16 It's Time to ask and for Kronos to Answer

Sky stared at Kronos before relaxing his shoulders. "Earlier… Mama called you a titan… what is that?" Sky asked.

"A Ti-"

"And then before, you said that this place teaches you to protect yourselves from the giants… why, why are the giants attacking now but never in the capitol?" Sky continued. "You called me prince of olympus but what does that mean? Recently whenever I jump into the air I can feel myself floating as I fall down.. What does that mean? Mama calls you father, but both my grandparents have passed away and I never met, let alone saw a glimpse of my stupid pops, so why? What is this place? What does it protect everyone from? Why are there prisoners underground? WHO ARE YOU GUYS?!?" Sky exploded. He took a shaky breath, the cool composure he had been trying to keep had finally decomposed. Tears the size of marbles fell down his cheek as his chin quivered. After a few moments his eyes fell down to the ground as he quietly sobbed.

"Awakening or not, you're still just a twelve year old… aren't you?" Kronos said watching helplessly as Sky desperately tried to compose himself.

Leeds let out a deep exhale, relaxing his torso, as he closed his eyes and started tapping his fingers on his shoulder uncomfortably.

After a few minutes Sky had stopped and composed himself, finally returning to his old state with a deep breath. "Sorry… I…. Sorry…." He said to Kronos.

"Let me expand on what you already know." Kronos said as he guided Sky to sit on his bed and took a seat next to him, giving a signal to Leeds, who made himself comfortable on the floor.

"As you already know, the Gods left Olympus when the giants and the other races seized control of it… The giant army had twelve siblings that made up its twelve generals. After getting rid of the gods, each of the twelve giant siblings took a seat in each of the twelve gods' thrones, inheriting the powers of the gods themselves and becoming their nemesis'." Kronos explained.

Sky opened his mouth for a question but was stopped by Kronos. "I'll answer them all after I finish explaining." He said.

"After inheriting their powers the giants became filled with pride, the same pride that the gods hold, and decided to eradicate the other races. With the help of my siblings we were able to stop them from completely wiping them out. As for what happened to the humans… you already know." He explained, "After the gods entered hiding, they were able to live with their creations… the humans and over time they started falling in love with them. From the union of a god and a human comes a half-blood, a being made up of human blood and DNA but also inherits aspects of the god, that is what you and everyone here at Hero's Stronghold are."

"This was the greatest fear of the giants after hearing the prophecy that came from Delphi, which guided them to murder any half-blood they found. Eventually there came a time when children of all twelve of the major gods were born and alive in the same time. Once a half-blood becomes twelve years old, their godly powers manifest and it was during this time that the giants siblings gathered the twelve children and brought them to Olympus where-"

"The child of Zeus, Zephyr betrayed the other eleven and joined the giants… forcing them to flee." Leeds interrupted.

"... and… through some… fortunate circumstances let's call them… the eleven children fled, they ran and ran until they found an abandoned forest where they resolved themselves that no child shall perish at the hands of the giants and started training. After a few years they became strong, and brought other children to the forest with them. Eventually the forest became a small village, then a small town until finally a powerful fortress surrounded by dense woods. It became Hero's Stronghold, the home of these brave warriors. And soon, their feats could not be ignored, earning them the name of the Eleven Phantom Heroes." Kronos turned to Sky who raised his head in awe as he stared.

"The legendary heroes that were as strong as the most powerful giants…? I thought those were just myths?" Sky asked, ignoring Kronos' earlier statement.

"Myths? You still say that after visiting the grave of one?" Kronos raised an eyebrow.

"Grave? You don't mean-"

"Capricorn, child of Demeter, the strongest warrior out of the Eleven Phantom Heroes." Kronos smiled, "But second when it came to potential…." He said the last part under his breath.

"They were not myths but turned into such… by the giants themselves. But sadly even these heroes could not defeat the twelve giant siblings, but their feelings and beliefs were heard and this place has continued to train half-bloods since then." He gave a faint smile.

"As for who am I? My name is Kronos, father to the twelve gods and the titan of time. That means that if the gods were to hold DNA I would be the father to your father… your grandfather if you will." He continued.

"As for who your father is… I think you already have an inkling." Kronos raised an eyebrow.

Sky looked down at his chest and grabbed his shirt where his heart should be. He squeezed it tightly remembering the feeling of freedom as he leaped from pole to pole in Riner. The feeling of floating in air, never wanting to come down. He briefly remembered the bright flash of lightning striking the giant when he roared and the blinding speed at which he dashed underneath his mother, catching her. He clenched his teeth remembering the name Kronos called him.

"The god of sky's, lightning, and thunder. The ruler of Olympus and king of the gods, Zeus..." He mumbled.

"That's one title huh? And here I am stuck with the titan of time, talk about lame. CaCaCaCa!" He laughed.

Leeds and Sky stared blankly, this was the first time either of them had seen Kronos laugh wholeheartedly. After a few seconds of staring Sky smiled, remembering back to the guard incident seven years ago.

He finally stopped and wiped a tear from his eye. "What's wrong?" He asked, a large grin still sitting on his face.

"No… it's just that… you laughed..." Leeds said slowly, for the first time being at a loss of words in front of the titan.

"Oh, yeah, that was a genuine laugh… after all, wouldn't you be happy if your child surpassed you?" He said with a smile.

Suddenly the heavy air that sat in the room had disappeared as Sky and Leeds looked at each other, a small smile sitting on their faces as Kronos stared at the roof above, still beaming.

"Though none of that matters now..." Kronos murmured.

"As for who this is," He pointed to Leeds, "He's what we call a demigod, the strongest half-blood representing his godly parent, Poseidon."

"And the reason why we brought you here, is to pro-"

"Train and use you to defeat Porphyrion, the Nemesis of Zeus." Leeds cut Kronos off once again.