Confused by Storm

Chapter 14 - And So It Begins

When Percy stepped into the throne room, he wasn't surprised to find Kronos and his brothers still looking over the movements of troops for the last few months. Despite Kronos' reluctance with things like war meetings, he definitely understood their importance.

Golden eyes flickered up, the Titan momentarily being distracted by Percy's entrance as the massive doors slammed shut behind him, before his attention was stolen by a sharp movement of the hologram before him. He leant on the obsidian table which projected the images, frowning as he gestured to a specific troop's movement.

"Where are they now?"

Iapetus flicked the hologram over to a current placing, and the troop's position was highlighted in a bold red. "There. They moved through Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming."

"Idaho," Kronos mused, tapping a finger against his lips. "What's in Idaho?"

"The Rocky Mountains?" Krios suggested. "Not really much."

"But what's the point of stopping in Idaho?" Kronos pressed. "Of all the places to stop..." He sighed, gesturing to Hyperion. "So one set in Idaho, one in Arizona." He leant forwards to flick the hologram over, some small images of an armoured person highlighted in red and others in gold. "Everything's changed," he said with obvious anger.

Percy blinked as he studied the display. "They're going to attack Othrys," he guessed.

"Thank you, Perseus," Kronos huffed. "I wasn't able to figure that one out for myself."

The youngest Titan shrugged. "Just saying," he defended.

"How in Chaos' name have they managed to get so close so us?" Kronos growled lowly. "Idaho, Arizona, Utah, they're trying to cut us off from the main body of our army." He twisted to glare at his brothers. "And none of you noticed?"

"We were more occupied with the main fighting than the scouts," Hyperion said carefully.

"Idiots," Kronos sighed.

"You said move the army forward," Iapetus said dryly.

"I thought you all had the sense to watch our backsides first," Kronos bemoaned. "Obviously I was wrong." He tapped a finger against the obsidian table. "So we need to clear those pockets behind the main front first. That's first priority, preferably before they launch an attack. Second, we need a stronger front. There are gaps where a small party could slip through, and we don't need that." With a few taps of his fingers against the obsidian table, Kronos shuts off the hologram. "Call back any wounded from the front, have them reinforced by our armies up north in the Rocky Mountains."

Koios frowned at that. "But Erebus-"

"Is no longer of any concern," Kronos dismissed. Golden eyes blinked at Koios. "Go."

Percy waited until Kronos' brothers were gone before he approached. He grinned at Kronos. "Having fun?"

"You know I hate war meetings," Kronos murmured to him, stepping around the table to be able to hold him close. He pressed his nose against Percy's neck. Percy pretended to not know that the Titan was taking in his scent.

"Uh huh, but they're necessary if you don't want the gods to take all this away again," Percy told him, turning to he could get the slightest whiff of Kronos' own scent. His nose wrinkled. "Are there really pockets of the gods' armies that close to us?"

"Yes," Kronos sighed. "I don't know what my siblings were thinking, allowing them that close."

"They were a little preoccupied," Percy said with a wry smile. "What with you dying, me dead. Erebus up north." He observed Kronos for several seconds. "What did you mean when you said that Erebus wasn't of any concern anymore?"