Confused by Time (Percy Jackson fanfic) (currently being rewritten)

Chapter 58 - The Fool

Zeus clenched his teeth as he paced, his hands clasped behind his back as Ares shifted in front of him. "Kronos is a valuable hostage, Ares. Why try to kill him?"

Ares just scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. "He's said nothing. Absolutely nothing. He's useless and the Titans haven't advanced at all. They'll never reach Olympus, and we'll never need to use him."

"But they won't even dare to advance while he is still alive, Ares," Athena said pointedly. "Killing him will cause them to attack constantly and furiously, beating us back again and again. We all know that an angry Titan is a dangerous Titan. Having twenty-two angry Titans knocking on Olympus' gates at once will cause us to fall."

"What I don't understand is why they've not even attempted once to retrieve him," Hermes murmured. "It makes no sense. Do they not consider it dangerous that we have him? He surely knows every little secret of Othrys and the Titans."

"But he's not saying anything!" Ares exclaimed. "He's not saying anything because he believed we wouldn't kill him. So I proved otherwise to him."

"By killing him," Zeus shot back. "When the Titans find out... I fear we may lose this war."

"He's not dead yet," Hades said. "Not yet. It's lucky you placed that electric barrier down, Zeus."

Zeus nodded slightly. "Yes," he agreed. "Without it I wouldn't have been aware that something was happening."

The gods had been in a council meeting when Zeus had felt Kronos touch the electric barrier. He had quickly flashed down to Kronos' cell and found the Titan unconscious and dying from the Pit Scorpion sting. He'd rapidly summoned Apollo and they moved Kronos to the infirmary as Apollo hunted down the antidote.

They'd managed to slow down the effects of the poison, but even as they spoke Apollo was trying to get Kronos to have the antidote. It seemed the Titan's stubbornness was evident even when he was unconscious, since Apollo couldn't get him to swallow it.

They'd reluctantly settled on forcing small amounts of nectar and ambrosia into him to keep his strength at a reasonable level.

"Lord Zeus," a nervous minor god of healing said as he entered the room. "Apollo would like your presence in the infirmary. He says it's of the utmost importance."

"What's happened?" Athena asked as she rose from her throne. "Has he died?"

"No, Lady Athena. It's the opposite – the Titan woke up a few minutes ago. Lord Apollo said I had to get you immediately."

Zeus' expression hardened. "Has anything happened?"

"Not yet, Lord Zeus."

Zeus nodded before disappearing in a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder. The room they'd put Kronos in was deep within Apollo's palace, so very few beings wandered into it. The Titan's arms were restrained by his side with bands of bendable celestial bronze, designed to not hurt him if he strained to get out of them, but strong enough to resist his strength.

Despite his paleness and the sweat caking his forehead, Kronos seemed annoyingly lively. Apollo glanced up from filling a syringe attached to a needle when Zeus flashed in.

"His metabolism is ridiculously fast," Apollo complained, "even with Pit Scorpion venom in him. He's burning it off within ten minutes."

Kronos snorted, trying to wrench his hands out of the bindings. "If you think I'll allow you to put anything in me then you're mistaken, godling," he snarled.

Apollo scowled at him before returning to look at Zeus. "I may need your help. If we don't want him to die, we have to get him to drink the antidote," Apollo nodded to the deep orange mix in a vial on the table next to Kronos. "So I'll need someone to get him to open his mouth."