The cost of betraying Kronos would always be heavy, and now that Kronos had taken back the gift he had bestowed upon me, my eyes had reverted to how they had once been. Percy panicked but there was no time to lose composure, so although I felt a little drained I rose back to my feet and calmly cast out my senses. They did not immediately become as detailing and accurate as before, but they did feel stronger now that I had lost my sight. With a little time, they would sharpen once again and I would be able to move and fight as I had done before. If anything, I was rather relieved to be blind because I no longer wanted any of Kronos's gift, evident when I kicked away the helmet and ripped off the breastplate of armour, no matter how precious and strong they were. I stood in my black combat boots and under suit which looked and felt a little like a wetsuit, though the fabric was thinner and more flexible but just as warm, the bottoms shaping my muscular legs with the top cutting off at my midriff and covered all of the front of my chest to my throat, leaving my arms and shoulders bare. Suddenly I felt more comfortable, more like myself again and I smiled for it. "Let's go Percy, now's not the time."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Percy agreed with me and shouted in order to rally the Apollo cabin whilst I gave a trilling whistle, bringing everyone from my cavalry to attention and they immediate reformed the ranks. Michael panicked when he realised I was blind again but I just told him calmly not to worry and that this was who I really was and I felt more comfortable this way in truth. Instead I told him that he was going to have to be my eyes for me now along with Snowstorm for stuff that I couldn't make out as my lieutenant, then ordering a group of my troops to gather up anyone who was injured, whether they were one of us or Percy's lot, and bring them to safety so that they could be given treatment. Michael reported that we hadn't lost a single person and I nodded my head in satisfaction. Our tactic had paid off, the monsters had been too shocked to react properly, so we'd crushed them like bugs underfoot. However now I could feel the rumble of another charge, only this time it wasn't us. It was Kronos coming for us with reinforcements, and I had a feeling he had a particular bone to pick with me and Percy. "Retreat! I'll hold them!" Percy ordered but I immediately turned in order to stand beside him, shifting so that I was ready to spring.
"We'll hold them." I corrected. This would be the first time I'd be going into battle alongside Percy. Sure we'd fought together before like at capture the flag and against monsters and things, but this felt different. More serious. I mean, it's not like the fate of the world was hanging on our shoulders or anything. Still I couldn't have felt calmer and even happier, because no matter what was going to happen I would be standing beside Percy, and that was all that mattered. I sensed Annabeth move to Percy's other side as well, also refusing to leave him so now he was flanked by us, three ready to charge the ranks. Michael yelled to me, saying that the cavalry were ready to charge but I told him that he needed to take everyone and secure the retreat of the Apollo cabin and if necessary, find a way to blow the bridge so that the enemy couldn't cross. "If anything happens to me Michael, you're in charge. Good hunting!" I saluted to him though I had a feeling he wasn't happy about it. Feeling the continual vibrations through my feet shoot up my body, I was delighted as I could tell exactly how far away they were and their rough number. Around a hundred. We did outnumber them, but Kronos was leading the charge, so he counted as an army entirely by himself.
Together the three of us held the line and it didn't take long for the second wave to reach us, those skeletal horses were deceptively fast. I stayed anchored to Percy's shoulder and moved my trident in front of him as a lance came at us, my senses picking up the feeling of something coming towards our faces and I felt it catch between two prongs so I swiftly twisted and snapped off the head before then lifting my trident up so that the rest of the lance slid through before I then reached the half-blood holding it and with a lift and swing, he went flying with a cry off his horse. Then everything was just a mass of confusion. I could hear Snowstorm and two other pegasi overhead, attacking from above as I whirled my trident around in a deadly circle and took out a bunch of the horses whilst focusing my senses to this particular spot. As much as I worried about Percy and Annabeth, I knew they would be alright, I had to focus on myself since with all the noise and collections of vibrations, it was confusing at first to try and figure out what was going on. Mostly my body just reacted upon instinct, going through a sort of crazy routine of thrusts, whirls and footwork that I had taught myself to create a rather strong defensive barrier around myself with my weapon.
