Michael
_
Killian pushed Bianca off him and jumped to meet the Titan. Their weapons clashed in a shower of sparks.
I made my way over to Bianca and helped her to her feet. She held one dagger in her hand weakly. I had lost my sword when Kronos sent me flying.
Even so, I raised my hand. Cold winds began to swirl around the room. A began to summon icicles, throwing them at Kronos in an attempt to find his weak point. None of them found the mark, but they did excel at annoying him.
He growled as he smacked Killian with the flat of his blade. Killian skittered across the ground. His sword landed at my feet while he slid to a stop near the hearth.
I picked up Killian's sword and charged Kronos as he started for Killian's limp body. The sword was scorching hot, but I held firm. I dashed in front of Kronos and struck—slashing Killian's sword across his breastplate so hard I cut a gash in the Celestial bronze.
He stamped his foot again and time slowed. I tried to attack but I was moving at the speed of a glacier. I couldn't even grimace in pain as Killian's sword burned my hand.
Behind him, Bianca ran with her dagger raised, but she was moving just as slowly. Kronos backed up leisurely, catching his breath. He examined the gash in his armor while I struggled forward, silently cursing him. He could take all the time-outs he wanted. He could freeze me in place at will. My only hope was that the effort was draining him. If I could wear him down . . .
"It's too late, Michael Gardner," he said. "Behold."
He pointed to the hearth, and the coals glowed. A sheet of white smoke poured from the fire, forming images like an Iris-message. I saw Nico, Cerberus, and Ajax down on Fifth Avenue, fighting a hopeless battle, ringed in enemies. In the background Hades fought from his black chariot, summoning wave after wave of zombies out of the ground, but the forces of the Titan's army seemed just as endless. Meanwhile, Manhattan was being destroyed. Mortals, now fully awake, were running in terror. Cars swerved and crashed.
The scene shifted, and I saw something even more terrifying.
A column of storm was approaching the Hudson River, moving rapidly over the Jersey shore. Chariots circled it, locked in combat with the creature in the cloud.
The gods attacked. Lightning flashed. Arrows of gold and silver streaked into the cloud like rocket tracers and exploded. Slowly, the cloud ripped apart, and I saw Typhon clearly for the first time.
I knew as long as I lived (which might not be that long) I would never be able to get the image out of my mind. Typhon's head shifted constantly. Every moment he was a different monster, each more horrible than the last. Looking at his face would've driven me insane, so I focused on his body, which wasn't much better. He was humanoid, but his skin reminded me of a meat loaf sandwich that had been in someone's locker all year. He was mottled green, with blisters the size of buildings, and blackened patches from eons of being stuck under a volcano. His hands were human, but with talons like an eagle's. His legs were scaly and reptilian.
"The Olympians are giving their final effort." Kronos laughed. "How pathetic."
Zeus threw a thunderbolt from his chariot. The blast lit up the world. I could feel the shock even here on Olympus, but when the dust cleared, Typhon was still standing. He staggered a bit, with a smoking crater on top of his misshapen head, but he roared in anger and kept advancing.
My limbs began to loosen up. I let Killian's sword drop from my hand. Kronos didn't seem to notice. His attention was focused on the fight and his final victory. If I could hold out a few more seconds, and if Poseidon kept his word . . .
Typhon stepped into the Hudson River and barely sank to midcalf.
Now, I thought, imploring the image in the smoke. Please, it has to happen now.
Like a miracle, a conch horn sounded from the smoky picture. The call of the ocean. The call of Poseidon.
All around Typhon, the Hudson River erupted, churning with forty-foot waves. Out of the water burst a new chariot—this one pulled by massive hippocampi, who swam in air as easily as in water. Lord Poseidon, Olympian god of the sea, glowing with a blue aura of power, rode a defiant circle around the giant's legs. Poseidon was no longer an old man. He looked like himself again—tan and strong with a black beard. As he swung his trident, the river responded, making a funnel cloud around the monster.
"No!" Kronos bellowed after a moment of stunned silence. "NO!"
"NOW, MY BRETHREN!" Poseidon's voice was so loud I wasn't sure if I was hearing it from the smoke image or from all the way across town. "STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!"
