. “Selene died a thousand years ago, the same time as the Titans. She used all of her magic in helping us create the box. Later, Zeus killed her for her treason.”
Anger flared inside of me. “Treason! Helping the Titans lock away all the bad shit in the world is treason?”
“To Zeus it was. Siding with the Titans in any way is a red line for him.”
“Well, he’s a douchebag.”
#Understatement
I shook my head. “So, if she’s been dead for a thousand years—”
Hound barked then, interrupting me before I could muse it through. There was no way Selene could be my mother though, right?
Cronus marched away before I could push further. I shelved the questions for later, focusing on the large hole the beast had dug.
Pulling up a white bone that looked like it might be from a finger … or a toe, maybe ... Cronus scowled. “I’m not going to enjoy this.”
Neither was I.
The god knelt down right there on the dirt floor and laid the bone on the ground.
He motioned me over. “I need your hair.”
I hesitated a moment before crossing the space and allowing Cronus to pull a few strands of my long white-blond hair.
“We’re lucky to have Selene’s magic on our side,” Cronus said to the room.
Was that a backhanded compliment towards me? Maybe? Did it cancel out me ending the world? Debatable.
He gingerly wrapped my hair around the bone and then placed both hands over it before looking up at me.
“Don’t be frightened if I pass out.”
My eyes bugged. “Then don’t pass out!”
Why would he pass out?
Then a burst of blue light shot from his palms and surrounded the bone.
“Rhea,” he whispered, “daughter of sky and earth, awaken from the underworld and enter Gaia once more.”
Arcs of blue light flared out like whips and I had to duck to avoid being hit by one. I’m not sure if it would do anything, but I didn’t want to find out.
