A/N

Who didn't break their promise? I didn't! The next chapter won't be here for a while, but I'll try to get over my writer's block and get it to you as quick as I can. In the meantime, here's the next chapter which isn't a month late! I guess miracles really do happen.

Enjoy!

Annabeth's POV

I swear in every situation where a gun was involved, it was always aimed at me. Frankly, I was tired of it. I hated being put in the position of a damsel in distress. I could hold my own in a fight, but guns...guns just made everything unfair.

"Why is it always me with the gun at her head?" I questioned irritably, voicing my thoughts.

Kronos raised an eyebrow. "Well, you're the one most people here care about. You're the smartest option."

"That's a really messed up way of telling me I'm personable," I muttered darkly, eyeing the angle he had the gun aimed at. Somewhere between my forehead and chin. I was taught to always aim at a persons chest, because it's the biggest mass and it's easier to hit them. But with Kronos, I had no doubt that he didn't need to worry about that and could kill me with one shot at my temple.

"I've already ticked one Chase off my hit list. What would be one more to the mix?" I froze, fire running through my veins. This was the lowlife who killed my mother?

I moved to rush at him, but he only motioned to the gun, causing me to pause. I had spent so long thinking about how I was going to make my mother's murderer pay. I had spent so long wondering who it could possibly be. And now the answer was standing right in front of me, and I couldn't hurt him. Even if he'd hurt my mother.

"You monster," I whispered, my eyes hardening into a glare. "You don't-"

A shot rang out, and I eyed the new hole in my floor warily.

"Back to my deal. Remember, I'm giving you a choice. Chase doesn't have to get hurt if you join my cause. Luke," he called out, and the blond boy stepped up and settled in between Solace and Hylla, holding up his knife pointedly.

"Luke, you traitor!" Thalia spat at him, taking a step towards him. Luke merely smirked and gestured towards me, causing Thalia to stop dead in her tracks. "Oh, this is stupid. I'm not joining you, you despicable dickhead."

"Neither am I. Guys, if the gangs are at war, well, you've seen what it's been like the past week. It's only going to get far, far worse," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. I'd gotten pretty used to standing in front of a gun, and I was strangely unafraid. "Just get out of here."

"We're not leaving you," Jason and Percy said in sync. For once, they didn't scowl at each other because of the exchange.

Hylla, who had barely spoken a word, decided to voice her opinion. "Kronos, let her go and we'll negotiate then."

"I don't know this chick, but that sounds like a good idea," Solace said nervously, cautiously eyeing the knife dangerously close to his throat. In response, Kronos fired a shot that just barely missed my shoulder.

"JOIN ME!" He bellowed, and I began to realize that the man may be slightly unstable. Unstable meant unpredictable, and unpredictable meant dangerous. "This is real! If you don't, the girl dies! Why do you think I brought you all here? Hyperion was supposed to take care of this. If you say no, I'll kill you myself and that'll be enough to trigger a domino effect."

The sickening realization hit me with full force. It would be easy enough to make it look like we'd all been fighting each other. It would be easy to drive the gangs even further apart. Two buildings had already been set on fire, what would happen next if Kronos had his way?

But none of us were going to give in. That much was clear. We'd fight our way out, just as we always did, and everything would be okay. It had to be okay.

"Fine." My eyes whipped in Percy's direction. So did everyone else's.

"What?"

His eyes met mine, and I saw no trace of sarcasm. "I'll go with you, if we get out of here right now. Pretty sure the blonde kid called the police." My eyebrows furrowed. What was he doing? Was he being serious? No way.

"Castellan! I told you to watch them," Kronos said in disgust, and Luke raised his hands in surrender.

"Jackson's lying! He didn't do anything, I swear. On the Styx," he added. I hadn't heard that phrase in a while. I noticed curiously that Hylla was no longer in sight. She had stayed quiet for the most part, which I supposed had made it easy for her to slip away. "Why're you so quick to believe him, anyway?"

