Cronos was sitting on the porch of his niece’s log cabin. He was watching her and her wolf frolic at the edge of the lake. Katia was changing here in this magical place Uranus made for her. She was filling out from the foods that were enriched with extra vitamins and minerals her body had been lacking from starvation for so many years. Whatever sleeping magic Uranus was using was doing wonders for her and Aza. They were both maturing and growing mentally. They finally started to catch up to where they should have been mentally. Physically, it was a different story, except for filling out some they did not grow at all. They were still very small for a wolf and a human. The two girls, wolf and human, still had childlike behavior while exploring the world they lived in and playing games. Cronos supposed that was alright because Katia did think more maturely when she had to.
As he sat watching them play, he wondered how they could be so content with just each other. He thought they probably wouldn’t care if their visitors stopped showing up every day. Remembering why he was there, Cronos called out to them, “Niece, come and visit for a while.” He saw her smile back and start walking toward him with Aza leaping around her. His niece was a beauty. The island agreed with her. Her skin was slowly turning a light tan color from the sun, she had rosy cheeks and those big dark purple eyes shown with mischief. Her hair was in two braids on each side of her head and she was skipping now up the little walkway. As they made their way closer to the porch, Aza bounded up the three stairs and jumped on his lap. She was licking him all over his face and wagging her tail.
Cronos laughed while trying to pet her to calm her, “Hello Aza, control yourself. One would think you were just a scraggy mutt instead of a regal wolf.” The wolf immediately stopped what she was doing and cocked her ears straight up and forwards. She got down out of his lap and sat regally next to him. Looking up at him, she chuffed, “I’ll give you a scraggy mutt.”
It always amazed Cronos that the wolf could link him when not sharing Katia’s mind. He wondered if it was something that Zeus passed to them in his gifts that he never told anyone about. It was his understanding that Selene’s wolf could do the same. Something was just different with his nieces.
Katia was laughingly patting Aza on the head, “More like a beautiful best friend.” Turning to her uncle she said, “So, uncle, what wisdom are you here to impart to me today?”
Cronos had the audacity to look hurt when he asked, “Whatever do you mean my girl? I am just here to impart news about the earth realm.”
“Well impart and let me return to my peace and quiet.” The little imp responded smoothly.
“Well let’s see, it snowed at the North Pole so badly that the penguins moved to Florida and the polar bears moved to California.” Cronos said with a straight face.
Katia laughed and Aza gave her body a shake and sat down again next to Cronos. Katia moved to sit on the step and continued to giggle, “Oh yeah? What about Santa Claus? Where did he move?”
With a look of horror he answered, “Well, you see, my dear niece, Santa is a lesser god, but a god all the same. So, he packed up Mrs. Claus, the reindeer, and all of them damn elves, moved the whole shebang to the god realm. Now we have elves and reindeer running around everywhere creating chaos.”
“See what I mean, Uncle, even that little joke taught me something. You just taught me that Santa was a god. Uranus does the same thing when he is here. Why? It is not like I will ever see anyone again or interact with anyone again.” She explained.
Cronos asked, “What does Lucifer do when he is here?”
Katia shrugs, “Be my friend. He helps me do things that he says I am not strong enough yet to do. He watches me too, like he is waiting for something to happen.”
“Well, you never know, and you may need the knowledge myself and Uranus are teaching you. I have a question for you, niece.” He waited for her to look at him.
When she finally did, she said, “What’s the question?”
Cronos took a deep breath and asked, “Don’t you miss them? Any of them? You never speak of them to any of us. Not even about your sister. Lucifer says you don’t want to hear anything about them either.”
Katia looked away and stared into the distance for a long while. So long that Cronos did not think she was going to answer. Finally, she looked back at him with sadness in her eyes and said, “I miss my friends desperately, even Nathan. But the Nathan before that day. I don’t miss most of the life I lived along with those people. I don’t know if that makes sense.”
Cronos nodded, encouraging her to go on. In his opinion, his niece needed to talk about what had happened to her and her sister for centuries, but this newest life is the one she needs to talk about now, so she can work through things and really heal.
Cronos directed his attention back to Katia as she began to speak again. “I cannot seem to think of the people I love and miss without the memories of how or why we met. The memories of what they supported me through, or we all endured together. Yes, we had a few good memories together, but I can never seem to focus on those. The bad always come with them. In particular, Nathan, we had so many good memories and the one bad memory has ruined all the others. I hoped the good memories would help to heal the irrational fear of retribution that I live with or the habit of waiting for the punishment to come for anything I do or say.”
Cronos asked quietly so as not to startle her from her thoughts, “What about Hyperion, Theia, and Selene? They are your parents and sister.”
A tear slipped out and ran down the side of her face, “I miss them the most. I am angry that dad had to take such measures against his own father and that is the reason for mine and Selene’s troubles. On top of that, I am confused by the way grandfather is behaving after all these years of him killing us over and over. And My Lili. I miss her so much. I feel like half of me is gone and living without her, not feeling her every day, is gut-wrenching. She and I have been together since conception, even when born separately to try and fight grandfather we were always there with one another waiting for the moment we could intervene.”
“Do you still love your mate?” asking what he really wanted to know.
Katia’s head snapped around at him and looking him in the eye she said angrily, “Like I told grandfather, I don’t know. I want to forgive him, but I cannot. He broke every single promise he made to me. Yes, I was going back to that life for Lili because she was convinced our luck was changing, and we could stop grandfather this time, but Nathan was the one that convinced me to try the mate thing again. Then he did what he did out of anger. He showed that he was no better of an Alpha than Thomas was.” She stopped for a minute while Aza nuzzled her hand, so she could pet her. Aza was calming Katia. Although they lived in separate bodies for now, they were still one. Once she was calm, she finished, “Besides, it is not like I am ever getting out of this deal. What does it matter if I still love him or not?”
Thinking and measuring her emotions, Cronos simply responded with, “You are right, niece. My curiosity got the best of me and it is hard to understand the way you and Aza are so happy with just one another.”
Katia told him, “Uncle, when you have been whipped, punched, starved, almost raped, almost killed, and forced to watch the most despicable things done to a woman, it is easy to live with Aza and no one else. We do not have to worry about any of those things happening here. It is just she and I, apart from you three visiting. It is safe here. We are safe here.”
“Katia, I don’t like this deal. I do not like you allowing yourself to be locked on this island forever. That is not how a young girl should be living mortal or immortal. I am grateful the pig of a father did not kill you, but he still controls you.”
“Yes, but in the time I have been here so far, he has not asked anything of me except to spend some time with him.” She informed Cronos.
Kissing her cheek, he waved his hand and disappeared, wondering what Uranus was up to.