The Death of Time

... Wounds all Healing

A/N: Pic to the side is Hades played by Jason Momoa

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On the edge of sanity and destiny...

Ananke was sitting on the couch, sipping tea and talking directly to her minor psychosis. Or that’s how she saw it at least, what else could ‘nake assume this was? The man in front of her considered himself Hades, the Greek god of the underworld, and at the same time there was a bodiless man named Chronos speaking through Hades’ mouth. It wasn’t even a question of whether she was insane or not anymore, she was rather convinced that this made her certifiable.

“You need to make use of my body?” Ananke asked calmly, strangely appreciating the blunt honesty of the man’s words. She had a strange creeping sensation going down her spine as she realized that she believed this man was in fact Hades and that there was another personality wearing that body and speaking with a more resonant voice. A lifetime of strange visions about things Ananke had fervently wished to never be a part of had weakened her mental foundation and this past year… It was no wonder she was hallucinating. It was time to go call for another appointment with Doctor Callan; she was going to have an apoplexy over this. “In what way do you need to use my body?” she asked, voice still calm.

Hades felt like shouting just to see this woman flinch, but he resisted the urge. Mainly because he suspected she would just look at him and ask ‘do you feel better now?’ or something asinine like that. It reminded him of his Persephone and the attraction he had for this woman only grew. How very loyal of you… Chronos insulted inside Hade’s mind, flooding him with guilt although it wasn’t entirely his fault. It was how the Olympians and other Pantheons worked, all invariably attracted to those that were like them. Amongst those like Hades, it had lead to lots of promiscuity and illegitimate offspring, with plenty of shameless adultery and even a few cases of incest. It was the curse of the Olympians and most were still struggling to overcome it.

“I need to inhabit a body so that I can investigate what is poisoning the Wells of Time.” Chronos explained, seeming to have forgotten the animosity he had towards most females. Since it had been his late wife that had cursed him, Chronos had lost any and all respect for women. Until now it seemed.

“Do you not already inhabit his body?” Ananke asked, and Hades kept expecting her head to tilt to the side inquisitively, but she always looked at him straight on. In fact it bothered him because she had the most intense eye contact he’d experienced from a mortal, as if she could see past the suave words to the heart of the man.

“I’m just holding him for the time being. I cannot spare the time to help now; my wife is expecting our first child.” Hades explained, knowing how his words were going to affect the woman in front of him. And knowing her vulnerable point, he drove the knife in a little deeper. “In return for your services, you will earn a reward. I am the keeper of souls, and I think you understand what it is I am offering to you.” He danced around the topic carefully, knowing how his father would react if he were to figure it out. Thankfully Chronos was too absorbed in his own issues to care about another’s.

Ananke stared at Hades and he nearly flinched at the expression on her face. He’d seen brutalized corpses look more alive; her eyes were the flat black expanse of space for all the emotion they held. “What is it you require of me?” she asked, sipping her tea as if they were discussing the weather.

 “I will possess your body, dominate your mind and make use of your physical form to investigate the four Wells of Time.” Chronos explained, once again speaking through Hades’ mouth. He was already preparing himself for the act of possessing a new body. Sometime it was a slow process, sometimes it was quite easy. It always depended on the person he was possessing, though he wasn’t sure of what aspects were helpful and which became obstacles. He figured that with a woman to possess, it would be easier by far to dominate her mind and although weak and fragile, her body would still be a better vessel than his own.

“Since it’s going to be my physical body at risk, I’m going to require more information than that before I agree to anything.” Ananke said calmly, putting her empty tea cup down.

“You require nothing! I can dominate you without your permission.” Chronos barked, anger sparking in the air at her disrespect. How dare she make demands? Hades tried to silence his father’s arrogant sputtering, knowing somehow that this would be far easier if Ananke and Chronos weren’t trying to kill each other the entire time.

“You can try.” Ananke replied with a careless shrug.

Hades stared at her in shock, astonished that she was just so bloody calm! Even Chronos seemed taken aback by her utter lack of seeming to care. Both men had never been so emotionally dismissed before and it irked them both greatly; Chronos because he was always sensitive about his pride and Hades because he was so used to women falling over themselves for him. “What, pray tell, do you mean by that?” Chronos demanded before Hades could find his own voice.

Again Ananke shrugged. “Clearly you are not dominating his body without him being present and aware, so apparently you can try to dominate me without permission. It does not guarantee success though. A smarter tactic would have been to try and convince me to help you out of some kind of common goal, or like Hades here, offer me some kind of tangible reward. Threats and condescending words are far less effective.”

Hades started to laugh after she stopped speaking. “Forget about Chronos, can I have you?” he asked only half jokingly.

“No.” Ananke replied calmly, neither offended nor amused.

“I require your body. You have not indicated any form of opposition to this. This is wasting my time.” Chronos growled and again Ananke’s lips twitched. It wasn’t much of an expression but after the complete lack she’d show thus far, it was as good as a wide mouth grin.

“If you truly are Chronos, Greek god of Time, you should have plenty to spare.” Ananke pointed out.

“That’s the problem, Time is dying.” Chronos barked out and Hades shuddered at that news.

“All things die.” Ananke replied simply.

“Time is not supposed to. Someone or something is causing this to happen and I need a physical form to investigate it. The bloodline gave me your name meaning that for me to have any chance at succeeding I need to have your body with me.” Chronos finally explained.

Ananke stayed silent, moving from the couch back into the kitchen to rinse out her tea cup. Hades’ still sat on the table, untouched. Coming back to the couch she sat down again, this time closer. She turned her hand palm up and placed it on Hades’ lap. “You can try Chronos. I make no promises.” She said calmly, accepting her fate.