"Because I know he doesn't care about anyone and he has no reason to defend these people. No matter what they might think," the older man replied, grinning at me in a way that made me want to throw up. I kept my eyes glued to the weapon, which Kronos had significantly loosened his grip on.

"This Castellan dude? He's a lousy guard. Cops should be here in five minutes, tops," Solace interrupted. My eyebrows shot up at his words. Percy's face was blank. Which was odd, because there was always some kind of emotion on his face. Confusion, amusement, anger, anything. But now, there was nothing.

Thalia glared at Percy, but didn't make a move towards him. Probably because Kronos would shoot her as soon as she tried. "What the hell are you doing?"

Percy's eyes flashed, and he pressed his lips together. "You don't have the right to ask me that, Grace."

"No more right than I do! How long have you been working with him?" Jason exclaimed, just as angry as his sister. I kept quiet.

"Nobody else wants to follow Jackson's example?" The man's eyes narrowed as if considering something for the first time. "Castellan, where did the dark haired girl go?"

Luke's head turned to his left, his mouth opening to undoubtedly ask what Kronos was talking about. His mouth closed when he saw that she was missing. "I don't..." He seemed to hesitate, knowing that no matter what he said, he would still be to blame.

"Whatever. You and Jackson follow me. As for the rest of you..." He trailed off, casting a thoughtful gaze over the group. Then he pointed the gun at the ground, fired a shot, and brought it back up to my head. I saw both Grace's jump, and Solace looked spooked, too. I was the only one who hadn't had any reaction. I was too busy staring at the floor, trying to process a million questions all at once.

Why was Percy going with him? Which one of us was he lying to? I didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it seemed like he was ditching us to, what, exactly? Add fuel to the already rapidly growing fire of the war between the gangs? Something of that magnitude could easy interfere with normal life, and could get more people involved than there already were.

"Well, I'll just have to try again later. Bye, now!" He kept his gun trained on me as he backed out of the door, the two boys positioned on either side of him. Just before he was out of sight, I raised a hand and flipped him the bird. I could hear his laughter as he retreated from the house.

I was confused. Why would he let us go, just like that? He must have had some ulterior motive.

Without the threat of a bullet to my head, I tried to relax. Didn't work. I let my head drop into my hands.

"Who does he think he is?" I tuned in to Jason and Thalia's irritated conversation.

"For a moment there, I thought he might be decent. But then he goes and does that!"

"Right? And then-"

"Hey, are you okay?" I lifted my head and saw Solace standing in front of me.

"I'm fine." My voice was hollow even to me. He gave me a sympathetic look, then picked up my knife from across the room. I raised an eyebrow as he handed it to me.

He shrugged. "Thought you might feel better with a weapon. Not so defenseless," he added. Then, "I don't think he really wanted to do that."

"No?" I wasn't in the mood to have a conversation, but I was okay with just letting him talk. I might have been just the tiniest bit curious as to what he had to say.

"No," he repeated, shaking his head slightly. "I think he did it so Kronos would stop pointing that gun at you."

"How would you know that?"

"I might not have known him for very long, but the entire time we were staking out the front of this place? He barely stopped talking about you, and how he was going to kill Ares if you found out what they were making us do. Somehow, that doesn't seem like something he'd say if he didn't care."

I gave a halfhearted shrug. "Maybe he was lying. We can't prove it."

The corners of his lips quirked up, and I had the feeling he was about to suggest something crazy. I was proved right seconds later.

"Maybe we can. How good are your tracking skills?"

Percy's POV

I shoved my hands into my pockets as I walked along, kicking the pavement every few seconds. My head was down as I silently followed Luke and Kronos. I was alone with a couple of the people I hated most. Joy. I was contemplating when I should make my getaway.

I'd only met Kronos once before, but that one memory of him had forever stuck in my mind.

