Rising Heroes Book Four: The Sands of Ouroboros

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Last of Us

Disclaimer: I don't own HOO, Percy Jackson, or VE

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Last of Us

Adrian nearly fell to the ground. "My mom's dead?" he asked.

Grover nodded. They could hear banging from upstairs, screams and shouts. After a moment Percy ran downstairs, sword held high.

"I'm going to kill him," he growled. His face was tight and pinched, barely restrained tears held back by pure rage. 

"You can't," Chiron said quickly, but it was too late. They watched as Percy ran out the hotel door, ignoring their attempts to stop him, and started running down the street. "Come out!" he yelled. "Come fight me!"

There was no movement in the streets. "We have to bring him back in!" Skye said, still holding up Adrian. 

Chiron shook his head. "He will only injure those who try."

Adrian shook his head. "I don't feel so good," he said slowly, his face turning gray, and then green. 

Then he threw up all over the floor.

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They spent the first half of the night crying and trying to get fitful sleep. Then, halfway through the night, when they could still hear Percy screaming and shouting, they decided to make a plan.

Skye was the first one to wake up. She sat at the window, watching as Percy paced the streets and the Titan army regrouped in the distance. After a moment Adrian joined her. She opened her arms to him and they sat together, holding one another.

"We'll bring her back," Skye whispered. "We will. We just have to find the Immortie before- before-"

"Before we all disappear," Adrian sighed, then kissed her forehead. "Till death do us part, right?"

"You guys are married?" Ryan asked. 

Skye turned. Him and Addie were up, Addie still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Oh yeah," Addie said. "Their son officiated it."

"What?" Now Ciara was up. And then Reid, and Carmen, and Evan, and Waverly, and Maverick, and Adrian and Skye explained the whole story. By the end, they had even gotten a few smiles.

Then the talk turned to business. "Based off of Dustin's... his, erm, disappearance, I think we have five days after each of our parent's deaths until we disappear as well," Addie said. "So for the Romans, that's about four days left, including tomorrow. For Ciara, Waverly, and Maverick, either three, or two and a half. For Adrian, five."

"So we need to find the Immortie before then," Adrian said grimly.

Reid shook his head. "Before we went through, Roc was saying how we were sent to this specific time for a reason. Because it was one of the most pivotal moments for demigods. And the Grigori were sent to a similar one."

"Lilith?" Skye asked.

"No," Ryan said. "I went there."

Skye frowned. "Then it must be... Sammael."

"Do you know when that was supposed to happen?" Ciara asked.

"It was... actually, it was just a little over a week... ago," Skye's eyes lit up. "Right when the Immortie was stolen!"

"So I'm thinking," Waverly said slowly, "what if Leviathan and Rhea stole the Immortie, went back in time, and changed things?"

"Then how did they go back in time to begin with?" Maverick pointed out.

"They must have fixed the stones, or, or something," Adrian said. "But what if the Grigori got to the Immortie?"

"Maybe," Skye said slowly. "Maybe they disappeared before they could use it. But where would they have taken it?"

"Somewhere it wouldn't be found," Maverick said.

"Duh," Waverly rolled her eyes. "It might be close by. Or maybe still at camp?"

"Let's not forget that Typhon is still raging through the Midwest," Adrian added. "And what about the gods? And the angels? Surely they don't want to be destroyed."

"Destroying them would be nearly impossible," Addie pointed out. "Better if they're trapped."

"I wonder," Maverick began, then stopped.

"What is it?" Carmen asked.

"The prophecy," Maverick said.

If wings and swords should collide,

The tears of gods will rain down upon us,

And if a parent is younger than their child,

They will turn back the hands of Kronos.

The river of life will then diverge,

To make the world crumble and burn,

The only path to set it right,

Is when the lives of twins divide.

"Wings and swords collided, and parents were younger than children," Skye said. "Tears of gods... my Dad used to say that rain was the tears of gods crying when they were upset."

As though sparked by her words, there was a rumble of thunder outside, but no lightning. Rain started to fall.

"What if they're trying to send us a message?" Ciara said. "What is they're trapped somewhere?"

"Or..." Evan took a deep breath. "There's a legend among the praetors, that in order to trap the gods, you must use the power of angels. I think that's why Grigori and demigods were meant to stay separate. They used the god power on the angels, and the angel power on the gods, and trapped them like the gods trapped the Titans. But trapped them not in Tartarus, but in..."

"Ouranus," Carmen finished. "I bet the rain is just an afterthought of them yoking their power."

"This isn't the demigods defending Mount Olympus," Skye realized. "This is their last stand. And they don't even realize it."

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The next morning Skye found Adrian sitting at the bottom of the hotel swimming pool, eyes closed, legs folded. She rippled the water, and a moment later Adrian surfaced.

"Feeling better?" she asked. "You were down there for ten minutes."

"My Uncle Logan says it helps him think," Adrian said sheepishly. "So... what's the plan?"

"Go to Mount Olympus," Skye said. "See what's up there. There's no point fighting Kronos if we're trying to go back in time anyway. But I also remember that there was a Grigori outpost here, and some clubs they used. This city has been a place of co-existing for awhile now. Ryan said he might be able to find some of the places he visited back in time."

"Sounds good," Adrian said. And as they held hands, the plan was almost good enough that he could forget the fact that in four days, he would have never existed.