The Ties that Bind

By Ace Trainer

Hiya! This is my first crossover story! Just so you know, this story bridges off of my cancelled version of Titan's Curse and Last Olympian, in which my character Aaron Branford stops Kronos, returns Bianca di Angelo to life, and begins a relationship with her. Oh, and Luke didn't die (you'll see how soon). Hope you enjoy it!

The first couple chapters will be through Aaron's POV, then some from Tori's, then back to Aaron.

(chapter 1: I Lose My Chance/A)

I can't believe it's been over a year…I'm 16 now. Everything's been going well since…that day…I've never felt that kind of fear. Kronos was powerful…

"Percy! Throw Luke the knife!" I said, bursting into the throne room.

"Can we trust him?" Percy asked, confused.

"Of course! I know what I'm doing! Me and Nico planned this!"

Percy stood there with a surprised look in his eyes, then sighed and tossed the knife out to Luke.

Luke wrested control of his body from Kronos, and smiled at Percy. Weakly, he said, "Thank you, Percy Jackson." He tore off some of his armor, and stabbed himself in the side. Unholy howls escaped from his lips, as he toppled over.

It was then that I reached out for him, dragging the evil out of his body, just as I had planned. Kronos stood in a human form before us, holding his staff with a menacing glare scrawled across his brow.

"Percy, take Annabeth and leave the room!" I warned. "No matter how powerful you are, you can't withstand what's about to happen! Wait outside!" He did as asked and ran. I scattered some more powerful Mist throughout the area, and made sure Luke was unconscious, but alive. Then, taking hold of my lance, I said to the Titan lord, "You shall regret the day you gained me as an enemy, Kronos. I will never forgive you for causing the death of my love."

"Bah! I had nothing to do with that!" Kronos smirked. "She died of her own accord. You have no reason to-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULL!" I shouted. "I'LL NEVER JOIN YOU, OR ANY OTHER ARMY, OTHER THAN THAT OF MY FATHER, AND HIS FATHER!"

"Don't you see? They abandoned you!"

"If I were you, I'd choose more honorable last words, swine. At least try and die with some honor."

"You say that as if you stand a chance, little boy," he scowled.

"You say that as if you stand a chance, old man," I grinned.

And we charged.

*BROTHER*

I sat in the shade of Thalia's tree as I snapped back to the present. Killing Kronos was a major achievement for me, but that was then and this is now. I had a date with Bianca.

Bianca came back shortly after my sacrifice. Yeah, you heard me. I died. I managed to suppress Kronos bit by bit until I could absorb him into my body, and then I had Percy kill me. A soul for a soul. As soon as she returned, however, Bianca went to her boss (my aunt, Artemis) and asked to leave because she was in love with me. So now we're dating.

But wait, you don't even know who I am. Sorry about that. I'm Aaron Branford, son of Apollo, once killed, and some call me Aaron Titansbane. I like to call myself the Hero of Time, but I digress. Back in the winter of my 13th year, I helped Grover Underwood find the di Angelo children, Bianca and Nico, but you know them, as well as their story. Or at least most of it.

Once Bianca died, Nico and I both separately decided to bring her back. Nico simply struck off on his own, while I bided my time, plotting the perfect way to resurrect her. Because I knew everything that would happen, being a son of the god of prophecies. I told Nico to tell Percy about the River Styx, and caused most of the events of the 16th Year War, as we call it. I saved Luke, beat Kronos, died, brought back Bianca, and resurrected myself. Returning to camp, I found Bianca in love with me, so we started dating.

Anywho, on this particular day, I was expecting a wonderful date with Bianca. We were going to see Iron Man 2, for the second time, and then off to a nice dinner provided by my dad.

Boy, was I shocked about what really happened.

I caught up to Bianca after a while. "Hey, baby. Ready to go?"

She had a rather sad look on her face. "About that, Aaron…I need to talk to you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"I think…I need to break up with you."

