Percy POV

The door opened to reveal a long corridor with doors on either side and a set of double doors at the end. "He's probably though there." Nico whispered, pointing to the double doors. "But we should check the others just in case."

I agreed and soon we were checking every room. We decided that the safest way to do it was by Nico opening the door and me walking in first with my Nemean Lion cloak held up as a shield.

To anyone who didn't know it was invincible I would've looked like a fool, but I didn't really care. I had bigger issues.

I couldn't decide if we were lucky or not that none of the rooms contained Kronos, or anyone else for that matter. On one hand it meant we knew where he was and on the other it meant I was about to walk into a room that Kronos was definitely in.

My heart was pounding as Nico and I stood facing the doors. We had already tightened out armour and readied ourselves as much as possible for the battle to come and yet we still hadn't gone in.

"Nico," I whispered drawing his attention "I'm honestly terrified."

The son of Hades laughed without humour "I'd be more worried if you weren't."

I smiled slightly and turned to face him fully taking off my helmet. He looked at me in confusion. "I just want you to know that, whether we save the world or not, I'm glad you're here." I said honestly.

"Without you I wouldn't even be able to think about him nevermind be about to face him in battle. You have truly put me back together again Nico, and I will never be able to thank you enough for that."

"Perce," he whispered back "if it meant I got to have time with you again I would face him a thousand times. You mean more to me than you can ever imagine."

I couldn't help myself, the sudden confessions when we were probably about to die pushed me over the edge. I hurriedly closed the gap between us and pressed my mouth to Nico's in a frantic kiss.

It took a moment, but he quickly got over his shock and softened into the kiss. I reached up and took his helmet off so that I could run my fingers through his hair – his own already locked at my neck.

The kiss was hot and desperate and far too short as Nico soon pulled away breathing heavily. I was also breathing heavily but would've been happy to stay with him for much longer.

"As nice as this is, we need to do this." Nico told me softly.

"I know." I sighed. He gave me one last quick peck and then took his helmet to put on, I followed suit and donned my own. With that we drew our weapons again and faced the doors.

"May the gods be with us." Nico muttered, then he strode forwards and pushed open the doors with me hot on his heels.

It turned out the room was a throne room.

It was all plain stone that stretched about 30 feet wide and 70 feet long, every meter or so a torch was held in a bracket. They were the only decoration except for the huge golden throne that sat at the back of the room.

Just seeing the throne sent a shiver down my spine, it was the same one that I had spent so many years cowering behind during meetings in Tartarus. It brought back some very painful memories. But even worse was the man who sat upon it.

His golden armour covered him from head to toe, his muscles bulged beneath it showing off his impressive physique. Beside him was a double-edged blade that I knew was made of steel and celestial bronze, for killing morals and monsters Luke had once said.

My heart was pounding, and my fight or flight instinct was definitely choosing flight, but I held my ground and forced myself to look at his face. It was a picture of pure evil.

His menacing grin stretched lazily across his face and his gaze was set with fierce determination.

"So, you finally came." He drawled, his voice easily reaching us at the other end of the room. "I was beginning to think that you wouldn't. That you would wait for the gods to come and fall by my hand and then sink to your knees and beg for life when it was over."

"I would've enjoyed that." The titan stood. "But alas, here you are. And you brought your playmate. Good - I wanted to kill him myself for all the trouble." Nico shifted uneasily beside me but stayed quiet.

"What? Too afraid to talk without an army at your back son of Hades?" Kronos mocked.

"You don't intimidate me. I am here to fight and kill you with Percy, so go ahead and talk as much as you like. I will wait." Nico shouted back to him.

The titan king just laughed. "You put on a brave show boy; I'll give you that. But you are terrified of me and we all know it." My legs began to tremble, I just hoped he didn't see.

"You were there when I slaughtered the daughter of Athena you all cling to. She was not a challenge for me, one of your best warriors. And now you come with him, my broken toy, he will be less useful than she was."

It took all my strength not to hang my head, he was right. What could I do? I didn't even know if I could take another step without falling. The titan then turned his attention back to me.

"Look at you, acting as if you can even fight me. Just because there is a prophecy, well, you've heard my interpretation. And I bet you didn't tell your boyfriend here." He sneered. "Go on, tell him."

I took a deep breath and turned to Nico, he deserved to know. "H-He thinks that my worst f-fear will be attacking my friends." I paused trying to calm my voice. "That I, I will save the world from t-the gods."

