“That seems like a fair deal. Though we can’t stay for that long.” I said as I extended my hand. Taking my hand into hers she gave it a shake of agreement.

“Well then. I’ll go to my followers and ask that they prepare something. I expect that everyone you have hidden inside that pendant of yours will be out and about by the time I return to get you.” Kronos said with a smile before walking up towards the path that we came from.

“Master, please don’t make me go out around that woman. She scares me.” I heard Lily say from inside the pendant sheepishly.

“Sadly, that wasn’t the deal. You’ll need to get Compton and both of you will have to come outside and deal with it.” I stated despite knowing that this probably wasn’t a good idea. That said, we needed her to give false information to Merlin if he ever comes here. Seeing how we saw him in Athens, I don’t think it would be much of a stretch to say that he was coming here for that information as we speak.

After a few minutes, Compton and Lily both appeared out of the pendant. Lily kept looking around for Kronos out of the fear that she might grab her out of nowhere and Compton just looked confused by Hades lying in the moss, high out of his mind, and with drool dripping out of his mouth. He was also concerned as to why Elysif was sulking, but I told him to not worry about it so he left her alone.

After a few minutes of waiting Kronos returned. Though as soon as she saw Lily she charged at her without a second to delay. Lily saw her coming after her at the last second but it was too late. Kronos already had her in her grasp. Tightly holding Lily in a bear hug, Kronos burst with glee much to Lily’s disdain.

“Please go easy on her?” I asked Kronos as Lily desperately tried to escape her grip.

“Awe, okay. Though only because you asked nicely.” Kronos replied as she continued to hug Lily as if she was some kind of stuffed animal. Lily shot me glares of desperation and fear as she did. However, all I could muster was a gesture of apology. This caused Lily to become erratic and violent as she desperately tried to escape Kronos’s grip. However, it was to no avail. Kronos didn’t seem the slightest bit phased by this. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it.

Eventually, she let Lily go. Upon being let go, rather than coming to me Lily hid behind Compton and gave me a look that told me just how much she didn’t like me at the moment. By this point, Elysif had emerged from her stupor and ended up examining the fruit that turned Hades into a temporary vegetable. She had taken an interest in them and gathered several of them into a bag which she asked to put into the pendant for now.

“Now, about the ritual.” Kronos said as she sat in the mossy field taking in the view. This grabbed everyone’s attention except for Hades who was still feeling the effects of the fruit despite finally being able to control his limbs. We all gathered around her to hear what she had to say. Though, Lily was still keeping her distance from Kronos by hiding behind Compton.

“As you probably know it is a ritual for summoning new Elder Ones to aid you. I used sacrifices of the populace to summon Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon. However, when they learned of this they weren’t happy and waged war against me and the other eleven titans of the area. Though you may know us better as the twelve of the original Elder Ones. To my surprise, we were defeated and trapped here. Then those hypocrites decided to use their defeated enemies to summon a bunch of new Elder Ones.” Kronos explained with a slightly annoyed look.

“We kind of already knew that the ritual required sacrifices. What else?” I said. Kronos gave me a look of disbelief at my rudeness.

“Anyways, the ritual is basically a way to meet with our creator and ask for help. You may actually have an easier time doing this than an Elder One since you are one of my creators chosen. For us, we need to create a portal and align the stars. I’ve been told by Hades in the past that a few humans have done this themselves. However, they can’t summon an Elder One nor can they create a true bridge to my creator.” she continued.

“Why not? Is there something that humans are missing?” Elysif asked. Kronos gave her a wry smile before talking again.

“The thing that they lack is the blood of a true Elder One. Those who have been given their abilities will have no chance of recreating the ritual perfectly. Someone like myself or Hades who has been summoned by the ritual or was created first could though. The closer we are to our creator the more potent of a ritual we can create. Thus, resulting in a more powerful summons.” she said just as some of her followers dressed in white robes came out into the moss-covered plain carrying platters of food and drinks.

“That’s the information we need you to keep secret if anyone ever comes to ask for it.” I said in response to her explanation as one of her followers set down a platter of what looked to be various baked fruits around a smoked boar-like creature. How they cooked it so fast made me a bit confused but I didn’t bother questioning it.

“And do you have any person in particular that you want this information hidden from?” Kronos asked as she was handed a glass of what looked like wine.

“A certain sorcerer. His name is Merlin and he is the bastard son of Hellen of Troy.” Compton stated as he was also given a glass of the wine-like substance.

“And what pray tell, is this Merlin wishing to do with this knowledge?” Kronos asked before sipping her wine.

“He wants to resurrect a dead Elder One.” I said. Kronos stopped sipping her wine and gave me a face of utter disbelief. Her shock was then turned into laughter as she almost fell back into the moss and spilled her drink.

“That’s absurd! He would have to use an insanely high number of people to pull off something like that. I mean I had to use an entire city to summon Zeus and he appeared as an infant.” she said as if we were joking with her. When she finally realized that we weren’t joking she got quiet.

“If that is the case then I shall not allow this Merlin to ever hear of this. I’ll even ask Hades to keep his mouth shut as well. At least, once he comes down.” she said as she gestured at the barely moving Hades resting underneath the tree of strange fruit.