4 Let Him Go

The two kept walking forwards, the man with the long white hair gently keeping his hand on Sky's head and Sky clenching the apples tightly, until Cedric's Circle became lost behind them, in the crowd of people.

Sky shifted uncomfortably. "Um… sir… Thank you, for helping me..." He said shyly.

Kronos looked down and smiled. "Isn't it natural to help someone in need?" He said. "Though it was you that roped me into that situation…" He looked down with a mischievous smile.

Sky tightened up. "Huck!" The sound escaped him. "Sorry about that..." His gaze fell down to the ground, as he apologized embarrassingly.

Kronos put his arms behind his head. "CACACACACA!!!" He gave a hearty laugh.

"STOP WALKING AWAY SO FAST!!!!!" Said a voice through the large crowd behind them.

Sky stopped after a few steps, noticing Kronos wasn't next to him anymore. Suddenly a man dressed like a swimmer emerged from the crowd.

He stood still with his hands on his knees while breathing deeply for a few moments. "Jeez, at least you could have waited for-BLEAH!!!" He was cut off mid phrase with a fist to his browline.

SLAM!!!! He was sent backwards, crashing into the people behind him, creating a domino effect of people falling for nearly a quarter mile.

Kronos stood with his fist clenched and a smile.

Sky stared at what just happened. "Huh?" he said as he looked at the crowd of fallen people. "HUH?!?!?!?" He shouted even louder as he looked back and forth between Kronos and the people. "M-M-Mister…. Huh?!" He stammered as he took a step backwards.

Kronos walked aggressively forwards until he was standing over the man. He bent down and grabbed the collars of his flowered shirt. "WHERE WAS MY BACKUP!?!?!?!" He shouted as he shook the man violently. "WHY WERE YOU LAUGHING ON THE SIDE!?!?!?!" He started clobbering the man. "APOLOGIZE!!!!!!"

After a few punches he stood back up and walked to Sky. "Ah!" He said as if he had just sated a deep hunger. "Shall we go?" He said with a smile, putting his hand on Sky's shoulder and guiding him forwards.

"TH-TH-THORRY..." Leeds said, still in a daze on the ground with a swollen face.

After a few minutes of recovery with the water he slowly got up and joined the two of them.

"Earlier, you called him 'Prince of Olympus', is he the one then?" Leeds whispered into Kronos' ear.

Kronos turned to him and nodded. "Yeah, the one who you were searching for." He said grimly.

After a few more minutes of walking Sky stopped. "I go in here." He pointed to the alleyway to their right. "Thank you Mister!" He said as he grabbed one of the apples and handed it to him.

"It isn't much, but I want to give it to you as a thank you." He said as he placed the apple in Kronos' hand and turned around, heading into the alleyway.

"WAIT!" Leeds said as he took a step forward, "Boy, we think you're someone special, someone who we were looking for… So I would like for you to come with us."

Sky stopped and turned around. A small smile formed on Kronos' face. The look of fear and uncertainty of Sky's face was gone, now replaced with only a look of determination.

"No." He said sternly.

Leeds' expression changed quickly, as his eyebrows started to form a V. "What do you mean 'No'?" He asked aggressively.

"I don't want to be someone special, there are things that I have to do here… things you won't understand Mister." Sky continued looking at Leeds, the look in his eyes unchanging.

"Whether you want to be or not, you are someone special," Leeds said. He clenched his fist at the thought of forcing this child to fight before the words from last night rang in his head.

"I misspoke earlier." Leeds started. "I'm TAKING you with me." He said sternly.

Leeds twisted open the caps of the two canteens that hung on either side of his hips, staring at Sky with a hostile look.

Clench! Kronos grabbed his shoulder.

Leeds snapped his head around. "What are you doin-" He trailed off.

Kronos stared at the child, the dials spinning rapidly. "Boy, are you sure you don't want to come with us?" He asked, his tone was the same as when he spoke to the soldier.

"Yes!" He shouted the small word with determination.

Kronos let out a deep sigh, as the dials disappeared and his grip on Leeds' shoulder loosened. "Then it can't be helped… Go!" he said, shooing the child away.

Sky stared at Kronos for a little bit before nodding and disappearing into the alley.

Leeds twisted the caps back onto the canteens. "Are you sure about that?" He asked angrily.

"Yeah, it's his destiny, no matter what he does, he can't run from it." Kronos said as he turned around. "After all, he should be fine, at least until he turns twelve..."

Leeds stared at the pained look on Kronos' face, a look that had started to appear more and more in recent times.

"Though I wish he would have come now… later on... " He trailed off, finishing the sentence with a deep, and pained sigh. "Shall we go?" He said as more of a statement than a question, already a few steps ahead of Leeds, who stared at him, wondering what it was he had seen.