Half-Blood High

XXVIII

                                     Hazel

"Then die."

Kronos lunged, his sword a glittering arc of steel and iron against the night sky. I closed my eyes, not wanting to meet Death face to face.

All things considered, my life had been pretty good. Other than my mother dying, and the fact that I'd go fighting an evil deity, it wasn't bad. I'd had friends. Jason, Gwin, and Frank. Sweet, gentle Frank, who I might miss most of all.

CLANNNGGGG

I opened my eyes. Kronos' sword had stopped a heartbeat from my face. A second blade, long and bronze, had been horizontally braced against it. It wasn't Percy's sword. He was too busy being passed out. So who?

I looked to my left. Piper had somehow appeared, and had gotten a new weapon, and blocked Kronos' blade with hers, saving me and Jason from being shish-kebabs. With a grunt, she pushed upward, making him backpedal. She positioned herself in front of us, knife at the ready.

"WHAT IS THIS TREACHERY? WHO DARES INTERFERE?" Kronos was angry. Golden ichor, the blood of immortals, dropped down his face like sweat.

"I dare." Piper said calmly. "Now back off, Father Time."

"FATHER TIME?! I AM KRONOS! TITAN OF TIME! HOW DARE YOU!"

Kronos was ranting. Behind him, I saw movement. Annabeth was tending to Percy, who had a thin trickle of blood running down the side of his head. I let out a sigh of relief as he sat up on his own.

Okay. So Percy was fine, Piper had a wicked knife, and we'd angered the Lord of time. You know, just a typical half-blood Wednesday.

Piper swung her knife, slashing at empty air. Still, it made Kronos back up a bit. He raised his sword, and Piper parried.

"Don't hurt him!" Annabeth shouted. "Luke, snap out of it!"

I doubted that there was anything left of Luke Castellan to hear her. Still, Annabeth looked hopeful. She drew a bronze knife, kind of like Piper's, but shorter, and cut away a strip of Percy's shirt. She wrapped it around his head, then cut another one. Pretty soon, Percy was wearing a crop top.

"Piper, watch out!" Jason shouted. He leapt forward and tackled Kronos, who dropped his sword in surprise. The two of them rolled several feet, which gave Piper enough time to snatch up his sword. Just as she did, she yelped and dropped it.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth shouted. "Grab the sword!"

Piper shook her head and held out her hand. An angry red line ran across her palm. "I can't. It burned me." She glared at the sword, like it was the most evil thing she'd come across.

Kronos sat up and shoved Jason off him. "Foolish half-blood," He sneered. "That sword is Backbiter. It was crafted from mortal steel and Stygian iron. No demigod can wield it, for only an immortal can handle its power!" He let out a laugh that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. This guy was way to over dramatic.

"Great story," Piper clapped mockingly. She brandished her knife, the threat dancing in her eyes. "Now let's try this again. Surrender Luke Castellan's body and leave us!" In the dim parking lot lights, knife held aloft, she reminded me of the paintings of Joan of Arc that I'd seen in history class. A fierce, undying strength, and a look in her eye that said: "I will fight til the end."

If I had been standing in front of her, I would have surrendered then and there. But Kronos, curse him, merely rolled his eyes. He held up a hand, and the sword shot toward him, like two magnets being attracted.

With a dark smile, he stood up, and stomped hard. A crack widened under his feet. He bent down, and grasped the back of Jason's jersey. Jason struggled and protested, but to no avail. With a final smirk, Kronos jumped into the hole, taking Jason with him.

For a moment, we were all silent. Then, Piper let out a strangled cry.

"JASON!"

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        Percy

Friendly tip: Never get thrown into a car by an evil Titan overlord. It'll give you a real headache.

Annabeth had cut away half of my shirt, and used the strips to wrap around my head like bandages. Her cool fingers brushed back the hair from my forehead, the way my mom would when I was sick. The thought was comforting.

"Percy, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Her gray eyes were dark with worry. I reached out and grasped her free hand. "I-I'm fine. My head hurts a little, but I'm fine." My throat was dry and a little raspy. But nevertheless, Annabeth looked relieved to hear my voice. "Good. I think Chiron can take a look at you. You should be fine."

I only wished she believed herself as much as I did.

A loud sob caught my attention. We both turned out heads toward Piper, who was on her knees at the spot where Kronos had taken Jason. She was bent over, her head nearly touching the gravel, sobbing. Hazel was kneeling next to her, her hand on her shoulder.

I looked to Annabeth. "Where's Frank and Leo?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I hope they didn't get eaten by the Minotaur or something." She joked weakly. I gave her hand a small squeeze. "Don't worry. They're probably okay. In the meantime, we need to alert Chiron."

She nodded in agreement. "I'll go find him. Stay safe." She brushed a quick kiss against my forehead, and was gone.

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      Frank

"Now that the games' over, we should probably report back to Chiron and Lupa," I told Leo. "They're probably waiting for us in his office." We set off without a word.

Leo has been oddly quiet since the whole fire explanation. I hoped I hadn't upset him or something. As annoying as he was sometimes, he was still sort-of my friend.

We walked quickly to the school, not stopping for anything. The halls were dark, and our footsteps echoed through the school. Thankfully, the light in Chiron's office was still on.

I waited while Leo knocked some weird, secret knock that Chiron had made up. The door opened before he finished, revealing Chiron, in wheelchair form, looking relieved. "Thank Olympus. I was wondering if you'd gotten lost!" He wheeled aside to let us in. "Now tell me, how did the patrol go?"

I quickly filled him in on what had happened, minus the whole Leo-fire situation. I claimed we'd fought Tammi off with spare toilet brushes until Leo had gotten a lucky stab and vanquished her. Luckily, Chiron seemed to believe me.

"I see. Have you see the others? I thought they might report back to me when the game was over, but I haven't heard a thing from any of them. Frankly, I'm starting to worry."

I went to answer, but the door burst open. Annabeth stood there, breathing hard. She looked like she'd just run a mile. "So Sorry-gasp-to interrupt. We just had-huff-a run in with Kronos. You may want to come see this."

Chiron looked stricken, and quickly wheeled himself out of the room, with Leo and I close behind him.
. . .
Thoughts?

Peace ✌️

-SilverQuillsandRoses