When that was said, I'm pretty sure all the color drained out of my face. I stuttered for a little while, then said, "What do you mean?"

"Thalia said that at the summer solstice, she heard they were talking about making you a god, Aaron." She said the word 'god' as though she were speaking of Justin Beiber. At least, that's the way I speak of Justin Beiber. Anyway, she growled a bit when she said 'god.'

"And how is that bad?"

"I just know it wouldn't work out. I'm sorry, but it wouldn't." She looked at her feet as she said that. I gently grabbed her face and turned it back towards me.

"If we're in love, then it'll definitely work out." I blinked for a second, and then quoted my favorite movie series of all time, Back to the Future. "If you put your mind to it, Bianca, you can accomplish anything. I beat Kronos, didn't I?"

"That's exactly why they want to make you a god. They're thinking of kicking Dionysus off the 12. You'd get his cabin."

"I don't want his cabin, Bianca. All I want is you." At that moment, I kissed her. Our lips sang a joyous opera, and we were enchanted by it. When we finally parted, I said, "Don't leave, Bianca. I love you, and I know you love me."

She stood up and said, "I'm sorry." Fighting back tears, she ran for her cabin. I was left alone. I knew exactly what I needed to say, but I didn't manage to. Fighting back tears of my own, I went back to cabin 7 and cried myself to sleep.

*brother*

The dream came during what I believe to be the time when everyone was having dinner.

I saw myself at the point where I had defeated Kronos. My dream self was standing over Luke with an incredible gold light surrounding him. I was in the process of absorbing Kronos into myself. Past-Me yelled for Percy, who entered momentarily.

"Percy…kill me now."

Percy was in awe at those words. "What the heck are you saying? You want to die?"

"Percy, if I die while I have Kronos' soul in my own, he'll never escape!"

"But you'll be dead!"

Past-Me yelled in pain as the light started to grow. "You have to do it! I've made the necessary preparations! This is the choice you have to make! The choice in the prophecy!"

When Percy heard that, his resolve clearly grew. He uncapped Riptide, and stabbed me in the heart. The unholy howls of Kronos were once again heard as we both faded.

"Percy…tell Nico…Phase 4 is done…"

And I closed my eyes as they, along with the rest of my body, stiffened and grew pale. The two souls leaving the body sped up the death process, and the rigor/livor mortis engaged almost immediately.

Then, I saw something only Percy and the barely-conscious-at-the-time Luke had seen before. A great cobalt light with streaks of bright yellow formed from my body. The blue and yellow mass lifted my body, using its energy to cremate it instantly, exactly as I planned. The creature shaped into a wolf, and said, "Thank you, Percy." The wolf ran from the room without another word.

*brother*

The voice tore me away from the memory. "Hey Aaron, wake up!"

It was Will Solace, my predecessor as Cabin 7's counselor. "What's wrong, man? You slept through dinner last night! That's the first meal I've seen you miss!"

"I don't want to talk about it, Will." I was about to roll over and grieve, when an evil sound penetrated the walls of the cabin.

Miley Cyrus music.

"WHAT THE HELL?" I jumped up, manipulated the light to make my shirt look blue, and burst out of the cabin. It was coming from Aphrodite's cabin. I almost took out my lance, but decided a burning arrow would be best. I knocked on the door, and readied an arrow. When it opened, I shot the arrow at the stereo playing the music. When it hit, I took out my flare gun and shot it at the stereo. My Mini-Solar Flare gun. "NO MORE EVIL NONMUSIC!"

"What is going on, Aaron?" Chiron rode up to me.

"Oh, Chiron! Sorry about the commotion, I'm just…in a mood."

"I see that. Perhaps an assignment will cheer you up."

Needless to say, I liked the sound of that.

