The single moon was halfway across the night sky when I reached the village. Thinking about it, I decided it was much better to wait for morning to approach the village. Very rarely do people enter villages with good intentions in the dead of the night.

Not wanting to be too close so I wouldn’t be seen from inside the village, I walk a few hundred yards away and find a somewhat comfortable place to settle down for the night. With a little free time on my hands, I decided to take my makeshift wooden knife and harvest the snake’s fangs and scaley skin. I can’t wait to make something out of this; I am not the god of crafting for nothing. About half an hour later, I finished, finding a spot to toss the snake so no wild and potentially dangerous animal found it near me. It took a few more minutes, but I quickly returned to where I had decided to stay for the night and lie down, facing the sky.

While waiting for sleep, I watch the stars and enjoy the warm wind against my body. With Lemnos not having a large population, I didn’t have to worry about the bright bonfires and lanterns blocking the view of the stars. While it's not a normal thing for a god to want to go to sleep, I always enjoyed the nice reset.

I never thought I would return here… with it being reduced to almost nothing. There was no reason to return.

Clearing my mind, I drift off…

***

A large, smooth, rocky platform appears under my feet, and a large void surrounds it.

Damn it, I was hoping I wouldn’t receive any messages. I sigh. Well. I am already here. Hopefully, it’s not any of my surviving family.

On the rare occasion when a god does decide to sleep (there is no reason to sleep other than to spend time), they are left in a state where they can contacted by another creature with significant power (generally tending to be another god or rarely a titan.) and while its not the only reason gods don’t tend to sleep, its definitely pretty high up there.

Speaking aloud, I state, “If you don’t show up soon, I will just wake myself up.”

Momentarily after that, a cloaked figure appears before me and walks closer.

As it gets closer, I can make out his face under the cloak; the face revealed was a gauntly pale one and one that any god who was worth their salt would know.

It was Kronos, the Titan of Time.

He laughs a little bit, seeing my wide-eyed reaction. Holding his wrinkled and decayed arms out wide, attempting to seemingly hug me, he smiles wide. “Is that how you treat your one and only grandfather? With silence?”

Still shocked, I remark to myself, Kronos? He shouldn’t be capable of leaving Tartarus, even in only spiritual form. The things my family has done should have ensured that.

Backing up slightly, I shrugged off his hug. “I know you are my grandfather, but other than that, you haven’t done a thing for me.”

Kronos stepped back dramatically, clutching his chest as if seriously injured, “Now, now, I wouldn’t say that. I even gave you that second chance you were talking about.”

Second chance? Does he mean he reversed time? That wouldn’t be possible if he had been weakened, and if he could have always reversed time, he would have easily won against my aunts and uncles.

Seemingly reading my confused face, he continues, “And yes. I could have won against my children, and I still could. But that wouldn’t be half as entertaining to do, would it? When I saw you slaying the rest of the ‘Olympians’ but failing at the last major obstacle, I cannot lie; I felt somewhat disappointed in you. So much potential.”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

He widens his arms in what was intended to be a grandiose display (unfortunately, his skin condition did not assist with the image). “So you're welcome.”

A long pause fills the awkward silence.

Before I can speak, he snaps his fingers, his face showing some displeasure as if he is remembering something annoying. “Now, I know this chat has been nice and all, but ironically, the Titan of Time is out of time; you are not currently strong enough to survive much more of this interaction, and someone has been trying to wake you up for a while now.”

True to his word, Kronos began to dematerialize, and the rest of the dreamscape went with him.

As the dreamscape dissolved, I thought through the frankly abrupt conversion.

Grimly, I thought, if time has been reversed, as Kronos said, then that should mean all the parasites I killed were back. My face turns dark; I will simply need to slay them again.

While waking, I heard several voices, one closer than the other, and an uncomfortable sensation in my side.

“-ke up, you big oaf.” A male’s voice says. Apparently, the feeling in my side was him kicking me. Quickly coming to my senses, I catch his foot as he winds his leg for another kick.

