Hera's Word

Suffice to say, the next two weeks did not include a lot of rest as Kronus had ordered. Instead, his son and his squad had dived straight into hard Simulation Training which they tried to keep hidden. 

They had managed to achieve that for the first week, however, after another extreme simulation training, Kronus found out. Suffice to say, he was both amused and annoyed that his advice was ignored. 

Of course, he could not let them keep going, but instead of calling his son, he chose to see him directly. This led to the current situation where Kratos got caught like a child with the hand in the cookie jar. 

He, Guilty, Quency, Sin, and Scathach were currently being glared at by Kronus. Of course, he was not alone as his Nikke task force currently flanked him. The three were covered head to toe in high-tech armor and carried some insane weaponry as every time Kronus went out, they always acted as if it was the surface. 

Kratos reached up and wiped his face of sweat as he tried to explain himself. 

"Dad, fancy meeting you here. What's up?" 

Kronus sighed and shook his head. 

"Of course, you would do this son. You just can't keep still when you get a new toy and you are passing it on to your squad. All of you, go home and rest. I don't want to hear another word of training. You really can't go into the surgeries exhausted. They are not going to be easy on any of you." 

Kratos wiped his face once again and nodded. 

"Got it. Besides, this was kinda your fault. Giving us such awesome weapons and not expecting us to use them." 

Kronus rubbed his chin as a grin began to cover his face. 

"Well, since you put it that way-" 

Before he got finished, the Nikke on his right nudged his leg with her boot. She knew her boss well and the moment he was complimented on his inventions he became a totally different person. 

Kronus cleared his voice and got serious again. 

"That's no excuse." 

Quency snorted but covered her mouth when everyone heard her. Kratos patted her shoulder before he began to walk toward his SUV. 

"I got it. Come girls, time to go home." 

Guilty tossed her giant axe into the air before catching it and placing it on her back before following Kratos. 

"Too bad." 

Scathach, Sin, and Quency followed behind them before they entered Kratos' SUV. From there, they drove straight home leaving Kronus with his three body guards. He smiled as his son drove away. 

"Damn brat. So hyper like always." 

"Sir, what are the chances he stays put like you said?" 

"He will stay up. He is young and his upgraded body does not leave him tired much. Come on then, time to go." 

"Sir." 

The three saluted before flaking him and walking him back to his own SUV. Back at Kratos' house, everyone went to their rooms to change as Kratos was in full armor and the others still had their weapons. 

After all of their equipment was safely stored away, they all showered before meeting back up in the living room. As Kratos sat on the couch, the girls were not far from him. Though, Sin managed to get the seat to his left while Guilty was at his right. 

Seeing that made Quency smirk. 

"See? I am the best Wing Woman." 

Kratos agreed with her in a sarcastic tone. 

"Of course, you are, without you, I'd still be alone. Is that want you wanted to hear?" 

Quency lay down on the couch and gave him a double thumbs up. 

"It's a start. Anyways, what do we do now? Our fun got taken away by Papa Cromwell." 

Kratos got the TV remote and turned it on. He did not look at anything the Ark was streaming as it always sucked. Instead, he went right to his Pre-Rapture collection. What he ended up picking was a WW2 movie. 

These days no one spoke of wars before the Raptures as they were about human-on-human conflict. These days, every movie, game, and we're all human on Rapture. It was borring and propaganda so Kratos chose to collect pre-recapture entertainment in his youth with his Father. 

He did not want to sit around and do nothing, but he knew his Father had a point. So, for the next seven days, he relaxed. He found that easy to do as he was not alone and his 4 companions made being bored hard. 

Quency was always up to no good and always carried the mood with her. Guilty was both adorable in her reactions and a powder keg of violence when annoyed. Sin was always scheming and making you guess what she meant with her clever play on words. 

As for Scathach, she was the quietest, most reserved, yet caring of the 4. She always asked them if they were feeling alright and checked on them. So, that week was in no way hard as he felt he was being forced out of his self-imposed shell. 

But, when the scheduled day for the surgeries arrived, none of them feared anything. As they got dressed that day not in their rooms, but in Kratos' no one was in the mood to make a joke. 

However, Quecy did not shy her gaze away and looked at Kratos' entire body. His back at least and suffice to say, the sheer musculature of the man named Kratos made them think he was the descendent of Ares. 

Every time he moved, the muscles in his back tensed in a way that drew their eyes toward him. He of course noticed their gazes and it fed his pride that they liked his muscles as much as he did. 

"Girls, I would focus on getting dressed rather than gawking at me." 

Quency wiped her mouth before she got back to getting dressed. 

"Your fault and you are failing our experiment. You are supposed to look, not keep your back tu-" 

As she was saying that he turned around and looked straight at her. At the moment she was only in her underwear. However, unlike her usual bravado, her face began to light up into a bright red. 

"What were you saying?" 

She cleared her voice before putting on her shirt. 

"This does not bother me at all, look all you want." 

He shook his head. 

"Stop playing around and get dressed all of you." 

Scathach had already finished getting dressed as she was quite shy. Sin was not far behind her as she got into her usual running pants with her purple jacket. 

