Shards: Intro- Part 1 (old)

Chapter Five: The Witness

"After centuries of searching for his children, Kronos made himself known to the world. He travelled, and offered affected Humans he met a place in his Syndicate. To everyone's surprise, he was kind to loyal subjects, but still bent on acquiring the Protostar to achieve complete dominance of Earthly magic.

Not convinced of his Father's outwardly benevolence, Poseidon came up with the idea of teaching magic to affected Humans in order to counter his Father's syndicate. The idea was enthusiastically embraced by Zeus and Hera.

Since the time of Kronos's battle with Uranus, the brothers had grown tenfolds more powerful than they were, and Hera was married to Zeus. What hasn't changed was Hades' opinion on the matter of facing their father. Even with an army at his back, Hades was fearful of attempting to intimidate his Father's syndicate with an outspoken death sentence on his head. But even more than that, he feared for his brothers safety. Unfazed by another proposal by Hades to wait longer, the others decided to make their cause known to the public.

Several accursed humans decided to join Zeus's army because they feared Kronos's rage. In a notable incident, a large group of Accursed called Cyclopes were migrating to Mount Olympus to receive healing from Zeus. Their intention was realized by Kronos, who decided to confront them. When they refused to fight by his side for the Protostar in exchange for his help, he sent them to Tartarus. News of this incident was used against Kronos by Zeus to attract more manpower to his army. If that wasn't enough, some of Kronos's own Titans turned against him.

Kronos felt surrounded by enemies, and decided that waiting any longer to destroy his opponents would result in his overthrow from power. So he began planning a strategy for the destruction of Olympus. Rhea: Kronos's wife, was one of the Titans who betrayed Kronos. When she informed Zeus of Kronos's plans, he readied his army for battle.

But Zeus had already coordinated a plan with Hades. By this time, Hades became aware of his power to summon a portal to the Underworld. Zeus wanted to use this to free any accursed that Kronos imprisoned in Tartarus. The brothers gave Poseidon the task of defending Olympus while they freed them.

Kronos became aware of the ploy, and caught the two brothers fleeing the Underworld with the Cyclopes and other Accursed. All escaped except for Hades. Only this time, Hades put up a fierce fight with his Father; even managing to land a few blows. Hades was swift, but knocked unconscious by a single blow from Kronos. Once again, Hades was tortured until he told Kronos about the Protostar's exact location. Hades then pleaded on behalf of his brothers lives. Seeing this as a sign of weakness, Kronos left him to suffer in Tartarus, and took his Bident for himself.

Once he learned of the Protostar's whereabouts, Kronos immediately enacted his plan. Zeus returned to see Kronos's forces already attacking Olympus, and had to man it's outside defenses. Kronos used this distraction to teleport himself straight into Mount Olympus. Poseidon fled with the Star, already assuming that Hades would talk. Kronos relentlessly pursed him out of Greece and away from the battle. Kronos left his syndicate leaderless and low on morale. After a short battle, Zeus accepted a complete surrender of the Syndicate and offered exoneration to anyone who joined his "Magus Oracle." Most gladly accepted.

Kronos never intended to lead an army. He only ever needed the Protostar and his son's weapons in order to assume full control of the Star and dominion over all creatures of magic. Kronos only needed to first face Poseidon, take the Star and his Trident from him, then deal with Zeus. Poseidon eventually stopped running when he came to the sea. Kronos thought he had given up, and offered to face Poseidon man-to-man, just as he did with Uranus and Hades. What Kronos didn't know, was that Poseidon had learned how to harness the power of the sea.

Poseidon led him underwater where to his surprise: Kronos could breathe. He tried to convince his Father that he didn't need this power, and having it would only lead to a desire for more. Kronos then accused Poseidon of hypocrisy for stealing the Protostar because they wanted it just as badly as he did. He wouldn't listen to Poseidon's denials of these allegations, and decided to attack.