Percy felt horrible. He'd cause six deaths. It might have been seven if he hadn't been able to escape his mind prison and help Piper. Still, it was his fault.
If he had stuffed Kronos back into his mind sooner, he could have stopped the monsters from attacking. He watched the campers as cried their eyes out over the deaths.
He was pretty sure he caught Piper glaring at him. He couldn't blame her. After all, he did cause all of this. He felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth. "How can I not be so hard on myself? All of this happened because of me!" said Percy.
"No, it didn't," said Piper. "All of this happened because of Kronos." "Same thing," Percy muttered. Will was wrapping Piper's arm with bandages, but it was pretty clear he was listening to their conversation.
"Percy," said Annabeth. "We figured out how to get Kronos out of you." At this, Percy perked up. "You have? What do I have to do? It's not gonna hurt, is it?"
"Yes, we have. You have to force Kronos out yourself. And hopefully, no, it's not gonna hurt," said Annabeth. "Force him out?" asked Percy.
Annabeth nodded. Percy thought about it. Maybe he could use his powers to get him out. He could just heat up his ichor like he had last time.
"I guess I could try," said Percy. Annabeth and Piper smiled, and Percy was sure he spotted a smile on Will's face too. "Okay. Someone has to knock me out," Percy announced.
"Um, what?" asked Piper. "That's the only way I can see Kronos," Percy explained. Piper and Annabeth exchanged glances.
Annabeth shrugged and swung her fist at Percy's head and Percy collapsed. Wow, that girl could punch. He could have sworn he heard Annabeth mutter: "Sorry, Percy," before he passed out.
Percy opened his eyes. He expected darkness, but instead, there was light. He was in an octagon-shaped room with golden walls. Shelves took up most of the walls. A few plant pots stood on the shelves.
Kronos seemed to have decorated the place. Speaking of which, Kronos appeared in front of him.
Kronos opened his mouth to say something, but Percy talked first. "I like what you did with the place." That seemed to have caught Kronos off guard. "Uh....thank you," he said, looking quite proud.
"Never knew you liked to decorate."
"Well, I have different personalities."
Percy didn't really want to spoil this building...bromance?....but he had to. He started to heat up the Titan's ichor. But stopped immediately because he felt his own blood start to heat up.
"Hah! You tried to heat up my ichor again, didn't you? Well, I'm smart, and you're dumb!" Kronos yelled, dancing around to celebrate his intelligence.
Percy wasn't really sure how to respond to that. In fact, he wasn't really sure this was even Kronos. Since when did the Titan of time dance around in other people's minds? That's really weird when you think about it.
As much anger Percy felt at Kronos for the six deaths he'd caused, Percy suddenly felt an odd feeling wash over him. He was actually starting to enjoy Kronos's company.
Percy figured he was either going mad or being manipulated by Kronos to like him. He wasn't sure which one he would prefer. Go mad, or be manipulated by a Titan. Hmm...which to choose, which to choose?
Gah! Dam ADHD! Hehe, dam. "Stop it," said Percy, not realising he'd said that out loud until he noticed Kronos looking at him weirdly. "Stop what? I didn't do anything. Well, besides possess you and basically, make you try to kill your friends."