I was thirteen at the time. It happened back when Gabe was still married to my mom. It was the reason I'd come to hate Christmas. Or rather, he was.

Christmas. Most kids loved it. Most people, full stop. But me, I was one of the few that didn't. Maybe that was cynical for an eleven year old, but Gabe's new friend had ensured that my memories of the holiday would be forever tainted, turned dark.

I had just come home from a walk. Maybe it was more pointless idling than actual walking, but I'd just wanted to get out. A bunch of Gabe's friends were over, and I was hoping that most of them would have left by now. And I was right, that was proved when I opened the front door and only heard two hushed voices.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully it wouldn't be too bad. Mom would already be asleep, and maybe it would be easy to sneak past the adults.

I was wrong.

The minute I stepped into the apartment, the floorboards creaked underneath my feet. I swore under my breath. My nose curled in disgust at the stench of alcohol.

"That you, punk? Get in here, now!" I rolled my eyes as I rounded the corner to the living room. Gabe was sprawled across the sofa. I never understood why my mom had married him. She said she had reasons, reasons I wouldn't understand until I was older. I didn't see how anything could justify staying with an abusive, lazy pig.

Another man was standing by the poker table. He was staring at me curiously, almost wickedly. I'd never seen him here before, and he didn't look like one of Gabe's typical buddies. He looked smart, alert. It unsettled me, and I quickly averted my gaze.

"Where's your change, freak?" I swallowed. I'd spent it on the streets about an hour ago. The bag of cashews was the first thing I'd eaten in twenty four hours.

"I don't have any."

Gabe's lips curled into a sneer. "Spend it all on yourself again, you selfish loser?" It had been my hard earned money in the first place, but I held my tongue. I didn't want to further aggravate him. It wouldn't get me anywhere.

To my surprise, he didn't hit me. He didn't even get off of the sofa.

"You better have it tomorrow." Was the last thing he said before his head lolled back and his eyes shut. He'd passed out. Not that I was surprised, because it happened all the time. I should have felt relieved, because that meant he couldn't hurt me. But instead, my attention was focused on the other man, who hadn't made a move since I'd entered the room. For some reason, I felt nervous.

He finally spoke. "Percy, right?" I didn't trust myself to speak, so I just nodded. "I'm Kronos."

I swallowed. "Cool."

He barked a laugh. "You know, Gabe talks about how he treats you sometimes."

"Oh, yeah?" Was this guy going to offer to help?

I resisted the urge to step back as he began walking towards me. "Yeah. Sounds like you're a real pain in the ass. Always fighting him, stealing his things, lying to him. Maybe I should teach you a lesson." I took that as my warning, and began edging backwards.

"Maybe I should find a more qualified teacher," I mumbled, and Kronos chuckled.

"A smartass, too, huh? Check your attitude, kid."

"What do you want? Gabe's out, you can go."

"I could, sure," he said, and my back hit the wall. I was trapped. "As for what I want? I'm planning to use you one day, Percy, and for that, you need to be able to withstand a little pain."

"If Gabe talks about me all the time, shouldn't you know about my pain tolerance?" I was trying to stall, trying to get him to back off. I was scared now. When Gabe was hurting me, at least I knew him, knew his limits. But this guy...he could be trying to kill me, for all I knew.

"You think the odd punch or two is pain?" Kronos hissed, grabbing my shoulder. I stared at his hands in alarm.

"What are you doing?" I asked, startled. "Get off of me, you-" My insult morphed into a muffled yell when he jerked my shoulder forward. I heard a loud crack and black spots dotted my vision as pain exploded in my arm.

"Dislocated. I'd better fix it." With a psychotic grin, he yanked my shoulder back, and something resembling a squawk escaped my lips.

"Try fix this one on your own," he said, and grabbed a hold of one of my fingers. I was too shocked, too numb to fight back. So I let him dislocate my finger. I let him walk away. All I could do was sink to the floor, cradling my injured hand. I wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

I barely even heard him when he called over his shoulder, "I'll see you next year!"

