Cronus was apparently more switched on, because I could feel the sudden tension in his body. “You helped her release me,” he said softly, understanding dawning in his gaze. “You knew the sins were about to be freed and you needed me out of the prison to contain them.”
The third and final, who hadn’t spoken yet, nodded. “Yes, the hands of time wait for no one, and the world will be cleansed. But balance … it must be maintained. You are the balance.” Her face whipped around—far too fast for her age—in my direction. “Daughter of Selene.”
Some of it was making sense to me now. “You orchestrated it so that I was alive to release Cronus, so that I would cut my hand and open the portal? That I would set the sins in motion…”
Because the world needed cleansing, but it also needed balance?
#Wtf #Halp
Clotho spoke again. “You are now and always will be the power needed to change the world for the better. Your tapestry … it is woven in long arcs. In some, you do not survive”–#ouch—“but in others, you are the only reason everyone else survives.”
Clotho nodded. “We simply encouraged you on your path. This was always the way things would be. Destiny.”
Me? A savior of the world? No way. Her old eyesight needed to be checked. My tapestry was full of fuck ups. Hearing that Cronus and my meeting was destined made my stomach do flip flops and I was pretty sure this time, it wasn’t the plague.
I wanted to ask more questions, but in that moment, the sickness inside of me decided to rear its ugly head and another coughing fit sent me to the ground. I hugged myself around Cronus, barely hearing as he cursed the Fates, and demanded they give him the right path to saving me.
“No,” one of them said, as I heaved for air. “We cannot change her fate. We can only weave more chances for you to help her. You must make the right choice and decide for yourself. This is as much about you, Cronus, as it is about her. Your fates are forever intertwined.”
Luckily, I was too sick to truly stress at this point. #WeaveAwayBitches
Everything went a little blurry and gray around the edges of my vision and I let myself collapse, trying desperately to suck air in and out to keep those lungs working. Staying alive was my only priority.
“So hot,” I mumbled, because I felt like my skin was burning off my body.
I flinched when cool hands touched my face, and then I was being lifted, a blurry cave flashing before my eyes.
“Hound, stay here!” Cronus barked and then did his god thing and took us somewhere, and it was bright and warm, which made me scream as it tortured my already tortured body. “No, leave me to die,” I cried. This was some accelerated shit going on in my body. What had once been nausea and vomiting was now something inside of me, liquefying my bones.
“Never going to happen, sweetheart,” he said, and I could have sworn that I felt a brush of his lips on my burning cheek. “I refuse to let you die.”
I admired that level of determination, but unfortunately, as the Fates pointed out to him, my path was set. Unless we did something to change my circumstances, I would not make it out alive. Why did he want me to live so badly anyway? Probably because we were bound and he feared his own death with mine. Although my heart wanted another reason … somewhere along the way, between the insults and name calling, I’d glimpsed something in Cronus that was softer, more lovable.
Suddenly we were at a bright blue-painted door. The symbol of a staff of a snake wound around it. “No.” I squirmed. Snakes were bad. This was probably some voodoo shit that would melt my insides faster than they already were.
We hadn’t yet reached the diarrhea portion of this plague, but I knew it was coming and I refused for Cronus to see it.
“Asclepius! Open the door!” Cronus banged loudly and I winced against the sound.
Everything was too bright, too loud, and way too painful.
The door sprang open and standing there was a golden goddess.
#WhyWereTheseBitchesSoPretty
“Cronus! What?” She gasped, looking at my limp form in his arms.
“Panacea, where is your father? Sickness has been released and this is the daughter of Selene. She needs a healer.”
Her mouth popped open, brows knitting together. “My father? He sided with the Titans. Zeus killed him right after you were imprisoned.”
Cronus collapsed against the wall. “Motherfucker!”
I grinned. “I taught … him that.” My voice felt weak. Everything felt weak.
“Come in.” She waved us inside before turning on a TV set.
“Watch,” she told my giant man god.
