Silver Tears - Ethan Nakamura

Fifty-one: I don't even know what to say.

WE FOUND ETHAN, ASTRA AND ANNABETH ARGUED, A LOT OF CRYING HAPPENED AND THE LOST GOD SPOKE.

I should have stabbed him right then. I should've brought the point of Riptide down with all my strength. But I was too stunned. I didn't understand. As much as I hated Luke, as much as he had betrayed me, I just didn't get why he was in the coffin, and why he looked so very, very dead.

Then the voices of the telekhines were right behind me. "What has happened!" one of the demons screamed when he saw the lid.

I stumbled away from the dais, forgetting that I was invisible, and hid behind a column as they approached.

"Careful!" the other demon warned. "Perhaps he stirs. We must present the gifts now. Immediately!" The two telekhines shuffled forward and knelt, holding up the scythe on its wrapping cloth.

"My lord," one said. "Your symbol of power is remade." Silence. Nothing happened in the coffin.

"You fool," the other telekhine muttered. "He requires the half-bloods first."

Ethan and who I guessed was Alabaster stepped back. "Whoa, what do you mean, he requires us?" Alabaster asked.

"Don't be a coward!" the first telekhine hissed. "He does not require your death. Only your allegiance. Pledge him your service. Renounce the gods. That is all."

"No!" I heard someone yell. It was a stupid thing to do, but I charged into the room and took off the cap.

"Ethan, don't!" Astra yelled, now becoming visible. Ethan looked relieved, and his shoulders fell in relief.

"Trespassers!" The telekhines bared their seal teeth. "The master will deal with you soon enough. Hurry, boy!"

Astra grabbed Ethan and pushed him into me. I caught him and stumbled back.

"Thanks," he muttered. I nodded my head and watched as Astra tried to plead with Alabaster.

"Alabaster," Astra pleaded, "don't listen to them. Help me destroy it." Alabaster turned toward her.

His expression was something like pity. "My mother, your sister has joined Kronos's cause, why should I not?"

Astra's expression changed and her face hardened. "You really wanna follow your mother? You want to be a mamas boy so badly? You want her love? Well guess what Alabaster, you're never getting it because Hecate does not love anyone but herself. Hecate will never love you, she will use you to get what she wants. And once she does, she will throw you to the side like all the gods do."

Alabaster stared at Astra with such hatred and he turned toward the dais. "I renounce the gods! What have they ever done for me? I will see them destroyed. I will serve Kronos."

The building rumbled. A wisp of blue light rose from the floor at Alabaster's feet. It drifted toward the coffin and began to shimmer, like a cloud of pure energy. Then it descended on the sarcophagus. Luke sat bolt upright. His eyes opened, and they were no longer blue. They were golden, the same color as the coffin.