Ch.15: Moms to the Rescue!!

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A/N: This chapter takes place during TLO, ch.18 ("My parents go commando").

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Yep, I'm going to die today, Rose thought.

By the time she and the other campers 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. But Kronos himself stood right in front with his scythe in hand. The only thing standing in his way was... Chiron.

Like Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, and all the other defenders of Olympus, Rose found her body straining to move. It was like she was a fly stuck in amber.

Brina stood beside her, eyes wide with fear and shock.

Connor and Travis were also there, frozen in place, staring at Luke's face in a mixture of emotions Rose couldn't identify.

Chiron had an arrow notched, aimed straight at Kronos's face.

"Step aside, little son," said Kronos in Luke's voice, which was already kind of weird, 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.

"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. 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, 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. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia ran toward their teacher, but there was no sign of him. Thalia and Percy pulled helplessly at the bricks while a ripple of ugly laughter ran through the Titan's army.

Connor and Travis immediately tore their eyes from their brother and threw themselves into battle, leaving Rose and Brina to fend for themselves.

Rose pointed her sword towards the nearest dracaena.

"YOU!" Annabeth turned on Luke. "To think that I... that I thought—" She drew her knife.

"Annabeth, don't." Percy tried to take her arm, but she shook him off.

She attacked Kronos, and his smug smile faded. She plunged her knife between the straps of his armor, right at his collarbone. The blade should've sunk into his chest. Instead, it bounced off. Annabeth doubled over, clutching her arm to her stomach. The jolt might've been enough to dislocate her bad shoulder.

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