I didn't even want to look at Nico, he was here, and my worst fear could be that I turn on him. He probably hated me. I forced myself to look him in the eye, but I didn't see the hate I expected, just trust.

"You won't do that, I know it." he told me with full certainty in his voice.

"Isn't that cute." Kronos laughed. "He heard the truth and he still denies it. Love is a funny thing."

"Seen as you are clearly feeling sooo brave grandsons, come on. Let's do this." Kronos picked up his sword and began walking forwards. "It will be great to have Perseus kill you Hades spawn."

In his ten-foot form the lord of time was quickly crossing the room. I was sure I was going to bolt for the door when Nico whispered, "We can do this" and ran forwards.

That was when my decision was made.

I couldn't let Kronos kill another person I cared for and certainly not Nico. I charged him with my sword raised.

The titan looked mildly surprised by this turn of events but was still for than ready for us when we reached him.

Nico got to the titan first and he didn't waste a second in directing an attack at his left leg, but he was ready for it. Kronos caught his blade against Backbiter and pushed Nico away. I stopped him from pursuing his advantage by cutting at his stomach, he parried it but at least Kronos hadn't hurt Nico.

Nico dove back into the fray stabbing at Kronos's foot, the titan moved back and swung for his head. I hurried to step in and blocked the swing. The force of it rattled my arm, but I held strong and pushed the blade away.

I didn't have any time to recover before he tripped me with his foot. Kronos quickly lifted his blade and drove it towards my leg.

This time it was Nico's turn to save me. His black sword blurred through the air and clashed against the titan's; sending it off course and away from my leg.

Sparks flew from the stone as the bronze blade scraped its surface. I heard a small growl emanate from the titan king and scrambled to my feet, stopping him from incapacitating me.

As soon as I could I created a group of ice spear and hurled them towards the titan. Kronos merely flicked his fingers and they veered off course.

'How can we beat him if he can do that?' I thought in dismay.

Nico was still in the fray, sending a wild flurry of attacks at Kronos. Somehow the titan was managing the block them all. I dove forwards and stabbed at his midriff causing him to jump back.

As he did Kronos waved his hand, a smug grin on his face.

I suddenly felt like I was walking through jelly and, when I looked, Nico seemed to be moving in slow motion. The lord of time was slowing us down. I realised he could just kill us in that moment if he wanted to.

But as suddenly as it had come the feeling disappeared and I was able to run again. A look of shock passed over the titan's face as we ran towards him.

But just as we reached him, he vanished in a flash of gold.

The two of us stopped as soon as we could and turned around, expecting him to be behind us. And he was, but about 10 feet away.

"You got Hestia's blessing, didn't you?" Kronos half asked half demanded.

Neither of us answered, instead we took the time to catch a breath. "She has always been a pain in my ass. My eldest child, the only one to resist my power. I'll kill her for this." The titan monologued.

I silently sent a prayer of thanks to the goddess, realising her gift had given us a much bigger advantage than we had first imagined.

Without warning Kronos flashed out of our vision again and appeared seconds later in front of us, mid swing.

I had to duck to stop myself being cut in half; I even felt the rush of wind from his blade – that was a close one.

Just as I thought we were fine; I heard a sharp intake of breath from next to me. I quickly rolled forwards under the blade and pushed Kronos back with a string of slashes. When I deemed him to be far enough away from Nico, I turned to throwing ice balls at him so that I could sneak a look at the son of Hades.

In a split second, I took in his appearance. He had a pained expression on his face that just made me want to hide him from the world and, when I followed his gaze, I saw that there was a gash in his armour on his shoulder. Nico had almost lost his head.

"Are you ok?" I called back, turning my attention back to the enemy and engaging him again.

I managed to keep ducking and weaving away from his sword and still hear Nico reply, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a nick." As if to prove his point the son of Hades appeared in my line of vision, attacking Kronos from the other side.

We stayed locked in battle for a seemingly endless period of time. Cutting, dodging, stabbing, spinning and using our powers. But we were only able to get one or two thin cuts on the titan, he seemed unfazed by them.

That was not the same for Nico and I. In that time, along with small injuries, I had gained a cut to my free arm that incapacitated it and Nico had been knocked down on to his back. Hard. The injury was clearly causing him a great deal of pain, but he continued to fight.

