11 A Sudden Visitor

"Did you find it?" Kronos asked as he saw Sky entering the clearing they had taken a rest in.

"Find what?" Sky asked, puzzled by what he was referring to.

Kronos slowly got up and brushed his clothes. "The river." he said, "Did you think I was talking about the other thing?" He asked while raising an eyebrow.

Vena started reaching for the bag near. "What other thing?" She asked.

Sky picked up the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "Nothing..." Sky said as he heaved his mother up into his arms in a princess carry.

"We're not too far away, just a couple more minutes and we'll be there." Kronos said as he started heading out of the clearing towards the north and away from the direction of the river.

"RIght..." Sky's voice trailed off as he turned around and glanced at the river once more before following Kronos.

As they walked through the forest Sky noticed that the once ethereal nature of the place had disappeared and was now replaced with a more eerie and quiet air. "Something feels wrong." Sky finally said, looking to Kronos for a response.

Kronos kept his head forwards. "You noticed it too, huh?" He said while squinting, as if he were trying to see something in the distance.

The ground started to misshapen as they continued forwards, the end of the giant forest in sight. "LOOK-" Kronos suddenly shouted his eyes golden and filled with clock dials.

WHAM!!! Halfway through his warning Sky felt a numbing blow in his back as he was sent forwards, slamming into the trees that lay before him, breaking a few before they broke his forwards momentum. He gasped as his back slammed into the final tree, denting it and crumpling to the ground.

"Sky..." Vena croaked as she watched her son from a few feet away, lay covered in blood and wooden shrapnel, as she was in no better condition.

Very quickly they became covered in a dark shadow, as a large figure loomed over them. It growled as saliva dripped inside its mouth as it pulled back it's giant stone club.

"CHRONO FIX!" Kronos shouted as he thrust an arm forwards. A giant ring appeared inside of which was a mini analog clock with its dials frozen.

Suddenly the large figure stopped moving mid club swing. Kronos ran forwards and grabbed Vena, hoisting her into his arms before running to Sky, who still lay still. "Sky..." Vena reached for him as Kronos knelt down.

He quickly reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small, crumpled pouch. "Don't worry Vena, he'll be alright." He said as he poured a handful of the contents out.

"Rewind!" He snapped his fingers.

The wounds on Sky's body slowly began repairing. The splinters pulled themselves out and the cuts closed with rapid speed as Sky opened his eyes and gasped in reverse, exhaling the breath he had taken when he had hit the tree. In a few seconds he was completely healed and got up.

"What just happened!" He shouted.

"I'll explain later, now, the moment you feel pain shove this into your mouth!" Kronos quickly dumped the strange powder he had pulled from the pouch into Sky's hand. He fed a little to Vena as well.

"Ambrosia?" Sky asked, looking up to see a surprised look on Kronos' face.

"Yes..." He murmured as he put the pouch away and turned to face the giant beast in front.

Suddenly, Sky arched his back, as if he were getting struck by a large object. He realized this was the same feeling he had experienced earlier before getting slammed into the trees nearby. Quickly he shoved the ambrosia into his mouth and swallowed. For the next few seconds he was hit by waves of immense pain that quickly resided and healed before finally ending.

After it had ended exhaustion filled his body as he struggled to stay focused. Despite the fatigue, he managed to get to his feet and look up at the large beast, slowly moving it's large club forwards at a snail's pace. He had a human like face with heavily sun-tanned skin and deep blue eyes. The little hair left at the top of his head was tied into a ponytail going straight up. He had a misshapen nose that looked to be once straight and long but now sharply curved in the middle, as if someone had hit the ball of his nose too many times. He had short ears with silver rings pierced into them and a large double chin. The only oddity about him was the fact that his teeth were all sharpened to an edge except for the front four on the roof of his mouth and floor.

The beast looked to be wearing a silver shoulder plate on his left shoulder that was tied to his waist and beige rags on his torso which struggled to hide it's large belly. Accompanying them were brown pants, too small to cover the entire length of his leg, revealing everything below the calf, a hairy, wound filled location ending in his bare, dirty feet. His large stone club was moving forwards ever so slowly towards them. You would think this beast to be human if he had not been nearly ten feet tall.

"What… is that…?" Sky asked through his tired breaths.

"A… giant..." Kronos replied, in equally tired breaths.

His face pale as the dials in his eyes remained frozen as he stared at the giant in front of them. "Take your mother and run north, don't stop until you can't move, I'll come find you after I deal with this." He said, continuing to stare at the beast.

"But-"

"Sky! Leave this to father!" Vena suddenly said, there was a ferocity in her voice that Sky recognized all too well.

Sky slowly made it to his mother, heaved her into his arms and headed where Kronos had directed him. He kept going, stumbling every few steps as the fatigue continued to weigh him down, until Kronos had disappeared from his line of sight.

FOOOOO... Kronos slowly exhaled as the dials from his eyes disappeared. WHAM!!!! The attack slammed into the quickly crossed arms of Kronos, cracking the ground and sending the trees arching outwards as a few of their roots tore out from the ground. He uncrossed his arms sending the beast staggering backwards and watched as it regained its balance a few steps later.

It grinded its teeth as it stared at Kronos. "Where! Is! It!" He bellowed.

Kronos furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"WHERE IS IT!!!!" He shouted, shaking the ground with its deep and powerful roar.

Kronos clicked his tongue, remembering how simple-minded these beasts were. He charged forwards, blinking to restore the glow in his eyes, though it was weaker than before. The giant pulled back his club and threw it forwards. Kronos smiled as he touched the front of it with his hand, freezing it for a split second as he heaved himself on top of it and jumped forwards. The club slammed into the ground and right behind it was the ugly face of the giant, his left arm already coming forwards in a punch to the left of the club, where any normal person would move to dodge it.

Once above its head, Kronos grabbed the black ponytail and slammed it into the ground, creating a giant sized shape in the middle of the forest. The giant's nose twitched as he began to sniff rapidly, the slam seemed to have no effect.

"Found it!" He said as he turned over and sniffed the bag Sky and Vena had brought with them.

His head snapped in the direction Sky and Vena had headed out in. "FOUND IT!!!!" He bellowed, quickly getting to its feet and sprinting after them, trampling trees as it ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Kronos snapped around and thrust his arm forward, commanding a circle with a dial to appear, before he could do anything the glow from his eyes faded. The strength drained from his body as he slumped down to one knee.

"I didn't think it would be this hard to do both…." He mumbled as he stared at the giant shaking the ground as he charged forwards. "Man… I'm out of shape…."

He used the last bit of strength he had as his eyes glowed once more. He let out a pained breath as the glow disappeared, suddenly seeming a decade older.