“There's the Moirai,” Hekate said. “But they don't have power over Time, only Fate.”
“Are they Primordials?” I asked.
“No; they're the daughters Chronos and Ananke,” Persephone said. “And they, like their father, take their job very seriously.”
“No kidding,” I said. “They've done a lot to help me in the past; I can't see them turning on me now.”
“No; they would never. If for no other reason than they believe you are integral to the future,” Re, said. “It can't be them.”
“There's the Titan Cronus,” Pan offered. “Similar sounding name as the Primordial, similar magic, but different spelling and different guy completely.”
“His power over time is more esoteric,” Hekate said. “Cronus represents the all-devouring force of time. Frankly, I've never seen him use his time magic, and I don't even know if there is a practical use for it.”
“Holy Hannibal Lecter!” Pan shouted as he stood up. “Aion! It's Aion!”
“I don't know if you can call Hannibal holy,” Finn whispered to Teharon—who chuckled.
“Who is Aion?” Huitzilopochtli, aka Blue, asked.
“Like eons of time?” Blue's wife, Eztli added.
“Precisely,” Hades said thoughtfully. “Aion is a god of time in the cyclical sense; eternity. He's also associated with the Zodiac and the Constellations.”
“Stars,” Odin murmured as he stroked a hand through the strip of starlight in my hair. “Interesting.”
“Hello? Is anyone listening to me?” Pan nearly screeched. “Aion is our guy. That jerk is just the type of god to use his magic for revenge.”
“But he wouldn't use it to avenge Nyx,” Hekate pointed out. “Aion is too selfish for that.”
“He wouldn't be doing it for Nyx,” Pan huffed. “What's wrong with you people? Don't you remember who his father is? Aion's real father; not just the father of his magic.”
Hades' face fell into a horrified expression.
“Who's his father?” I asked.
“Well, it's not Darth Vader,” Pan said. “But he is your nemesis, at least in our pantheon.”
“My nemesis?” I scowled.
“Zeus!” Torrent shouted with his bright green eyes focused on the air before him. “Aion's father is Zeus!”
“Talk about ruining my delivery.” Pan grimaced as he plopped back into his seat. “No fair; using your instant Internet access to look shit up.”
“Your delivery was taking far too long,” Horus pointed out to Pan. “I've told you before how annoying that is.”
“That's only because I try to be annoying when I do it to you,” Pan shot back.
“Zeus—the god we defeated twice—is the father of a god of time?” Brahma asked slowly.
“Yep,” Morpheus confirmed.
“Can we just get to the facts?” Toby asked reasonably. “What can this god do?”
Toby, my most recently acquired boyfriend, was a lot like his mother, Mrs. E. He was calm, collected, and good at smoothly directing us back to the important subjects. His twin brother, Naye, was his opposite, but Naye wasn't with us today.
“I'm not certain,” Hades said. “Hekate, do you know?”
“I believe Aion can circle back through time, but there are limits.” Hekate frowned pensively. “I think he can only go back to a certain point once, and he cannot do anything that will have a disastrous effect on the cycle of time; it goes against his magic, and so his magic will prevent it.”
