VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- eleven

BY THE TIME THEY GOT TO THE STREET, IT WAS TOO LATE.

campers and hunters lay wounded on the ground. clarisse must've lost a fight with a hyperborean
giant, because she and her chariot were frozen in a block of ice. the centaurs were nowhere to be seen.
either they'd panicked and ran or they'd been disintegrated.

the titan army ringed the building, standing maybe twenty feet from the doors. kronos's vanguard was
in the lead: ethan nakamura, the dracaena queen in her green armor, and two hyperboreans. kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand.

the only thing standing in his way was...

"chiron," annabeth said, her voice trembling.

if chiron heard them, he didn't answer. he had an arrow notched, aimed straight at kronos's face.

as soon as kronos saw percy, his gold eyes flared. then the titan lord turned his attention back to chiron. "step aside, little son."

hearing luke call chiron his son was weird enough, but kronos put contempt in his voice, like son was
the worst word he could think of.

"i'm afraid not." chiron's tone was steely calm, the way he gets when he's really angry.

rose tried to move, but her feet felt like concrete. annabeth, percy, grover, and thalia were straining too, like they were just as stuck.

"chiron!" annabeth said. "look out!"

the dracaena queen became impatient and charged. chiron's arrow flew straight between her eyes and she vaporized on the spot, her empty armor clattering to the asphalt.

chiron reached for another arrow, but his quiver was empty. he dropped the bow and drew his sword.
rose knew he hated fighting with a sword. it was never his favorite weapon.

kronos chuckled. he advanced a step, and chiron's horse-half skittered nervously. his tail flicked back
and forth.

"you're a teacher," kronos sneered. "not a hero."

"luke was a hero," chiron said. "he was a good one, until you corrupted him."

"FOOL!" kronos's voice shook the city. "you filled his head with empty promises. you said the gods
cared about me!"

"me," chiron noticed. "you said me."

kronos looked confused, and in that moment, chiron struck. it was a good maneuver—a feint followed by a strike to the face. rose couldn't have done better herself, but kronos was quick. he had all of luke's fighting skill, which was a lot. he knocked aside chiron's blade and yelled, "BACK!"

a blinding white light exploded between the titan and the centaur. chiron flew into the side of the
building with such force the wall crumbled and collapsed on top of him.

"no!" annabeth wailed. the freezing spell broke. they ran toward chiron, but there was no sign of him. thalia and rose pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the titan's army.

"YOU!" annabeth turned on luke. "to think that i... that i thought—"

she drew her knife.

"annabeth, don't." rose tried to take her arm, but she shook her off.

she attacked kronos, and his smug smile faded. perhaps some part of luke remembered that he used
to like this girl, used to take care of her when she was little. she plunged her knife between the straps of
his armor, right at his collar bone. the blade should've sunk into his chest. instead it bounced off.
annabeth doubled over, clutching her arm to her stomach.