Rise of The Guardians 2: Just Like Fire

Chapter 23: Aria

(A/N) Please don't kill me! I know I've been pretty crap at publishing lately, but to avoid study, I've hammered out a few chapters, so I can start doing more frequent updates! *party*

I hope you like it, here's the new chapter!

I don't know why I had hugged him, but knowing I was, at least a little, trusted, made me so happy. I didn't even think about what might have happened if I'd touched him until his arms were around me as well. But it had never happened. I hadn't burnt him. In my bare feet, I was so small that the top of my head didn't even come up to his shoulder.

I smiled, not wanting to let go.

"What now?" Jack asked me after I had removed my slightly red face from his chest.

I took a deep breath, a million possibilities of the future flooding through my mind.

"I don't know." I muttered, my good mood sinking slightly when I saw Jack's disappointed face. "Kronos thinks I'm dead, right? We can use this. I'm assuming that he's making the next move, and that it's going to involve everyone in a massive, dramatic scene where he will emerge victorious. He..." my out loud thinking trailed off into the silence.

It seemed that in the space of a moment, the natural noise of the workshop was muted, like the button on a television remote. The sudden absence of sound made it easy to hear the confrontation happening in the globe room; an echoing clash of metal on metal, and the whirring of wings.

Then, nothing.

Hesitantly, Jack took a step toward the corridor, but I grabbed his arm to stop him, shaking my head at him.

The musical murmuring of a soft male voice slowly penetrated the room, drifting down the hallway towards us. Although my ears strained to make out the words, his voice stayed annoyingly, dangerously low.

Not trusting the hallway to not echo any whispering, I raised my finger, writing fiery orange words in the air in front of Jack.

This is not a battle you can win.

His eyes flicked to me, then back to the corridor, but he didn't move.

Kronos's rumbling voice seemed to become faster, and more insistent.

And then a silence louder than the one of a minute previous.

My heart rose into my mouth. Kronos could have done anything to the other four.

North burst into the room from the corridor like a cannonball out of the mouth of a cannon - all fired up and ready for war. Drops of dark shadow dripped off the edges of his twin blades.

"I'm guessing you both heard that?" he said.

"No, actually. Kronos wasn't exactly loud."

North grunted as Tooth, Bunny and Sandy came into the room, all looking slightly stunned.

"I withdraw all reservations to allowing Aria to help us." Tooth announced.

I stared at her, shocked. "Thanks." I said after a moment.

She rolled her eyes. We had called a truce, but we were certainly not friends.

"What did Kronos say?" Jack asked North.

"Day, time, location." He grumbled. "Aria, have you ever heard of Wooleen Station?"

I grimaced. "Oh dear. When it comes to tactical locations, Kronos really knows how to pick them."

"So you know it then."

"Yeah. It's a massive West Australian cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere. I went there on camp with school once. It's isolated, mostly flat with low-lying scrub everywhere. When did he say we should meet him?"

"Six pm tonight Perth time."

"Perfect."

"Perfect? How is this bloody perfect?" Bunny snarled.

I stared at him, right in his eyes. "It gives me time to get changed." I stated, brushing invisible specks of dust off the purple sundress.

"You can't be serious." Bunny glowered at me, and I couldn't help but smirk.

"Oh I am. Purple will stand out in the middle of nowhere, and anyway, I'm not going to traipse around Australia's outback in a dress."

"Can we wait on Aria's clothing predicament until we figure out a plan for tonight?" North interrupted.

"No, I think we should debate a little more on whether leather or denim is better on Aria's complexion!" Bunny sniped.

"Leather. That's not even an argument. But for tonight, I was thinking a lycra cotton blend."

North reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Children, please, we need to come up with a plan."

"No, we don't." Jack said, looking at me. "Aria already has a plan."

"You do?" Tooth asked me, eyebrows raised.

I looked back at her and winked.

"Oh good lord, we're all going to die." She muttered.