The Death of Time

...Has Come Today

Between gods and men…..

Hades felt the heat radiating off of Ananke’s hand and was astonished that she was even hotter than he was. Whoever or whatever this remarkable woman was, she didn’t even flinch when Hades gave in to the impulse and planted his lips against hers. His tongue brushed against her lips and he realized that like with everything else, she simply wasn’t reacting.

Inside his mind, Chronos cackled with mocking laughter, suddenly respecting this woman a whole lot more for not giving in to the easy charm of the god of the Underworld. There would be a pull between ‘nake and every Olympian because she shared some of their blood, but she wasn’t letting it affect her in any way observable. When Hades finally gave up on trying kissing her senseless, he pulled away and saw her just looking at him with what appeared to be bored curiosity. How deflating was that to his ego….

“You taste like Destiny.” Hades mumbled, not even sure what he meant by that statement. Chronos however took it far more seriously than his son did. What do you mean she tastes like Destiny? He demanded, startled and angry inside Hades’ mind.

The god of the Underworld flinched at the power in his father’s voice and tried to give him a hasty explanation for something he didn’t understand himself. She tastes of things left undone and decisions yet to be made… Before Hades could finish the thought, he felt his father force him aside so he could take control of his body.

Hades hated it when Chronos did this; it made him feel miniscule and weak, helpless to control his own body. In command, Chronos repeated Hades’ actions and kissed the mortal, tasting that tang of Destiny like his hormonal son said. Destiny was more than just a nebulous thing, they were those milestones of time that had to happen; things that were meant to be or not be. And since they dealt heavily with time, they were supposed to be under Chronos’ control. However the honest truth was that for an unknown length of time, he hadn’t been able to sense them. It could have been just that there was a gap between events, but now he knew: somehow Ananke had embodied the impulse of Destiny.

“Do you have visions?” Chronos demanded, not even paying attention when his son reasserted control over the body they shared.

Finally Ananke tilted her head to the side in a curious gesture. Her dark eyes had an assessing weight to them as she frowned oh so slightly. “Yes.” She finally replied, seeing no reason to lie. The actions of the man in front of her and the two souls wearing the flesh made no sense in a world of logic and rationality. It was just another warning sign to Ananke that she needed to get off this mountain and call her therapist for an emergency session. This could be the breakthrough her doctor had been hoping for. It didn’t feel like a success to ‘nake though, there hadn’t been anything in reaction to the kiss. Not disgust, not anger, not lust, simply more of what she’d felt since she woke up in the hospital: nothing. Shaking her head, she focused bShe was discussing her hallucinations with her obvious psychotic break from reality. Maybe Doctor Callan was right and it was time to try medicating.

“You’re not crazy.” Chronos declared loudly, making Hades jump at his own body talking and Ananke just blinked. “You’ve been seeing pieces of time, Destiny that is supposed to happen or an event that is supposed to not happen.” As Chronos spoke, Hades realized why there was so much anger churning in his gut with his father’s words.

The gods are all jealous of their powers, hoarding their secrets and abilities like a finite resource even though they are immortal. The fact that this mortal was able to embody the impulse of destiny was disturbing because now the god who was supposed to tweak it was without that power himself. It shook Hades’ belief that he was untouchable and it disturbed his father greatly too.