'Someone has to come soon.' I thought as I rolled under another swing of Kronos's blade. Both of us were beginning to slow while the king seemed perfectly fine, we wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

I sprung up again on the other side of Kronos and aimed an ice ball at his undefended back. For once it struck true and he stumbled forwards slightly from the impact.

A deadly growl came from deep within the titan as he turned on me again with a murderous look in his eyes. I was beginning to think he had given up on his plan to control me and was just going to kill me instead.

As if to prove my point he brought his sword down towards my head, trying to cleave me in half. I dove to the side just in time to avoid the grizzly death but landed heavily on my shoulder. It crunched painfully beneath me and I cried out in pain, thankfully it was not my one good remaining arm, or I would've been as good as dead.

Kronos chuckled mercilessly at my pain and back handed Nico away from him. "You two are pathetic. You can barely survive against me, nevermind defeat me. Your best hope Perseus is to join me and pray for mercy."

Ok, maybe he hadn't quite given up on the whole 'turning me evil' thing.

There was part of me that was telling me to give in. That Kronos always got what he wanted anyway so I should save myself the pain. I shook my head to dispel the thought and pushed myself painfully to my feet.

"That isn't going to happen." I growled out, forcing myself to look the titan in the eye.

A black light crossed his eyes as a new wave of anger surged through the titan. "Then you will die. The prophecy never said you would win."

With that he charged towards me and swung powerfully towards my feet. I jumped back over the sword and sent my own jab towards his chest. He spun away from it and raised his sword in time to block Nico's swing.

The son of Hades looked shocked that Kronos had noticed him and disappeared into the shadows just in time to avoid being gutted.

He reappeared next to me panting. "Percy, we need to do something. We're getting nowhere with this." he told me urgently as the king faced us again.

"I'm open to ideas." I cried out as we split up to avoid death once again.

Kronos chose to attack Nico and while his back was turned, I summoned a torrent of water and shot it towards him. The water hit him in the back of the head. It didn't hurt him, but it certainly caught his attention.

Kronos spun towards me and slashed out with his sword. I jumped back out of the way but as it moved the blade morphed into his classic scythe. The longer weapon would easily reach me, so I was forced to fall back onto the floor.

My shoulder jarred and flared with pain again as I hit the solid floor but luckily there seemed to be no new injuries. Then he started coming towards me.

I scrambled backwards using my feet and hand, suddenly I felt like I was his prisoner again. I had been in this very position so many times before.

Injured, scared and Kronos baring down on me. His golden eyes glittering mercilessly and his weapon dripping with blood.

But this time there was a difference... I wasn't alone.

Nico appeared behind the titan and with a yell jumped to plunge his blade into the king's shoulder. Kronos cried out in pain while Nico let go and dropped to the floor.

I clambered to my feet, trying to help my boyfriend. But I was too slow. Kronos struck him with a devastatingly powerful roundhouse kick, and he flew into the opposite wall.

"Nico!" I screamed. But there was no reply.

I could see him from where I stood, crumpled against the floor in a heap. Not moving. I ran towards him and Kronos didn't bother to stop me.

I put my hand against his neck, trying to find a pulse. I waited a second, then two. Then, I felt it. A thump. My own heart settled again as I relaxed a little knowing he was alive.

But I didn't settle completely. He had a cut on his head that was slowly oozing blood. If I didn't get him out of there quickly, he would die.

"Apollo!" I called out. "Poseidon! Hades!" I was desperately hoping that one of the gods would arrive, if not to help me then to get Nico out of here. "Hestia! Aphrodite! Dad!" My voice broke as I called out again. I was truly desperate.

No one arrive.

I placed a shaking hand on Nico's head took off his helmet and pushed the black hair from his face. I leant down and placed a kiss upon his forehead, tears streaming down my face.

"Awww. That's adorable." Kronos cooed sarcastically. I stood shakily and glared at the king. "Whoa. Look at you all fired up." He laughed. "They aren't coming, we both know that. But please continue shouting, it is most amusing."

I uncapped Riptide again and hefted my sword.

"I'll just have to kill you myself then." I growled, tears still running down my face. Finally, I knew what I had to do and that I could do it. I was not about to let Nico die. I had killed this idiot once; I could do it again.

Without warning I charged towards him swinging high towards his chest. He went to block and at the last second it changed my direction and slid between his legs, my sword still raised to cut his inner thigh.

I stood again on the other side and turned to find Kronos in his 6-foot 7 form. Apparently, he had decided that I knew how to use his size against him. He was right.