When we got inside the Big House, we went to the meeting room of the counselors. Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, Luke, and Nico were there, amongst others. I went and sat down between Nico and Annabeth.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can begin," Chiron said, standing at the head of the table. "There is a school in California that is believed to have demigods. This is not an ordinary school, however. It is a performing arts school."

My mind clicked at that moment. Hollywood Arts. The school I'd been at since the 16th Year War.

"The satyr at this school," Chiron continued, "is unable to identify the half-bloods. We have brought him here to detail this." He motioned toward the door, and Grover walked in, followed by a guy with glasses and an afro. I recognized him immediately.

"Robbie Shapiro!" I said, standing.

"Aaron? Is that you?" Robbie replied. "You're a half-blood?"

"You're the Hollywood Arts satyr?" I asked, surprised.

"Um, yeah. I guess that Mist really is powerful."

Chiron cleared his throat. "Aaron, please be seated." I did as asked. "Now, back on topic. Someone needs to assist Robbie in identifying the half-bloods at Hollywood Arts."

"I'll go," I said immediately. "I know the school. I know Robbie. I was there this year."

"Alright then. The school year there ends soon, so you need to find the children, and fast."

"Not a problem. I'll stay with Robbie, if he's alright with it."

Robbie smiled. "Of course I am!"

"Very well. You shall leave as soon as possible. Nico, could you provide shadow travel for them?"

Nico stood up and said, "Sure. Anything for my sister's guy." My spirits fell then. He didn't know about the breakup. I felt a bit scared to tell him. I didn't know how he'd react.

We left the Big House. Robbie was so happy to tell me everything that had happened since May. Nico and I both wanted nothing more than to knock him out. I went back to cabin 7 to pack, and found Will. "Hey, Aaron. What happened?"

"I'm going to summer school, I think."

"Whoa, you miss one meeting…"

The moment I left my cabin, Robbie jumped me. "Hey, Aaron! Are you all packed for my house?" he asked as I kept walking.

"Yeah, Robbie. Chill out a bit, man! Haven't you ever had someone stay at your house?"

"Not really…not for me anyway…"

I stopped walking. "Really?" He nodded. "Well, I understand your excitement, but it's a little overwhelming. Could you try and cut back a bit?"

"No problem!" He kept quiet until we reached cabin 13. I knocked on the door, and Bianca peeked her head out. "Hello? Oh, Aaron. Hi…"

"Hey Bianca," I answered, trying to sound calm and happy. "Where's Nico?"

"He's here. Nico!"

The boy walked up, smiling. "Ready to go?"

"Totally," I replied, grinning ear to ear.

"Where are you going, Aaron?" Bianca chimed in sweetly.

"California, to find half-bloods. Robbie here is the satyr who found them, but he can't figure out who they are, so I'm going to help. I'm hoping I'll find another Apollo kid, so I can help take care of them!"

"Well…that sounds nice, Aaron. I hope you like it out there." She sounded sad, almost like she knew I would find some other girl to replace her.

"Bianca, it's okay. I'm not going to find a new girlfriend out there or anything. You'll always be my first love."

She perked up at that. "Okay, I believe you. Goodbye. Come back soon."

"Of course I will! This is my home. My heart is always here, even when I'm not."

"Home is where the heart is, right?"

I laughed. "True, but that's not the reason. My heart's always here because you've stolen it." She grew a grin as big as mine hearing that.

Taking out my flare gun, I shot a flare into the sky, which exploded into a Fourth of July blast, in May. I played Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Bublé on my ocarina (another reason for the Hero of Time idea) which she enjoyed. Soon after I started playing, Robbie joined in with his pipes. Grover heard the music and joined in too. I could see Juniper in the woods, dancing along.

After we finished, Bianca gave me a hug, and said, "Bye, Aaron."

I grabbed my bags, and Nico, Robbie, and I walked into the shadows and vanished.

I really like Bianca…shame it won't last. Hope you enjoyed my first crossover chapter! It's gonna be good! Had trouble finding a title, but I like this title. You'll see what it means soon!