Half-Blood High

XXXVI

                                       Leo

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"

We all jumped at Annabeth's shout. Her face was an angry red, her shoulders heaving.

Annabeth was furious. Something in her gray eyes reminded me of a predator about to attack. I instinctively took a step back, feeling oddly threatened.

"Annabeth, calm down." Percy reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she tore away, glaring at him.

"Don't tell me to calm down! We've been chasing this jerk everywhere, and we've come no closer to stopping him! Thats it. I'm done." She crossed her arms and stomped towards a workbench, sitting down in a huff. Percy looked like he'd just been slapped.

Chiron sighed. "I'll talk to her. The rest of you, try and find Jason a weapon." He clopped off toward Annabeth, who had covered her face with her hands.

We glanced at each other. "Uhh... So Jason, what kind of weapon do you want?" I asked, trying to break the awkward silence.

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Something sharp maybe?"

His joke fell flat. None of were really in the mood to laugh anyway.

I sighed. "Come on. I think I saw a big knife over that way."

      }{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

                               Annabeth

"I don't want to talk." I muttered as Chiron stood over me. "I-I'm fine. Really, I just..." I trailed off.

Chiron sighed. "I understand. You don't have to speak, but are you willing to listen?"

I shrugged indifferently.

"I'll take that as a yes." Chiron laid a hand on the table. Due to his horse half, he couldn't sit down.

"You are a daughter of Athena. I have trained and taught a good many of your siblings, and I have known a few well enough to see what's wrong here."

"You're prideful."

My head shot up. "Excuse me, sir?"

"It's a common flaw of Athena's offspring. Most would call it hubris. You are prideful, and hate it when your plans go wrong. I've seen it before. Daedalus was prideful. He killed his nephew because of it."

I frowned. "No offense sir, but this is a terrible pep talk."

Chiron sighed. "I'm almost finished. My point is, the hardest thing for you to learn, will be how to let someone else fight. You have to trust others as much as you trust yourself." He placed a warm hand on my shoulder, firm and reassuring. "Trust the friends you have made here. I believe you can do it. Now come, we have a titan to defeat."

      }{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

                                   Frank

"I've got it!" Leo sprang up from behind a nearby bin. He clutched a long golden knife in one hand, the other wiping grease from his face. "Here you go. One sharp blade."

"Thanks." Jason accepted the knife. "This should work well." He ran a finger over the blade, his expression turning grim.

We were silent, until Lupa's voice broke the quiet. "Gather around. It's time we plan."

We picked our way out of the boxes and met up in the center of the room. Annabeth seemed better, looking less like she wanted to kill someone, which was an improvement.

"Alright. We need a plan." Chiron clapped his hands. "Any ideas?"

Unsurprisingly, no one spoke.

And cue the usual awkward silence.

"I suggest we do a head-on attack." Lupa said. "Our past attempts involving division haven't proved effective. Combining our strengths may probing a more favorable outcome."

Leo clapped slowly. "You took the words right out of my mouth! And then made them big and confusing!"

Lupa shook her head. "All in favor?"

We all raised our hands.

"Excellent."

"Hold up." Hazel held up a hand. "Just so we're clear, our plan is to charge Kronos head on and fight him?"

"Yes." Lupa said. "All it takes is a fatal wound, and Kronos will be weakened enough for me to take it from there."

"What's are you going to do?"

Lupa drew herself up to her full height. "I will use my divine powers to dispel him to Tartarus. He will not be able to return from there, as we will be safe."

"Sounds good to me." Leo said. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Hold your horses," Hazel said. "What about Luke Castellan? Will he survive?"

"And why did he take Daedalus?" I asked.

Chiron but his lip. "We... don't know. This is the only way we can defeat the Titan Lord. As for the inventor, he most likely took him as a bargaining chip, so to speak. We shall have to see. Now then," he looked us over with a steely gaze. "Are all of you ready?"

We nodded.

"Perfect. Move out!"

         }{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{

                                     Piper

Our trip back through the tunnels was way shorter then before.

Maybe the maze was happy to be rid of us. Or maybe it noticed how desperate we were to defeat Kronos.

Either way, we were out of there in less then ten minutes.

We exited through the shop class building. Thankfully, it was empty. After a brief time check, we found out barely half an hour had passed. Stuck underground, it had felt like forever.

We stormed the school. There was no talking between any of us, just a grim resolve to kick Kronos' butt and get it over with. We were all tired of dealing with the jerk, and wanted to be done.

With a somewhat unnecessary kick, Annabeth broke the door down. She stepped into the doorway, and froze.

"Uh, guys? You may want to see this."

I peered over her shoulder, Hazel and Leo doing the same. I heard Hazel gasp.

Everyone was frozen. It should have been the beginning of fifth period, with everyone in class, and the lunch room empty, but it was the complete opposite.

Students were frozen mid-walk. Some had their mouths open, their speech stopped by some strong, unseen force. At the lockers, kids were in various stages of getting their stuff for class. One guy was half bent over, a binder hanging in midair like he'd dropped it.

"It's like they're stuck." Annabeth whispered.

"No." Chiron corrected. "They're frozen in time. He is here."

As if on cue, Kronos strode in. He pushed aside one girl, then stopped when he saw us. His lips curled in an evil grin.

"Finally. You've arrived. Welcome to the celebration." He gestured around himself at the frozen students.

"What celebration?" I asked. Bad move.

Kronos smiled. "The celebration of your failure. Now then, as they say here in America, let's get this party started."
. . .
Almost to the end!

Thoughts?

Peace ✌️

-SilverQuillsandRoses