I don't think I fully registered it even when he showed up next Christmas Eve. Or the year after that.

Christmas Eve. Most kids went to sleep happy, giddy, eagerly awaiting the next day.

Me? I went to sleep with a disjointed finger, knowing that all tomorrow would bring was the stench of beer.

I'd spent the rest of the night trying to put my finger back into place. While it wasn't my most painful memories, it was still one of my worst. Ever since then, I'd hid whenever Gabe had even mentioned Kronos, not wanting another encounter. That had proved futile the following years, when he'd stabbed me in the ankle and broken my nose. Over the years, my fear had gradually turned into hatred, but that didn't mean I'd abandoned all of my former feelings. Right now, I was terrified.

Not that I'd let him see it.

We turned a corner into a dark, secluded alley. There were an abundance of those in New York. Kronos spun suddenly, coming face to face with me, and I barely had the time to register his grin before his fist connected with my face. I stumbled, my back hitting the wall. My hands flew up to cradle my jaw. That was definitely going to bruise.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe you?" Kronos scoffed, delivering a kick to my stomach that caused me to double over. Followed by a blow to the back of my head, sending me tumbling to the concrete. I could have gotten in a few good hits, if I had wanted to. But the truth was, my body had gone into shock. It was like I was reliving the terror I'd felt years ago.

"You only came with us because you didn't want her getting hurt." It was true, so I didn't contradict him. Couldn't, even if I wanted to.

"All these years you've managed to avoid me, Percy. It's been a while, wouldn't you say?"

Finally, I found my voice. "What do you want, Kronos?"

He barked a laugh. "What do I want? More like what Dionysus wants. He was the one who told me to get rid of you." I felt my blood run cold. Get rid of me? "I'm just enjoying this while it lasts."

Luke must've caught the confused expression on my face. "Said you aren't reliable anymore. I wonder why, huh?"

My head was spinning, and it wasn't because Kronos had just sent his spiked boot into my face. Why would Dionysus want to have me killed? I mean, okay, so I'd missed a couple meetings. Big deal. He could just demote me, or kick me out, or do a number of other things. But kill me? That was insane.

Then another thought occurred to me, and I scrambled to avoid an oncoming fist, leaning on the wall for support.

"You started the fight, right? Between the gangs?" My words came out slow and slurred, but Kronos seemed to understand them anyway.

"Do you know what that could accomplish? It could bring about the destruction of the city, if played right." His eyes were gleaming, and his words seemed slightly...psychotic. The idea was ridiculous, but knowing this city, things did have potential to go wrong very, very fast.

"Why would you want that?" If I played for time, maybe, just maybe, someone would walk past and see the scene unfolding. Maybe they'd call the police.

Or maybe I really would die here.

"The gangs would fall apart. Civilization would fall apart. And I could step in and take over," Kronos explained, pulling a knife from inside his boot and examining it.

"That's stupid," I muttered.

"Do you know what's cool about this knife?" I shook my head. "It's the same one I used on your ankle."

I remembered the blade piercing through my skin, the excruciating pain that had flared in my ankle. The same excruciating pain I had lived with for almost a year. The infections, because I hadn't taken care of it properly. For a brief moment, I could almost feel it. I'd been thirteen. Just before I'd joined the gang.

Out of the corner of my hazy vision, I saw Luke's eyebrows arch. I coughed.

"But you probably think that injury was nothing. Nothing compared to what I'm about to do," Kronos said, his eyes dancing as he crouched beside me. The scar he had left was more emotional than physical, and I was certain he knew it. Now he wanted to put that into reverse.

I didn't scream when the blade pierced my stomach. I didn't shout when he jerked it up. It wouldn't kill me instantly, but I knew that that was the point. I would be left here, and hours later, I would die. It was about one in the morning, so not many people would be walking through here. No one would find me in time.

