Hello, again. Another round of thanks for the reviews. I was surprised today when I checked and found the story has over seventy. I'm really quite blown away, and super grateful for all the support.

Green Budgie – You're right, it is silly to talk about wanting the gods to play a bigger part and then not have them do anything when I have the chance. But, the story's not over yet. You just need to wait and see what part they take. Remember, Aphrodite knows what's going on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Class of the Titans. If I did, there would be references to the great poets that Archie claims to have read, that Jay most likely knows of, and that Odie probably researches from time to time. And not just Homer, with The Illiad and The Odyssey. Ovid's Metamorphoses and Virgil's Aeneid need a little love, too.

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Separation Anxiety

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As soon as Jay had vanished around the corner, Theresa bent and slapped Archie's hands away. "Not me," she said. "Help Herry." The warrior shot her a surprised, slightly indignant look but turned and crawled to the wet pile of clay that hid their friend.

"Clever," Chronus said, drawing up a few feet away. "But isn't there a saying about how the divided fall?" He chuckled, waving a few of his remaining followers forward. Behind them, the other Neils bent and salvaged what they could from the pools on the floor, talking quietly amongst themselves. "You're still outnumbered, five instead of seven, and you've done me the kindness of splitting up. I really don't see how I can lose."

Theresa crouched, her weapon ready. "You really talk too much, you know that?"

A choking gasp interrupted their heart to heart. "Uh, Theresa," Archie called. "We've got company."

She swiveled, feet still stuck. Behind Archie and Herry, the latter coughing as the former pushed misshapen lumps of clay away from his face, a new group of Neils had appeared, as grey as everything else around them. One of them waved cheerfully as they approached.

"Boy Theresa," he said, "you look terrible."

She smiled grimly. "You don't look so good yourself."

"If you surrender, I promise you I'll be lenient." Chronus spread his hands wide in supplication. "Your deaths will be quick and painless."

Theresa looked back and forth between the two groups, the burden of leadership falling squarely on her shoulders. She didn't envy Jay his quick decisions, though she wouldn't wish him in the middle of this chaos, either. "All right," she said at last. "We surrender."

"What?" Herry gasped, blinking the muck from his eyes. Archie only looked at her with wide eyes.

She dropped her weapon, mouth a thin line. "What choice do we have?" Theresa asked. "We're trapped between a rock and a hard place, with no way to steer through safely." A bit of mythology came to mind and she sighed. "In situations like this, you have to go with what seems the slightly better option. Even if it happens to be a terrible monster, or Chronus."

--

Jay, meanwhile, had nearly knocked out Atlanta when he was suddenly grabbed and dragged into an empty, unlocked room. He swung his polearm wildly, but off balanced, and she was able to duck and catch it before he could swing again.

"Whoa, Jay, it's me." She pulled him over to the small square windows where light from the dying sun outside shed a little insight. "Where are the others?" she asked quietly.

He sighed, troubled, and tucked his weapon away. "With Chronus by now," he said finally. "Archie and Theresa got stuck as well, and even with the sprinklers taking out some of the Neils there were too many to risk trying to free them."

"Poor Archie," she murmured. "So what do we do?" As Jay was about to answer, another voice cut him off.

"Oh Jay, Atlanta, come out, come out, wherever you are," Chronus called, very close to their current hiding place. They both froze, aware that the classroom door was unlocked and that if the Titan should decided to look inside they would be very visible. "I have some friends of yours who would just love for you to join them."

Silently, Jay motioned for Atlanta to follow him until they were at least out of sight, crouched down behind the desks in the back corner. He kept a finger to his lips, signaling that they should be quiet. In a throwback to their earlier session with Herry, Jay carefully explained with gestures that they were to keep silent until either Chronus discovered them, or left.

A few quiet chuckles from the Neils passed by and then everything was calm. Jay waited a few heartbeats, listening carefully, and then risked breaking the silence. "We have to find out where Chronus took the others," he whispered. "But it's just the two of us."

Atlanta nodded. "I guess it's a good thing we've been doing all the training we have been lately." Her smile was small and wry. "It looks like we're going to have to use Archie's ideas a little sooner than expected, too."

"Yeah. Now help me think like Odie." He looked around the room, trying to find something that could give them an advantage, or maybe help rescue the others. "He always manages to find some trick to help us out. Now we have to do the same."

She stood cautiously. "There's not much to work with, unfortunately." Using her hunter's instincts, Atlanta surveyed the abandoned desks and chairs, looking for something to use as a tool or weapon. The swivel chair behind the teacher's desk caught her eye. "What about this?" she asked, walking over to it.

"I'm not sure I follow your line of thought."

"We had some success with Herry acting like a bulldozer, so why not try it again? Give me your pole." Jay extended it and handed it to her, starting to see where she was headed. Atlanta took a seat, holding the weapon out in front her like a lance. "With me pushing and you knocking things out of the way with this," she said, swinging the polearm slowly from side to side, "we may be able to break through."

