Gaea's Crown

Chapter Two

NICHOLAS

Mount Othrys

"Alright, I see 'em." I nudge Nico as my eyes gesture to the ruins a few feet away from us, where Chris Rodriguez is holding Magnus hostage. There's no sign of Ethan and Alabaster though. Thats good enough for us.

My brother and I continue to stay hidden as we watch Chris exchange a few words with Magnus who is currently tied up to a pole. Nico winces a bit as we see Chris sucker punch the Son of Frey across the face.

"How has Chris not bothered to take the piece from Magnus yet?" I ask in a suspicious tone. 

Nico's face morphs into a look of confusion as he wonders the same thing.

He turns his head and looks at me with a mix of uncertainty and frustration. "That's what I'm trying to figure out." He says, his voice low.

"Hm." I hum in thought before shadow travelling right behind Chris and stabbing him through the chest and covering his mouth as he lets out a muffled scream.

It isn't until long he slumps to the ground, lifeless. How he even became a lieutenant of Kronos, I wonder. As Nico frees Magnus, he looks at the two of us with gratitude.

"Thank you."

"Welcome." I respond back. "You have the piece?"

Magnus reaches for his jacket pocket and pulls out the piece from his pocket, holding it up to me.

"Got it." He says, a hint of relief in his tone before putting it back in his jacket pocket and looking around the ruins.

"Where are the other two?" He asks, sounding rather uneasy.

"Probably off finding the rest of the pieces of Gaea's crown." I reply.

"We have to find them." Magnus says urgently, he looks around as if expecting them to suddenly pop up out of nowhere.

"No." I say sharply. "We wait here."

Magnus looks at me, dumbfounded. "Wait, wait. Wait, what?" He asks, not believing what he's hearing. "We can't just wait here!" Magnus exclaims, his voice laced with disbelief.

"Yeah, I agree with blondie." Nico replies, his face showing irritation at my 'idea'. "Why on earth, do you want to wait here, Nick?!"

I pause as I look at the ground at deep thought before diverting my eyes towards the two of them. "Kronos is going to come here. I know it. So I say, we take the fight to him."

Magnus looks at me as if I've grown another head. Gods, Norse demigods are so frustrating sometimes. "You want us to fight a Titan?"

I shrug casually. "Why not? We're the most powerful demigods. And then there's you. So I say...we stand our ground."

A silence passes by as Nico and Magnus look at each other, contemplating my words until Nico speaks up, looking back at me, his expression stoic.  "It's a big risk." He says, but his eyes show that he may not be necessarily opposed to the idea.

"So is giving up all the six pieces." I remind him.

"But he's still one of the most dangerous Titans to ever exist." Magnus points out, looking hesitant and worried about your plan for obvious reasons.

I look at Magnus, fed up with him. Gods, Norse demigods complain too much. "I'm gonna sound like Leo for a moment. Womp womp."

Nico and Magnus facepalm. I wouldn't blame them. However, before anything else can be done, I get an iris message from Thalia, her face appearing through the rainbow mist.