This time he charged me, trying to end the fight with a killing blow to my head. I brought up a shield of ice and blocked the swing. I quickly melted it again when he had stopped and covered his scythe in a thin layer of water.

The next time Kronos went to block my attack, I used the water to push the blade away and struck him on his fighting arm. The titan was clearly confused for a moment; before noticing the water and dispelling it quickly.

"Brat." He muttered aiming a jab at my chest. I dodged to the side and stabbed towards his leg again, trying to slow him. The titan clearly expected this and transformed his scythe into backbiter to block me and, in the split second I was caught, used his other hand to punch me in the face.

I staggered to the side but managed to stay on my feet. I spat out a wad of blood, my head was ringing.

Taking advantage of my disoriented state, the king dove towards me and slashed towards my legs. I only just moved out of the way; earning myself a small cut.

I twisted quickly, swinging my blade out as I did. Kronos flashed away from it. But I had expected that and brought my elbow up to hit him in the gut – anticipating where he would appear on my other side.

My instinct was right, and the blow struck him hard; causing him to stumble back. I pressed my advantage sending wild attacks at him. He blocked the first five, but on the sixth I aimed for his head before abandoning the strike altogether and knocking his legs out from under him with my own.

Kronos fell flat on his back, his golden eyes clouding with pain. I quickly jumped into the air before he could regain his bearings and stabbed him through the thigh.

His roar of agony filled the throne room. I was about to pull my sword out, but he disappeared from the floor - taking Riptide with him.

I turned to try and spot him, but not quick enough.

A solid punch struck me in the gut, and I went flying backwards to land on the hard floor. I groaned in pain and rolled onto my side. Every inch on my body was in pain. It would've been so easy to give up and die.

But just as I was considering it my gaze landed on Nico. His black form was still in a heap at the bottom of the other wall, and I couldn't tell if he was breathing.

Anger boiled within me again like a storm and I pushed myself to my feet. I tried to take a step and almost fell immediately.

But I wouldn't fail, not when I was this close. Not when I had the chance to save Nico.

It must've been sheer will power that kept me on my feet. I could see Kronos across the room, on one knee glaring at me – his leg was useless. As I hobbled closer, I felt Riptide reappear in my pocket and took out my sword once again.

I wasn't sure how I would win the rest of the fight. I was exhausted, but I had to try. I got myself to just outside the titan's reach and hefted my sword.

Another few steps and I would be fighting again. I took a deep breath and thought of what the monster had done.

In the first titan war he had killed so many of my friends and camp mates; Luke, Beckendorf, Selina and Lee Fletcher to name just a few. And now his army was out there killing countless more demigods as they had been for days. The bastard himself had killed Annabeth and Nico was dying – if he wasn't already dead.

No, I would not let him live. No matter what.

He would pay for his crimes.

The rage I built inside me seemed to fill me with power, enabling me to block the first swing of the titan's sword when I approached.

I pulled a ball of water from the floor and hit him in the face with it, it was just enough to knock the pained titan off his balance; making him topple to the floor.

I sprang as quick as I could, aiming my sword towards his heart.

I waited for him to block, to kill me. But Kronos didn't move.

Within seconds Riptide plunged into his chest and the tip appeared at the other side.

I landed on my knees next to the titan, panting hard. I couldn't believe it. I had done it. He was dead!

That was when his sword arm twitched, and his blade pierced my stomach. My eyes widened in shock as Kronos slumped back against the floor.

My hands flitted around my wound, unable to do anything to stop the bleeding. I had done it, Kronos was dead. But I would die too.

A tear rolled from my cheek as I realised, I wasn't ready to die.

I had just begun to imagine that I would live and spend the rest of my days happy, free from war and titans; just an ordinary guy. I'd spend my time with Nico at the beach, and maybe I'd finally go to college.

But no. All that was gone.

I was dying.

My vision blurred as I started to lose consciousness. Vaguely I noticed the throne room doors blast open and heard my father call my name desperately.

I felt myself fall back onto the floor. But not really, the world was almost like a dream land.

"Nico." Was the last word I murmured before the world turned black.

I'm sorry I hate me too. But I refuse to say anything until after the epilogue, you will have to wait for then for any other comment from me, my lips are sealed. Reviews of your hate for me will also be at the end. (And kind ones if any of you still like me after all that.)

And just saying my prologue was in 3rd person so don't go thinking people aren't dead because there needs to be a POV. There doesn't.

See ya.