Warriors burst out of the river, riding the waves on huge sharks and dragons and sea horses. A legion of Cyclops emerged holding huge lengths of black iron chains-big enough to anchor a battleship-with grappling hooks at the ends. They swung them like lassos and began to ensnare Typhon, throwing lines around the creature's legs and arms, using the tide to keep circling, slowly tangling him. Typhon shook and roared and yanked at the chains, pulling some of the Cyclopes off their mounts; but there were too many chains. The sheer weight of the Cyclops battalion began to weigh Typhon down. Poseidon threw his trident and impaled the monster in the throat. Golden blood, immortal ichor, spewed from the wound, making a waterfall taller than a skyscraper. The trident flew back to Poseidon's hand.
The other gods struck with renewed force. Ares rode in and stabbed Typhon in the nose. Artemis shot the monster in the eye with a dozen silver arrows. Apollo shot a blazing volley of arrows and set the monster's loincloth on fire. And Zeus kept pounding the giant with lightning, until finally, slowly, the water rose, wrapping Typhon like a cocoon, and he began to sink under the weight of the chains. Typhon bellowed in agony, thrashing with such force that waves sloshed the Jersey shore, soaking five-story buildings and splashing over the George Washington Bridge-but down he went as Poseidon opened a special tunnel for him at the bottom of the river that would take him straight to Tartarus.
"BAH!" Kronos screamed. He slashed his sword through the smoke, tearing the image to shreds.
"They're on their way," I said. "You've lost."
"I haven't even started."
Kronos sneered as he raised his scythe. He brought it down as I rolled to the side. Bianca charged from the right but Kronos slammed the butt of his scythe into her nose.
She went down, only to be replaced with Killian as the son of Hyperion tackled Kronos. They both tumbled to the ground and Killian tried to hold him down, but the Titan Lord was too strong. He kicked Killian and my uncle went flying. I charged in but he backhanded me with such force my eyesight went black.
As my sight came back, I saw that Kronos had picked up his scythe and raised it, ready to kill me. He sliced downwards and I braced for the impact, but Bianca caught the strike on her knife hilt. It was a move only the quickest and most skilled knife fighter could've managed. Don't ask me where she found the strength, but she stepped in closer for leverage, their blades crossed, and for a moment she stood face-to-face with the Titan Lord, holding him at a standstill.
"Alex," she said, gritting her teeth, "I understand now. You have to trust me."
Kronos roared in outrage. "Alexander Mare is dead! His body will burn away as I assume my true form!"
I tried to move, but my body was frozen again. All I could move was my mouth and eyes.
"Alex!" I shouted, drawing his attention. Bianca kept their weapons locked but was struggling to keep it up. "I'm–I'm sorry! Whatever it was, I'm sorry!"
"It wasn't you!" Kronos raged. "It was Poseidon! It was my father!" His eyes flashed to green, then back to gold.
"What is it, Alex?" Bianca gasped. "What did he do?"
Kronos yelled. "He...abandoned me! Favored his other son over me! He never brought me to camp! Never acted like I was his son! Even now, in this timeline, he disfavored me!"
My blood chilled. How did he know about the past timeline?
"I'm sorry, Alex," Bianca said. Her face was scrunched together as she held back his immense strength. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the right way. What about your mother? What would she think?"
His eyes flickered green again.
"He...he killed her! Last time! Zeus killed her!"
Understanding crossed Bianca's face. "Mine too, Alex. Zeus killed my mother." She began to push back against him. "Struck her with his lightning bolt, just for associating with my father! And it still hurts! I miss her everyday! I was forced into the Lotus Hotel for seventy years so he wouldn't find me and kill me! Kill my brother and I like he did our mother! But you have your mother again, Alex. Why throw this chance away by letting Kronos destroy the world?"
Kronos raised his hand to hit her but froze again, his eyes flashing back to green as he staggered back. His body began to glow as Bianca's eyes widened. Killian and I both limped over to Bianca as Alex fell to his knees.
He looked up at us with a pained expression. "You're almost out of time," he grunted. "He's changing. He'll assume his true form soon."
He was right. His body was beginning to glow golden. I stepped forward but Bianca put a hand on my shoulder. "Wait, Michael."
