Demiurge (a Poseidon self-insert in Percy Jackson)

I removed the time barrier I had put in place around the once-hidden city. I walked toward the edge of it and found a sobbing kneeling Rhea. Tears of red flowed on her skin.

I stopped myself before her. "I told you before that I would never change, that I would always do what I thought was necessary".

"Necessary, this is always the word you use. All this time even though it has hurt so much, I endured because I thought that one day, this nightmare would end, that you'd go back to the Kronos I had loved. He was a child, our child! They were our children!" she cried to me.

"Tell me!" she yelled "What could make the atrocities against our children necessary" She rose from her knees and summoned a sword.

"I know you, Rhea," I said to her. "You would never hurt me".

She laughed "You're right. I would never hurt you". Her sword turned into an enflamed spear.

Rhea began to talk and my Ichor went cold "Right now, Hyperion is in the main castle of Othrys due to a rapport he wants to give you. Mnemosyne is in the surroundings teaching the denizens of Othrys about the symbols, the letters she said to have created. Theia was bored and had decided to follow Mnemosyne. Krios like most of the time is in your castle and Phoebe like always is with him. Coincidently, the other cardinal lords of Othrys decided to report to you like Hyperion what happened in their zones of influence. Atlas like the good dog he is, is guarding with his soldiers your castle."

"You're right Kronos. I could never bring myself to hurt you." Her spear became brighter, shining in an ominous hungry light "But your siblings, they aren't you and I can assure you that them being a breed of higher deities, of Titans won't save them from anhiliation and Nothing you can do will stop me."

"Don't do this Rhea" I heard myself beg.

"All those times when I threatened to end your existence, fear didn't cross your features but now that it is the lives of your siblings, of those more important than everything in your eyes, more important than your children," her voice softened "than me, now I can see it clear as I see Phanes and Khaos, you look so pathetic Kronos. Tell me the true reason why you thought it was necessary to end the lives of our children and maybe I'll spare your sibling's lives."

I began to tell her the truth "It is because of a prophecy not only given to Koios but also to Phoebe. I had told you once that they had seen my end and the end of Othrys." I looked at her to see if she remembered. I saw recognition in her eyes.

"Continue talking" Rhea commanded.

"The ones that were seen in it, the cause of the downfall of Otrhys, of us Titans were deities, gods and goddesses that looked like you and me, that called me Father. This is why I did what I did. I hated it, especially with Hestia. I loved her with all my heart, you know that Rhea." A scowl bloomed on Rhea's face at my words.

I saw The grip of Rhea tighten on the spear and for a brief moment, I feared she would make true of her threat. The spear snapped in half in Rhea's palm and fizzled out into nothing.

I looked at Rhea and how fragile she seemed. She looked as if she had been broken as if she was exhausted beyond measure.

She whispered yet I heard her words as if they had penetrated directly into my mind. "I remember a young deity, facing a primordial, facing the impossible and fighting until he triumphed. I saw that day a young man who swore to be better than the father he had. This young man that I fell in love with died a long time ago and I had been too dumb not to realize that. I dreamt of something long past gone and when confronted with the reality of its loss tried to continue dreaming and lying to myself."

"I am pregnant," she told me. "I thought about announcing it to you today with Poseidon. It's not possible anymore because my son like all his older siblings is in your stomach and I don't even know if they are still alive in the prison you put them in. Don't worry, I won't try anything with this child like I did with Poseidon. I will give them to you when they're born and leave forever. I can't look at you without being disgusted yet I know I will never stop loving you."

She leaned to whisper in my right ear "You were the greatest mistake of my life Kronos. I hope with all my heart for Fate to find a way, for the prophecy to be realized.”

She retreated from my ear and gave me a chaste kiss on the mouth before disappearing in ascending motes of light.

It began raining on the now desolate city. It was as if the world itself cried for the tragedy that had occurred. I touched my face and found it wet. I wondered if there were tears or raindrops even though I thought the latter. I felt empty and after all that happened, I didn't know if I was able to cry anymore.