Weapons glanced off Amaryllis with every twist and sweep, and the moment she connected with something she ran out clearly with the vibrations shooting up my arm and to my head, giving me a clearer image of silhouettes and depth so that I could react. Each time I would take out a bunch more of the people that I considered my friends, doing my best to just knock them out rather than kill them and I could tell Percy was doing the same from the sounds of his fighting style, using very little slashing or stabbing motions with Riptide. Soon enough we had a wide circle around us with Kronos still taking his time and not engaging, the three of us all back to back as we fought together to give the others enough time to retreat. It wasn't long however before I felt that familiar sickening feeling in my gut that told me Percy was in danger, but before I could move towards him and try and figure out what was happening, I heard Annabeth give a shriek of pain which made Percy shout. Seeing that we were in trouble, I let loose a little. With a rather dramatic twirl and flair I drove Amaryllis into the ground and instantly everything started to shake and the tarmac of the roads split from the force of the vibrations that I powered through the ground in a shockwave that burst outwards, affecting everyone other than myself, Percy and Annabeth. They were flung backwards and away from us, and I sensed one guy who was particularly close to the other two went flying. His shout pinged in my ears and I recognised Ethan Nakamura. Whatever had happened, he'd been the one to hurt Annabeth.
"Percy! Is she okay?"
"No, she's hurt!" As I rushed over to them, the air turned frosty around us and I gave an instinctive shudder as a voice spoke from above, still mounted upon his horse but looking at us with such deadly hatred that it caused a wild panic within me and for a brief moment, I considered tossing myself over the side of the bridge just to escape it. It passed, however, as my own stubbornness rose to defend me. No way was I going to do something so stupid in front of Kronos. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of thinking I was afraid of him. So instead, I put myself between him and Percy and glared as he described the situation as 'interesting' of all things. I really wanted to hit his face.
"Bravely fought, Percy Jackson, but it's time to surrender…or the girl dies." Judging from Annabeth's breathing and the smell of blood her condition wasn't good. Even if we stood at a stalemate for too long she'd die anyway. We had to do something now. Thankfully despite Annabeth's plea with Percy not to surrender, Percy called out to one of the pegasi above, calling them Blackjack. I recognised them only because Snowstorm had told me about them. It was the pegasus that had been freed from Luke that time I was left behind. He had sworn his services to Percy, and Snow couldn't stand him one bit because, according to her, he was unprofessional and a disgrace to the honour of pegasi serving the Great Lord's children. She often huffed and complained about him, since Blackjack himself had taken a fancy to Snow and always called her 'doll-face' or 'baby-cakes'. I think his favourite one was 'sugar-pie'. I always laughed when she talked about him, because I knew Snow well and even though she might not like him, she enjoyed the attention. In a whirl of feathers and wind I sensed the pegasus Blackjack fly past with incredible control and snatch up Annabeth somehow, vanishing with her so I sent up a quick request to Snowstorm to make sure he didn't drop Annabeth.
'Knowing that donkey-brained idiot he probably would. Fear not, my lady. I shall ensure the safety of your friend, just hold on until I can come back for you!' Promising her I would, Percy and I then stood together facing Kronos. The others had all retreated, so now we were all that remained. It was daunting and I felt really afraid of what was going to happen, but having Percy next to me was like sipping hot chocolate whilst a storm beat at your door and windows. No matter what kind of chaos raged outside, your home was still and calm, and the drink settled with a warmth inside you that made you feel safe and secure. My hand brushed against his before holding his fingers lightly, intending to draw just a little bit of comfort from him because he probably wasn't scared at all. My brother had always risen to the challenge and seemed fearless about it. I had always been the natural coward despite the fact I was older. Still, I was grateful when he secured the grip of our hands in order to hold mine properly and squeezed, as if knowing that I needed just a small shot of courage in order to get on with this. Worst comes to the worst, I can throw Percy into the river and he'd be fine. His immunity to water would protect him.
"Someday soon, I am going to make pegasus soup." Kronos promised which now just set my temper in motion. Pegasus soup? I'd boil his head first! "But in the meantime…I'll settle for another dead demigod, and the promise of an endless torture for the traitor who betrayed me and broke her oaths." The sharp ring of the scythe Kronos carried sounded in my ears, but with Percy next to me and this threat now settled, I was too mad to be afraid.