He dug the knife in a little further, so it would stay lodged in my flesh, then stared down at me. My vision was blurring, the edges tinting black.

"I hope it hurts," Kronos whispered in my ear, then stood up and turned to Luke. "Castellan, you can either finish him or walk away. We continue our plan tomorrow." He sent one final glance at me. "You know, I really did have big plans for you. But you've proved to be more useful this way." My eyes flickered shut as he left, and I felt my consciousness drifting. I'd been fighting the urge to pass out for a while, and it was becoming tempting to just let it take me. But I knew that if I gave in, I might not wake up.

"I never really hated you, you know." My lids stayed closed, but my curiosity piqued at Luke's words. "It was just so easy to pretend I did. Really, it was Kronos who told me to go to the Titan base the night of your initiation. It was him who told me to try to kill you.

"I've made mistakes. I don't really want to see Manhattan annihilate itself, I just wanted revenge. And...and that was wrong. You managed to turn yourself around pretty quickly, so maybe...maybe I can do the same."

I was barely understanding his words, but I can do the same stuck in my brain. They looped over and over, until they didn't make all that much sense anymore.

"I'm sorry, Percy." He sighed, then I heard footsteps, growing fainter with each step. He must've left me.

I knew I was going to die. But despite that, I wanted to fight it. I wanted to see if I could cheat death one last time. I could still feel the pain, which I knew was a good sign. If I could still feel it, that meant I wasn't dead.

The Fates had abandoned me plenty of times before. More than plenty. But they must have realized they'd messed with me a little too often, because next thing I knew, I heard voices. Footfalls. Someone had found me after all. I even thought I heard a siren in the distance.

"Percy!" I felt someone shaking my shoulders, their hands on my face. "Open your eyes, Percy. Come on, stay with me. You are not dying on me yet."

I recognized the voice. How could I not? I forced my eyes to open slightly before they clamped shut again. It was enough to draw a sigh of relief from her.

"Oh thank gods! Thalia, I saw an ambulance pull up across the street, go get them. Will, you go with her. Jason, you're going to need to pull out the knife."

Annabeth was here. She was going to help me. I wasn't going to die.

I felt a slight pressure on the knife. "This is going to hurt, but you're going to be okay, alright? You're going to be okay." Someone gripped my hand in theirs, and I thought that Annabeth was trying to convince herself more than me that I'd be okay. I gave a faint nod.

I was on fire. The new surge of pain caused me to gasp, and my eyes shot open. I could barely see through the darkness threatening to steal my sight, but I caught a glimpse of blonde hair and a shaky smile.

"You're okay. We're okay." New voices were assaulting my ears, but I didn't really register them. I focused my eyes on Annabeth, who was watching Jason, whose mouth was moving but I couldn't hear the words. My vision blacked out completely, then faded back in.

I was struggling to stay awake. Gray eyes glanced back at me, and my head lolled. She steadied me, and I tried for a smile. Failed. So I went for the next best thing.

"'M love you, 'nnabeth."

Then my world went black.

Ha...ha...it's another cliffhanger! Who saw that one coming, huh? I'm beginning to think it would be more surprising for me to just end on a normal, non-suspenseful note. I'll try it next time, maybe.

Reviewer Replies:

Dimitri Jinx - Here's yet another cliffy for you. As for you holding me to my word, I hope you're proud! I'm glad you liked it, that was actually one of the parts I was unsure if I'd written well or not, so that's good to hear. Maybe I should try cutting Percy some slack in future chapters, huh?

- Oh gods, I don't know if I'd go as far to say that, but I'm really happy you think so! i'm glad my grammar's good, because I'm somewhat of a grammar Nazi. As for the secondary characters, I have been meaning to talk about them more, but just got carried away with everything else, so thanks for the reminder. I promise I'll try to work on that. As for the flashback, well, I already had it in here, and I thought why not change it slightly to fit the festive theme? Hope you liked it!

Bye for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until next time,

HV