I release his foot to stand, quickly looking at the people interrupting my sleep. They were two ivory-skinned males; the one kicking me seemed to be a young man barely older than 16, and the other looked a few decades older, out of breath from running up to the kid.

I notice another older-looking man now beside the kid. I ask, a little heated, “Who are you calling an oaf?”

The young man regained his balance after I caught his leg and pales slightly, clearly not expecting me to wake up.

Amused by his reaction, I think He must have thought I wouldn’t wake up. Looking at the older man, I ask, “Who are you, and why is this kid kicking me while I slept?” I nod my head toward the kid.

The kid’s chest puffed up, and his face turned red again. He was seemingly miffed that I ignored him and talked to the person next to him. He huffs, crossing his arms with irritation and arrogance.

“I am Petros the son of Dalphne, chief of-”

Before the kid could finish his introduction, which immediately cemented him in my mind as a spoiled brat, the man beside him interrupted, stepping forward to put an arm in front of the kid. He reached out with his other hand, going for a handshake. I step forward, take his hand, and shake it firmly. He politely says, “Hello, outsider; my name is Demitros. I apologize for our initial… greeting. But may I ask what your name and purpose are as you are close to our village?

Releasing his hand, I give him a reassuring smile. “My name is Hephaestus, and I can promise you I was simply trying to find other people.”

When Demitros or the boy didn’t react to my name, which used to be known across the entire dimension, I thought It still requires a bit more investigation, but it seems Kronos wasn’t lying about somehow rewinding time.

Continuing talking to Demitros, I begin weaving in a few lies, “A day or two ago, I found myself on this island, abandoned by my family. You wouldn’t believe my relief when I saw a village.”

Demitros’s eyes widened, quickly approaching and putting his arm behind my back, pulling me toward the village while saying, “If you were truly abandoned here and have no ill intentions, then, please! Come with us. You must be starving.” Looking over his shoulder at the stunned Petros left behind, he said, raising his voice, “Come along, Petros, let us return to your mother. I will be telling her of your actions.”

Petros, mumbling under his breath and looking angry, huffed for a moment before following behind.

When approaching the village, I noticed two guards, one with a slingshot and another with a bow, who were waved off by the man dragging me along.

Passing the guards and a small, short stone wall, I see several dozen houses built in rows, made of clay and ceramic tiles for the roof. There are likely a few more than a hundred people who can live in this village. It is neatly planned for being so remote.

Remembering Petros’s quick and unfinished introduction, Delphne must be a good chief then.

As we walked past the rows of houses, several people poked their heads out to watch us pass by, a few gasping and pointing at me.

Looking down at myself, I don’t notice much that would warrant such a reaction, that was, of course, until I remember the huge snake I decided to bring along with me, as well as my bronze-like skin.

Looking at Demitros, I remark, Honestly, I am surprised he didn’t mention it. While it isn’t exactly a widely known thing, beings who can hold a large amount of divinity do have physical differences from another of their kind. Or that he didn’t even ask about the snake.

Shrugging to myself, I will have to deal with it.

Reaching the center of the small village, I found myself in front of a building that was slightly larger than the rest and made out of stone. It must be the Chief’s hut. Demitros proves me right by stopping near the entrance and saying, “Wait here for a moment while I go grab Delphne; I will get someone to bring you food and a drink shortly.” Pushing open the front door, he walks into the house, closing it behind him.

I momentarily searched for somewhere to sit, and low and behold, I found a nearby tree stump and sat down on it, breathing out in a tiny bit of relief.

A few minutes passed without anyone appearing from the house; about to give up and talk to some people passing by, I stood up and turned away from the door.

Before I could actually do anything, however, the entrance opened, and Demitros’s voice came flooding out. “I don’t know, Delphne; he seemed to be telling the truth.” A feminine voice responded, “As always, I have to be sure.”

I put a large and hopefully disarming smile on my face and spin around on my back heel. Seeing a stunning woman exiting the building, I quickly say, holding out my hand to shake, “Hello, it's great to meet you. My name is Hephaestus, but my friends call me Heph.”