Alex unstrapped his armor as his chest plate clattered onto the marble floor. "Give me the knife. You can't . . . can't do it yourself. He'll break my control. He'll defend himself. Only my hand. I know where. I can . . . can keep him controlled."
Bianca held up her blade.
"This is risky," Killian murmured. "He could be lying."
Bianca shook her head. "No. He isn't."
Alex smiled at me, though it was pained. "I'm sorry, Michael. We could've...We could've been friends. Percy and I could've been brothers."
He was definitely glowing now, his skin starting to smoke.
"We truly could've," I said sincerely.
"All decided by the action of one knife," Bianca repeated the last line of the prophecy. She twirled her knife in her hand. "Fuck, I hope this is right."
She turned the blade and handed it to Alex. He took it shakily and raised his left arm, showing a small bit of exposed skin underneath. A place that would've been very hard to hit. With difficulty, he stabbed himself.
It wasn't a deep cut, but Alex howled. His eyes glowed like lava. The throne room shook, throwing me off my feet. An aura of energy surrounded Alex, growing brighter and brighter. I shut my eyes and felt a force like a nuclear explosion blister my skin and crack my lips.
It was silent for a long time.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Alex sprawled at the hearth. On the floor around him was a blackened circle of ash. Kronos's scythe had liquefied into molten metal and was trickling into the coals of the hearth, which now glowed like a blacksmith's furnace.
Alex's left side was bloody. His eyes were open—green eyes, the way they used to be. His breath was a deep rattle.
"That..." he breathed, "hurt like a bitch."
I chuckled. "I bet, young man."
We knelt down beside him. Killian spoke up hesitantly.
"I can," he stammered. "I can heal you. So that you won't die. Do you want me to?"
Alex, despite being in probably immense pain, glanced incredulously at him. "Why?" he asked. "I..I almost killed you."
"But you didn't," Killian pointed out. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "And you...You saved us. You were the hero today."
Alex laughed weakly. "I doubt anyone else...would see it that way. The gods will have me killed...or even sent to Tartarus."
"We can make sure that doesn't happen," Bianca said. "We can protect you?"
"How?"
Bianca's eyes glowed black as her primordial power rose to the surface. I let mine rise as well. The pressure in the room amplified.
We let it go as Alex's eyes widened.
"We have plans," was all I said. "Plans to right what was wrong, and change what the gods have been doing. But in a better way than this. We will protect humanity in our venture to correct. We promise you this."
Alex thought about it. I could sense that he didn't have much time left to decide. Then he said, "Do you promise...that no boys will grow up motherless...under your rule? That no girl will be...will be killed because of a goddess's jealousy? That no child...will be orphaned because of a god's misplaced anger?"
"We swear on the River Styx," the three of us said in unison. Thunder boomed, sealing the oath.
Alex nodded and closed his eyes. "Then yes. Please let me live to see the day."
Killian grinned. He placed his hands on Alex's wounded side and glowed orange. Alex grimaced in pain, but his face relaxed as the orange glow seeped into his body.
"What are you doing?" I asked, scooting back.
"Fire also has the power to heal," Killian explained. His eyes were glowing a soft orange. "Not just to destroy. Lady Hestia taught me that."
Alex chuckled slightly. "Remind me to thank her for that later," he said.
Minutes later, we had Alex sitting up. Killian hadn't taken his hands off him yet, but the blood had stopped a little bit ago. He was regaling us with tales from Kronos's mind, his sick plans for the mortals, and the memories of when the Elder Olympians were babies when the gods arrived in their full war regalia, thundering into the throne room and expecting a battle. They were obviously surprised to see us alive and peaceful.
"My daughter!" Hades cried out, seeing Bianca alive. "I knew you would make me proud!"
She blushed and I laughed.
I calmed myself as I stood and faced the gods. I cleared my throat and said, "We need shrouds for all those who have died. Ally and enemy alike. No demigod should be left to rot in the streets below."
The council stared at me in shock until Zeus noticed Alex being helped to his feet by Killian, looking warily at the gods.
"TRAITOR!" He bellowed as he raised his bolt. Poseidon tried to stop him but it was too late as he hurled it at a wide-eyed Alex.
"No!" Bianca yelled as she stepped in front of Alex, pushing him out of the way and taking the bolt directly in the chest.