Jay nodded. "I think it's worth a shot," he said. "But how did you come up with it?"

"English." Atlanta ducked her head. "We're analyzing a poem about knights."

He shook his head, always amazed to know where inspiration came from. As he considered the idea, another thought, a little closer to their roots, came to his mind. "Let's get to it, then. We need something to weigh the polearm down, to make it a more effective lance." Atlanta nodded and they both set about searching the empty room.

--

"Nothing?" Chronus was beginning to feel the twinges of frustration gnawing at his temples. "Have you looked everywhere?" he asked the Neils, all of them glistening like frogs that had tried to become princes but hadn't quite made the full transition. They shrugged, an eerie ripple that traveled along them in a line. "Well, keep searching. Look in every room; break down the doors if you have to. You're supposed to represent your image, so start thinking like the descendent of Narcissus would." He was beginning to regret leaving his giants behind. "Maybe a little luck will rub off on you!"

"Chill out," one of them said, already falling into the mindset of the person he was made to resemble. "Anger is not an attractive emotion on you." He smiled. "Then again, not much is, really." His fellows, behind him, shared a laugh.

Resisting the strong urge to smite the lot of them, Chronus pointed sharply down the hall. "Just go," he ordered. "Find Jay and Atlanta and bring them back to the art room. Don't come back until you do." He watched them leave and turned to those remaining, holding the three captured heroes at bay. "You, come with me."

They marched to the art room and Chronus grabbed the knob to yank it open, only to find the door locked. Cursing, he pounded on it. "Pamela, open the door," he shouted, letting his patience slip a little further.

"I want my payment," was her muffled reply.

"You won't get it by locking yourself in. Now open the door." There was a moment of silence, then a crash and the fumbling sound of someone twisting open the deadbolt. Pam's weary face was waiting as the door swung open. "That's a good girl."

Chronus directed the Neils to take their captives to the back where Odie stood in his stone prison. Archie, when shoved up against the wall, stumbled and fell with a yelp of pain. Odie tried to reach over and help steady him, but his fingers fell short. Theresa said nothing as she took her place, and Herry, tired from his struggles and still partially covered in sticky clay, didn't bother putting up a fight, either.

The Titan took up a few more pieces of clay, trapping each hero in turn. He left Archie awkwardly splayed on the floor, his hands stuck behind him, holding him in place. Herry and Theresa were trapped standing, much like Odie, though Herry's arms were held down by several bands of hardening clay. Chronus paused when he noticed the gag on the descendent of Odysseus and the broken manacle on the wall.

"What happened here?" he asked, turning to Pam.

Hugging herself, she shrugged. "He was talking too much, trying to get me to turn on you, so I shut him up and stopped him from moving around. But," Pam said, fishing in her pockets, "he managed to get free, a little bit. With this." She held up the gold medallion key which glinted in the light.

"Clever, clever Odie." Chronus smiled. "But I'm afraid your cunning won't save you, not this time. It's only a matter of time before I find Jay and Atlanta, and then it's all over." He received a glare from the thinker.

"Where's Neil?" Theresa asked. "We know that all of the clones are just statues, made of clay. So what did you do with him?"

Chronus chose to ignore her. He smiled at Pam. "I want you to copy them," he said. "Then send their doubles to lure out Jay and Atlanta. After that, you'll get your due."

"Fine," she said, turning to get more materials even as her tired fingers protested. "But this is the last favor I do for you. I want what you took."

"Whatever you say, my dear." Chronus laughed. He turned to the Neils, gesturing at the captives. "Boys, keep an eye on them. If anyone tries to talk their way out, or looks suspicious, you have my permission to stop them. By any means. Now, I have some heroes to hunt." The Titan swept out of the room.

Pam sat quietly behind her workbench, hands expertly shaping the clay to match Archie's features. "Your friend already tried to talk me out of it," she said, keeping her eyes down. "It didn't work. He's still here, and so am I." As the warrior stood proudly on her board, she stood and approached him. "Hold still." She bent and plucked a few purple hairs from his head.

"Ow, watch it." Archie jerked his head away with a frown. "I've been abused enough for one day."

"The only way you're going to get out of here," Pam said, working next on Theresa, "is if your friends can find a way to create a distraction, or else sweep in here and rescue you themselves. Considering Chronus still has about thirty statues working for him, and possibly others sloshing around only half dissolved, the chances are slim."

Herry grunted. "Don't count us out yet. We've escaped from worse." He tugged with his arms but couldn't get the right leverage to break free. With a huff, he relaxed. "Although this is the first time we've had to fight things that look like us."

Pam glanced up at him, and then caught Odie's eye. "Any chance your friend's famous luck could save you?" she asked. "Or maybe something else?" She turned back to her work. Behind her, as if in response to her words, a distraction was already starting to form.