The Titan's Second Life chapter 2
"Come on, Clockwork! It would be fun!"
Danny Phantom hovered in front of his mentor, grinning like heād just won the lottery. Clockwork raised an eyebrow, the red glow of his eyes dimming slightly. "If you say so, Daniel."
"Yes! Try taking your human form, and Iāll show you the human world!" Dannyās excitement was palpable. "So much must have changed since the last time you saw it!"
Clockwork considered if Daniel ever does listen to him. He had observed humanity through his portalsāwars, empires, the rise and fall of civilizations. He had seen it all. There was no need to walk among them again.
But Danny wanted to share it with him.
That was new⦠the boy again forgot.
Clockwork had spent millennia detached from the world, content to watch from the safety of his tower.Ā
The last time he had taken a physical form outside of the Tower, humans had barely discovered fire that Prometheus gave them.Ā
Now, they had skyscrapers, computers, and something called "the internet." Danny had tried to talk all about it at once.
"Youāve never left this tower, have you?" Danny pressed. "Not since you became a ghost. Youāre missing out!"
Clockwork sighed. "I see all, Daniel. Time is my domain. I do not āmiss out.ā I see all of it, at once."
"Yeah, but itās not the same as experiencing it!" Danny floated closer, his neon green eyes bright. "Please? Just for a little while?"
Clockwork hesitated. The boy was persistent. And, if he were honest, there was a part of himāburied deep beneath the gears and the endless ticking of timeāthat wondered what it would be like to walk the earth again.
Not the time, he was Kronos.
Not as a king of the Titans, Lord of the Golden Age.
Just as⦠something else. As Clockwork.
Clockworkās mind drifted back to a conversation heād had long ago, when he was still Kronos. His brother Hyperion had come to him, concern etched into his features.
"What is going on?" Hyperion had demanded. No greeting or small talk, just a demand from his King.
Kronos had looked up from his time experiments, his fingers still glowing with temporal energy as he saw what he could change and adapt. "I am unsure what you mean, brother."
"Youāve changed," Hyperion said, stepping closer. "And not for the better. Youāre distant. Cold. You donāt care about the Golden Age, about Rhea, about your children. You donāt even care about your own damn kingdom!"
Kronos-Clockwork had feigned confusion. "I do not have my temper anymore for you to fear?"
Hyperionās gaze sharpened. He remembers the old Kronos temper that the Siblings feared so much they ran away from as he became the King.
He had seen the flickersāthe way Kronosā skin turned blue for a moment, the way his golden eyes flashed red. He had felt the way time itself seemed to warp around his brother. "Whatever youāre doing with time, itās not doing your body good. It looks like youāre ripping yourself apart. Are you even still a Titan? Or has your power already mutated you into something else?"
Kronos had that damn mysterious smile. "I know what I am doing."
"Do you?" Hyperionās voice was low, urgent. "Because it doesnāt seem like it. Youāre not the Kronos I know. Youāre not the king who overthrew Uranus. Youāre not the ruler whoā"
"Who, you all feared?" Kronos had interrupted, his voice calm. "I remember who I am, Hyperion. Even you, my favourite siblings, wouldnāt talk to me that way, in the past."
Hyperion had stared at him, stunned. "What?"
Kronos had turned away. "You should look after my son Zeus. Heāll need guidance when he comes of age. Maybe talk to Chiron too."
"Zeus?" Hyperion had frowned. "Your newborn sonās name is Poseidon. You donāt have a child called Zeus or Chiron."
For a moment, Kronos had faltered. The timelines were bleeding together, his memories of the future and the past tangling like threads. "So they still have to be born," he murmured. "We have time."
And with that, he had left his brother standing there, whispering after him: "This is exactly what Iām talking about. Do you even remember who you are?"
Clockwork returned to the present, watching as Danny rummaged through a pile of clothes heād brought from the human world. "Okay, so weāve got options. Do you want to go with the classic trench coat look, or something more casual? Maybe jeans and a hoodie?"
Clockwork blinked. "I do not require clothing."
"Yeah, but if youāre going to blend in, you kinda do, and you canāt walk in a Toga, even if you did look good in it!" Danny said, tossing a black jacket at him. "Here. Try this."
Clockwork caught the fabric, examining it. It was strange, holding something so mundane after so long. But Danny was right. If he was going to walk among humans, he needed to look the part.
With a thought, his form shifted. The gears receded, his blue skin faded to a more human tone, and his red eyes dimmed to a warm blue. He stood before Danny as a tall, broad-shouldered man with white hair and a face that wasnāt Flawless, but it did look Human, yet Ancient and Timeless. Yet at the same time, he did look similar to how Danny looks.
Danny whistled. "Whoa. You clean up nice."
Clockwork adjusted the jacket. "Is this sufficient?"
"Perfect," Danny grinned. "Now, letās go!"