The Gift of Time

3|| Figure Something Out

Jason's POV
Swordsmanship class went by in a blur. One second I was walking into the arena and the next I was walking out. The whole time though, I had one thing on my mind. Percy's eyes.

I swear they flashed a solid gold for a split second. Like if I blinked I would've missed it. I told myself I was imagining it, but then again I know what I saw. This isn't something I should keep to myself even if I was imagining it, so I went to cabin 13 where everyone was.

When I walked in, I saw the rest of the 7, except Percy, and Nico sitting around talking. They all looked to me as I walked in and I guess my face showed my confusion because they immediately started asking questions.

"What happened?" Piper asks

I stay silent for a second as I look around the room. Frank and Leo were talking about something, but they stopped when piper asked that, Nico's full attention was on me, Hazel and piper were looking at me, and Annabeth was reading a book. I took a deep breath before starting to explain.

"I was sitting at the beach talking to Percy a little while ago. I said something and he turned to face me and I swear for a fraction of a second... his eyes turned gold." I say and Annabeth's head snaps up

"What did you just say?" She says

"I could've been imagining it, but I know what I saw." I say

"Jason that's not funny." She says

"I'm not joking." I say "Obviously something happened with golden eyes that makes you uneasy, but I don't understand. Why would his eyes turn gold."

"You wanna know what happened. Luke happened. He was possessed by Kronos and all of a sudden he had golden eyes! But Percy he... he wouldn't do that." She says trailing off at the end "Nico."

He shakes his head and says, "He wouldn't do that. If he is hosting Kronos, which is very unlikely, it's for a good reason."

"But what if it's not? What if... what if he's turning into Luke?" Annabeth asks sadly

"No. No I refuse to believe that he would do that." Nico argues "Look, this comes as a shock to all of us, but we can't jump to conclusions. Wait. Keep an eye on him. If we see odd behavior then we confront him."

"They're the same age." Annabeth whispers, "Gods they their the same age. Him and Luke are the same age as when it first started. I can't lose him too."

"Annabeth look at me." Nico says and Annabeth turns to him, "He would never do that. He refused Kronos the first time. He would do it again. You're not losing Percy. We're not losing Percy."

Everyone was familiar with the stories of the second titan war. Annabeth and Percy told us the story when on the Argo II. We were interested in the story, so asked for as many details as possible and Percy gave a very vivid description of the whole thing.

Let's just say, the rest of us were rather happy we weren't apart of that. Going through a betrayal of that scale, especially with a fatal flaw of loyalty, must've been hard for all of them. I could only imagine what Annabeth was feeling during the whole thing.

I find it rather hard to believe that Percy would willingly take in Kronos. But why else would his eyes turn gold? Percy risked his life time and time again for all of us, so why would he do that? None of this makes sense. There has to be a side to this that we're not seeing, but there's no way to see that side unless we downright ask him about it. In which case he would undoubtedly deny all of it.

In reality, the only thing we can do is wait him out. In the off chance that he is hosting Kronos he would never admit it. That would condemn him to Tartarus. I exit the hades cabin and go back to mine to think about what I should do. As I'm walking, I see Percy slip into the forest. This can't be good.

Percy's POV
I walk through the forest trying to get far enough away from camp, so I can't test my new abilities. Kronos insisted that I immediately start training them, so I don't lose control over them in the event I get angry. Though he did say we would be doing it in my dreams, but okay.

I walk until I make the creak at the edge of camp and sit against a tree. I listen to Kronos ramble on about the importance of his domains and the power that they hold, but I don't really listen. I already know and understand all of that, but he decided it was a good idea to give me a lecture about it.

"Okay, we will start with time slowing. In order to slow time and be able to control how slow it gets all you have to do is concentrate. Just say something like 'slow time by 50%'." He explains

"That's it?" I ask

"What do you mean 'that's it?'" He asks

"Well you keep going on about how important your domains are, so I figured it would harder to control." I say "But I'm not complaining."

I take a deep breath and tell my self to slow time by 50%. As I exhale, I feel a wave of power roll off of me and out towards everything it can touch. Everything feels the same, but then I realized that since I slowed time it would feel the same to me.

I turned around and saw the creek flowing significantly slower and the leaves rustling a lot less. There's no way the campers don't feel this. I look around and from the corner of my eyes I see a figure behind a tree. As I look closer I realize who it is. Jason. I revert time back to normal and he pulls out his sword before advancing on me.

"Percy. Why would you do this?" He asks

"Jason, I know it looks bad, but hear me out." I say.

"No. There is nothing you can say that would make this any better." He says "I have to tell the gods."

He starts to walk away, but I react quickly by stopping him in time. Nothing else is slowed at all, just him.

"Jason, please. You have to understand that I would never do this unless it was a dire situation." I say "You can't tell anyone."

"What am I supposed to say." I hear him mutter

"Don't say anything." I say "Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me? I'm not gonna hurt any of you, it's not like that. Jason, you've trusted me before in some stupid situations, but if you're going to trust me in any situation, please let it be this one."

I reverse my effects and he turns to face me. He turns his sword back into the coin and shoves it in his pocket. His face turns from anger to nothing as he steps towards me.

"Fine. But if I find out you're lying, I'll kill you myself." He says before turning away

"Is he always that dramatic?" Kronos asks

"Yeah," I answer

I walk back to my cabin and sit down on my bed as I contemplate what to do. Obviously Jason knowing my secret makes this ten times harder, but I'll figure something out.

"We." Kronos says

"What?" I ask

"We will figure something out. After all, you wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me. Whether we like it or not we're in this together." He says "Until I fade. Then you're on your own."

"Wow. Thanks for the reassurance." I say