"I am ready." 

Her purple breath leaked from the mask so Guilty and Quency hurried up. Once they were all dressed the 5 of them left the house and entered Kratos' SUV. He turned on the vehicle and began to drive slowly toward his father's research lab where their surgeries would take place. 

He had put a brave face on, but even he was getting kind of nervous. As he drove, Guilty turned to him as she sat next to him. 

"Relax. What could a War God have to fear?" 

He chuckled at that. 

"I am not a god of War Guilty. If the story is to be believed I am the descendent of one and that is just a story told to me by my dad. He was told the same thing by his father and he was told the same by his. It's a way to make us Cromwell men feel special." 

Sin had something to add to that. 

"Is it? You said it yourself that you Cromwell men have unique genetics. From what you said, you grow faster, are stronger, faster, smarter, age slower, and let's not kid ourselves, each one of you is gigantic. That's not normal, especially in this day in age. 

The average for men in the Ark is 5'10 as most of the tall men were killed in the many Rapture wars. Your line is almost full of giants. Even your sister Hera is super tall. 6'4 for a woman is far from the average." 

"Could just be a result of selective breeding." 

Quency shook her head. 

"How far behind would that take for your genetics to even come close to doing everything you say? And if gods are not real, then what about aliens? Your family could be a bunch of alien descendants." 

He laughed at the idea. 

"Ok, let's not go too far off the loony bin. The War god descendants make more sense than us being descendants from gray humanoids." 

Scathach said something interesting. 

"But, aliens have never been seen before. Raptures are not aliens, they are human weapons that went rogue. So, are aliens even real?" 

Kratos nodded. 

"Of course, they are real, with how many galaxies are out in space, the chances that life just happened to appear in this one corner of one of the billions of galaxies. More than likely they have no reason to come to this back water planet. For now." 

Quency smiled as that last bit was omminece. 

"That a scheme your family is planning." 

Kratos smiled. 

"Maybe. Maybe we think the Ark would be better led in the hands of the Cromwell. Think of the wealth kept by the stupid Sovereigns, that money could be pooled into our research labs. You have seen what kind of tech my father can make so give him more money than he can do with and he has a chance at changing the status quo. 

For now, though, it's just an idea." 

As he said this, he parked the SUV outside the lab. 

"Everyone ready?" 

Everyone nodded and exited the vehicle to enter the lab. Kratos stoped at the door, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes he was ready for anything as he pushed them open. 

The 5 of them entered the lab, but when they entered Kronus was already waiting. Not alone as Hera was here which made Kratos freeze. 

"Hera? Fancy seeing you here, are you here to check out the new gear dad is making for me?" 

Hera did not respond to him and instead glared at him. She stood up and walked toward him before she pulled her fist back and punched him full force in the chest. She hit him straight on his sternum, but she just hurt her hand. 

His entire skeleton had been infused with Goddisium making him extremely durable. 

"You goddam fool. How could you go through with another dehumanizing procedure? After what already happened to you, you are giving up even more of your body. When will it end Kratos? What are you willing to give up for strength?" 

She punched him again, but this time she lowered her head. 

"This is my fault, isn't it? Because I was a bad sister to you and encouraged this stupid dream of yours." 

"Hera-" 

She pulled away from him and wiped her eyes. 

"I don't want to hear it Kratos. And you." 

She turned to their father with a glare. 

"You happy with yourself Kronus? Not only did you not stop your son, but you are allowing him to butcher himself. No, you not just allowing it, you are paying for it. Are you proud of yourself, happy?" 

Kronus did not take her words to heart and shook his head. 

"No. I am not happy, not proud, or happy at this procedure. But the choice is not with me. As a Father, my job is to support my children's choices, not force them. If he wants to undergo the procedure, I will grit my teeth and make sure he gets the best results." 

Hera clenched her hands before turning on her heels and beginning to leave. Before she did she looked her brother in the eyes. 

"Why?" 

Kratos raised his left arm and clenched it. 

"My body is already enhanced, Hera. What is finishing the process compared to starting the process? He reached out and grabbed her hand before placing it on his chest. She felt the powerful heart beating away in his chest. 

"That is my heart, a biomechanical mix of biology and machinery. Most of the organs in this body are the same, as long as my brain, mind, and soul remain human, I will always be the same." 

Hera closed her eyes before she hugged him tight. 

"You damn foolish little brother." 

He hugged her back before she let go of him. She turned to her Father before she bowed her head. 

"I am sorry." 

He raised his hand. 

"Don't be Hera, you had the right reaction. I am a terrible Father for allowing this, but I would be a worse Father to prevent it." 

Hera sat down at a chair before nodding. 

"I am not leaving. I will be watching." 

Kronus did not plan on that. 

"Absolutely not, you can't be around to watch this. It will be extensive and he will be undergoing serious modifications. I won't allow it." 

"And I won't allow you to stop me. Not get to it. I won't leave." 

Kratos laughed. 

"Better listen to her dad."

Kronus sighed. 

"Damn it all. Fine. Let's get this show on the road."