"I never swore any oaths to you, stupid. I promised to stand beside Luke, and you're not him. As far as I'm concerned, I've kept my word." This point seemed to only enrage him all the more, which probably hadn't exactly been the smartest idea. When the first strike came to sweep Percy and I in one go, both of us reacted on instinct and together, his sword and my trident countered his blow though the bridge shook underneath us as if to groan under the strain of two demigods choosing to fight a titan. I felt my entire body rattle with pain exploding through me, so much so that my guard was almost broken but Percy seemed to take pretty much all of the impact with his own sword without faltering. It wasn't only Kronos who reacted with surprise and confusion. A blow like that should have had us both on our knees, but here we were. Percy then reacted, leaving my trident locked against the scythe between the prongs and twisted so that it couldn't break free, leaving Percy open to attack Kronos by striking at his legs. I listened to the armour clink as it hit the ground and rolled, the scythe being wrenched from my grip in the process and I had to cling onto Amaryllis so that I didn't lose her. She wouldn't reappear in my pocket like Percy's sword, so I had to keep a tight hold.
"So, you had the courage to visit the Styx." Kronos spoke to Percy and immediately my eyes flew open, giving an incredulous shout of disbelief. He couldn't have done, surely he wouldn't? "I had to pressure Luke in many ways to convince him. If only you had supplied my host body instead…but no matter. I am still more powerful. I am a TITAN." There was a momentary breath before all at once, I felt a force kick a horse's kick slam against my chest and throw me backwards with Percy in tow, shouts rising from numerous voices as they too were blasted back from Kronos's shockwave of power. Without armour I felt the full force of the impact and as I gulped and choked on the ground, completely winded, I dully thought that maybe keeping that armour wouldn't have been so bad. Percy was up on his feet like nothing had even hit him, brushing itself off and running to me to see if I was alright but yelling to Michael Yew, who I distantly remembered to be one of the Apollo cabin kids from when I'd been at camp.
"Percy, the bridge! It's already weak!" Now that he mentioned it, he was right. I could feel through the ground how unstable the bridge had become, weakened at the centre where Kronos had bashed it and compromised the supports and structure. "Break it! Use your powers!" Percy made a move to do so but I grabbed his arm as I dragged air back into my body, making him pause and look at me with Riptide ready to strike the ground. Having grabbed him, I'd felt a running vibration run through him and feed me an image, telling me exactly what kind of pose he was in.
"I'll do it. Get Michael down from wherever he is. When the bridge goes, he'll go with it." To this Percy agreed and clasped my arm in order to haul me to my feet where I staggered, bruised and achy but otherwise unhurt. Just severely pissed off. With a yell to Michael Yew, Percy and he backed up a little from me as I walked forwards, allowing my footsteps to tell me where the nearest weak spot on the bridge was as the remains of Kronos's army recovered, before all at once lifting my foot and stomping it downwards with what I hoped to be a defiant glare directly at Kronos. Immediately the bridge shuddered, violent reverberations starting again as I urged the entire thing to quake and tremble. I gave the others two warning blasts to get out of range but they were already scrambling to retreat until all at once, the bridge ripped itself in two. The weak points crumbled and cracked, giant fissures opening as I continued to pour my will into it and caused the earthquake to completely tear apart the bridge so that as chunks of it fell away, we were left with an impressive gap with me on one side and Kronos on the other. A poisonous glower fixated itself on me.
Behind me I heard and sensed both Percy and Michael Yew approach me before coming to stand at my sides. A thought occurred that it might get a little confusing with two Michaels in the same army, but this wasn't new. A lot of the demigods I knew had the same name so a lot of the time we just used nicknames to make things simpler. Together we waited to see how Kronos would react, wondering rather fearfully if he would just turn back time on the bridge in order to fix it, but then he seemed to decide it wasn't worth the trouble. "Until this evening, Jackson." He was probably addressing both of us at that point because both of us were severe thorns in his side, but I was relieved when he chose to lead the remains of his warriors away, though I could feel them glancing back at me even as they shuffled into their retreat. I opened my mouth in order to taste the air which was damp with moisture but light, the way it tasted around dawn.
"He'll be good on his promise and be back at nightfall. Come on, we need to regroup and see what we can do next." I said softly, my hand naturally resting on Percy's shoulder as I then looked at him with all the sugary sweetness I possessed whilst threatening to break his shoulder with how hard I was grasping him. "And you can tell me all about this dip in the River Styx, and everything else I've missed since I've been gone." Slightly afraid for his safety, Percy gulped and agreed that this was a good idea before turning in order to leave, Snowstorm and another pegasi I didn't recognise landing in front of us in order to carry us back to where everyone had gathered for respite after the first battle to hold Manhattan against the forces of Kronos's army.